Out of the Blue?

Hosea 13

            After 13 verses detailing Ephraim’s arrogance and the Lord’s threats against her, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, comes verse 14, “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?” In one way, it makes no sense, especially since the words of judgment pick up again in verse 15.

            So, it is possible, and many commentators argue for it and some modern translations do it, to translate verse 14 as rhetorical questions, “Shall I deliver this people? Shall I redeem them?” One commentator puts it this way, “This would be like a judge saying, ‘Shall I let this prisoner go? Executioner, where is your axe? I will not have pity.’” It makes a lot more sense contextually!

            On the other hand, in his great chapter on the resurrection, Paul quotes this verse about the defeat of death (1 Corinthians 15:55). So, Paul, at least, took it as a promise not a threat.

            What if it’s both? What if the original reader is supposed to read the question, “Shall I deliver?” and think, “Well, the Lord would certainly be in His rights not to deliver! He’s made an airtight case for the unfaithfulness of Israel. Exile was the long-threatened punishment for breaking the covenant. Israel certainly has it coming.” But what if the ambiguity is supposed to move them further so that they say, “On the other hand, the Lord promises that His anger will not burn forever, that He delights in mercy, and that He has purposes for Israel that are not yet fulfilled. Maybe there is yet hope.”

            As C.F.W. Walthers directs, “Do not hold forth with the Law too long; let the Gospel follow promptly. When the law has made the iron to flow, apply the Gospel immediately to shape it into a proper form; if the iron is allowed to cool, nothing can be done with it” (The Proper Distinction, Lecture 39).