Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):
Ransomed from the Grave: A Prophecy for the Nations of Israel!
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In graphic, sometimes symbolic, terms the prophet Hosea tells the story of the rejection, the punishment, the regathering and the ultimate restoration of the House of Israel. In one bold sweep across the centuries, beginning with the dispersion of the House of Israel and climaxing in their redemption, the resurrection of their rulers and the restoration of the Kingdom, followed by universal peace and prosperity, the prophet provides a telescopic preview of the march of the House of Israel down through the ages. |
by Howard B. Rand
The great theme running throughout the Bible, first mentioned in the Pentateuch and culminating in the Book of Revelation, is the symbolic relationship of husband and wife existing between YEHOVAH God and His people Israel. That this was so -- from their inception as the nation chosen to become the nucleus of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth -- is made clear by the prophet Jeremiah. He records the words of YEHOVAH God which refer to the day He "took Israel by the hand" to lead them out of the land of Egypt. At that time, YEHOVAH stated, "I was an husband unto them" (Jeremiah 31:32). When the House of Israel turned away from YEHOVAH God to embrace gross idolatry, He repudiated them as His people, designating them as an unfaithful wife. YEHOVAH declared He would no longer be a husband to them and gave the House of Israel (not Judah) a bill of divorcement and "put them away" out of their own land. Due to their sins they were unable to escape defeat by the invading Assyrian armies and were carried away into Assyrian captivity.
Assyrian Graveyard
Describing the subsequent circumstances of the House of Israel, Hosea used an analogous term of great and far-reaching significance. He likened their captivity in Assyria to a graveyard (Hosea 13:14) and this depicts more accurately than any other mode of expression what actually occurred. It is because of what occurs in death that the deportation of the House of Israel into Assyria was so fittingly compared to the descent into the grave. The grave is a place of forgetfulness as Solomon declared:
"There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (Ecc. 9:10).
To this the Psalmist David added:
"For in death there is no remembrance of thee" (Ps. 6:5).
Therefore, in the grave there is neither knowledge nor memory. How aptly this describes what happened to the House of Israel. The people soon lost all contact with their former activities and surroundings and before long all knowledge and remembrance of their origin and identity dimmed and vanished away. After an interval of time there is scarcely anything less identifiable than an unmarked grave -- and this was equally true of the people who had once been known as a prosperous kingdom protected by the might of their powerful God and who had inhabited a land given to them by Divine right.
Death-Land
In his translation of the Scriptures, Dr. James Moffatt provides a very interesting version of Hosea's reference to death and the grave in connection with Israel's captivity. In the form of questions, YEHOVAH's words are interpreted as asking:
"Am I to save them from Death-land? Am I to rescue them from death?" (Hosea 13:14).
This rendering positively identifies Assyria as the deathland into which Israel was to be flung for their sins. The emphasis upon the fact that a "land" is involved is firm support of the conclusion that the land of Assyria was to be to the House of Israel a spiritual graveyard.
Redeeming Israel
Nevertheless, the account of YEHOVAH's dealings with His people does not end here. While it is true that in the grave of Assyrian captivity Israel ceased to remember former things and lost all knowledge of their past, they were not to remain there for all time, nor be divorced from YEHOVAH God forever. But before it would be possible for them to again live in YEHOVAH's sight, there must be a resurrection from this grave of forgetfulness. Just as the individual is impotent to implement his own deliverance from the grave, so, too, the House of Israel was helpless to bring about their own restoration. Therefore, through Hosea, YEHOVAH God declared He would be their Redeemer and Deliverer:
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death" (Hosea 13:14).
It was Yeshua the Messiah, the adopted Son of YEHOVAH God who, as YEHOVAH's agent imbued with YEHOVAH's life-force (the holy spirit), was later to pay the ransom himself -- in behalf of YEHOVAH's people -- with his own life on the tree of Golgotha. As YEHOVAH God's anointed one, and through his sacrifice as the perfect Passover lamb, Yeshua the Messiah alone could deliver the House of Israel from the power of the grave, and YEHOVAH God could then raise them up so that they might live again in YEHOVAH's sight.
