Hosea 6

Raised Up the Third Day

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. Hosea 6:1–2

The immediate meaning is Israel's national restoration after repentance, but Christians have long heard in "the third day he will raise us up" a foreshadowing of Christ's Resurrection on the third day, through which all of us are raised. Paul and Jesus both say the third-day Resurrection was "according to the scriptures".

• alluded to by 1 Corinthians 15:4 — Christ "rose again the third day according to the scriptures"; Hosea 6:2 is the Old Testament passage most often seen behind that phrase.
• alluded to by Luke 24:46 — "Thus it is written... to rise from the dead the third day."

His Coming as the Morning and the Rain

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3

The LORD's coming to His people is as sure as sunrise and as life-giving as rain. Latter-day Saints can hear an echo of the Savior's coming, which brings light and refreshing to a dry world.

• alluded to by James 5:7-8 — James uses the early and latter rain as a picture of waiting for "the coming of the Lord".

Jehovah

Jehovah — the LORD, the eternal I AM

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

Jehovah says He wants loving hearts and true knowledge of Him more than ritual. Jesus quoted these very words twice in His mortal ministry, speaking again what He had said as Jehovah.

• quoted by Matthew 9:13 — Jesus: "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice."
• quoted by Matthew 12:7 — Jesus quotes it again defending His disciples on the Sabbath.