My heart is torn and My compassion is stirred Thru the Bible: Hosea 11-14 In these last few chapters of Hosea we encounter something rarely seen in scripture and almost never as strongly as it is here - God dealing with an inward conflict. His justice and wounded heart demand punishment, but His Father/lover heart and merciful compassion cannot allow Him to bring Israel to an end EVEN THOUGH that is precisely what He said he would do if they ever did the things they were doing (Deut. 29). In the end, a reference is made both to the New Covenant's provisions for the sins of God's people through Messiah & the faithfulness of Israel's forefathers all of which leads us to believe that in some measure God holds back full judgment out of respect to the forefathers and is reserving that wrath for His Son to bear of Israel's behalf. Throughout this book God is unabashedly the scourned lover and wounded Father, but He is NOT the victim. Israel is the victim of their own faithlessness and though it costs them dearly - they are not destroyed. Blessings!