"Break Up Your Fallow Ground!" by Earl Peachey | KFW 2025

Break up your fallow ground, which is a call to repentance. Now, the term fallow ground is found twice in the Scripture. It's found in Hosea chapter ten and in Jeremiah chapter four. So what is fallow ground? I wrote this as an introduction some time ago.

That fallow ground is unprepared, unseeded, and unattended. It is both neglected and hardened, unable to reach its full potential. Fallow ground speaks of mispurpose, lukewarmness, apathy, and slothfulness. Count on it. Fallow ground never leads to abundant fruitfulness. The call to break up fallow ground was not given to the heathen nations, but to God's people.

Repentance was the first message of Jesus as he began his preaching ministry. It is more than a one-time experience in becoming saved. Repentance is a way of life for those who are living in the light and are bearing glorious fruit for God.

Now, here's a quote from that I found from the Bible Wisdom Hub. Fallow ground refers to the condition of a person's heart or life that has become hardened, unresponsive, and unfruitful. In spiritual terms, breaking up your fallow ground signifies taking the necessary steps to remove obstacles, sins, and distractions that hinder spiritual growth and closeness to God. It involves deep introspection, confession of sins, and genuine repentance to make one's heart receptive to the seed of God's Word and his transformative work in one's life. It is a call to readiness, obedience, and surrender to God's will so that his purposes can be fulfilled in and through us.

Now, the presence of fallow ground in our lives is reason for repentance.

How sad that a person permits and excuses fallow ground. How sad to see the gifts and talents, abilities languish because of neglecting fallow ground. And I'm asking this question.

What are you doing with the fallow ground in your life?

Now, the only time that the phrase fallow ground is mentioned in Scripture. The only time it's mentioned, it is always connected to a call to break it up and not to leave it. Hosea was addressing the northern kingdom, God's people, and Jeremiah was addressing the southern kingdom, God's people.

So I'm going to be looking mostly at Hosea. And I want us to consider the context of this call. Hosea was called by God, and it begins here by telling us that this took place during the times of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel, that the Word of the Lord. Notice this in the first verse of the first chapter, the Word of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord. The Word of the Who? The Lord. Let's say it together, the Word of the Lord. Whenever the Word of the Lord comes, it is exceeding necessary that we give it our full attention. And so the Word of the Lord came to Hosea, and there are sobering things for us to consider. It was not an easy situation. Recently, I read through Second Chronicles, and you may remember that Chronicles is focused on Judah, the southern kingdom. And one of the things that was sobering to me is the amount of kings that Judah had that started out well. But their latter days were not on the same level as the way they started.

Now, I'm older than most of you.

But I don't wish for anyone here to have your best days in the Lord behind you, but that they are before you.

Now, Jeroboam, and this was not the first Jeroboam of Israel. He was of the dynasty of Jehu, which actually represented the best times of the northern kingdom. They didn't have any good king, godly king. Jehu had taken an aggressive stand against Baal worshipers slash Jezebel, but took no heed to walk in the law of God with all his heart, as it says in Second Kings ten, verse thirty-one.

After Jeroboam's death, his son reigned only six months, and he was killed and was succeeded by one who ruled only one month before he too was killed. And in a little more than forty years after that, the kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom, was no more.

So this was the time that Hosea was living. And the Word of the Lord that came to him was sobering, urgent, and dramatic. And I'm going to read various portions of this. Don't have time to read the whole book here. But here's what God was saying in chapter one, verse four.

Listen to this. For in a little while, I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and I will bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. That should have been enough to catch anyone's attention.

Here's something else he says in chapter two, verse four. Listen to this and think of the ramifications. I will not have mercy on her children. Now, that is an alarming phrase we cannot do without the mercy of God.

Here's another phrase from chapter four, verse one. There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.

And another one from chapter four. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge. I also will reject you from being priests for me.

And listen to this lament. Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. Oh, God, help us.

And this one, they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. And now this one. Their heart is divided. And now this. So for yourselves, righteousness, reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reigns righteousness on you.

Now, this one from chapter eleven, which gives us a picture of the heart of God. My people are bent on backsliding from me, though they call to the Most High. None at all exalt him. How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Adma? How can I set you like Ziboam? Now, Adma and Ziboam, that last name there is probably not pronounced correctly, were cities destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah.

