HOSEA 12:6

The Bible says in Hosea 12:6, “Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.” This is a great Bible verse. It explains the entire Christian very succinctly. First we get saved by turning to Christ. That is the first part: “turn thou to thy God.” It is first because it is the most important since salvation through faith in Christ is the only way to heaven. It is also first because spiritual life starts when a person turns to Jesus. Once we come to know Jesus as Savior, of course we start following Him. Two things about following Jesus are mentioned in the second phrase of verse 6: “keep mercy and judgment.” Since God was so very merciful to us when we came to Jesus, we certainly should be willing to be merciful to others. Jesus told us to pray in Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Jesus also said in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:[15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus said in Luke 17:3-4, “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.[4] And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

When we follow Jesus, God wants us to keep mercy and He also wants us to keep “judgment.” Judgment refers to evaluating a situation and making the right and true and fair decision about it. Every day we come across situations where we are challenged to make decisions. We decide on one course of action or another. We evaluate. We choose. If we do these things according to God’s principles and God’s Word and God’s Spirit, then and only then will we “keep judgment.” We must understand the differences between the philosophies of the world and the teachings of Christ. That is why it says in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” It also says in First John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.[16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.[17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

The Bible says in Hosea 12:7-10, “He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.[8] And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.[9] And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.[10] I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” Verses 7 and 8 show the mindset of sinful materialistic human beings. Verses 9 and 10 show God’s mindset as He plans and deals with sinful human beings. The sinful human beings are compared to a merchant with balances. A merchant can either be fair and just to make an honest profit, or he can try to cheat people. An evil merchant is filled with selfishness and is willing to be dishonest, and so it says, “the balances of deceit are in his hand.” When you deal with merchants, what you want is a fair price. That is it. Always be willing to pay a fair price. An evil merchant does not really care about his customers. That is why such a merchant “loveth to oppress.” His goal is to gain a profit over and above what he deserves to have. It is alright to make a profit if it is gained honestly. These dishonest merchants have one goal: to become rich and to stay rich. That is why they so gleefully say, “Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance.” Of course, God sees and knows about their dishonest gain. Therefore, they are very incorrect when they say, “in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.” This is their greatest mistake, and the mistake of all people who do not turn to Christ: they hide from their sins instead of confessing them.

The verses above are a terrible picture of human nature. What is amazing is the explanation of what God is planning to do in the face of these moral and ethical failures of the human race. God is planning to save them. God says in Hosea 12:9 what He is going to do, and then He says in Hosea 12:10 just how He is going to do it. God says in verse 9, “And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.” God is reminding Israel that He brought them out of Egypt. That is symbolism for being saved out of the spiritual darkness of the world where everyone is in bondage to sin. The same thing happens to each believer when we come to know Christ as Savior. After they came out of Egypt, God established in the law through Moses the Feast of Tabernacles. A tabernacle is a tent. Among other things living in a tent is a reminder that believers have no permanent home in this world. We are only passing through. Our heart is set on the Lord and arriving in His kingdom. We are not set on this world. We know the world is passing away. It is limited and temporary. We see in Hosea 12:9 that God’s plan is to get people saved, and then to get them headed towards heaven understanding the true temporary nature of human life and therefore having their priorities right.

In Hosea 12:10 God states clearly His method of accomplishing the goals of Hosea 12:9. God said in Hosea 12:10, “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” Notice very clearly the first phrase. God said, “I have also spoken by the prophets.” This is the doctrine of the inspiration of the scriptures. It tells us where the Scriptures came from. They came from God. God also uses men to speak forth His Word. To be a prophet means to speak forth the Word of God. The Word of God is powerful. It is alive. It is the only truly spiritual book. The Bible is the only book on this earth that has God as the divine author. It says in Second Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:[17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” God wants the Bible to be preached and He wants it to be taught. God wants the Bible to be spread throughout the world so that everyone has an opportunity to hear His truth and His message to mankind. That is the primary purpose of pastors and preachers and teachers, who are the modern-day “prophets.” That is also why it is important that the pastors and preachers and teachers are teaching the Bible, and not a system of theology and not their own ideas and philosophies and not the tradition of man from their particular denomination.

