Covenant Love

 “I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily.

Like the cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;

his young shoots will grow.

His splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.”

Hosea 14:5-6

It is finally dawning on me that God’s love is beyond definition: “For I am God and not a man—the Holy One among you” (11:9).

Way back in Hosea 2:14-15 God hinted at His tenderness, at the renewal of Israel’s blessings and their hope, at the restoration of His intended relationship with them. “In that day” (2:16) He will be like the dew to Israel, refreshing its roots and its blossoms, its splendor and its fragrance. His covenant love will kick into gear; He can’t go back on His promises.

What’s even better is that we who love Jesus can get a taste of that daily refreshment. We don’t have to wait till “that day”.

God granted Jesus authority to give eternal life to all who would believe, defining eternal life as knowing God and Jesus (John 17:2-3). To know (ginosko) is experiential, not just to know about*. If you know God and Jesus, you have eternal life right now. We can blossom like the lily with Jesus in us. If we send down our roots into the Word we will grow, bear fruit, and exude the fragrance of Christ. 

The lily, cedarwood, an olive tree—they all remind me of life after death in their lingering fragrance. Jesus did it for us. As He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), resurrection meaning: “I have come to bring the power of heaven down to earth.”** And there life will linger.

As for believers, we are charged with spreading Jesus’ fragrance so others will get to know Him: Thanks be to God, who…uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of (Christ) everywhere (2 Corinthians 2:14).

May our fragrance be sweet: Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them (14:9).

Nancy P

*Holman New Testament Commentary online.

**Timothy Keller, September 16, 2001 sermon

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.