God is Waiting for His People

Article for June 7, 2026

Hosea 5:15 15I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

This is the time towards the beginning of the Assyrian captivity.  Hosea being the prophet to God’s people Israel.  And at the same time of Hosea, Isaiah and Micah are prophets to God’s people Judah.  The message from God through Hosea is quite simple. 

God is going back to His heavenly realm awaiting Israel to admit their sins against God.  Until His people Israel confesses their sins, He will stay upon His heavenly thrown and do nothing.  God is waiting for His people to see the folly of their sin that caused their separation from God.

We sometimes do not realize the consequences that our sin will cause.  Maybe we do not realize that even if we escape the punishment of our sins from the world we do not realize we did not escape the consequences of our sin in the law of God. 

Because Israel separated themselves from God, God separated Himself from them.  God withheld the protection the Israelites expected from God as the Assyrians took them captive.  God, I think, at times does the same for us in hopes of drawing us back to Him.  The question that comes to mind, does this only work for believers?

If we continue to turn our back on God, the same thing could happen us, and God will turn His back on all of us.  Stop and think, once saved always saved doesn’t work the way some think it does.  When you’ve been saved you no longer sin is not a true statement as much as I would like to believe.  It would be nice, and if you think once saved, always saved gives you permission to sin, please think again. 

Hosea 6:1 1“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

We are saved not by our actions, but by the action of Jesus Christ dying for your sin’s past, present and future sins.  So, we need to turn back to God as many times as we sin and want to be forgiven.  Each time we sin we separate ourselves from God and each time we repent and are forgiven we are brought back to be with God and God with us.

Listen to what Hosea is saying here.  Yahweh has torn us up.  In other words, Yahweh has let us suffer for our sins by separating us from Him.  God did this that we might feel the emptiness that we should feel when Yahweh is no longer in us.  In this emptiness we should feel the need to seek God and repent to reunite us with Him.  We just went to the cross.

“After two days He will revive us.”  Jesus spent His time in His burial defeating sin, death, and the evil one so that they no longer have a hold on us.  First Jesus went to the cross and died.  Second Jesus was buried and fulfilled the demands of the law. 

“on the third day he will raise us up” Jesus was resurrected on the third day as should we be resurrected to live with our Lord forever.   Here we will never be separated from Him again as there will be no sin, no death, and no unhappiness.

Hosea 6:3 3Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

To keep from separating ourselves from our Lord we must do everything to know Him.  We need to know that our Lord loves us and loves us to life.  We need to know of our frailties and how Jesus protects us from them.  We need to know the gospel, the good news that saves us that originated from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We need to know so that we can believe and through faith know that we are protected from this world.

We need to know, believe, and have faith that our Lord is coming again to save the believer and rid the world of all evil once and for all.  Jesus is coming again and He will come like the spring rain that falls on all and all will see His coming.  For some it will be a sigh of relief, and to others it will be a feeling of doom.  Doom?  Because all will believe but not all will believe in time, because time will cease to exist and this makes the unbeliever too late.

Hosea 6:4 4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.

Fleeting is some people’s belief if they do not see or think they reaped what they expect from God.  Fleeting is some people’s faith because they didn’t feel that God answered their prayers.  Most people want to create the rules for God to follow rather than follow the love of God through His law and precepts.   O World, O USA where is your love for God and your faith of His word.

Hosea 6:5 5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.

Our Lord gave His people Irael and Judah His word through many prophets.  These prophets, like Hosea, gave God’s warnings, and God’s means to put His people back in His grace.  Some of the prophecies were very harsh.  Though many do not listen to these prophets the hard truth shows itself.  Many died, many were held captive, and many died in their captivity. 

God has given us His word, and many do not listen, many do not read, many do not study.  The hard truth still remains, many will fall to the world, many will die in their captivity to the world, and many will go to the pit.  Because they do not know God through His word. But for the believer many will study the word of God, and many will know of their salvation because those many will know our God and Savior.

Hosea 6:6 6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

    It is not the ceremony; it is the knowledge of the faith our Lord Jesus is waiting for all to receive for He died for all that many might be saved.  Jesus loves us to life.  Amen.

Written by Pastor Curtis A. May