We are now on the
first track of Hosea 12:3. The verse is set in the context of
repentance.
The footnotes to Matthew 3:1 and Mark 1:4 of the Amplified Bible
indicate that John the Baptist is considered the last of the Old Testament
prophets and Acts 7:52 states that the prophets
of old preached the coming of the Promised Messiah. Therefore, the prophet Hosea also preached
about His coming.
We see in Mark 1:4 that John the Baptist preached
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins which entailed the
following:
1.
A change in the old
way of thinking;
2.
Turning away from sin;
and
3.
Seeking God and His
righteousness.
Colossians 1:21-22 says
that we were once the enemies of God in our minds but now God has made us His
friends again by the death Christ suffered while He was in His body. As such, a
change in the old way of thinking would mean a paradigm shift in our perception
of God.
From the above, it is clear that true repentance will
result in the turning away from sin towards God and His righteousness. In Matthew 3:8, we see that true
repentance will produce new behaviour that proves a change of heart and a
conscious decision to turn away from sin.
Again in James 2:14, it is stated that genuine
faith produces good works. In James 2:21, it is mentioned that the
works of Abraham, the father of faith, expressed his faith.
We see in Matthew 4:17 that Jesus also preached
the same message as evident from the footnote to the verse. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said to, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all things shall be added to you”. When we look at the essence of
the message of repentance, the seeking of God and His righteousness is preceded
by a change in thinking and the turning away from sin. What then would bring about true
repentance? Romans 2:4 answers by saying that
it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance.
The word “kindness” in Romans 2:4 is “chrēstotētos” in Greek which
means “benevolence in action”. The word “Christos” is also used for this same
kindness of God in Luke 6:35 and 1 Peter 2:3. It brings to mind Romans 10:17 where it says that
faith comes by hearing, and hearing the message concerning “Christos”. This
immediately brings to mind Romans 5:8 where it says that
Christ crucified is the demonstration and proof of God’s love for us. This in
turn leads to 1 Corinthians 2:2 where the apostle
Paul said the he resolved to know nothing except Christ crucified; the meaning
of His:
1. Redemptive and substitutionary death; and
2. Resurrection.
Therefore, the hearing of the message of the meaning of Christ crucified
will reveal the love of God that produces faith which leads to true repentance.
I do not know the beautiful language of Greek
because it’s all Greek to me ;). Nonetheless, I took some time to research on
the word “kindness” and the above was what I found out.
In Acts 26:19-29, we have a scene of
the apostle Paul preaching to King Agrippa of Judea. The king Paul to be out of
his mind because he spoke of salvation through the suffering and resurrection
of Christ Jesus. We see the consistency of Paul’s preaching in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 where his
sermon centered on Christ Jesus having died for our sins according to what was
written in the Old Testament and that He was buried and bodily raised on the
third day, and appeared to His disciples as well as 500 others thereafter. This
is covered in the checkpoint of Isaiah 42:4, the fourth trailhead of the
1st marker of Isaiah 42:1-7.
We have just seen from Genesis 32:24-31 of the Amplified Bible that
Jacob was a picture of a sinner. Here,
in Hosea 12:2 of the context passage, we see that the sinner must be
punished. The sin problem is a divine
legal suit; an indictment, which is a formal charge or accusation of a serious
crime.
In Hosea 12:3, we see the contrast
between infancy and maturity. This
brings to mind Galatians 4: 1-7 which speaks of
sonship in Christ. As recorded in Romans 5:12, we were born sinners
because Adam sinned. Ephesians 1:5 of the Easy to Read Version Bible says that “Before the world was made, God decided to make
us His Own children through Jesus Christ.” The original plan of God has never changed
despite the Fall and God had put in place the redemption plan to redeem sinners
from sin so that we, the beloved children, might be united to Him the
Father. We were held ransom and
separated from our Father God by sin.
I believe Hosea 12:3 is best explained by Galatians 4:3-5. In the Galatian passage of scripture, it says
that when both Jews and Gentiles were children or spiritually immature, they
were kept like slaves under the elementary or man-made religious or
philosophical teachings of the world. But when the proper time had fully come in accordance with
God’s plan, God sent His Son, born of a woman under the regulations of the Law
to redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that those who
believe in Jesus might be adopted as God’s children with all rights as fully grown
members of a family.
In Hosea 12:3, “taking his brother by
the heel” points to a sinful nature; we were born sinners because Adam
sinned. The phrase “in his maturity”
alludes to the phrase in Galatians 4:4, “when the proper
time had fully come in accordance with God’s plan”. The final phrase of “he contended with God”
in Hosea 12:3 speaks of God sending
His beloved Son in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth to fight with and for God
against the devil and his cohorts. We discussed this while on the trail of Genesis 32:28.
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