Yet I have been the Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me. (13:4).
As Hosea begins to close out this beautiful book depicting God’s Redeeming Love for those who had deserted Him for others, those who had played the harlot with pagan gods, those who had forsaken the Only God and Savior, the Lord continues to walk His people through their past; and then turns their eyes toward the future.
Two futures are conveyed. First, the future for those who stumble through life in their sin. And the second, the future He intends for those who return to Him, the Only God and Savior.
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity, (14:1-3).
Through His mouthpiece, Hosea, God reminded Israel of how He had exalted them before the nations; and rather than growing in gratitude and faith, they grew in self-sufficient pride which ultimately led them straight into the works of their own hands.
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” (13:1-2 ESV).
And although He had tenderly cared for them and had bountifully fulfilled and satisfied their every need, they forgot Him, the Only God and Savior.
I cared for you in the wilderness,
In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
And being satisfied, their heart became proud;
Therefore they forgot Me, (13:5-6).
And in their forgetfulness, rather than remaining with Him, the Only God and Savior, they turned away to the ways of the world, desiring a king to rule over them; a desire that would prove to be their demise and decisive destruction.
It is your destruction, O Israel,
That you are against Me, against your help.
10 Where now is your king
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your judges of whom you requested, (13:9-10).
For rather than choosing to abide under the shield of His salvation, in rejecting Him, the Only God and Savior, they were left accountable for their sin and vulnerable to the cruel savagery of the enemy.
Samaria will be held guilty,
For she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
Their little ones will be dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant women will be ripped open, (13:16).
But what they deserved, what they had earned, could be deflected… if they would return to Him, the Only God and Savior, as He had taught them in the wilderness.
“You shall have no other gods before Me,” (Exodus 20:3).
He had sent His prophet Isaiah to declare His Truth: salvation is found in no one else; He Is the Only God and Savior.
“I, even I, am the Lord,
And there is no savior besides Me.
12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God,” (Isaiah 43:11-12).
He would send His Son, Jesus, to bring His salvation found in no one else; He Is the Only God and Savior.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12).
And in His love letter, proclaimed through His prophet, He pledges His Love as He beckons their return.
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our lips.
3 “Assyria will not save us,
We will not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’
To the work of our hands;
For in You the orphan finds mercy,” (14:1-3).
And if only they would return with words of humility, repentance, and confession, words that echoed the sincerity of their heart, they would be fully met with the grace, mercy, and love freely given by Him, the Only God and Savior.
Consider Him, the Only God and Savior
I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6 His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon, (14:4-6).
He Is the Only God and Savior Who Heals our Apostasy
I will heal their apostasy,
He Is the Only God and Savior Who Loves us Freely
I will love them freely,
He Is the Only God and Savior Who Turns Away His Anger
For My anger has turned away from them.
He Is the Only God and Savior Who Revives His Own
I will be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
He Is the Only God and Savior Who Beautifies His Own
His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon,
How do we respond to Him, the Only God and Savior?
He Is the Only God and Savior. Shouldn’t that be all we need to know? Shouldn’t the fact that He invites us to know Him be all the coaxing we need? Shouldn’t the reality that He gives us, not what we deserve, but He Heals our apostasy, Loves us Freely, Turns Away His Anger, and Revives and Beautifies us through His amazing gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, move us to respond in faith?
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 6:23).
And shouldn’t His gift of eternal life fill us with an overwhelming gratitude that we simply must express? But How? What can we possibly offer Him, the Only God and Savior?
He has told us. He desires that we offer Him the confession of our lips from a sincerity of heart that will bear fruit in our lives.
Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our lips, (14:2).
And He has promised that the fruit of humility will blossom as we depend on Him, the Only God and Savior; and that we will then become a blessing to others.
Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
From Me comes your fruit, (14:7-8).
Oh, this book. It’s life changing. He meant it to be. God sent Hosea to a people steeped in harlotry that their future would be forever changed through the message of His Love so freely given: His Heart for the Harlot; Betrothing Himself by His Redeeming Love; His Decided Defense Against Destruction and His Loving Chastisement; What He Desires and What He Calls Us to Consider; His testimony that He alone Is Our Maker though we have treated Him as Unloved; His Prescribed Precept for Sowing and Reaping His righteousness; and His Rekindled Heart’s Compassion for a people so completely undeserving.
This is our God; this is Him, the Only God and Savior. And if we are wise and discerning, these are the things we must set our hearts to understand and know.
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them, (14:9).
Oh, may we never forget, that He Is the Only God and Savior and that His ways are right. Oh let us choose to walk in His ways, that we may live to bring Him glory through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen, (Jude 1:25).
Lord, we bow before You and humbly confess You as the Only God and Savior. Lord, we thank You that You freely love all people and demonstrated such love freely given through the shed blood of Your Son, that we could be saved from the wrath we deserve.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him, (Romans 5:8-9).
Lord, please may our life bear the fruit of our lips that You might use us to invite others to come and draw near, that they would turn to You, the Only God and Savior, and be saved.
“Gather yourselves and come;
Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;
They have no knowledge,
Who carry about their wooden idol
And pray to a god who cannot save.
21 “Declare and set forth your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this from of old?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other,” (Isaiah 45:20-22).