Let Us Return to Yahweh – Hosea 6

The mention of Adam in this passage, as having violated his covenant with God, is unusual and there have been alternative translations offered.  What was Adam’s covenant?  To not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Some have taken this to indicate covenant is the central theme of Scripture.  It is certainly a main theme, but the theme of Scripture is promise (Genesis 3:15), promise which must be fulfilled, that is, the restoration of all things back to God’s kingdom.

“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?  What shall I do with you, O Judah?  Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.  Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.  For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.  Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood.  As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy.  In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.

For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore the fortunes of my people.  (Hosea 6 ESV)

Israel makes a show of repentance, saying to themselves, “Let us return to Yahweh,” and where Hosea has said they do not know the Lord (ch. 4:1) they are saying, “Let us press on to know Yahweh.”  But Yahweh sees their hearts. Israel’s and Judah’s repentance is like a cloud that promises rain but does not produce.  God’s judgment remains until there is genuine love for Him, not just the formalities of the sacrifice.

They have forsaken the covenant just like Adam did.  The priests, those who should be leading the people in righteousness, are shedding innocent blood, attacking one another to rob, committing murder, and offering sacrifices to false gods.  Judah will not escape punishment either, but just like the restoration that God brings to Israel, so Judah will be restored.  In the midst of God’s judgment there is always the promise of restoration.