Beginning Again

Hosea 14

Good evening, Church.

Grab your Bibles and make your way to Hosea 14. Before we get there, I want to catch us up—because between Hosea 10 and 13, a lot happens.

These chapters are like the long, dark hallway you walk through before you step into the light.

Hosea 10

In chapter 10, God compares Israel to a vine that once produced fruit for Him but eventually grew wild. The more they prospered, the more they built idols. They turned worship into self-indulgence.

And Hosea calls them out with this incredible line: “Sow righteousness, reap steadfast love, break up your fallow ground.” In other words, “Stop playing church. Stop going through the motions. Let God plow up the hard ground of your heart again.”

Israel had gotten religious, but not repentant. They wanted God’s help, but not God’s holiness. And that’s the danger for us, too. We can be close to God’s activity but far from His presence.

Hosea 11

Then chapter 11—man, it’s like God lets you hear His heart break. He says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him. I taught him to walk. I led him with cords of kindness.”

You can feel the tenderness of a Father who raised His child, only to watch that child run away. But what’s shocking is what comes next. God says, “How can I give you up? My compassion grows warm within me.”

You realize—God’s judgment isn’t cold. It’s not harsh. It’s heartbreak. He disciplines because He loves. He allows pain not to destroy, but to bring His children home.

That’s the gospel before the gospel: a holy God whose heart still burns with mercy.

Hosea 12

Chapter 12 takes us back to Jacob—the man who wrestled with God. Hosea’s saying, “You need to wrestle again.” Jacob clung to God and said, “I won’t let go until You bless me.” But Israel? They’d let go. They stopped striving for holiness. They stopped depending on grace.

So Hosea calls them to return: “Hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” Translation: Stop manipulating your way through life and start trusting the One who gave it to you.

Hosea 13

By chapter 13, things have gotten bad. Israel has forgotten their Maker. They made kings without God’s approval, worshiped idols made of metal, and thought their wealth would save them. So God says, “You’ve chosen your idols—now see if they can save you.”

He uses fierce imagery—like a lion, a leopard, a bear—to describe how judgment will come. But even in that, there’s a glimpse of redemption. God says, “Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death?”

It’s like He’s looking beyond the judgment, already seeing the cross—already whispering resurrection hope.

Even when we are faithless, God is still planning redemption.

Transition to Hosea 14

So here’s where that leaves us:

Hosea 9–10 shows the fruit of rebellion.

Hosea 11 shows the Father’s compassion.

Hosea 12–13 show the cost of forgetting God.

And then Hosea 14 breaks in like sunlight after a storm.

The Big Idea for Hosea 14 is pretty clear: when we obey the call to return to God, His anger turns from us, He heals our wandering hearts, and His blessing returns to us.

We love a good fresh start, don’t we? New Year’s Day. A new school year. A new job. A new Head Coach at Florida.

When we say we are going to eating better it starts on a Monday.

We mark new beginnings because deep down, we all want another shot — a chance to start over.

And Hosea ends his book on that exact note.

He’s spent 13 chapters calling out the sin, idolatry, and rebellion of God’s people — but when we turn the page to chapter 14, it’s like light breaking through the clouds. God says, “Return to Me.” It’s the invitation to begin again.

This is about the Israelites being perfect. This is about who they serve.

And God is not the God of 2nd chances.

I know what we mean when we say that God is the God of second chances but He’s not.

If God gave us a second chance— we would blow it. we would blow every chance we were offered.

God didn’t give us another chance— he gave us His son.

But we are talking about it in light of salvation. We are talking about how we are prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love and just like the father in the prodigal son— he is always there to welcome us back into relationship with Him.

Its not about being perfect— its about pursuing a relationship with the Lord.

But let’s read the last chapter in the book of Hosea and unpack it together:

(v.1) Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

(v.2) Take with you words and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.”

(v.3) Say, “Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In You the orphan finds mercy.”

(v.4) The Lord says, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for My anger has turned from them.”

(v.5) “I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily and take root like the trees of Lebanon.”

(v.6) “His shoots shall spread out, his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.”

(v.7) “They shall return and dwell beneath My shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”

(v.8) Ephraim shall say, “What have I to do with idols?” The Lord replies, “It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from Me comes your fruit.”

