After Two Days
I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.
- Hosea 5:15
In the 8th century BC, the Lord spoke a mystery to three Hebrew prophets. The oracles of these three prophets, when read as a whole, would stitch together a masterfully veiled prophetic reality, one that would remain hidden from view until the time appointed.
Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. (6:1)
Hosea, who prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel, told the nation that the Lord would leave and return to ‘His place' until they confessed their guilt. But even though the Lord had left them torn and wounded, He would heal them after two days, raising them up on the third day.1
He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. (6:2)
- Hosea 5:15-6:2
But what does that mean? And why has the Lord abandoned His people? When we peer into the prophecies of Hosea's contemporaries (Isaiah and Micah), the picture becomes clearer.2
Hidden In Plain Sight
Isaiah, who prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah, foresaw an age long exile during which the Lord would hide His face from the elect nation. Struck by the Lord, they would wander away until the time when He would return to heal and restore them.3
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, and he went on turning away, in the way of his heart. (57:17)
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners… (57:18)
- Isaiah 57:17-18
Micah, our third prophet, also foresaw a time when the nation would be given up, although the Lord would eventually regather them to their land. But unlike the others, Micah is specific about the crime that caused the punishment: The smiting of the judge of Israel, the Messianic ruler from Bethlehem.4
With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek. (5:1)
But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. (5:2)
Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel. (5:3)
- Micah 5:1-3
Reading these passages 'line upon line,’ we can see the two advents of Jesus hidden in plain sight. The long awaited Savior of Israel would first be rejected by His own brethren, provoking Him to give them up to an age long exile before returning to heal and restore them. But it would be quite some time before this mystery was revealed.5
The Great “Until”
The death, ressurection, and ascension of Jesus in the 1st century marks the beginning of Israel's hardening and of Hosea's two days. This time in between the advents appears in Scripture as the word until, which links the first and second comings.
In His final exchange with unbelieving Israel, Jesus told the nation they would not see Him again (I will hide My face)… until they welcomed Him back as Savior and King.6
Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! (23:38)
For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ (23:39)
- Matthew 23:38-39
The outpouring of the Spirit revealed this two advent mystery to the apostles, who used the witness of prophecy to win over a large number of their Jewish brethren. Psalm 110:1 was a frequently quoted passage, which depicts the Messiah returning to the right hand of the Father… until the time of His return.7
For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: (2:34)
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ (2:35)
- Acts 2:34-35
Explaining this mystery to the Gentiles, Paul tells us that the Lord's purpose in hardening the Jewish nation is to reconcile the world to Him, using their fall to bring the gospel to the nations. And when the two days are completed, God will lift their hardening. But not until the full number of Gentiles have come in.8
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; (11:25)
And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” (11:26)
- Romans 11:25-26
The 1st century saw the unsealing of this ancient mystery that Hosea and his contemporaries had foretold. But as it turns out, they weren’t the first to have received this information. Long before, God had openly declared His plans for all Israel to see, from the beginning of their existence.
Declaring The End From The Beginning
Shortly before Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land, Moses received a revelation that would act as a witness to the sons of Israel in the latter days. A close reading of this prophecy, The Song of Moses, reveals just what the prophets had in mind when they recorded their oracles.9
Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 31:19
The song begins with a recap of Israel's origins and their dramatic rescue out of Egypt by the hand of God. But as time went on, they would come to trust only in their own strength. They would then scorn the Rock of their salvation, causing God to give them up to global exile and hide His face from the elect nation.10
Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 32:20
During this time, they would be hunted down, harassed, and wounded. The Lord would make them jealous with a foolish nation (the Gentiles) while continuing to heap misfortunes upon them. At the end of their strength, they will seek the Lord with all their hearts, and He will return to heal them.11
When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.
- Deuteronomy 4:30
After two days of blindness, the Lord will open the eyes of the Jewish nation, who will look on the One they pierced, acknowledging their guilt as they weep in repentance. But their sorrow will be turned to joy as they shout 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
And they will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day.12
Stay tuned for next week’s edition, as we explore the meaning behind the third day.
Hosea 5:14-6:1-3, 1:11, 3:4-5, & 14:4
Hosea 1:1, Isaiah 1:1, Micah 1:1
Isaiah 57:17-19, Micah 3:4, Isaiah 54:7-8, 6:9-13, 11:12, 27:12, 30:26, & 43:5-7
Micah 5:1-4, 2:12, & 4:6
Isaiah 8:16-17, 28:13, 29:11-14, Hosea 14:9
Matthew 23:37-39, Luke 19:41-44, Psalm 118:26
Acts 2:29-42, 3:17-21, Psalm 110:1-7
Romans 11:1-36
Deuteronomy 31:19-32:43, Micah 6:4-5, Isaiah 46:9-10, & 63:11-14
Deuteronomy 4:27, 31:17, & 32:15,17-20,30
Deuteronomy 4:29-30, 30:1-4, & 32:21-25, 36-39
Zechariah 12:10, Ezekiel 39:21-29, 2nd Kings 20:5, 8, Isaiah 38:20-21, & 51:11