Read
Turn Back to the Lord
1Israel, return! Come back
to the Lord, your God.
Sin has made you fall.
2Return to the Lord and say,
“Please forgive our sins.
Accept our good sacrifices
of praise instead of bulls.
3Assyria can't save us,
and chariots can't help.
So we will no longer worship
the idols we have made.
Our Lord, you show mercy
to orphans.”
The Lord Promises
4Israel, you have rejected me,
but my anger is gone;
I will heal you and love you
without limit.
5I will be like the dew—
then you will blossom like lilies
and have roots like a tree.
6Your branches will spread
with the beauty
of an olive tree
and with the aroma
of Lebanon Forest.
7You will rest in my shade,
and your grain will grow.
You will blossom
like a vineyard
and be famous as the wine
from Lebanon.
8Israel, give up your idols!
I will answer your prayers
and take care of you.
I am that glorious tree,
the source of your fruit.
9If you are wise, you will know
and understand what I mean.
I am the Lord, and I lead you
along the right path.
If you obey me,
we will walk together,
but if you are wicked,
you will stumble.
Reflect
Home, it’s been said, is the place where they have to take you back no matter what you’ve done. Not all homes are like that, of course, yet the sentiment works as a metaphor of God’s unending desire to restore his wandering children to their proper estate.
“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (v 1).
Hosea’s people had not been attentive to their heavenly father’s desires. They’d squandered their spiritual inheritance, transgressed God’s explicit demands for worship, and deviated from his patterns for righteous living. Yet God’s anger does not last. His desire for reconciliation radically overwhelms any punitive impulse.
The way back home is relatively straightforward. It begins with an honest acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and a simple plea for God to remove all guilt. It disavows dependency on unholy alliances and misguided worship. A truly repentant heart clings to the compassionate character of God: “In you the orphan finds mercy” (v 3).
God’s heart seems to melt when people approach him in this posture. “I will heal their disloyalty,” he responds. “I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them” (v 4). And it gets better. God goes on to detail how he will prosper those who follow in his ways; how he will bless those who abide in the home he provides.
People are better off when we understand that God is endlessly compassionate, and that habits of godly living lead to human flourishing. It’s encouraging also to know that when we do wander from God’s ways, we always have the right of return.
Hosea concludes with an aphorism: “Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them” (v 9).
Respond
Thank you, God, for creating a place where I will always be welcome. Thank you for the hospitality you continue to extend, even after I’ve chosen to abandon your kindness. Thank you for the open-ended right of return. Lead me home, O God. Lead me home. Amen.
Doug Koop
Doug Koop is a writer currently serving as a Spiritual Health Practitioner at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. From 1987 to 2012 he worked as an editor with ChristianWeek newspaper, covering Christian faith and life in Canada. He and his wife, Margaret, are the parents of two adult sons and two daughters-in-law. http://www.christianweek.org http://www.promisekeepers.ca/seven/ http://digital.faithtoday.ca/faithtoday/20121112#pg1