Quoting the words of YEHOVAH God, Hosea assures us there will be no change in the Divine purpose to redeem Israel from death. The certainty of this is expressed in the statement, "Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes"; that is, there will be no change of mind on the part of YEHOVAH God, dissuading Him from His ultimate objective -- the redemption of His people. This statement follows the challenging declaration:
"O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" (Hosea 13:14).
A National Resurrection
In the extremely important 15th chapter of I Corinthians, familiarly known as the "resurrection chapter" of the New Testament, Paul undoubtedly had Hosea's prophecy in mind when he triumphantly exclaimed:
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (I Cor. 15: 54-55).
Throughout this chapter Paul discoursed at length concerning the nature and purpose of the resurrection, and Christians are indebted to him for much detailed information concerning what they may anticipate as individuals when this phenomena becomes a reality in their own experience. However, the primary application of the declaration by Hosea, which inspired Paul's statement, was to typify the method by which the redemption of the House of Israel from their Assyrian grave would be accomplished.
Valley of Dry Bones
The prophet Ezekiel was shown a remarkable vision of Israel in her grave:
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
"And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O LORD God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the LORD God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (Ez. 37:1-10).
That these dry bones represented the House of Israel in their apparently helpless state in the grave of forgetfulness was definitely stated when the vision was explained to the prophet:
"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel [therefore, they represented the people who had been taken captive into Assyria]: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts" (Ez. 37:11).
Smith & Goodspeed render this:
"O mortal man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they keep saying, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are completely cut off.'"
The identification of the "dry bones" with the House of Israel could not be more pointedly clear and the words put into the mouths of the people were indicative of their hopeless condition. They were cut off from YEHOVAH God by divorce and unable to regain the blessing lost because of the curse of the law which separated them from YEHOVAH God.
Even after they had left the land of Assyria, Ezekiel's vision still depicts them figuratively as dry bones scattered far and wide over a great valley. Therefore they remained dormant, still in a state of death; they continued to be separated from their land, their king and their Temple (Hosea 3:4). As time went on they became scattered throughout the "wilderness of the people" (Ez. 20:35) and among the heathen (Ps. 44:11). Their movements through history were shrouded in silence, but Esdras gives us a glimpse of them as they commenced their westward trek:
"Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea [Hosea] the king, whom Salmanasar, the king of Assyria, led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the latter time" (II Esdras 13:40-46).
The Word of the LORD
Ezekiel was told to address a message from YEHOVAH God to the dry bones of the House of Israel:
"O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD" (Ez. 37:4).
When the Nation of the Judahites would not accept Yeshua as their Messiah, he pronounced the sentence upon them that they would lose the custodianship of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God:
"The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matt. 21:43).
Ezekiel's prophecy that the "valley of dry bones" was to hear the word of YEHOVAH God began to be fulfilled when the Messiah informed the Judahites that, because they had rejected him, their house would be left unto them desolate (Matt. 23:38). The nation to which the Messiah referred -- which would receive the Kingdom -- was the House of Israel, for the Messiah had already given instructions to his disciples to go to them and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to them:
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10:5-7).
Isaiah gave a marvelous prophecy of the coming birth of a child who would be called the Wonder of the Counsellor, the JUDGE of the Mighty Everlasting Father -- the Prince of Peace. He stated that the government (of Israel) would be upon the Messiah's shoulder and that there would be no end to its expansion and peace because this would be accomplished "upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom" (Isa. 9:6-7). After this the significant statement was made:
"The LORD sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria" (Isa. 9:8-9).
