seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hosea 6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[a]
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 As at Adam,[b] they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
a. Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
b. Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
I'm sure glad there is an easy English site. I get so confused reading some of the others.
Many Christians know about Hosea 6:1-6. These verses are full of hope. The first three verses are like a song. Hosea has told Israel that God is going to leave them for a long time . But here, he tells them that God will bring them health. God needed to punish them. But he now chooses to change his direction. God does not say how he will bring them health. Israel’s hope is on God’s covenant. Hosea knows that God will not completely leave Israel. God may bring Israel health in the future. But Israel knows that this future time will come.
The two or three days mean a time that God has decided on. He has fixed a time. It will be like a dead person coming back to life. There is a promise that God will help his people. But Israel must try to ‘know’ God. God is a person that Israel can be certain of. We can be sure that the sun will come up every day. We can be sure that it will rain. In the same way, it will always be possible to know God. Deuteronomy 32:2 says that the way that God teaches is like rain. He rules the weather too and we can learn from him. God is like a parent who has a child. But the child does not obey.
In verse 4, there is a change in who is speaking. In the first three verses of this chapter, it is the priests who are speaking. They say that they want to go back to God. But they do not say that they have done anything wrong. They just want God to be good to them. So, God asks them what he should do. He asks questions like this in 11:8-9. He has tried everything. When the people of Israel were rich, they forgot him. When they were poor, they turned to other gods. They do not want to follow God’s covenant completely. God does not enjoy punishing his people.
The ‘words’ are the covenants. In Deuteronomy 33:9 the ‘word’ and the ‘covenant’ mean the same thing. In the same way, ‘cut in pieces’ means God’s curses. It means, too, that God needed to kill some of the Israelites.
God does not say that he wants to forget the system of sacrifices. The people thought that worship meant sacrifices. They thought that they had to make these sacrifices often. But God knows that the people are not really thinking about him when they offer sacrifices. God wanted much more than this. He wanted them to be loyal. (The Hebrew word is ‘hesed’). This is not the same as mercy! They were breaking God’s covenant when they were not loyal to each other. He wanted them to ‘know God’. But the people wanted to do the least that they could do. Their sacrifices were too easy. In Matthew 9:13, Jesus asked the Pharisees to learn what this verse meant. The Pharisees made the same mistake that the *sraelites had made 750 years before.
Gilead might be the city of Ramoth-Gilead. It is possible that Hosea was thinking of murders that had happened at Gilead. We do not know about these murders. Perhaps he was thinking of 2 Kings 15:25. This was when Pekah and ‘50 men of Gilead’ killed Pekahiah.
Shechem (verse 9) was an important city. We do not know the event that Hosea was thinking of. Perhaps priests were killing people there. Perhaps the priests were killing other priests. The meaning, however, is that the priests were guilty of murder because they led people away from God.
This is pretty clear.... three days..... the descendants of Israel were put in time out for three days....... three days... that sounds familiar.... three days.... Jesus was three days too..... are these the same? That is what is confusing me too.... are these the same? I don't think so.... it's in the Bible....
2 Peter3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Here's what I think the three days means in Hosea..... Humans have been waiting around for Jesus to return for about 2000 years..... Humans have been depending on the church for about 2000 years.... 2000 years = 2 days. Then add to that the millenium after Jesus comes to earth with the antidote to death..... that's another 1000 years = 1 day. So that's what I think the three days means....AND.... Jesus finished the cross to tomb to life in three human days to respect the 3 God Days God waited for the humans to come back to their senses.Now when I say humans have been waiting on the church for 2000 years.... it nips at the problem of sacrifices..... the humans running the church for that 2000 years were more interested in quantity than quality. The humans were no longer choosing the best animals or the first crops.... they were slamming any old mutton on the alter..... and then they were slamming another one up there in case the first one wasn't enough to cover all the crap. Sounds disgusting.....
I know there are a lot of good preachers out there. I don't know many but I've met a few good preachers...... I've met more bad preachers....who are preying instead of praying. Preachers, priests, rabbis, pastors.... all those who are responsible for leading the church while we wait for Jesus to return..... are the only link the majority of the people have to Salvation. Preachers, priests, rabbis, and pastors are responsible for bringing the scripture to the people. I don't know how many times I have heard "Oh the Old Testament.... I don't worry about that".... and that is really scary..... because God is in every chapter of the Old Testament. If the humans in the Old Testament had listened to God.... gone along with the agreement [covenant]..... Jesus wouldn't have had to go to the Cross in the first place. If the humans in the Garden hadn't jumped on Satan's band wagon..... Jesus wouldn't have had to bring the antidote to death.
Back in the days of Hosea..... the church was leading the humans to hell. So.... humans are in time out.... for three of God's days...... Hang in there.... it hasn't even been two days yet..... Jesus will be back and then humans will enjoy the third day..... well humans who believe will enjoy it... the others... well according to what I've read... not so much.
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