Sunday, August 4, 2019

Forgiveness is central to our text in Hosea. The Israelites are rebelling against God, and while God has all rights to turn away from them, in the end, God chooses to be God and not human – to offer grace instead of rejection. A covenant with a holy God means that we humans get the better end of the deal. So often we choose to hurt God (by hurting others, by worshiping idols like money and power, etc.), and God is deeply forgiving in ways we humans rarely are. We probably deserve way more punishment that God chooses to dole out, and in this text, we get to see God’s internal wrestling with what to do with us, the rebellious children. I, for one, am grateful God has more mercy and is “God…and no mortal” and “will not come in wrath.”