Ephraim Israel -- that is, the House of Israel -- the people who had inhabited Samaria, typified by Ezekiel's vision as dry bones filling a great valley, were to hear the word of YEHOVAH God. Isaiah declares the word (YEHOVAH's message about the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God) was sent "into Jacob," a fact confirmed by John who announced that, in the birth of the Messiah, the word was brought to them (John 1:14). Notice the CORRECT translation of John 1:14: "According to this plan flesh was created; and dwelling among us, who are flesh, and we beholding his glory, was the glory of the ONLY BEGOTTEN of the Father, full of honor and TRUTH." John's statement that the Judahites refused to receive him (John 1:11) complemented Isaiah's prophecy that the word (YEHOVAH's message), leaving them, would light upon Israel.
Grace in the Wilderness
The prophet Jeremiah also supports this fact in his prophecies, showing that, having left the land of their Assyrian captors and while dwelling in the wilderness, Israel would find grace there:
"Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest" (Jer. 31:2).
Jeremiah was led to prophesy that a time would come (in the latter days) when YEHOVAH God would again be "the God of all the families of Israel" (Jer. 31:1), but before this could occur, His people must find grace through their Saviour. Following the crucifixion and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, the word (the message of the Good News of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God) was taken to Israel, for persecution in Jerusalem and throughout Judea and Galilee drove many of the converts to Christianity to seek refuge with Israel in northern lands and dwelling in the "isles of the sea" -- the British Isles.
This is all graphically described by Ezekiel who, in his vision, heard the noise of a great shaking when bone came to bone and this was followed by sinews, flesh and skin covering the bodies of the "slain." The prophet was beholding a scene that prefigured the gradual process of the spiritual awakening that began while Israel trekked through the wilderness and has extended down through the centuries. From the time that the Messiah's disciples began to carry the glad tidings of their redemption to the House of Israel to the present day, the continuing task has been to make known to the nations of Israel -- the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples -- the fact that they have been ransomed from the grave and may again become recovenanted to YEHOVAH God as His people by the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah. But their complete resurrection and restoration to YEHOVAH's favor has not as yet taken place.
An Exceeding Great Army
In the meantime, however, as Hosea prophesied, the number of the descendants of the House of Israel has become "as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered" (Hosea 1:10). They are, as Ezekiel envisioned, standing on their feet, "an exceeding great army" (Ez. 37:10), for today the world beholds them as the company of nations of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the great people of the United States of America (Gen. 48:19), together with kindred peoples and nations. YEHOVAH stated through the prophet Amos what He would do:
"For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth [to be lost sight of or unaccounted for]" (Amos 9:9).
Now that they have been gathered together again as nations, they are being severely disciplined in preparation for the day when YEHOVAH God will pour out His spirit upon them.
When the Prodigal Returns
Couched in the figurative terms of a parable, the Messiah gave a prophecy of the return of the House of Israel to YEHOVAH God (Luke 15:11-32). He said that "a certain man" had "two sons" and one went into a "far country" while the other remained at home. The "man" was YEHOVAH God, the Father; the "son" who remained at home was the House of Judah (not divorced); the "son" who went into the far country was the House of Israel, becoming Lo-ammi, i.e., "not God's people" (Hosea 1:9). Having this understanding of the characters in the story, the plot becomes clear. The analogy depicts Israel as coming to himself and returning, to be greeted with open arms by YEHOVAH God who is ready and waiting to pour out abundant blessings upon His genuinely repentant people.
Israel's Fall
The apostle Paul speaks of Israel's separation from YEHOVAH God through divorcement as a "fall." But he emphasizes the fact that their restoration to favor with YEHOVAH will have a far greater impact upon the world than the benefits which accrued to the Gentiles because YEHOVAH was compelled to find a way to redeem His people and thus wrought salvation for all mankind. Speaking of the blindness of Israel the apostle says:
"Do I therefore say, 'They have stumbled, so that they might fall?' Never! But that by their mistake the salvation has come to the heathen, so as to arouse themselves. But if their mistake enriches the world, and their loss is wealth for nations, how much more will their prosperity be!...For if their dispersion reunites a world, what will their reunion be but life from the dead?" (Rom. 11:11-15, Ferrar Fenton Trans.).
