This post by christinecoltman was originally published at GRACE PLACE
A Merciful Love
May 2025
We’re nearly at the end of our Hosea series — and what a journey we’ve been on since September! So before we dive into chapters 11-13, I want to summarize where we’ve been, so you know how we got to where we are tonight!
In chapters 1-3, Hosea showed us that God is a lover who has a plan and a purpose! But instead of joyfully following him, Israel wanted to go their own way. They were seduced by the world and gave their hearts, minds and bodies up, like a prostitute does with their body.
Then, in chapters 4-10 we see God’s holiness: He is perfect – and pure! His standard is high. To be holy is to get rid of anything that hinders us from seeking life in Him — ONLY. But as we saw, Israel fell short. You might remember Hannah and Vicky showing us some intense courtroom scenes where God was both judge and the prosecutor. We saw these how God is just, fair and right — which are all the things we want in a trial, except when we’re the ones in the box: right?
When we’re the ones being judged, we don’t just want fairness — we want MERCY. And that’s why chapters 11–14 are so powerful! They remind us: God is love. God is compassion. God is grace. And He is mercy.
There’s a temptation to major on the feel-good attributes of God but, as Bible students we’re called to embrace ALL of who he is – even the parts that challenge us!
But what makes all God’s attributes lovely? Even the ones we aren’t naturally attracted to? Like his jealousy, anger and sorrow.
J Edwards (paraphrased) said: “A true vision of God’s beauty must start here: with a deep delight in His holiness! Any joy in His other attributes is false unless it flows from this, for no other attribute is truly understood apart from His holiness.”
If we don’t wrap our heads around his holiness (his purity and perfection!) and if we’re not totally satisfied in that – then we can’t possibly know God fully – or love him! Instead, we love some version of him that suits our imaginations. But then, when we get to hard books like Hosea, our faith is a rocked. Or, we maybe close up our ears and wait for Jesus because we all love him, but the Father, we’ll, he’s a little frightening.
But what did Jesus say: if you have seen me – you have seen my Father! We can ONLY understand the Father as lovely when we see him through the lens of the holy beauty of Jesus!
Hosea shows us how God is KIND and JUST, COMPASSIONATE and FAIR, MERCIFUL and HOLY.
And God says to us, “Be holy as I am holy”: but how? Well, even 800 years before the cross, the way to holiness was — and still is — only possible by the Spirit who gives life! And that’s what we’re digging into tonight.
Hosea 11.1, ‘When Israel was a child, I loved him and called my son out of Egypt’. So, what’s this in reference to? Moses! The Lord used Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, from under Pharaoh. You’ll likely recall how Jacob had ended up in Egypt – sold into slavery by his brothers,
settled there, and then for about 450 years, the Jews were slaves to the Egyptians and that’s when they were broken into the 12 tribes of Israel. That was the birth of a nation – born in slavery!
But it’s interesting that that the Lord said, ‘I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.’
It raises a curious question: why did God choose Israel? I’m sure you’ve wondered – like me – why didn’t he choose Americans? You know, back in 1776, why didn’t God say, ‘you know, those people right there, they’re my people.’ Nope. Instead, he chose the Jewish people. And as you know, Jesus was born a Jew, one of god’s chosen people, and we get to be joined into that vine (Romans 9-11). What a gift!
But why the Jews? Why Abraham and his sons? Why didn’t he choose the Moabites or the Canaanites or the flashlights?
Well, there’s really only one reason we’re given in scripture and it comes from Deuteronomy 7.7-9: God chose Israel because — he loved them! (I set my love on them.) And he chose you because — he loves you! He cannot help but love you – with all his heart!
Out of interest, have you ever tried to control love? Tried to turn it on or off? Picture a dad telling his teen daughter, ‘You can’t love that boy!’ The daughter replies, ‘Oh sure dad – I’ll stop today.’ –As if!
Love is a beautiful mystery! And maybe God’s deep love for the Jews feels curious but, he tells us he loved them, that’s why he chose them. It’s that simple!
But this challenges us because it touches God’s sovereignty — something we’ve resisted since Eden. We want control. We want to decide right and wrong. We want to figure God out… Truth is, most of us struggle with full, wholehearted submission to him because deep down, we think we know best and we want to choose good and evil for ourselves.
Here’s a little example: Romans 9.13 is a verse tends to freak most of us out as it’s written, ‘Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated.’