And here's what he says in chapter thirteen, verse two. Now they sin more and more.

God's Word to Hosea, I said, was dramatic. And one of the ways it was dramatic was that God told Hosea to do something very unusual. He said, "Marry a prostitute" to illustrate the spiritual prostitution taking place among his people.

But listen to this. This is also the Word of the Lord through Hosea. God speaks of restoration, a restoration of a love relationship similar to a husband-wife relationship, not a master-servant relationship. Do you know we are here and we often refer, and we are blessed with the thought of how God loves us, and we rejoice in joy in that love that comes from God? Do you know that God desires to be loved?

Do you ever tell God, "I love you"? Now, I know Jesus said that if you love me, keep my commandments. But I think it is very much in order for us again and again, as an expression from all hearts, "Lord, I love you."

God desires to be loved, and it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call me my husband and no longer call me my master.

Think of that, the heart of God. God desires our love. He desires our fellowship. So this is a call to repentance, and to break up the fallow ground means to seek the Lord. Repentance is a key emphasis. John the Baptist began his ministry with the call to repentance in Matthew three, two. Jesus' early ministry, as he began his ministry, was to repent in Matthew four, seventeen, and Mark one, fifteen. Peter, as he counseled the responsive audience on the day of Pentecost, told them to repent and be baptized in Acts two, thirty-eight.

So what is repentance?

Repentance is like a three-legged stool. It needs all its legs in order to be effective and stable. And the first point and the basic foundation for repentance is to be sorry for my sin.

David expresses great remorse for his sin with Bathsheba. Listen to this. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me.

There is such beauty in David's expression. There is the reality of the exceeding sinfulness, the ugliness, the great sorrow. David could go nowhere. He doesn't blame anyone. He's not blaming Bathsheba. He's not blaming, "Well, he was tired that day," and you know, and he's not blaming the army or he's not blaming anyone. He's saying, "I have sinned."

He takes full responsibility for his sin, and he is sorry because God is disappointed, dishonored, and displeased. This is of primary importance. I said that being sorry for our sin is foundational, but it's very important as to why we are sorry. Some people are sorry because they're caught. Some people are sorry because they are humiliated. Some people are sorry because it makes them look bad. This is not the sorrow needed for repentance.

I read an account of a school teacher or a headmaster that noticed that one of the students did something that was not according to policy or the rules, and he decided he was going to just give him a little time to see if he would say, if he would repent and confess and so forth. And he didn't. So he went to the student and said, "I want you to confess your mistake." And you know what he said? "Oh, sir, tell me which mistake you saw and I'll confess it."

In other cases, sorrow is coupled with defensiveness. You know.

It was because of this, or you don't understand what I have gone through, or my bad home life, or this other person, or you know, I got into the wrong crowd, and all those things might be true.

But the true sorrow sees personal responsibility. I think of the sinner woman washing Jesus' feet with her tears in Luke seven, thirty-seven and thirty-eight. I think of the public who smote his breast, asking God for mercy in Luke eighteen, thirteen. I think of the thief on the cross as he was there beside Jesus, and he said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

These were people who were repenting and who were genuinely sorry. And there's something beautiful. There's something sacred and awesome about their expression. Well, that's the first part. The second part is confessing my sin. When Nathan, the prophet, confronted David about his sin, David responded not with anger or blaming someone else or accusing the prophet, but he said, "I have sinned against the Lord."

His confession had a ring of sincerity. David, as a man after God's own heart, confessed that he had sinned. First John one, nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to do what?

Cleanse us from what? All unrighteousness. Now, compare David's statement, "I have sinned against the Lord," with King Saul's statement when he was confronted by Samuel the prophet.

In First Samuel fifteen, verse thirty, then he said, "Now this is Saul speaking. I have sinned.

Yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me that I may worship the Lord, your God." His acknowledgment of his sin was coupled with a desire for honor from his people at the same time. And earlier, he had tried to project his disobedience as a good plan of the people to sacrifice to the Lord.

Judas Iscariot said, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" in Matthew twenty-seven, verse four. Merely acknowledging my sin does not guarantee repentance. There must be sorrow for displeasing the Lord, confession. But there is more. And here's the third part of repentance.