The Redeemer
It was only by death that the stipulations of the law of divorcement which separated YEHOVAH God from His people could be wiped out (Deut. 24:1-4). YEHOVAH moved, therefore, to provide redemption from this law for His people and its accomplishment was committed into the hands of His only begotten Son, Yeshua the Messiah, who became the Testator of a new and better covenant (Heb. 9:14-17). When the Messiah became the surrogate Redeemer of Israel, he made it possible for YEHOVAH's people to be re-covenanted to YEHOVAH God under the New Covenant. This provided for the fulfillment of what was pre-visioned in Hosea 1:10.
At the same time, however, the Messiah became the Saviour of mankind as well as of his people so that all, regardless of race, who will believe and accept him, may be saved and receive eternal life. This is why Paul said that it was because of Israel's mistake that salvation had come to the Gentiles and the heathen (Rom. 11: 32). Nevertheless, the apostle asserted that, marvelous as all this was, when Israel finally becomes reconciled to YEHOVAH God, it will be a far greater happening. In fact, the effect upon the world will be as startling and electrifying as though the dead had come to life! The King James Version renders the 15th verse of Romans 11 as follows:
"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?"
Smith and Goodspeed translate this:
"For if their rejection has meant the reconciling of the world, what can the acceptance of them mean but life from the dead?"
This statement of Paul's is far more than a mere figure of speech. Actually the dead are to be involved when the physical Kingdom of YEHOVAH God is restored in full perfection. This is made quite clear from Scriptural passages which show that, by means of a resurrection from among the dead - the First Resurrection -- those of the spiritual kingdom -- will come forth who are to be associated with YEHOVAH God and the Messiah in the government of the restored physical Kingdom.
Then Shall They Know
Coupled with this, and no less real in its accomplishment as an actual fact, is the restoration from "death" of the House of Israel whom Ezekiel depicts as resurrected from the "grave of forgetfulness" upon the command of YEHOVAH God:
"Thus saith the LORD God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD" (Ez. 37:12-14).
Prerequisite to this great spiritual reawakening among the nations of modern Israel, when YEHOVAH God will put His spirit into the hearts of the people, is their recognition and acknowledgment of their identity when, "as life from the dead," they will be revealed to themselves and to all nations as His people. This revelation is closely associated with the time when YEHOVAH God moves to save them from their enemies, causing the hordes of Gog of the land of Magog to meet with overwhelming defeat. Ezekiel declares of that time:
"And all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity....When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen....Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the LORD God" (Ez. 39: 21-29).
The Triumphant Remnant
The seventh verse of Hosea's final chapter opens with a qualifying phrase to which special attention should be given:
"They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon" (Hosea 14:7).
This immediately brings to mind the opening verse of the 91st Psalm:
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Ps. 91:1).
It is of interest, too, to note that the Targum, referring to those who "dwell under his shadow," makes this statement:
"They shall be gathered together from the midst of their captivity; they shall dwell under the shadow of his Christ, and the dead shall be revived."
This reference to the return of those who dwell under the shadow of Almighty God will have a dual fulfillment. There is here a meaningful allusion to the actual resurrection from the grave of those who will arise to assume rulership with YEHOVAH God and the Messiah in the restored Kingdom. But this is also a reference to the resurrection of the House of Israel from the graveyard of Assyrian captivity because YEHOVAH said, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death" (Hosea 13:14). To ransom means to redeem by paying a price, referring to those for whom a price was paid down to redeem them from bondage and death. Beholding in vision the glorious return of the triumphant remnant who gather at the seat of His government (Zion) and rally about the throne of the Kingdom, Isaiah exclaimed:
"And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isa. 35:10; see also Isa. 51:11).
