Hosea: Immediate curses and distant blessings

I must mention that I begin work today in year 2009 and it was a good day. Well of course it is; it's a Friday! But nonetheless, it was a great day at work, and I thank the Lord for it.

I also began the day by adhering to my plan of reading the bible more faithfully. I have decided to read the minor prophets and started with Hosea.

The book of Hosea is a book of both predictions of destruction and restoration. Hosea was called by Yahweh to prophesy the destruction and exile of Israel at a time when Israel was at the height of its prosperity. The content of Hosea may be divided roughly into three categories: evidence, curses, and blessings.

1. The evidence which takes up 2/3 of the book demonstrate that Yahweh's covenant with Israel has indeed been broken.

2. The curses, taking 1/4 of the book, were the immediate punishment to be meted out to Israel due to the evidences.

3. The blessings, which is only less than a tenth of the book, are announced for the distant future. The era of restoration which the Mosaic Covenant promises will follow after the punishments for covenant-breaking have run their course.

I know we now have the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid for our death on the cross and resurrected to our eternal communion with the Father, but how often we expect ourselves to be delivered immediately from our wilful disobedience only to realise that we first have to face the consequences of our sins, or do we? Do you think that the message of immediate punishment and distant blessing apply to us?

pearlie
Stuart, Douglas. Word Biblical Commentary: Hosea-Jonah. Dallas: Word, 2002.