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Open your Bibles this morning
to Hosea 14 verse 4. Today I would like to do a little
word study on a very important word that we find in Hosea 14
verse 4. A word that maybe we use too
casually. It's the word backsliding. Here it is in Hosea 14.4, and
we have a sunburst in our study in Hosea where these people have
gone into idolatry, have been disobedient to the Lord. And
we come to verse four and he says, I will heal their backsliding. And maybe we use this word too
casually about a believer in Christ who is not coming to church
now, and they seem to be disobedient. They've involved themselves in
some sin. And we say, they're backslidden. Or they say, I'm backslidden. It is a very dangerous place
to be, to be backslidden. And what does that mean? to slide
backwards. When you slide, you've lost some
control probably. And to slide backwards when you're
trying to take steps forward is a problem. I was walking my
dog the other day and we were coming up the stairs and he is
getting old and his back legs are growing more and more weak. The vet said that he has arthritis
in his back legs. And the poor critter, I noticed
as we were coming up the steps that all of a sudden he was sliding
backwards. because he missed a step or he
didn't have strength in those back legs to take the next step. And it was kind of pitiful just
to see him slide backwards. I want to say it's so much more
pitiful to see a professing Christian slide backwards. It's a very
dangerous thing. And so I hope that We can see
this in context with Israel and be warned by it today. So let's
go to the Lord and just ask Him to give us understanding. Father,
thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the themes,
the truths, the doctrines that are contained in the 66 books
of Scripture and how we need understanding, Lord. to see the
proper interpretation and then the application to our hearts. And Lord, as Hosea mentioned
this problem with the people of Israel some 700 years before
Christ, we pray that your spirit will make application to our
lives today. And I pray if there's anyone
hearing this who claims to be a follower of Jesus, a believer,
a Christian, and yet they would say, I'm backslidden. I pray,
Lord, that you would heal that backslidden condition. Lord,
if there's someone who says that, and the real truth is they never
were one of your children, I pray that you will shake them out
of their condition to call on the name of the Lord and be saved.
Bless us in these moments, we pray in Jesus' wonderful name,
amen. Notice verses one through four. O Israel, return to the Lord
your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take
words with you and return to the Lord. and say to him, take
away all iniquity, receive us graciously, for we will offer
the sacrifice of our lips, Assyria shall not save us, we will not
ride on horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands,
you are our gods. For in you, the fatherless finds
mercy. So we see the theme of returning
here in verse one. Oh Israel, return to the Lord.
It's a very powerful concept in the book of Hosea. It's repeated
here in verse two. Return to the Lord, and we studied
that last week. And what return to the Lord will
look like in this penitent speech forgive our sins, and we'll put
away these idols that we've called gods. Because in you, and only
in you, the fatherless finds mercy, finds compassion. You
are the one who cares for vulnerable and needy people. And so the
next line builds on this, where God says, I will heal their backsliding. I will heal their backsliding.
and I will love them freely. So let's just do a little word
study here. First of all, the meaning of
backsliding. The reason Israel needs to return
to the Lord. Return, return, go back, go back. Why did they need to do that?
Because they had backslidden. There's something very intriguing
about this. Let me just give a little technicality
here on the Hebrew word. Meshuvah. And in your notes,
you may see the middle part of that word, S-H-U-V, underlined. That's the word for return. So
over and over in the book of Hosea, he's saying return, return,
go back to the Lord, go back to the Lord. Why do they need
to go back to the Lord? Because of this, they had turned
away from the Lord. They had backslidden. Meshuvah. You need to shoove, return. Why? Because you have backslidden.
So they had turned the wrong direction from the Lord, backslidden,
and Hosea is pleading with them to turn back, turn back to the
Lord. So what does Meshuvah mean? Here
are several definitions from different sources. To turn back,
turning back, or apostasy. falling away, or an act of faithlessness,
defection, apostasy. Backsliding, disloyalty. Was Israel disloyal to God? He
had delivered them out of Egypt, and what did they do? They went
to Baal worship, worshiping idols. They were disloyal. How about
this? Desertion. and revolt, they rebelled
against him. All of these words put together
a very serious case of people who had been blessed by God turning
a blind eye and a deaf ear to him, not seeing him at work in
their lives. What a warning to all of us. Let us not experience the goodness
of God and then turn a deaf ear, a blind eye to him and not see
his work in our lives. What a warning to a nation who
has been richly blessed by God to turn away from him. So what I want to do is just
examine the 12 occurrences of this word in the Old Testament
And we'll just walk our way through. I have a little chart there for
you. The results of backsliding. So 12 times in the scriptures
we have this word and then a couple other times related word. So
go to first of all to the book of Proverbs. This is the only
occurrence of this in the book of Proverbs. But it has something
to say to us that's very powerful. Proverbs chapter 1 and notice
verse 32. Wisdom is personified. It's acting like it's a person.
