Advent: December 17, 2024

Hosea 6:1-2 (ESV) Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

Luke 24:27 (ESV) And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:44 (ESV) Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Exodus 4:22 (ESV) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,

Mark 1:1 (ESV) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Right in the middle of Hosea the prophet preaches about God tearing Israel to heal them. He preaches that God strikes them down and then he binds or heals them. He preaches that God raises them up in three days.

The imagery in Hosea is stark. Hosea preaches about a cycle of discipline and redemption that is part of God’s love for his people, and we learn from the New Testament that God is also at work in this cycle of discipline and redemption for his people to prepare us to receive the good news. Hosea’s words are ultimately about Jesus.

Now, follow my thinking. God calls Israel, his firstborn son. The Lord Jesus said of himself that he is God’s Son (See John 5:18). So, Jesus is claiming to be the faithful and obedient Israel of God. Follow?

Keep tracking with me. When Hosea prophetically says that God tears Israel, strikes him down, and raises him to life, what do you think we should be thinking about? You got it, Jesus and his work of redemption and how he fulfills Hosea’s preaching.

All things written about Jesus in the law, prophets, and Psalms had to be fulfilled.

No doubt Hosea is speaking to God’s people and communicating his love for them through necessary discipline and redemption, and at the same time he is at work in Israel to preach the good news.

What do we need to see here? Ultimately Jesus is the one struck down by God the Father in the place of his people so they would not have to be stuck down for their sins, and he is raised to life as the Victor over sin and death. Advent is not just a season of waiting for Christmas. Advent is a time of gospel proclamation to those who do not believe and spiritual preparation for those who do believe and tend to grow weary. Advent is also a time to return to the Lord with a repentant heart. Hosea is dripping with the hope of Advent, the hope of renewal, the hope of new life.

Advent. Jesus comes and fulfills God’s word in being struck down for our sins and raised to life for our salvation, thus we hope in the Lord.