Having the picture of exile hinted at in the surrounding verses, we might be tempted to conclude that this is a return to the land. However, the object to which Israel are returning is not a destination but a person.1 This is what we call repentance, a turning away from other gods and turning toward the divine husband of their youth. To seek after God suggests that they have undergone an internal change in their desires (see Hosea 2:7). This is no mere formality for God’s people. The Lord has evoked this response from them by pursuing them with his own unrelenting and gracious love (Hosea 2:14; Hosea 3:1–2). Such a change is the work of the coming Spirit, who will seal a new covenant through the promised Davidic king (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
5 Après cela, les enfants d'Israël reviendront; ils chercheront l'Eternel, leur Dieu, et David, leur roi; et ils tressailliront à la vue de l'Eternel et de sa bonté, dans la suite des temps.