‘O Israel, return to YHWH your God, for you have fallen by your iniquity.'
Hosea's initial call is for Israel to return to YHWH their God from the iniquity (inherent wickedness, total disloyalty) into which they have fallen (see Hosea 4:8; Hosea 5:5; Hosea 7:1; Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:7; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 13:12). The need for Israel to ‘return' has been consistently made clear throughout the prophecy (Hosea 2:7; Hosea 2:9; Hosea 3:5; Hosea 5:4; Hosea 6:1; Hosea 7:10; Hosea 7:16; Hosea 11:5; Hosea 12:6), and is mentioned four times in this chapter (Hosea 14:1-2; Hosea 14:4; Hosea 14:7). The idea of ‘returning to YHWH' comes initially from Deuteronomy 1:45; Deuteronomy 30:2; Deuteronomy 30:8. Once they have been carried off into exile it is the message that he wants them to carry with them. It will be a reminder to them that God had not finally finished with them, but that any return could only be on condition of full repentance and a recognition of Him in His uniqueness as Saviour, Deliverer and Covenant God, rather than as a figure to be manipulated through ritual. He is ‘YHWH their God', the One Who is revealed to them in their ancient records as the Deliverer from Egypt (Hosea 12:9; Hosea 12:13; Hosea 13:4), the God of Sinai, the Only Saviour (Hosea 13:4), and the Upholder of the Davidic dynasty (Hosea 1:11; Hosea 3:5; Hosea 8:4; Hosea 13:11). And it is to Him in this capacity that they must return (Hosea 3:5).