Hosea 2:18
On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.
On that day
This phrase signifies a future time of divine intervention and restoration. In the prophetic literature, "that day" often refers to a time when God will act decisively in history. It is a day of hope and fulfillment, pointing to the eschatological future when God will restore His people and creation. The Hebrew word for "day" (יוֹם, yom) can denote a specific time or era, emphasizing the certainty and significance of God's promise.

I will make a covenant for them
The concept of a covenant is central to the biblical narrative, representing a solemn agreement initiated by God. In Hebrew, the word for covenant is "בְּרִית" (berit), which implies a binding promise. This covenant is not just with Israel but extends to all creation, indicating a universal peace and harmony. It reflects God's faithfulness and His desire to restore relationships, not only with humanity but with all living creatures.

with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground
This phrase highlights the comprehensive scope of God's covenant. The inclusion of animals signifies a return to the peace and harmony of Eden, where all creation lived in unity. The Hebrew words for "beasts" (חַיָּה, chayyah), "birds" (עוֹף, oph), and "creatures that crawl" (רֶמֶשׂ, remes) encompass all forms of life, suggesting a holistic restoration. This imagery echoes the prophetic vision of a new creation where enmity is abolished.

I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war from the land
Here, God promises to remove instruments of violence and conflict. The Hebrew word for "abolish" (שָׁבַר, shabar) means to break or destroy, indicating a complete eradication of war. This promise reflects the Messianic hope of peace, as seen in Isaiah 2:4, where nations beat their swords into plowshares. It underscores God's ultimate plan for a world where peace prevails and His kingdom is established.

and I will make them lie down in safety
This phrase conveys a sense of security and rest. The Hebrew word for "lie down" (שָׁכַב, shakab) suggests a posture of peace and trust, free from fear. "Safety" (בֶּטַח, betach) implies a state of confidence and assurance, rooted in God's protection. This promise is reminiscent of Psalm 23, where the Good Shepherd leads His flock to lie down in green pastures, symbolizing divine care and provision.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hosea
A prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, whose life and message were a demonstration of God's love and faithfulness despite Israel's unfaithfulness.

2. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, often depicted as unfaithful to God, akin to an adulterous spouse in the book of Hosea.

3. Covenant
A divine promise or agreement, often involving commitments and blessings, central to the relationship between God and His people.

4. Beasts of the field, birds of the air, creatures that crawl
Symbolic of all creation, indicating a comprehensive peace and restoration.

5. Weapons of war
Representing conflict and strife, their abolition signifies a future era of peace and safety.
Teaching Points
God's Faithfulness in Restoration
Despite Israel's unfaithfulness, God promises a future restoration, highlighting His unwavering commitment to His people.

Comprehensive Peace
The covenant extends to all creation, indicating that God's peace is holistic, affecting every aspect of life.

The Abolition of Conflict
The removal of weapons signifies God's ultimate plan for peace, encouraging believers to be peacemakers in their own lives.

Safety in God's Presence
True safety and security are found in God's presence, reminding us to seek refuge in Him amidst life's uncertainties.

Hope for the Future
This promise points to a future hope where God's kingdom is fully realized, encouraging believers to live with an eternal perspective.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the promise of a covenant with creation in Hosea 2:18 reflect God's original intentions for the world as seen in Genesis?

2. In what ways can we, as believers, participate in God's work of peace and restoration in our communities today?

3. How does the abolition of weapons in Hosea 2:18 challenge our understanding of security and safety in the modern world?

4. What parallels can you draw between the peace described in Hosea 2:18 and the peace promised in the New Testament?

5. How can the hope of future restoration and peace influence our daily lives and decisions as Christians?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 9:8-17
The covenant with Noah, where God promises never to destroy the earth with a flood again, showing God's commitment to creation.

Isaiah 11:6-9
A vision of peace in God's kingdom where even natural enemies live in harmony, similar to the peace described in Hosea 2:18.

