Context No. 3838 of 4322 · Hosea

Hosea 14:1-9: in context

1Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. 2Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good; so we offer bulls as we vowed of our lips. 3Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’ for in you the fatherless finds mercy.” 4“I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them. 5I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. 6His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.” 9Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

After all its warnings, Hosea ends with one of the tender calls to repentance in Scripture: return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. And, remarkably, God tells them what words to bring: take words with you and return to the LORD; say to him, forgive all iniquity and receive us graciously. He even puts the prayer of repentance in their mouths, and teaches them to renounce their false trusts, Assyria will not save us, we will no longer call the work of our hands our gods.

Then comes the gospel promise: I will heal their waywardness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away. God's response to their return is not grudging acceptance but free, healing love. He promises to be like the dew to them, so that they blossom like a lily and take root and flourish. This is the heart of a God who longs for his people to come home. The way back is always open; God even gives us the words, and he receives the returning not reluctantly but with a love freely poured out, healing what our wandering has broken.

Will I take the words of repentance God even gives me and return to him, trusting that he receives the wayward not grudgingly but with a free, healing love that makes the barren life blossom again?

Sources

Hosea 14:1-2: "Israel, return to the LORD your God... Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Tell him, Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good."
Hosea 14:4: "I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them."
Hosea 14:5: "I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon."