Hosea 11:8 and 9 reveal that Jehovah could not give Ephraim up. “How shall I give you up, O Ephraim? / How shall I deliver you up, O Israel? / How can I make you like Admah? / How can I treat you like Zeboim? / My heart is turned within Me; / All My compassions have warmed. / I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; / I will not return to destroy Ephraim; / For I am God and not man, / The Holy One in the midst of you, / And I will not come in wrath.” Admah and Zeboim were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 14:8; Deut. 29:23). Ephraim had become so evil, even more evil than Sodom and Gomorrah. However, because of His everlasting love, God would not destroy Ephraim.
According to Hosea 11:10 and 11, the children of Israel will walk after Jehovah. He will roar like a lion, and the children of Israel will come trembling from the west like a bird from Egypt and like a dove from the land of Assyria. Jehovah will cause them to dwell in their houses.
At Bethel Jacob found Jehovah, and there Jehovah spoke with the children of Israel, even Jehovah, the God of hosts. Jehovah is his memorial. The children of Israel should return there to their God, keep lovingkindness and justice, and wait on their God continually (12:4b-6).
Since the land of Egypt Jehovah has been the God of the children of Israel. He will again cause them to dwell in tents as in the days of the appointed feast. He has also spoken unto the prophets. He has multiplied vision, and through the prophets He has used similitudes (vv. 9-10).
Israel was to know that there was no god except Jehovah, for there is no savior besides Him. He knew Israel in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasturage (given by Jehovah) they became full (13:4-6a).
Jehovah will ransom them from the power of Sheol; He will redeem them from death (v. 14a). Hence, the next part of the verse says, “Where are your plagues, O death? / Where is your destruction, O Sheol?” Repentance will be hidden from His eyes (v. 14c). God’s love for Israel is everlasting, and He will never repent of this love.
Israel had fallen by their iniquity, and Jehovah through His prophet called them to return to Him their God (14:1). They should take words with them, return to Jehovah, and say to Him, “Forgive all iniquity, / And take us graciously; / Thus we will render our lips as bullocks. / Assyria will not save us; / We will not ride upon horses. / Neither will we say again to the work of our hands, Our God! / Because in You the orphan finds compassion” (vv. 2-3). With their lips they would offer sacrifices and offerings to God.
In verses 4 through 8 we have a picture of Israel in the restoration (Matt. 19:28), as revealed in Hosea 2:15-23; 3:5; 6:1-3; 10:12. Jehovah will heal their apostasy; He will love them freely, for His anger will have turned away from them. He will be like the dew to Israel. Israel will bud like the lily (signifying a pure life trusting in God) and will send forth his roots like the trees of Lebanon (signifying standing steadily in the uplifted humanity). His shoots will go forth (signifying flourishing and spreading); his splendor will be like that of the olive tree (signifying glory in faithfulness); and his fragrance will be like that of the trees of Lebanon (signifying the sweet odor of a life in the uplifted humanity). Those who sit under his shade (signifying being overshadowed by the sufficient grace enjoyed by them—2 Cor. 12:9) will return. They will revive like grain (signifying being full of life for producing the satisfying food) and will bud like the vine (signifying blossoming for producing the cheering drink). Israel’s renown will be like the wine of Lebanon (signifying a good name spreading like tasteful wine).
I hope that this will be the situation with all the local churches in the Lord’s recovery. Then instead of being an unturned cake or a silly dove or a deceitful bow, we will be like lilies, trees of Lebanon, olive trees, and budding vines.
Israel’s transformation as described in Hosea 14:4-7 is based on the factor of love in life. Love in affection does not transform, but love in life transforms people. A husband who loves his wife in affection may spoil her, but a father who loves his son in life never spoils his son. As a son grows, he is transformed. Our relationship with God is of the divine, eternal life of God. This life enlivens us, regenerates us, sanctifies us positionally and dispositionally, renews us, transforms us, conforms us, matures us, and glorifies us, making us the same as God in life, nature, appearance, and glory.
At the beginning of Hosea, Israel was a harlot, but at the end of this book, Israel has become a son. Eventually, Ephraim declares that he has no more idols. “Ephraim says, What have I yet to do with idols?” (v. 8a). God answers by saying, “(I respond and look on him.) / I am like a green fir tree; / From Me your fruit is found” (v. 8b). Jehovah’s being like a green fir tree (symbolizing God’s being living and evergreen) and Ephraim’s bearing fruit from Him indicates Ephraim’s oneness with Jehovah. It also indicates that a wonderful transformation has taken place, based on the factor of love in life. Today God is the evergreen tree, and we, the believers in Christ, are the branches of the tree, bearing fruit out of Him. This is more than an organic union; it is the oneness of two in one life, in one nature, and in one living. The outcome of this book is transformation in life by God’s love. This is the revelation in chapter fourteen of Hosea, and we all need to see it.
Verse 9 says that the prophet’s word is wise, showing us that the ways of Jehovah are right. The righteous will walk in them, but the transgressors will stumble in them.