Time to Engage:
Breaking Up the Fallow Ground
Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63h6FPTfw5Y
Revival in our land, a revival of our faith to see hearts and lives changed and transformed, is a cry that we’re hearing and starting to experience not only around the world, but in our own country. The request to revive us was actually a prayer for God’s mercy upon the nation of Israel by the sons of Korah.
“Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6 NIV)
And it is such a prayer that the church has been praying for and is often attached to a prayer for the Holy Spirit to come down much as described in Isaiah’s prayer in chapter 64.
“Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence.” (Isaiah 64:1 NIV)
And then he talks about the awesome things God did, beyond anything they expected and how ear has not heard, nor eye has seen what God will do, and what God has in store for those who wait for Him. But then he talked about how if we continue to sin, and how our righteous acts are like filthy rags, how can we possibly be saved. (Isaiah 64:3-6)
And here’s where I would like to pick up our study, and that is our need to be cleansed and to seek God for His renewal and restoration so a revival can come, so the Holy Spirit can descend in power as He has done so many times in the past.
Now one of the main Scriptures that is often quoted when people pray for revival, especially here in America, is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)
What many people miss is that this is a conditional prayer and promise. It is one of the “If/Then” promises. The condition is that if we want God to forgive our sins and heal our land then we must first humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways.
What I’d like to do in our time is to cover the last two of these conditions, the first two is what I see as our need to fast and pray. And the reason I say this is because the idea of being humble is attached to prayer and seeking God.
Fasting humbles us before God, making us completely dependent upon Him for His guidance and protection. We see this in Ezra’s prayer prior to setting out for Jerusalem with the temple implements.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.” (Ezra 8:21 NKJV)
Further, fasting is attached to repentance and a turning away from our sins, which is that last condition of turning from our wicked ways. It was such a fast the king of Nineveh called upon to spare their city from God’s judgment.
“The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth(which was symbolic of humbling and the affliction of one’s soul) … When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” (Jonah 3:5, 10 NIV)
Outside of God’s word, which Paul identifies as the sword of the Spirit, prayer and fasting are our two greatest spiritual weapons.
Today in our time together, however, I’d like to look at the last two aspects of God’s condition for revival, and that is to seek God and turn from our wicked ways.
I believe God wants to do some heart changing and soul cleansing as brought out in a beautiful and haunting Scripture. It’s a Scripture that speaks as powerfully as 2 Chronicles 7:14. In fact, I would put this Scripture on par with it. It’s from our signature verse.
"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 NKJV)
Israel was an agricultural society. It was a nation of shepherds and farmers. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to see the Scriptures filled with illustrations from these occupations.
And it was a farming illustration the Lord uses to tell us how we are to prepare for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Now I really don’t believe that the Lord was interested in instructing farmers on to grow a bountiful crop as He is in instructing His people on how to get themselves right with Him so He can do a mighty work on their behalf.
So, let’s begin by looking at the process of turning from our wicked ways, which Hosea addresses as plowing up our fallow ground.
He’s telling us to break up the hardness of our hearts so that we can bring fruit that is worthy, fruit that is deserving, and fruit that proves our repentance. It’s all about bringing our hearts and minds into that place where they are able to receive from the Lord and receive His forgiveness.
Why do I say both the heart and the mind? It’s because they are linked. Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45b), and Solomon tells us that as a person thinks within their heart, that is who they are and what they will become. (Proverbs 23:7)
And so, when we speak, we don’t speak our minds; rather we speak our hearts.
The problem is that our hearts have become hardened through the various situations, circumstances, and problems that happen in life.
What can we do? First take an honest look at ourselves. Look at the condition of our heart. Is it pliable to God’s word, is it open to change when God’s word contradicts our behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs?
The Apostle Paul said to those in the Corinthian church,
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV)
These are sobering words, but it’s King David’s prayer that really speaks to this need.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV)
So, what exactly is “fallow ground?” In the Hebrew it means soil that is good for planting but remains untouched. In other words, it’s land that could be productive, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t been prepared. In essence fallow ground is unusable and remains that way.
Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)
Again God uses an analogy of getting the soil ready for planting, and not to plant in soil that hasn’t be prepared and/or amongst the thorn bushes and weeds. In essence He’s telling Israel to repent and put away their sinful behavior.
And God is specifically dealing with the condition of their hearts as He goes on to say in the very next verse, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts.” (Jeremiah 4:4 NKJV)
The illustration of not planting in fallow ground or sowing amongst thorns referring specifically to the condition of the heart is seen in Jesus’s parable of the various soils a farmer goes out and sows his seed upon. The first three are completely and totally unproductive.
But the last soil is productive and good, and to make it this way where it will produce a crop of 30, 60, and 100 times over, we need to break it up, because unplowed ground won’t allow a crop to grow.
Therefore, because the Israelites were unwilling or couldn’t be bothered to prepare the soil and pull out the weeds within their hearts, God really couldn’t do a mighty work.
And the same applies to us. Before the seed of God’s word can be sown and harvested, before righteousness can be planted and mercy reaped, the ground of our hearts must be broken up.
And so, the first thing according to our passage is that we must …
Break Up the Fallow Ground
We need to allow our hearts to be plowed, that is, broken and turned regularly. We need to allow God to do a work in our hearts to keep them fresh. But when we don’t allow our hearts to be worked over regularly by the Lord, they become hard and unproductive.
If we want a revival, we need to have our hardened hearts broken before the Lord.
How do we do this? First it involves what God uses as a plow, and that is His word.
