HOSEA 13:12

Once again we are told in no uncertain terms that destruction is coming to Israel. That will always happen when a nation turns away from God. The Bible says in Hosea 13:12-13, “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.[13] The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.” Three words are used to tell us the spiritual condition of Israel: “iniquity,” “sin,” and “unwise.” Two statements are made to tell us the results of their sinful condition. First we are told, “The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.” Secondly, we are told, “for he should not stay long.” If he does not “stay,” then where is he going? He is going to the grave. That is one of the results of sin that all human beings face. God told Adam in the Garden of Eden that if he ever took and ate of the forbidden fruit, then Adam would die. And so death entered into the human race. Life is a privilege and a gift. God gives the gift of life and He takes it away when He chooses. Some believers lose their lives prematurely because of their unfaithfulness to the Lord. Why should He leave you here if you are not going to be useful to Him? It says in First John 5:16, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”

As terrible as death is, God has always had a plan to destroy death and take it away. Of course, we know that God’s plan centers around Jesus and what was accomplished by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. Talking about the victory that God would eventually give over death, the Bible says in Hosea 13:14, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” Notice the words “ransom” and “redeem.” The way that the power of the grave is going to be destroyed is through redemption. This word refers to paying a price for something. Jesus paid the price. Those who become saved through faith in Christ are redeemed. They have been bought with a price: the precious blood of Christ. That is how to beat death. That is how to gain God’s victory over death: become one of the believers in Jesus. Once you are redeemed, death is no longer the end and death is no longer the terrible punishment for sin. The Apostle Paul quoted from Hosea 13:14 and the Holy Spirit expanded upon this truth in First Corinthians chapter 15. It says in First Corinthians 15:55-57, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?[56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.[57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in Hosea 13:15-16, “Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.[16] Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.” The Lord made His warnings very specific about what terrible things would happen to the nation of Israel if they did not repent of their sins. What will the judgment be like? It will be like the wind. One day there is no wind, and the next day there is. One characteristic of wind is that it dries up water. Of course, water is a life requirement. There can be no prosperity, no food, no life without water. They would be “dried up” and would “become dry.” They would be spoiled and desolate, and they would “fall by the sword.” We know that the Assyrian army came and conquered Israel. Invading armies were extremely cruel. This is exactly what the Assyrians did to the Israelite people: “their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.”

And so God implored the Jewish people to return to Him because He loved them and knew what would happen to them if they did not return to Him. It says in Hosea 14:1, “O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” This simple statement has a tremendous amount of truth in it. It shows the love of God. No matter how greatly they had sinned, still God invited them to return. It shows the necessity of repentance. A human being must decide to turn away from sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse also shows the true consequences of sin. It says, “thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Hollywood lies. They present certain sinful behaviors as if they will have pleasant and happy consequences. Too bad that many have believed their lies. That is one of the reasons that it is important to read the Word of God. At least from the Bible we will hear the truth.

The book of Hosea has a great ending because just look at the response given in Hosea 14:2-3, “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.[3] Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” To be saved is a very simple matter. It is profound and goes to the depth of someone’s heart, and it involves one of the most unmoveable forces on the planet: the free will of a person. But salvation is simple. There is nothing to do, but there is something to believe, and that true belief starts with “words.” That is why it says in Hosea 14:2, “Take with you words.” There are certain words that you say when you turn from your sins and turn to the Lord Jesus. The words are something like this, “Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner. Please forgive me and save me.” As it says in Romans 10:9-13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.[10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.[11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.[12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.[13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

When someone honestly turns to the Lord Jesus for salvation, it means that they realize that there is nowhere else to go for help. That is what is expressed in Hosea 14:3, “Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” “Asshur” is another name for Assyria and represents the king of Assyria and the people of Assyria. We cannot turn to the people of the world to find a solution to our distress. The “horses” refer to military might. The ultimate solution is not how powerful is our military. Jesus is the answer. Speaking of “the work of our hands” means that this person also realizes that they have no solution in themselves. With this problem there is no such thing as looking into yourself to find and answer. You will not be able to turn over a new leaf, or change your ways, or make a greater effort to fix the sin problem. The solution is to turn to the Lord Jesus to find forgiveness and grace. When Hosea wrote “for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy,” we are reminded of how merciful Jesus is. He understands our situation. He knows we are weak. And He is always merciful to those who seek mercy.

The Bible says in Hosea 14:4-9, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.[5] I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.[6] His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.[7] They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.[8] Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.[9] Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” When it comes to salvation, Jesus does everything, and the believer benefits from it. God said, “I will heal,” “I will love them freely,” and “mine anger is turned away.” Physical healing symbolizes spiritual healing, which is the forgiveness of sins. It is much more important to have spiritual healing. When God said, “I will love them freely,” there are two great words in this phrase: “love” and “freely.” It is a wonderful thing to think about how much God loves you with His great eternal love. No one who reads this should ever feel unloved. God is a being who loves. God is love. All true love comes from God. The culmination of the Christian life is to learn to love. Jesus said that we should even learn to love our enemies. God loves them, so why should not we? God loves us and we are sinners, so why shouldn’t we? God said, “I will love them freely.” There is nothing we can do to earn His love or merit His love, but He loves us anyway. We do not deserve His love, but He loves us anyway. On that you can be absolutely certain. Do not ever doubt that Jesus loves you. The love of Jesus for you is the greatest love story ever told. No one will ever love you as much as He does.

Even though God is love, that does not cancel out His holiness or His position as Judge of the whole earth. Notice the last phrase of Hosea 14:4 that God says, “mine anger is turned away from him.” God has anger, and God gets angry. What does God get angry about? He gets angry about sin. He has holy indignation against sin and against rebellion. One of the amazing benefits of salvation is that because of Jesus, we can escape the righteous wrath of God. Jesus took that anger and that judgment upon Himself when He was on the cross. That is what was going on when Jesus said while on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” By the way, this indicates to us that the greatest possible punishment is to be separated from God. In hell there will be the punishment of the fire and the unrelenting conscience, but the greatest punishment will be eternal separation from God. To be separate from God means to be separated from all that is good and true and beautiful. In this world the rain and the sunshine and all the blessings of life fall upon the believers and the unbelievers. But it will not always be that way because of the wrath of God against sin. How blessed are those who are in Christ and who therefore have God’s wrath turned away from them.

Hosea 14:6-8 have to do with the results of being saved by Jesus. It says, “His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.[7] They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.[8] Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.” The references to “branches,” “the olive tree,” “they that dwell,” “revive,” “grow,” “the vine,” “a green fir tree,” and “is thy fruit found” are words that symbolize life, health, and fruitfulness. A person who becomes a believer in Jesus and a follower of His teachings will not only benefit in the next life, but will also benefit immensely in this life. It is the only way to become fulfilled and realize one’s true potential. You are not even half the person you ought to be without Christ. But with Christ you have the potential to always abound in fruitfulness and to become more and more the strong person of faith that He wants you to be.

Finally, the book of Hosea ends with one last plea and one last warning to turn from sin and to turn to the Lord. It says in Hosea 14:9, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.”

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