I will again return to My place until they acknowledge their offense and seek My face. In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.

Hosea 5:15

How often does one read the minor prophets, let alone Hosea?

Well, for a clear overview of the relationship between God and Israel (both kingdoms,) read the book of Hosea. In a sense, Hosea is a high-level view of Israel and God’s relationship with her. God reveals His relationship with Israel in the relationship Hosea has with his own wife. It is a rather striking and beautiful account of redemption.

In this part of Hosea, God is withdrawing from Israel and Judah. He is going away until Israel acknowledges her offense and seeks Him. It is this affliction that comes with the drawing back of God that takes them to the point of earnestly seeking Him.

I am prone to think that occurred in AD 32 with the national rejection of the Messiah. Soon after, Jerusalem was besieged and disappeared from the role of nations. It had been like that for almost 2,000 years. As will be seen, this absence causes some to scoff at what the Bible teaches.

Affliction from the Lord’s Withdrawal

It is this absence that brings affliction. History is replete with them. One can clearly perceive the affliction in the history of antisemitism. It seems to ramp up on a bell curve. The Holocaust during World War II is not going to be the ultimate affliction. The one coming will be far worse. Jesus gave warning about that, with stern instructions.

“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes.

Matthew 24:15–18

It’s going to be really bad. Far worse than anything ever experienced. Don’t believe me, believe what Jesus said.

Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then will be great tribulation, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
“Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

Matthew 24:19–22

It is these things that demonstrate the affliction that will bring repentance. That change of heart is written about by another prophet. When reading, pay attention to Who is speaking and what it is He is going to do. Remember that.

The oracle of the word of the Lord against Israel.
Thus says the Lord, the One who stretches out the heavens and establishes the earth and forms the spirit of man within him: I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling before all the surrounding nations. And when there is a siege against Judah, it is also against Jerusalem. And it will be on that day that I will set Jerusalem as a weighty stone to all the peoples. All who carry it will surely gash themselves, and all the nations of the land will be gathered against it. On that day I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness, but for the house of Judah I will keep My eyes open although I will strike with blindness every horse of the peoples. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, “There is strength for us with those residing in Jerusalem by the Lord of Hosts, their God.”
On that day I will set Judah like a fiery pot among wood and as a flaming torch among cut grain. And they will devour to the right and left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem will still reside in her place, the place of Jerusalem.
The Lord will deliver the tents of Judah as before, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of those dwelling in Jerusalem will not eclipse Judah. On that day the Lord will defend those residing in Jerusalem; and even the one who stumbles among them will be as David on that day. And the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going out before them. On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who come out against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 12:1–9

On that day, the proverbial lights come on in the hearts and minds of Israelis. They will perceive the hand of God moving for them even in their affliction. Then there is a sudden change of heart by those towards God.

And I will pour out on the house of David and over those dwelling in Jerusalem a spirit of favor and supplication so that they look to Me, whom they have pierced through. And they will mourn over him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as a firstborn.

Zechariah 12:10

As an Israeli, the question I would ask is when did we pierce God?

The Lord Ends His Withdrawal

We see an end to the withdrawal of the Lord. After some 2,000 years of languishing, He again showers Jerusalem and Israel with favor. Thats the promised time for Israel, and a cleansing of the land.

That’s God’s perspective, but what about the people?

Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn, and He will heal us. He has struck, and He will bind us up.

Hosea 6:1

The people themselves… They come to their senses. They turn and start to seek the Lord. It is the affliction that comes with the withdrawal that leads them to repent. They know He will bind them up, healing the wounds of affliction.

That is not the only thing that happens.

After two days He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.

Hosea 6:2

Think hard about what is being said. Why would the Israelis think that the affliction would only be two days with healing oncoming after, and seeking peace on the third day?

Could there be another idea lurking just under the surface here?

Israel left the Lord. After two days, they will be revived and raised up. On the third day they will live before God.

I detect some messianic hints here.

But 2,000 Years

I have had that very objection raised quite a bit in the last two weeks. The latest came with a dose of mockery toward God. It came with the usual insistence of “that generation,” “at hand,” and “soon.” As if the events of the last days would have to happen in the first century and there was no other explanation. He said, “heaven doesn’t know how to tell time.”

Peter wrote something about that, which seems to bear on the discussion.

Know this first, that there shall come scoffers in the last days who walk after their own lusts, and say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were since the beginning of the creation.” For they willingly ignore that, by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed was flooded with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are being reserved for fire, kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2 Peter 3:3–7

Providentially, this portion also provides an answer to the mockery.

But, beloved, do not be ignorant of this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness. But He is patient with us, because He does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:8–9

Wait. Did Peter connect a thousand years with mockery in the end times?

The passage of a thousand years is like a day in heaven. It is like saying the passage of linear time on earth is not the same as in heaven. This directly speaks to those who claim that God is slow in keeping His word. Particularly as it applies to those things about the latter days.

After two days… Or really… After 2,000 years, He will revive us. On the third day they are raised up. Is that resurrection language?

Those Israelis live before Him. The third day would also be 1,000 years. Is that a reference to the Millennial Reign of Jesus?

It seems to fit well with other things in the Bible. Especially when considering what Paul wrote about resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. I have a long article concerning resurrection and futurism.

And about the third day being the Millennium…

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain;
like the spring rains He will water the earth.

Hosea 6:3

His appearance is as sure as the dawn. All of the third day imagery also seems to align with this post on the Morning Star.

Concluding Thoughts

It sounds an awful lot like 2,000 years of affliction will be given to Israel. Since the rejection of the Messiah, they’ve been abandoned. Now as we witness some semblance of returning to seek after the Lord, it points to the soon return of Jesus.

As indicated in this recent post, we seem to be living in the last of the last days. Considering the weeks of years, and how the Bible teaches the new week begins on Nisan 10. Let’s do some more math.

If Jesus was crucified in the year AD 32. 2,000 years after that, ends up at 2032. 2032 would seem to be the year of resurrection and reconciliation of Israel, as well as the beginning of the Millennium. If so, there are seven years of terrible affliction before that… Which gives us the year 2025.

Take it for what it’s worth. It’s not date setting. It is pointing to seasons and times to which we have much written.