I just read this Genesis account in April in my read-through, and I get angry every time! Esau gives up his birthright (blessing) to Jacob — his conniving, deceptive, devious twin – and his devious mother! The two trick Isaac, the boys’ father, who is blind. And, at first glance of this story, Isaac either seems a bit dim or a coward! I mean, who can’t tell the difference in their two children who are polar opposites! This story gets my heart-rate up every time…!
Here’s Jacob – this ‘smooth’, kind of creepy guy. He liked to cook, maybe do dishes, and I reckon he probably smelt like sun kissed coconut. Then you have the original Bear Grylls – Esau. He’s the pin-up for Cotswold Outdoor. A man’s man!
So, Isaac, their dad, is about to die and he tells Esau to go hunt and make his dying father his favourite meal, and then he’ll bless his firstborn… But meddling Rebecca was listening in, crafts a plan for Jacob to deceive Isaac, and robs her own firstborn of his inheritance!
So then I go: ‘Jacob I have hated! Esau I have loved!’
But the Lord says, ‘nope Hollie, that’s not the way I wrote this story. You see so little of what I’m doing here. I have a promise to keep. But you question me – you demand, “how can I choose Jacob over Esau!”.
Well, let’s look at the very next verses Romans 9.14-15: Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So, it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it, nor work for it.
That’s God’s sovereignty: it’s why we can say that he chose the Jews, and be satisfied, because we trust his plan is just and compassionate.
Israel didn’t do anything – good or bad – to earn God’s love. And they are powerless to make God stop loving them! Even in their harlotry – his love for them is unconditional and powerful!
Maybe this opens up a question for you: has the Lord chosen you? How do you know? People get into this debate and it’s complex… Calvinism and Arminianism: did God choose you or you choose God? And why do you need to accept his love if he already knows who’s going to be saved?
Some people get derailed by all the theology but I don’t have a problem with it because I’m convinced that God is the perfect gentleman. He wants your heart-felt love – he doesn’t need love-slaves!
In Eden, he gave us a back-door option: you can respond to his love or reject him. But before the dawn of time, he knew what which way you’d go! It starts to get confusing because God exists outside of time and space. He doesn’t have the limitations we do. I can’t wrap my head around all of it, but I don’t see a conflict. I just see that God is huge – and if he was small enough to figure out – he wouldn’t be big enough to worship.
So, Hosea 11.1, this is such an important verse! It’s a perfect example of the layers on layers we get in the Bible (like Hannah mentioned in March). And Hosea is full of them! For instance, Hosea 11.1, when God says, ‘When Israel was a child, I loved him and called my son out of Egypt’, any Hebrew Jew would say that of course Hosea was talking about the Jews in Egypt. Let’s call this Layer 1.
But then, you go to Matthew – and he tells you – forget everything Hollie just said about Egypt, Jews and Moses because he feels this passage differently. Matthew tells us about when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Herod was king at the time and he got wind of Jesus’ birth – a baby who’d grow to be a man who Herod feared would steal his power. So Herod told the wise men, ‘oh I’d love to meet him! King of the Jews! Come back, tell me where he is, I’ve bought him the cutest onesie!’
Wisely, the wise men – bolt! But Herod was so evil and totally obsessed with his power that he goes through the whole region and kills every Jewish male child, 2yrs and younger. What a night of catastrophic evil as Herod’s army stormed through the land, forcing their way into homes, killing these precious little baby boys…unimaginable.
But in Matthew 2 we see Joseph, where in the night, he took little Jesus and his mother and left for Egypt and they stayed there until Herod died: Layer 2 – the fulfilment of Hosea’s prophesy.
Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, ‘yeah, you guys think Hosea 11.1 is about the Jews in Egypt – but it’s actually even more about Jesus! Like the quote from J Edwards at the start – It’s God, the father, saying – this is my son, who I called out of Egypt – this is how I reveal the beauty of my holiness to you!
Isn’t it fascinating that everything in the Bible brings us back to God’s son!
The layers are the genius of a loving God who wants us to catch glimpses of his fingerprints and creativity to show you the lengths he’s gone to, to make you his!
Right – so we need to get past v1 so with the perspective of Layer 1, let’s look at 11.2-4.
Here the newly formed Jewish nation leaves Egypt, but rather than loving the Lord and adoring Him – the people sacrifice to idols, two-timing God. I wonder if you hear the pain in the Fathers voice: I taught them to walk, held their hands, lead them with kindness, I made them free from bondage they carried for over 400 years – and I knelt down and fed them… This is such tender love, but it’s met with pure ingratitude.
