Passage Read: Hosea 4-7
Meditation Verses: 6:4-6
Thought
Ephraim and Judah have been unfaithful to the Lord. They love wealth and pleasure, they practice prostitution, both physical and spiritual (the former begets the latter). They claim to love the Lord, but refuse to walk in His ways. They will not repent, so God has sent prophet after prophet to cut them in pieces and kill them with words. He has judged them time and again. He did this because He desires mercy from His people and acknowledgment of God from them, not offerings and sacrifices. He desires them to walk in His ways, which are ways of righteousness and love for neighbor, rather than taking advantage and leading into sin. He doesn't want people who sacrifice animals to Him, but people who have no need of forgiveness of sin because they do what He commands, people who do good to one another and spur one another on to love and good deeds.
Application
The mercy God desires from His people is not the overlooking of sin in others, but the calling of each other to repent. He doesn't want them cut off and killed, but turned away from their evil ways. Mercy is aligned with acknowledging God, and this entire statement is in the context of God pointing out sin and stubborn rebelliousness and carrying out judgments against His people for their sin. Acknowledging God and walking in His ways is repentance and calling others to repent. Mercy disciplines so that people do what is good and right by doing what God commands. Mercy pleads with a person to know the Lord and walk in His ways.