READ: Hosea 6:3
“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
We’ve heard children sing the little tune that goes “rain, rain, go away, come again another day.” While it’s catchy, that thought would have been insane to the people of ancient Israel. Rain was really important. To make it a little more complex, rain was also rare. They basically lived in an ongoing drought, so they were constantly waiting for rain. Since rain helped produce healthy animals and plentiful harvests, it was essential to their existence.
When the prophet refers to the winter and spring rains, he is alluding to the two wet seasons in the Middle East. This region received rain in two doses throughout the year — winter and spring. The winter rains would come to soften the earth for planting, while the spring rains would water the plants for a harvest. Hosea tied God to the life-giving consistency of the seasons. He was basically saying, “Just like the seasons, God is constant and reliable.”
According to ancient traditions, the false gods of this era were moody and inconsistent. Baal, the Mesopotamian god of rain, was unpredictable and volatile. When Hosea compares God to a reliable source of consistent rain, He proves that God is greater than their false god, Baal. Hosea continued to prove his point by celebrating God’s presence as being “As surely as the sunrise,” which demonstrated God’s greatness over Egypt’s sun god named Ra. Hosea encourages his people to lean on the true God of Israel, because He is as reliable as the sunrise and the seasons.
The false gods of today are also moody and inconsistent. Our financial status can change in an instant. A relationship can crumble with a single text. Friendships are constantly fluctuating. Popularity and status can shift overnight. We should never rely on something that could be temporary and inconsistent. Rely on the true God, because He is as certain as the sunrise and as steady as the seasons.