RESTORING THE REPENTANT

JANUARY 6, 2013

·         In verses 4 thru 11 we see the fate of those who forget God.

1.     NEED OF REPENTANCE  (HOSEA 13:4-6)

4 Yet I have been the LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.

·         In a special sense, the Lord has been their God since their deliverance from Egypt, after which they acknowledged Him and entered into a solemn Covenant with Him.

·         A man may work out a plan of salvation for themselves, but Jesus is the only Saviour.

 5 I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.

·         “In the land of drought” literally means , "the land of fever." 

·         It can refer to a hot and dry land, and also probably to the illnesses which struck Israel in the days of wandering.

6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore, they forgot Me.

NASB

·         They imagined that it was their observance of the agricultural ritual which brought them food and drink, and so they forgot the Lord.

(T)hey were elated with their plenty, and grew proud and haughty, and attributed their fulness not to the goodness of God, but to their own excellency and merit; and put their trust and confidence in their affluence, and not in the Lord; and thought themselves safe and secure, and out of all danger, and concluded it would never be otherwise with them:

John Gill’s Commentary

2.     CALL THE REPENTANCE (HOSEA 14:1-3)

1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

·         This is a simple, but emphatic, call for Israel to return to her God. 

·         This call is given in hope with a great sense of urgency, but before repentance can take place, there must be the recognition and confession of sin.

“stumbled”

into sin, and by it into ruin, temporal and spiritual; from a state of great prosperity and happiness, both in things civil and religious, into great adversity, and calamities of every sort;

John Gill’s Commentary

 2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity, And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.

·         In the original "words" is translated either as "confession" or "deeds." 

·         If the former, then Israel must acknowledge and confess her sins. 

·         If the latter, Israel must perform deeds that prove her turning away from sin.

·         “Confession” fits best as the other would tend to teach that one must have deeds before coming to God.

Not mere words without the heart, but such as come from it, and express the true sense of it;

John Gill’s Commentary

“fruit”= a bullock (apparently as breaking forth in wild strength, or perhaps as dividing the hoof—Strong’s definition

not calves, bullocks, and oxen, for sacrifice, as under the law; but the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for pardoning grace, for a justifying righteousness, and for all good things: these are the fruit of the lips,

John Gill’s Commentary

 3 "Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, 'Our god,' To the work of our hands; For in Thee the orphan finds mercy."

NASB

·         Manmade treaties, provision for war, nor any other so-called god can save anyone.

3.     RESULTS OF REPENTANCE (HOSEA 14:4-8)

4 I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.

·         If Israel met the conditions in V.1-3 of coming back to God, then He would

-          heal their backsliding 

-          love them freely once more as He did when she was a slave in Egypt. 

-          turn His anger away from them by virtue of the people's repentance.

God, in answer, promises to "heal" that wound of their souls, from where every other evil came, their fickleness and unsteadfastness.

(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

Before, He had said, "his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up" (Hos 13:15). Now again He enlarges the blessing; their supply shall be unfailing, for it shall be from God;

(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

·         The blessings that would accompany God's forgiveness will be numerous and satisfying.

6 His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree, And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

·         God's goodness will not only restore her but make her beautiful, fruitful, deep-rooted, and fragrant in the world.

·         All of which are due to the forgiving love of the Lord and not to any merits of the nation or its people.

7 Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

·         This new status of Israel is obtained only when they return to Him in true repentance. 

·         Along with the spiritual blessings will be material prosperity of the people.

7 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.

KJV

…being, as it were, dead, they shall not only live again with renewed life, but shall even increase.

(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; From Me comes your fruit.

NASB

This is entire conversion, to part wholly with everything which would dispute the allegiance with God, to cease to look to any created thing or being,

(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

·         There is a day coming when Ephraim will see that he's made a great blunder and mistake and will return to God. God is going to win

·         That is the reason it is so urgent that we know His Word -- to find out how to stay in His will in this time in which we are living.

·         Cypress trees do not bear fruit, but are used to provide shade and as windbreaks.

4.     WISDOM OF REPENTANCE (HOSEA 14:9)

9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.

NASB

·         This is an exhortation to the prudent reader to "understand these things”.

·         In other words, there are principles given here that can be applied to believers of every time and place.

The prophet says this, not of the words in which he had spoken, but of the substance. He does not mean that his style was obscure, or that he had delivered the message of God in a way difficult to be understood. This would have been to fail of his object. Nor does he mean that human acuteness is the key to the things of God. He means that those only of a certain character, those "wise," through God, unto God, will understand the things of God.

(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)