Forgiveness Is the Reward for Repentance
Book of Hosea, Chapters 10 through 14
We see the word repentance throughout the Bible, but most people do not understand what this word means.
In Christianity, true repentance begins with the consciousness of our sin.
The evidence of repentance is faith, humility, prayer, and obedience.
Repentance is a gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Just as with any other gift, we must reach for it to receive it.
How do we accomplish repentance?
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
First, we acknowledge the lives of those who are living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We realize that those who are no longer with us encouraged us to live in faith of the Lord Jesus and the life they lived is also an encouragement.
We must accept the salvation that is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must lay aside every burden from this world because they have no importance in Heaven.
We must walk away from the sin in our lives that has now been forgiven.
We must plant our feet into the plan of God for our lives.
Unless we get busy serving the Lord, we have not truly repented. This is the race that comes with being reconciled to God.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
It is the goodness of God that will lead us to look to Him for repentance.
Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
We can see that forgiveness is truly the reward for repentance, but we also see that repentance is necessary for forgiveness.
God’s forgiveness here is clearly linked to a true return to God to find with Him compassion instead of judgment.
We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for all the sins that have taken place in this world by anybody.
1Jn_2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Our job is to tell others this truth and show them the goodness of God so they can believe and be reconciled to God.
2Co_5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co_5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
This is our race to enter or be left out of God's blessings
*****Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
As long as we are alive, we can make a new start with God; once this flesh dies, our opportunity to do so vanishes.
Once more, God calls for Israel to repent and escape the judgment of God.
The horrendous sin that happened at Gibeah almost brought to an end one of the tribes of Israel, which was Benjamin.
The city of Gibeah had become a place like Sodom, and the tribe of Benjamin had allowed it to take place and would fight anyone who tried to change them.
What used to take place in the heathen Sodom now takes place in Israel, among the people of God, by people who bear God’s Name, and it is allowed.
What did God say of His people?
Jer 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
We know that this Levite went to his own home, cut this woman up into pieces, and sent them to all the tribes of Israel. Israel decided to take vengeance on Benjamin, and all but six hundred men were slaughtered.
Of Israel and Benjamin, sixty-five thousand men died in three battles because of sin.
The people of Israel eventually brought four hundred virgins to those six hundred men, and this sin disappeared from the tribe of Benjamin. It grew rapidly, but sin remained, and the people continued to fall into the trap of false worship and idolatry, but the sin of sodomy disappeared
Their hearts remained hardened against the truth of God.
God likes to use farming principles to get His point across because most of these people were farmers.
On a new piece of land, to grow crops, the land must be cultivated. They had to break up the fallow ground, or we would say till the soil.
For a hardened heart to be usable, that heart needs to be plowed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of the Word of God, to cleanse that heart of sin.
1) To sow righteousness and reap God's love, they had to turn toward God and away from their wicked ways.
2) They had to begin a new life guided by God's Holy Word.
3) They had to turn away from the world and look to God, and they would stand justified before God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
I do not know how many times the Scriptures tell us to avoid an immoral lifestyle, and it is rejected by much of the Church today.
We know God does not change, so how can the Church be so foolish?
God also warns us against wickedness, perversion, and degenerate acts.
In no uncertain terms, God condemns all acts of homosexuality just as He does fornication.
He also condemns rape, abuse, assault, murder, and all depravity.
Mar 7:20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Another farming principle that we need to keep up with is located in Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
*****Hos 10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
Instead of sowing righteousness the people had sown wickedness.
When you sow wickedness, you will reap evil and eat the fruit of deception.
In the end times, the Lord Jesus says we must watch out for deception.
Luk_21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
Our land today is full of hatred. Hatred brings injustice, which relies on wickedness instead of love, which brings justice.
Anytime we go our own way instead of God's way, which is righteousness, doing things right according to the Word of God, we will fail as people, and we will fail as a nation.
All the time, we hear that the USA is not in the Bible, but the people of God are in the Bible, and it takes people to make a nation.
If we want to be around in the end times, then we must be the people of God and not so full of wickedness as we are today.
We must break the cycle we are in today: Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We cannot rely on ourselves to get us there.
