Hosea 2:18-20
by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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Hosea 2:18
I. Translation.
"And I will cut a covenant in that day with the animals
of the field and with the birds of the skies and the insects
of the ground; and I will abolish bow and sword and battle from
the earth, and I shall personally lay them "to lie down
securely."
II. Hebrew Notes and the Meaning of the Verse.
A. The first verb of the verse is in its dictionary form. It
is the qal future prophetic perfect of the verb KARATH. God is
the subject of this verb.
B. The direct object of the verb is BERITH, which is a covenant.
1. This covenant is 'cut' by God because it was customary to make a sacrifice whenever a deal was made, a boundary was set, or when two nations agreed to a treaty.
2. An entirely new covenant is in view here, one that will supersede all others made with the people of Israel.
C. The demonstrative adjective HAHU and the noun BAYYOM define the time of the new covenant. This is translated, "in that day".
1. This is the day of the Lord, often mentioned in Old Testament prophecy.
2. The Day of the Lord is a general reference to the last days, and so it can mean one of three things:a. The tribulation.
b. The millennium.
c. The last judgment at the great white throne.
D. The next three phrases define the party of the second part of the covenant (God is the party of the first part).
1. `IM is the preposition which defines the relationship of the covenant. It is translated 'with', but it conveys the idea of fellowship, friendship, and even teamwork. Therefore, God makes this covenant with those whom He considers His equals, and with those whom He wants to work together on it.
2. H.AYYATH HASSADHEH is the first party of the second part. H.AYYATH means animal, with a concentration on its vitality and activity. HASSADHEH defines their common abode, which is the field, or the countryside outside of the populated parts of the earth.
3. The second party of the second part is `OPH HASHAMAYIM. `OPH refers to birds and all creatures that fly. It means literally to flutter. Their abode is the SHAMAYIM, or heavens. This time it is simply the sky the free air above the surface of the earth.
4. The third party of the second part is REMES, which probably refers to insect life and the like. The word means to creep lightly, or touch gently. This is exactly how an insect moves about.
E. The substance of the covenant comes with the next clause: WEQESHETH WEH.EREBH WUMILEH.AMAH. This is translated all together in one quick sentence, and they are indeed closely related to one another. "And bow and sword and battle".
1. The verb `ESHBOR is the qal imperfect, and it means to break something into pieces until it is destroyed. It also means to remove one thing from another. We will translate it "abolish".
2. The preposition MIN and noun HA'ARES define the place from which warfare is abolished. It is planet earth.
F. The second part of the covenant is related with the verb HISHKABEDTIM. This verb means to rest, or sleep for the night.
1. For an animal, this can be a vulnerable time, because of the presence of predators.
2. The adverb LABHET.AH tells us that the creatures will enjoy security. This word comes from the root verb form of BATAH, which means to trust. The creaturs of the earth will trust God, therefore when they lie down at night, they will truly rest.
Hosea 2:19
I. Translation
"And I will betroth you to me forever, and I will betroth
you to me in righteousness and in justice and in virtue love
and in mercy."
II. Hebrew Notes and the Meaning of the Verse.
A. The verse begins with the verb WE'WERASHTIK in the Piel stem.
The Piel is the stem of intensity. This verb means to betroth,
but the Israelite idea of betrothal was somewhat different from
our own.
1. From Today's Handbook of Bible Times and Customs , p.88. "A major part of this [betrothal] transaction was the negotiations over finances how much the father of the bride was to receive, and in what form. They then discussed the dowry and determined what goods were to accompany the bride. A disaster refund was then agreed on, so if ther husband were to die or the marriage were otherwise dissolved, a portion of the goods would be returned. After the betrothal they were referred to as wife and husband. However, they did not consummate the union or live together for another year."
2. God is now seen as the future husband of Israel. As such, He must pay a price, a dowry for His betrothed.
3. This dowry would be the most expensive of all times, because God would sacrifice His unique and only Son to purchase the sinful.
4. Of course, we know that the entire world is the betrothed, for Christ would die for all.
B. The preposition LE and the adverb `OLAM combine together
to form "forever". It is literally, "to the infinite
future".
C. Again there is the verb WE'WERASHTIK. This time it is modified
by four prepositional phrases.
1. BES.EREQ denotes the righteousness aspect of the betrothal. This represents the righteousness of the dowry, Jesus Christ. When Christ died for our sins, it was a great act of righteousness, the greatest of all time. That same righteousness is imputed to us at the moment that we believe in Him.
