American philosopher and educator, Dr. Mortimer Adler, once suddenly left a discussion group quite disgusted. He slammed the door behind him. One person, trying to relieve the tension, remarked, “Well, he's gone.”
The hostess replied, “No, he isn't. That's a closet!” (Myron S. Augsburger, “When Reason Fails,” Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 9; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what happens when people try to run away from God. They find themselves trapped in a dark closet. Perhaps, that’s where you find yourself these days. You got mad at God and tried to leave Him out of your life, but you find yourself in a dark place without much hope for the future.
So, how do you get out of the closet and return to the Lord? After you’ve made a mess of your life, how do you come back to God? how do you restore your relationship with Him?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the Old Testament book of Hosea, where Hosea the prophet addresses a nation that had long since run away from God, the nation of Israel. As a result, the brutal Assyrians are about to invade, ravish, and destroy the nation. So God sends Hosea with a message urging them to return to the Lord.
Now, Hosea’s ministry had followed a golden age in Israel, with a peace and prosperity not seen since the days of Solomon. Unfortunately, with this prosperity came moral decay, and Israel forsook God to worship idols. So God gives them one more chance to come back to Him before it is too late. You’re in Hosea. Look at chapter 1. Hosea 1,
Hosea 1:1-5 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel” (ESV).
God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, who bears him a son, which he names Jezreel.
Now, Jezreel was the name of a city where two eunuchs hurled the wicked queen Jezebel from the window of her palace and dogs ate her body (2 Kings 9:30-37). The name brought terrible memories to mind in Hosea’s day, much like the name Dachau would bring to Jews today. Dachau was one of the horror camps Hitler used to murder Jews during World War II (Haddon Robinson). So, if a Jew today would name his son Dachau, he would offend his fellow Jews. In the same way, Hosea naming his son Jezreel offended the Jews in his day.
But God was making Gomer (Hosea’s wife) and her children an object lesson for the nation of Israel. Like Gomer, the prostitute, Israel was unfaithful to God, going after other “lovers,” and bearing offspring that disgusted Him.
Hosea 1:6-9 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (ESV).
Hosea doesn’t know whether these two children are his, especially the last one, which he called “not my people.” However, that’s not the end of the story. God will redeem His people and restore them to greatness. He will turn their disgrace (their Jezreel) into distinction.
Hosea 1:10-11 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel (ESV).
Their shame will become a place of honor when they unite under “one head,” their Messiah, Jesus, the Christ. Yes, God must punish Israel for her idolatry, but He will entice her to come back to Him.
Hosea 2:13-15 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt (ESV).
God makes her valley of Achor, that is, her valley of trouble, into a door of hope. For God will pursue His unfaithful lover and purchase her freedom from suiters, who will enslave her.
Hosea 3:1-5 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days (ESV).
When Jesus returns, “They will look on him whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:37). They will repent of their idolatry and sin (Zechariah 12:10-14), and God will save “all Israel” (Zechariah 13:1; Romans 11:26).
You see, even though Israel has forsaken God, God will not forsake Israel. In the same way, even when you run away from God, He still runs after you. For you may break God’s heart, but you will never break His love. Let me say it again. You may break God’s heart, but you will never break His love (E. K. Bailey).
So, if you want to return to the Lord and restore your relationship with Him, start there and…
RECOGNIZE GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE FOR YOU.
Realize that God has not stopped loving you, because you stopped loving Him. Remember that God’s love is everlasting. i.e., God’s love remains strong no matter what you do.
Francis Thompson, a 19th Century British poet, described God’s unrelenting love as “The Hound of Heaven.” Although Thompson was a follower of Christ, he struggled with poverty, poor health, and an addiction to opium (which in those days was sold as an “over-the-counter” medication).
In the depths of his despair, Thompson described his flight from God: “I fled him, down the nights and down the days. I hid from him, and under running laughter. I sped … from those strong feet that followed [me]… with unhurrying chase, and unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, and majestic instancy” (Roger Steer, Basic Christian: The Inside Story of John Stott, IVP Books, 2009, pp. 262-263; www.PreachingToday.com).
