After two days He will revive us;This phrase suggests a period of waiting and anticipation for restoration. In the biblical context, "two days" can symbolize a short, yet complete period of time. The idea of revival is central to the message of Hosea, as the prophet calls Israel to repentance and promises God's restoration. The concept of revival is also seen in other scriptures, such as
Psalm 85:6, where the psalmist asks God to revive His people. Theologically, this can be seen as a promise of spiritual renewal and awakening.
on the third day He will raise us up,
The "third day" is significant throughout the Bible, often associated with divine intervention and new beginnings. This phrase can be seen as a foreshadowing of Christ's resurrection on the third day, as mentioned in the Gospels (e.g.,Luke 24:46). The resurrection of Jesus is a pivotal event in Christian theology, symbolizing victory over sin and death. In the context of Hosea, this phrase emphasizes God's power to restore and give new life to His people, drawing a parallel to the resurrection hope found in the New Testament.
that we may live in His presence.
Living in God's presence is the ultimate goal of restoration and revival. In the Old Testament, God's presence was often associated with the temple and the tabernacle, where His glory dwelled among His people (Exodus 25:8). The desire to live in God's presence reflects a deep longing for communion and fellowship with the Creator. In the New Testament, this is fulfilled through Jesus Christ, who makes it possible for believers to have a personal relationship with God (John 14:23). The phrase underscores the transformative power of God's grace, enabling His people to live in a restored relationship with Him.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
HoseaA prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC, Hosea's ministry focused on calling Israel to repentance and warning of impending judgment due to their unfaithfulness to God.
2.
IsraelThe Northern Kingdom, often depicted in Hosea as an unfaithful spouse, symbolizing the nation's spiritual adultery through idolatry and alliances with foreign powers.
3.
Revival and RestorationThe event of God reviving and raising His people, symbolizing spiritual renewal and restoration to a right relationship with Him.
Teaching Points
God's Promise of RestorationDespite Israel's unfaithfulness, God promises revival and restoration. This demonstrates His enduring mercy and faithfulness, encouraging believers to trust in His promises even when circumstances seem dire.
Symbolism of Three DaysThe "third day" symbolizes completeness and divine intervention. It points to the ultimate fulfillment in Christ's resurrection, offering hope of new life to all who believe.
Living in God's PresenceThe ultimate goal of revival is to live in God's presence. Believers are called to seek a deeper relationship with God, prioritizing spiritual renewal and intimacy with Him.
Call to Repentance and FaithHosea's message is a call to repentance. Believers are encouraged to examine their lives, turn from sin, and renew their commitment to God, trusting in His power to restore.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Hosea 6:2?
2.How does Hosea 6:2 foreshadow Christ's resurrection on the third day?
3.What does "He will revive us" teach about God's restorative power?
4.How can Hosea 6:2 encourage us during personal trials and hardships?
5.What connections exist between Hosea 6:2 and 1 Corinthians 15:4?
6.How can we apply the promise of revival in Hosea 6:2 today?
7.What does Hosea 6:2 mean by "He will revive us after two days"?
8.How does Hosea 6:2 relate to the resurrection of Jesus?
9.What historical context influenced the message of Hosea 6:2?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Hosea 6?
11.In Hosea 6:2, how can the “two days” and “third day” revival be taken literally if no historical or scientific evidence supports such a resurrection-like event?
12.Did Jesus rise from the dead on the third day?
13.Did Jesus rise from the dead on the third day?
14.Why was Jesus dead for three days?What Does Hosea 6:2 Mean
After two days He will revive us– “After two days He will revive us” comes right after Israel’s call, “Come, let us return to the LORD” (Hosea 6:1).
– Two days picture a brief, measured period of discipline followed by certain restoration. The Lord’s chastening never lasts a moment longer than necessary (Psalm 30:5;Isaiah 54:7–8).
– Revival here is literal: God pledges to breathe life back into a nation He lovingly wounded (Deuteronomy 32:39;Hosea 5:14–15).
– Personally, the promise reaches every believer who may feel spiritually faint. The same God who “revives the spirit of the lowly” (Isaiah 57:15) pledges to act swiftly when we repent.
– The reliability of this timetable stresses His covenant faithfulness. If He puts a date on it, He will keep it.
on the third day He will raise us up– “On the third day He will raise us up” echoes unmistakably the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:4;Luke 24:46). Hosea spoke eight centuries beforehand, yet God tied Israel’s future restoration to the definitive third-day event of history.
– Christ’s literal bodily resurrection guarantees two parallel fulfillments:
• National: Israel will stand to her feet after a long burial among the nations (Ezekiel 37:11-14;Romans 11:26-27).
• Personal: everyone united with Christ will share His resurrection life now and in the age to come (Romans 6:4-5;1 Peter 1:3).
– Hosea’s wording moves from “revive” (renewed vigor) to “raise” (victory over death itself). The progression points to the full sweep of salvation—God doesn’t merely patch us up; He lifts us out of the grave.
that we may live in His presence– “That we may live in His presence” reveals the goal: unbroken fellowship. Restoration is never an end in itself; it brings us face-to-face with the Lord (Psalm 27:4;Revelation 21:3).
– Life “in His presence” means:
• Daily intimacy, walking before Him as the patriarchs did (Genesis 17:1).
• Corporate worship, when Israel and the Church together exalt the Redeemer (Zephaniah 3:17;Hebrews 10:22).
• Eternal dwelling, where resurrection life is fully enjoyed (John 14:19;2 Corinthians 5:8).