(v.9) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them, for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Pray

Return to God and His Way

In the final chapter of Hosea, God gives a direct command through the prophet: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God”

That word “return” is where it all starts — it’s the place of beginning again.

The Hebrew word means to turn back, to change direction. It’s the same idea behind the word repent.

Repentance isn’t just feeling bad or making a New Year’s resolution we’ll forget about in a week. It’s a decisive turn — away from sin and back toward God.

Repentance means we stop walking one way and start walking another. It’s not just a change of mind; it’s a change of life.

Paul said it like this in Acts 26:20: “They should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.”

In other words, if the direction of our life doesn’t shift, then repentance hasn’t happened.

When our thinking changes, our living changes.

True repentance means we’re not just sorry — we’re different. And that’s exactly what God wants.

This is one of the reasons I think we are in the mess we in; we have a lot of cultural christians with a heavy emphasis on the culture.

Because people walked down an isle— said a prayer to accept Jesus into there hearts—and were baptized.

Then what happened— they went and did all the things they were doing prior to that event because they viewed baptism as the finish line.

They thought baptism was the end goal.

I accepted Jesus into my heart. I’m good. I don’t need church— I already know Jesus.

I got the certificate of baptism and everything.

But listen to what Pastor Voddie Baucham has to say about that—

“Nowhere in the New Testament will you find that salvation is about "accepting" Jesus. Nowhere are you called to "accept Jesus". Nowhere in the New Testament will you find that salvation is about "asking Jesus into your heart". Nowhere in the New Testament are we told to "ask Jesus into your heart". Nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere. It's not there. What you are told again and again and again is to repent and believe.”

And the problem is pastors stopped preaching that. Sunday school teachers stopped teaching that. Youth Ministry, became youth group.

and we just wanted people to come to church. we just wanted people to be baptized. we just wanted to see butts in the seats.

Doesn’t matter that they aren’t living like they repent of anything.

The thing most cultural christians repent of is actually having a relationship with Jesus.

A lot of people live like God is okay with a little bit of sin—like there’s some acceptable level He’ll tolerate as long as we keep it quiet or under control. But that’s not how God works. He’s already gone on record about what He expects from His people. “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15, ESV).

Holiness isn’t sin management. It’s not trying to keep sin at a socially acceptable level or making sure nobody finds out about it. Holiness means killing sin—separating ourselves from it completely. Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48, ESV).

That’s the standard. Not partial obedience. Not outward appearances. God calls His people to be holy. So how do we respond to that? We humble ourselves before Him, we confess our sin, and we repent—we turn back. That’s exactly what Hosea preached: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (Hosea 14:1, ESV).

We turn from sin and turn to God — that’s what repentance looks like. And part of that turn is asking God for forgiveness. All through the book of Hosea, the prophet points out the sin of God’s people. In verse 1, he says, “You have stumbled because of your iniquity” (Hosea 14:1, ESV).

Before anyone’s willing to change direction, they’ve got to first realize they’re headed the wrong way. The problem is, most people don’t see it. They’ll admit, “Yeah, I’m not perfect,” but they shrug it off like it’s no big deal — because, after all, who is perfect?

But for those of us who belong to Jesus, who have the Holy Spirit living inside us, there ought to be a constant awareness of our need to confess and turn from sin. We never want to get to the place where we’re blind to our sin or impressed with our own goodness. We should never buy into our own hype.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still in him.” That’s what growth looks like—not perfection, but awareness. The closer you walk with Jesus, the less you’re impressed with yourself and the more amazed you are by grace.

The moment we stop seeing our need to change and grow, we’ve stopped walking closely with God.

So what are you going to do about sin?

Hosea says, “Return to the Lord your God” and say to Him, “Take away all iniquity” (Hosea 14:1–2, ESV).

Don’t ever settle for where you are in your walk with God. Don’t make peace with patterns that keep you distant from Him.

And please—don’t fall into that trap of saying, “Well, that’s just the way I am. It’s how I was raised. It’s who I’ve always been.” No, it’s not. That’s who you were.

But in Christ, you don’t have to stay that way.

and to be clear the Bible says: Deny yourself.

