Hosea 14

Chapter Overview

What happens in Hosea 14

The book ends with a beautiful call to repentance and a stunning promise of restoration. God invites Israel to return to Him with words of confession. He promises to heal their unfaithfulness, love them freely, and make them flourish like a lush garden.

Scripture

Return to the LORD

Study note

God gives Israel the exact words to say when they return to Him. They should ask God to forgive all their sin and receive them with grace. They should confess that Assyria cannot save them, that military power cannot protect them, and that they will never again call the things they made with their own hands 'our gods.' They acknowledge that only in God do the helpless find mercy.

1 Come back to the LORD your God, Israel! Your sins have caused you to crash and burn. O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

2 Bring honest, heartfelt words when you return to the LORD. Say to him, "Please forgive all our sins. Accept what is good in us. The praise from our lips will be our offering to you." Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

3 "Assyria cannot save us. We will not put our hope in warhorses. We will never again worship the things our own hands built. Because only you show mercy to the orphan and the helpless." Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

God's Promise of Healing

Study note

God responds with one of the most beautiful promises in all of Scripture. He will heal their unfaithfulness and love them freely, because His anger has turned away. He will be like refreshing dew to Israel. They will blossom like the lily, take root like the cedars of Lebanon, and spread their branches wide. They will be as beautiful as an olive tree and as fragrant as the forests of Lebanon. People will live again in God's shade, growing like grain and blossoming like the vine. Even Ephraim will finally say, 'What do I have to do with idols anymore?'

4 "I will heal their habit of wandering away from me. I will love them freely and generously, because my anger toward them has melted away." I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

5 I will be like refreshing dew to Israel. He will bloom like a lily and sink strong roots deep into the ground like the cedars of Lebanon. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

6 His branches will stretch out wide. He will be as beautiful as an olive tree and smell as wonderful as the cedars of Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

7 People will come and live in his shade again. They will flourish like fields of grain and bloom like grapevines. They will be as famous as the finest wine from Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim will finally say, "I want nothing more to do with idols!" And I will answer him and watch over him closely. I am like an evergreen tree that never loses its leaves — everything fruitful in your life comes from me. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

A Word to the Wise

Study note

The book closes with a wisdom saying, inviting the reader to think carefully about everything that has been written. Those who are wise will understand these things. Those who are thoughtful will learn from them. The ways of the LORD are right, and righteous people walk in them, but those who rebel will stumble and fall.

9 Who is wise enough to take all of this to heart? Who is sharp enough to learn from these lessons? The LORD's ways are perfectly right. People who do right walk confidently along them, but rebels trip and crash. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Key Themes

Themes in Hosea 14

A model prayer of repentanceGod's free and unconditional love in restorationHealing of unfaithfulnessFlourishing like a well-watered garden

Apply This Today

Living Hosea 14

The book that began with unfaithfulness ends with a beautiful invitation to return. God even provides the words we can use to come back to Him. When we abandon our false securities and humbly confess our need, God promises to heal our waywardness, love us freely, and cause us to flourish beyond what we could imagine.

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