Return To The Lord

In Hosea, chapter 4, the Lord speaks through the prophet to the people of Israel with an explanation for why they find their nation in ruin.

“You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away…”  (4:1-4)

They made vows and broke them.
They killed.
They stole.
The committed adultery.
There was violence everywhere.
There was no faithfulness.
There was no kindness.
There was not real knowledge of God.

And that was why they found their nation in mourning, and people were passing away.

It is a very bleak portion of scripture.

He goes on to say in verse 6, “My people are destroyed because they don’t know Me.”


And that seems to be the most intolerable of all, as the emphasis here is on their lack of recognizing the importance of relational connection with their first love.

And the call was for the repentance of those living in the sin-filed, heart-sick nation.
“Return to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.  Bring your confessions and return to the Lord.  Say to Him, ‘forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, SO THAT we may offer you are praises.’”  (6:1-2) (Emphasis mine)

Praise wouldn’t even be accepted if their heart wasn’t right.

And so the call for national repentance was … and is… the only way to prevent national ruin.  It is the only way to restrain the hand of God from striking in sovereign response to self-imposed catastrophe.

Joel 2:13, “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead. Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.”

Zephaniah 2:1-3, “Gather together—yes, gather together, you shameless nation. Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins. Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow His commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you— protect you from His anger on that day of destruction.”