In Jeremiah 4:3, Jeremiah challenged the people of God with these words - "For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns." 

 

In Hosea 10:12, Hosea challenged the people with these words - "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you."

 

Both were a call to Israel and Judah to repent of their idolatry and reform their lifestyles. In both summons, the Prophets compared their  unhumbled hearts to ground that was hardened, untilled, unbroken, unfenced, unoccupied, unused, unfit for the seed, and unfruitful. It was land that had become overgrown with weeds, thorns, and briars.   

 

 

They offered four directives to the people.

 

 

Jeremiah 4:3 - "For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground..."

 

Simply said - Repent! Repent! Repent! Due to the presence of unconfessed sin in the heart, it had become hard as a stone...impenitent... unopened to and unimpressed by the Word of the Lord...destitute of faith, hope, love, and the fear of the Lord...overrun by the weeds of pride, vanity, boasting, and lusts of all kinds...and full of wickedness. They were called upon to remove all sin - its desires and vices - from their hearts and lives.

 

 

Jeremiah 4:3 - "For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem...sow not among thorns." 

 

The cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, pleasures of this life(Luke 8:14), and lusts of other things - all had to go! The Scriptures refer to these as "the thorns" which choke the Word. Everything and anything in their hearts that hindered the Word from having an effect on their lives had to be removed.

 

Their hearts had to be prepared - made soft, tender, pliable, and fit to embrace the Word. All sin which caused them to be faithless, lukewarm, indifferent, inattentive, unconcerned, barren, and unfruitful to the things of God - had to be cast aside and repented of.

 

3. Sow To Yourselves In Righteousness, Reap In Mercy

 

Hosea 10:12 - "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy..."

 

Just as someone sows to the flesh and reaps corruption or sows to the Spirit and reaps life everlasting(Galatians 6:8) - even so the one who sows righteousness reaps mercy or all the temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings that are owing to it. He who sows to the flesh does the works of the flesh. He who sows to the Spirit does the works of the Spirit. Likewise, he who sows to righteousness does works of righteousness...lives soberly, justly, and godly in this present world...and lives wholly to bring great glory to God.

 

The Prophet was summoning the people to live uprightly - avoiding all that would defile them in their walk with the Lord.

 

 

Hosea 10:12 - "...for it is time to seek the LORD..."

 

The people were called to persevere unceasingly...seek diligently...and go after God with all of their hearts. They were to allow nothing to stop them or stand in their way.

 

They were to seek Him for His Grace - the Grace that teaches all men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly(Titus 2:12) in the midst of a sinful and adulterous world.

 

These were the duties of the people.

 

In answer to their cries of repentance, God would come with His plough - His plough that would sink deeply into every heart...making deep, deep furrows...while overturning every bit of sin and ungodliness and bringing to the surface that which remained hidden for the longest time.

 

 

 

 

The seed of the Word is falling on "fallow ground" - that which is hard and impenitent - and lives are not being changed. The result? Many who have walked with the Lord for years are still as immature in the Faith as at the beginning. They are still struggling with the works of the flesh. They have no power to stand against the wiles and temptations of the devil. They show no signs of Christlikeness...carry no cross...and live solely for themselves, money, and pleasure.

 

 

 

The problem lies in the soil of the heart! It is rejecting the Word because it is hardened through sin, compromise, and worldliness.

 

 

After the Lord plows up the ground of our hearts, He then comes down upon us like rain - like copious showers. He opens the floodgates of heaven and rains down upon us His righteousness - teaching us His ways...the right way to live...and the way to true and lasting blessings. 

 

 

Look around at the state of the Church, and you will get your answer.

 

 

Why don't we - as members of the Body of Christ - begin to cry aloud for God to come forth with His plow and His rain?

Let's allow Him to cut deeply and break up every bit of hardness in our hearts that would hinder the Word from having effect - no matter what the cost or the pain involved. Let's give Him permission to expose whatever sin lies hidden in our heart of hearts.

And then let's open ourselves up to receive His "rains of righteousness." Let's hunger and thirst after His righteousness with our entire being - desiring the teachings from His Word more than all riches.