Return to the Lord - Faithfulness

The Israelites have been unfaithful to God (first 2 weeks), and this impacts their relationships with one another. Just as they’ve been unfaithful to God, they’ve become unfaithful to one another (v.10). The men have been unfaithful to their wives, marrying women from other nations and letting their idols infiltrate their households, their worship and their hearts. In doing so, they have broken two covenants; their marriage covenant and their covenant with God. They proceed to mourn the fact that they don’t have God’s blessing, not able to see the connection between their faithfulness to one another and God’s blessing and favour. How are we shaped by the world around us, and how can we be on guard against it? Do we see the connection between our relationship with God and how we treat others or do we box them up as separate? How is the covenant of marriage viewed in our culture and in the church? How do we grow in faithfulness, the fruit of the spirit?