Ezekiel 34:25
God promises a covenant of peace, echoing the themes of safety and the removal of threats.

Romans 8:19-22
Creation's longing for redemption, which aligns with the restoration and peace promised in Hosea.

Revelation 21:1-4
The ultimate fulfillment of God's covenant, where He dwells with His people in a new creation without pain or conflict.
RetributionJ.R. Thomson Hosea 2:18
AllurementJ. Orr Hosea 2:14-18
Israel's RestorationC. Jerdan Hosea 2:14-20
God's LoveJ. Gregory Mantle.Hosea 2:18-19
The Betrothment of the ChurchT. Bagnall-Baker, M. A.Hosea 2:18-19
The Covenant of Outward PeaceGeorge Hutcheson.Hosea 2:18-19
The Everlasting EspousalsT. Boston, D. D.Hosea 2:18-19
The Great BetrothalJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 2:18-19
The Promise of PeaceJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 2:18-19
The Restored Order of NatureHosea 2:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord's EspousalsHosea 2:18-19
The Sublime Privileges of the GoodD. Thomas Hosea 2:18, 19
The Sublime Privileges of the GoodHomilistHosea 2:18-19
The Threefold BetrothalE. B. Pusey, D. D.Hosea 2:18-19
The Wooing and the WeddingJ. H. Jowett, M. A.Hosea 2:18-19
The New BetrothalJ. Orr Hosea 2:18-23
People
Hosea, Ishi, Jezreel, Zephaniah
Places
Egypt, Jezreel, Valley of Achor
Topics
Abolish, Air, Along, Animals, Battle, Beasts, Birds, Bow, Break, Covenant, Creatures, Creeping, Field, Ground, Lie, Move, Safety, Sky, Sword
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Hosea 2:18

     1347   covenant, with Noah
     4906   abolition
     5059   rest, eternal
     5236   bow and arrow
     5511   safety
     5612   weapons

Hosea 2:14-20

     1085   God, love of
     6730   reinstatement

Hosea 2:16-20

     5717   monogamy

Hosea 2:18-23

     1352   covenant, the new
     4209   land, spiritual aspects

Library
The Valley of Achor
'I will give her ... the valley of Achor for a door of hope.'--HOSEA II. 15. The Prophet Hosea is remarkable for the frequent use which he makes of events in the former history of his people. Their past seems to him a mirror in which they may read their future. He believes that 'which is to be hath already been,' the great principles of the divine government living on through all the ages, and issuing in similar acts when the circumstances are similar. So he foretells that there will yet be once
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Unknown Giver and the Misused Gifts
"For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax."--Hosea 2:8-9. In reading any of the records concerning the people of Israel and the people of Judah, one stands amazed at two things, and scarcely knows which to wonder at most. The first thing which causes astonishment is the great
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

27TH DAY. Everlasting Espousals.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever."--HOSEA ii. 19. Everlasting Espousals. How wondrous and varied are the figures which Jesus employs to express the tenderness of His covenant love! My soul! thy Saviour-God hath "married thee!" Wouldst thou know the hour of thy betrothment? Go back into the depths of a by-past eternity, before the world was; then and there, thine espousals were contracted: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Soon shall the bridal-hour
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

"I Know, O Lord, that Thy Judgments are Right, and that Thou in Faithfulness Hast Afflicted Me. " -- Psalm 119:75.
"I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there." -- Hosea 2:14,15. "I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." -- Psalm 119:75. I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength -- Thee shall my rescued heart embrace; Thy love, in all its breadth and length, Shall be my peaceful dwelling place. Whom have
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

The Secret of his Pavilion
Gerhard Ter Steegen Hos. ii. 14 Allured into the desert, with God alone, apart, There spirit meeteth spirit, there speaketh heart to heart. Far, far on that untrodden shore, God's secret place I find, Alone I pass the golden door, the dearest left behind. There God and I--none other; oh far from men to be! Nay, midst the crowd and tumult, still, Lord, alone with Thee. Still folded close upon Thy breast, in field, and mart, and street, Untroubled in that perfect rest, that isolation sweet. O God,
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

