Deeper Commentary

Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for He has torn us to pieces, and He will heal us; He has injured us, and He will bind up our wounds- This threatened attack by the lion of Hos. 5:15 has now happened. In the analogy, an animal torn to pieces by a lion is dead and cannot be healed. But Hosea appeals for repentance amongst the remnant in line with God's hope that they would repent in Hos. 5:15. Their revival would be a miracle because it would be like resurrecting (:2) and healing an animal torn to pieces by a lion. Hosea urges them to understand that it was God who had done this; the invading armies were His hand. The idea of returning to God and being healed is found in Jeremiah in the context of the potential for the exiles to return from Babylon and re-establish God's Kingdom in the land (Jer. 30:17). Hosea's prophecy was encouraging them to do this. But the exiles who did return didn't do so seeking for such healing, and most preferred not to return to the land at all. The prophecy therefore looks ahead to the latter day repentance of Israel before the reestablishment of God's Kingdom in Israel under the Lord Jesus. But :1-3 are the fantasy of Yahweh that His people would say these words, just as Hosea fantasizes about Gomer's return to him and acceptance of his offer of a new marriage under a new covenant.

Healing is a major theme in Hosea. The other nations [cp. Gomer's lovers] could not heal Israel (Hos. 5:13), but Yahweh could, if they repented (Hos. 6:1 "Let us return / repent to Yahweh and He will heal us"). But He was hindered in that by their refusal to accept that healing (Hos. 7:1). The healing was in fact potentially done- they just had to accept it: "they didn’t know that it was I who healed them" (Hos. 11:3). Finally God simply states in Hos. 14:4 "I will heal their waywardness ["backsliding", "disloyalty"], I will love them freely", and they would again be fruitful. For Him. Despite 'healing' being predicated upon repentance (e.g. Jer. 3:22 "Return [repent], O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness", Ps. 30:2 "I cried to You [in repentance] and You healed me", Is. 6:10 "Understand... convert... and be healed"). It's as if God scraps even that basic requirement and wants to force through His desire for them to have a heart for Him; just as Hosea fain would have done this to the heart of Gomer but lacked the power to do so. Just as so many unrequited lovers would do for the object of their love.

In Hosea 2, Yahweh and Hosea offer their women a remarriage under a new covenant, seeing they had broken the old covenant. The offer of a new covenant in Ezekiel and Jeremiah involves the gift of a new heart to God's people, His spirit, His mind, a heart solely for Him. Jer. 3:22 is clear: "Return [repent], O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness". "I will restore... I will heal you... I will heal them and reveal unto them the abundance of peace [with God]" (Jer. 30:17; 33:6). The wonder of Jer. 30:12-15 is that the wounds which are "incurable" would be healed by God. He could do the psychologically impossible, through the gift of His spirit which would accompany the new covenant. This is available to us who have accepted the new covenant today. It's why and how believers are psychologically transformed.

This is the same idea as in Hos. 14:4. Their disloyalty would be healed, their unfaithful mind would be changed. We are helped to understand this by the Hosea-Gomer situation. He desperately wanted her to love him, to have a heart for him, and not constantly looking at other men and committing adultery. It was His hope that she would one day love him, and he would do anything to give her such a heart. Israel had a heart for the idols and not for Yahweh, just as Gomer is presented as a sex addict who is mentally enslaved to her addiction. But Yahweh earnestly wanted to heal their heart. This is Hosea's form of the offer of a new heart and spirit to Israel, which was part of the new covenant offered in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. That healing is offered to Israel, but they refuse. Until at the very end, in Hos. 14:4, God seems to as it were force through His plan with them. We who have willingly signed up to the new covenant have even more ample access to this spirit. If we want it- we will be given it. And we potentially have it.

Hos 6:2 After two days He will revive us. On the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him- The two and three days may simply mean that if Israel were to repent and seek healing (see on :1), then literally in a matter of days afterwards they would have a national revival, akin to resurrection. 'Two or three' means 'a few' in Is. 17:6; Lk. 13:32,33. See on Hos. 8:10. Another option is that the two days are two days of judgment, upon Israel and Judah. The third day or time of judgment was intended to be their salvation, but still the Divine program had to be extended. The Assyrians were about to overrun Israel and the Babylonian threat was about to burst upon Judah, later in Hosea's ministry. We could just read this literally- that Yahweh could turn things around within a matter of a few days. But Israel would not. It is not over interpretation to see these words as applicable to the Lord's death and resurrection. After all, we must give due weight to 1 Cor. 15:4: "Christ rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures". Which Scriptures speak of a resurrection on the third day? The pattern of Jonah is only an indirect teaching. This passage in Hosea would appear the only diret prophecy of a resurrection on the third day. And we can also legitimately translate "he will raise him up".  "And we shall live in his sight" then becomes the message that His resurrection becomes the pattern and possibility for that of all God's people.  

