HOSEA 11
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
10 They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.
– Hosea 11:8-12
HOSEA 11 GOD’S COMPASSION & MERCY TO HIS BELOVED
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
If God has chosen you as his beloved, you will be loved like no other
God loves unconditionally but for your own sake stay steadfast
Loyalty to God is your protection against the systems of the world
It will equip you with discernment and help you see what is wrong.
In verse 8, God wanted to spare his people what he did to those lands that were utterly wicked. Deuteronomy 29:23 mentions the different lands that God overthrew and destroyed out of his anger. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim were among these lands. According to sources Admah and Zeboiim were the little towns outside of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were burned up with the larger cities when the sulfury fire of God fell from heaven in judgment on them. In verse 9 he manifests his mercy on the sinfulness of his people. Another source says “To be made like Admah and treated like Zeboiim is not only to pass out of existence but out of memory. In the riches of his grace it is abhorrent to the Most High God to drop his people into the flames of the memory hole, as they deserve.”
REFLECTION
- Cite instances when God has shown his compassion and mercy to you?