As a parent, maybe you’ve felt this in another way – have you ever tried to teach your kids gratitude? A friend said to me it’s easy to correct behaviour: the do’s and don’t’s. It’s 100x’s harder to confront deeper, heart-level sin issues, like ungratefulness. We’ve all experienced it at some time: ingratitude is so ugly! So how do you help your kids, not just to work out the bad behaviours – but help them to cultivate thankful hearts!
Here with Israel – that’s what’s happening! The Lord’s saying, ‘you guys are so unthankful, you’ve done nothing to return your affection to me. Instead, you deserted me – and you gave your heart to another.’
You and I might not be worshipping Baal, but don’t be deceived; it’s the same root problem! You know what you’ve given your heart to – maybe it’s security for the future, love, money, family? Maybe the Lord is nudging you? What’s most important to you in life? What gets your affection, your love, ahead your love for the Lord?
Then we come to the next section where ingratitude is met with penalty.
Couple important things to note: v5: my people will return to Egypt and be slaves to Assyria. Then in v6 there’s a war mentioned. The war will be with the Assyrian Empire who will be a tool of punishment God will use to devour Israel. They will be led by Tigalat Palasser, in 722BC. He’ll plunder their cities, crash their strong gates, and destroy Israel. It’s horrifying.
The bit I find most humbling is the end of v6: Assyria will destroy Israel because they followed their own evil plans. The ESV says they, ‘took their own council’. They didn’t listen to God, they listened to council of men.
We women have to take this seriously. The world loves to push its advice on you and me and tell us what we should and should not be doing. Women, don’t be fooled by the council of this world. Psychology is fascinating, and some things in psychology are true and align to the Bible – but if psychology contradicts scripture, that’s when you have to firmly choose the counsel of God.
One of the best examples of that today is the ‘self-care’ narrative. It says: you take care of you, you do you, you deserve it. Sister, that is not Biblical! Find me ONE verse that says ‘you put you first! ‘You need me time.’ You won’t find one! Why? Because God‘s love is always others-centred!
He created us out of the overflow of his love, and out of the overflow of our love for him, we love others, and they love us! And yes, our world is broken. That’s why we feel the need to fill that gap with self-love, but it’s not a Biblical model! Don’t fall for that lie.
Now, you may feel a real hole inside you. Maybe you give and give and give – and you’re running on empty. But we must take that to Jesus!
Talk to him about that – let him minister to you, FIRST! The Lord promises to take care of you. He knows you intimately. He knit you together. He knows what you need better than you do. Do you trust him? Lean into him and he will give your heart rest. And what’s more – he loves you better than you will ever be able to love yourself.
But also we have each other. We can, and should, hold one another up, carry one another’s burdens and love each other. It’s not wrong to say to a sister, ‘I’m feeling empty, drained, I haven’t got anything left.’ You tell me – or someone else here tonight – because then we better know how to be a conduit of the Lord’s bountiful love!
Here, Israel fell for the con of listening to the world’s counsel. They trusted what others told them to do and so their ingratitude is met by punishment.
v7 My people are bent on leaving me. Even though they call me the Most High, they don’t mean it… It’s reminiscent of Romans 1: They were neither thankful nor gave thanks, but they worshipped the creation rather than the creator. So, the Lord gives them over to their lusts and desires and sins and they will be destroyed.
And that brings us to the final part of chapter 11, where future compassion brings restoration. The Lord wants to be gracious to this rebellious people and we see that in v8: How can I give you up Israel? How can I destroy you? My heart is TORN inside me!
I picture tears in the Lord’s eyes! ‘I cannot destroy you! YES – I’m angry with you – because I love you and you’ve hurt me!’
Then he mentions Admah and Zeboiim; these were surrounding cites to Sodom and Gomorrah. What we often mix up is that Sodom and Gomorrah’s total annihilation wasn’t by God. Yes, he rained fire and brimstone from heaven and crushed the cities, but He did that in his love for them. He was trying to woo Israel away from their stupidity! His punishment is always motivated by his protective love for those he cares for.
He’s pleading with them, ‘get out of the line of fire!’
But they carried on – so the Lord lifted his protective hand and allowed the Assyrians to be the tool that actually wiped Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim out.
God tells them in v8, ‘My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows’, and then in v9 ‘I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal.’
Sometimes we superimpose our human emotions on our perfect God. So you may have read this and thought, ‘He’s gone nuclear!’ But God’s anger isn’t like ours: ours is violent, extreme, severe, disproportionate (or at least that’s what my husband tells me)… But be clear – God is measured, long suffering and merciful! What he really wants is restoration.