 

 

As explained on :1, an animal caught by a lion and torn to pieces is dead. To speak of it being healed is therefore tantamount to a belief in resurrection. The wounds which were to be healed speak of the spiritual sickness of Israel; this was to be cured, so that the spiritually revived nation would live with new life "before Him".  Sin would no longer be a barrier precluding being in His presence, and again they would be "before Him" as His covenant people. Literally the Hebrew is "to live in His sight", which would imply in the land of promise (2 Kings 17:20). The restoration fro exile is in view.  The same word for "revive" is repeatedly used in Ez. 37 of how the dry bones of Israel in captivity would be revived, given life by the Spirit which was to be the gift of the new covenant they would enter with God. And Hosea concludes with the hope that such revival would come to Israel (Hos. 14:7). The gift of revival, of spiritual life, would be given when they sought the Lord (Am. 5:4 s.w.). Hosea likewise in his distress over Gomer had oscillated between wanting to kill her and yet dreaming of an outdoor wedding ceremony when he remarries her and they then bring forth fruit (Hos. 2). But this didn't happen. And neither did it happen between God and His people after the restoration from Babylon. And so the prophecy and the promised gift of spiritual life has been recalculated and reapplied- to us. Note that it is God who does the reviving; always the work of the Spirit is of His initiative. We see a clear reference to the idea of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus "on the third day". And it becomes a description of Israel seeking to repent in the last days, wishing to associate themselves with the resurrection of Christ, so that when He returns they might share in it. Israelite repentance is a condition for the Lord’s return.

Hos 6:3 Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh- Again this is the fantasy of God for Israel, as it was Hosea's for Gomer, that they would say these words. Israel, like Gomer regarding Hosea, never denied Yahweh. They acknowledged Him as their God, as Gomer acknowledged Hosea as her husband. But they only knew about Yahweh, rather than knowing Him in personal relationship. To "know Yahweh" would bring about the appearance of a Messianic Kingdom in the terms of the second stanza of this verse. But it was repentance which would bring that about (see on Hos. 5:15). This is to know God. And so often, Christian groups have become so fixated with knowing about God, correctly interpreting this or that Bible passage or theme, enshrining it in their statements of faith, that they have not known Yahweh in terms of personal relationship. All the failures of natural Israel are warnings to Israel after the Spirit. True theology is all about the radical transformation of human life in practice. The AV is helpful: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord". If we seek that relationship - knowledge with Him, "then shall we know". The Lord maybe alluded to this passage in teaching that if anyone seeks to know God's will and do it, i.e. to have relationship with Him, then he will intuitively know or discern true doctrine or teaching; see on Jn. 7:17.

 

As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth- Ps. 72:6 and Mal. 4:2 use exactly this imagery to describe the Messianic Kingdom to be established at the return of the Lord Jesus. The gift of rain was to be the result of obedience (Dt. 11:14), but the obedience required was simply repentance and a desire for relationship with God. The return from exile could have potentially seen the Kingdom of God re-established in Israel under a Messianic king. But so much potential was wasted. Yahweh would have appeared, so that as Ez. 48 concludes, the rebuilt temple was known as the place where 'Yahweh is there', in some form. But the Jews did not repent, nor did they rebuild the temple nor manage it according to the commands of Ez. 40-48.

Yahweh's love for Israel is as certain as the dawn, as the sun coming up. He loved them with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). But this figure is repeated in :4; Israel's love for God was like the dew that appears at dawn but is banished away by the rising sun. It's a pathetic figure of Divine love being rejected and not achieving response. God desired steadfast love, like His for Israel (:6), not temporary love.

