In 5:15—6:3, 11 the prophet Hosea speaks regarding the return of the apostate people. We may wonder how it can be possible for such a sinful people to return. They can return because they are under God’s compassions.
According to 5:15a Jehovah will go away and return to His place, until the apostate people acknowledge their offense and seek His face. Eventually, in their affliction (the divine chastisement) they will seek Him earnestly (v. 15b). Thus, the divine chastisement of Israel will be effective.
In 6:1 we have a word concerning Israel’s coming and returning to Jehovah. In this verse the prophet says, “Come and let us return to Jehovah, / For He has torn us, but He will heal us, / And He has stricken us, but He will bind us up.”
Hosea 6:2 says, “He will enliven us after two days; / On the third day He will raise us up, / And we will live in His presence.” What are the “two days,” and what is “the third day” in this verse? In the Bible there is a principle that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years” (2 Pet. 3:8). According to this principle, the two days here might signify the first two periods of a thousand years each, counting from A.D. 70, when the Roman prince Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, cruelly killed thousands of Jews, and scattered the Jews among the nations. From that time the Jews have been without king, without prince, without sacrifice, and without the temple, fulfilling Hosea’s prophecy in 3:4. For two thousand years God has left Israel in a dead condition. After this two-thousand-year period, the third thousand years will come. The third day in 6:2 might signify the third period of a thousand years, that is, the millennium, the age of restoration, in the reality of Christ’s resurrection (Rev. 20:4, 6).
In Hosea 6:3 there is a word concerning knowing Jehovah and concerning Christ’s going forth as the dawn and His coming as the rain. The first part of the verse says, “Therefore let us know, let us pursue knowing Jehovah.” The remainder of the verse says that Christ’s going forth is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the rain, as the latter rain which waters the earth (in the restoration of the millennium—Matt. 19:28; Rev. 20:4, 6).
In Hosea 6:11 we have Jehovah’s promise to Judah in the return of the apostate people. This promise is that there will be a harvest appointed for Judah, when Jehovah will turn the captivity of His people. This means that in the restoration all the Israelites, including the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, will be very rich in all kinds of produce from the earth. The earth was created by God to produce a rich harvest, but due to the fall of man, the earth was cursed to grow thorns, and man has had to labor with sweat for food (Gen. 3:17-19). In the restoration time the earth will be restored to its original condition and will be rich, fertile, and productive. Thus, a harvest will be apportioned to Judah for their enjoyment.
From the time that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded Israel in 606 B.C., three things have been taking place on earth. The first is God’s loving chastisement over His dear elect Israel, and the second is God’s punishment on all the nations. These two things added together bring in the third thing—the manifestation of Christ. The manifestation of Christ will bring in a fourth thing—the age of restoration, the millennial kingdom. This restoration will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.
The manifestation of Christ does not refer only to Christ’s second coming. The manifestation of Christ is a long process which began with Christ’s coming to mankind, and even into mankind, at His incarnation and which will continue until Christ’s coming back. Micah 5:2, referring to Christ’s incarnation, says that His goings forth are from the days of eternity. Christ’s goings forth are His coming. Thus, in eternity past, Christ was ready to go forth; that is, He was ready to come. At His incarnation Christ came out of eternity into time, coming with His divinity into humanity. Actually, Christ’s goings forth, His coming, have not ceased. Even today He is still coming. This manifestation, which began with the incarnation, will be consummated in Christ’s coming back with the overcomers as the mighty ones to defeat Antichrist, the last Caesar of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire is the last of the human governments according to the great image in Daniel 2. It was through the Roman Empire that Christ was born in a way that fulfilled the prophecy in Micah 5:2 concerning the place of His birth. It was also through the Roman Empire that Christ accomplished His redemption by being crucified, and it was under the Roman Empire that the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost to initiate the church life. With the help of the Roman Empire, the apostles, especially the apostle Paul, spread the gospel in Asia and Europe. Later, the Lord used imperialism to spread the gospel to Africa, Central and South America, Asia, and Australia. Today Russia, a country of three hundred fifty million people, has been opened to the Lord’s recovery by God’s punishment upon the nations for the spreading of the gospel, which equals the manifestation of Christ. Our going to Russia today to minister the proper spiritual food is the spreading of the manifestation of Christ.