Israel's Departure and Return

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"O Israel, return unto the Lord your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity. 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. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses—neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, You are our gods—for in you the fatherless finds mercy." Hosea 14:1-3

Our text is rather a long one; but it presents such a connected chain of blessed truth, that if I were to attempt to make it shorter, I could only present to you broken links and scattered fragments. As it stands, it is complete in itself—a beautiful and blessed exposition of divine truth. But it is only so as taken in its connection. Tear it asunder; take separate verses; and the beauty and sweetness of it are lost. I shall, therefore, as our text is long, and contains much matter, proceed at once to consider its contents. And I think that we may observe in it three or four leading features.

I. First, the charge– "You have fallen by your iniquity."

II. Secondly, the invitation– "O Israel, return unto the Lord your God. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously."

III. Thirdly, the response of the church to this gracious and tender invitation– "So will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us—we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, you are our gods."

IV. And to these three leading features, I may add a fourth, which seems to put a crown upon the whole; "For in you the fatherless finds mercy."

I. The charge—the accusation that God brings against Israel– "You have fallen by your iniquity." But there may be some here who are inwardly saying to themselves, 'These words do not apply to me; I have never fallen by my iniquity; I stand upright; what has this to do with my case?' If there be such secret feelings at work in any of your minds, it does not show that the text will not apply to you—it merely shows, that the veil of ignorance, self-righteousness, and unbelief is still upon your heart. For, were that veil taken away, and you had a sight of yourself as you stand in the eyes of a holy God, you would find, that in one sense or other you have much to do with the accusation; and then, so far from putting the charge away from you, you would be the very first to fall under it.

The book of Hosea is filled with expostulations, warnings, admonitions, invitations, and promises. Spiritually viewed, these are applicable only to a certain character, one who has departed, or is departing from the Lord. And, as I believe in my conscience, there is no child of God who really knows his heart, that has not departed from the Lord, and is not, more or less, daily departing from him, in thought, word, or deed, this charge belongs to the whole family of God. But if you think it does not apply to you, stand aside, and let those hear who have ears to hear.

But what is the substance of the charge? The Lord is speaking here to his own people, whom he addresses by the name of Israel; and in order to make the charge more pointed, he puts it in the second person; "O Israel, you have fallen by your iniquity." The words will need a little opening up.

1. What are we to understand, then, by iniquity? Are we to limit the expression to open acts of sin? Are we to say there is no iniquity except that which consists in words spoken or acts performed? that nothing short of drunkenness, adultery, theft, falsehood, and other such open sins, can be designated by the word iniquity? A man who thinks and argues thus, can know very little of the character of God; he can know very little of the holiness, purity, majesty, and power of the Lord God Almighty; and he can know very little of the wickedness, sinfulness, and depravity of his own fallen nature.

Every, yes, the least departing from God, is iniquity; all that does not lie level and straight with the divine character. Just as when a straight rule is laid upon a curved surface, it detects the least crookedness; and as the slightest crookedness whatever may be called a departure from a right line, so every departing of the heart from God is iniquity. Or, in the same way as a grain less than the real weight makes the weight defective, so the least deviation from the purity, perfection, and holiness of God, is iniquity. A man that is not aware of this, and is not keenly alive to it, can know little either of the character of God, or of the character of sin.

2. But what is it to fall? "You have fallen by your iniquity." Must we refer this falling only to something outward? Are there no other falls but positive words or positive acts of sin? Is nothing to be designated a fall but that which may be brought before a church as an act to be visited by its censure? A man must be as ignorant of what falling is, as he is of what iniquity is, if he thinks that there is no other falling but that which consists in some words spoken, or some acts done. There is a falling inwardly. There are secret thoughts, desires, lusts, and workings of our depraved heart by which we fall; and the more a man is acquainted with his own heart, and the character of God, the more will he be alive to these inward slips and falls, even when to the eye of man, however keen it may be, there may seem to be nothing inconsistent or unbecoming.

