The Way Back
6:1-3
Chapter 6 begins with a change of voice. Hosea is speaking his own words, not saying it is the Lord speaking through him directly.
This does not mean it is not scripture or not the Lord’s word. It is just that Hosea is preaching, or exhorting, as a man called by God to do so, in the same way a preacher does today.
Hosea called upon Israel to return to the Lord. He pointed out that the bad things that have happened to them are the Lord’s discipline. He has done these things in order to give them the opportunity to return to a right relationship with him. He used the metaphors or tearing and healing, striking and binding up, to convey this message.
This may also be a reference to Deuteronomy 32:39 (the Song of Moses) here. Moses wrote the words of the Lord as a warning to Israel:
See now that i, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand”.
The words “he has” in verse 1 show that the Lord has brought this disaster upon them. It is not that he has just been passive and allowed it to happen.
Hosea also spoke of the Lord reviving them and raising them up so they could live for him. (2) Living for him is what they are supposed to do. If they are going to experience the blessing of a relationship with the Lord, they must live in obedience to him.
The words “after two days” and “on the third day” point to the future. The restoration of Israel will come in the future. This is not a literal two days from the day Hosea spoke. It is a set time in the future when the Lord will act.
Hosea also called for Israel to know the Lord. (3) Previously, the Lord had said there was no knowledge of God in the land. (4:1) Knowledge in this context includes Israel’s acceptance of God’s lordship over them under the terms of the covenant. When they know him again, he will come to them.
Israel’s Failure
6:4-6
God spoke again in this passage to bemoan the lack of faithfulness of Israel and Judah. Their love for God was superficial. It was like a morning cloud that disappears in the heat of the day, or the dew that goes away. Instead, they did not obey the commandment to “love the LORD your God with all you heart and with all you should and with all your might”. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Because of Israel’s lack of love for God, he sent the prophets to condemn them. (5) And now he will send judgment upon them. His judgment is a light that exposes the darkness of Israel in sin.
What the Lord wanted was steadfast love. (6) While he had instituted the system of sacrifices, he did not want ritual that was not based in love and true worship. He wanted Israel to know him in the covenant sense. Sacrifice and burnt offerings done superficially did not please him.
Heartless ritual does not please him today either. Jesus cited Hosea 6:6 twice: In Matthew 9:13, when Pharisees complained that he ate with sinners and in Matthew 12:7, when they condemned the disciples for plucking grain to eat on the Sabbath.
Heartless ritual may include both worship liturgy & made up rules such as the Pharisees had.
Israel’s Sins
6:7-10
Israel broke the covenant. They were faithless toward the Lord. They also descended into all kinds of evil behavior, including robbery, murder, and idolatry. Even the priests were involved. This is what happens when men and women separate from God and reject his laws. People descend into lawlessness and depravity.
The meaning of the phrase “like Adam” is disputed. There are three possibilities: a place, mankind, and the first man.
Some think it means a place, the place where the waters of the Jordan stacked up so that Joshua could lead Israel across to the promised land. (Joshua 3:16) However, there is no mention of the Israelites going there or transgressing the covenant there.
The word translated Adam is the same as the word for man. But, mankind transgressing the covenant does not make any sense. It would add no meaning to Israel violating the covenant.
Lastly, and what seems to most likely, is that it refers to the first man. Some do not believe God made a covenant with Adam, but the elements are there. It is a covenant of works.
God placed Adam in the garden of Eden. He was to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15) Additionally, he was to refrain from eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God promised Adam eternal life if he obeyed God and refrained from eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. This is the blessing of the covenant.
God also told Adam he would die if he ate the fruit. This is the curse of the covenant. Adam transgressed the covenant by eating the fruit. Israel, like Adam, transgressed the covenant. But it was the Mosaic covenant. And, like Adam, they will experience the curses of the covenant.
A Warning For Judah
6:11
The chapter ends with a warning to Judah that it will suffer like Israel if it continues in sin. The word “also” would have to mean “in addition to the harvest of Israel”. So, the harvest is a time of judgment. A similar metaphor is used in Revelation 14 for the final judgment.
Takeaways
God will discipline his people when they drift off into sin. (Hebrews 12:5-6, 11)
God does not value ritual worship that does not come from real love and devotion.
Mankind has repeatedly shown the inability to obey God. Only Christ did so, and we can only be seen as righteous when we are in Christ.
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