Penitence and Forgiveness

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Lord, I cry out to You, I lean on You, I trust in You. What a faithful God You are.

Read Hosea 14:1-9

^[1] Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! ^[2] Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. ^[3] Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” ^[4] “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. ^[5] I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; ^[6] his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. ^[7] People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like the vine- Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. ^[8] Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.” ^[9] Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Meditate

“Sin is not small because it is not against a small Sovereign. Sin is dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences” (John Piper). We need to take ownership of our sins and embrace God’s forgiveness on a daily basis.

Think Further

Hosea concludes by giving God’s people some words to take with them when they return to God. It’s a lovely idea. Whether we come from churches where there are set or extempore prayers, it’s good to think about them in advance before they turn into cliché. The opening lines seem straightforward enough, but verse 3 is a much more specific repentance. I am tempted to say it may mean, for our day, give up on car worship. Is that too frivolous? Maybe, but we can’t go on as we are. In more sober exegetical style, it seems more like a rejection of looking to military might to save us, particularly when the apparent ally (here, Assyria) turns out to be a destructive enemy. Historically, Hosea’s prophecies come to an end with the reign of Hoshea, the last king of Israel, who was taken captive by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser in 723 BC.

So, honesty and specificity are needed for proper confession. But what will be God’s response? Paula Gooder is helpful here: “God does not even expect us to be faithful all by ourselves … God himself is faithful enough for us all.” This is the force of the end of verse 8, where God says to his people “your faithfulness comes from me” (NRSV). What greater grace can there be? It doesn’t stop us from willfully straying, but it is the culmination of Hosea’s vision of a flourishing people, fertile and fruitful, gathered together in community with God. The vision concludes on a more sober, thoughtful note in verse 9. It’s a call to discernment and understanding, to remember the dual vision of Hosea’s prophecy: there is a right way and a wrong way (several wrong ways, even). But God’s restorative mercy always appears when we come to our senses.

How much we need a revival of serious prophecy, where the lives of the prophets and the beauty and persuasiveness of their language testify to the unfathomable love of God!

Apply

What can you look forward to if you walk in covenant faithfulness with the Lord our God (5-8)? What lessons have you learned from reading Hosea?

Closing prayer

Patient and Loving Father, what a joy it is to return to You. I drift away from You so easily, but You call me back into fellowship. Thank You for Your promise of forgiveness.

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