“‘I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?’” (Hosea 13:14 ESV).
Hosea delivered these words to the northern kingdom of Israel in the years just before their collapse to Assyria. Chapter 13 is a somber announcement of judgment, for Israel’s persistent idolatry had brought them to the brink of destruction. Yet Hosea’s preaching is marked by sudden bursts of hope, and verse 14 stands out as one of those surprising rays of light. While the surrounding context remains dark, the Hebrew wording allows the opening lines to be heard as rhetorical questions that actually mock the power of Death: “Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?” In this reading, the prophet briefly lifts the eyes of the faithful remnant beyond the present devastation to God’s ultimate sovereignty over the grave. Even though severe judgment is at hand, Hosea affirms that the Lord alone holds the keys of Death.
The next lines—“O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?”—can therefore be heard not only as a summons of judgment but also as an ironic taunt. Death will not have the final word over God’s covenant people. Embedded in this fearful oracle is a hint of future, eschatological deliverance, a promise that one day God will indeed ransom His people from the grave.
Centuries later, the apostle Paul seized upon this very hope. In 1 Corinthians 15:54–56, he offered one of the most striking examples of how the New Testament reads the Old through the lens of Christ’s resurrection. Paul did not alter Hosea’s meaning; he brought it to its fulfillment. By quoting Hosea’s taunt, he proclaimed that Christ’s resurrection has accomplished the final defeat of Death. What Hosea glimpsed in a moment of prophetic hope, Paul announces as completed victory: the sting of death—our sin—has been removed, and Death’s power has been overthrown by the risen Christ.
Because Christ has removed the sting of death and broken sin’s enslaving power, we can walk daily in resurrection freedom. We read the Scriptures through the lens of Christ and His gospel, letting the New Testament illuminate the Old just as Paul did. And since our Lord has conquered both sin and death, we refuse to live in fear or to return to old patterns of bondage. Instead, we encourage one another to walk boldly in the victory Christ has secured, living as those who belong to the One who has won victory over sin and death!
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You that through the resurrection of Your Son, You have overcome the power of sin and death. Help us walk in the freedom Christ purchased, free from fear, free from sin, and full of steadfast hope. Strengthen us to live as people of the risen Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.