– The phrase answers every fear: Why does God revive? Why raise? So we may live, and not merely exist, under the warmth of His smiling face forever (Psalm 16:11).
summaryHosea 6:2 compresses the gospel and Israel’s hope into one breathtaking sentence. A short season of discipline (“after two days”) gives way to swift revival, the third-day resurrection assures total victory, and the endgame is life in God’s immediate presence. The verse looks back to Christ’s empty tomb, speaks to present personal renewal, and looks forward to national and cosmic restoration—every promise certain because the Lord has spoken.
(2) The haste of the seeming penitents for the fulfilment of their hope. They expect the rapid restoration of the national prosperity, prompted by the abundance of the Divine love, and His response to the first touch of penitence (signified in
Hosea 5:15).
After two days.--A phrase sometimes used for the second day,i.e., to-morrow.
In the third day--i.e., after a short time. This and the above expression are not identical in the designation of time. Some Christian interpreters (Jerome, Luther, Pusey) consider the passage has sole reference to the resurrection of Christ. But with Calvin, Henderson, Schmoller, &c., we consider this to be contradicted by the form of the expression. To bring in the resurrection of Christ with no authority from the New Testament is far-fetched over-refinement, and breaks the consistency of the passage.
(2, 3) Render,So that we shall live in his presence, and shall know and strive after the knowledge of Jehovah, whose coming forth is sure, like the dawn (another play on 6:15, "I will return to my place, &c."),so that he may come as the plentiful (dashing)rain for us, as the latter rain (needed for the ripening corn)which watereth the earth.
Verse 2. -
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. The expression of time here employed denotes a comparatively short period, and implies that Israel's revival would be speedily as well as certainly accomplished. Paucity is signified by the binary number in Old Testament language, just as we speak of two, or a couple, in the sense of fewness. In
1 Kings 17:12 we find "two" used in this way: "Behold, I am gathering two sticks;" so in
Isaiah 7:21, "A man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep;" in
Isaiah 17:6 a small number is spoken of as "two or three;" while a short period is similarly described in
Luke 13:32, "Behold, I east out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." The important idea of this verse connects itself with the terms corresponding to revival, resurrection, and restoration to the Divine favor and protection. The drooping, declining, dying state of Israel would be revived; their deathlike condition would undergo a resurrection process; their disfavor would give way to Divine complacency; and all this, though not immediately, yet in a comparatively short time. This appears to us the import of the prophecy. Similar figurative language, and with like significancy, is employed by Ezekiel (37.) in his vision of the valley and the resurrection of its dry bones; as also by Isaiah (26.), where the same or a similar thought is presented in briefer, but still more beautiful, language: "Thy (lead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Calvin understands this verse as containing a source of consolation to Israel. "When," he says, "the Israelites, through their long obstinacy, had become nearly incurable, it was needful to lead them to repentance by slow punishments. They, therefore, said,
After two days God will revive us; and thus they confirmed themselves in the hope of salvation, though it did not immediately appear; though they long remained in darkness, and the exile was long which they had to endure, they yet did not cease to hope. 'Well, lot the two days pass, and the Lord will revive us.'" To man in sorrow the time appears long; it is short in the sight of him with whom a thousand years are as one day. Kimchi's explanation is also, to a certain extent, satisfactory: "The prophet says, 'our sickness lasts for two days, yet he will heal us of our sickness, till on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live long before him,' as if he said, 'though our afflictions continue a long time.' The two days are a figaro, for 'in a short time he will bring us his salvation,' and 'on the third day' is figurative." He afterwards refers the "two days" to the captivities of his people - that in Egypt and that in Babylon; while "the third day" denotes the third or present Roman captivity, "out of which he will raise us up and we shall live before him? so that we shall never again go into captivity, but shall live continually before him, while we sin no mere." Rashi refers the words to the three temples - that of Solomon, that of Zerubbabel, and the temple that is to be built by Messiah. Some of the Fathers understand the three periods in the history of humanity - the first, under Adam, as the time of Law and captivity to sin; the second, under Christ, as the time of the gospel and of grace; and the third, with Christ, as the time of the general resurrection. Theodoret and most of the Fathers understood this verse to refer to the resurrection of Christ on the third day after three days' rest in the grave. Calvin, after giving what appeared to him "the simple and genuine sense" of the passage as applying primarily to the Jews, as we have already seen, adds, "I do not deny but that God has exhibited a remarkable and memorable instance of what is here said in his only begotten Son. As often, then, as delay begets weariness in us, let us flee to Christ; for, as it has been said, his resurrection is a mirror of our life; for we see in that how God is wont to deal with his own people: the Father did not restore life to Christ as soon as he was taken down from the cross; he was deposited in the sepulcher, and he lay there till the third day. When God, then, intends that we should languish for a time, let us know that we are thus represented in Christ our Head, and hence let us gather materials of confidence. We have, then, in Christ an illustrious proof of this prophecy." The political resurrection of Israel may dimly shadow forth, by way of type, the resurrection of Messiah and the general resurrection of which he is the Firstfruits.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
After two daysמִיֹּמָ֑יִם(mî·yō·mā·yim)Preposition-m | Noun - md
Strong's 3117:A dayHe will revive us;יְחַיֵּ֖נוּ(yə·ḥay·yê·nū)Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | first person common plural
Strong's 2421:To live, to reviveon the thirdהַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י(haš·šə·lî·šî)Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 7992:Third, feminine a, third, a third, a third-story cell)dayבַּיּוֹם֙(bay·yō·wm)Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117:A dayHe will raise us up,יְקִמֵ֖נוּ(yə·qi·mê·nū)Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | first person common plural
Strong's 6965:To arise, stand up, standthat we may liveוְנִחְיֶ֥ה(wə·niḥ·yeh)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 2421:To live, to revivein His presence.לְפָנָֽיו׃(lə·p̄ā·nāw)Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440:The face
Links
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OT Prophets: Hosea 6:2 After two days he will revive us (Ho Hs Hos.) 
