For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Hosea 14:1-9

1 Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
    we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
    to what our own hands have made,
    for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

4 “I will heal their waywardness
    and love them freely,
    for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
    he will send down his roots;
6     his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again in his shade;
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
    the righteous walk in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

A. Find Out:

1. What does Hosea exhort Israel to do? v.1,2
2. What 3 things do they need to realise? v.3
3. What does the Lord want to do with Israel? v.4,5a
4. How does He picture Israel? v.5b-7
5. What does He yearn to do? v.8
6. Who does He look for to do what? v.9

B. Think:

1. What would be the answer to all Israel’s problems?
2. What picture encouragement does the Lord give to aid this?
3. What will it take for it to happen?

C. Comment:

This last chapter is almost a heart yearning of the Lord. There is first the cry of the prophet to the people, reflecting God’s heart, to come back to God. In the light of the verses that follow there is almost a gentle pleading in it. The call is to ask for forgiveness, to recognise that other nations can’t help, their own strength can’t help and idols certainly can’t help, only the Lord can.

Then comes the Lord’s response, which must be seen as a response IF that happens. Almost as an encouragement to repent He tells them what He will do IF they come back to Him: He will heal them, love them, be a source of life and refreshment to them, care for them.

They could be like a tall, strong cedar, beautiful to behold, that would provide shade and protection for many others to come to. They could be like the corn or a vine at harvest time that produces sustenance and pleasure for many others. If only they could see their potential and turn away from all the things the Lord has spoken against and come back to Him. Then all these things could be theirs again. It simply needs them to be wise and to face their present state and its causes and come back. There is here a cry of hope from the Lord, it is a winning cry that any wise person would heed, yet, tragically, Israel will not heed it!

D. Application:

1. The Lord’s judgement is always mixed with desire for mercy.
2. Mercy is dependant on repentance. No fudging the issues!