Read: Hosea 14 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Psalms 20–22; Acts 21:1–17
People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like the vine. Hosea 14:7
One of the most moving songs in the musical The Greatest Showman is “From Now On.” Sung after the main character comes to some painful self-realizations about the ways he’s wounded family and friends, the song celebrates the joy of coming back home and finding that what we already have is more than enough.
The book of Hosea concludes with a similar tone—one of breathless joy and gratitude at the restoration God makes possible for those who return to Him. Much of the book, which compares the relationship between God and His people to a relationship with an unfaithful spouse, grieves Israel’s failures to love Him and live for Him.
But in chapter 14, Hosea lifts up the promise of God’s boundless love, grace, and restoration—freely available to those who return to Him heartbroken over the ways they’ve abandoned Him (vv. 1–3). “I will heal their waywardness,” God promises, “and love them freely” (v. 4). And what had seemed broken beyond repair will once more find wholeness and abundance, as God’s grace, like dew, causes His people to “blossom like a lily” and “flourish like the grain” (vv. 5–7).
When we’ve hurt others or taken for granted God’s goodness in our life, it’s easy to assume we’ve forever marred the good gifts we’ve been given. But when we humbly turn to Him, we find His love is always reaching to embrace and restore.
Repentance to Bring Blessing
1Return, 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.[b]
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[c] 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.
REFLECTION
- When have you experienced or witnessed restoration beyond what seemed possible?
- In what areas of your life do you need reassurance of God’s promise to heal and restore?
The story of Hosea is remarkable! God tells His prophet to marry a promiscuous woman (Hosea 1:2–3)—one who would be repeatedly unfaithful. Why would God command this? Hosea’s sordid marriage to Gomer is a picture of the relationship between God and His unfaithful people. Israel and Judah were characterized by idolatry, a sin that included literal prostitution practiced by the cult of Baal. Gomer lives out this sin, and Hosea feels anguish similar to God’s. The disloyalty of His people resembles Gomer’s infidelity. Yet God instructs Hosea to rescue his wayward wife. Hosea buys her back from her life of prostitution (3:1–2). This is the stark and startling picture of how much God loves His people.
PRAYER
Loving God and Creator of Life, teach me to trust in Your goodness—not just when I’m good, but all the time. In Jesus Holy and precious name, I pray and believe. Amen!!