In Hosea 12:10 God said, “I have multiplied visions.” In other words God had His ways of getting the truth communicated to the prophets. Now that the truth has been communicated and written down by the prophets, instead of “visions” we have the Word of God, the Bible, that God uses to speak to us. If you want to hear from God, then read the Bible. Do not wait for God to give you a vision. He already gave the visions to the prophets. Read the Bible.

And then God said in Hosea 12:10 that He “used similitudes.” The word that is translated “similitude” is used quite a bit in the Old Testament and has a meaning that lends itself to two different words in translation. One word that is used to translate it is simply the word “like” in the sense of one thing being “like” some other thing. For example, it says in Isaiah 1:9, “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” As a matter of fact, this is the very principle that God used when He created the world that we live in. God created many, many things so that they have a symbolic and spiritual meaning to them. For example, rain symbolizes blessings from heaven. A tree growing tall and strong next to a stream symbolizes how a Christian can become a mature and strong believer by avoiding bad influences and mediating on the Word of God. Jesus often used the symbolic meaning of the world around Him to teach His great truths. Jesus used a sower sowing seed, a fisherman catching fish, and flowers growing in a field to teach some of His most important truths. A preacher, and Jesus was the best of all preachers, explains the true meaning of life. That is what people need, and that is why God raised up prophets and preachers.

The Bible says in Hosea 12:11-14, “Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.[12] And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.[13] And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.[14] Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.” God starts off these verses by asking a question: “Is there iniquity in Gilead?” The answer is, “Yes.” It is interesting how the Lord answers His own question. First God says, “surely they are vanity.” “Vanity” refers to emptiness: being nothing and accomplishing nothing. The purpose of life is to accomplish something for eternity. That is only possible if you come to know the Lord Jesus and follow Him. From God’s point of view, your life is either involved in fulfilling His will or else your life is empty and vain. One of the blessings of being a Christian is that even if you are not close to what the Lord wants you to be, He will work in your life to improve you to make you more like Christ.

In Hosea 12:11 after saying that their lives were empty and vain, God described them by talking about their large numbers of sacrifices and altars. Religion is not the answer. A relationship with Jesus is the answer. You can be involved in religion more than anyone else, and still have an empty and vain spiritual life. And then God mentions in Hosea 12:12 what Jacob did to get the wife that he wanted. It was no easy task for Jacob, but when Jacob wanted something, he went after it with all the effort and energy that he could muster. Jacob served for years in order to obtain Rachel as his wife. When Jacob wanted God, Jacob used the same approach. God also wants a wife, a spiritual wife. And God has spent a great deal of time and energy to obtain one. In the New Testament God’s wife is called the church, the bride of Christ.

In the Old Testament God tried to make Israel His wife. Hosea 12:13 tells us how God did that. It says, “And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.” This verse states the importance of having a prophet, just the right prophet. Of course, this verse is talking about Moses, but it does not mention Moses by name because the important point is that Moses was a prophet. A prophet speaks forth the Word of God. That is his most important function. In the New Testament the equivalent to that are preachers and pastors who have the same primary function as the prophets of the Old Testament: to speak forth the Word of God. Salvation comes through the preaching of God’s chosen vessel. That is why it says in Romans 10:13-14, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.[14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Of course, Jesus was the greatest of all prophets. The Jews knew that the Messiah would be such. That is why they said to John the Baptist, trying to figure out who he was, in John 1:21, “And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.”

Notice that the work of a prophet not only brings salvation, but it also brings preservation. The last part of Hosea 12:13 says, “and by a prophet was he preserved.” The preaching of the Word of God is important because it helps to preserve that which was started with salvation. By hearing the Word of God preached it will help you grow in your faith. It will help keep you close to Jesus. It will help you bear more fruit for the glory of Christ. Of course, the greatest preservation involves the eternal security of your soul. You get that from Jesus, who is the greatest prophet. That Prophet does the work of insuring your salvation is preserved. What a great Savior we have! If you do not know Jesus as Savior, to day is a good day to call upon Him. He will save you and preserve you.

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