“Come, let’s go back to the Lord. He has hurt us, but he will heal us. He has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds. In two days he will put new life in us; on the third day he will raise us up so that we may live in his presence and know him. Let’s try to learn about the Lord; He will come to us as surely as the dawn comes. He will come to us like rain, like the spring rain that waters the ground.”
Hosea 6:1-3 NCV
Do you ever wonder if God ever wants to reveal Himself about how He really feel when He sees His own people turn away from Him? And about the people who decide to worship other gods instead of worshiping Him? Has God ever tried to tell His people how He felt? Yes, He has. Hosea represented God. God told Hosea to marry Gomer who was an unfaithful wife and she represented the people of Israel. Why? So the people could see the action of Hosea toward his unfaithful wife, Gomer and hear what God had to say through the prophet, Hosea. The whole book of Hosea was about Israel who acted like an unfaithful wife and how God tried to win Israel back to Him.
Hosea gives assurance that though God must judge sin, He always desires to heal and restore Israel. After repentance, God would bring renewed spiritual life. They would get to know the Lord better. God would come like the rain, bringing more spiritual life and blessing. Water is often used as a type of the Holy Spirit. This is a prophecy to Israel that Holy Spirit would come on the Day of Pentecost.
What does this mean to me? It touched my heart that He wants us to come back to Him and He wants to love us freely (14:4). God would come to us like the rain. Do you know what rain does? It brings life to the nature so does God who brings life to our spiritual being. Dear God, forgive us when we get too busy with things around us. You want us to come back to You and we thank You for that. Thank You for the book of Hosea that tells us more about You in Jesus’ name, amen.
