A TALK ABOUT SALVATION If God has chastised them all in His love, and yet neither Israel nor Judah returned to Him, but leaned upon the kings of the world instead, God allowed those firm strikes to grant healing through His salvation in Jesus Christ, the grantor of resurrection. 1. Our resurrection with Him 1-3. 2. An inner divine reform 4-11. 1. OUR RESURRECTION WITH HIM: As God makes it hard on His fallen children, “they will diligently seek Him” (Hosea 5: 15): “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us and will heal us, he has struck us and he will bind up our wounds” (Hosea 6: 1). He tears us as a lion to heal us, and strikes us to heal our wounds. St. John Chrysostom wrote to a young widow, wounded by the death of her beloved husband, which was allowed by God: “I send you this message to be the first and greatest testimony about God’s providence toward you, lest grief would swallow you up, and your thoughts would destroy you. … It is written: “He has torn us and He will heal us” (Hosea 6: 1). God has taken your husband, and He will take up his place for you1”. His hand that firmly holds the scalpel to wound actually exposes our depths that carry the stench of death and corruption. His hand will remain stretched out to bind the wounds and grant us the resurrection from the death we suffer from. He goes on to say, “After two days He will revive us, on the third day He will restore us that in his presence we may live in His sight” (Hosea 6: 2). Saying, “They will diligently seek Him” (Hosea 5: 15) means that they stand early before the Lord Christ, who is raised from the dead, to find a resurrection for themselves in His resurrection. Indeed, it is befitting for us to enter together with Him into His holy Sepulcher, and to be buried “two days” together with Him, to raise us up on the third day; in order to live before Him, bearing His features in us. We shall no more fear the tomb, as long as we are members in the body of the Lord Christ, that will see no corruption, and death will not be able to take hold of Him. That way, the prophet saw the secret of the spiritual strength in the resurrection of the Lord from the dead more than 700 years before the coming of the Lord Christ… He will “revive us”, “in his presence we may live” and “let us strive to know the Lord” (Hosea 6: 2, 3). We would enjoy the new life in Him by His resurrection. We get to know the Lord by this high heavenly life. It is as though we would be like the two disciples of Emaos, whom the Lord accompanied after rising from the dead. While talking to them, their eyes were opened and they knew Him: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the Scripture to us” (Luke 24: 32). By his spirit of prophecy, Hosea gave us the time of the Lord’s resurrection; namely, as the dawn of the third day breaks: “On the third day He will restore us… and its dawning is as sure as the sunrise” (Hosea 6: 3). The church is used to mentioning His resurrection all the time since the era of the apostles, especially in the first hour prayer. St. Cyprian says, “We should also, always pray early at dawn to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord2”. 1 Letter to a young widow, 1. 2 On the Lord's Prayer 35. 58 The Lord was raised at dawn on the third day, to raise us up at the dawn of our spiritual life. When we seek Him, He perpetually proclaims the power of His resurrection in our lives. Saying, “Its dawning is as sure as the sunrise” confirms that He will appear and scatter the darkness. According to the Septuagint version, it came as “His going forth is established as the morning” (Hosea 6: 3). St. Augustine said that God is always there even if we do not realize Him, “He was in the world, but the world, though it owed its being to him, did not recognize Him” (John 1: 10). “Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 1: 3)1. St. John Chrysostom: “The prophet refers to the continuous readiness of His goodness … As we approach Him we find Him waiting for our move2”. After declaring the resurrection of the Lord at dawn of the third day as the secret of our salvation, He introduces to us the work of the Holy Spirit, which was provided to us later on “in the fullness of time” after the ascension of the Lord Christ. “It will come to us like a shower, like spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6: 3). His Holy Spirit comes to us, dwells upon us like the rain and transforms us from draught to a joyful paradise that bears the fruits of the Spirit, which bring joy to the Father’s heart. The soul would hear the praise of the groom: “My sister, my bride, is a garden close-locked” (Songs 4: 12). St. Hypoletes the Roman believes that this rain refers to the Lord Christ Himself. In his essay about the holy “Theophany” (Baptism of the Lord), he spoke about the honor of the water into which the Lord Christ was baptized: “Concerning water, there is a fact greater than anything else. That is that Christ, the Creator of everything, came to us “like a shower” (Hosea 6: 3), was known as a “spring always welling up for eternal life” (John 4: 14), flows like a river of living water (John 7: 38) and “arrived at the Jordan… t be baptized” (Matthew 3: 13)… Isn’t it incredible that He, who is a limitless river (Psalm 46: 4), plunges in a little water? He is the one who makes the city of God glad. How is it possible that He, who is the endless fountain, the one who bears life for all mankind becomes covered by some modest and temporary water? He, who is present all over and everywhere all the time, and He who cannot be fathomed by the angels or seen by humans, came to be baptized with His good will3”. 