Hosea 14

The final chapter of this wonderful book ends with a plea and a message of hope. “O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity; take words with you, and return to the LORD. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips’” (vs. 1-2). Part of that repentance is acknowledging that “Assyria will not save us” (v. 3), and a denunciation of idol worship (v. 3). Unfortunately, this won’t happen in the northern tribes for nearly two centuries.

But if they would “return to the Lord your God”—and this is equally valid to us—God would “heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (v. 4). There are some beautiful metaphors to describe God’s blessings upon Israel: “I will be like the dew…he shall grow like the lily” (v. 5); “his branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon” (v. 6). Lebanon was famous for its magnificent cedar trees, which smell delightful. Israel would be “revived like grain and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon,” (v. 7), so that commodity must have been enchanting as well. With this repentance, Ephraim would turn from idols and finds its “fruit” in Jehovah (v. 8). Verse 9 is an excellent closing statement: “Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” That is a message that is as needed today as it was 2700+ years ago when Hosea first wrote it.

Next:  the book of Joel