In Hosea 4:1-3, the Lord brings a charge against the nation of Israel. He tells them that,
"there is no truth, or mercy or knowledge of God in the land." Because of this there is a lack of restraint in the land. This means that people do their own thing; whatever comes to their mind, whatever evil plan they may have, they have a lack of self-control. They act without thinking. Hosea tells us that swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery have become common place things in Israel.
Mercy: The Fruit Of Compassion
"Mercy is the fruit of compassion," someone once said. In other words, when I have compassion for someone, when I recognize their suffering, I will do something about it. What I do is an act of mercy. Someone with no mercy would be unrelenting, unsympathetic, or hard towards others. Mercy takes many forms: feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting those in prison, and giving drink to the thirsty—whether physical water or the water of life-—God's holy word. Sometimes, mercy may be as simple as giving someone the benefit of the doubt.
God's mercy towards us is shown by our Father when He sent His Son to die for us on the cross (Romans 5:8-9) even though, because of our sin, we deserved punishment. He died so we would not have to face an eternity without God. In Lamentations 3:23-33, Jeremiah tells us, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." God's mercies never come to an end. Thank you Father!
We know mercy comes from God and is given to us by Him, but God also wants us to treat our fellow man with mercy. Jesus says that you will be blessed with mercy if you show others mercy (Matthew 5:7). To know God's mercy is to be kind and tenderhearted, not just honest and upright. When people sin against us, hurt us, defame us, and abuse us, are we merciful to them, remembering that we also at one time were like this to God Himself. When we see people suffering, do we shake our heads and say, "Oh, how terrible!" but do nothing? How are we actively being merciful to others?
A Society Without Mercy
A society without mercy is nowhere I would want to live. An indicator of where our culture is headed is in the movies we watch. Between 2010 and 2020, there were 138 movies about revenge. Revenge is as far from mercy as one can get but it seems that revenge stories are quite popular. Our society is consumed with violence. The prevalence of gang violence is fueled by revenge, not mercy.
Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant
In Matthew 18:23-35, we read the parable of the unforgiving servant. The servant had had a great debt forgiven him by the King, but someone owed this same servant a debt. The forgiven servant threw the man in prison and did not forgive his debt. It is not just a lack of forgiveness that this servant is guilty of but a lack of mercy. Great mercy was shown to him and yet he did not give mercy to someone else who owed him a debt.
When the master finds out about this, he says,
"Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ Matthew 18:33
The master, we are told, delivered the unforgiving servant over to the torturers until his debt was paid. Jesus then tells the disciples that God will do the same to us if we don't have heart felt forgiveness for our brothers. Forgiveness, compassion, and mercy are not suggestions that God gives us; they are requirements.
A Society Without Truth
A society without truth is a frightening thought. If each one of us has our own truth, if each one decides what is right for them, then society falls apart. If there is not a greater good, no foundational laws to build our society on, then how do we even have laws? The characteristics of society are shared standards, values, and beliefs. Without truth, what do we share? How can we have a society?
For someone who does not know truth we understand that they are a liar and we know who their father is - the Devil, because the Devil is the father of lies. He is the great deceiver from of old, the trickster, the one who whispers to you, "How can this be wrong when it makes you happy?" or you may hear him say, "Your truth is just as valid as someone else's. Do what you want. It doesn't matter."
We know the Bible tells us that Jesus is truth, but this does not just mean that what He said was true, it means much more than that. It means that Jesus, in the flesh, was literally truth. To know God and Jesus is to know truth. The more we know of God the closer we will draw to what is the only valid truth. Knowing truth, which is agreement with reality, comes from knowing God.
No Truth, Mercy Or Knowledge Of God
Truth and mercy spring forth from a knowledge of God—not just an intellectual knowledge of God but a heart knowledge of God. Not just knowing that God exists but knowing the attributes of God and that He desires us to also have these attributes. We learn to know who God is by spending time with Him. We spend time in His word and in prayer, we spend time with other Christians, and we share our faith stories. The more we know who God really is, the more our lives will show truth and mercy to others.
As we read further, we read the well-known verse that says "His people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6). God says knowledge of Him was willingly rejected by the people. The people actually chose not to know God. Even sadder, the ultimate punishment that God promises for this is that He will leave them alone.
What a terrible thought that we could, as a nation, have no mercy or truth because we have forgotten God to the point where we no longer have knowledge of Him; and then that He would leave us alone to face our consequences with no sense that He is near. We should all pray that a true knowledge of God increases in our nation and along with that, mercy and truth. We don't want our nation left alone by our Father as Israel was.
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