Hosea 6

Hosea 6:1-3

The Eventual Return Of Israel To YHWH Is Depicted In Terms Of A Restoration To Health And Resurrection And The Blessing Of Rain Upon The Earth (Hosea 6:1-3). The idea of Israel torn by a lion (Hosea 5:14) and smitten by a wasting disease (Hosea 5:13) would have lain heavy on Hosea’s heart, but as ever he does not see it as the end. For he knows that God must fulfil His promises to His people as so clearly described in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-29. Thus he recognises that at some future time, once the smiting is over, Israel must be restored. But he knows that it can only happen if they turn and seek God with all their hearts (Hosea 5:15). And it can only happen once His judgments have been worked out.Here then he makes a call for that restoration in response to his words in Hosea 5:15 c, as he visualises Israel as awakening and calling on each other to return to YHWH Who will then heal them and bind them up. This return is pictured in terms of the arousing of a dead man within the traditional three day period during which his spirit remains in his body.

It is a precursor to such passages as Isaiah 26:19 and Ezekiel 37:1-14. The ‘two days’ and ‘third day’ are not necessarily to be seen as indicating a literal three day period (except as regards the three day period for the dead) but in order to draw out the idea of Israel as being aroused from the dead.

We may also see it as suggesting that on the first day they will repent and turn to YHWH, on the second day He will revive their hearts, and on the third day He will cause them to rise up and live before Him. It is a picture of genuine spiritual restoration occurring in three stages, based on the thought of a literal raising from the dead of a corpse.And this ‘raising from the dead’ will result in their truly knowing YHWH once again, and following on to know Him even more. For though they may at present be going through the dark night of unbelief, Hosea considers that the coming of light in their spiritual morning is as sure as the coming each day of the morning itself. And then God will again visit them, coming to them as the initial rains, and then as the latter rain which waters the earth (after the seed has been sown). This picture of God coming as the rain will be taken up and expanded on by Isaiah (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:1-5; Isaiah 55:10-13) and by John the Baptist. The Spirit will fall on His people from above and they will be made ‘alive’ by the Spirit.The initial fulfilment took place after the Babylonian exile when the remnants of the people gathered back to the land, joining those who had bravely remained there in the face of all the difficulties, followed no doubt by the arrival of many more as the news reached different areas of the successful re-establishment of ‘Israel’ in the land.

And we certainly know of ‘revivals’ under Haggai and Zechariah, and then under Ezra and Nehemiah. The people of God were back in the land in repentance and faith, and were enjoying the working of the Holy Spirit (Haggai 2:4-5; Zechariah 4:6).

This would eventually result in the establishment of an independent kingdom which prospered and grew in readiness for the coming of Christ.The second greater fulfilment may be seen in the coming of the King Himself, preceded by His herald. On ‘the first day’ the preaching of John the Baptist called the people to return to the Lord. On ‘the second day’ the people were revived under the ministry of Jesus as large numbers in Israel turned to their Messiah. And on ‘the third day’, after that crucial third day of the resurrection, His people were raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), and commenced living their lives in the very presence of God. They had been transferred out of the tyranny of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, as those who had been forgiven and redeemed (Colossians 1:13-14). Thereby Israel had been renewed and reborn as the kingdom of the Messiah, as sure as morning followed night, and as certainly and as fruitfully as after the coming of the rain in preparation for harvest.Analysis of Hos 6:1-3. a Come, and let us return to YHWH (Hosea 6:1 a).b For he has torn, and he will heal us, he has smitten, and he will bind us up (Hosea 6:1 b).c After two days will he revive us (Hosea 6:2 a).b On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him (Hosea 6:2 b).a And let us know, let us follow on to know YHWH. His going forth is sure as the morning, and he will come to us as the rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth (Hosea 6:3).Note that in ‘a’ they are to come, and return to YHWH, expressed in terms of ‘let us return’, and in the parallel they will know him, and follow on to know Him, expressed in terms of ‘let us know’, and this will be as sure as morning follows night and the rains come in their seasons. In ‘b’ they will be healed and bound up, and in the parallel they will be raised up and live before Him. Centrally in ‘c’ it is YHWH Who will revive them.