The ”Hound of Heaven” will not give up on His pursuit of you. God loves you too much just to let you go.
Some time ago, Elizabeth King wrote an article in the Washington Post with the title, “I'm an atheist. So why can't I shake God?” She says, “It’s hard to believe in nothing when your psyche is wired for faith” and talks about abandoning her childhood faith for atheism. She writes, “Until my mid-teens, I was a 'born again' Christian who loved God with all her heart. These days, though, I'm an atheist with nothing to prove.”
She continues, “The story of my departure from the church resembles those of many others who have abandoned the flock. When I was about 16, I started asking questions during services that my youth pastors couldn't or didn't want to answer: Why is it a sin to be gay? Why is it okay to spank children? Where does the Bible say we can't have premarital sex?”
Still, in spite of her atheism, King states, “somehow God has found a way to stick around in my mind.” She thinks that “God's lingering presence” could be attributed to “the inner-workings of the human mind” against which the atheist battles hard. She claims, “If I could… banish this figure from my psyche, I would.”
In the end, she has to admit, “I have no choice but to accept that I'm an atheist with a sense for God” (Elizabeth King, "I'm an atheist. So why can't I shake God?” Washington Post, 2-4-16; www.PreachingToday.com).
The “Hound of Heaven” just won’t let her go! God’s love is still pursuing her, and His love is pursuing you, as well. Just acknowledge it and stop trying to ignore God’s love any longer. Recognize God’s unfailing love for you. Then…
REPENT OF YOUR UNFAITHFULNESS TO HIM.
Stop running from God, and turn towards the One, who will never stop loving you. Renounce your sin and let God back into your life.
In the book of Hosea, we move from Hosea’s house in chapters 1-3 to the courthouse in chapters 4-13, where God brings a stinging lawsuit against Israel. First, He indicts Israel for not knowing Him.
Hosea 4:1-3 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away (ESV).
Since the people don’t know God, all they know is sin and depravation.
Hosea 4:4-6 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children (ESV).
God condemns the priests and prophets for not giving the people a knowledge of God. Therefore, the people perish for that lack of knowledge. Instead, they turn from the living God to lifeless idols.
Hosea 4:12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore (ESV).
Like an unfaithful wife, Israel prostitutes herself with idols. Therefore, God must judge them.
Hosea 5:1-2 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them (ESV).
Mizpah and Tabor had become centers of Baal worship and all its evils, which trapped Israel in sin. As a result, God will discipline the rebels even as He waits for their return to Him.
Hosea 5:15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me (ESV).
Oh, what grace as God waits for His wayward people to seek Him again, to know Him personally and intimately. Oh, my dear friends, God waits for you, as well. So please,
TURN FROM YOUR IGNORANCE OF GOD and get to know Him personally.
Stop ignoring Him and start enjoying a real relationship with the Living God of the universe.
It starts when you put your faith in Christ, who died for you and rose again. For no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Then, when Jesus introduces you to His Father, get to know Him as much as possible. Grow deep in your relationship with God and don’t settle for just a superficial knowledge of the Infinite. For when you really know God, it’s hard to sin against Him.
In 1889, American journalist and humorist Edgar Nye introduced the phrase “A mile wide and an inch deep.” He was referring to the Platte River which runs through Nebraska. Now, if you’ve ever been to the Platte River, you know that it is a muddy, wide, shallow, meandering stream with a swampy bottom, useless as a major navigation route.
Nye wrote that the river “had a very large circulation, but very little influence. It covers a good deal of ground, but it is not deep. In some places it is a mile wide and three-quarters of an inch deep.” And so the phrase was born to describe people whose knowledge is superficial (Brandon Hatmaker, A Mile Wide, Nelson Books, 2016, page xi; www.PreachingToday.com).
If your knowledge of God is superficial, repent of your lack of knowledge and get to know Him better. Spend time in God’s Word and in prayer and grow in your relationship with Him. Turn from your ignorance of God.