2. BEMISHPAT indicates the justice aspect of the betrothal. The cross shows the fantastic justice of God.a. The only way that sinful mankind could have a relationship with God was if someone completely sinless would willingly die for them as a sacrificial offering. Jesus Christ, the perfect God man, chose to die for our sins.
b. As a result, we can be saved on the basis of our belief in that death.
c. The other half of the equation is the imputation of Adam's original sin to us. This is what made it O.K. for God to impute our personal sins to Jesus Christ.
d. The sin of one is imputed to the many sinful; the sins of the many sinful are imputed to the one sinless.
e. The righteousness produced on the cross is imputed to the one who believes in the cross.
f. These things come from the justice of God; these things make you justified to live forever with Him.3. BEH.ESEDH shows that the dowry is a great expression of virtue love on the part of God.
a. In eternity past, there was perfect love in the Godhead. This love, this relationship was so great, that God created creatures in order to enjoy that love with Him.
b. Since man is born into a state of sin, he is without that great love relationship with God.
c. God's love comes from within Himself. What I mean is this: it does not come as a result of His attraction to the human race. Since we are sinful, we are intrinsically repugnant to God.
d. But, because of God's great love, He desired the very best for us, and that meant sending His very own Son to the cross to die for us, so that we could enjoy that great love relationship with Him.4. And BERAHAMIM expresses the great mercy of God in the dowry.
a. The mercy of God is the visible expression of His love. God's love is the principle of His motivation; His mercy is that principle in action.
b. The love of God is His motivation. The mercy of God is the cross.
III. The Impact of the Verse.
A. In this verse there is the prediction of the cross.
B. The cross is placed into the metaphor of betrothal.
C. Hosea was in a state of estrangement with his wife Gomer.
1. This represented the state of estrangement between God and Israel.
2. In a greater sense, it represented the state of estrangement between sinful mankind and God.
D. God predicts the future reconciliation of Hosea and Gomer;
of Israel and God; and of God and man.
E. All of these reconciliations depend on the dowry of God; His
unique and only son Jesus Christ.
Topic: RECONCILIATION
F. Four attributes of God are mentioned in reference to the dowry:
righteousness, justice, love, and mercy.
1. These four things represent well the revelation of the character of God.
2. The love and righteousness of God are principles of His character.
3. The mercy and justice of God are those principles in action.
G. A reminder: God reveals the details so that we might love
Him all the more.
Hosea 2:20
I. Translation
"And I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and you will
know Yahweh."
II. Hebrew Notes and the Meaning of the Verse.
A. Again the verb WE'ERASHTIK is used to show the betrothal of
Israel to God.
B. The last of the attributes of God displayed is BE'EMUNAH,
"faithfulness".
C. The placement of this attribute makes it distinct from the
others. God wants to emphasize this one over all others.
1. He does so because Israel has been completely unfaithful to Him.
2. The nation has chased foreign gods, participating in demonism and idolatry.
D. The result of Israel's orientation to this attribute is
knowledge of God.
E. The word used for knowledge is WEYADA'AT. YAD'AH means intimate,
relationship knowledge.
1. It is used to denote knowledge in the soul, the "heart".
2. It is used to describe sexual relations between a man and his wife.
F. It is this kind of knowledge which comes as a result of
being betrothed to God.
III. The Impact of the Verse.
A. God desires us to know Him; to have a relationship with Him.
B. This is the most basic truth of all related to God: that He
desires a relationship with us, and that relationship is the
greatest thing we can ever know.
C. The faithfulness of God is His dependability He will always
be a 'there' for us. We can always depend on Him and His Word.
Topic: FAITHFULNESS OF
GOD
1. The faithfulness of God is based on His immutability. Immutability means that God never changes.
2. His policy always has been and always will be grace.
3. Grace applies both to salvation and the post salvation life.
4. The basis for salvation always has been and always will be the cross.
D. Knowledge of God results from orienting to Him in all of His essence, capabilities, and attributes.
1. Orientation to God's perfect and infinite essence results in humility.
2. Orientation to God's capabilities results in confidence in any situation.
3. Orientation to God's character results in spiritual self esteem and proficiency.
4. The only way to orient to God is through a relationship with Him.
5. Relationship with God means coming to know Him through faith perception of the truth.
6. Relationship with God means worshipping Him and relying on Him.
End of Lesson 10
Grace Notes
Warren Doud, Editor
1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: 512-458-8923
wdoud@bga.com