The Bible

 

Hosea 6

Study

   

1 `Come, and we turn back unto Jehovah, For He hath torn, and He doth heal us, He doth smite, and He bindeth us up.

2 He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.

3 And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'

4 What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early -- going.

5 Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments to the light goeth forth.

6 For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.

7 And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against me.

8 Gilead [is] a city of workers of iniquity, Slippery from blood.

9 And as bands do wait for a man, A company of priests do murder -- the way to Shechem, For wickedness they have done.

10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim -- defiled is Israel.

11 Also, O Judah, appointed is a harvest to thee, In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!

   

Commentary

 

Before

  
Photo by Jenny Stein

In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's presence." It takes on a deeper significance, though, when used in connection with the Lord. To be "before" the Lord means not just in His presence, but also receiving the desire for good and the understanding of truth from Him, and living according to them. And when used as an assessment of time in connection with the Lord, "before" means "from eternity," and refers to a spiritual state rather than time as we experience it.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 366, 617; Arcana Coelestia 6983, 8439, 9888)