Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.-Hosea 6:1-3
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.-Hosea 6:4-11***Ephraim and Manasseh were born in Egypt to Joseph and Asenath. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel. Sometime after 130-year-old Jacob moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt, the country wherein Joseph was second-in-command, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim to be his own sons. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and his body was buried in Canaan, and Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born in Egypt into the tribe of Levi, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them. The Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai with the Lord God for 40 days and nights, the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron died and was buried. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor, was from the tribe of Ephraim. Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Jacob, and to Jacob's father Isaac, and to Isaac's father Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to their descendants. Years thereafter, Ramoth Gilead became a city of refuge inhabited by priests and Levites, the priests' assistants. Over 250 years after 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Samuel, the priest, prophet and judge from the tribe of Levi, was proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites. When Samuel was elderly, and his sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah were wicked, and King Nahash and his Ammonite army were preparing to attack, the Israelite elders demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead them. The Lord God sent Samuel to anoint Saul, from the tribe of Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin, to reign as king. Saul did not obey the commands of the Lord God, and when Samuel went to speak to Saul, Samuel asked Saul about the Lord God, burnt offerings and sacrifices. While Saul reigned, the Lord God sent Samuel to anoint David, from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah, to reign as king. When David was living on the run from Saul, Gad the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God to David. After 37-year-old David became the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites, Nathan the prophet and Gad the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God to David. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to rule over all of the Israelites. In the latter portion of Solomon's 40-year reign, Ahijah the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God to Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to reign over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah, the nation in the south, consisted of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Shemaiah the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God to Rehoboam. Israel was the northern nation and consisted of the other Israelite tribes. Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam was the 1st king to reign. The tribe of Ephraim became a large tribe in the northern nation, and in the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible, the northern nation of Israel is sometimes identified as Ephraim. When Jeroboam's son Abijah was sick, Jeroboam sent his wife to Ahijah the prophet. When Jeroboam was in Bethel, another prophet spoke the words of the Lord God to Jeroboam. Baasha was the 3rd king to rule the northern nation of Israel. Jehu the prophet proclaimed a message from the Lord God to Baasha. King Ahab was the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Ahaziah, the son born to Ahab and Jezebel, was the 8th king to reign, and Ahab and Jezebel's son Joram (Jehoram) was the 9th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Elijah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God while each king reigned. Other prophets, including Micaiah, spoke the words of the Lord God to Ahab. Sometime after Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah's successor Elisha the prophet sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu to reign, and Jehu became the 10th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Meanwhile, Elisha proclaimed the words of the Lord God to Joram and King Jehoash (Joash), the 12th king to reign over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Moreover, Elisha proclaimed the words of thr Lord God to King Ben-hadad, ruler of Syria. Jehoash's son Jeroboam was the 13th king to rule the northern nation of Israel. Hosea the prophet, Amos the prophet, and Jonah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God during Jeroboam's reign. Moreover, the Lord God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh in Assyria and proclaim a message to the Assyrians. King Hoshea was the 19th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During the 9th year of Hoshea's reign, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Rehoboam grandson Asa was the 3rd king to rule Judah. Oded the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God during Asa's reign. Jehoshaphat, the son born to Asa and Azubah, was the 4th king to rule Judah. When Jehoshaphat was with Ahab in the northern nation of Israel, Jehoshaphat heard Micaiah the prophet proclaim the words of the Lord God. After Jehoshaphat united with Ahaziah for a shipbuilding purpose, Eliezer the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God. Jehoshaphat's great-great-grandson Amaziah was the 8th king to rule Judah. A prophet of the Lord God proclaimed the words of the Lord God to Amaziah. Uzziah (Azariah), the son born to Amaziah and Jecholiah, was the 9th king to rule Judah. Amos the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God when Uzziah reigned. Jotham, the son born to Uzziah and Jerushah, was the 10th king. Jotham's son Ahaz was the 11th king. Hezekiah, the son born to Ahaz and Abi (Abijah), was the 12th king to rule Judah. While each king reigned, Isaiah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God. Micah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God when Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah reigned. Hezekiah's great-grandson Josiah was the 15th king to rule Judah. Zephaniah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God when Josiah reigned. Jehoahaz, the son born to Josiah and Hamutal, was the 16th king to rule Judah. Jehoiakim, (Eliakim), the son born to Josiah and Zebudah, was the 17th king to rule Judah. Shemaiah the prophet spoke the words of the Lord God when Jehoiakim reigned. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king. Zedekiah (Mattaniah), another son born to Josiah and Hamutal, was the 19th king to rule Judah. Jeremiah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God during the reign of Josiah and each successive king. In the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative John the Baptist, from the tribe of Levi. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. Jesus spoke of Jonah (Jonas) to the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, and Jesus quoted Hosea when he answered another group of Pharisees. In Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus stood and read some of the divinely inspired words written by Isaiah (Esaias) and Jesus spoke about the actions of Elisha (Eliseus).-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
Reference Information:
consent = Shechem, a city of refuge inhabited by priests and Levites
former rain = yowreh/yoreh = yarah = early or first rain, autumn rain
hewed = hasabti = chatsab/chatseb = to cut, carve, cleave or chop
latter rain = kemalqowos = malqosh = leqesh/laqash = spring rain
way = derek/darak = road
Reference Scripture:
To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.-Proverbs 21:3
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