The Fallow Ground

Jer. 4:1-4 Op. 82 Cl.(screen)

Our scripture reading was from Jeremiah but today we

are going to focus on Hosea because both prophets are

issuing the exact same warning to Israel. So, with that

in mind please turn with me to Hosea 10:12: “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.” (Prayer)

The first three chapters of Hosea set the stage as to

why God responds the way he does to Israel's

unfaithfulness. God tells Hosea to marry Gomer, who

is repeatedly unfaithful to him. This is a picture of

God's relationship to Israel. God is a faithful and

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loving husband who has been tossed aside by his

unfaithful wife, Israel, for lovers who only disappoint

and betray her. Then chapters four through ten

describes in various ways God's grace, Israel's

disgrace, God's discipline, and then God's amazing

grace. And then in chapters eleven through fourteen,

we see a change in tone focusing more on God's

compassion for His people. Today we are going to

focus on chapter ten and Hosea calling Israel back to

whole hearted devotion to God.

The more Israel prospered the more they built altars

and remodeled their pillars so that all over Samaria

there are now new altars and remodeled pillars,

dedicated to the worship of Baal. God did all he could

to ensure that Israel prospered and instead of showing

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gratitude for His grace they became increasingly

unfaithful. They had put aside the Lord for another

lover. And so, Baal was getting credit for God's

provision and God was being robbed of his glory.

Israel was undermining the very purpose for which

they were chosen, to be a light to the nations. They

were devoted to religion but living in rebellion to

God, saying one thing and doing another. And thus, it

was Israel to whom the prophet Hosea was

writing these solemn words, for

individually, and as a nation, they had

rebelled against the Lord.

Hosea was calling the nation of Israel to

repent of their sins, return to their first

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love, and seek the Lord with all their heart,

if they were to avoid the judgement that

had been prophesied. The people of God

were to rend their hearts in sincerity and

truth and not to simply tear their clothes in

an outward show of remorse and other

hypocritical actions.

If the coming judgement of God was to be

averted, the people of God had to rend

their hearts and not their garments. They

were to sow with a view to righteousness

and reap in accordance to mercy and

loving-kindness. They were to live in a way

that honoured the Lord. They were to have

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a change of heart and not simply give an

outward show of remorse. They were to

break up the uncultivated ground in their

hardened and rebellious hearts. For too

long Israel had gone her own way. The

time had come for them to seek the Lord,

and to seek after Him with their whole

heart. The Jews were a nation of farmers,

and it is therefore a common thing for God

to use scenes from their daily lives as

illustrations. Hosea addresses them also as

a nation of backsliders, but uses words

that farmers and shepherds are familiar

with. He rebukes them for their idolatry

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and sharply warns them of the impending

judgments of God. "Sow to yourselves in

righteousness and reap according to

mercy," Hosea warned. "Break up your

fallow ground: for it is time to seek the

Lord."

But the call to break up the fallow ground

and turn over the unploughed earth is an

equally urgent call to the body of Christ

and as a church we would do well to heed

the prophet’s call. Today, as then, many

Christians have strayed far away from the

gospel of grace and are proclaiming

another gospel and looking to a different

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Jesus. And thus, the call to break up the

fallow ground. But what exactly does

Hosea mean by ‘fallow ground.’

There are some things about fallow ground

we need to discover this morning. First of

all, fallow ground is ground that was once

productive but now lays waste. At one

time it gave forth a bountiful harvest. Now

it is desolate. Hosea could identify with the

need to break up the fallow ground. He

remembered Israel’s glorious past. He

remembered the miraculous deliverance…

he remembered the Red Sea crossing… he

remembered the manna from heaven… he

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remembered the water from a rock… he

remembered God’s wonderful watch care

and presence. But these were now fading

from memory. Israel had sinned against a

holy God. They had left their first love. And

this straying away from God had led to the

prophet’s call. We can identify with the

need for this call in our time as well.

Sadly, our churches have grown cold as

well. Many have become more interested

in playing church than in changing lives.

Many have become more interested in

socials rather than souls. Many have

become more interested in the corporation

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than the congregations. Many have

become more interested in the windows

than the widows. They care more for the

yard, than the youth. What used to be a

great harvest field has now become fallow

ground.

There was a show on television called

“Married with Children”. On the show the

father, named Al Bundy was a lady’s shoe

salesman. He always felt as though life

had dealt him a bad hand. However, Al

went to Polk High School and played

football. During one game he scored 4

touchdowns. This was a story he will tell

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over and over, trying to make himself feel

good, trying to hold on to some former

glory.

Sadly, the church is oftentimes this very

way. We hear things like I remember when

the church used to be full. I remember

when we would have half night or whole

night prayer services; I remember the

socials, the wilderness experiences, I

remember the joy experienced when

coming to church, and I say yes, all those

things were true but the obvious question I

have to ask is brethren, what happened?

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Maybe the obvious answer is that we have

allowed the ground to become fallow. I can

recall when we were growing up there

were what was called red bottoms all

across Anguilla. And in those days

basically all of them were cultivated.

Individuals had their own parcels of land

and all of them were cultivated. You had

peas, potatoes, guinea corn, you name it.

I used the word ‘had’ when I was referring

to the red bottoms, but in reality, they are

still there. However very and I mean very

few are being cultivated. Most of them are

just there. But there are no peas, no corn,

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no potatoes. Instead, there is just bush,

grass and weeds. And that brings me to

the next fact about fallow ground.

Fallow ground produces thorns and

thistles. The cares if this world choke out

the Word of God. The deceitfulness of

riches causes wrong priorities. Idolatry

replaces total dedication to the Lord.

