“Even in these passages of terrible judgment, we are reminded that, while God’s character is revealed in both justice and mercy, he delights in showing mercy and compassion. Eight times in the Old Testament Yahweh is announced and introduced as in Psalm 86:15: ...a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…He is not quick to wrath, quick to judgment…Instead, in Hosea we see that God is prone to sudden rashes of compassion. You never know when he will just suddenly burst out in unexpected mercy…”

“This passage also calls us to remember the past grace of God.  We can ensure proper relationship with God and avoid his condemnations by remembering; remembering, and not forgetting, what God has done for us. This is the purpose for many of the songs we sing, as we recall to each other, and to ourselves, the goodness of God expressed throughout the ages to his church. Our need and God’s power and goodness fit hand-in-hand. Our awareness of each grows in relation to the other. The more I am honest about the condition of my heart, the more I increasingly rely on God.  The more I am reminded of God’s goodness and mercy, the more I can afford to be honest with myself.”

“God’s explanation of his commitment to continue the covenant beyond the judgment is both passionate and profound: the unique holy quality of his deity. His disposition and behaviour distinguish themselves from what would be the normal human pattern. He is God, and not a man — so he has the ability to decide when and how to exact just punishment in his fierce anger.  Despite his terrible wrath, he has not lost control. If God was at the mercy of his emotions, Israel would be wiped from the face of the earth. But, thankfully, God is holy. He operates at a different level of action independent of human action and existence. And He has chosen to fulfill his sovereign plan that is guided by his love as well as justice.”

“Church, those who genuinely belong to God are ‘created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them’.  All genuine people of God are created to be the fruitful extension of Jesus’ life and ministry, commissioned to bear the fruit of love. Jesus is the true vine.  He is God’s promise fulfilled to Israel.  For a long time it looked like Israel was cut off from God, but Jesus is the shoot that came from what seemed like a stump. Grafted into Christ, people from every nation, tongue and tribe become the true people of God.”