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).

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. 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; Isaiah 55:10) 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; 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). 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 Hosea 6:1.

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.