Return to the Lord

Hosea 14:1–2 (ESV) Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.

Hosea outlines the path back to God in the final chapter of this book. What is first on the list? Confession of sin. Notice the line, "take with you words and return". Words are imperative for the worshipper. Words are the expression of the heart. A heart that seeks God will speak of God. There is no such thing as a silent Christian. 

Moreover, they are to verbally renounce their false hope. 

Hosea 14:3 (ESV) Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

They were to renounce their vain hope that Assyria would help them. Imagine this, Assyria was intent on destroying them, and the people were so blinded by their idolatry, they thought that which would ruin them would actually help them! Thus, we see a picture of the corrupted heart, which turns the very things leading to destruction into an object of hope. How sad. 

And God's reply to the confessing saint?

Hosea 14:4–7 (ESV) I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; 6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

There will be love and grace. The Lord will be a blessing to them again. They will flourish. They will be beautiful and fragrant. Incredibly, we find this prophetic work ending on an announcement of hope! And where will they find themselves? Under the shadow of the Lord. 

For us in the new covenant of grace, there is a confessing nature to our faith. We confess Jesus as Lord, we also readily confess our sins and guilt to him.

1 John 1:8–9 (ESV) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We have a path back to God, and it is the same as ancient Israel - confessing sins. When we do, we find His faithfulness in forgiving them. 

Hosea began with the prophet marrying a wayward woman. It ends with the Lord returning His people back to Himself. He will not give up. He will seek us out. We are invited to come to Him and speak with Him so that we might receive the newness of life found only in Him. 

The final verse in the book invites us to examine what wisdom is.

Hosea 14:9 (ESV) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

The Lord is right, sin leads to stumbling. Seek Him, come to Him, He will establish your life.

Amen.