Christ in the Old Testament

Hosea 13:14

I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
    I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
    Where, O grave, is your destruction? (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Hosea 13:9-16 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

We have more controversy today and we don’t even have to look at what the Biblical scholars have to say about it. We can simply look at the text itself. Hosea 13:14 seems to be a reference to the Messiah when reading the NIV translation. However, here is the NET translation:

Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not!
Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not!
O Death, bring on your plagues!
O Sheol, bring on your destruction!
My eyes will not show any compassion!

Now it doesn’t sound like a prophecy at all. It sounds like God is really angry and He’s getting ready to bring the hammer. The problem is that the Hebrew language doesn’t have any punctuation so we look for placements of certain words to indicate a question is being asked. But sometimes those words don’t exist and we have to infer that a question is being asked or possibly that the intent was to ask a rhetorical question. This verse is one of those instances where the Hebrew is unclear. Is it “I will” or is it “Will I”?

Upon reading the rest of Hosea 13 and putting our verse in context, it certainly seems that the latter is the case thus making the NET translation more accurate. If that is the case, we don’t really have a prophecy predicting the Messiah’s deliverance of us from the grave. However, this doesn’t create any doctrinal issues because we have that promise to cling to from many other Scriptures such as:

“Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord’” (Ezek 37:12-14).

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave” (Ps 107:19-20).

“But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself” (Ps 49:15).

“But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again” (2 Cor 1:9-10).

Looking again at Hosea 13:14, you might also recognize these verses from reading the New Testament. Paul quotes this verse in his first letter to the Corinthians in his explanation of this concept of being raised from the grave. Paul declares the second half of Hosea 13:14 to be a prophecy that will come true because all believers will say those words when we are raised from the dead and Jesus destroys death itself at the sounding of the last trumpet:

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’

‘Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Cor 15:51-55).

And as Paul usually does, he gives us an instruction after giving us a truth. What are we to do with this information? Because we will be raised from the dead and be clothed with an imperishable body, so then what? Because we will declare victory over death, how does that affect us today?

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58).

This is military language. The enemy is advancing on us in the field of battle. We need to hold our ground. We stand firm in the face of distress. When life gets hard, we aren’t moved. We keep our heads down and continue to live as Jesus lived. We fully commit to the cause of Christ. Our labor isn’t in vain.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor 9:24-25).

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for defeating the grave and conquering death. Until I meet you in the air at the last trumpet, help me to stand firm. Help me to live for you in all that I do today and run in such a way as to get the prize.