“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the word of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:4-6).

Is that God? Someone who ponders about what he will do to the people? Someone who asks himself, how he can take his own people in hand as vigorously as possible? Someone who cuts in and kills his own people? Is that the God who has pleasure in love?

Hosea 6:4-6 confronts us with a God who emphatically demands love from his people. At the same time, he himself seems to be as hard as rock, someone who intervenes mercilessly, someone who takes the time to think about the manner in which he can strike his people in the direst way possible

Not Understandable⤒🔗

At first glance, that is completely contradictory. It becomes even less understandable when you lay these words of God beside the verses that immediately precede them: Hosea 6:1-3. There God’s people are speaking. The Israelites call upon each other to return to the Lord. They acknowledge that the Lord himself has brought the misery in which they presently live, over them. He has torn them and has beaten them. But he is also able to restore them. God has reproached them that they did not seek healing from him. Instead of asking the Lord, they sought help from the king of Assyria (Hos. 5:13). However, now they have changed their attitude. They are returning to their God, to be helped and healed by him (Hos. 6:1).

They do that in great trust. They are fully confident that he will want to restore them. He will even do so with wondrous speed; within three days they will again be totally restored. They fully believe in the tremendous healing power of their God (Hos. 6:2). At various times the LORD lamented that his people wanted nothing to do with him, that they did not know him (Hos. 4:1, 6; 5:4). That will now change. They will even strive to know him. They go all the way! And they have complete confidence; “If we do that, then he will not disappoint us. Then he will surely come to us. You can be as sure of that as you are that the sun will rise in the morning. He will return to us like a refreshing shower of rain. He will again give us his blessing, fruitfulness and prosperity” (Hos. 6:3).

Those are beautiful words, words which sound very Biblical:

“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand” (Deut. 32:39).

Is it not beautiful, when people return to seek God? When they desire to live with him again? And when they, with such surety, build on his power to give life? Could it be more beautiful?

Why does the LORD then say to these people: “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?”

Rejected←⤒🔗

In the New Translation (1951) of the Netherlands Bible Society, a new section begins at Hosea 6:4 with its own heading (“a people of evildoers”). This suggests that after Hosea 6:1-3, you should not immediately continue reading verse 4-6, or that the prophecy of verse 4-6 was spoken at a different moment from verse 1-3.

By itself, that would be possible. In the book of Hosea, prophetic words uttered at different times in the life of the prophet, have been gathered. They are relatively loosely connected and are not dated (as is the case with Jeremiah 25:1 or Ezra 26:1). Hosea 6:4-6 could thus have originated from a different time than verse 1-3.

Still, that does not appear logical. The connections between verse 1-3 and verses 4-6 are too many and to clear to support the argument. I will name three.

1. At the end of verse 3 God’s people compare the coming of the LORD with the gracious coming of the rain. In verse 4 the LORD juxtaposes his own comparison to this: “Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.”
2. Immediately before that, in the middle of verse 3, God’s people expressed the explicit expectation that God’s coming was as sure as that of the morning dawn. God responds to this at the end of verse 5: “My judgment goes forth as the light”. It is, as if he wants to say: “Indeed, I will come, but in a very much different way than you are thinking. Not with a gracious rain shower, but with my judgment, my punishment for your behaviour! And my coming — that is not just as the light of dawn in the early morning. No, it will be blinding to the eyes, as the sun on a clear day!”
3. God’s people had said, “We desire to do our uttermost to know the LORD” (the beginning of v. 3). Also to this, the LORD gives a response in verse 4-6. He continues to find it necessary to confront his people with this, that he desires the knowledge of God rather than offerings. (v. 6). They can say that they desire to know the LORD, but this is not at all satisfactory to the LORD.

Taking all of this into account, you cannot evade it: the LORD reacts in verse 4-6 to the heartwarming words of his people in verse 1-3, and he finds no satisfaction in those words. He rejects them.

Evanescent Loyalty←⤒🔗

Does the LORD then not hear the words of love and faithfulness spoken by his people in verse 3? Assuredly. He even reacts to it. He definitely hears that they declare their dependence on him and their loyalty to him. They truly express their love for God. The LORD does not even deny that they truly mean it.

Yet he still knows that it will only last for a short time. That is what he brings to his people’s attention. Their beautiful words about returning to God and about love and faithfulness, will not lead to an enduring change in their behaviors. It will change again, just like that! Their loyalty will evaporate just like the morning cloud that hangs in the valleys of Israel early in the morning. Or like the dew, of which there can be so much that one would think it had rained. The morning cloud and the dew stay only a little while, then the sun comes up and climbs high into the sky, dissipating the cloud and evaporating the dew. At nine o’clock or, at the latest, eleven o’clock there is no longer any trace of it to be found.

The LORD says: “Just as with that cloud and that dew, such is also the condition of your love for Me and for each other. It is not enduring. It disappears just like that” (v. 4b). That is what happened in the past. Therefore the LORD took strong measures. By means of the prophets, he struck his people severely. He killed people by his words, spoken through the prophets (v. 5).

This could cause you to think about Elijah and Elisha. In the time of Hosea, their actions were still relatively fresh in the memories of the people. At the LORD’s command, these two prophets called Israel to turn back to God. They engaged in battle against the worship of false gods and the unfaithfulness of God’s people. That cost many Israelites their lives. Elijah had not only allowed the slaughter of 450 prophets of the idol Baal (1 Kings 18:40), but he had also let the fire of heaven descend on 100 soldiers to kill them (2 Kings 1). In the name of the LORD, Elisha cursed a large group of young boys from Bethel, who had mocked him. Then 42 of them were torn apart by female bears (2 Kings 2:23-24). At the command of the LORD, Elisha prepared the way for Hazael to become king of Aram (2 Kings 8:13) and Jehu king over Israel (2 Kings 9:1-6). That led to Hazael killing many Israelites during his raids (2 Kings 8:12), and Jehu, with much shedding of blood, making an end to the kingship of the house of Omri and Ahab, and an end to the service of Baal (2 Kings 9; 10 also 1 Kings 19:17).

