As I’ve been starting a study on the Prophets this Lent (Prophets: Messengers of God’s Mercy from Ascension Press!), I came across some powerful lines today from the Prophet Hosea—ones especially fitting for Lent:

“Come, let us return to the Lord;

    for he has torn, that he may heal us;

    he has stricken, and he will bind us up.

After two days he will revive us;

    on the third day he will raise us up,

    that we may live before him.

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;

    his going forth is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

    as the spring rains that water the earth.”

(Hosea 6:1-3)

A Call to Repentance

Hosea was called by God to be a Prophet, a messenger to God’s people who had gone astray to worship the gods of the nations surrounding them (and to fall into the same terrible sins). Thus, through Hosea, God was calling Israel to repentance and to return to Him. Out of love, God had made a covenant with them to guide and protect them, but they had broken it again and again.

And, to really strike home to Hosea and to His people about what it means to break this covenant, He called Hosea to do something quite shocking.

He called Hosea to marry a prostitute.

Because this is what it means when we break God’s covenant and turn to worship other things—we are like a prostitute, constantly breaking our marriage vows to the God who, despite all our unfaithfulness, always remains faithful in His love for us.

That is what we do to our Lord’s heart when we sin.

That should be heartbreaking to us.

And it should inspire us to return and embrace His mercy.

There is no doubt that Hosea, having experienced the heartbreak of being married to an unfaithful woman, knew that heartbreak more intimately than anyone. And he probably recognized where, as an imperfect human being, he had been unfaithful to God as well.

So Hosea cries out to God’s people:

“Come, let us return to the Lord;

    for he has torn, that he may heal us;

    he has stricken, and he will bind us up.”

Tearing Away

What does this mean, to say that the Lord has torn or stricken us before He heals us? We know that God is love and never does anything to harm, so what is this language really saying?

It means that He must tear us away from our sins, from unhealthy attachments to worldly things—things that, to some degree, we have come to worship by seeking them to satisfy us instead of God.

This tearing is especially true during Lent, as we choose something to “give up,” to fast from something we have grown attached to so that the Lord can tear us away from the attachments that will harm us, so that He can heal us.

And yes, in this process, we can feel like we have been stricken, that it can be painful to be torn away from those things. But ultimately, it is much like how a muscle must be torn in order to grow, or a bone must be reset in order to heal correctly. It may hurt for a time, but it is ultimately for our growth and healing.

Because of this, His “judgement” of our sins ought not to strike us with shame or despair or self-loathing, but rather with conviction and sorrow for how our sins have harmed God, our own souls, and those around us. It is then that we can come to healing through accepting God’s mercy and continually turning back to Him as the answer to what our hearts are truly seeking.

This is what it means when God says through the Prophet Hosea: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). God has no need of the earthly things that we offer up to Him (after all, they are already His). Rather, what He desires is our hearts—that we would release our grip on these things and turn instead to Him to fill that ache.

Binding Up

This is why the second intention of Lent is an increased focus on prayer–on seeking God instead of turning to other things that, though often good, will never satisfy that deep ache for a love that only God can give.

As God spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah: “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

Hosea echoes this call to seek the Lord, and how He will always meet us there:

“Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;

    his going forth is sure as the dawn.”

Though there may be times of spiritual darkness when we struggle to feel close to God, if we persevere, the return of His Presence is “as sure as the dawn.”

Yes, there will be times of spiritual desolation—even the saints speak of this. It is an expected part along the ups and downs of our spiritual life, one which God allows in order to remind us of how much we need Him, and to teach us to persevere in choosing to love Him and seek Him for who He is (not merely for the spiritual consolations He gives us). 

But if we press on, persevering in getting to know the Lord on an ever deeper level, in time, the return of His Presence is “as sure as the dawn,” as the sun that we know will rise no matter how long and dark the night may seem. And when He returns (He is always with us, but I mean that our sense of His Presence and love has returned), we will have come to an ever deeper healing, and will know and love and rejoice in Him on an even deeper level than before.

Resurrection

“He will come to us as the showers,

    as the spring rains that water the earth.”

“After two days he will revive us;

    on the third day he will raise us up,

    that we may live before him.”

Hosea here is evidently prophesying of Christ: His sacrifice for our sins and our Resurrection with Him. Thus, with God’s mercy and supernatural help, we might be saved from spiritual death in our sins and empowered to live out this New Covenant of love.

Because He truly showed us an astounding love:

That “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

That even while we were yet unfaithful—even while we, like prostitutes, kept breaking His heart again and again—He remained faithful, even unto death on a cross.

What?

What kind of love is this?

How could anyone ever love like that?

Only He can fill that ache in our hearts to be loved truly unconditionally. Only His supernatural grace can heal and empower us to love anywhere near as He loves.

So, as we enter these last weeks of Lent, let us continue to persevere in fasting and prayer and learning, little by little, to better love God and those He loves.

Let us dig our roots ever deeper into the mystery of His sacrifice and His infinite mercy, that when He returns with His Resurrection, the outpouring of His grace will fall on fertile soil; that the flower of our soul may shoot up with joy as it reaches ever closer toward Heaven; that, as a flower blooms open to the sun, we may come with open hearts to receive the Lord’s infinite love.