The prophet Hosea goes on to assert that YEHOVAH's people shall "revive as the corn" and the comment upon this statement by Dr. Adam Clarke is informative and invaluable:
"The justness and beauty of this metaphor is not generally perceived. After the corn has been a short time above the earth, in a single spike, the blades begin to separate, and the stalk to spring out of the center. The side leaves turn back to make way for the protruding stalk; and fall, bending down to the earth, assuming a withered appearance, though still attached to the plant. To look at the corn in this state, no one, unacquainted with the circumstances, could entertain any sanguine hope of a copious harvest. In a short time other leaves spring out; the former freshen, and begin to stand erect; and the whole seems to revive from a vegetative death. This is the circumstance to which the prophet refers" (Clarke's Commentary, Vol. IV, p. 654).
Therefore, the prophet says that Israel (those dwelling under YEHOVAH's shadow) shall return; they shall revive; they shall grow. Speaking of the full restoration of the physical Kingdom, the prophet continues, "The scent thereof [as of blossoms, with the rich promise of fruit] shall be as the wine of Lebanon."
Glory and Greatness of the Kingdom
The future greatness of YEHOVAH's Kingdom people will only be predicated upon the fact that the "Glory of the LORD" will be seen among them:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee" (Isa. 60:1).
The prophet describes the effect of the exaltation of the Kingdom, with YEHOVAH God Himself dwelling in the midst of the people:
"For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. 60:12).
Of those who had oppressed his people in the past, Isaiah declares:
"The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet" (Isa. 60:14).
Peace and prosperity, with the elimination of all violence and crime, are promised to Israel in the glorious Kingdom age:
"I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations....I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise....The LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified....I the LORD will hasten it in his time" (Isa. 60:15-22).
The nations will behold the coming of YEHOVAH God in all His glory to rule the world and witness when the Messiah takes the throne of his father David and prepares to reign over the House of Jacob forever. Then the prophecy will be fulfilled:
"The mountain [Kingdom] of the house of the LORD [YEHOVAH God] shall be established in the top of the mountains [high above all kingdoms], and it shall be exalted above the hills [governments]; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain [Kingdom] of the LORD, and to the house [or Temple] of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion [the seat of YEHOVAH's government], and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem [the ecclesiastical center of worship]. And He [YEHOVAH God, the King of kings] shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Micah 4:1-3).
A Divine Proclamation
The prophecies of Isaiah are replete with picturesque descriptions of the exalted position the nations of Israel will occupy when YEHOVAH's purposes are carried out in their entirety. He was led to exclaim:
"Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah [my delight is in her], and thy land Beulah [married]: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married" (Isa. 62:3-4).
Every Divine assurance has been given that these prophecies will be fulfilled, but YEHOVAH God suggests, nevertheless, the part consecrated ones among His people are to play:
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isa. 62: 6-7).
YEHOVAH's love for His Holy City, Jerusalem, is manifested throughout the Bible and the Psalmist counseled:
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" (Ps. 122:6).
If those, therefore, who are in a position to "make mention of the LORD" will beseech Him in prayer to fulfill the promises in His Word, and "give Him no rest" until He does so, as He Himself invites us to do, nothing can prevent the complete restoration of the physical Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth, with Jerusalem as its glorious capital. That the zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this is firmly assured by His own proclamation:
"Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken" (Isa. 62: 11-12).
This was preceded by the voice of the crier, heralding the return of the royal race:
"Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people" (Isa. 62: 10).
Hosea shows that the House of Israel will have become so convinced of the goodness of YEHOVAH God when they behold the outcome of His might and power in their defense against their enemies that all their former idolatrous thoughts, attributing their prosperity to sources other than their God, will become abhorrent to them. The idol worship of past generations will vanish from among them:
"Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found" (Hosea 14:8).
The final conversion of the people and leadership of the nations of Israel will be sincere and complete. With utter satisfaction and contentment, the people will affirm, "I am like a green fir tree," knowing that the words of YEHOVAH God are true: "From me is thy fruit found." In the closing verse of his book the prophet Hosea confirms the justice and infinite mercy of YEHOVAH's ways: "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he shall know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein."
-- Edited By John D. Keyser.
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