August 21, 2013
Hosea 2:19, 20
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
We are studying the Seven Promises in Hosea 2:19 and 20, promises that God gave to unfaithful Israel:
I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness
and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithful-
ness, and you shall know the LORD.
We examined the first five in Monday’s blog, and now we will look at the last two:
6. “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness….”Literally, the Hebrew word emuwnah means firmness. It means God can be trusted. In Proverbs 3:5
and 6, the father encourages his son to, “Trust in the LORD with all your
heart; and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
James 1:17 it is written, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variation, or shadow of turning.” If He was good and could be trusted in
the Old Testament, so He can be now!
7. “…and you shall know the LORD.” This is a fitting conclusion to these
seven promises of Hosea 2:19 and 20. Jeremiah 31:34 says that there is
coming a time when this shall universally happen:
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, “Know the LORD,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
And how can we know the Lord in this way? Jesus showed us how in His
High Priestly prayer in John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
For if you know Jesus – and so know the Father – then you will experience these seven promises, being wed to the Lord forever, His righteousness, His justice, His lovingkindness, His mercy, His faithfulness, and – perhaps the greatest blessing – we will know intimately the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
What magnificent promises are presented in these two Old Testament verses! And if these promises apply to Jehovah God’s wife, Israel, they also apply to us as the Bride of Christ. And if they apply to us in such a wonderful way, they are truly fitting for our human marriages. I always suggest that these can be the vows said by the groom to his bride during the wedding ceremony. And, by the way, I suggest this response from the bride to her groom – from Ruth 1:16 and 17:
…wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people
shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there
will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death
parts you and me.
What precious vows to begin a Christian marriage! God will fully live up to his wedding vows to Israel, as will Jesus Christ to His Bride, the Church. May we respond to our Lord as Ruth did to Naomi. And should not we, as Christians, also give such vows to our mates to lead us in our marriages?
May this study in these two blogs help you appreciate both our divine and human relationships.