For the next few weeks, we would love to share some of our thoughts with you in the spirit of inspiring hearts to orphan care and adoption. Please know that we would be delighted to hear your comments too!
In Hosea 14:3, Israel is repentant of their sins and crying out to the Lord for His help. Israel relied on their own strength and their own gods to help them, instead of relying on God’s promise of protection. The Lord was righteously angry, judged Israel for their sins, and separated Himself from them. This chapter is the cry of Israel begging God to return to them. God graciously hears their cry, and turns his anger from Israel.
Hosea 14:3 uses the phrase, “In You the orphan finds mercy”. In other translations, the term “fatherless” is uses instead of “orphan”. From the different commentaries that I have read, the term “fatherless” is used to describe the destitute state of Israel. They were helpless and in desperate need of a Savior, similar to the condition of an orphan. Israel realized that they have sinned and tried to find help and strength through their own manpower. They realized that they are in a sense “fatherless” because they were severed from their True Father. They learned that they could not find mercy and forgiveness through themselves. Israel confessed that they can only find mercy in God who never fails to be our Helper in our time of need.
When Israel confessed their sins and surrendered their lives to God, God was quick to give them mercy. If you are a child of God and you are straying from Him, we can find rest and mercy in Christ our Savior alone. If we are truly fatherless and separated by God through our unconfessed sins, then again God is quick to provide His love and mercy to us; but only if we confess our sins and surrender our lives to Him and Him alone.
We learn from this phrase that God is our merciful Savior and He will come to our rescue when we seek Him and confess our sins. However, gathering from the text of the chapter, we also learn that God will punish us for our sins. Even though Christians strive to walk in the Word, we are sinful beings and our selfish wants and desires will guide our path. We need to rely on God’s strength and mercy, because ultimately He is in control. But as a Christian, it is so encouraging to know that I can always find mercy in my Savior.
Rachel Hines s
erves as the Office Manager/ Paralegal for The Adoption Law Firm. She is a native of Montgomery and studied Psychology at Liberty University. After several mission trips and her involvement with the foster care system, she developed a desire to counsel young boys and girls in need of families. She is passionate about demonstrating the love of Christ by finding orphans forever families through adoption and foster care. Through the legal field, she aspires to establish justice for children who are abandoned and in desperate need of permanent families.
