Compassion for the Castaway

Hosea 11:1-12

Monday, 22 December 2025

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? ……My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. -Hosea 11:8 NLT

The Book of Hosea pictures God’s tender love for a wayward Israel. Though backslidden Israel was compared to an unfaithful wife in the initial chapters, here Hosea brings out a father-son relationship between God and Israel. The father-heart of God yearns for the prodigal son to respond to His love and return.

Much of the sentiments conveyed in the chapter correspond to the Parable of the Prodigal in Luke 15 spoken by Jesus. Think of a father who tenderly remembers the budding years of his son, how he expressed his love and care. “I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand.” (V.3) pictures the strong hand of a father who helped the child take his first steps!When Israel was bonded in Egypt, He led them out with cords of love and bend down to feed them through their wilderness journey- such was the fatherly care the Lord extended to His son Israel. Yet they forgot His loving acts and strayed from Him to bow down to other gods! How heartbreaking it would be for a father to have his son turn his back on him and walk away! That’s the kind of sentiment we get while reading this portion.

Just like an earthly father disciplines his child to get him back on track, so the Lord did to Isreal- His punitive measures were their exile to other nations and oppression in the hands of foreign aggressors. But He never took His eyes off them or cast them away forever. His heart stirred within Him with compassion as we note in the key verse. How could He forget Israel His firstborn son (Exodus 4:22)? Hosea then speaks of how the Lord will not destroy them in his anger but bring them back to their land in His mercy and love. 

Today this Scripture speaks to all who have gone off course from a loving Father in rebellious ways, seeking “substitutes” or doubting His love for them. Consider the father who waited eagerly for the return of his “lost son” in Luke 15, look how it is written in V.20—“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The father ran to embrace his son who returned, and we read of all the love he lavished on the penitent prodigal! What compassion! What forgiveness! What restoration!

The different Parables in Luke 15 that Jesus spoke demonstrate the following:

• The lost sheep had lost its way

• The lost coin had lost its value

• The lost son had lost his life

But all were restored by “seeking”- that’s the picture of Father God’s seeking love for His lost sons! Many have lost their way in this crooked world; others have indulged in selfish carnal actions that have made them lose their value; yet others have lost their very essence of living!! But there is hope for the lost- our God is a Father of second chances. He is waiting for the runaway to come to his senses and take the road of return! 

Today the God of second chances is beckoning you- return to His love! He knows best how to direct your life purposefully. Will you respond to the “good good Father who is perfect in all of His ways”* and give you a renewed life? Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord… (Acts 3:19).

The Father’s compassion for the castaway is extended to you!

But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins. (1 John 1:9 TLB)

Listen: 'Good Good Father'