I wish to explain this matter fully at the very outset, in order that I may throw the net as widely as possible, and include in its capacious folds every one whose soul God has quickened to fear his great Name. For, I am certain, if the grace of God be in your heart—if your conscience be made and kept alive and tender in God's fear; if you have light to see, and life to feel, you will acknowledge and fall beneath the charge, "You are fallen by your iniquity."

When the Lord is first pleased to draw us near to himself by some manifestation of his mercy, goodness, and love, we walk with him in simplicity and godly sincerity; he has our hearts and our warmest and most ardent affections, and our delight and pleasure is to have sweet communion with him. And here for the most part we stand so long as the blessed Spirit is drawing up our hearts and affections, and fixing them where Jesus sits at God's right hand. But when he leaves us; when he withdraws his in-shinings and the visitations of his mercy and favor, then, like Abraham, we return to our place, and it may be said often of us too truly, "You have fallen by your iniquity."

But in how many ways do the Lord's people inwardly fall when God keeps them from slipping outwardly! Some fall by spiritual pride, even those whom the Lord has specially blessed. The very blessings of the Lord may be and are abused by the carnal mind; as Deer says, and to my mind he never wrote a truer line, "The heart uplifts with God's own gifts, and makes even grace a snare.

The Apostle Paul found this. After he had been caught up to the third heaven, "lest he should be puffed up with the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, was sent to buffet him, lest he should be exalted above measure." (2Cor 12:7.) Spiritual pride was working in him; even from the manifestations and revelations that God had favored him with. And who that knows anything of the visitations of God to his spirit, does not feel that when these sweet seasons are withdrawn, he is lifted up with pride, thinks that he stands nearer to God, and higher in the divine favor than others, and has something to boast of over his weaker brethren?

Others fall by worldly pride. Pride is a tree with many branches. Some who are free, to a certain degree at least, from the outward manifestations of worldly pride, are eaten up with spiritual pride; and those, perhaps, who are kept humble in their souls, and in whom spiritual pride does not manifest itself, feel one of their chief enemies to be worldly pride. Others fall by covetousness; "the love of money, the root of all evil," entangles and draws them aside. Others fall by worldly-mindedness, earthly cares, and temporal anxieties, that seem to eat up, like the locust, every green leaf of the life of God in the soul. Others fall by presumption; and others fall by despair. Each person that knows his own heart is best acquainted with that which entangles him, and draws him aside.

Sensuality is the snare of some. An inclination to strong drink is a temptation to others. Worldly relations and connections are a besetment to a third; family cares and anxieties are a temptation to a fourth. Each may have his own besetting sin; each may have his own snare; and yet the end and result be the same in all and each. "O Israel, you have fallen by your iniquity"—by that iniquity which has more or less power in your heart to entangle you, to bewitch you, to allure you, to blind your eyes, to draw you aside, to turn your feet out of the narrow path, to carnalize your mind, to deaden your spirit, to harden your conscience, to weaken the influences of faith, hope, and love.

Let conscience speak in the bosom of each, (who know what it is to have a conscience), and it will point out to each some besetting sin connected perhaps with his situation in life, or some temptation springing perhaps out of the peculiar relationship in which he stands. Each whose eyes are opened to see the workings of his heart, may see (if God be pleased to show him) that there is some iniquity, some besetment, some temptation, some lust, some idol, some snare; that there is something working in his heart whereby he continually falls away from communion with God; from the actings of faith, hope, and love; from his steadfastness; and from the sweet feelings that the Lord has from time to time blessed him with; so that his mind becomes more or less carnalized, darkened, and deadened.

Now if you cannot go thus far with me, I have no hope whatever that you can go one step further. If there is no response in your bosom to what I have thus far been attempting to sketch out (and most feebly I confess have I thus sketched out some of these inward departings from the Lord); if you cannot go thus far, I have not the least hope of taking you one step further. But if you have been able thus far to follow me, and conscience bears its inward testimony that I have spoken the truth, and described more or less what you daily feel and mourn under, then let us proceed in company a step further, to our second point, which is,

II. The invitation which the Lord addresses to all who know and feel that they have fallen, and that they do fall, and that daily by iniquity. And perhaps if I could follow some of those sitting before me into their secret retirements; could I listen to their sighs and cries as they lie upon their midnight bed; could I be near them when they are engaged in their various occupations; could I watch their lips as they traverse the streets of this metropolis—I might hear them secretly complaining and confessing to God how vile they are, how base, how filthy, how entangled, how overtaken, how ensnared, and what trouble this causes them, that they are continually falling by their iniquity.

