God's Love Demonstrated by the Hope of the Future Restoration (Hosea 11:10-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/15/2015 9:18 PM

My Worship Time                Focus: God’s love Demonstrated by the Hope of Future Restoration

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Hosea 11:10-12

            Message of the verses:  “10 They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt And like doves from the land of Assyria; And I will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD. 12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies And the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful.”

            As we have studied the prophets, and this has been since our study began in the book of Isaiah on July 2, 2013 we have seen a kind of a pattern that goes through the prophets and is also seen here, and that is that once the judgment is promised to take place then will come for Israel a promise of hope.  What we see here is that Hosea looks ahead to the end times, something we are currently looking at in our study of Revelation, and what he sees is when Israel will be gathered together as they are taken out of the other nations that they find themselves in, and then transported back to the Promised Land.  I personally believe that this has already began as far back as 1948 when the current state of Israel began, but there are still many Jews living in other nations who have not yet returned to their Promised Land.  After they return to Israel I believe that there will be the Tribulation period and then those who are not killed by the end of the Tribulation period that is those who have been saved will go into the Millennial Kingdom headed up by the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have seen that in the past that God roared like a lion whenever He judged the nation as seen in Hosea 5:14; and will see in 13:7, but in the future roar will call His people back to their land.  My thoughts on this is that one of the great reasons that they will return to the land is because of the threat of persecution in the land that they are currently living in, even in our own land, and this is to me a very sad state of affairs.  Let’s look again at Hosea 11:11 “Like frightened birds they’ll come from Egypt, from Assyria like scared doves. I’ll move them back into their homes." GOD’s Word! (Message).”

            In the mean time God is long-suffering with His people as He is with all sinners as seen in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  This is even the case in light of what we read in verse 12 “Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One (NIV).”  Dr. Wiersbe points out that Jesus said a similar thing that is found in Matthew 23:27 that Hosea is saying in this section:  “"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”  He latter says the following in verse 39 “"For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ’BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’"”

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on chapter eleven by writing “God’s mercies in the past certainly proved His love, but Hosea offered a second evidence that God loved His people.”  We will see this evidence in chapters 12-13 under the second main section entitled “God’s Disciplines in the Present.”  I know that this sounds strange but let us look at what the writer to the Hebrews, and in chapter 12, has to say about the disciplines of God:  “4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5  and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6  FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."”