“ Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.” 11:8

After a couple stanzas of the Lord portraying his love for Israel like a father loving his child, we see him flex his mercy towards them in the verse above. My Bible commentary refers to this as the gospel in Old Testament clothes, isn’t that perfect?

God loves us so intricately and deeply, and then we mistreat him and abandon him like ungrateful children. We deserve his discipline, we deserve to be given up on, yet instead he says how can I let you go? 

No one’s love that compares to this.

Are you like Israel, unable to recognize it or care? They followed pagan religion, which was much more sexy and demanded much less of them. But God’s love is real, long-lasting, long-suffering and perfect.

How do you respond to his love? 

-Carly