14:3-8When our will is weak, when our thinking is confused, and when our conscience is burdened with a load of guilt, we must remember that God cares for us continually; his love knows no bounds. When friends and family desert us, when co-workers don't understand us, and when we are tired of being good, God’s jove knows no bounds. When we can’t see the way or seem to hear God’s voice, and when we lack courage to go on, God’s love knows no bounds. When our shortcomings and our awareness of our sins overcome us, God's love knows no bounds.
Life Application Study BibleHoseaChapter 14
Hosea 14
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1424, 1425
14Hosea 14
1for your sins have brought you down.
2Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD.Say to him,“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,so that we may offer you our praises.
3Assyria cannot save us,nor can our war-horses.Never again will we say to the idols we have made,‘You are our gods.’No, in you alonedo the orphans find mercy.”
4The LORD says,“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;my love will know no bounds,for my anger will be gone forever.
5I will be to Israellike a refreshing dew from heaven.Israel will blossom like the lily;it will send roots deep into the soillike the cedars in Lebanon.
6Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
7My people will again live under my shade.They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.13:14b Greek version reads O death, where is your punishment? / O grave [Hades],1 Cor 15:55.
8“O Israel,* stay away from idols!I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.I am like a tree that is always green,all your fruit comes from me.”
9Let those who are wise understand these things.Let those with discernment listen carefully.The paths of the LORD are true and right,and righteous people live by walking in them.But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.
Textual footnotes
- 14:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
14:8Admah and Zeboiim were cities of the plain that had perished with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:8; Deuteronomy 29:23).
14:9Hosea closes with an appeal to listen, learn, and benefit from God's word. To those receiving the LORD’s message through Hosea, this meant the difference between life and death. For you, the reader of the book of Hosea, the choice is similar: You can either listen to the book’s message and follow God's ways or refuse to walk along the LORD’s path. But people who insist on following their own direction without God’s guidance are in “total darkness” and “have no idea what they are stumbling over” (Proverbs 4:19). If you are lost, you can find the way by turning from your sin and following God.
14:9God's concern for justice that requires faithfulness and for fove that offers forgiveness can be seen in his dealings with Hosea. We can err by forgetting God’s tove, feeling that our sins are hopeless: but we can also err by forgetting his wrath against our sins, thinking he will continue to accept us no matter how we act. Forgiveness is a key word: When God forgives us, he judges the sin but shows mercy to the sinner. We should never be afraid to come to God for a clean slate and a renewed life.
41:12Unlike Israel, Judah had some fairly good kings—Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, and especially Hezekiah and Josiah. Under some of these kings, God's law was dusted off and taught to the people. The priests continued to serve in God’s appointed Temple in Jerusalem, and the festivals were celebrated at least some of the time. Unfortunately, the political or religious leaders were unable to completely wipe out idol worship and pagan rites (although Hezekiah and Josiah came close), which continued to fester until they eventually erupted and infected the whole country. Still, the influence of the good kings enabled Judah to survive more than 150 years jonger than Israel, and that memory of their positive influence fortified a small group—a remnant—of faithful people who would one day return and restore their land and Temple.
40:15Because Israel had put its confidence in military might rather than in God, it would be destroyed by military power. Israel’s king, who had led the people into idol worship, would be the first to fall. Divine judgment is sometimes swift, but it is always sure.