The Dew of Free Grace: God's Lavish Restoration Text: Hosea 14:4-8
Introduction: The Logic of Adultery and Grace
The book of Hosea is a brutal and beautiful story. It is the story of a prophet commanded by God to marry a prostitute, a woman named Gomer, in order to provide Israel with a living, breathing, walking object lesson of their relationship with God. Israel was the adulterous wife, and God was the faithful, cuckolded husband. And throughout this book, God, through His prophet, lays out the detailed bill of indictment against His people. They have played the harlot with every idol they could find. They have broken every covenant vow. They have chased after other lovers, thinking the Baals were the ones giving them their grain and wine and oil.
The logic of the world, and the logic of our own hearts, says that such a spouse should be cast off, divorced, and publicly shamed. And God certainly promises judgment. He is not a sentimental deity who winks at sin. He is holy, and His jealousy for His own name burns hot. Much of Hosea details the coming destruction, the tearing and the smiting that Israel has earned for herself. But the book does not end there. If it ended with judgment, it would only be half the story. The final word is not wrath, but grace. The final word is not divorce, but restoration.
This is because the gospel is not logical according to the standards of fallen men. It is a divine logic, a logic that flows from the very character of God Himself. It is the logic of a husband who, having every right to abandon His unfaithful bride, instead pays the price to buy her back out of slavery, cleans her up, and pledges Himself to her all over again. This is what we see in this final chapter of Hosea. After calling Israel to repentance with words God Himself provides them, He then responds. And His response is not a grudging, "Alright, I'll take you back, but don't expect things to be like they were." No, His response is an explosion of grace. It is a promise of healing, free love, and a flourishing that will surpass anything they knew before. This is not just about getting back to zero. This is about resurrection into abundance.
We must understand that this is not just Israel's story. This is our story. We are Gomer. We are the ones who have chased after idols, prostituted our hearts, and broken faith with the God who made us and bought us. And so these promises of restoration are our promises, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage is a portrait of what happens when God decides to save. It is a picture of the gospel's effect, painted with the rich colors of God's good creation.
The Text
I will heal their turning away from Me; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; He will flourish like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will go forth, And his splendor will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will flourish like the vine. His name of remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; From Me comes your fruit.
(Hosea 14:4-8 LSB)
The Uncaused Cause of Our Salvation (v. 4)
We begin with the divine initiative, the foundation of everything that follows.
"I will heal their turning away from Me; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them." (Hosea 14:4)
Notice the pronouns. "I will... I will..." Salvation begins with God, is accomplished by God, and is sustained by God. Israel's repentance in the previous verses was not the thing that twisted God's arm. Rather, God's prior decision to be gracious is what enables their repentance in the first place. He gives the grace that makes it possible for them to "take with you words and return to the LORD."
He says He will heal their "turning away," or their apostasy. The word is potent. Their sin is a disease, a sickness of the soul that has caused them to wander. It is not just a series of bad choices; it is a fundamental brokenness within them. And God does not offer them a self-help program. He, the great Physician, promises to heal it Himself. This is the doctrine of regeneration. God must fix the "willer" before we can will the good. He must heal the disease of our apostasy before we can faithfully turn to Him.
And how does He do this? "I will love them freely." The Hebrew word here means voluntarily, with unconstrained generosity. This is not a love that is earned or merited. Israel has a long and distinguished track record of demerit. They have done everything to make themselves unlovable. But God's love is not a response to our loveliness. It is a sovereign, creative force that makes us lovely. He loves us "freely," which means He loves us because He has decided to love us. The cause of His love is found entirely within Himself, in His own good pleasure. This is the bedrock of our assurance. If God's love depended on our performance, we would be in a constant state of panic. But because it is free, it is also secure.
The reason for this free love is given: "For My anger has turned away from them." Where did the anger go? The New Testament gives us the explicit answer. God's righteous anger against our sin, our spiritual harlotry, did not just evaporate. It was absorbed. It was poured out to the full upon His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. God turned His face away from His Son so that He could turn His face toward us. The cross is where God's free love and His righteous anger meet and are perfectly satisfied. Because His anger has been dealt with, He is now free to love freely.
Creation's Imagery as Gospel Promise (v. 5-6)
God now describes the results of this healing and free love using a cascade of glorious creation imagery.
"I will be like the dew to Israel; He will flourish like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will go forth, And his splendor will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon." (Hosea 14:5-6 LSB)
First, God says, "I will be like the dew to Israel." In that arid climate, dew was a silent, gentle, but essential source of life. It came quietly in the night, without thunder or fanfare, and sustained everything. This is how God's grace works. It is not always spectacular, but it is constant and life-giving. He doesn't just send the dew; He is the dew. He is the source of their spiritual life and refreshment.
And the result of this divine dew? First, "He will flourish like the lily." A lily can spring up in a day, beautiful and glorious. This speaks of the swiftness and beauty of regeneration. The life God gives is vibrant and immediately apparent. But this is balanced by the next image: "he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon." The lily is beautiful but fragile. The cedar of Lebanon was a symbol of immense strength, permanence, and deep-rooted stability. Its roots went deep to find water. So the restored believer has both the beauty of the lily and the strength of the cedar. There is both aesthetic glory and doctrinal stability. We are to be both beautiful and strong.