Hosea 6:2

‘After two days will he revive us, on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.’The reference to ‘two days’ indicates that all will not occur instantly, even after their repentance. These are God’s days and therefore longer than those of men. But then YHWH will revive His people in readiness for the ‘third day’ when He will raise them up and restore them to full health so that they may begin to live before Him. The picture is of a man rising from the dead within the three day period while the soul was still in the body. Israel is thus seen as ‘rising from the dead’. While partially fulfilled after the Exile, the greater fulfilment came, first through the teaching and ministry of Jesus (when indeed many were also literally healed and bound up), and then in the period after His death and resurrection, when He was raised on ‘the third day’, and a new Israel came to life, a believing Israel (in contrast with the old unbelieving Israel which was cut off (Romans 11:17; Romans 11:20), and became as one of ‘the nations’ (Acts 4:25-27)), a new Israel which brought light to the Gentiles so that many responded and became a part of the new Israel (Galatians 3:29; Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:10). It was an Israel raised up from the dead, and living before Him in resurrection life.In view of the fact that Jesus clearly saw Himself as the representative of Israel this was possibly one of the passages that He had in mind (along, for example, with Isaiah 53:10-12, and Psalms 16:10-11) when He spoke of rising again on the third day, and which Paul had in mind when he spoke of ‘rising on the third day according to the Scriptures’ (1 Corinthians 15:4).

Hosea 6:3

‘And let us know, let us follow on to know YHWH. His going forth is sure as the morning, and he will come to us as the rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.’The second appeal is that they might again truly ‘know YHWH’ and go on knowing Him continually. Contrast here Hosea 4:1; Hosea 5:4. And this will be brought about by the activity of YHWH Whose going forth is as certain as the coming of morning after nightfall, and Who will come as fruitbearing rain that waters the earth (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:1-5; Isaiah 55:10-13). It is the latter rain that waters the sown seed and ensures that it becomes fruitful in the hot climate. So YHWH’s promise is that He will act like rain upon His repentant people, a picture taken up and used by John the Baptist with all his references to grain and fruit growing in terms of the coming Spirit Who will be provided by the Coming One, ‘He will drench you with the Holy Spirit’.

Hosea 6:4-11

ISRAEL’S GROWING AND ARE ALONG WITH THEIR ON IDOLS, , KINGS AND , AND THIS IN WITH YHWH’S LOVE FOR HIS FAILING SON (Hosea 6:4 to Hosea 11:12). Hosea continues to describe the condition in which Israel find themselves, and rebukes their reliance on other things than YHWH. Conditions in Israel would appear to be politically much worse, and these words were therefore probably mainly spoken during the years of turmoil following the death of Menahem and his son Pekahiah, that is, during the reigns of Pekah and Hoshea. During this period there was an off-on relationship with Assyria which eventually caused the downfall of Pekah and the initial submission of Hoshea to Assyria, followed by his later turning to Egypt (and not to YHWH) in the hope of breaking free from Assyria’s yoke.

Hosea 6:5

‘And my judgment will go forth as the light (or ‘as the sun’, the ‘greater light’ of Genesis 1:15-16).’Using the same consonants as the MT but repointing (the pointing is not a part of the original text) YHWH now points out that because of their failure in covenant faithfulness and covenant love He is about to send forth His judgment which will come on them in the same way as the sun (or the morning light) causes the night to disappear. Thus like their covenant love, they themselves will soon ‘go early away’. Unlike the morning mist the sun (or period of light) lasts throughout the day, an indication of the certainty of God’s purposes. For the Hebrew word for ‘light’ being used to denote the ‘sun’ compare Judges 5:31, and see also Habakkuk 3:4.The MT (Masoretic Text) reads, ‘your judgments are as the light (sun) which goes forth’. In that case ‘your judgments’ speaks of ‘the judgments which have come upon you’, and sees them as being as permanent and effective as the sun. But the original Hebrew text was simply composed of consonants with no joins between the words, and the reading suggested above is a translation of the MT consonants divided up in a slightly different way, using different vowel sounds. (The vowel signs were provided by the Masoretes some centuries after the coming of Christ and are therefore not an essential part of Scripture).