Hos 6:4 Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early- As often in the prophets, the personal pronouns change. Hosea has been speaking in :3, and now God Himself directly appeals to the people; Hosea is so taken over with God's Spirit and identity with God's cause that he speaks for God in the first person. God's feelings here were exactly how Hosea had felt about Gomer, desperate to do something which would make her love him in truth rather than just as an appearance. The morning dew cloud disappears as the sun rises; but in :3, the sunrise has been used of the coming of Messiah and reestablishment of the Kingdom (as in Mal. 4:2). Instead of that sunrise, there was another one. The same language of the morning cloud vanishing is used of Israel themselves in Hos. 13:3; their attitude to God was them. And so we too are ultimately defined by our attitude towards God.

Hos 6:5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I slew them with the words of My mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning- God's word hewed Israel like a hammer (Jer. 23:29); and the lightning flashes recall the cherubim of Ezekiel's visions. God's word is presented here as His actions. His word of slaughter was as if they had been slain; just as in creation, He spoke and it was done. As noted on Hos. 5:11, God's judgements against Israel happened as soon as they were spoken; yet there was a gap between the statement being uttered and it being actualized on earth. In that gap, with Israel already under condemnation, they could change the verdict by their repentance. Paul develops this theme in his legal argument in Rom. 1-8. We too stand in that gap, condemned at the present judgment seat of God; and yet in Christ we can change the verdict. This gives intensity to life, and deep gratitude for the freedom from condemnation we now experience in the Lord Jesus. See on Hos. 8:8.

The "flash of lightning" or "storm" may refer to Baal as the supposed storm god who threw bolts of lightning in judgment. Yahweh would act as they imagined Baal to act.

Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings- Showing mercy is here paralleled with the knowledge of God. I explained on :3 that the knowledge of God in terms of relationship meant repentance and the grateful receiving of forgiveness by His grace. This is here paralleled with our showing mercy. For we cannot really experience that forgiveness without in turn showing mercy to others. We will forgive, as we have been forgiven. If we do not forgive, then we have not really known forgiveness on a personal level. The simple cure for unforgiveness is to let ourselves be convicted of the weight of our personal sins, and on that basis to allow our forgiveness of others to follow as part of a natural process. Mic. 6:6-8 makes the same point- that ritual sacrifice, even of ones own child, is not required [even under the old covenant] as much as loving mercy and humility before God as a result of realizing our sinfulness.

"Mercy" [hesed] is parallel with 'knowing God'. Experience of relationship with God, if it is legitimate, results in a merciful attitude to others. But Israel were abusive of others within their society, because they had not been humbled by God's mercy towards them. But hesed can as well mean 'covenant love'. To know God is to be in covenant love with Him. To love God is to know Him, and vice versa. Knowledge of God is thus defined not as technical knowledge in brain cells, but intimacy in relationship. And that is what divides those claiming the Name of Jesus- those who know Him, and those who still have only technical knowledge of Him. The conversion to intimacy in relationship often comes at some point after initial 'conversion' to Christ. In the Hosea-Gomer parallel, we see Hosea so earnestly wishing for intimacy with Gomer, when instead she only gave him the external signs of her loyalty. "I desire mercy" can as well be translated "I love covenant love". We can touch the heart of God by loving Him and being intimate with Him.

In the Hosea-Gomer context, Hosea wanted Gomer to love him, with hesed love, rather than excuse herself by saying she must offer sacrifices- which involved her sleeping with the offerers. For she was a cult prostitute. So "love me, rather than offering your sacrifices supposedly to Yahweh but actually to Baal, with all the sex stuff that goes with that" is what Hosea felt with her. He wanted her hesed , her covenant love, the love of marriage and commited relationship, her intimacy in relationship; he wanted the gift of her love for him, not physical gifts, tokenistic love. The Lord in His quotations of Hos. 6:6, sees this as being no better than trusting in works rather than grace for salvation, and refusing to fellowship with sinners.

Hos. 6:6 is twice quoted by the Lord (Mt. 9:13; 12:7). He clearly saw it as programmatic. He used it as the rationale for why He had an open table for sinners: "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?... He said: They that are sick need a doctor, not they that are healthy. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I come not to call the righteous but sinners". The context of Hos. 6:6 (from where the Lord was quoting) was of God appealing to a deeply apostate Israel through the situation of Hosea and Gomer. He appeals for her to show hesed, covenant love ("mercy"), and not just give the external appearances of a marriage relationship (cp. offering sacrifices). Here in the Capernaum incident, the Lord is saying that He fellowships with sinners because God loves the display of grace rather than technical obedience. If God wishes hesed, covenant love, from us, then how do we show it? By fellowshipping with sinners and thereby calling them to repentance. The love which God wishes us to show to Him is channelled in practice through calling others to repentance. For that is the greatest display of love for Him. And if that principle is followed, then we will be lead through the practice of such grace to never condemn the guiltless (this is how the Lord uses Hos. 6:6 in Mt. 12:7). Covenant love, hesed, meant for the Lord- an open table to sinners, not being critical in a casuistic sense, showing grace. If we don't do this, we fail to be truly in covenant with God. Israel had broken the old covenant, which required animal sacrifices. This demand for hesed covenant love, rather than sacrifice, can be read as part of God's offer of a new covenant. Based on love and grace rather than sacrifice, just as Hosea offered Gomer a new marriage on the basis of love, without sacrifices and the sex rituals that went with them.

