Lie Down Safely
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely.
Hosea 2:2-13 describes Israel’s sins as spiritual prostitution, as God’s people went after the false religious customs and sinful ways of the other nations. Part of the punishment for these sins involved removing God’s blessing from their crops and their land being overrun with wild animals (verses 9 and 12).
But God promises that someday He will “speak comfort to her” (verse 14) and bless her when she commits to Him and calls Him “My Husband” (verse 16).
At that time God will make an agreement with the wild animals and will remove the threat of war, so His people will truly be able to lie down in safety without worry. A well-known passage in Isaiah 11 describes this change to the nature of such dangerous animals as the wolf, leopard, lion, bear and cobra (verses 6-9).
For more about that coming time of peace and real safety, see our section on the “Kingdom of God.”