God’s invitation is still open: Return. Ask Him to forgive. Ask Him to change you. When you do, He will. And in that moment, you find yourself right back at the place of beginning again—the place where things can be different, because you can be different.

Renounce Substitutes for God

Hosea 14:2–3

Hosea didn’t just call the people to return—he got specific about what that meant. In verses 2–3, he named the sins that pulled Israel away from God, and honestly, they’re the same ones we wrestle with today. We look for substitutes—cheap replacements for the real thing—and if we want to truly begin again, we’ve got to renounce every one of them.

Hosea said they needed to come to God and say, “We will pay with bulls the vows of our lips” (Hosea 14:2, ESV). That phrase sounds odd to us, but it’s powerful. The Hebrew literally means “the bulls of our lips.” Bulls were used for sacrifices, so Hosea was saying, “Bring God not just an animal on the altar—bring Him the offering of your lips, your heart, your worship.”

In other words, God doesn’t just want a ritual; He wants relationship.

He’s not after empty motions or routine religion. He wants the praise that overflows from a heart that’s been made alive again.

That’s why the writer of Hebrews echoes this same truth: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15, ESV).

We also have to reject our tendency to trust in people instead of trusting in God. In Hosea 14:3, the prophet tells the people to say, “Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses” (ESV).

Israel had made an alliance with Assyria, paying tribute for protection. They were depending on another nation’s power instead of the Lord’s.

When Hosea says, “We will not ride on horses,” he’s pointing to their military strength — their cavalry.

They thought their safety came from soldiers and strategies instead of the sovereignty of God. They thought— we’re good— he comes the cavalry.

But Israel wasn’t just any nation — they were God’s people, set apart to trust Him alone. They weren’t supposed to look to foreign kings or armies for security. They were supposed to rest in God’s covenant promise.

And that same truth still hits home for us today. As followers of Jesus, we can fall into the same trap.

We do it all the time.

When life falls apart, we think a new relationship will fix it.

When we’re stressed, we think another drink or another hobby or another vacation will calm it.

— thinking human solutions can fix what’s broken in our lives or in the world.

The biggest one is politics— if this person gets in office—or if we can just vote this person out of office.

But human answers only go so deep. They’re temporary. They might treat symptoms, but they can’t change hearts.

God’s answer is Jesus.

His solution isn’t shallow or short-term — it’s eternal. Through Christ, He saves us, sanctifies us, and changes us from the inside out. That’s why we reject every substitute and say with conviction: “My trust is in the Lord.”

We also have to reject the false gods we’ve built in our lives. In Hosea 14:3, the people are told to say to God, “We will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands” (ESV). Hosea’s calling out their idolatry—those man-made idols they bowed down to and believed could save them. If they wanted to be right with God again, they had to stop playing games with fake gods and return to the one true God.

Now, we may not be melting gold into calves or carving statues in our garages, but idolatry is alive and well. It just wears different clothes. An idol is anything or anyone we put above God—something we think we can’t live without. It could be your career, your kids’ success, your comfort, your phone, your image, or even your ministry. We may not worship idols made with our hands, but we sure do worship ones built in our hearts.

At its core, idolatry is when we take something good and make it ultimate. We imagine something to be paramount when it’s not. We treat someone as preeminent when they’re not. True worship happens only when God is first—when every rival love gets torn down.

If we really want to renew our relationship with God, it starts here: we’ve got to renounce the gods we’ve made and worship only the one true God.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote a devotional on 1 Samuel 7:12 — the verse where Samuel sets up a stone and calls it Ebenezer, saying, “Till now the Lord has helped us” (ESV). If you grew up in church, you’ve probably sung those words before: “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come.” It’s that same idea — God, I’ve made it this far because You’ve helped me.

Spurgeon said we look back and thank God for the help that’s brought us this far, and we look forward trusting that the same God will help us again. That’s the spirit of beginning again — remembering that every new start rests on the same unchanging faithfulness of God.

We look back with gratitude and look forward with hope.

God’s brought us this far — and we can trust Him to carry us the rest of the way. Thats true in our individual lives and in the life of this His church.

Our trust isn’t in ourselves, or in substitutes that fade. Our trust is in the Lord — the same God who helped us before and will help us again.

