Daily Devotions
Hosea
"Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah"
Text: Hosea 1:7
A STARK CONTRAST
The LORD gave a different message for Hosea to proclaim to Judah. This word stood in stark contrast to the word proclaimed to Israel, the Northern kingdom.
“Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
Will save them by the LORD their God,
And will not save them by bow,
Nor by sword or battle,
By horses or horsemen.”
Hosea 1:7
1. No mercy (Lo-Ruhamah)
a) This was the word that was solemnly declared to Israel.
b) Hosea’s daughter would bear that name symbolically.
2. “Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah”
a) This message was uttered “in the same breath”.
b) The mercy of God
i) It is within the prerogative of God to bestow or withhold mercy.
ii) Israel had forfeited hundreds of years of mercy bestowed.
iii) There was no repentance of sin.
iv) Neither was there a returning to God.
v) Sinfulness and wickedness seem to get more and more out of hand in Israel.
vi) God then decided that He would grant no mercy to Israel any further.
3. “Will save them by the LORD their God”
a) Assyria was allowed to defeat Israel.
i) Israel, the Northern kingdom would be destroyed by Assyria.
ii) Israel’s gods (idols) would be unable to protect their devotees.
b) When Assyria threatened to conquer Judah:
i) This was attempted in the reign of King Hezekiah (Hosea 1:1).
ii) This was recorded in 2 Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 36-37.
4. “And will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen”
a) King Sennacherib was not defeated by Judah’s army.
b) God sent an angel to destroy Sennacherib’s army.
The mercy of the Lord was unmistakable and absolutely awesome to behold!