And so in verse 20, it says, wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the open
squares. And today in our wisdom reading,
we also read about wisdom's cry, calling out. Well, notice what
wisdom says in Proverbs 1.20, turn, that's shoo. turn at my rebuke. Listen to me. Surely I will pour
out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to
you. because I have called and you
refused. I have stretched out my hand
and no one regarded. I've called to you and you're
not paying attention. Turn, wisdom is saying, at my
rebuke. And we can see the voice of God,
the voice of the prophets through wisdom saying, turn at my rebuke. And if you don't, verse 25, because
you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke,
I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror
comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction
comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon
you. Then they will call on me, but
I will not answer. They will seek me diligently,
but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did
not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel.
They despise my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the
fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their
own fancies. For the turning away, Meshuvah,
the apostasy, the disloyalty, the desertion, the turning away
of the simple, the foolish person will slay them and the complacency
of fools will destroy them. Who is backsliding here? The
simple. They're turning away. They're
turning away, backsliding from the voice of wisdom. And he says,
that turning away will end up in death. It will slay you. But look at the contrast, verse
33. But whoever listens to me will
dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil. So what's
the result of a backslidden condition here? The simple turning away,
being slain, whether that means physically, literally, or in
other ways, it certainly speaks to devastation. A life of purpose
and meaning is a life of following the wisdom of God, listening
to his rebukes. listening to his word. A life
of devastation is just turning away. I've shared this various
times, these three profound words. Sin complicates things. Sin complicates things. We don't
listen to God's wisdom. It complicates things that leads
to destruction. Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin
is what? Death. the turning away of the simple,
the backslidden condition of the simple, it will slay them.
Now we go to the prophet Jeremiah. And Jeremiah uses this word over
and over. Hosea and Jeremiah are the two
prophets that build on this word. And here's what we need to understand.
Hosea spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel. the 700s BC, but Jeremiah
spoke to Judah, the Southern kingdom, and they both addressed
the same problem in Israel and in Judah. So over and over we
find in Jeremiah, the use of this backslidden condition, Meshuvah,
turning away from the Lord. Jeremiah chapter two, let's start
with verse 19. Your own wickedness will correct
you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and
see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken
the Lord your God, and the fear of me is not in you, says the
Lord God of hosts. To whom is he speaking here?
Look at chapter two, verse four. Earlier in the chapter, And he
says this, hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all
the families of Israel, thus says the Lord. So Judah and the
whole house of Israel, he is speaking to them and he's saying
in verse 19, your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore
it's an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord. People who are going through
religious motions, but not truly in their hearts worshiping God.
People going through idolatrous activities. It's an evil and
bitter thing that you've turned away from the Lord. You have
backslidden, gone away from Him. Notice chapter three, verse six
of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 3.6. The Lord said also to me in the
days of Josiah the king, have you seen what backsliding Israel
has done? And there the noun is used as
a description for Israel. Backsliding Israel has done. She has gone up on every high
mountain under every green tree and there played the harlots.
