Showing all posts by Elija

“I will not give rein to my fierce anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again, for I am God, not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I shall not come to you in anger” (Hos 11:9).

Undoubtedly many acts committed by man attract the wrath of God, for He is merciful but also just. Let us remember, for example, how Jesus expelled the merchants from the Temple (Jn 2:14-16), because they, instead of worshipping God, were doing their business in the sacred precinct, thus contributing to its profanation. Read More

“Ephraim, how could I part with you? Israel, how could I give you up? How could I make you like Admah or treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender” (Hos 11:8).

If only we could know our Father’s heart better! Then the layer of ice around our heart would begin to melt, so that His love could penetrate it, transforming us and making us capable of loving like Him. Read More

“I lead them with human ties, with leading-strings of love. With them, I was like someone lifting an infant to his cheek, and I bent down to feed him” (Hos 11:4).

The Father uses a thousand ways to show His love to mankind. In many forms he bends down to us, and this happens most clearly in the birth of the Son of God, who came to us as a man, so that we might understand how close God wants to be to us, how precious we are to Him…. Read More

“I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I myself took them by the arm, but they did not know that I healed them” (Hos 11:3).

The Father and His chosen people… What a love story with so many facets! In yesterday’s verses we heard that the more God called them, the more the children of Israel turned away from Him and turned to idols. Read More

“When Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called, the further they went away from me; they offered sacrifice to Baal and burnt incense to idols” (Hos 11:1-2).

This is the drama that our Father experiences so often. It runs through the whole of human history, and it is particularly painful when it is the people of Israel who are the protagonists. The verses that follow this passage from the Prophet Hosea show us how tenderly God calls His own and how He is always ready to forgive them. But it is with sorrow that He has to note that the more He calls them and shows them His love, the more His people turn away from Him and offend Him with their aberrations. Read More