“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me…. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds… Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners….” (Isa. 1:2-7).
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? Therefore “hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my Torah, they have rejected it.” (Jer. 5:21-25).
Repentance is a return to sanity which begins with the resolution to question your presuppositions and to change your thinking… There are three requisites for genuine repentance, that is, for turning to God in the truth, namely: 1) seeing eyes; 2) hearing ears; and 3) an understanding heart, ready to be healed (Isa. 6:10). God alone does the miracle but it is nevertheless our responsibility to believe that the miracle is personally for us. Repentance is the first step of salvation, as Messiah said: “Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15), and apart from repentance man has no real existence. As Yeshua said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Repentance is the expression of trust in God’s love, and by means of it we affirm: “I am ready to exist as a person of worth.” Come alive, friends!
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