Hos 5:15 | KingComments | STEP | God has withdrawn from Israel. His glory has departed from Israel and gone back to His dwelling place, heaven ( ). He will only return to Israel when they realize their guilt towards Him. That He has not definitively withdrawn Himself from the people is beautifully expressed in the word “until”. This word gives hope. It indicates a turning point. That turning point depends on the acknowledgment of guilt ( ). When the Lord Jesus describes the rebelliousness of Jerusalem and, as a result, has to leave it, He uses the same conditional “until” as Hosea ( ). Until they feel guilty of idolatry and also feel guilty of their rejection of their Messiah, God cannot have compassion on His people. This was also discussed in Hosea 1. There we also saw that there is a future for the people because they will be accepted as God’s people again ( ). If God’s face and protection are withdrawn, it means for Israel the scattering from the land. If they walk with God, nothing can harm them. But sin separates them from God. If God withdraws, we have lost everything. The right distinction between good and evil is gone. Above all, love is gone. When God leaves, He takes everything that is valuable and precious, all good. God only leaves man when man has first left Him and He has tried everything to bring man back into the right relationship with Him. He does this by being for them like a chastiser ( ), like a moth and a rottenness ( ) and finally like a lion ( ). “The affliction” will take place during the great tribulation. That time is called “the time of Jacob’s distress” ( ). The Lord Jesus speaks of the same period in His great prophetic discourse in Matthew 24-25 and says: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” ( ). At the end of that period, which will last three and a half years, the people, i.e. the faithful remnant, will feel guilty. They will come to confession and longing for God Who will save them from their need. God will do this by sending the Lord Jesus to earth for the second time. He will not come to suffer and die for sin, but to judge evil and to reign ( ; ). When God returns to His place in Israel, it is to bless His people. He waits in grace for their conversion. When that moment finally comes, He will rise from His place and help His people in their need. He will do this by judging His enemies: “For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” ( ).

‏ Hosea 5:15

God Withdraws Until …

God has withdrawn from Israel. His glory has departed from Israel and gone back to His dwelling place, heaven (Eze 10:4 ; 18-19 ; Eze 11:22-23). He will only return to Israel when they realize their guilt towards Him. That He has not definitively withdrawn Himself from the people is beautifully expressed in the word “until”. This word gives hope. It indicates a turning point. That turning point depends on the acknowledgment of guilt (Lk 15:20).

When the Lord Jesus describes the rebelliousness of Jerusalem and, as a result, has to leave it, He uses the same conditional “until” as Hosea (Mt 23:37-39). Until they feel guilty of idolatry and also feel guilty of their rejection of their Messiah, God cannot have compassion on His people. This was also discussed in Hosea 1. There we also saw that there is a future for the people because they will be accepted as God’s people again (Rom 11:25-32).

If God’s face and protection are withdrawn, it means for Israel the scattering from the land. If they walk with God, nothing can harm them. But sin separates them from God. If God withdraws, we have lost everything. The right distinction between good and evil is gone. Above all, love is gone. When God leaves, He takes everything that is valuable and precious, all good.

God only leaves man when man has first left Him and He has tried everything to bring man back into the right relationship with Him. He does this by being for them like a chastiser (Hos 5:2), like a moth and a rottenness (Hos 5:12) and finally like a lion (Hos 5:14).

“The affliction” will take place during the great tribulation. That time is called “the time of Jacob’s distress” (Jer 30:7). The Lord Jesus speaks of the same period in His great prophetic discourse in Matthew 24-25 and says: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Mt 24:21).

At the end of that period, which will last three and a half years, the people, i.e. the faithful remnant, will feel guilty. They will come to confession and longing for God Who will save them from their need. God will do this by sending the Lord Jesus to earth for the second time. He will not come to suffer and die for sin, but to judge evil and to reign (Zec 12:10 ; Zec 14:3-5; Heb 9:28).

When God returns to His place in Israel, it is to bless His people. He waits in grace for their conversion. When that moment finally comes, He will rise from His place and help His people in their need. He will do this by judging His enemies: “For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” (Isa 26:21).