Can a Nation That Has Forgotten God Be Healed? (Reflections on Hosea 1–2, 6–7)

 God designed marriage to be a covenant—one man, one woman, for life. In the same way, He bound Himself to His people. But what happens when the bride is unfaithful? When love is betrayed, pain is born. The prophet Hosea shows us that our sin doesn't just break rules; it breaks God’s heart.

Professor Bruce C. Birch writes,

“We are forced to understand God as pained and vulnerable. Covenant cannot remain some abstract, judicial matter... it is a matter of commitment... that requires faithfulness.”

(Hosea, Joel, and Amos, p. 23)

God’s love is not indifferent. It burns with holy passion. His anger is not the opposite of love—it is what love looks like when it sees oppression, idolatry, and betrayal. Rolf A. Jacobson puts it this way:

“God’s anger is not the opposite of God’s love, but a part of God’s love... God is provoked to anger when a person or persons cause others to suffer.”

(“What Every Christian Should Know about Amos and Hosea,” Word & World)

Look around. We in the West have not only rebelled—we have bragged about it. We claim God's blessings while scorning His commandments. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno understood Hosea's warning:

“‘Lo-Ruhamah’ means God will not show mercy—not because He has changed, but because Israel has severed herself from mercy through rebellion.”

Even now, God may be handing us over. Charles Spurgeon once warned:

“O my hearers, God is very gracious, but his Spirit shall not always strive with you... Repent, and turn unto the Lord with full purpose of heart.”

(“The Lord’s Own Salvation,” 1888)

 

We attribute our prosperity to idols: success, sex, self. Yet the gifts came from God alone. Spurgeon reminds us:

 

“All things that we possess have been bestowed upon us... from the great Distributor, who openeth his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.”

(“The Unknown Giver and the Misused Gifts,” 1890)

And still, the voice of Hosea echoes today: “I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). God desires love, not lip service. John Calvin understood that it is only by tasting God's mercy that we are truly drawn to Him:

“‘With thee is mercy, that thou mayest be feared’... men will obey God... only if they determine that he will not reject them.”

(Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets, Vol. I)

 

But when God moves to heal, our sins are exposed. We live in a culture that flaunts what once brought shame. Our politics celebrate depravity. Our hearts are half-baked, like the bread Hosea condemns. Our leaders stagger like drunks. And still, no one turns back.

Love is not blind—it sees sin and still offers mercy. But mercy spurned becomes judgment. The book of Hosea is not just a history lesson; it is a mirror held up to our own age. God is not content to be a forgotten benefactor or a tool for national slogans. He desires hearts that return to Him with sincerity and faithfulness. The question is not whether God still loves us, but whether we will respond to His love before it's too late. Let us tear down our idols, turn from our rebellion, and seek the Lord while He may be found. For only then can the West—and each of us—know what love truly is

Why Don’t You Repent? (Reflections on Jeremiah 15–18, 21–22)

 Our intercession means nothing without repentance. Not even the greatest saints—Moses, Samuel, Daniel—could save a people who will not turn back to God. America is no different. The more we reject the Lord, the more certain and severe our judgment becomes.

John Calvin wrote in Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Vol. II:

“We ought, as far as we can, to promote the salvation of all… and yet we know… many are reprobate for whom our prayers will avail nothing.” (p. 260)

Is there any pity left for the West? God has summoned the sword, the beast, the bird, and the devourer. The guardians of our culture no longer weep. We have traded the living Word of God for slogans, spectacles, and selfishness.

Charles Spurgeon, in Hidden Manna (1871), thundered:

 

“They have never felt that its truths proceed immediately from the throne of God... What is meant by finding God’s words!”

Now, God raises His hand—not in blessing, but in fury. If He scattered the tribes of Israel for their rebellion, what fate awaits a rebellious Christendom? The West has become a byword. The destroyer is on the move. We are cursed ground now. God is just in judging us for trampling the righteous.

Children born in this land will not grow to see peace. Weddings and funerals alike lose their meaning as the Lord lifts His sheltering hand. Walter Brueggemann, in A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming, wrote:

“God’s sustaining presence is now forfeited, and public life must experience and embody that forfeiture.” (p. 152 © 1998 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

Ask why judgment comes, and the answer is clear: the sins of our ancestors, and the far greater sins of our own hearts. The Lord said:

“You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers… walking according to the stubbornness of your evil heart, without listening to Me.” (Jer. 16:12 NASU)

But after the judgment, He will call His remnant home like a fisherman drawing in his net. The Messiah will be exalted, and all knees will bow. Great is the Lord, but those who trust in themselves trust in a lie.

 

Our sin is engraved with an iron stylus. Our hearts have become hardened, our desires twisted. Brueggemann warns:

 

“Something will be written on the heart—either sin or Torah.” (p. 157 © 1998 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

 

We have chosen sin.

 

Cursed are those who trust in flesh, who walk away from the fountain of living water. Our hearts deceive even us. But to those who trust in the Lord?

 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD...

He will be like a tree planted by water,

...he will not fear when heat comes,

...nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jer. 17:7–8 NASU)

 

Return to the Sabbath, the ancient sign of holiness. Lay down your burdens. Honor what God made holy, or He will make the land rest without you.

 

O Christendom, can the Potter not remake you? Shall He not crush the hardened clay? Calvin reminds us:

 

“Until men are brought to know that they are so subject to God’s power... they will never be humble as they ought to be.” (Vol. II, p. 417)

 

You cry “God bless America,” but there is no blessing without repentance. Your reverence is hollow. Calvin said of such:

 

“Hypocrites… maintain no consistency… they are not turned by threatenings… they strive like refractory horses to shake off their rider.” (Vol. III, p. 52)

 

God fights against us now. Our weapons misfire. Our bodies weaken. Our bread fails. The path of life was offered—and rejected. And now, life is leaving the West.

 

Heed His Word.

 

Do justice. Defend the oppressed. Shelter the immigrant. Uplift the widow. If you do, blessing will come. If not, the Destroyer will.

 

One day, children will ask why there is no more America. And the answer will be: God did it. Because she would not repent.

So now, the call is clear and urgent: Repent. Not in word alone, but in heart, in deed, in spirit. Turn from your sin before it turns to ash. The gates of mercy are not yet shut, but they are closing. Do not wait for calamity to make you cry out—cry out now, while there is still breath in your lungs and light in the sky. The God who judges is also the God who restores, but only for those who humble themselves and return to Him. Let your heart break before the Lord, that it might be healed. Choose life. Choose righteousness. Choose the narrow way—before it is gone.