The growth continues in verse 6. "His shoots will go forth." This is missional. The life God gives is not meant to be contained. It spreads. It sends out runners. A restored church, a restored Christian, will be an expanding, growing, evangelizing entity. And this growth has two characteristics. Its splendor will be "like the olive tree," a symbol of fruitfulness, value, and light (its oil). And its fragrance will be "like the cedars of Lebanon," which were known for their pleasant, pervasive aroma. So the church is to be both fruitful in its work (splendor) and attractive in its character (fragrance). We are to produce things of value for the world, and we are to be a people whose very presence is a sweet smell to those around us, and to God.
Corporate Fruitfulness and a Good Reputation (v. 7)
The blessing of this restoration is not just individual; it is corporate and it overflows to the world.
"Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will flourish like the vine. His name of remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon." (Hosea 14:7 LSB)
The restored Israel, now a great and fragrant tree, provides shade and security. "Those who live in his shadow" refers to the nations, the Gentiles, who will come and find shelter under the blessings of God's covenant people. This is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. The church is to be this great tree where the nations can find refuge.
Under this shade, they will "again raise grain." This is a picture of settled, productive, civilized life. Where the gospel takes root, culture flourishes. Famine is replaced by agriculture. Chaos is replaced by order. And they will "flourish like the vine," an image of joy, celebration, and deep satisfaction. The Christian life is not one of grim-faced duty, but of flourishing joy.
And the result is a good reputation. "His name of remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon." The wine of Lebanon was famous in the ancient world for its quality. The reputation of God's people, once a byword and a hissing, will become like a fine wine, renowned and sought after. When the church is healthy, her reputation, her "brand," is one of excellence and joy.
The Great Divorce and the True Source (v. 8)
Finally, God speaks directly to Ephraim, the leading tribe of the northern kingdom, and brings the entire issue to its ultimate conclusion: the divorce from idols and the absolute dependence on God.
"O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; From Me comes your fruit." (Hosea 14:8 LSB)
There is a glorious ambiguity here. "What more have I to do with idols?" could be God speaking, disavowing the idols Ephraim has brought into His house. Or it could be God putting words in Ephraim's mouth, the great confession of a repentant heart: "Ephraim shall say, 'What more have I to do with idols?'" In the end, it means the same thing. The relationship between God and His people is exclusive. When God moves in, the idols must move out. True revival is always marked by the smashing of idols.
God then states the plain truth that Israel had spent centuries denying: "It is I who answer and look after you." Not Baal. Not Asherah. Not the golden calves. Not the king of Assyria. It was Yahweh all along. He was the one who heard their prayers, even when they were misaddressed. He was the one who provided for them, even when they gave the credit to false gods. All their blessings had been coming from the very husband they were cheating on.
God concludes with one final image of Himself. "I am like a luxuriant cypress." A cypress is an evergreen, a symbol of eternal life. But it doesn't produce edible fruit. So God adds the punchline that ties everything together: "From Me comes your fruit."
"From Me comes your fruit." (Hosea 14:8 LSB)
You, Israel, are the vine, the olive, the grain. But I am the source of all that fruitfulness. You are the branches, but I am the root. You flourish, but I am the dew. This is the great confession that all restored sinners must make. Any good in us, any fruit from us, any beauty in us, is not our own. It is a gift. It flows from Him. As Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
Conclusion: Grafted into the True Cypress
This entire chapter is a rich and textured promise of the gospel. Israel, the unfaithful wife, was judged. She was sent into exile. But God, in His astonishing faithfulness, did not abandon His covenant promises. He brought a remnant back. But the ultimate fulfillment of these promises is not found in the restoration of ethnic Israel to the land. It is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true Israel. He is the one who is the perfect lily and the strong cedar. He is the olive tree, crushed to provide the oil of the Spirit. He is the vine, from whom all the flourishing branches draw their life. He is the one whose fragrance is a pleasing aroma to the Father.
And we, who were by nature wild olive branches, spiritual Gentiles, children of wrath, have been grafted into Him (Romans 11). God, by His free love, has healed our apostasy. He has made His anger turn away by placing it on Christ. He comes to us as the dew of His Spirit, giving us new life. And now, in Christ, all these promises are ours. We are called to be this flourishing, fruitful, fragrant people.
The final question to Ephraim is the question to us. "What more have I to do with idols?" Look at your life. Look at your heart. Where are you still trying to find life, security, or meaning apart from God? What are your functional Baals? Your career? Your reputation? Your comfort? Your politics? God's free love in Christ is meant to be the death of all idolatry. He has shown us that He alone is the source of all fruit. To seek it elsewhere is not just wrong, it is insane. It is like a plant turning away from the sun and trying to draw life from a rock.
Therefore, let us repent of our idols and turn to the one who is our life. He is the luxuriant cypress, the evergreen God. And all our fruit, for time and for eternity, is found in Him.