Hosea 11:10-12 - He will roar like a lion

11:10,11

We see in these two verses the result of the Lord having mercy upon them. “They shall walk after the Lord”. In Genesis we read of God walking in the garden with Adam and Eve (Gen 3:8). We were meant to walk in fellowship with the Lord, that is what we were created for, but sin broke that relationship. In Christ the relationship is restored. The Lord will roar like a lion. His working to return Israel is not something done in secret, but is something declared in the heavens. Note that Israel has been scattered, but she will return from the various lands to which she was dispersed. Then they will dwell securely.

This is talking primarily about the northern kingdom, but similar things were said about Judah in relation to Babylon. They did indeed return from Babylon, at least some of them did, but the nation knew that that was not the complete fulfilment of God’s plans. Many Jews still considered themselves to be in exile in some sense. Likewise, the Jews were given the land of Israel in 1948, yet it is clear that this is not the complete fulfilment, there is much more to come. For the fulfilment of God’s plans for His people involves perfect peace and involves them walking with Him.

11:12

Now we get back to current sinfulness of Ephraim. They are full of lies and deceit. What we see in Hosea are the various things going on. There is the past and present sinfulness of Ephraim. There is God’s love for Israel and His future plans of restoration for them. God is eternal and in some sense sees everything at once. We are time bound, moving one step at a time through history.