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"Let us return to the LORD"

Text: Hosea 6:1

A STRONG APPEAL

Hosea appealed to Israel to return to the Lord. There might well be mercy yet!

“Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.”
Hosea 6:1-2

1. “Come, and let us return to the LORD”

a) This was warm-hearted and genuinely communicated.

b) Israel must know that it could still return to God despite many sins committed.

2. “For He has torn, but He will heal us”

a) It was the right and prerogative of God to tear.

b) But it was also within the power of God to bring about healing (Exodus 15:26).

3. “He has stricken, but He will bind us up”

a) Israel must accept the chastening of the Lord and He struck the nation severely.

b) But the same God who chastened would also bind up the wounds of the nation.

4. “After two days He will revive us”

a) These are not literal days.

b) Hosea urged Israel to bear with God’s chastising for a short while.

c) The nation must look beyond to see how God would revive the nation when it returns to Him.

5. “On the third day He will raise us up”

a) The third day is a short period of time.

b) Soon, God will raise the nation to stand on its feet again.

6. “That we may live in His sight”

a) God does not delight in punishment.

b) He has to mete out judgment because He is a holy and just God.

c) God desires to enable Israel to live in His sight.

i) Righteously worshipping the LORD their God.

ii) Walking in the light of the Law blamelessly.