In which I fall further in love with typology

“For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.
I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

“Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
“He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
“So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”

 Hosea 5.14-6.3

I'm reading Hosea today, and it occurred to me that its story is a lot like a dark counterpart to the Song of Solomon. Both focus on "romances" between two human individuals which in turn act as pictures of God and the Church. The Song of Solomon tells the narrative of redemption from the standpoint of our union with Christ having already been established, and it's much nicer to read than Hosea. The latter, though less pretty, is just as important. It's like following the events of our salvation in real time: We the readers watch in horror as we witness ourselves, in Gomer and Israel, abandon Christ and defile ourselves in sin. We find ourselves facing the chilling wrath of God - "Since you have forgotten the law of your God,/I also will forget your children" (won't find 4:6 on a Christmas card any time soon). But finally, as He always does, God promises us hope in redemption. I love the Christological undertones of 6:2: "He will raise us up on the third day."

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places with Jesus Christ, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2.4-7)