"I Felt Regret"

The people came to their senses in captivity and were moved to repentance. Their heartfelt contrition did not escape Jehovah's notice. Listen as Jehovah describes the attitude and feelings of the exiled Israelites, spoken of collectively  as Ephraim. 

"I have positively heard Ephraim bemoaning himself," says Jehovah.  (Verse 18) He heard the Israelites as they lamented the effects of their sinful course.  The phrase "bemoaning himself" can mean "a shaking or rocking motion.," says one scholar.  They were like a wayward son ruefully shaking his head as he reflects on the hardships he has brought upon himself and longs  for the life he had back home.  (Luke 15:11-17)  What were the people saying?  

"You have corrected me like a calf that has not been trained." (Verse 18) the people  acknowledged that they deserved the discipline. After all, they had been like an untrained calf.  This smile may mean that they had been like a bullock that would never have "felt the goad if he had not first rebelled against the yoke," says one reference work.

"Cause me to turn back, and I shall readily  turn back, for you are Jehovah my God." (Verse 18).  Their hearts  humbled, the people called out to God.  They had been lost in a sinful course, but now they pleaded for help to find their way back into  his favor.  One translation says:  "You are our God-please let us come home." -Contemporary English Version.

"I felt regret. . . .I became ashamed, and I also felt humiliated." (Verse 19)  The people felt sorry because they had sinned.  They accepted  the blame and admitted their guilt. As if beating their breast, they also felt disgraced and cast down. -Luke 15:18, 19, 21.

The Israelites were repentant.  They were filled with sorrow, confessed their sins to God, and turned back from their bad ways. Would their repentance soften God's heart?  Would he let them come home? 

Next time: "By All Means I Shall have Pity Upon Him"

From the Watchtower magazine, 2012