A Good Decision in Difficult Times (Hosea 6:1-3)

This sermon was preached on 24/2/2013

Can you remember what you said to one another as you came into church today? Perhaps you expressed your pleasure at seeing one another, and that is a good thing to say. The point I want to make by asking that question is this: Did you give any spiritual advice to one another? Maybe you don’t like to speak coming into church. So we can change the location and ask, Did you give any spiritual advice and encouragement to anyone this past week? If you did, you are like Hosea and any others who first used the words of our text.

The prophet Hosea served God in days very like our own. First, God’s people were divided and it seemed impossible that they could be united again; second, the population was attracted to alternative lifestyles and were adopting the ideas and practices of the surrounding cultures; and third, those in power were not interested in maintaining God’s laws as the basis of society and there was no concern for the poor and needy. We can see easily that there are similar outlooks today. So here we have an example of the message that we can bring to our society.

It is not clear who is speaking in these verses. There are two options: one is that the people are speaking to one another because they have realised their folly and want to repent together; the other is that Hosea, as a preacher, is calling upon the people to repent of their sins and return to the Lord. The latter is more likely because it was the case that the people as a whole did not return to the Lord.

The call to return

Here we have an invitation to return to the Lord. The first comment that can be made about it is that there is a common identification. Whether it is the people or Hosea who is making the call, the speaker(s) identify themselves with the others. There is no attempt to grade their sins or point out that some were worse than others. The fact is that they were all sinners who had fallen short of the glory of God. 

There is a real sense in which the gospel makes us all equal. At the cross of Jesus, a wide diversity of people gathered. Present there were religious people, there were military people, there were criminals, there were the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, and there was John the apostle. If we were to ask the women or to ask John to say something to the others, what would they have said? They would not have started to grade the criminals as worse sinners than the others. Instead they would have said to all that were gathered there, ‘Come let us return to the Lord.’ And where was he? He was hanging on the centre cross, but although these different people had despised him in their own ways, they were all welcome to go to him.

In addition to it being a common identification, it was also a concerned invitation. The speaker was concerned about what would happen to those he was addressing. He had reason to be concerned because they had already tasted some aspects of divine judgement and the little they had endured was nothing in comparison to what was threatened. Such a concern is a mark of true repentance. The absence of a sense of concern for others is a clear indication that we are not repenting ourselves. If I see a lorry careering towards a group in which I am present, am I meant only to save myself or am I also meant to warn the others?

Further, it was a concise instruction that was given. There is nothing complicated in the advice. Instead it is straight to the point and easy to understand. Probably the prophet is passing on when he has said on numerous occasions before. It is the case that the more concise a statement is the better. That is true in any walk in life. But it is especially so with regard to the demands of the gospel. The way the Bible presents the gospel and its requirements is very striking in its straightforwardness. There are many verses which reveal this. ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ‘All whom the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will not cast out.’ ‘Repent and believe the gospel.’

Moreover, it is a comely identification of God. The prophet presents his Master as acting in two almost opposite ways. First, he functioned towards Israel and Judah as a lion – the reference is to a description of the Lord in the previous chapter in which he said he would act like a young lion towards them. This is a vivid picture of the Lord’s aggressive actions towards them in his providence as he brought very hurtful experiences into their lives. The Lord often does this in the lives of people in order to bring them to their senses.

Of course, some people may object and say God has treated them very harshly. This may seem to be the case if all they do is compare themselves with others. After all there are individuals who have done far worse things that we have done and we may wonder why we seem to suffer more than they do. It is easy in such situations to think that God is being unfair. Yet that is not the way to look at what has happened to us. The fact is that the Lord has not treated us in the way our sins deserve. Our sins deserve endless punishment, but he has spared us until now. And one reason why he has spared us is so that we can repent.

Yet the prophet goes on to say that the Lord who caused the wounds will also function as the healer. Here is a reminder that the Lord is the heavenly physician who is able to cure all kinds of diseases. As far as those who trust in him are concerned, he is able to heal their souls and their bodies. They receive his cure in stages. The problem is their sin, and the cure involves a process. The Lord deals first dealt with its penalty at the cross when Jesus took the place of sinners and suffered the wrath of God against sin. Then, during their lives on earth the Lord deals with the power of sin in their hearts, initially by regeneration and then by sanctification. The third stage removes the presence from us (at death with regard to our souls and at the resurrection with regard to our bodies) – complete recovery.

