12.10.2015 Old Testament: Hos 6.4–6

To read the Bible in a year, read Hosea 5–8 on December 10, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

What if the Lord asked about you, “What shall I do to you?” That would fill the heart with the greatest fear. He said it, however, about both Ephraim and Judah, and He explained why He had that question,

“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And your judgments are like light that goes forth.
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
(Hosea 6.4–6) 

The faithfulness of Ephraim and of Judah only lasted a short while, which is why the Lord sent prophets against them, hewing them with the words of God. Yet, they thought they could quench the fire of God’s wrath with mere sacrifices, but He wanted them to show mercy to one another.