Do You Doubt The Dawn?

Hosea 6:1-3

His appearance is as sure as the dawn.

Have you ever awoken from a night of sleep and looked outside to make sure a new day had arrived? Have you ever worried whether the darkness of the night would persist and the light of day would fail to appear?

I’m sure we’ve all peered out of our windows in the early morning to see if the sun was poking through the clouds or not. And perhaps we’ve had nightmares of an endless night which snuffs out any trace of light. But have you ever really doubted the dawn? In the history of the world, not a night has gone by which was not followed by day. Never has the dawn failed. It is just as God promised Noah and all mankind in the book of Genesis:

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, and day and night

will not cease.

The prophet Hosea picks up the undeniable reality of the dawn and offers it to God’s people as a sure hope. In chapter six of Hosea, he calls his fellow countrymen to return to Yahweh, even as Yahweh has disciplined them harshly for their shocking unfaithfulness. Hosea reminds the people that God is a God who heals and resurrects and restores. To provide assurance of this improbable, and perhaps unbelievable, hope the prophet points to the fact of the appearance of the dawn. As surely as the sun rises on the horizon and night is replaced by day, so surely will Yahweh return to his people with healing and hope.

It is true that we are awful sinners like the Israelites of old and deserving of the most severe punishment. Eternal exile would be entirely just. But, hallelujah! We need not fear the awesome wrath of God! When we return to God with a broken heart of repentance and with faith in his faithfulness, he will definitely and certainly return to us with forgiveness and eternal restoration.

The coming of Jesus sheds further light on these overwhelming promises for it is in him that we are healed and in him that we are raised to newness of life. Furthermore, Jesus is king now and will return at an unannounced hour to put all things under his rightful reign. He is the Light of the world who breaks into the blackness of our world and snuffs out the dark forever. 

Do you doubt these promises? Are you uncertain about the goodness of God or the truthfulness of his promises? Are you stuck in a season of darkness and straining your tired eyes for even a glimmer of light?

Well, do you doubt the dawn? Has the dawn ever failed? I think not, so doubt not.