Mercy

 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
Hosea 1:7 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/hos.1.7.ESV

Hosea had a tough calling. He had to marry an adulterous woman who he ended up having to buy out of sexual slavery. There must have been doubts about the paternity of their children.

Their poor children had tough names to bear for their lives. Their second child was called No-Mercy. Usually, we like to give our children positive names, but Hosea had to give a realistically negative name for the situation the Israelites were in.

Sadly, the northern kingdom of Israel was going to receive no mercy. They were going to be obliterated by the Assyrian Empire. In our verse however, there's a glimmer of hope for the southern kingdom of Judah.

The Jewish people would receive the privilege of the advent of their Messiah. They wouldn't be saved by military hardware, but by the God-man crucified on their behalf. Of course, that wasn't the end of the story; Christ rose again victorious over death.

'Merciful God, please grant that we might receive Your mercy, deserving of Your condemnation though we are. Thank You for Christ crucified on our behalf, in His name, amen'

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