If the Pharisees had grasped grace, they would not have condemned the disciples for a technical infringement of the law by making flour on the Sabbath. It is in this context that Hos. 6:6 is quoted by the Lord in Mt. 12:7. These two Hebrew words sound similar to each other- mercy / grace is so identified with God's passion and desire. The same Hebrew words are to be found in the statements that He desires / delights in grace / mercy (Jer. 9:24; Mic. 7:18). If He delights in forgiveness and grace, then we should also; His passion should be ours. This of itself outlaws the critical eyes of the Pharisees, noticing the disciples' infringement of a law and feeling the need to 'take up the matter' with them. And it will be the same with us. The human tendency to observe others with eyes of criticism and sensitivity to their weaknesses will be displaced if we simply delight in mercy. The Hosea passage goes on to condemn the Jewish religious leadership in language which the Lord clearly used in constructing the parable of the good Samaritan: "As troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent" (Hos. 6:8). But there's a subtle twist- the priest in the Lord's story passed by on the other side and simply did nothing. That inaction is paralleled with being as bad as the thieves themselves. The priest was returning from having offered sacrifice, but he didn't show mercy- and God wants mercy and not sacrifice. Note that the passage in Hos. 6:6 is perhaps purposefully ambiguous. It could mean 'I want to see you showing mercy, and not [so much offering] sacrifice'; or it could mean 'I myself want / love / delight in [showing] mercy rather than [receiving] sacrifice'. The ambiguity is because God's will / love / delight should be ours. And we can read the quotation of that passage in Mt. 12:7 with the same double meaning. His passion for grace must be ours, and this precludes looking critically at others, eager to perceive their breaches of our perceptions of God's law.

Just as Gomer claimed to "know" Hosea, so Israel cried out that “My God, we [do] know You” (Hos. 8:2). Israel’s attitude to the Law can so easily be our attitude to God and to the first principles of the Gospel, the New Covenant, in which we stand. We can ‘know’ it all, and externally keep it… but in reality not know it at all, focusing on the external sacrifices whilst knowing nothing of the God we supposedly worship. All this was exemplified by Gomer being an observant Jewess, whilst worshipping Baal and living a shameful life. She broke the marriage covenant as Israel like Adam “transgressed the covenant” (6:7; Hos. 8:1). Israel / Gomer knew the Law on one level, but “the great things of my law… were counted as a strange thing” (Hos. 8:12). They called upon the Most High, but refused to exalt Him in their hearts (Hos. 11:7). The very experience and fact of ‘knowing’ God’s word on a surface level, as academic theology, can mask the fact that to ‘know’ Him in practice is quite a different thing. The simple possession of the right knowledge about Him can of itself deceive us. This ought to provoke constant self-examination. As Gomer protested that she 'knew' Hosea and was in covenant relationship with him, so Israel did to God. Hosea’s reference to daath elohim, the knowledge of God, has been observed as strikingly intimate, hinting as it does of God ‘knowing’ His people and them knowing Him, in the same way as a man ‘knows’ a woman. Hence the utter pain of Hos. 5:4: “The spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not [i.e. sexually] the Lord”- although they ‘knew’ so many others, they were sexually obsessed. This was God’s pain, lived out by Hosea. It was that very “knowledge of God” which He desired, rather than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6). For as Amos put it, “You only have I known…” (Am. 3:2).

