Jeremiah 3:12
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 for ever. 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 for ever.
The call was given after the reform under Josiah had cleared the land of idol shrines without changing hearts, when seeds of truth had sprung up with promise only to be choked by thorns. Outward reform without inward loyalty was not enough, and another backsliding would prove fatal, so the word was sent to arouse the nation to its danger, with loyalty to Jehovah as the only ground to hope for divine favor and prosperity.
It is a call to backsliding Israel, to the sinful, to return to the Lord. The promise joined to the call is that God is merciful and will not cause His anger to fall upon those who return nor keep anger forever, but will pardon transgression. He does not forsake a people before they forsake Him. Returning is explained as acknowledging iniquity, sin and transgression against the Lord and turning back to God.
It means turning as children to One joined to them in covenant, whom they call Father without turning away, trusting Him to heal their backsliding. God even supplies the very words for turning, confessing that He alone is the Lord their God and the salvation of Israel, that hope of salvation from hills and mountains is vain, and admitting in shame that they and their fathers have sinned and disobeyed His voice from youth until now. Those who return with all their heart and with their whole heart, who confess and repent, are graciously accepted, restored and pardoned.
The appeal reaches those who claim to be God's people but have turned from Him, whose sin must be recognized and whose loyalty must be restored. His mercy gives the penitent reason for hope, for genuine sorrow for sin awakened by the Holy Spirit leads to contrition and renunciation of sin and not merely to regret over its consequences. His patience gives backsliding people opportunity even now to be converted and saved through humble, repentant faith in His promises.