I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction? Hosea13:14
Chapters 12 and 13 of Hosea are tough reading... The text see-saws between judgement and mercy. Again and again, the judgement is justified and Israel's failure is made clear.
But there remains an ongoing "but"...
Although Israel has failed and by earthly standards has fallen beyond redemption, there is still unexpected mercy that interjects itself into their ongoing failure.
Even though these chapters pull no punches on the tough consequences of abandoning God, there are moments of grace, love and mercy throughout.
Here are some examples...
* God urges them to repent in 12:6 : "But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always."
* He reminds them of how He raised Moses to lead the Exodus in 12:13 "The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet He cared for Him."
* In 13:5 He shows His care for them: "I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat."
And in our text verse we have the incredible promise that He will defeat the power of the grave - a beautiful promise that Paul quotes in 1Cor15 in relation to Jesus' resurrection.
Yes - we have sinned and our sin is terminal, but unexpected GRACE will rob us out of our graves.
What an amazing God!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