When a plow is sharp it’s able to cut deep and straight, and when roots and weeds try to stop it, it cuts right through them plowing a line straight and true. And this is what the writer of Hebrews brings out about God’s word.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)
God’s word is sharp and cuts through all the lies of Satan and the cares of this world and gets to the heart of the matter. It cuts through the emotions and gets down to our soul and spirit letting us know what is right and wrong and shows us the good and right way to go.
It tells us of God’s plan and purpose and how He desires us to live this life of faith. And it’s only then that we’ll be able to sow seeds of righteousness and reap God’s mercy.
But what good is a sharpened plow if it hasn’t got anything to pull it through the fallow ground? That is where the yoke comes in. A farmer places a wooden yoke upon a pair of oxen to pull the plow.
That yoke is no one less than Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:19 NKJV)
And it isn’t a burden. Jesus said His yoke is easy and when He places it upon us, it is light, because the Holy Spirit is carrying the load.
As that yoke, Jesus binds believers and the Holy Spirit together so that God’s word can go deep within.
Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26 NKJV)
And after His resurrection and prior to His ascension, Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV)
The last thing about a plow and plowing up fallow ground is that there needs to be someone to steer it. If there is no one to steer, then there will be no straight lines. And guess what, there’s only room for one person to steer, one driver. There is no back seat or side seat drivers. Only one person can control a plow, and that person is none other than the Lord God Himself, the Father.
Only the Lord has the power to assert the right amount of pressure, and the strength to keep that pressure throughout.
And so, if the fallow ground is our heart, then what sort of things do we need to have broken in our lives so God can do a great work?
Ingratitude is one thing that we to repent of. This lack of gratitude can easily be seen in our prayer life. Do we start our prayers with heart felt gratitude for all that Jesus has done, or do we start out with a list of give-me’s. Notice in the prayer Jesus taught He begins with bringing honor to God the Father before asking for anything else.
This ingratitude also points out our overall lack of love for God. Think about it with me, if all we want is for God to give us stuff, then our love for God is conditional, that is, we don’t really love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And so, we need to repent of our lack of love for God.
We also need to repent of our negligence of God’s word. If God’s word is the plow that will break up the fallow ground of our hearts, then we need to repent of our lack of time in reading and studying what God has so graciously given.
And on top of that there’s the issue of knowing what God’s word says and not doing it. It’s what the Apostle James said about being hearers of what God says, but not doers. It’s also where our thoughts are more upon the world and its offerings than it is upon the Lord.
But we have to go deeper and ask, “What is the hardness of our heart?” It’s our inability to give up resentment and being judgmental? Hardness of heart is hatred, anger, bitterness, lust, greed, addictions, selfishness, and unbelief.
Until we repent, until we break up this fallow ground, this hardness within our hearts no matter how much we pray and ask God for a revival, it’s not going to happen.
Now, once the fallow ground is broken up then we can begin to plant. But what exactly are we to plant? What are we to sow?
Sow Righteousness
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground." (Hosea 10:12a NKJV)
There’s an important truth that cannot be ignored, and that is we can only reap what we sow. We’ll only harvest what we plant. If we plant wheat, then we shouldn’t expect to harvest corn.
Job said, “Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” (Job 4:8 NKJV).
Hosea said, “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7a NKJV)
The Apostle Paul’s said, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 NKJV)
And then he goes on to say, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:8 NKJV)
And so, we are told to sow to the Spirit so that we can do right things the right way, that is, God’s way.
Now, this righteousness we sow doesn’t come from us, because the Bible makes it clear that there is no one who is righteous enough for God. (Romans 3:10; Psalm 143:2)
The prophet Isaiah recognized this when he stood before the Lord and said, “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6a NKJV)
And so, to sow to righteousness takes a desire on our part to allow God’s word and the Holy Spirit to produce His righteousness within us. It is the righteousness of Jesus that lives within us through our faith in Him.
Now one last thing before I move on, and that is whatever we reap or harvest will be directly proportionate to not only what we sow or plant, but how much we sow and plant.
“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV)
And to produce an abundance of God’s grace and mercy, God must send the rain. It’s all up to God. Revival is a God thing. But God’s rain will only come when we break up the fallow ground of our hearts and sow His seeds of righteousness.
The prophet Hosea said it like this, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” (Hosea 6:3 NKJV)
It’s God desire to pour out upon us the rain of the Holy Spirit to produce a great harvest of souls. But as we see in Hosea, this won’t come until we seek the Lord, therefore, it’s high time we started seeking God.
And so, what is the bountiful harvest we can expect when we break up the hardness of our hearts and sow God’s seeds of righteousness? In a word, “Mercy.”
Reap in Mercy
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground." (Hosea 10:12a NKJV)
The word for mercy in the Hebrew language means a loyal, steadfast, and faithful love, the type of love that can only come from God. And so, the harvest we’ll reap is God’s loving kindness.
The Psalmist asked God to revive him according to His loving kindness.
“Revive me according to Your loving kindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. (Psalm 119:88 NKJV)
Therefore, it is because of God’s loving kindness, because of God’s loyal and steadfast love, because of God’s great grace and mercy we can praise Him.
“Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.” (Psalm 63:3 NKJV)
Conclusion
Let me wrap this up in a single sentence, howbeit, a long sentence.
When we break up the fallow ground of our hearts through forgiveness and repentance, sowing the seed of God’s word and righteousness, then God will send down the rain of the Holy Spirit and we will reap a bountiful harvest of God’s grace and mercy as He forgives our sins and heals our land.
