Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
Hosea 14
Repentance to Bring Blessing
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.
Application Notes
14:1-8 Hosea calls his people to repent from their sinful and destructive way of living and to turn back to God (14:1-3). If they would, then God promised restoration, both immediate and eternal. The imagery in these verses could be a reference to the covenant blessings Israel would receive if they would return to the Lord (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). But because the people did not repent, God had to punish them for their gross and repeated violations of his law. However, he would do so with a heavy heart. What God really wanted to do was restore the nation and make it prosper in every way. This is his desire for you as well, so repent of your sins and experience the fruitfulness found in a life lived in obedience to God.
14:1-2 The people could return to God by asking him to forgive their sins. We have the same choice today. We can pray Hosea's prayer and know our sins are forgiven because Jesus died for them on the cross (John 3:16).
The road to forgiveness begins when we discover the destructiveness of sin and the futility of life without God. Then we must admit we cannot save ourselves; our only hope is in God's mercy. When we request forgiveness, we must recognize that we do not deserve it and therefore cannot demand it. Our appeal must be for God's love and mercy. Although we cannot demand forgiveness, we can be confident that we have received it when we ask because God is gracious and loving and wants to restore us to himself, just as he wanted to restore Israel.
14:3-8 When your will is weak, when your thinking is confused, and when your ·conscience is burdened with a load of guilt, remember that God cares for you continually; his loving compassion never fails. When friends and family desert us, when coworkers don't understand us, and when we are tired of doing good, God's loving compassion never fails. When we can't see the way or seem to hear God's voice, or when we lack the courage to go on, God's loving compassion never fails. When our shortcomings and our awareness of our sins weigh us down, God's loving compassion never fails.
14:4 God not only forgives our lack of faith but also heals us as we grow in relationship with him. When we accept Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we are completely forgiven. In dealing with our strµggles day by day, we need to confess our sins to stay close to him. As we mature, our faith increases. God provides healing (14:4), refreshment (14:5), protection, and productive growth (14:7). Let us continually pray for his healing touch.
14:9 Hosea closes with an appeal to listen, learn, and benefit from God's word. To those receiving the Lord's message through Hosea, this meant the difference between life and death. For you, the reader of the book of Hosea, the choice is similar: you can either listen to the book's message and follow God's ways or refuse to walk along the Lord's path. But people who insist on following their own direction without God's guidance are “like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble” (Proverbs 4:19). If you are lost, you can find the way by turning from your sinful path and following God.
14:9 God's concern for justice that requires faithfulness and for love. that offers forgiveness can be seen in his dealings with Hosea. We can err by forgetting God's love and mercy and thereby feeling like we are hopelessly lost in our sins. But we can also err by forgetting his wrath against sin and thereby thinking he will continue to be merciful to us no matter how we act. Forgiveness is a keyword: When God forgives us, he judges our sin but shows mercy to us as sinners. We should never be afraid to come to God to receive a clean slate and a renewed life.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)