Talking about idolatrous practices in the groves. and the mountain
places up on the hills and they had these shrines to bail and
Israel would engage in idolatry and accompanying that was this
gross immorality. It was all spiritual harlotry. And so God says, to Judah, Josiah
was a king in the southern kingdom. Have you seen what backsliding
Israel has done? God says that to Jeremiah in
the days of Josiah. Notice verse seven. And I said,
after she had done all these things, return. There you have
it. You have gone back. You have
turned away. And I'm saying, turn to me. But
she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Northern
kingdom, southern kingdom. Then I saw that for all the causes
for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had
put her away and given her a certificate of divorce. Yet her treacherous
sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
Big sister in the northern kingdom. Backslidden, went after idolatry. Little sister Judah, you should
see that. You should learn from that. No,
she didn't learn. She did the same thing. She repeated
it. Spiritual harlotry under the
trees. God put her away was one of the
results. There was alienation from the
Lord. Sin keeps us from God. Sin produces guilt. Guilt produces
depression. And what's the answer? To confess
and to be forgiven and to be cleansed, to return to the Lord. But when we harden our hearts
and then we sin again and sin again and sin again, and now
we have this big spiritual callous, We achieve this condition of
being backslidden and turned away from God. And then it's
so easy to begin to doubt. Is God really there? God doesn't
care about me? And let's just go back. What
started all this? And we begin to depart with sin
after sin and not confessing it. Very dangerous. And so she
was alienated from God. Adam, Eve, don't eat. from that tree in the middle
of the garden. The day you eat, you will die. They ate. They did not drop dead. Did God lie? No. There they are, hiding in the
bushes, trying to sew together fig leaves for clothes. They
were alienated from God. They were estranged from God.
That's what happened with Israel. And God said, I'm going to put
you away And you didn't learn, Judah, from your big sister. Notice verse 10. And yet for
all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to me with
her whole heart, but in pretense, says the Lord. Then the Lord
said to me, backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous
than treacherous Judah. I take it to be that Israel at
least learned from her sins. And so she's less vile than Judah,
who is plenty vile, but she's not getting the lesson. And Israel
seems to be getting the lesson. Notice verse 12, go, and proclaim these words toward
the north. Return, Shuv. Backsliding Israel,
Meshuvah, says the Lord. I will not cause my anger to
fall on you, for I am merciful. Hosea told the people that, God
is merciful and compassionate. Says the Lord, I will not remain
angry forever, only acknowledge your iniquity. Same thing that
was said in Hosea, that you have transgressed against the Lord
your God and have scattered your charms to alien deities under
every green tree. And you have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord. Verse 14, return, O backsliding
children. You see verse 13, you've scattered
your charms to alien deities. We had some cards put on our
door. It appeared to be, I didn't examine
it closely, but about some palm reader or someone who could foretell
the future. I've had these a couple of times. And let me just insert something
here. Yesterday at Iron Sharpens Iron,
we had a little discussion about the horoscope and about the signs
of the zodiac. So I just want to put it out
here today. As Bible-believing Christians
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, should you be concerned about your horoscope? No. No. You should not. Should you consult a palm reader? Should you attend a seance where
people are contacting the dead? Should you have charms or jewelry,
anything that reminds you of false deities? No. And if you need to purge your
house from any of those things, do so. One of the men that I
have enjoyed in the past, his insights into scripture and into
culture, Brian Fisher, talked about this house where someone
was feeling this demonic oppression. And they, I think, called on
him to help. Maybe he was pastoring then.
Anyhow, in this house, there was a picture, a painting that
they had. And I don't remember the exact
details of that painting. But it was demonic. It was occultic. And this house had this sense
of oppression and heaviness. And he says, you need to get
rid of this. Get rid of that picture. You
say, well, I just want to, you know, it's like a souvenir. So
I'm going to keep these things. Maybe from even from the country
that you came from. These were passed down from my
grandma and my grandfather. And you know, they would sometimes
pray to these or talk to these, or it was a good luck charm.
If you're in Christ, you're a new creature. The old things have
gone. Denounce those things. And don't
let any of it have an impact on you. Why are people so consumed
with knowing the future? Hear this. This book has everything
in it that God wants us to know about the future. And there's
not a one of us that's mastered this. So why are we looking for
other things? God's information on the future
is right here. Okay, that was a message within
a message. Alien deities under every green
tree and you've not obeyed my voice. Return, oh backslidden
children, backsliding children. Okay, look at Jeremiah chapter
3 verse 22. Return, you backsliding children,
and I will heal your backslidings. Chapter 5 and verse 6 of Jeremiah. Chapter 5 and verse 6. Therefore, a lion from the forest
shall slay them. A wolf of the desert shall destroy
them. A leopard will watch over their
cities. Everyone who goes out from there
shall be torn in pieces because their transgressions are many.