Here is a beautiful picture of God the Trinity. The Father heals our estrangement from him by justifying us and accepting us as righteous because of what Jesus did in his life and death, and at the same time he adopts us into his family. Jesus heals us by functioning as our prophet, priest and king (he teaches us, he sympathises with us, and he protects us). The Holy Spirit heals us by making us like Jesus as he produces the fruits of the Spirit in his people. What a team of surgeons the Trinity is! And they are on twenty-four hours call every day.

But from our perspective the healing process begins with repentance. The Lord loves to see penitent sinners and welcome them into his family. He is like the Good Samaritan who bound up the wounds of the man left to die by religion. He is like the delighted father who ran to embrace the returning prodigal or like the seeking shepherd who rejoiced to find the lost sheep.

The speed of restoration

Hosea then mentions how long it will take the Lord to begin the recovery process. Some people read the reference to the third day in verse 2 and wonder if there is a hidden reference to the resurrection of Jesus. But the prophet is not talking about the death and burial of Jesus. Instead he is describing what will happen to those who return to the Lord.

Remember the image is of an individual who has been torn apart by a lion. How long does it take for such a person to recover? Usually they would never recover, but even if one did, it would take a long time for a cure to happen. How different it is with the Lord! He comes to us in our sins and deals with them in a very short time, which is what is illustrated by the two and three days of the verse.

Notice that what the people need is reviving. This could mean that they are dead in a spiritual sense (which is how the Bible describes unconverted people) or it could mean that they were lethargic in a spiritual sense (which is how the Bible describes backsliders). In either case, the Lord can work very quickly and set us on the right path.

When a person believes in Jesus, that faith is evidence of divine life in their souls. And when a backslider returns to God, that repentance is evidence that have been shaken by the Lion from slumber. But we do not put either person into a category which requires a prolonged period in which their faith or repentance somehow comes to fruition. When the heavenly Physician begins to work, there will not be a delay in life showing itself.

The consequences of restoration

In verse 3, the prophet pictures the life of those who have returned to the Lord. He begins by noting the dedicated discipleship of the returnees – they went to press on to know the Lord. This description is a reminder that the spiritual life is primarily a relationship in which they come to know the Lord. Such a process certainly involves teaching about who he is and discovering his requirements, but it does not take very long to find out what they involve. Those of us who have been brought up in church were taught these details in the Shorter Catechism. 

What is being described here is discovering the gracious ways by which the Lord deals with his people. They come to know him as the pardoning God, as the protecting God, as the providing God. He reveals his heart to them and they become interested increasingly in the things that please him. Eventually it becomes second nature for them to sense whether or not their current actions are pleasing to him. They enjoy his company. Do we know the Lord in this way? Are we determined to know him in this way, pressing on to do so? 

This was Paul’s desire, and we are told to imitate him. After thirty years as a Christian, he tells the Philippians that his desire was still to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. And those who have this experiential knowledge will want others to discover it. So they will talk about God, especially about Jesus.

In addition to the spiritual life being a relationship, it is also regular. I think that is the point stressed in the reference to the sunrise. The one thing we can say about tomorrow is that the sun will rise and set. We cannot say if it will rain, but we can guarantee that the sun will shine. Those who know God discover how reliable he is, like the sun. Part there is more in the illustration. The Lord is depicted as coming towards those who want to know him, and he comes towards them full of warmth and brightness. What a beautiful picture of God. The same idea is of used of Jesus when Malachi says that he will rise with healing in his rays.

And Hosea also mentions that knowing God will be very refreshing: ‘he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.’ Heavenly refreshment is promised to those who press on to know the Lord. Peace and joy can be ours in abundance. If we are dry today, we have not been pressing on. 

In a strange way, the Christian life can be described as getting out of it what we put into it. Spend much time with God and for God, he will give copious blessings. Spend little time with him and for him, and we will not receive what we could have received. But the good thing is that when we return in repentance, he restores us speedily.

We begun by asking what did we say to one another as we arrived. Now the question is, what will we say to one another as we leave?