Hosea 14 explained: An Invitation to Come Home

Come back with words (vv. 1-2)

Israel is told to return, bringing an honest prayer for forgiveness instead of animal sacrifices. The Hebrew literally says 'the bulls of our lips', meaning praise offered in place of a sacrificed animal, and Christians later took up this picture of praise as an offering.

Letting go of false hopes (v. 3)

The people promise to stop relying on the empire of Assyria, on war horses (often bought from Egypt), and on idols they had made themselves. The 'fatherless' stands for anyone with no protector, and the prayer admits that God is the one who shows such people compassion.

God answers with healing (vv. 4-7)

God promises to cure their habit of drifting away, to love them freely, and to revive them like dew reviving plants in the dry season, so they grow like lilies, deep rooted cedars, evergreen olives and the famous vines of Lebanon. Verse 7's 'his shade' could mean Israel's or God's, and readers are not sure which is meant.

Done with idols (v. 8)

Ephraim, another name for the northern kingdom of Israel, is finished with idols, though translations differ on whether God or Ephraim speaks the first line. God compares himself to an evergreen tree that bears fruit, which some scholars read as a deliberate answer to the local fertility gods Israel had credited with its harvests.

A closing word for the wise (v. 9)

The book ends by urging thoughtful readers to take this message to heart, since the same road that steadies the upright makes the rebellious stumble. Some scholars think this closing saying was added by those who later gathered Hosea's words.

Key verse: Hosea 14:4

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether this promise of restoration was fulfilled in Israel's later history, is fulfilled spiritually in the church, or still points to a future renewal of the Jewish people.

Something to think about

When someone who has hurt you comes back and honestly admits what they did, what makes it possible, or impossible, for you to start again with them?