Hosea 6:6

‘For I desire covenant love, and not sacrifice,And the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.’The reason for God’s judgment on Israel and Judah is now explained. It will be because their religion has been both false and formal. It was true that they were continually offering sacrifices and burnt offerings, even doing it in the name of YHWH, but they were doing it on the basis that they were, as it were, engaged in a kind of bargain. Their idea was that they played their part in offering their gifts and the gods were then expected to play theirs by sending the rain and causing the earth to be fruitful, regardless of how the ‘worshippers’ behaved. Each scratched the back of the other. But YHWH is pointing out that He is not just ‘one of the gods’.

He is not so limited. He is the living God Who requires covenant love, resulting in obedience to His moral and religious requirements (both of which were being ignored), rather than sacrifices used simply as a formal bargaining counter.

Sacrifices were, of course acceptable to Him when presented in the right way and from the right motive, for He Himself had ordained them. But they were not acceptable if they were not offered by those whose hearts were full of love and obedience, for that was indeed the whole point of them, as Samuel had previously made clear (1 Samuel 15:22).Furthermore He required that they come to a true knowledge and awareness of Himself, without which burnt offerings were pointless. Dedicatory offerings were meaningless unless they were presented to One Whom they knew in their own spiritual experience, and to Whom they rendered obedience on the basis of that knowledge. For if they truly knew God they would not allow social injustice (see Hosea 4:2), nor would they engage in false sacrifices in cultic centres and at shrines on the mountains (Hosea 4:13; Hosea 8:11). This was the same point that Isaiah, the Judean prophet, would soon equally stress in Isaiah 1:11-18. (Compare also Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Psalms 51:16-17). It was the final explanation as to why there could be nothing but judgment in the short term.

Hosea 6:7-7

The Sinfulness Of Israel/Ephraim Is Totally Exposed And Judah Is Briefly Warned Of What Will Come On Them As Well (Hosea 6:7 to Hosea 7:2). The sinfulness of Israel is now exposed commencing from Gilead (Hosea 6:8), and moving through Shechem (Hosea 6:9) to Samaria (Hosea 7:1). They are revealed as covenant breakers (seen as a gross sin in those days) and murderers (Hosea 6:7-8), their priests are exposed as murderers, highway robbers and perpetrators of ‘mischief or ‘heinous crime’ (Hosea 6:8), the house of Israel is found to be guilty of ‘whoredom’, both literal and spiritual, and Samaria is described as a place of ‘wickedness’ where falsehood abounds, theft is commonplace, and bandits await any who leave the city. But what they overlook is that YHWH remembers all their wickedness, and that what they do so gathers round them as a spectacle that it is openly apparent before the face of YHWH.And this occurs despite YHWH’s desire to restore them (Hosea 6:11 to Hosea 7:1 a), a desire which proves futile because it only helps to reveal their sinfulness. Judah also are warned in a brief aside that they too have a harvest of judgment to reap (compare Matthew 13:30 for the idea of a harvest of judgment).Analysis of Hos 6:7 to Hosea 7:2. a But they like Adam (or ‘like men’) have transgressed the covenant. There have they dealt treacherously against me (Hosea 6:7).b Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity, it is stained with blood (Hosea 6:8).c And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way towards Shechem. Yes, they have committed mischief (Hosea 6:9).d In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, there whoredom is found in Ephraim (Hosea 6:10 a).e Israel is defiled (Hosea 6:10 b).f Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you (Hosea 6:11 a).e In my bringing back the captivity of my people, when I would heal Israel (Hosea 6:11 to Hosea 7:1 a).d Then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria (Hosea 7:1 b).c For they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the troop of robbers ravages without (Hosea 7:1 c).b And they consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness (Hosea 7:2 a).a Now have their own doings beset them about, they are before my face (Hosea 7:2 b).Note that in ‘a’ they have, like Adam, transgressed God’s covenant, and have dealt treacherously against Him, and in the parallel their own doings beset them about, and they are ‘before His face’ (compare how though Adam hid ‘from the face of YHWH’ in Genesis 3:8, he too had necessarily been ‘before His face’). In ‘b’ the iniquity of Gilead is revealed, and in the parallel their wickedness is remembered by God. In ‘c’ the priests are like troops of robbers, and they commit ‘indecency’, and in the parallel a troop of robbers ravages without, and Ephraim commit falsehood. In ‘d’ whoredom is found in Ephraim, and in the parallel the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered.

