Either way God is looking

It's that time of the year when I spend several weeks at the local church camp. I am sorry for the delay in posts but here is a small morsel to satisfy the hungry soul.

Hosea is a wonderful, yet often overlooked book of the OT. The primary message is centered around the marriage metaphor and Israel's spiritual adultery against God. The book has 5 sections each beginning with a warning of judgment and each ending with a promise of salvation. I want to focus on a wordplay in 13.7 (judgment section) and 14.8 (salvation).
So now I have become like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lurk by the road (13.7)

O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me (14.8)

The bold words in each text are highlighted because they are the same Hebrew word (shur). The first is a threat to unpenitent Israel that God's judgment is like a lurking lion or leopard waiting for ambush while the second is a promise that God will take care of Israel if they repent and turn back to him. A sinful Israel will experience God as a lurking predator while a penitent Israel would experience God as a caring protector. Either way God is looking, it depends on us as to what kind of looking he does!