[Hos.6:3] “Then shall we know – (if) we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning – and He shall come unto us as the rain – as the latter and former rain unto the earth”
That which we are examining now is the blessing this 3rd verse descriptively declares and the certainty of it being bestowed that is bound up with it. The verses that precede this third verse deliver to us the context that explicitly builds up to what is here being stated. Vs.1-2 says (lit.), “Come and let us return to the Lord – for He hath torn – but He will heal us – He hath smitten – but He will bind us up (2) He will revive us after two days; in the third day He will lift us up – and we shall live before Him.” Obviously this was the message given by our Lord unto Hosea for him to declare to His people. It is typical of the message that is needing to be declared unto God’s people today. It continues to be so amazing how relevant the Word of God is to the true people of God – in every generation. The healing balm of God’s grace of repentance serves to successfully steer us time and time again directly into the merciful, forgiving and restoring presence of our loving Lord. That’s what makes Hos.6:3 such a wonderful gospel text unto us! We need to be reminded of the gospel message of this verse over and over and over again as we sojourn through this fallen and sinful world! Hos.6:1-3 descriptively declares the Lord’s great faithfulness unto us even when we (like Israel) have been, at times, grossly unfaithful to Him and His Word.
From the very beginning verse 3 declares: “Then shall we know”. This is a declaration of the sovereign certainty of God’s grace unto us! According to the immediate context of vs.1-2 – after our Savior tears and heals us – after He smites and binds us up – He then leads us down the very same path that He, Himself, had to walk, in His eternally saving us just so we, (lit.) before His face, shall eternally live! “Then” – as the Word of His grace says (in vs.3) – “shall we know”.
That which is also very interesting is the fact that the word “if” that starts the next phrase is not in the original Hebrew. In our English, whenever we read a descriptive statement with an “if” clause – it most often means that the declared description is conditioned on the occurrence of the “if” clause. But, that is not what’s being said here. This passage is not conditional at all upon a response from a fallen sinner human being! What is being declared is an absolute certainty to take place — in a genuinely Christ-cleansed and a Holy Spirit-of-grace converted sinner-saved-by-grace true child of God. You know your Lord – and you follow on to know the Lord even more! When God begins to bestow His grace and mercy upon you – He will go on bestowing His grace and mercy upon you. That makes these words a genuine motivation for you to turn to Him as the context of this passage encourages you to do. Praise His wonderful Name!
It’s the Lord’s going forth on our behalf that brings these wonderful things to pass. Hence the text says that His going forth is “prepared”. This word means that His going forth is (lit.) causatively appointed and rendered sure by God, Himself. The Word says that the Lord’s going forth is appointed and rendered as sure to take place – “as the morning”. As sure as there is a setting of the Sun in this world – there is also a rising! God has fixed this to be certain to happen. And, here He says that His going forth on behalf of His people is equally as certain. In fact, He says that “He shall come unto us – as the rain…”. What does that mean? We will get into that certainty in our next newsletter. Until then – may the Lord richly bless you. Amen.
-For Christ’s Glory Only!
John Carpenter
