Village Schools of the Bible

A Devotional Study of Hosea
by Max Frazier, Jr

RETURNING BRINGS BLESSING: Hosea 14

Hosea begins this chapter with a command and a statement of fact. The command, found in verse 1, is this: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. That really has been the heart cry of God throughout. And that is still His cry today.

The statement of fact is also found in verse 1, and it reads, Your sins have been your downfall. Truer words have never been uttered. We fall short of God's expectations, of His mark for us, because of sin (Romans 3:23). In that same third chapter of Romans, Paul dares to proclaim that there is no one who does good. That is a strong statement, but the biblical evidence and the realities of life bear that out as being true. Sometimes, even those acts which we are tempted to describe as being good, are tainted with pride or self-centeredness.

Hosea presents God's solution once again in verse 2: Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips." Confession, repentance, cleansing, and blessing: those are the steps toward pleasing God.

In one of our earlier studies we spent some time discussing the downfall of David in his sin with Bathsheba. In those days which followed, David was haunted by guilt. In fact, his whole body ached because of it. He wrote in Psalm 32: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. David was not doing well. He recognized the problem as being that of sin, and yet he chose to do nothing about it.

Then, in 2 Samuel 12, he is confronted by God's prophet and his good friend, Nathan. After that confrontation, David could not longer put off doing what he knew he should have done in the first place. Listen to his words, as found in Psalm 51: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight...Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

To use the expressions of Hosea, David took words with him and returned to the Lord and sought God's forgiveness and reconciliation. And God heard and God blessed.

When repentance comes so does God's blessings. God loves us freely and desires to heal us of our waywardness. He will turn His anger away from us as we turn to Him and repent of our sins. Because God blesses us we can, in turn, bring a blessing to others. But the secret is to maintain our love relationship with God.

I am reminded of the words of that great little chorus, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, new every morning; great is Your faithfulness, O Lord; great is Your faithfulness. There, I think that sums up this great book very well.

Further Thoughts from Hosea 14:

KEY WORDS: Return; Love; Sin

KEY VERSE: Verses 2 and 4 share God's response to Israel's repentance.

PURPOSE STATEMENT: In this concluding chapter, Hosea repeats his theme that Israel needs to return to the Lord in order to receive God's blessings.

OUTLINE: RETURNING BRINGS BLESSINGS

I. A call to return unto the Lord - verses 1-3

II. God's healing - verses 4-8

III. The ways of the Lord - verse 9

Hosea 13 Return to the Table of Contents