Rejoice in God’s Blessings

Hosea 14:4–7

When we return to God, we don’t just walk away from sin—we walk right into blessing. Hosea 14:4 says, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them” (ESV). That word “apostasy” literally means “turning away.” So God says, “When my people turn back to me, I’ll heal what caused them to turn away in the first place.”

That’s grace. God doesn’t just forgive us—He fixes what made us wander. And He says, “My anger has turned from them.” The same word for “turn” keeps showing up through this whole passage. When we turn from sin, God’s anger turns away. When our hearts turn back to Him, His blessing turns back toward us.

And look at the promise in verse 7: “They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”

That’s the picture of restoration. God says, “Come home, and I’ll make you thrive again.” Under His shade, we find protection. In His presence, we find growth. The life that was once dry and brittle starts to blossom again.

So here’s the word for us tonight: When we return to God, He returns blessing. He heals our turning hearts. He turns His anger into mercy. And He brings beauty, stability, and abundance where there used to be brokenness.

To help us picture what His blessing looks like, God says in Hosea 14:5, “I will be like the dew to Israel” (ESV). That’s a powerful image. Dew shows up every morning — steady, dependable, refreshing. You don’t have to wonder if it’s coming; it’s just there. And God says that when His people return to Him, that’s what His presence will be like — constant and faithful. You won’t have to question if He’s still with you. You’ll wake up every day under the fresh covering of His grace.

Then God says something else: “He shall blossom like the lily.” The lily is beautiful, delicate, and full of life. When we turn back to God, the ugliness of our sin gives way to the beauty of His righteousness. What was wilted comes alive again. What was barren starts to bloom.

That’s what repentance produces — not shame, but beauty. Not distance, but renewal. When we return to God, He doesn’t rub our failures in our faces. He refreshes us like the morning dew and covers us in the beauty of His grace.

God gives another picture of His blessing in Hosea 14:6: “His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon” (ESV). It’s an image of abundance — of bounty that keeps on giving.

The olive tree was one of Israel’s most valuable resources. It provided food, oil for their lamps, and medicine for their wounds. It was a symbol of steady provision and blessing. And the best part? The olive tree is evergreen — it stays the same all year long.

So when God says His people will be like the olive tree, He’s saying their lives will overflow with constant fruitfulness — steady, enduring, and full of life. That’s what happens when we return to Him. Our roots go deep, our branches spread wide, and the blessing of God becomes visible in every part of our lives.

God was painting a picture for His people — what life would look like when they finally turned back to Him. It’s a picture of abundance. Of beauty. Of strength. When we return to God, we find consistency in Him, beauty in our lives, stability in our walk, and fruit that blesses others. God said He would be like the dew — steady and faithful — and His people would be like a beautiful flower, a mighty tree, and a fruitful vine overflowing with life.

That’s what happens when we come back home. God invites us to turn to Him, to ask for forgiveness for our past sins, to renounce every substitute we’ve trusted in, and to start reaching out to others with the same message of restoration we’ve received. When we turn to Him, He turns His blessings toward us — and we get to live in the fullness of the new life He gives.

There really is a place of beginning again. And it’s a wonderful place. You can find it when you “return to the Lord your God” (Hosea 14:1, ESV). That was Hosea’s message to Israel, and it’s still God’s message to us. The same God who loved Israel loves you — and He still invites anyone who will listen to turn to Him.

God was painting a picture for His people — what life would look like when they finally turned back to Him. It’s a picture of abundance. Of beauty.

Of strength. When we return to God, we find consistency in Him, beauty in our lives, stability in our walk, and fruit that blesses others. God said He would be like the dew — steady and faithful — and His people would be like a beautiful flower, a mighty tree, and a fruitful vine overflowing with life.

That’s what happens when we come back home. God invites us to turn to Him, to ask for forgiveness for our past sins, to renounce every substitute we’ve trusted in, and to start reaching out to others with the same message of restoration we’ve received.

When we turn to Him, He turns His blessings toward us — and we get to live in the fullness of the new life He gives.

There really is a place of beginning again. And it’s a wonderful place. You can find it when you “return to the Lord your God” (Hosea 14:1, ESV).

That was Hosea’s message to Israel, and it’s still God’s message to us. The same God who loved Israel loves you — and He still invites anyone who will listen to turn to Him.