#DailyDevotion The Record Against You Is Wiped Clean By Jesus’ Blood
Hos. 6 7Like Adam they have broken My covenant and there have acted treacherously against Me. 8Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, tracked with blood. 9Just as bands of robbers wait for a man, so a gang of priests is murdering on the road to Shechem. Yes, they do great wrongs. 10I’ve seen horrible things in the house of Israel; there Ephraim plays the prostitute, and Israel pollutes herself. 11Judah, you too are appointed to harvest what you sowed. When I want to restore My people, 7 when I want to heal Israel, Ephraim’s guilt and Samaria’s wickedness gets uncovered: they practice deceit, break in as thieves, and plunder outside like a gang, and never realize I keep a record of all their wickedness. 2Now what they’re doing is all around them, and it’s right in front of Me. 3They delight the king with their wickedness and the leaders with their lies.
Verse 7 is quite shocking considering the previous verse was twice spoken to the Pharisees by Jesus, “I want mercy and not just sacrifice.” What is Jesus equating the Pharisees to when He quotes that passage? The Israelites who have broken the covenant with the LORD as Adam did also. Which is an interesting take by Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary. The two trees in the Garden were not a test but a covenant. I guess as long as Adam ate only from the tree of life, he would stay in the Garden and live forever. But he broke the covenant by eating the other tree. The Israelites were breaking the covenant by a. worshiping other gods and b. not having mercy on people and c. not worshiping with faith. While the Pharisees did not do a. they were engaged in b and c.
The LORD has witnessed two horrible things. The priests are murdering people on the way to Shechem and the Israelites are playing the prostitute while worshiping other gods. Besides murder being horrific in itself and priests committing the murder, they’re doing it on the way to one of the Levitical cities of protection for those who commit manslaughter. They are covering up their crimes claiming it was manslaughter most likely here. How horrific when we find our pastors guilty of great crimes. It turns people away from Christ and salvation.
Verse 11 runs into chapter 7 verse 1. We see here the heart of the Almighty. He wants to restore His people. He wants to heal them. But when He goes to do so, all He finds is guilt and wickedness. They are deceitful and thieves. In other words, they have no desire to be restored and healed. They prefer to continue in their wickedness. Such is the state of our Church in our land who overlooks and winks at evil, even worse when we call evil good and good evil.
They act if the LORD does not see or remember the evil they have committed. He warns them right here He is keeping a record of their wickedness. People often hate God because they believe He is letting people get away with murder and other grave and “misdemeanor” sins. But this verse tells He is not. He is keeping track of them. They will receive their just reward. No one is getting away with anything. We would wish God would prevent it all—and when it serves His purpose He does. However, if the LORD punished evil immediately or prevented it before it happened, there would be no room for repentance. We all would be struck dead immediately. Thank be to God, in Christ Jesus, the LORD has taken out His justice on Jesus on the cross. In the New Covenant made with Jesus’ giving His body and shedding His blood, the LORD grants us repentance and remembers our sins no more. He wants the rest of the evil and wicked people to hear and believe this too because He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Merciful God and Father, may Your Holy Spirit prevent us from sinning, curb the actions of unbelievers and when we sin, forgive and forget for the sake of Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.