In ‘e’ Israel is defiled, and in the parallel YHWH desired to heal Israel from her defilement. Centrally in ‘f’ a harvest of judgment is also appointed for Judah.

Hosea 6:9-10

And as troops of robbers wait for a man,So the company of priests murder in the way towards Shechem,Yes, they have committed mischief (or ‘a heinous crime’),In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing,There whoredom is found in Ephraim,Israel is defiled.Just as Gilead was a city of blood, so was Shechem. But even worse in this case was that, (if we take it literally), the blood was being shed by priests who were acting as bandits. They (or their appointees) would wait in the road that led to Shechem and murder people for their possessions. The word translated ‘mischief’ can mean a heinous crime. However, the comparison ‘as troops of robbers wait for a man’ may suggest that we are to see the reference to the priests’ activities as to be interpreted metaphorically with the idea being that by their activities as priests of the false cult they are symbolically ‘murdering men’. This would tie in well with the words that follow, where the activities of the false cult are certainly in mind.

But the literal interpretation appears more likely. In that case the reference to ‘the house of Israel’ must be seen as bringing up a new sin, the practise of idolatry accompanied by sacred prostitution. The ‘house of Israel’ may refer to the cult temple at either Shechem or Bethel. Both were ancient sanctuaries. And this would fit well with the use of ‘there’. However, the general use of the phrase by Hosea is to refer to the people of Israel (Hosea 4:1; Hosea 4:6; Hosea 5:1; Hosea 11:12), in which case the crime of which they are guilty is both spiritual and literal whoredom by engaging in the activities of the false cult.

The horror with which this was looked on comes out in the description of it as a ‘horrible thing’. It left Israel/Ephraim totally defiled.

Hosea 6:11-7

In my bringing back the captivity (distressed state) of my people,‘When I would heal Israel,Then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered,And the wickedness of Samaria,For they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in,And the troop of robbers ravages without.’Having given his warning shot to Judah Hosea immediately turns back to Israel, citing the words of YHWH. He does not want to divert attention from what He is saying to Israel/Ephraim. The word rendered ‘captivity’ may indicate that, in an attempt to heal Israel, YHWH was preparing to arrange for those already in exile to be returned, or it may simply indicate the distressed state into which Israel had fallen from which He wished to restore them. Either way His attempt fails because in seeking to attempt it He somehow ‘uncovers the iniquity of Ephraim’, and ‘the wickedness of Samaria’. Such language is of course anthropomorphic. His attempts may have taken place through men who were taking part in negotiations with Assyria, during which the perfidy of Israel was revealed.

In mind may be attempts to parley with Assyria and leave the parts of Israel which had been captured in their hands as part of the price of relative freedom. In YHWH’s eyes this would have been seen as treachery indeed (Hosea 6:7). But primary to the verse is the fact of the sin that ‘His investigation’ has turned up. They were committing falsehood, there were a multiplicity of thieves breaking into other people’s properties, and the roads were unfit to travel because of lurking bandits (possibly partly to do with the priests in Hosea 6:9). Israel and Samaria are now therefore revealed as a hotbed of lawlessness. Justice is almost non-existent.

This was the consequence of having lawless kings who were simply adventurers.