(REFLECTIONS ON Hosea 11:1-12)

It was the Lord that delivered Israel out of Egypt, and it is the Lord that walked with, nurtured them, and fed them.

4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.

This image of the Lord, as a mother bird, bending down and feeding Israel speaks of the Lord’s love, His tender care, and the infancy and vulnerability of Israel.

Yet, Israel rebelled. The more the prophets spoke, the more the people turned away and served other gods and idols that could not feed them.

Then they turned to other nations, trying again to seek refuge, shelter, and being fed by them, but all they encountered was slavery and oppression.

Although deserving to be forgotten, tossed away because of their rebellion, how could a mother ever truly give up on their children? And so the Lord had compassion over and over again on Israel.

Although Israel surrounded the Lord with lies, deceit, and were unruly to their faithful God, yet the Lord by the roar like a lion, called them home.

10 They will walk after the Lord,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.

Jesus Christ is the Lion and the Lamb. The Lion is the victor, the king, the beast among beasts, and the Lamb is humble, obedient, and a sacrifice for the sins of the world upon the cross. Just as the Lord God led Israel as a mother and father, so Jesus Christ leads His church as the Lion and the Lamb.

Let us follow then, not the voices of the world, but the roar of the Lion, because He was the Lamb that was slain. In doing so, our lives have been redeemed, bought with a price, that is by the blood of Christ.

We are His, and He is ours, now let’s walk with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit on the path back home to God. And may our goal and destination be eternity with Him.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Hosea 11