We cannot rely on our government to get us there.
We cannot rely on our military to get us there.
We can only rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to get us there.
*****Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
We immediately see that it is because of God's love that He delivers His people.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
It is the call of God that enables us to be saved.
We could say this is the unconditional election of God in which He acts.
God chose to call us while we were yet sinners and had no value to Him.
God calls us because He has a purpose for us.
In compassionate terms, the LORD speaks about Israel.
He speaks about how He loved the people as a child and son, liberated them, taught them to walk, cherished them in His arms, cared for them, nurtured them, and raised them.
When we say no to God, we are saying no not only to His purpose for us, but we are saying no to His great love for us.
1Jn_2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
When God says nothing can separate us from His love, He truly means it!
Rom_8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It was God's love that delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.
God's love will always deliver His people!
Throughout the Old Testament, we see that the LORD's relationship with Israel was like that of a father and son, and this has not changed.
This is the way our LORD thinks of all His children, especially the Church today.
God has not abandoned Israel because we know that His great love He has remains.
What did God say to Pharaoh? Exo 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
Exo 4:23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
When God first called Abraham, God promised to establish a very special relationship with his descendants.
The one thing they needed to do was obey.
All true believers, we are the adopted sons and daughters of God.
Now, we should not leave this verse until we see that it also relates to Jesus Christ.
Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
We should understand that we should remain where the Lord has placed us until He gives us the command to leave.
We should only act when God says to act.
When the Lord Jesus was just a few days old, He had to flee, and the angels who announced His birth did not form an escort around Him.
One thing is very clear: the Lord Jesus started His history on earth where the people of Israel started theirs.
Jesus Christ was a Jew, and He would look like a Jew of that day.
Where Israel failed God, the Lord Jesus Christ would succeed!
Though Israel is still failing in its calling, Jesus Christ is perfect in His calling.
The Lord Jesus is the firstborn of the Church.
The Lord Jesus is the true Israel.
The Lord Jesus is the true Adam.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Where we puny humans fail, the Lord Jesus Christ always succeeds!
*****Hos 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Hos 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Once Israel was freed from Egypt and started their journey to the Promised Land, they forgot about God's love.
The whole world, including the Atheists, sacrifice to Baalim. Baalim represents all false gods and the imaginations of their minds.
Israel, as God's son, has been delivered more times than we can count, and God is going to deliver them again, and this time they will serve Him.
In many places in the Bible, during the divided kingdom, Ephraim can mean Israel.
Israel is just like the world today, which refuses to repent.
We know that in the not-too-distant future, Israel will repent, but the world will remain stubborn and refuse to repent.
We live in a self-righteous world that still listens to the serpent of the Book of Genesis.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
The world still believes in the theory of evolution, and the ultimate fulfillment of evolution is that humans will one day evolve into gods.
What a joke. Evolution is the biggest lie told to the world, and the world clings to it like it is gold, just because the alternative would be that they would have to acknowledge a Supernatural God.
When Israel was a young nation, the LORD took her people by the arm and helped them along the way step by step.
Substitute America for Israel, and the same thing could be said. God has helped the USA along the way, step by step.
When Israel stumbled, they were not abandoned; the LORD was there to lift them. He has not changed!
The key to the Bible and God's promises is to walk faithfully throughout our lives.
We should never ignore the LORD's love and care for us.
God has given us His love letter to us, the Bible, just for this purpose.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
The “cords of a man” represent God’s loving, personal influence, not forceful control.
God promises to guide us.
God promises to care for us by providing our needs.
God promises never to lead us into temptation.
God promises us eternal life in the most wonderful place that has ever been conceived.
God asks us to have faith in His promises.
Psa 73:24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
*****Hos 13:4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
What is the truth of all man-made idols? Hos 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
Hos 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
There is nothing that is carved by human hands, nothing made of the most valuable things on earth, nothing that is a figment of man's imagination, that could have led Israel out of Egypt.
There is nothing in this world that can save us or redeem us but God, who is the LORD!
He has a connection with us because He is also our Creator!
Isa 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
God loves us!
If we are faithful and about to do something that will harm us, God will correct us.
Why do we expect that correction not to have pain?
