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"Sow for yourselves righteousness"

Text: Hosea 10:12

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

The question for both Israel and Judah was whether there would be hope for the future after God’s chastisement. Their judgment and their chastisement were just and righteous. They may appear harsh but judgment meted out was commensurate to the sins of the two nations.

“Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the LORD,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”
Hosea 10:12

1. “Sow for yourselves righteousness”

a) This was something that should have been done.

b) But both Israel and Judah had failed to do this consistently.

c) Instead, both nations had abandoned caution and had pursued wicked ways.

d) The challenge was to sow righteousness!

2. “Reap in mercy”

a) Where righteousness is sown consistently.

b) The harvest would be mercy from the LORD!

3. “Break up your fallow ground”

a) Both countries had not sown righteousness genuinely for a long time.

b) The ground would therefore “lie fallow”.

i) This is untilled ground.

ii) It would not be easy to till the ground.

iii) The clod would have to be broken up.

iv) Oxen would have to use their strength to plow the fallow grounds.

4. “It is time to seek the LORD”

a) This was a call to repentance from sin.

b) It was a call also to return to the LORD in genuine humility.

5. “Till He comes and rains righteousness on you”

a) This word expresses “hope”.

b) God can bless His people once again if they genuinely turned to the LORD.

c) God will rain righteousness on all who humbly seek Him.