Repenting before a Gracious God (Hosea 6:1-3)

The days in which Hosea served God were not prosperous ones for the kingdom of God at that time. It was a period of divine judgement in which the Lord was punishing his people for their sins. Yet although, it was a very dark day in a spiritual sense it was also a time during which the Lord made amazing promises and showed his great love for his people.

It is difficult at times to work out where the accounts of interactions between God and his people begin and end. For example, is 6:1-3 the response of the people to what God had said in chapter 5 or is it the beginning of a conversation that begins with chapter 6. If it is connected to chapter 5, then what we have here is an example of genuine repentance because it then describes their response to the Lord’s act of withdrawing himself from them because of their sin in seeking help from the king of Assyria. But if it is connected to what follows in chapter 6, then the words of 6:1-3 are expressions of insincere repentance.

It looks to me that what we have here is connected to what precedes the passage and that we can regard it as the words of Hosea advising his listeners to repent in light of God’s judgement. So whether or not the people repented is not really the issue for us. Instead the question is, ‘Have we repented in a manner similar to the description given here by Hosea?’

The description of repentance also includes encouragements to repent and what will happen repentance takes place. It is not difficult to see three divisions in the passage in line with the numbered verses. So we will look at realistic repentance (v. 1), rapid recovery (v. 2), and refreshing restoration (v. 3).

Before we look at each section in a bit more detail, we should observe that the prophet uses plural personal pronouns as he describes repentance. Now we know that Hosea himself was not guilty personally of many of the sins of the people, and there would also have been a remnant of the people who were not guilty either. Yet Hosea did not divide the people into groups of us and them. Instead, he realised that there was a corporate identity that he had to acknowledge.

Moreover, Hosea and the remnant would have been aware that sin is a matter of degree. They were not themselves perfect and while they had not participated in the sins of the majority they were still guilty of not having been what they should have been. Just because someone is worse than me is not a reason for me to assume that I am better than I am. Each person has a share in causing the need for corporate repentance.

Realistic repentance (v. 1)

It has often been pointed out that repentance and faith are heavenly twins in the experience of conversion. So the first question we can ask is, ‘Where is the expression of faith in verse 1?’ I would suggest it is in the word ‘come’ because here we have what we can call the logic of faith. Normally, if an authority is engaged in a process of punishment, it is not likely to show mercy. Those who had broken the laws would choose to hide from the authority rather than go and confess their faults. Biblical faith thinks differently because it grasps the astonishing fact that the God of judgement is also the God of grace, that the God who is angry with their sins can be approached in a repentant manner. A penitent person grasps the fact that he can draw near to God.

A second detail that this description of repentance gives is that a penitent person recognises the purposes of God’s judgements, that they are designed in heavenly wisdom to bring sinners to repentance. As Hosea says, the Lord tore them, as a lion would tear a sheep, in order to come to them as the heavenly Physician. We can see in this illustration an example of what the heavenly Physician would later say, when speaking to those who misunderstood the ways of God (the Pharisees), ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

Moreover, we can also see that realistic repentance draws information about the character of God even from his judgements. We can briefly mention two. First, the penitent recognises the power of God. It would have been possible for the afflicted to blame secondary causes for their distress, such as human enemies. But the penitent traces it to the hand of a God who can bring punishment to whole nations simultaneously, a reminder of his immense power. Yet because faith is involved, the penitent works out that the same degree of power can be used in helping recovery.

Second, the penitent recognises the faithfulness of God. He knows that if the people return to God he will bless them. This means that he does not judge the situation only by the severity of the punishment, because he knows that it is an expression of divine faithfulness. Instead he takes other aspects of God’s faithfulness into the scenario and realises that God will respond to true repentance.

The final feature of realistic repentance that we can note is that it involves a return to God. When a person returns, it involves a change of direction. Yet this change of direction is very specific because it is a return to God. We can imagine an Israelite saying to himself, ‘What I need to do is change my life and try and keep the Ten Commandments.’ But that is not a description of repentance because it is an attempt to get right without dealing with God. Instead, a true penitent wants to go and speak with God, and confess his sins, knowing that the Lord will show mercy for the sake of Jesus.

Rapid recovery (v. 2)

I have heard some people speculate if Hosea is talking about the resurrection of Jesus in this verse because it mentions that there will be a raising up on the third day. It is possible that there is a pointer here to his resurrection, which we can see as we look back and note that all true spiritual life comes because Jesus rose from the dead. Sometimes a description of a later action by Jesus is hidden within a previous action involving others. Yet we should not be led away from the point of the passage which is that God’s people will experience a national recovery from captivity, which is also a picture of our recovery from the captivity of sin.

I would suggest that what Hosea also is stressing here is the speedy response that God will make towards true penitents. The contrast is between the long length of time they have been wandering from him and the short space of time that it will take him to restore them.

Moreover, the prophet’s words indicate the nearness to which they will be restored – they will live before him, in his presence. This description points to more than nearness, it also indicates delight in them as God looks on them with pleasure. The words ‘before him’ mean ‘to his face’, which means that his eyes are on them.

Refreshing restoration (v. 3)

There are two questions we can ask here. The first is this: ‘how should a restored penitent live?’ Hosea tells us that such must press on to know the Lord. We should observe that there is a communal experience here, a reminder that it is good to repent together and well as to repent by ourselves.

This is a wonderful exhortation because it implies the provision of divine strength and instruction. Pressing on is a picture of energy and determination to find what is valuable. It is like Paul’s comment that he forgot what was behind and pressed on to what was ahead of him. In Paul’s case, he was pressing ahead to receive a divine commendation. Hosea was urging a new priority which would result in a new pleasure – discovering the reality of the covenant God of his people.

The word ‘knowing’ when referring to God is the same as enjoying intimate fellowship with him. There is so much to discover in the God of all grace. We can speak about his mercy and about his great plans for the future. As his children through faith, we are led to marvel at the greatness of the inheritance that is given to all his children. But they must have repentance in order to have fellowship. It is not that they repent first and then have fellowship. Repentance is an attitude as well as a verbal expression of regret.

The second question is, ‘What can a restored penitent expect from the God he has come to know?” Hosea uses two illustrations from the world of nature. The first is taken from the daily experience of the dawn. Does the prophet mean that divine light comes after the period of darkness that marked the individual before he repented of his sins? The night of spiritual decay was now over. Does the prophet mean that the warmth of the new day has replaced the coldness of the time of spiritual night? The heart that previously was cold towards God is now melted by the rays of heavenly sunshine that mark the arrival of a better day in their experience.

The second illustration is taken from the spring rains that watered the ground. While there were good immediate effects of those showers in the sense of providing refreshing water to drink, they were also long-term effects because it was the spring rains that guaranteed there would be a harvest later in the year. The ones whose lives had been dry and fruitless would become refreshed and fruitful.

Is it too much to see in these descriptions a reference to Jesus as the Light of the World and as the Water of life? Several ancient Jewish writers saw them as descriptions of the Messiah. If his resurrection is hidden in the previous verse, why cannot the consequences of his resurrection be hidden in this verse? We are not suggesting that Hosea and his contemporaries realised this – they would have connected the illustrations to the God of Israel. But we can read, indeed must read, the Old Testament with New Testament eyes. And when we do, we discover Jesus hidden and yet clear in its pages.

The light and the rain come down from above, they come down to us freely, they come down to us gently, and they cause life to appear. That is what Jesus does. So he can be our Sun and our Satisfier, the giver of guidance and the provider of eternal life depicted by the water. This is the prospect that the penitent have, of experiencing the wonderful capabilities of Jesus to lead them into the heights of his gracious locations and there share with him what he has provided for his people.