Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 67
HOSEA 13:11
Where are all the leaders of the land,
the king and the officials you
demanded of me?
11 In my anger I gave you kings,
and in my fury I took them away.
“Ephraim’s guilt has been collected,
and his sin has been stored up for
punishment.
13 Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!
12
“Should I ransom them from the
grave*?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues!*
For I will not take pity on them.
15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his
brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the
Lord—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
16*The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their
guilt
14
66
13:11
1 Sam 8:7
1 Kgs 14:7-10
Hos 10:7
13:12
Deut 32:34-35
Rom 2:5
13:13
Mic 4:9-10
13:14
Isa 25:8
Ezek 37:12-13
1 Cor 15:55
Phil 3:21
13:15
Jer 51:36
Hos 10:1
13:16
2 Kgs 15:16
14:2
Mic 7:18-19
Heb 13:15
14:3
Pss 10:14; 68:5
Mic 5:10
14:4
Isa 57:18
Zeph 3:17
14:5
Song 2:1
Matt 6:28
because they rebelled against their
God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death
against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by
swords.”
Healing for the Repentant
1*Return, O Israel, to the Lord your
God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to
the Lord.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously
receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.*
3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we
have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”
14
The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your
faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone for ever.
5 I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
4
13:14a Hebrew Sheol; also in 13:14b. 13:14b Greek version reads O death, where is your punishment? / O grave [Hades], where is
your sting? Compare 1 Cor 15:55. 13:16 Verse 16 is numbered 14:1 in Hebrew text. 14:1 Verses 14:1-9 are numbered 14:2-10 in
Hebrew text. 14:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions, which read may repay the fruit of our lips; Hebrew reads may repay the bulls of
our lips.
P r o verbs & S t or i es
Provision for the Repentant
Admitting when we wrong another person is very difficult,
A Kpelle proverb says, Lo nyii aa g l dale a a gεε aa mεni ny
especially when we know a penalty is involved. It takes real m kεi, pele fe naa nyii da p lu nyεi kpalai a nyεi m le-kaa, meaning,
courage to confess. But in the case of our relationship with God, “The child who has the courage to acknowledge his wrong will
we have no reason to fear acknowledging our wrong. God has not be denied mercy.” God will never deny us mercy when we
promised to provide mercy, forgiveness, and spiritual healing confess our sins to him.
when we acknowledge our sins and tell him we are sorry.
Applica tio n
The Way to True Healing • Hosea 14
We may have made unfortunate choices in life that have
God does not remain angry for ever. He renews his compassion for his people but with the following conditions: We must brought us untold suffering. We may be hurting deeply within
return to him, call on him with all our hearts, and pray to him our heart, though on the outside everything seems to be all
for forgiveness. God asks his children to repent and to turn right. That condition should not continue any longer. Hosea
away from their evil ways. We must abandon idolatry and our gives us a solution: Return to God and ask him to forgive
practices of social injustice. We must trust only in God, not in us, confess that our efforts in finding peace and joy have
idols. God longs for his children to renew their faith in him and failed, and decide never to try those sinful strategies again.
to praise him so they can be restored and blessed once again. Then we must establish our total loyalty to him. When we do
There are natural consequences to the choices we make in this in deep honesty and sincerity of heart, God will forgive
life. When Israel chose to sin and called objects they had made us. Forgiveness is not the end—we are to be healed of our
with their hands “gods,” the consequence was punishment and rebellion and the Lord says, “My anger will be gone for ever”
exile. Hosea admonished them to make another choice—return (Hosea 14:4). That new heart was provided in Jesus. What
to God and ask for forgiveness—so they could prosper.
an amazing inheritance!