I Hope This Is Not What We Are Waiting For

Hosea 5:15
Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face —
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me. ”

New Living Translation
Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

Contemporary English Version
Then I’ll return to my temple until they confess their guilt and worship me, until
they are desperate and beg for my help.

Good News Translation
“I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me.”

Hosea chapter five explains God’s judgment against Israel. God was angry with His people. His people Israel did not listen to Him. His people Israel defied His message through prophets and other messengers. His people now had to be punished.

Hosea 5:14-15
(14) For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
(15) Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face —
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me. ”

God promises to punish the Israelites. God tells us in our text today that Israel will suffer for her sins. God says He will come out like a lion and destroy the people, then after that, He will go back to his lair and rest. God promises that the punishment will be effective in reminding the people that only the God they abandoned can save them.

Israelites will find themselves in misery because of abandoning God. Misery is a pitiable situation where you can’t help yourself. Misery suggests endless suffering and you can’t be helped. Israelites will be in misery!

Then God says that in their misery, they will look for God. In their guilt and misery, they will look for God. I hope this is not what we are waiting for!

They did not look for God in times of peace. They did not look for God in times of prosperity. They did not look for God in times of joy and laughter. But God says that in misery they will look for Him. I hope this is not what we are waiting for!

Must misery and pain return us to God? Can’t we see the need of God when we have good health? Must we seek God after a terrible diagnosis? God says that Israel will look for Him in their misery. I hope this is not what we are waiting for!

The job is good. Friends are many. We are celebrated. Money is not a problem. We are strong. We are healthy. Our decisions are yielding big returns. We almost seem invincible. Why can’t we see that we urgently need God even now? Must misery jolt us back to our spiritual senses? I hope this is not what we are waiting for!

It is sad that Israel was waiting for pain and misery for them to return to God. Israel needed misery for them to look for God. I pray that this is not what we are waiting for. We will look for God in good times and bad times. We will worship God regularly in good times and bad times, in Jesus’s name, Amen!

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