Words of Restoration
2:21-23
Although separated from the previous passage by verse division and layout as poetry, this section repeats the theme of the prior passage which speaks of the renewed covenant in terms of a marriage. God speaks to Israel about the benefits he will bestow when Israel learns to respond to him as they should have all along.
At the time of restoration, God will respond to Israel, giving back the blessings of agricultural bounty originally promised for obedience to the covenant. He will speak to the sky to produce rain. He supplants Baal as the one thought to bring rain and bountiful harvest. In response to the rain, the earth will produce grain, wine, and oil. (22)
God will make Zezreel the place where much food is produced, as it was before. The word “Zezreel” means God will sow. He had imposed the curses for disobedience. Now he lifts the curse and implements the promised blessing for obedience.
He promised that, after punishing Israel for its disobedience, if they confessed their iniquity, he would remember the covenant and remember the land. (Leviticus 26:40-46) He promised that he would make them abundantly prosperous, have a lot of children, cattle and crops. Deuteronomy 30:9)
But the ultimate sowing will be people. God will sow her for himself in the land. (22) He does this to create, or multiply, a people for himself. There is a reflection here of the original creation story. God told the newly created man and woman to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”. (Genesis 1:28) God wanted to fill the earth with people who worshipped him.
God still wants that. He told the church to go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19) The picture of eternity in Revelation 21-22 is of a new earth populated only with those who belong to Jesus and worship him. (Revelation 22:3-4)
God previously told Hosea to name his children No Mercy and Not My People to show his attitude toward Israel. (Hosea 1:6, 8) In the day of restoration, God will again have mercy upon them and claim them as his people as they recognize Him as their God. (23)
3:1-5
Another Enacted Prophecy
God again instructs Hosea to take a wife. He is to go and love a woman who is unfaithful, just as God loves Israel who was also unfaithful. (1) The reference to other gods and cakes of raisins is a reference to the pagan practice of offering raisin cakes to the pagan gods. (1)
She had evidently become a slave. Therefore, Hosea bought her, or redeemed her from her slavery with the payment of a price. (2) He instructed her that she must dwell with him for a long time and be faithful to him, not loving any other men. (3)
Just as the wife is not to be unfaithful to Hosea with other men, Israel is not to be unfaithful to God by worshipping idols. (3)
Hosea, representing God, will also be faithful to the woman. Faithfulness is one of God’s attributes.
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)
This is a picture of redemption. Hosea purchased the woman, redeeming her from slavery just as God previously redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt. God redeems us from slavery to sin. Romans 6:16 says “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedience slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
Christ paid the price for our redemption. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price”. Having been redeemed, we live to glorify God. “So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
Still, there would be a long time of desolation that would exist before the day of restoration. Israel would dwell many days without king or prince. (4) This came true as the northern kingdom was never reconstituted as an independent country with a king. The southern kingdom, Judah, also went without a king or self rule from the time of exile on.
When Judah, the surviving Jews, returned from Persia under Cyrus, it was ruled by a governor appointed by the Persians. Judah came under Greek rule after the Greeks defeated Persia under Alexander the Great. Then came Roman rule as the Romans conquered the whole Mediterranean basin. Rome captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C.
The Romans destroyed the city in 70 A.D. after a Jewish revolt. In 135 A. D., the Romans put down another revolt. Emperor Hadrian decided to build a Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, on the site. He banned Jews from going there and banned the practice of their religion.
However, during this time, God would remove Baal worship. He would remove the sacrifices Israel made to Baal. (4) The pillars, representing Baal, would be removed from the fields. There would be no ephod used in fortune telling and magic. He would also remove the household gods, idols kept in the house to protect and bless it. (4)
After this time, the children of Israel would return to the Lord. (5) They would seek him and David their king. (5) This David-like king would be Jesus. Those who believed in him would live in fear of the Lord and recognizing his goodness. This happens in the latter days, the time of Christ Jesus.
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
Takeaways
The Old Testament teaches us God’s attributes, one of which is his faithfulness.
It teaches us man’s inability to live up to God’s standards.
The Old Testament shows us God preparing the way for the Savior.
Promises of restoration are ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
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