“I will return to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” [1]
The Lord pulls back and the hedge of protection around decreases. The ensuing afflictions bring about a change of perspective in the people that He is pursuing. They say…
“Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. …He will come to us like the rain...” [2]
They seek the Lord for healing. They seek Him for revival. They pursue the Lord and He responds…
“Your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” [3]
The Lord knows that their faithfulness to Him is short-lived. His prophets are His hands to shape them aright. His Word speaks death to that in them which needs to die so that they can truly live. His judgments provide light for them. The Lord wants to see reflections of His mercy in their lives. They considered their sacrifices for sin sufficient to please God, but no, He was looking for a change in their feelings towards Him. He wanted them to genuinely love Him! To know Him! To love Him which is the first commandment. God wants to be loved by people. He didn’t want to mete out judgments and rebukes to bring them back to Him, but He did so because only He could save them from sin and transform them. He cared for them.
“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” [4]
To do a pleasing work for God, believe in His Messiah. Walk with Him! Learn from Him! Love Him!
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.’” [5]
Know and believe God’s Messiah, also partake of Him! We partake of Christ when we eat the bread which is His body and drink the fruit of vine which is His blood. This refers to the new covenant Jesus made. The new covenant is that He became our sacrificial lamb. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! We eat His bread and drink His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, to have communion with Him and to proclaim that He will come again.
The relationship God wants with us is a close one.
[1] Hosea 5:15
[2] Hosea 6:1-3
[3] Hosea 6:4-6
[4] John 6:28-29
[5] John 6:53-57
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