Hosea 3:5

Hosea 3:5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return When they have lived a long time in this state, without any country or government of their own, without any temple or place of worship, and without the liberty and proper means for offering sacrifices; they shall be touched with a true remorse for their former errors, and weary of this forlorn and desolate condition, shall bethink themselves of Jehovah the true God, and shall seek unto him by prayer and supplication. And shall seek David their king That is, the son of David, the Messiah, often called David by the prophets, as being not only descended from David, but the person in whom all the promises made to David were to receive their full and final accomplishment: see the margin. So the Chaldee paraphrase expounds this and the parallel texts. David was also a type of the Messiah, and therefore the latter is called by the name of David. Thus John the Baptist is called Elias, Malachi 4:5, because he was to resemble him, and to succeed him in his office of reproving the people, and calling them to repentance. The expression cannot be literally understood here, David himself having been dead long before the uttering of this prophecy. And shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days That is, they shall reverence the Lord, stand in awe of him, and fear to offend him, and shall put their trust in and be grateful for his goodness, manifested in their redemption, their illumination by the gospel, their conversion to God, and their restoration to their own land; and hence they shall yield an entire obedience to him, shall worship and serve him in spirit and in truth, and live to his glory. And this will come to pass in the latter days, or times, of the world: see notes on Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 2:44.