6 “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.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 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.”
4 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.
5 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.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man,
so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to Shechem;
they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.
How easily the people of God seem to fall away? You can look to the parable of the sower and the seed in different soils. But here God has struck his people down, and God has rebuilt them again. Verse 2 can be very striking for most of us as we remember the judgment of God against his people. God tears us down to build us up again. We are daily buried with Christ in our Baptism and rise to new life.
But then you get to verse 7. God continues to provide us with new life. Likewise, we continue to follow in the footsteps of our father Adam. Hosea compares our lives not to the sinful life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, or others, but with Adam. It is by Adam all men die. Adam's sin like ours is a lack of trust and faithfulness in the Lord. The people continue to turn their back on God.
We are no different. Most of us go through our daily life like robbers, murderers, and villains. We do not necessarily set out from Church to do evil, but it is not long before evil finds us. We find ourselves falling into sinful desires and wicked attitudes. God does come to us again and kills us. God strikes us down, and raises us up again to new life. It does not always take three days, but it is always connected to a three day rest in the tomb.
But then you get to verse 7. God continues to provide us with new life. Likewise, we continue to follow in the footsteps of our father Adam. Hosea compares our lives not to the sinful life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, or others, but with Adam. It is by Adam all men die. Adam's sin like ours is a lack of trust and faithfulness in the Lord. The people continue to turn their back on God.
We are no different. Most of us go through our daily life like robbers, murderers, and villains. We do not necessarily set out from Church to do evil, but it is not long before evil finds us. We find ourselves falling into sinful desires and wicked attitudes. God does come to us again and kills us. God strikes us down, and raises us up again to new life. It does not always take three days, but it is always connected to a three day rest in the tomb.
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