Daily Devotions
Hosea
"Return to the LORD your God"
Text: Hosea 14:1
RETURNING TO THE LORD
Prophet after prophet would plead with the nation of Israel to return to the LORD. This was another appeal to the people to humbly come to God in repentance.
“O Israel, return to the LORD your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.”
Hosea 14:1
1. “O Israel”
a) This was a plea to the whole nation.
b) This was a call for national repentance.
i) The king must take the lead.
ii) The leaders at every level must recognize the need to repent before God.
iii) The common people must also admit their wrong-doing.
c) The prophet Jonah once called for national repentance.
i) Nineveh repented.
ii) The king led in the repentance of the nation.
iii) The LORD spared the nation.
2. “Return to the LORD your God”
a) Hosea admonished Israel to return to the LORD their God.
b) He was their Covenant God.
c) If they genuinely repented, He would receive them.
d) Hosea spoke in the capacity of a prophet sent by the LORD.
3. “You have stumbled because of your iniquity”
a) Sin was transgression of God’s laws.
b) Iniquity was evil which expressed itself in rebellion and idolatrous worship.
c) The whole nation kept stumbling, committing one sin after another, because of iniquity in them.
RECALLING THE WORDS OF MOSES
a) Hosea admonished Israel to return to the LORD their God.
b) He was their Covenant God.
c) If they genuinely repented, He would receive them.
d) Hosea spoke in the capacity of a prophet sent by the LORD.
3. “You have stumbled because of your iniquity”
a) Sin was transgression of God’s laws.
b) Iniquity was evil which expressed itself in rebellion and idolatrous worship.
c) The whole nation kept stumbling, committing one sin after another, because of iniquity in them.
RECALLING THE WORDS OF MOSES
Moses warned Israel that if the people were to turn to idols, the LORD would allow them to suffer defeat and worse (Deuteronomy 28). But if they were to return to Him, they must make sure there is genuine sincerity.
“But from there you will seek the LORD your God,
and you will find Him if you seek Him
with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 4:29
The truly repentant would seek God with all his heart and with all his soul. Anything less won’t do!