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.