Their backslidings have increased. People in Jerusalem, chapter
5, verse 1, run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. So
Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom, He's saying
their backslidings have increased. What's going to happen? They
will have judgment. Judgment will come. A lion from
the forest, a wolf, a leopard will come and bring destruction. Notice chapter five of Jeremiah,
verse three. Oh Lord, are not your eyes on
the truth? Amen. Your eyes are on the truth. Chapter eight and verse four. Moreover, you shall say to them,
thus says the Lord, will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away? and not return? Here it is. Will one turn away
and not return? Why has this people slidden back? Backsliding. Jerusalem in a perpetual
backsliding. They hold fast to deceit. They refuse to return. They're
turning backwards and they're refusing to turn to me. I listened
and heard, but they do not speak aright. No man repented of his
wickedness, saying, what have I done? Everyone turned to his
own course as the horse rushes into battle. Notice chapter eight,
verse three, then death shall be chosen rather than life. by all the residue of those who
remain of this evil family. Imagine that, death chosen rather
than life. We have a culture of death around
us, people choosing death. In chapter seven, verse 28, so
you shall say to them, this is a nation that does not obey the
voice of the Lord their God, nor receive correction. Truth
has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. So Jerusalem
is holding on to deceit and they're sliding backwards, backwards,
backwards away from the Lord and refusing to return. What a dangerous, dangerous condition. So Jeremiah speaks to not only
Judah, the southern kingdom, but to Israel in the north, and
they all had the same problem. Notice chapter 14 and verse 7.
Jeremiah 14, 7. Oh Lord, though our iniquities testify against
us, Do it for your name's sake, for
our backslidings are many. We have sinned against you. How do you come back from this? Acknowledge sin. We've sinned
against you. Oh, the hope of Israel, his savior
in time of trouble. Why should you be like a stranger
in the land and like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for
a night? Why are you, hope of Israel,
like a stranger to Jerusalem? So what's a result? The fear
of God being estranged from him. You're like a stranger to us. When we turn away from him and
backslide from him, that's the result. We don't want to do that. And we want to pray for those
who have started down that path. Please come back. Return, return
to the Lord. Let's go back just for a moment
to chapter 3 and verse 14, where the Lord says, return, O backsliding
Israel. It's a little different word
here, but it's related to that word group. That's why it's not
in your list. But he says, return, O backsliding
Israel, says the Lord, for I am married to you. I will take you,
one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you
to Zion. This is looking forward to a
glad day when Israel will be submitted to the Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And look at verse 15. And I will
give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you
with knowledge and understanding. Then it shall come to pass when
you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says
the Lord, that they will say no more the ark of the covenant
of the Lord. It shall not come to mind, nor
shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be
made anymore. At that time, Jerusalem shall
be called the throne of the Lord. We don't need the R, because
the Lord is there. And all the nations shall be
gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more
shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. God will
heal Israel's backsliding, ultimately, in the future. And he will set
up his throne in Jerusalem. and King Jesus will reign there.
And Hosea and Jeremiah look past their day and the backsliding
that was going on and the judgment that would come when they're
carried away into captivity to a future day of restoration. Notice chapter three, verse 22,
where he says, return your backsliding children and I will heal your
backslidings. What a wonderful ray of hope. Now we go to Hosea. So Jeremiah
uses this word over and over, backsliding, backsliding, and
Hosea uses it in chapter 11 in verse 7, and then in chapter
14 in verse 4. Chapter 11 of Hosea, and here
Israel, my people, My people are bent on backsliding
from me. Though they call to the Most
High, none at all exalt Him. Judah worshiped in pretense,
not genuinely. Israel was not worshiping genuinely,
calling on the Most High, but not exalting Him, not lifting
Him up. And he says, they're bent on
this, bent on backsliding from me, turning away from me. So all these judgment passages
in Hosea, where the people have turned away from the Lord, are
answered now in chapter 14, where the Lord says, return, return. Confess your sins. And they realize
only in you is there mercy. So we have here, the remedy for
backsliding, Hosea 14.4. And these amazing words from
Jehovah, I will heal their backsliding. I'll heal it. The remedy for
this spiritual condition is spiritual healing. The touch of the master's
hand for divine spiritual healing. It's not human effort. You can't
heal your own backsliding. The Lord ultimately is the one
who heals it. And looking at individuals within
the nation of Judah and Israel, and looking with the nation as
a whole, God will heal their backsliding. This is a special
verse to me because I remember at a crucial time in my life
as a young man, A counselor dealt with me, and he was trying to
find out my spiritual condition, or I was trying to describe it
to him, and I didn't really know what all to say except that I
was backslidden. And I remember how he turned
to this verse, I will heal their backsliding. And that was a blessing. It was a turning point in my
life. Going the wrong way and God turning me around to submit
my life to Christ. Young people, I want to challenge
you. For whom are you living today? Is it for you? Is it for a friend? Or is it for Jesus Christ? For
whom are you living? Whom are you trying to please?
