Scripture Reading: Hosea 11; Hosea 12; Hosea 13; Hosea 14
The book of Hosea is very rich. Many of the riches in this book are not directly stated but rather are implied by Hosea’s poetic writing. Thus, we need to study the implications of the poetic writing in this book. It is not easy to know the significance of these implications. In this message I have the burden to give a brief word on three implications concerning Christ in 11:1-4. The three matters in these verses that imply Christ are God’s calling His son out of Egypt, His drawing Israel with the cords of a man, and His gently causing them to eat.
Hosea 11:1 says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, / And out of Egypt I called My son.” This verse implies Christ in His union with Israel as the Son of God and as the One called out of Egypt by God. The fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Christ in this verse is in Matthew 2:15, which speaks of Christ’s being called out of Egypt by God. Thus, Hosea 11:1 implies Christ as the Son of God.
A further implication of this verse is that with Christ we, the believers in Christ, are also sons of God (Heb. 2:10). In Christ we are sons of God. Apart from Christ we cannot be sons of God. Our sonship (Eph. 1:5) is altogether in Christ, by Christ, and with Christ.
Regarding Christ as the Son of God there are two aspects: the aspect of His being the only begotten Son of God and the aspect of His being the firstborn Son of God. In eternity, Christ was God’s only begotten Son (John 1:18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). Christ was the unique Son of God. Besides Him there were no other sons of God. How, then, can there be the many sons of God? To answer this question we need to consider Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. One day Christ, the only begotten Son of God in eternity, was incarnated to be a man. On the cross He died an all-inclusive, vicarious death, and then He entered into resurrection. In resurrection and through resurrection He was born to be the firstborn Son of God. As the only begotten Son of God in eternity, Christ did not have humanity; He only had divinity. Therefore, before His resurrection He was the Son of God only in His divinity. That was unique. But by His incarnation He entered into humanity and took on human nature as part of His being. However, He was not designated the Son of God in His humanity (Rom. 1:4) until His resurrection. This is the reason that Paul says in Acts 13:33, “God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’” This verse indicates that resurrection was a birth to the man Jesus. He was begotten of God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). This means that, in addition to His being the unique, only begotten Son of God from eternity, Christ, after incarnation and through resurrection, was begotten of God in His humanity to become the Son of God in another sense, in the sense of being the firstborn Son of God.
The word “Firstborn” in Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 1:6 indicates that God has many sons. Without the many sons Christ could not be the firstborn Son; He could only be the only begotten Son. In order for Christ to be the firstborn Son, there must be other sons. These other sons were also born in Christ’s resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). This means that in His resurrection not only was Christ born to be the firstborn Son of God, but also in His resurrection we were regenerated and born to be the many sons of God, His many brothers, to be His members for the constitution of the organic Body of Christ. All this is implied in Hosea 11:1. How rich are the implications in this verse!
Hosea 11:4a says, “I drew them with cords of a man, / With bands of love.” God’s love is divine, but His love reaches us in the cords of a man.
It is important for us to realize that this verse does not speak of a cord but of cords. These cords include Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. This means that the cords mentioned in this verse have different segments and that each segment involves Christ’s humanity. First, God was incarnated; He came to be a man named Jesus. Incarnation, therefore, is the first segment of the cords of a man. The Lord Jesus lived among us on earth for thirty-three and a half years, and His human living is the second segment of these cords. Eventually, He was crucified, dying on the cross for us, and then He was resurrected. His crucifixion and resurrection are also segments of the cords of a man. It is with such cords that God has drawn us.
We have pointed out that every segment, every part, of the cords of a man involves Christ’s humanity. After His resurrection, Christ ascended to the heavens in His humanity. This was the reason Stephen could see the ascended One as the Son of Man and testify, saying, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). When Christ comes back, He will come in His humanity. The Lord’s word to the high priest in Matthew 26:64 reveals this. “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The cords of a man, therefore, involve Christ’s humanity in His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
In Hosea 11:4a “cords of a man” and “bands of love” are in apposition. Hence, the words “cords” and “bands” refer to the same thing. The bands of love are the cords of a man. The love of God, the divine love, comes to us through Christ’s humanity. For this reason, the bands of love are the cords of a man. Here Christ is revealed not directly but by the way of implication. What a rich, deep, marvelous, and mysterious implication concerning Christ we have here!
God’s everlasting love, His unchanging, subduing love, is altogether in Christ, with Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. Apart from Christ God’s everlasting love could not be prevailing. God’s unchanging love is prevailing because it is a love in Christ, with Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. If Christ had not been incarnated, if Christ had not lived on earth, if Christ had not died a vicarious death for us, if Christ had not entered into resurrection and then ascended to the heavens, there would be no way for God to draw us with cords of a man, with bands of love.
We need to be impressed with the fact that Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are all for us, for it is by all these steps of Christ’s humanity that God’s love in His salvation reaches us. These steps are the cords of a man, the bands of love, with which God has drawn us.
A third implication concerning Christ is found in Hosea 11:4b. Here Jehovah says, “I was to them like those / Who lift off the yoke on their jaws; / And I gently caused them to eat.” When did God do this? During the forty years the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God gently and patiently fed them with manna. Manna is a type of Christ as our heavenly food. Hence, this word concerning God’s gently causing them to eat also implies Christ.
When we were saved, God drew us with cords of a man, with bands of love, and now He is feeding us with Christ. I can testify that from the time I was saved God has been gently and patiently feeding me with Christ. Sometimes we may want to eat too much or eat in haste, but God wants us to eat slowly and gently with patience and endurance. This is the way God feeds us.