2. AN INNER, DIVINE REFORM: God Himself is our savior. He is risen from the dead to raise us up together with Him, He grants us His Holy Spirit like a latter rain that takes away our draught and grants us His fruits in us. That is why He said: “O Ephraim, how shall I deal with you? How shall I deal with you, Judah? Your loyalty to me is like the morning mist, like dew that vanishes early” (Hosea 6: 4). Ephraim and Judah have forgotten the Lord, their God, and thought that they were capable of faithfulness or goodness on their own. However, this goodness was no more than a morning cloud or early dew that was unable to stand before temptations and afflictions. It is as though God says to them: ‘What shall I do to you? I have given you my resurrection as a secret of yours and granted you My Holy Spirit to water your hearts. So why do you deprive yourselves of such gifts of mine, leaning on your self righteousness, which is like the morning cloud or early dew that would soon go 1 On Ps. 61. 2 In Matt. Hom. 22: 8. 3 Dix. On Holy Theophany 2. 59 away?! St. John Chrysostom said, on the tongue of the Lord, “As to Me, I really gave you everything, but the hot sun eventually comes, scatters your cloud and lets you end in nothing. Your evil deprives you of my unutterable goodness1”. Then the Lord goes on to say, “Therefore have I lashed you through the prophets and torn you to shreds with My words” (Hosea 6: 5). According to the Septuagint version; “I hew (cut) your prophets; I slay them with the words of My mouth”. They have leaned upon false prophets, who calmed down their consciences by their sweet lies. Therefore God chastens those wicked prophets with His judgments that would be like a killer to them or like light that would expose their darkness. As said, “His mouth shall be a rod to strike down the ruthless, and with a word he shall slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11: 4). If the words of God are the grantors of life, they are the killers of evil and death likewise. By His words, He takes away and kills the falsity in the heart, shines His light to scatter darkness inside us, goes forth with His judgment in us and destroys evil to build up virtue. Man cannot materialize the inner reform of the heart. He can indeed present sacrifices, burnt offerings and worship rites, but it is only God, who grants mercy, love, the knowledge of God and faithfulness to the covenant! That is why He says: “Loyalty is my desire, not sacrifice, not whole-offerings but the knowledge of God. At Admah (Adam) they have broken my covenant; there they have played me false” (Hosea 6: 6, 7). He demands the inner works and the heartily change, which they would be unable to reach on their own, as it is the work of God Himself. God is the one who works inside us to grant us “mercy” or “abiding love”, which brings gladness to His heart. The Lord Christ’s message came to concentrate on bearing His features in use and changing our cruel nature to the likeness of His nature, which is filled with love and compassion. St. John Chrysostom says about this mercy demanded by God in us: “Now is not the time for judgment, but for mercy. We shall not demand account, but demonstrate love. We should not bring forth charges, but forsake them. It is not the time for vengeance, but for mercy and doing goodness2”. This mercy is the nature of God Himself, as written by St. Ambrose in his essay on “repentance”, against the followers of ‘Novatius’ who close the doors of God’s mercies before those who commit certain sins. He says: “We should know that God is a God of mercy, who leans toward forgiveness and not on cruelty. That is why it is written: “I desire mercy and not sacrifices”. So, how would God receive your offerings, you who deny mercy?! It was said about God that He has no desire in any man’s death, but He rather desires the return of sinners (Ezekiel 18: 32)3”.We get to know God through the divine mercy that we bear in us. It is the knowledge of our fellowship of His features, something that God demands. He desires “not whole-offerings but the knowledge of God”. That is how we bear within us faithfulness towards the covenant set between God and us. Moreover, we would not be counted as transgressors against Him or as dealing treacherously with Him. 1 In Matt. Hom 22: 8. . 2 عظته عن اتروبیوس، عظة 1 3 Conc. Repent. 13. 60 Let our reform be divine from within us, lest it would be said about us: “At Admah they have broken my covenant, there they have played me false. Gilead is a haunt of evildoers, marked by a trail of blood” (Hosea 6: 7, 8). Let us not be like Adam who transgressed the divine covenant while he was in the paradise set for him by God, and was thus counted as having dealt treacherously with His Creator. Let us enjoy His gifts and not deny His Person. I wish we would not become like Gilead, the city of evildoers, defiled with blood. It is probably ‘Ramoth Gilead’, one of the three cities of refuge across the Jordan, and a city of Levites. Although its men are of the holy tribe, they were evildoers and defiled themselves with blood through oppression and corruption. They used to have the appearance of piety and worship as Levites, yet in their depths, they were evil. I wish we would not be like the priests, who wear the splendid garments of priesthood and practice the outer formalities of worship with no inner life inside them. They are “like robbers lying in wait for a man, priests are banded together to do murder on the road to Shechem; their deeds are outrageous.” (Hosea 6: 9). Let us not be like them, like robbers bearing the spirit of murder and perdition, covering it with the clothes of priests.
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