Speak Kindly - Hosea 2:14-15

Hosea 2:14-15 NASB 

 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

 Bring her into the wilderness

And speak kindly to her.

 “Then I will give her her vineyards from there,

And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Israel continued to stray from God, despite repeated pleas for her return. 

His discipline and wrath are in response to the waywardness of the nation. His mercy and compassion remained. They are in response to our weakness. 

In the wilderness, in the valley of the shadow of death, God is preparing a people to call His own. 

He holds out the desire for His people and opens the door of heaven so they may come. 

This holds true for you and me.  His mercy is there and available when we are. 

Isaiah 40:2-3

“ Speak kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,

That her iniquity has been removed,

That she has received of the Lord’s hand

 Double for all her sins.”

 A voice is calling,

“ Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.