All of that brought about very little. In the time of Hosea, Israel again conducted herself as an adulterous woman (Hos. 1:2; 2:1; 3:1). God’s people had again gone over to the service of Baal, (Hos. 2:7, 12) or, they tried to combine that worship of idols with the service of the LORD (Hos. 2:15). The results of that were not long in coming: very little could be seen anymore of love between and of solidarity within the people of God. Crime was all around (see e.g., Hos. 4:2).

Now God’s people are uttering emotionally laden words of return to God and of love and faithfulness. But, at the same time, the facts are already contesting this; the LORD himself points this out. With this statement, he includes the names of the locations: Gilead is a brood nest of evildoers and on the way to Shechem even the priests band together to murder and commit villainy (Hos. 6:8-9). God’s people can say that they will do everything in order to faithfully live with the LORD again, but the facts themselves point out that it will be of very short duration.

Not Having Listened←⤒🔗

God’s people speak convincing words, words which, when you first hear them, are even totally Biblical. At the same time it is abundantly clear: these assurances of love and faithfulness have a no longer life-span than a mist in the morning or the dew on the grass. How is that possible?

It is possible because God’s people have still not really listened well to the LORD and to his prophet, Hosea. They say that they desire to return to their God. But they forget that Hosea has said to them that this is absolutely not possible anymore: “Their deeds will not suffer that they should repent and return to their God.” Their behavior is so corrupt that a return to God has become impossible! They commit spiritual harlotry, not now and then by giving themselves to other gods; but “a spirit of harlotry dwells in them”. They have enslaved themselves to it! They can no longer do otherwise. (Hos. 5:4).

Therefore God’s punishment is inevitable. The judgment that God reveals over the tribes of Israel is sure (Hos. 5:9). Escape is no longer possible. First the LORD must act harshly and quickly against his people. He must move against them as a lion does, and after that, withdraw himself from them in order to leave them to their own devices for a time. Only then, after a long time, will return be possible. Only after the LORD has severely punished them and has left them behind, shattered, only then will they acknowledge guilt, seek God, and look for him with longing (Hos. 5:14-15, also 3:4-5).

God had told his people this clearly enough through Hosea, but obviously, it had not really penetrated their thinking. They still think that they can go back to God just like that and that he then immediately — one, two, three — will see to it that in every respect things will go well for them again (Hos. 6:2).

The LORD had also said that they could no longer restore things to rights with offerings of animals. Even should they bring along sheep and cattle, the LORD will not let himself be mollified by it (Hos. 5:6). But obviously, they only half heard that as well. Why else would the LORD say so emphatically in Hosea 6:6 that he does not desire sacrifices and burnt offerings? He “desires steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings”.

God’s people listened to the words of the prophet with only half an ear. Therefore they are still lacking a true knowledge of God. Therefore they do not truly acknowledge him as the One who has authority over them. Therefore their love and their loyalty are as evanescent as a mist in the morning or as dew on the grass.

The Last Remedy←⤒🔗

That is the reason why the LORD reacts to the pious words of his people with: “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?” “Although you speak so convincingly about love and faithfulness, it is absolutely clear that it has no lasting strength. For in spite of everything that has happened and everything which I have said, you still refuse to listen to Me carefully.”

In Hosea 6:4, we do not see before us a God who ponders about what is the meanest way to grab his people’s attention. Here we see a God before us, who appears to be at wit’s end. He truly does not know anymore what he needs to do with this people. (According to the Willibrord translation: “What must I begin with you, O Ephraim? What must I begin with you, O Judah?“; see also Exodus 17:4 and Isaiah 5:4 where we see the same usage of words as in Hosea 6:4).There is only one remedy that can help anymore: God’s judgment. God will again have to break open his people. He will have to come with His judgment, blinding to the eyes as the light of the shining sun (Hos. 6:5). God’s people will have to go through this, otherwise there is no remedy.

But, at the same time, it becomes clear as day, what God does want and what his goal is: that his people truly will listen to him, that they will truly know him, that they will acknowledge him and serve him as the only God and that love will come, lasting, loyal love towards him and towards the neighbour, even as towards oneself.

For that knowledge and that love, God will do anything. For this, he will even forego all offerings of animals (Matt. 9:13; 12:7; Mark 12:28-34). He does not even shy away from implementing the heaviest remedies, even as the actions of Elijah and Elisha. All this he does in order to bring about that love among his people. This is for him, literally, deadly serious.

The Goal Achieved←⤒🔗

In Hosea 6:4, we are not confronted with a sadist who broods on mean stunts. We see a God before us who acts in a harsh manner because that is the only possibility for the achievement of his goal.

Enduring love for God and the neighbour can only come via the way of judgment. Therefore death sentences must be carried out. God did that, when he repeatedly brought judgment over his people.

The strange God of Hosea 6:4 and 5 is truly God who takes delight in love. He is the God who has proved this once, for all time. He did not remain without remedy, at wit’s end, but He reached out to the last, the only effective remedy. He carried out the judgment for our lovelessness on his only Son. In this way he brought about love, a love that endures.