Now, v10-11, the promise to return the people to the land.
The lion will roar, and the children shall tremble – who’s he talking about? Well, it’s speaking of the diaspora of Israel. They were scattered so many times (like in 586 and 70AD). But in Hosea’s lifetime this happened 722 when the Assyrians invaded. And from that invasion we get the half-breed of Jews called the Samaritans. They were Jews, taken in captivity, who settled in Samaria and became Assyrians instead of returning to the Jews.
The Jews hated them for assimilating with the Assyrians and not keeping their Jewish culture. The Jews wouldn’t even walk through Samaria – so remember that time when Jesus said to his Disciples, ‘We need to go to Samaria-‘ they were probably freaking out inside! But here in chap 11, when it says ‘the lion will roar and the people will return’, this is the Jews, coming back to the land the Lord gave them, having been scattered all over the world! It’s why we celebrate May 14, 1948 – the promised return of Israel to their land.
Another layer is Ezekiel 37: the Lord being a lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the closer you get to the end times, the more we see him as the lion. We’ll still see him as a lamb that was slain – the man from Galilee who walked around fishing and doing stuff with his Disciples, who was humble, who made no reputation for himself, but took the form of a servant. But in his second coming – he’s coming as the conqueror, not carpenter. He’s coming to judge, not being judged.
He came first as a lamb, but NEXT TIME he’s coming as a Lion.
I love the Chronicles of Narnia. If you’ve read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe you’ll know what a powerful picture it is of the work of the Cross! For anyone who doesn’t know the story line, there are four children (Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan) who are transported into this new land and they’re trying to figure out who this ‘Aslan’ is that they keep hearing about. So let’s hear a little (paraphrased) section of the story:
“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.
“Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver, “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood… and the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen!…”
“She won’t turn him into stone?” said Edmund.
“Lord love you, Son of Adam!” answered Mr. Beaver with a great laugh.
“Turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do! No. He’ll put all to rights, as it says in an old rhyme in these parts:
‘Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more…’
You’ll understand when you see him.”
“But shall we see him?” asked Susan.
“Why, Daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here. I’m to lead you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.
“Is–is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan is a lion– the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe?”…
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “…Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”
What a beautiful description of our Lion! He’s good! Good to his people and he protects them ferociously! But if you’re on the wrong side of the lion – he’s not safe at all. That’s really what Hosea is talking about – the coming saviour, Jesus, who’s the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Aslan only gives us a glimpse of the father’s protective love, but when we see the Father through Jesus – we can totally appreciate his beauty and majesty. That’s what it is to have a spiritual sight! But how do you get that?
Like Dan’s message a couple weeks ago – we do nothing to earn God’s favour. We just respond to his love. And when we do, he gives us his Spirit to live with us! That is mercy!
So now let’s look at CHAPTER 12. Verse 1 is a rough start, ‘Israel feeds on the wind’ doesn’t that sound filling… And, ‘they make an alliance with Assyria’! So, what’s going on? Well, Israel’s trying to buy over Assyria. They think they’re being wise, but they’re actually throwing money into the wind! Instead of turning to God – they try to make a peace treaty with their enemies… It’s like negotiating with terrorists!
Then in v2 the Lord unpacks his issues with Judah. But up to now, he’s been focused on Israel (the northern 10 tribes). At end of chapter 11 Judah (the southern 2 tribes) got a wee mention, and she was in good standing, but it doesn’t last! Here in v2 the Lord says he’s going to bring charges against Judah and punish Jacob – so, what’s that all about?
Well, although Judah’s gotten off easy – a storm is a-coming! But rest easy, the storm is about 117 years away. (Which certainly puts our weather men to shame! They can’t even get the afternoon prediction right!) So, what happens 117 years later – well, the Babylonians happen! And you can read all about that in Jeremiah! But sadly we don’t have time tonight for the whole book of Jeremiah when we’re struggling with 3 chapters of Hosea!
So, moving on, v3-5 we get a quick summary of Jacob: Hosah says, do you remember when Jacob grabbed his brother’s heel, when the boys were in the womb? And what about that time when Jacob wrestled with God – and Jacob won! Remember that too?
Now, here a question comes up – was it really God, or Jesus (God on 2 feet) or an angel? Because, if it was Jesus (who exists outside time & space like we know it) then doesn’t he know kung fu!? Surely he would have won! But you know, that’s not the Lord’s objective!
