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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Hosea 11:8 - 11:11
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Assurances of God's Mercy
v. 8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? What would be the proper measure of punishment to mete out to such a stubborn people?. How shall I deliver thee, Israel? namely, to a proper measure of chastisement. How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? the two cities of the vale of Siddim which were destroyed together with Sodom and Gomorrah, Cf Deu_29:22. Mine heart is turned within Me, namely, with a feeling of mercy in spite of Israel's transgressions; My repentings are kindled together, being most violently stirred at the contemplation of Israel's condition. God is ever more ready to show mercy than to let His stern justice punish men.
v. 9. I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, although He had every reason to be deeply incensed over the behavior of Ephraim; I will not return to destroy Ephraim, He still holds out a hope of deliverance to a repentant people; for I am God and not man, not filled With the vindictiveness which men might exhibit upon similar occasions, the Holy One in the midst of thee, the pure and perfect God, whose counsel is ever unchanged; and I will not enter into the city.
v. 10. They, the people of the Lord, shall walk after the Lord, turning back to Him with a converted heart. He shall roar like a lion, by His judgments upon His foes; when He shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the West, literally, "from the sea," along the shores of the Mediterranean, that is, throughout the Western world.
v. 11. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, from the lands of the South, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria, from the mighty country on the East, so that all the quarters of the earth would be affected by His call, and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord, so that they would enjoy His inheritance. The reference is clearly to the blessings of the Messianic period.