9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
The very last verse of Hosea serves as the ending to the entire book and explains why we have read it. It shows that Hosea’s words are not just addressed to his time but to all times. People today often see little value in reading the Old Testament because its world is so different from our own. The problems of Israel in the 8th century BC, fears of attack from Assyria or worship of foreign gods, may not seem immediately relevant to our lives. This last verse here tells us that the wise and discerning understand its value. As Paula Gooder explains, this verse “challenges us to stop and think about precisely what it is that we do not understand.”
There are many complicated and even shocking things in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, but this verse tells us how to understand this. We must weigh everything in relation to what we know about God. We can find knowledge of God in the book of Hosea. He is righteousness but even more importantly, he is full of love. Those who are not righteous or lack understanding will “stumble” and use the bible for their own ends. Our task is to know God as Hosea did and to apply that understanding to our daily lives.
Hosea’s book is a deeply moving one that ranges widely emotionally from the horror of the descriptions of Israel’s punishments to the tender images of God’s love for his people. We need to read it by praying to God and asking him to give us the insight we need to understand it. Douglas Stuart has pointed out that “The time frame for Israel’s restoration in the Old Testament is just as indefinite as is the time frame for the return of Christ in the New Testament.” God’s time is not our own. What is important here is not when these things will happen but that God’s will and his plan of salvation will ultimately win out. We will be with him one day. But, as Jesus warns us several times, though we don’t know when that day will happen, we should always be prepared for it and act accordingly.
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