He wanted to work something into Jacob…
Do you know what Jacob’s name means? ‘Deceitful one’ or ‘heel snatcher’. But the Lord says to Jacob, ‘I’m changing your name: Yes, you were a heel snatcher – trying to get your way. Yes, you were deceitful – you stole you brother’s inheritance! Yes, you tricked and lied to your dad Isaac! BUT, after wrestling with the Lord, God gives him a new name – Israel, meaning: governed by God. This is a good name change!
Brett Meador (NYC) pointed out in a message how name changes in the Bible are really important. For example, remember when Abram and Sarai got their name changes? Well – there’s a whole study on the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, which both use symbols, and each symbol expresses something. So, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is a picture of an ox which speaks of strength.
Well, the ‘h’ speaks of the spirit or wind! So Brett highlighted that when Abram and Sarai got new names, the Lord added a single letter – the ‘h’ – and he added the Spirit! And now — the Lord’s Spirit is on Abraham and Sarah!
And Jacob went from deceitful to ‘governed by God’. Yes – the Lord could have crushed Jacob easy in the wrestling match, but isn’t it just like him to stick there all night with Jacob, let him battle it out, feel all the anger, grief, frustration, anxiety, and pound into him with all his big feelings – and then, as the sun rose — God showed him his merciful heart!
‘I’m still here – I AM bigger than all your doubt and fear and hurt, and YOU are more than all your doubt and fear and hurt — YOU ARE MINE!’ And then he changes his name…!
And one more name change because we’re on a roll – Saul to Paul! He had a spiritual vision of Jesus on the Damascus Rd and his eyes were closed by scales, but something gave him eyes to see Christ! (Acts 9.17-18). But when Ananias laid hands on Saul, he received the Holy Spirit and
the scales fell off his eyes and he could see!
We come back to God in the same way! We stop being double minded! We give up our prostitution of other lovers!
We ask him, that by his Spirit living in us, that HE will change our identity, as he did to Abram, Jacob and Saul! We ask him to give us sight of Jesus so that the scales will fall off our eyes and we can see Jesus in his splendour and be changed into his likeness!!!
v6 So now come back to your God – depend on him! v7 But, you won’t, because you’re deceitful… and the chapter finishes with v9-13: Over the years I rescued you, protected you, sent prophets – and you just keep provoking me…!
First, we saw the birth of a nation – Jacob (changed to Israel) being loved, rescued from the grip of Egypt — but now in chapter 13 we have the death of a nation.
This chapter reads like a tragedy because Israel is dying. In spirit: they’ve given their love to lifeless idols. In their souls: they’re emotions are failing, so they move further away from God. And in body: because soon they’ll die when the Assyrians crush them.
But the Lord’s compassion hasn’t shrunk. 13.4 I brought you out of Egypt, v5 I took care of you, v6 but when you had all you needed – you forgot me.
Hosea goes on in v9-11 warning them: You’re about to be destroyed, so where’s your king and leaders I gave you? He’s reminding them of how they wanted to be like the other nations. They begged for a king, so he gave them what they wanted even though he knew a king would distract them and draw their eyes and hearts away from God. And even though it broke his heart, he was willing to let them go, learn the hard way, after all, he wanted their genuine LOVE ——– NOT their ALLEGIANCE!
v14 should make you think of another: ‘Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?’ (1 Cor 15.55) 400 years after Hosea’s prophecy –
Jesus, the son, did redeem us all. He dominated death – to give us life! But right here in Chap 13, Israel was about to lose everything to the Assyrians. This is the consequence – not a punishment – of being an unfaithful bride. If you’ve ever witnessed unfaithfulness up close, you’ll know it leaves a trail of destruction all by itself.
Thankfully – this is not the end of the story!
Tonight’s theme is, A Merciful Love. I hope you leave here tonight knowing that you’ve been freed. And even when you slide backwards into old ways – God doesn’t stop loving you!
He’s given you a piece of him – his Spirit, breath! This is His mercy – that never let’s go! He’s willing to live with us every moment of every day, He constantly invites us back to the Father, redirecting our affections.
Edwards said, ‘The hypocrite delights only in what God thinks of him, but the true saint delights in a vision of the holy beauty of Christ.’ We are a bride with a past! Even though we’ve prostituted ourselves our whole life, the groom, in all his majesty and splendour – loves us deeply – and he chases us down!!!
When you fully grasp that, I promise that you will be more deeply satisfied than EVER, and you will love him back with everything you’ve got in your heart!