 

Hos 6:7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant- The basis for this was Gomer breaking her marriage covenant with Hosea by adultery. Covenant breaking is as marital unfaithfulness. Adam's sin was in attempting to cover his sin and refusing to repent (Job 31:33). But we may well ask, What covenant did Adam break by his simple act of disobedience? I suggested in commentary upon Gen. 1-3 that the land of Eden with its sanctuary was the eretz promised to Israel, with the temple within it; and Adam's exile eastward for breaking the covenant was matched by Israel's exile to the east. The covenant was simple- he was to care for the land / garden, and not eat the forbidden fruit. Although he was not immortal, if he did that, he would live for ever. Eternity is that simple. Or it could have been for Adam, and also for Israel.

 

 Adam being a sinner is used here as representative of the Jews, inadequately covered by the fig leaves which represented the Jewish way of covering sin. Their glossy appearance which soon faded well represented the inadequacy of this method. 

 

They were unfaithful to Me, there- The "there" is very hard to interpret unless we accept that as suggested above, there was a parallel intended between the garden of Eden with its sanctuary, and the eretz promised to Israel with its sanctuary in Jerusalem. Adam and Israel broke their covenant relationship in the same place, the eretz of Eden. Alternatively we can read "Adam" as the geographical location at which they entered the promised land. Hence, "there" they were unfaithful to me, and this would fit with the geographical references in the next verse.

Hos 6:8 Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood- "Blood" often stands for guiltiness for blood, and in :9 we see that the priests were actually murdering the faithful. There may also be reference to the men of Gilead killing the king Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:25). Gilead was perhaps a location where this happened, and Hosea went there to rebuke them. It was a shrine of false worship, where pagan sacrifices were made in the name of Yahweh worship (Hos. 12:11). Gilead had been intended as a city of refuge from the guilt of innocent blood, but instead it was stained with its own guilt for blood. So much Divine potential was wasted, as it is today; it all makes God an almost tragic figure. How thrilled He must be that we at least try to perceive the potentials and realize them.

Hos 6:9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes- As noted on Hos. 5:1,2, this could refer to ambushes of the faithful Israelites on their way to Jerusalem for Godly worship. The road near Shechem was where such pilgrims would have passed. The LXX supports this view by rendering: "The priests have hid the way". Shechem as Gilead was a city of refuge; those seeking refuge were slain by the priests who should have saved them. Or perhaps here we have an example of extreme language [here, of murder] being used about those things which would be judged far less severely in human eyes; akin to the Lord teaching that hatred in the heart is the same as murder. The road to the main idolatrous shrine at Bethel passed by Shechem, and perhaps the encouragement of the priests to go there and worship the calves was tantamount to spiritual murder. "The company of priests" is elsewhere translated 'the charming / enchantment'. Hosea was a faithful worshipper of Yahweh, married to a woman who slept with the priests as part of her cult prostitution. And those men were murdering Hosea's brethren. For all we know he may himself have been a priest.

Hos 6:10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled- The "I" in the context appears to be God. But this could also be an interjection from Hosea, as if he was shocked now that he realized the extent to which Ephraim had been adulterous against God Himself. We certainly get the impression of shock. God is omnipotent and yet He limits His power; and He may limit His omniscience in order to enter into relationship with us. Hence He speaks of His disappointments and dashed hopes; "surely they will reverence My Son" is the acutest example. And so even God was as it were shocked at the realization of the extent of Israel's unfaithfulness, just as Hosea was with Gomer. See on Hos. 7:1. The idea that 'God has now seen the prostitution in Israel' reflects how on one hand, Hosea knew Gomer was a whore. Even before he married her. But the full realization of it only dawned later. And so it was with God almighty. If we enquire why there was this delayed recognition of reality... the answer is one word. Love.

Hos 6:11 Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people- The idea may be that the men of Judah at that time would reap a harvest of condemnation when the fortunes of Israel were restored at Messiah's coming, and the dead raised and judged. This is the idea expressed in Mt. 23:39; see note there. This will be the reason for the weeping and gnashing of teeth by the rejected; seeing others saved and themselves rejected eternally. The restoration of the fortunes of God's people was intended to happen at the return from exile in Babylon (Jer. 30:3; Am. 9:14); but it did not, and has been reinterpreted and recalculated as our restoration in Christ, to be literally realized at the Lord's return to earth (Zeph. 3:20). Judah and Israel were sowing, as we are, according to our way of life now; and there will for sure be the harvest of this at judgment day (Hos. 8:7; 10:13).

Judah's "appointed" time of judgment was when the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time. For this is when Hosea was prophesying. But just as Hezekiah's time of death was delayed, God is so open that this appointed time was also delayed.