God’s Pardon for the Backslider
The question is sometimes asked, "Will God accept and pardon the backslider?" For answer, read Jer. 3. Even Inspiration has exhausted human language and similitude to tell the love of God for his people. Israel is likened unto a woman who has forsaken her husband and become another man's, and yet the Lord says: "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." Jer 3:12-14.