John Calvin Commentary Hosea 6:3

"And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth." — Hosea 6:3 (ASV)

In this verse the faithful pursue what we have previously considered, making the hope of salvation sure to themselves. Nor is it surprising that the Prophet dwells more fully on this subject, for we know how prone we are to entertain doubt. There is nothing more difficult, especially when God shows us signs of His wrath, than for us to be restored, so that we may be truly persuaded that He is our physician, when He seems to visit us for our sins.

We must then, in this case, earnestly strive, for it cannot be done without labor. Hence the faithful now say, We shall know, and we shall pursue to know Jehovah. They show then by these words that they do not distrust, but are confident that light will arise after darkness; for this is the meaning of the words: We shall then know, they say; that is, “Though horrible darkness is now on every side, yet the Lord will manifest His goodness to us, even though it may not immediately appear.” They therefore add, And we shall pursue after the knowledge of Jehovah. We now perceive the purport of the words.

Now this passage teaches us that when God hides His face, we act foolishly if we cherish our unbelief. For we ought, on the contrary, as I have already said, to contend with this destructive disease, since Satan seeks nothing else but to sink us in despair. This device of his, then, ought to be understood by us, as Paul reminds us (2 Corinthians 2:11), and the Holy Spirit supplies us here with weapons by which we may repel this temptation of Satan: “What?

You see that God is angry with you; nor is it of any use to you to attempt to come to Him, for every access is shut up.” This is what Satan suggests to us when we are aware of our sins. What is to be done?

The Prophet here propounds a remedy: We shall know. “Though now we are sunk in thick darkness, though not even a spark of light ever shines on us, yet we shall know (as Isaiah says, I will hope in the Lord, who hides His face from Jacob) that this is the true exercise of our faith: when we lift up our eyes to the light which seems to be extinguished, and when in the darkness of death we yet continue to promise ourselves life, as we are taught here. We shall then know; further, We shall pursue after the knowledge of Jehovah. Though God withdraws His face and, as it were designedly, doubles the darkness, and all knowledge of His grace seems, as it were, extinct, we shall yet pursue after this knowledge; that is, no obstacle shall keep us from striving, and our efforts will at last make their way to that grace which seems to be wholly excluded from us.”

Some give this rendering, We shall know, and shall pursue on to know Jehovah, and explain the passage thus: that the Israelites had derived no such benefit from the Law of Moses, but that they still expected the fuller doctrine which Christ brought at His coming. They then think that this is a prophecy respecting that doctrine, which is now set forth to us by the Gospel in its full brightness, because God has manifested Himself in His Son as in a living image.

But this is too refined an exposition, and it is enough for us to keep close to the Prophet’s design. He indeed introduces the godly speaking thus for this reason: because there was a need for great and strong effort, so that they might rise to the hope of salvation, for it was not to be the exile of one day, but of seventy years. When, therefore, such a heavy trial awaited the godly, the Prophet here wished to prepare them for the laborious warfare: We shall then know, and follow on to know Jehovah.

Then he says, As the morning shall come to us His going forth,—a most appropriate similitude, for here the faithful call to mind the continued succession of days and nights. It is no wonder that God bids us to hope for His grace, the sight of which is still hidden from us. For unless we had learned by long experience, who could hope for sudden light when the darkness of night prevails? Should we not think that the earth is wholly deprived of light? But since the dawn suddenly shines, puts an end to the darkness of night, and dispels it, what wonder is it that the Lord should shine forth beyond our expectation? His going forth then shall be like the morning.

He here calls a new manifestation the going forth of God, that is, when God shows that He regards His people with favor, when He shows that He is mindful of the covenant which He made with Abraham. For as long as the people were exiled from their country, God seemed not, as we have said, to look on them anymore; indeed, the judgment of the flesh only suggested this: that God was far distant from His people.

He then calls it the going forth of God when God shall show Himself propitious to the captives and shall wholly restore them; then the going forth of God shall come and shall be like the morning.

We now see then that he confirms them by the order of nature, as Paul does when he chides the unbelief of those to whom a future resurrection seemed incredible because it surpasses the thoughts of the flesh. “O fool!” he says, “do you not see that what you sow first decays and then germinates? God now sets before you in a decaying seed an emblem of the future resurrection.”

So also in this place, since light daily rises for us, and the morning shines after the darkness of night, what then will the Lord not effect by Himself, who works so powerfully by material things? When He will put forth His full power, what, do we think, will He do? Will He not much more surpass all the thoughts of our flesh? We now see then why this similitude was added.

He afterwards describes to us the effect of this manifestation, He shall come, he says, as the rain to us, as the late rain, a rain to the earth. This comparison shows that as soon as God will deign to look on His people, His countenance will be like the rain which irrigates the earth. When the earth is dry after long heat and long drought, it seems incapable of producing fruit, but rain restores to it its moisture and vigor. Thus then the Prophet, in the person of the faithful, here strengthens the hope of a full restoration. He shall come to us as the rain, as the late rain.

The Hebrews call the late rain מלקום, melakush, by which the corn was ripened. And it seems that the Prophet meant the vernal rain by the word גשם, geshem. But the sense is clearly this: that though the Israelites had become so dry that they no longer had any vigor, there would yet be no less virtue in God’s grace than in the rain which fructifies the earth when it seems barren. But when at the end he adds, a rain to the earth, I do not doubt that he meant seasonable rain, which is pleasant and acceptable to the earth, or which the earth really needs; for a violent shower cannot be called properly a rain to the earth, because it is destructive and hurtful.