THEN TURN FROM YOUR FICKLENESS TOWARDS GOD.
Stop your on-again, off-again relationship with the Lord, and remain committed to Him. Look, as God makes his second indictment against Israel.
Hosea 6:1-3 “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and 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 before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth” (ESV).
When times are tough, Israel turns to the Lord for a quick solution to their problems. But as soon as their circumstances improve, they turn away from the Lord and go back to their old ways.
Hosea 6:4-6 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (ESV).
God desires a steadfast commitment to Him, not just religious activity every once in a while.
Hosea 7:14-16 They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt (ESV).
Israel pretends to return to the Lord, but it is not from their heart. Instead, they look to Egypt for deliverance from Assyria, but there they only find derision and shame.
Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
Their fickleness will bring the judgment of God.
Hosea 10:2-4 Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. For now they will say: “We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD; and a king—what could he do for us?” They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field (ESV).
With false hearts, they utter mere words of commitment. As a result, God will bring judgment upon them, like noxious weeds growing in their fields. Even so, God would rather bless them.
In Hosea 10:12, God pleads with Israel, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”
God wants His people to seek Him, so He can, with love, shower them with His righteousness.
Hosea 11:8-11 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD (ESV).
God will not remain angry with His people forever. Instead, they will turn to Him in the land of their captivity, and He will return them to their land. To be sure, your sins have consequences. If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind, but God stands ready to restore you if you but return to Him. So please, turn from your fickleness towards God and remain steadfast in your commitment to Him.
Mike Huckabee, former pastor and now the United States ambassador to Israel, talks about a time when his son John Mark was four years old. He was out playing in the back yard and got a splinter in his foot. He came in and held up his foot. He was crying, and he said, “I got a splinter in my foot!”
Mike said, “Sit on the couch. Let's look at it.”
Then, as little John Mark held up his foot, Mike reached over to pull the splinter out (because he knew it would feel better). That’s when John Mark said what every kid says at a time like that: “Don't touch it!”
Mike said, “What do you want me to do? Take a picture of it and mount it on the wall? I've got to touch it, Son. I don't levitate splinters out of your foot. There is no choice.”
“But it will hurt,” Mike’s son moaned, to which Mike said, “It might, but it won't hurt as long. It will sure feel a lot better when I get the splinter out.”
Somehow that wasn't adequate. So mom held down the top of their little boy while dad tried to hold down the bottom of him and pull that splinter out. John Mark was kicking and screaming and jerking in all different directions with Mike trying to pull the splinter out with a pair of tweezers. He was afraid that he would jab those tweezers way up into his son’s foot.
Mike wanted to say to him, “Son, don't you trust me? What do you think I'm going to do, cut your foot off? I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you, and if you don't let me help you, it's going to get worse not better. Trust me; I'm your father. I love you. I care about you. I do this only to help you. Be still. Relax” (Mike Huckabee, "Practice of Patience," Preaching Today, Tape No. 78; www.PreachingToday.com).
I think sometimes God says the same thing to us. We get hurt and cry out to God, who reaches in to help us. But then we say, “God, don’t touch me! Don’t do that!” That’s when God says, “Trust me. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you. Trust me. I’m your Father, who loves and cares for you.”
Oh, dear friend, if your sin has brought you pain, trust your loving Heavenly Father to remove that sin. Sure, it might hurt for a little while; but in the end, you will feel a lot better when He gets that sin out of your life.
Please, don’t come to God in your pain and then kick against Him. Instead, remain steadfast in your commitment to Him as He does the work that only He can do to remove the sin from your life. Turn from your ignorance of God. Turn from your fickleness towards God.
THEN TURN FROM YOUR INFIDELITY TO GOD.
Stop pursuing other gods and come back to the only God who will never stop loving you. Look as God makes His third indictment against Israel.
Hosea 12:2 The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds (ESV).
God declares that He will punish Israel for his deeds. Only, He calls Israel by his old name, Jacob, which means deceiver. Then He recounts Israel’s history, concluding in verse 14…
Hosea 12:14 Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds (ESV).