Fallow Ground produces the weeds of

bitterness. Heb 12:14-15 admonishes us

to “Follow peace with all men, and

holiness, without which no man shall see

the Lord: (15) Looking diligently lest any

man fail of the grace of God; lest any root

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of bitterness springing up trouble you, and

thereby many be defiled.” As we gather in

God’s house and sing songs like Sweet,

Sweet Spirit, we must constantly guard

against one of Satan’s favorite tools to use

against Christians, and that is bitterness.

Bitterness often lurks beneath the surface

of singing saints. Bitter believers are often

offended and are quick to cause divisions

in the church. Lack of cooperation can lead

one to disappointment. Lack of results can

lead to bitterness. Jealousy and bitterness

often go hand in hand. Notice in Heb

12:15 at the end of the verse…”and

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thereby many be defiled.” If you have

become bitter toward a fellow Christian, or

towards the church, or even towards God,

your heart has become fallow ground, and

the ground that once was fruitful and

pleasant has become useless and barren.

And the longer the land remains fallow,

the more difficult it is to recultivate it. The

longer a person remains outside the will of

Christ, the more difficult it becomes to win

them back. A next thing about fallow

Ground is that it produces slothful and lazy

Christians. Slothful Christians are slow to

do what God has commanded. Slothful

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Christians hold back from service for the

Lord. Slothful Christians find excuses for

not getting involved. Slothful Christians

lead unproductive lives.

When a ground is left fallow, it not only

produces weeds but it becomes hard. That

is why we are told to break up the fallow

ground. The ground is nothing more than

our hearts. We must break up the ground

that has been left unattended. Unattended

means simply something not dealt with.

Issues in our lives will not simply go away

– they become a hardening agent and

cause us to justify our feelings and

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actions! We feel that we are right in

holding resentment for wrong done against

us! When we fail to deal with issues of

resentment and unforgiveness our hearts

become fallow.

Also, fallow ground is unused ground.

Saints who are not involved in the work of

God oftentimes become hard and callused

when it come to the harvest. In other

words – God wants to use us to reproduce

and bring forth a harvest. But he cannot if

our lives are not ready and cultivated for

use. Lack of interest in soulwinning and

witnessing is evidence of fallow ground.

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Too busy with secular activities to get

involved in the work of God is evidence of

fallow ground! Hosea said that ‘breaking

up the fallow ground ‘will proceed the rains

of refreshing that come from the Lord! In

other words, revival comes after we break

up the fallow ground! True revival cannot

come with hardened attitudes. True revival

cannot come with feelings of

unforgiveness. True revival cannot come

with a lack of interest in the work of God.

Revival can only come after the breaking

of the fallow ground.

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So How Do We Break Up This Fallow

Ground? Fallow Ground can only be broken

up by the plow of God’s Word. First you

must recognize the fallow ground in your

life. Not all of your heart is fallow ground.

Some of it is good fertile ground. The

fallow part is that part you’ve never

surrendered. The hatred you have

harbored for someone in spite of belonging

to the Lord. The resentment toward your

spouse, your neighbor, or even your

children. The sin that remains pervasive in

your heart…the one you struggle with. The

weight and worries you carry with you

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everywhere you go. The unwillingness to

work for the Lord. The unwillingness to be

a witness for Him. That thing that keeps

you from serving Him completely. That’s

the fallow ground in your life. That’s what

you need to deal with today. Fallow ground

needs to be broken up by remembrance

and repentance. We need to remember

where we came from, and who we belong

and the price that was paid for us. In 1Co

6:19-20 we are told: “What? Know ye not

that your body is the temple of the Holy

Ghost which is in you, which ye have of

God, and ye are not your own? (20) For ye

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are bought with a price: therefore, glorify

God in your body, and in your spirit, which

are God's”. When we learn to look at

ourselves for who we are, and look at

Christ for who He is, repentance and

service will come easy! Rom 12:1 says “I

beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

mercies of God, that ye present your

bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable

unto God, which is your reasonable

service.” God doesn’t expect anything

unreasonable from His children. His way of

salvation is simple. His way of

communication is simple. He simply

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expects His own children to trust and obey

Him. Fallow ground can be broken up by

humility and prayer. We breakup the

fallow ground when we pray for sensitivity

to the needs of others. In Christ’s Object

Lessons, p. 56 Sis White writes: “The

garden of the heart must be cultivated.

The soil must be broken up by deep

repentance for sin. Poisonous, Satanic

plants must be uprooted. The soil once

overgrown by thorns can be reclaimed

only by diligent labor. So, the evil

tendencies of the natural heart can be

overcome only by earnest effort in the

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name and strength of Jesus. The Lord bids

us by His prophet, ‘Break up your fallow

ground, and sow not among thorns.’ ‘Sow

to yourselves in righteousness; reap in

mercy.’ This work He desires to

accomplish for us, and He asks us to co-

operate with Him.”

Brethren, our church is in desperate need

of a revival but if each and every one of us

do not experience revival in our hearts, the

revival the church needs will never come.

So, this morning…individually and as a

church, I challenge you to humble

yourselves before a holy God. I challenge

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you to pray. I challenge you to seek His

face. The question we each have to answer

for ourselves is: Are you willing to break

up your fallow ground this morning? When

God looks upon your life, does He see a

fertile field, or does He see fallow ground?

What would you like Him to see? Are we

ready for God to begin a great work in our

church? In order for Him to do that He

needs tools He can work with. Those tools

are you and I. Let us pray that He would

be able to use us for His glory today.

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