I’m not a new Christian and I know a lot about the Bible, but I have never in my life heard the interpretation that Hosea 6:2 means the Church Age will last 2000 years and then the Lord will return to establish His Kingdom. . The one I’ve heard is that Hosea 6:2 will be fulfilled during the Tribulation in a literal three days and on the third one Christ will return. Where does this other idea come from?
Hosea 6:2 reads as follows; After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
Those who believe it relates to the Church Age combine this verse with 2 Peter 3:8 which says, But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Applying the thousand years for a day principle, they speculate that Hosea said there would be 2,000 years between the time the Lord went back to heaven and the time He would return at the 2nd Coming to set up the millennial Kingdom.
Reading the two previous verses in Hosea is what makes this idea plausible. In Hosea 5:15 the Lord said He was going back to His place until they admit their sin. This could refer to His ascension, which took place 40 days after the Jewish leadership helped to orchestrate the Lord’s death and then refused to recognize His fulfillment of the sign of Jonah, which proved He was their Messiah (Matt. 12:38-40).
Then Hosea 6:1 speaks of them agreeing to return to the Lord, saying that although He has torn them to pieces He will heal them so they can live in His presence. This is viewed as Israel’s national petition for the Lord’s return to heal them from the devastation of the Great Tribulation and establish their long awaited Kingdom Age.
This interpretation is highly speculative and can only be understood in the general sense, but history is showing it may have some validity.