Ephraim was the prominent tribe in Israel, representative of the whole country, which God declares He will judge.
Hosea 13:1-3 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window (ESV).
Because Israel has turned away from God to idols, the nation will not last. Like the morning mist or smoke, Isarel will soon dissipate, which happened just a few years after Hosea wrote his prophecy. Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. That’s because they left the God who cared for them.
Hosea 13:4-8 But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open (ESV).
Their Savior becomes a savage beast, because Israel forgot Him in their prosperity.
In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen retells a tale from ancient India: Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.
“I have mastered a science,” said the first, “by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it.”
“I,” said the second, “know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones.”
The third said, “I am able to create its limbs if I have the flesh, the skin, and the hair.”
“And I,” concluded the fourth, “know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete.”
Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion's. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle (Nathan Castens, Chanhassen, Minnesota. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 1; www.PreachingToday.com).
We too can create idols that will devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. The pursuit of wealth and possessions can turn and destroy us unless we keep God first in our lives. Please, don’t do what Israel did and forget the Lord in your prosperity.
And if you have, please, turn from your ignorance of God; please, turn from your fickleness towards God; and please, turn from your infidelity to God before it is too late! Just come back to the Lord, and that starts when you recognize God’s unfailing love for you and repent of your unfaithfulness to Him. Then…
RETURN TO YOUR FAITHFUL LORD.
Come back to the One who never stopped loving you. Renew your relationship with the only One you can depend on. That’s Hosea’s plea in the final chapter of his prophecy.
Hosea 14:1-3 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy” (ESV).
Return to the Lord and say to Him, “take away our sin, because we trust only in You.” If you do, this is God’s promise to you.
Hosea 14:4-7 I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon (ESV).
God promises to heal, refresh, and revitalize you unlike the idols that only enslave and destroy you.
Hosea 14:8-9 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them (ESV).
You have a choice. You can choose to walk in God’s ways or stumble over them. Please, choose wisely. Please, choose to trust the Lord with your life, not yourself or the idols you have created.
Please, come back to the Lord and restore your relationship with Him. 1st, Recognize God’s unfailing love for you. 2nd, Repent of your unfaithfulness to Him. And 3rd, Return to your faithful Lord.
In his sermon, “The World’s Best Love Story,” Haddon Robinson describes a young man who lived in Chicago. From Chicago, he went down to the bluegrass regions of Kentucky where he met and wooed and won a young woman. They fell in love, and he brought her back to Chicago as his bride. They enjoyed three lovely years of marriage, and then one day in the midst of a sickness in a seizure of pain the young woman lost her mind. I mean when she was at her best she was a bit demented. At her worst she would scream and neighbors complained because the screams cut the air and it was hard to live with.
And so the young businessman left his home in the middle of Chicago, went out to one of the western suburbs, built a house, determined that there he would try to nurse his wife back to health and sanity again. One day the family physician suggested that perhaps if he were to take his wife back to her Kentucky home that something in those familiar surroundings would help her restore her sanity, and so they went back to the old homestead. Hand in hand they walked through the old house where memories hung on every corner. They went down to the garden and walked down by the riverside where the first cowslips and violets were in bloom. But after several days nothing seemed to happen.
So, defeated and discouraged, the young man put his wife back in the car, and they headed back to Chicago. When they got close to the house he looked over and discovered that his wife was asleep. It was the first deep, restful sleep she had had in many weeks. When he got to the house he lifted her from the car, took her inside, placed her on the bed and realized she wanted to sleep some more. So he placed a cover over her and then just sat by her side and watched her through the midnight hour, watched her until the first rays of the sun reached through the curtain and touched her face. The young woman awoke, and she saw her husband seated by her side. She said, "I seem to have been on a long journey. Where have you been?"
And that man, speaking out of days and weeks and months of patient waiting and watching said, "My sweetheart, I've been right here waiting for you all this time" (Haddon Robinson, “The World's Best Love Story,” www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s where God is right now, waiting for you to respond with love to love. Please, open your eyes and come back to Him.
