“… it is time to seek the Lord …”
(Hos. 10:12, NKJV)
We are currently examining the prophet Hosea in typological terms, as the representative of Jesus the Christ, especially on account of the direct link his name has to Yahshua, the Saviour of the world, He who Reconciles all things, “bringing many sons into glory” (Heb. 2:10, AMP). Selah about this, again. Keeping in mind then his name as that of “the son of Beeri”, or: “welling-forth”, it is clear that when interpreting Hos. 11:4 as a possible key, we need to take note of calling and purpose in Christ.
Readers of these teachings will remember that we are trying to articulate the concept of seeking. In Hosea’s important prophetic word, he often uses this word; in fact, it becomes a key concept that grounds his typological prophesy. In our last teaching, we looked at the contribution that Hos. 3:5 makes in terms of enlightening the concept of seeking, and pointed out that the consequences thereof can lead to a revelation of the goodness of God in the last days.
In various verses in Hosea the wrong search is spelled out, a search for other lovers (Hos. 2:7), or for false comfort (Hos. 5:15), or a search for (false) religious sacrifices (Hos. 5:6). As Hos. 7:10 summarises: “But they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this,” because “(they) seek after falsehood” (Ps. 4:2, ASV). Remember Jesus’s words in Matt. 6:23: “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” It is absolutely possible for a believer to mislead himself (Gal. 3:6) in his search, and that his search for God is actually just an attempt at satisfying a selfish need. It is also possible that your heart can be misled in the process of this search, and then James 1:26 notes that the religious practice of such a person is in vain. As Hos. 5:5 notes: “They shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.” This is a terrifying thought.
The final Scripture from Hosea we will look at, is the important Hos. 10:12: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”
Righteousness thus stands absolutely central when it comes to searching. Remember the key Scripture of Matt. 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” To this Isa. 64:5 adds: “You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness …” Thus: joy needs to be present in righteousness, after all: “the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
We will need to look at what these core concepts mean before we can get to a solid interpretation of Hos. 10:12.
- Selah: Try to articulate your understanding of the word righteousness.
- Read: 1 Pet. 3-5
- Memorise: 1 Pet. 5:7
