Hosea Chapter 6
“Come, Let Us Return to the Lord”
A. A call to return to the LORD
1. (Hosea 6:1–2) Israel should trust in the God who chastened her.
Hosea 6:1–2 (KJV)
“Come, and let us return unto the LORD, for he hath torn, and he will heal us, he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
Hosea now models the correct response to divine chastening. Rather than resisting God’s discipline or blaming circumstances, he issues a call to return unto the LORD. The language is corporate and pastoral, inviting the nation to repentance rooted in confidence in God’s character. Hosea openly acknowledges that the LORD is the One who has torn and smitten them. Their suffering is not accidental, nor merely political or military, but the direct result of God’s corrective hand. Yet Hosea holds together both sides of God’s dealings, judgment and mercy. The same God who tore is the God who heals. The same God who struck is the God who binds up wounds. Discipline is never divorced from covenant love.
This prayer demonstrates a mature theological understanding of suffering. Hosea does not argue with God’s justice nor resent His correction. Instead, he trusts that God’s chastening flows from covenant faithfulness, not abandonment. Just as a loving father disciplines his child for restoration, the LORD disciplines Israel with the intent to heal. This reflects the biblical principle later articulated in Hebrews 12:6 (KJV), “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hosea’s prayer reflects humility, submission, and confidence in God’s redemptive purpose.
The statement, after two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, expresses Hosea’s confidence in God’s power to restore life from judgment. In its immediate context, the language communicates a short, definite period of discipline followed by renewal. Israel’s suffering is not endless, and God’s purpose is not annihilation. Beyond the immediate context, the wording carries a shadowy prophetic resonance. Scripture repeatedly associates the third day with divine deliverance and resurrection. Though Hosea speaks primarily of national restoration, the language harmonizes profoundly with the later revelation of Jesus Christ.
On the cross, Christ was torn and smitten for the sins of others, as declared in Isaiah 53:5 (KJV), “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.” Yet He was raised on the third day, fulfilling God’s redemptive plan. Hosea’s prayer thus stands as a Spirit-guided expression that aligns with the pattern of death followed by resurrection, judgment followed by life, so that God’s people may live in His sight, restored to fellowship and favor.
2. (Hosea 6:3) Walking in confidence.
Hosea 6:3 (KJV)
“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.”
Hosea now turns from repentance to resolve. The phrase then shall we know establishes a cause and effect relationship. Restoration begins with a renewed pursuit of the LORD. Knowledge here is not intellectual accumulation but covenantal relationship. To know the LORD is to walk with Him, obey Him, and submit to His revealed will. Israel’s downfall had been previously summarized in Hosea 4:6 (KJV), “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea now leads the nation in correcting that failure by calling them to follow on to know the LORD, meaning persistent, deliberate, ongoing pursuit.
This pursuit must be earnest, not superficial. True knowledge of God requires diligence, humility, and submission to Scripture. God rewards such pursuit. The principle is later affirmed in Hebrews 11:6 (KJV), “But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hosea’s confidence rests not in Israel’s sincerity but in God’s faithfulness. The LORD’s going forth is prepared as the morning. Just as dawn is certain, orderly, and dependable, so is God’s response to genuine repentance. He does not waver, delay capriciously, or abandon those who seek Him in truth.
Hosea then employs agricultural imagery deeply familiar to Israel. God will come to them as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. In Israel’s climate, rainfall was essential for life. There were no irrigation systems to compensate for drought. The former rain fell in the autumn, softening the ground and preparing it for planting. The latter rain came in the spring, maturing the grain for harvest. Without both rains, crops failed and famine followed. Hosea uses this imagery to describe God’s faithful, life-giving presence. When God comes, He brings nourishment, growth, fruitfulness, and renewal.
The emphasis is also on repetition and continuity. God gives the former rain and the latter rain. Past blessings do not exhaust future grace. If God has worked before, He is able and willing to work again. His supply is not diminished by previous generosity. This truth guards against nostalgia and despair. God is not confined to a particular era, personality, or location. His faithfulness transcends circumstances, geography, and generations.
Hosea 6:3 later became one of several passages misused to support what became known as the Latter Rain Movement. Beginning in 1948, certain Pentecostal teachers claimed this verse promised a unique end-time outpouring of miraculous power that would surpass all previous works of God. These interpretations detached the verse from its historical and covenantal context and redirected its meaning toward experiential revivalism.
Historically, the movement gained traction through figures such as William Branham, a Oneness Pentecostal minister whose teachings and practices were eventually denounced by orthodox Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church. Branham and others promoted doctrines that departed significantly from biblical orthodoxy, including aberrant views of revelation, prophecy, and salvation. Over time, the movement fostered ideas such as restored apostles and prophets, dominion theology, replacement theology, elitist spiritual hierarchies, and an excessive focus on signs and wonders as proof of divine favor.