Yourself, friends, or the Lord Jesus Christ? Young adults, whom
are you trying to please? For whom are you living? If you
profess faith in Jesus Christ, and what's most important to
you are your plans and your goals and your ambitions, you're living
for you. That's on the wrong path. And
I challenge you to turn and say, Lord Jesus, here's my life. I'm
giving it all to you. Divine spiritual healing. Notice
Hosea 14.4. I will heal their backsliding.
I will love them freely. Divine applied love, the unconditional
love of God. That's the whole lesson of Hosea. He loved and showed unconditional
love to Gomer, his adulterous wife, and here, Israel was so
despicable and God loved them and says, I got a plan for you
and I'm going to heal you. Praise God for his wonderful,
wonderful love. Instead of my wrath, my anger,
I'm going to love you. My anger is turned away from
them. I'm going to love them freely.
I'm interested in these contrasts, backsliding And what's the answer
to that? Healing. The healing of the heart. We have in our hearts the capability
to raise up idols. We are continually bombarded
in our hearts. So the writer in Proverbs says,
guard your heart. For out of it are the issues
of life. 2 Corinthians 10.5, casting down
imaginations or arguments or reasoning that exalt themselves
against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. Our hearts need to be healed
to seek after the Lord and to put Him first. And He loves us
and wants to draw us back to that. So let me apply this. It's a
challenging subject. We have in the book of Hebrews
people that were contemplating apostasy, turning away from the
Lord. And I don't know that I understand
all of that, but I believe this. We have in this concept of backsliding
a warning for believers. We are warned by all of this
not to turn away from God, not to leave the path of vibrance. And what of those who turn away
and used to be vibrant with the Lord and now have no time for
Him? Well, one possibility is they
never really belong to the Lord. and they've turned away from.
How grievous is that? But there's a warning to every
one of us that we would not turn away from the Lord. The devil
wants us to do that. You know, if we're a quote unquote
backslidden Christian, I don't know that the devil cares too
much about us. Kind of got us where he wants
us. But if you're vibrant for Jesus, If you want to live for
Christ, if you're zealous about a daily quiet time, you're zealous
about the word of God, expect the attacks. They're going to
come. He wants us to doubt, to turn
away, or to turn to idols. So let me ask this. Have you
trusted Jesus as your Savior? True faith perseveres. If you come to the place, I know
I've sinned, but I believe Jesus died and rose again, and I am
trusting Jesus to save me. I urge you to do that if you haven't
done it. Believers warning, God's unconditional
love to his blood-bought children. Praise God. He loves us despite
our failures. He loves us. He cares for us. He loves us freely. We should
rejoice in it. Thank the Lord for it. And then
I see this grace and mercy of God, the necessity of returning. Turn back to God. If you find
yourself straying from Jesus, if you find yourself growing
cold spiritually, turn back. And if that involves, you know,
there's some things that I need to get rid of in my life. And
get rid of it. There's some music I need to
get rid of. Because it's taking me down. It's planting evil seeds
and language in my head. I need to get rid of it. There's
some movies that I need to stop watching. And some websites that
I need to not go to. because it's taken me away from
the Lord and I need to turn back to him. I don't want to be on
that path of backsliding down the steps and being estranged
from God. Let's pray together. Our Father, I thank you for your
word. And I pray that you will make
application to each of us from this concept, we do not want
to be described as backslidden Christians. What a contradiction
in terms. Instead, we want to be genuine
and zealous followers after Jesus. Not half-hearted, but zealous
following Christ. Lord, I don't know what our needs
are, but you know And I pray that your spirit will take your
word and apply your word to our hearts. In Jesus' name.
Backsliding
Series Hosea
The prophets Jeremiah and Hosea summarize Israel's problem as "backsliding."
| Sermon ID | 21625218571511 |
| Duration | 40:30 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Hosea 14:4 |
| Language | English |
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