Despite all the gloom and doom, the Bookof Hosea ends on a note full of compassion and grace, and a promise of restoration.
Chapter 14
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! 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. 3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." 4 "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; 6 his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. 7 Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. 8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me." 9 Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
2 comments:
I really like these verses, I imagine GOd telling me how much He loves me and how wayward I am,
"When Ping was a child, I loved her,
Out of sin, I called my daughter,
But the more I called her,
The further she went from me.
She sacrificed to her wants
and she burned her time on the internet
It was I who taught Ping to walk
taking her by her arms
But she did not realised
It was I who healed her
I led her with cords of human kindness, with ties of Love
I lifted the yoke from her neck
and bent down to feed her.
hee.....
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