We are too easily trapped by the negative thinking that all will turn out for the worse in the end. Although God has many hard things to say in this book, we are reminded again that it is not his plan to finally let his people be destroyed.
A certain amount of warning and treat will bring the right answer from our hearts. No one who has ever truly met God can get away from him completely. Somewhere along the road we have comeuppance that reminds us who we are.
We can’t erase the stamp God placed on us that says, “You are mine!”
Turn Back to the Lord
Hosea 14:1-9
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”
The Lord Promises to Forgive
I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.
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 upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