And After. (xxx, xxxi, xxxix-Xliv. )
There are two separated accounts of what befel Jeremiah when the city was taken. Ch. XXXIX. 3, 14 tells us that he was fetched from the guard-court by Babylonian officers,(609) and given to Gedaliah, the son of his old befriender Ahikam, to be taken home.(610) At last!--but for only a brief interval in the life of this homeless and harried man. When a few months later Nebusaradan arrived on his mission to burn the city and deport the inhabitants Jeremiah is said by Ch. XL to have been carried off
George Adam Smith—Jeremiah

And that this Race was to Become an Holy People was Declared in the Twelve...
And that this race was to become an holy people was declared in the Twelve Prophets [283] by Hosea, thus: I will call that which was not (my) people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved. It shall come to pass that in the place where it was called not my people, there shall they be called sons of the Living God. (Hos. ii. 23, i. 10) This also is that which was said by John the Baptist: That God is able of these stones to raise up sons to Abraham. For our hearts being withdrawn and taken
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Entire Sanctification in Prophecy.
The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very wonderful experience
Dougan Clark—The Theology of Holiness

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Controversy Concerning Fasting
"And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting: and they come and say unto Him, Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples fast not?" MARK 2:18 (R.V.) THE Pharisees had just complained to the disciples that Jesus ate and drank in questionable company. Now they join with the followers of the ascetic Baptist in complaining to Jesus that His disciples eat and drink at improper seasons, when others fast. And as Jesus had then replied, that being a Physician,
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

'Fruit which is Death'
'Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. 2. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: He shall break down their altars, He shall spoil their images. 3. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us? 4. They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Wilderness State
"Ye now have sorrow: But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:22. 1. After God had wrought a great deliverance for Israel, by bringing them out of the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter into the land which he had promised to their fathers; but "wandered out of the way in the wilderness," and were variously tempted and distressed. In like manner, after God has delivered them that fear him from the bondage of sin and Satan;
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

How the Rude in Sacred Learning, and those who are Learned but not Humble, are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 25.) Differently to be admonished are those who do not understand aright the words of the sacred Law, and those who understand them indeed aright, but speak them not humbly. For those who understand not aright the words of sacred Law are to be admonished to consider that they turn for themselves a most wholesome drought of wine into a cup of poison, and with a medicinal knife inflict on themselves a mortal wound, when they destroy in themselves what was sound by that whereby they ought,
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

"Thou Shalt Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother. "
From this Commandment we learn that after the excellent works of the first three Commandments there are no better works than to obey and serve all those who are set over us as superiors. For this reason also disobedience is a greater sin than murder, unchastity, theft and dishonesty, and all that these may include. For we can in no better way learn how to distinguish between greater and lesser sins than by noting the order of the Commandments of God, although there are distinctions also within the
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation,
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

The Beginning of Justification. In what Sense Progressive.
1. Men either idolatrous, profane, hypocritical, or regenerate. 1. Idolaters void of righteousness, full of unrighteousness, and hence in the sight of God altogether wretched and undone. 2. Still a great difference in the characters of men. This difference manifested. 1. In the gifts of God. 2. In the distinction between honorable and base. 3. In the blessings of he present life. 3. All human virtue, how praiseworthy soever it may appear, is corrupted. 1. By impurity of heart. 2. By the absence of
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly
DO not mistake me, I do not say that of their own nature the worst things are good, for they are a fruit of the curse; but though they are naturally evil, yet the wise overruling hand of God disposing and sanctifying them, they are morally good. As the elements, though of contrary qualities, yet God has so tempered them, that they all work in a harmonious manner for the good of the universe. Or as in a watch, the wheels seem to move contrary one to another, but all carry on the motions of the watch:
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

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