Reflections on Hosea 14

 Hosea 14  (Contemporary English Version)

1. Israel, return! Come back to the LORD, your God. Sin has made you fall.
   
2. Return to the LORD and say, "Please forgive our sins. Accept our good sacrifices of praise instead of bulls.
   
3. Assyria can't save us, and chariots can't help. So we will no longer worship the idols we have made. Our LORD, you show mercy to orphans."
   
4. Israel, you have rejected me, but my anger is gone; I will heal you and love you without limit.
   
5. I will be like the dew-- then you will blossom like lilies and have roots like a tree.
   
6. Your branches will spread with the beauty of an olive tree and with the aroma of Lebanon Forest.
   
7. You will rest in my shade, and your grain will grow. You will blossom like a vineyard and be famous as the wine from Lebanon.
   
8. Israel, give up your idols! I will answer your prayers and take care of you. I am that glorious tree, the source of your fruit.
   
9. If you are wise, you will know and understand what I mean. I am the LORD, and I lead you along the right path. If you obey me, we will walk together, but if you are wicked, you will stumble.

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Hosea calls on Israel to repent and even tells them how it should be done using the same 'formula' of what is referred to as 'the sinner's prayer.' First is to acknowledge their sin, "Forgive all our sin." Next is to express their desire to praise and worship the Lord. Finally they proclaim their trust in God alone. They could not depend on any other nation to save them and will no longer say, "our gods" to objects made with their own hands. They do all of this trusting that God will show them compassion.

Following Hosea's call for Israel to repent and turn to the Lord, the Lord spoke and assured them that in response to their repentance He would heal their apostasy, love them freely, and turn away His anger. With Israel's repentance and the turning away of the Lord's anger, Israel will again prosper. The nation will "blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon." This description of Israel's renewed prosperity is in stark contrast to the description in chapter 13 of her loss of prosperity due to her sin: "Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come, a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His water source will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder the treasury of every precious item." (13:15)

In Israel's renewed relationship with the Lord, she will live "beneath His shade," that is, Israel would live under the Lord's protection or protective shade. Once again, Israel will be a nation of renown. No longer will they have anything to do with idols. It will be the Lord they acknowledge as the One who answers their prayers and watches over them. It will be the Lord they recognize as the source of their fruit.

The book concludes with a word to the wise. Those who are wise will recognize that: The ways of the Lord are right, the righteous will walk in the ways of the Lord, and those who choose to rebel will stumble.