A. The Lord speaks to these; they have ears to hear; and his words will not fall to the ground. And what does he say? He addresses them tenderly; he speaks to them in the sweetest invitation; "O Israel, return unto the Lord your God—I know where you have been, Israel; I know what you have been doing; I see how you have fallen; I know what grief your inward or outward backslidings have cost you; my eye has seen the trouble of your heart, and my ear has been opened to the sighs, and cries, and groans of your lips. I am not a hard taskmaster, to cast you off, cut you down, and send you to your deserved place; O Israel, return unto the Lord your God."

But how much there is couched in the words, "the Lord your God!" What still! though you have fallen by your iniquity; though you have departed from the Lord; though you have nursed every abomination in your heart; though you have gone, in your fallen nature, after the filthiest idols; though you have forsaken me times without number; though you have preferred anything and everything to my ways; yet he is the Lord your God still, who has loved you with an everlasting love, who hates putting away, who will not reject you, nor cast you aside, nor cut you down, nor send you into eternal misery. He is still the Lord "merciful and gracious;" your tender, your compassionate, your ever-living, ever-loving God; your Father still, your Benefactor still, your sin-pardoning God still!

Now there is nothing that so melts and moves a poor sinner's heart, as when the Lord is pleased to drop such gracious and tender words into his soul as these. The Lord knows how to deal with us. He knows how to overcome us. He does not drive us to distraction by his wrathful anger; but he softens, melts, and moves the heart by tenderness, compassion, and love. He puts his hand upon the tenderest springs of our heart; he touches the right cord; he addresses to us the invitations, which when they come from his lips move and melt the soul. 'Return; I am ready to receive you. I hold out my arm of tender compassion to you.' "O Israel, return unto the Lord your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity."

If you have never known the misery of departing from God, you can never know the sweetness of returning to God. If you have never bewailed, lamented, nor mourned over the backslidings, the idolatries, and the adulteries of your fallen nature, you can know nothing of the sweetness of returning to him. You are like the elder son in the parable, who never at any time offended his father, but always kept his commandments; and you therefore have never had occasion to confess to the Lord how you have fallen by your iniquity. You stand in your own holiness, righteousness, obedience, and consistency of life; and therefore know nothing of the moving and melting breakings of heart that spring out of the Lord's tender invitations as applied to those who mourn and sigh because they have departed from him.

B. But the Lord says also, "Take with you words;" as though he would put words into our mouth; as though he would himself suggest to us the most prevailing arguments. Some have contended from this language of the prophet for written forms of prayer; but, I think such have sadly overlooked the real spiritual meaning of the text. I think I may illustrate it by a very simple figure. Here is a criminal in a court of justice who is so cut up with shame and guilt, that he has not a word to say; but there stands by his side an advocate, a councilor, who knows the whole of the case; and he puts words into the criminal's mouth, and such words as he knows will have the greatest prevalence with the judge and jury. He tells him what to say, because he knows that the words which he puts into his mouth are the best to make use of, and such as will carry the greatest weight and power with those before whom he stands. And thus, when the Lord says, "Take with you words," he does not mean to put forms into the mouths of any. It is not to furnish a written formula for them to use; but it is to put prevailing arguments into the mouth of those who are so cut up with shame and guilt, that they have not a word to plead in their own behalf. It is as though he would himself put into Israel's heart and mouth arguments that would not fail to touch his own bosom, and bring down answers of mercy and peace out of his inexhaustible treasury. "Take with you words."

But what shall those words be? There are two which the Lord has here put into the heart and mouth of returning Israel.

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