“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.”
The statement that when the LORD would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria are revealed suggests that the very attempt at restoration exposes the depth of Israel's corruption, that healing cannot begin until the full extent of the disease is acknowledged. The healing language indicates God's continued will toward restoration even as the depths of depravity are exposed. This verse establishes the paradox that divine grace reveals the need for divine grace, that the possibility of healing makes visible the actuality of disease.
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