God's Mercy for His People

Hosea 2:14-23 

14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.

15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16 "And it shall be, in that day,"
Says the LORD,
"That you will call Me 'My Husband,'
And no longer call Me 'My Master,'
17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.

19 "I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the LORD.

21 "It shall come to pass in that day
That I will answer," says the LORD;
"I will answer the heavens,
And they shall answer the earth.
22 The earth shall answer
With grain,
With new wine,
And with oil;
They shall answer Jezreel.

23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
Then I will say to those who were not My people,
'You are My people!'
And they shall say, 'You are my God!'"

After God revealed that all His people were under the judgment of condemnation for their idolatry and immorality, He offered comfort by His goodness of grace towards those He chose and called to be His.  He would persuade them and draw them to Himself as Christ does now in John 6:44, 10:27-29, never to let His people go again.  He promised to meet their needs in verse 15 as we are told later in Matthew 6:26 as to how He cares for His chosen children.  He further told them that He was more than just their Lord, but also their Father who looks after and cares for them, as one who provides and protects each one.  He would take away the taste of idols and every false way which He hates (Psalm 119:103-104, 128) from their mouths as His word which they had neglected and disobeyed would be sweetness to their mouths (Proverbs 16:24) to worship Him with.  They would be called by His name and none other again.  He further made a covenant agreement between His people and the animals around them to keep them safe as the lion and lamb laying down together (Isaiah 11:7-9) to give them rest and peace together (Isaiah 11:10).  Their betrothal to Him was to be everlasting, promised in righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, mercy, and in His faithfulness to them.  This is the promise of the gospel which is eternal in the heavens.  It is in the imputed righteousness of Christ in which His people stand firm, in the justice of the cross settling our sentence of death for our sin as completely and forever exonerated, in His loving mercy and love for His own whom He has called and chosen, in His great mercy to pass over our sins against Him, all according to His infinite and unbreakable faithfulness according to His word.  This was their and our hope of God’s mercy for all who sit born under the condemnation of certain judgment for our disobedience and resulting sins of idolatry and immortality.  Because of these great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:3-4), we have prosperity and peace in our souls and partake of His own divine nature!  We are planted in this world to bring forth fruit as was promised to His people centuries ago in verse 23.  We also have gained His mercy and are now His people as He is now our same God as theirs (1 Peter 2:9-10, Romans 9:24, Romans 9:25-26) under a new contract or covenant, one sealed in His own blood of sacrifice (Hebrews 12:24, 12:20-21) which paid for all our sins once and forever for all whom He has called out and chosen as His own (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10, 19-20)!  This is a picture of God’s great mercy for lost sinners such as you and I, a picture of the gospel for all His people throughout history.  We now also say with them, 'You are my God!' as He says, 'You are My people!'