While Hosea’s imagery of rain speaks of God’s faithful response to repentance, it does not teach a distinct end-time revival movement, nor does it support modern charismatic excesses. The passage emphasizes covenant restoration, obedience, and relational knowledge of God, not ecstatic experiences or new revelations. The misuse of this text illustrates the danger of removing Scripture from its theological and historical framework.
In Hosea’s context, the message is simple and profound. When God’s people repent and pursue Him genuinely, He comes faithfully, predictably, and sufficiently, like rain upon dry ground. Restoration flows from submission, not sensationalism.
B. The sin of Israel and Judah
1. (Hosea 6:4–6) How God’s people missed God’s heart.
Hosea 6:4–6 (KJV)
“O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
The LORD now speaks with a tone of grief and frustration toward both Ephraim and Judah. His question, what shall I do unto thee, expresses divine lament rather than uncertainty. God is not confused about what action to take, but He is grieved by the persistent pattern of shallow repentance followed by relapse. Both kingdoms are addressed together, showing that although Judah was outwardly more faithful than Israel, she shared the same heart problem.
The LORD diagnoses the issue precisely. Their goodness, or covenant faithfulness, is like a morning cloud and the early dew. Morning clouds and dew appear briefly but vanish quickly once the sun rises. Israel and Judah demonstrated short bursts of religious emotion, temporary reforms, and fleeting repentance, but nothing enduring. Their faithfulness lacked roots, perseverance, and submission. It was reactive rather than transformative. God was not rejecting faithfulness altogether, but exposing how shallow and inconsistent it had become.
Because of this, the LORD explains His corrective action. He had hewn them by the prophets and slain them by the words of His mouth. The prophets were instruments of divine surgery, cutting, exposing, and confronting sin through God’s spoken word. The language is strong but intentional. God’s word wounds in order to heal. His judgments are described as light that goes forth, meaning they are clear, revealing, and just. God had not hidden His expectations nor obscured His warnings. His truth shone openly before them.
The heart of the matter is then stated plainly. God declares, for I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Israel and Judah had continued the outward forms of religion. They brought sacrifices, observed rituals, and maintained ceremonial obedience. Yet they had abandoned mercy, covenant loyalty, compassion, and justice. They had also abandoned the true knowledge of God, not intellectual awareness, but relational obedience and reverent submission. God makes it clear that ritual without relationship is offensive to Him. He values a heart shaped by mercy and truth above external acts of worship.
This verse later becomes foundational in Jesus’ rebuke of religious hypocrisy. In Matthew 9:13 (KJV), Jesus says, “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Again, in Matthew 12:7 (KJV), He declares, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” Like Israel in Hosea’s day, the religious leaders of Jesus’ time emphasized outward observance while missing God’s heart.
Israel brought animals to the altar, but they never brought themselves. They failed to present their lives in obedience and surrender. The principle later articulated in Romans 12:1 (KJV) captures what Israel missed, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” God desires hearts shaped by mercy and truth, flowing from genuine knowledge of Him.
2. (Hosea 6:7–11) The transgression of idolatry.
Hosea 6:7–11 (KJV)
“But they like men have transgressed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me.
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent, for they commit lewdness.
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel, there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.”
The LORD now summarizes Israel’s guilt in covenantal terms. Like men they have transgressed the covenant. This does not mean merely human weakness, but willful rebellion. Israel broke God’s covenant knowingly, deliberately, and repeatedly. They dealt treacherously with the LORD, betraying the relationship they had pledged to uphold. This language emphasizes moral responsibility. Israel was not ignorant of God’s law, they consciously violated it.
Specific examples follow. Gilead, a region east of the Jordan associated with cities of refuge and priestly activity, is described as a city of evildoers, polluted with blood. Violence, injustice, and bloodshed had become normal. Even more shocking is the conduct of the priests. Like bands of robbers who ambush travelers, the company of priests are described as murderers lying in wait on the road to Shechem. Instead of guiding worshipers toward God, they exploited, abused, and destroyed them. This represents spiritual predation, using religious authority for personal gain and idolatrous practice. Their actions are described as lewdness, emphasizing moral corruption tied to pagan worship.
God declares that He has seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. The whoredom of Ephraim refers again to spiritual adultery through idolatry and covenant betrayal. Israel is declared defiled, ceremonially and morally unclean, unfit for fellowship with a holy God.
The section concludes with a sober word to Judah. Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee. Harvest imagery here points to accountability and judgment, but also to future restoration. Judah would experience judgment through exile, yet she would also become the primary recipient of restoration when God returned the captives of His people. Historically, after the Babylonian exile, the returning remnant settled predominantly in Judah. Israel, the northern kingdom, never returned as a distinct national entity. This statement reflects both judgment and mercy, discipline and covenant faithfulness, carried out according to God’s sovereign plan.