God will do what He can to make sure we live and experience the fullness of this life if we are faithful to Him.
God is not afraid to use His Heavenly hickory, as any good father would, to get us back on the right road of reconciliation if we veer to the left or to the right.
If those few stripes could not get us back on track, then God will use a harsher method.
*****Hos 13:7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
Hos 13:8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
God will move from being the Good Shepherd to being like a wild animal.
The lion, the bear, the lioness, and the wild beast may not abide in Israel today, but they did in the days of the prophets.
These animals are known for the horrible way they kill their prey.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
That word "scourge" can mean severe bodily punishment.
Scourging, in most cases, was just the lead-in to capital punishment.
Will God take your life to keep you out of Hell? He could for those who are His children!
*****Hos 13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
After we become one of God's children, the first thing we learn is that we need His help.
If we know we need His help and then reject Him, it will lead to our destruction!
The only hope and help for a sinful people is the "GRACE" of God.
Without God's "grace," we would certainly perish in that place called Hell, which is a real place, and Heaven is also a real place.
God will never reject or destroy His people forever because He cannot void the promises He has already made.
God is Holy, completely set apart from all other things, perfectly righteous and pure in all things, including His Word.
God will never change from what He says He will do!
God is love; God can never be other than love.
God is Holy; He can never be other than Holy.
God is perfect; He can never be other than perfect.
God is faithful; He can never be other than faithful.
1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
*****Hos 14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
We know that Israel has been in that place of judgment since the time of the Assyrians.
The Assyrian, Sargon the Tartan, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian Army, laid siege to Samaria and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel.
2Ki 17:5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
2Ki 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Why did God allow this to happen?
2Ki 17:7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
2Ki 17:8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
2Ki 17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 17:10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
2Ki 17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
2Ki 17:12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
This is what the judgment of God looks like.
*****Hos 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
Hos 14:3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
Hos 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
Up until the siege of the King of Assyria, all Israel had to do was repent and turn back to Jehovah God, yet they would not.
What is it going to take for God's people to return to God and follow the Word He has given to us?
Repentance is the first step!
Next comes confession with words that must come from the heart.
Rom_10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom_4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
These things must be done in faith.
Remember, Abraham had faith that if he killed Isaac, God would raise him from that death, and the plan of God would succeed.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The plan of God will certainly succeed!
The truth is that if we confess in faith, faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, God will accept our confession as a sacrifice with the respect that goes along with it, if it comes from the heart.
The truth is that the utterances of our lips, consisting of prayers and praise, or both, are to take the place of animal sacrifices.
Animal sacrifices would only be good for one year.
Only the sacrifice of the lord Jesus Christ is great enough to be able to forgive all sins, up to the greatest sin.
Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Mic 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
After we confess our sin and are forgiven there must be a radical break with the past.
We must do away with our former life!
We must understand that God will not forgive sins if we intend to continue with them!
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
The modern church has forgotten this.
The Catholic church has forgotten this.
All those churches that allowed the laws of the world to overcome the Law of God have forgotten this.
We cannot just conceal our sin; we must forsake all our sin to be reconciled to God.
There is very little time to get these things behind us, or the rapture of the Church will not be such a great event for those who are just playing church or those who believe the preacher but do not believe the Word of God.
The Word of God is the only map that will lead us to Heaven!
Who are the wise ones?
*****Hos 14:9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
That word "prudent" means discernment, understanding, consideration, and being prudent.
These are things that the Northern Kingdom lacked while it practiced pagan worship.
The prophet Hosea was calling out to anyone who had not given in to those things.
Who are the wisest upon this earth? Those who showed wisdom in understanding that the ways of the Lord are the path that we should walk.
God promised that Israel would return to that land.
On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again, in one day, and they returned to the land that they had been carried away from.
God promised that they would prosper, and they have and will prosper even more during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.
It is during the Tribulation years that they will, for the first time, be totally sold out to Jehovah, the LORD God of Israel.
Israel's judgment was just as God had said on that day.
Why would we think that God will be any different from the Church that has left the pathway built by the Lord Jesus Christ?
Why can we not accept that all the Word of God is the truth?
Amen