Repentance means to forsake my sin. So. Number one, repentance is godly sorrow for my sin. Number two is repentance, is confessing my sin. And finally, repentance means forsaking my sin. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Proverbs twenty-eight, verse thirteen. Now, this forsaking means to turn away from. This is actual practice. We're not talking about theory. It is the natural result of godly sorrow for sin and confessing it. So when there's godly sorrow for sin and when we confess it, it is the outworking of that is to turn from it, to continue it, continue in it, brings into question the genuineness of our repentance.

The well-known promise in Second Corinthians, Second Chronicles, verse seven, chapter seven, verse fourteen. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and what? Turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

So repentance means to turn. It's going in an opposite direction. Somebody referred to that during these meetings earlier. A.W. Tozer wrote this. Plain horse sense ought to tell us that anything that makes no change in the man who professes it makes no difference to God either.

So then repentance, I'll repeat, is godly sorrow for my sin because I have displeased the Lord. I have failed God. I have let him down. I have done against his will, and I have sinned.

And I turn from that sin.

So now here we are. In twenty twenty-five, we're not living back in the days of Hosea or Jeremiah. We're living right here. What does fallow ground look like today? And I'd like to identify a few characteristics of fallow ground. And let me say this, there's probably a thousand other ways that we noted, other ways that it shows itself.

These are some that lie on my heart.

The first one that I would like to mention is blaming others. When Saul was approached by Samuel in First Samuel fifteen, fifteen.

He tried to cover up. He first said, "Blessed of you of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord."

And it didn't work. And Samuel said, "What am I hearing here?" Thank you. "What am I hearing? I'm hearing the sheep." And then he said, "Well, it was the people. They spared the rest, and the rest we have destroyed." You see, it was the people, and the Scripture record says it was Saul and the people.

Now, there are things that we face in our lives that we cannot change. There are impacts and offenses that have come our way. We have been born at the time we were born into the family, into the locality, and all those things. We've had nothing to say about that.

And some of us could say, "Well, you know, I wish if I would just have had a better, a better surrounding for where I was born into. If I would have had a better family."

I don't want to say it lightly. That is true. We are impacted by the offenses of other people. We can expect wrongs to be committed, and they are certainly unjustified. We experience hurts, etc. But listen carefully. Our response to the offense committed against us affects us more than the actual offense.

To become bitter and unforgiving and to excuse ourselves harms us more than anyone else. Vengeance does not lead to freedom. Forgiveness leads us out of bondage. And from the very beginning, when sin entered into the human family, blame shifting is characteristic. Adam said, "Listen to this." Adam said to God, "The woman that you gave me, she took or she gave me, and I ate." So it's his fault. And remember, God, you were the one who gave her. I'm saying here this morning.

Take personal responsibility.

There's a second characteristic that I would like to share.

And it is leaving our first love.

In Revelation two, verse four, "Nevertheless, I have this against you that you left your first love." This was spoken. This was the word of Jesus to the church at Ephesus, and there had been great things that happened at Ephesus in time past. There had been special miracles that God granted through the hands of Paul. There was the burning of books associated with magic and sorcery. We find that in Acts nineteen, and there was a powerful letter written to the church at Ephesus.

But despite these great movements of God, despite their continued service, their good doctrinal positions, they had left their first love.

Where are you?

Are you serving God with your first love? First love is so genuine. It is so real. It's just the real thing you can. It's not because somebody says the right words. You can. You just know it. It's real. It's genuine.

It refreshes, it revives, and it rouses. It is genuinely simple and simply genuine. It refers to simple obedience, glad and willing.

It is first love is fresh daily. There is no stale first love.

It is a love that moves the will and is felt with the emotions.

But they had left their first love. They continued in their service, and they maintained their position. But the sparkle was gone.

The inspiration was low, and the heart was lagging behind.

I'm asking the question, are you still serving the Lord Jesus Christ with the first love?

What did you read in the Scriptures this morning or yesterday? Was your heart moved? It is such a blessing to read the Scriptures because this is what? The Word of God.

Are you enjoying your prayer life?

Oh, I know I should pray more. Yeah, we could all say that, I'm sure. But are you enjoying the prayer life? I can't believe it's already this time. It hasn't seemed long at all that I have been praying.

The fellowship with God. I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, there is nothing in the whole world that exceeds the blessing of fellowship with God to just be with Him. I know people may talk about the golden streets and all the beauty of heaven and all those wonderful things and the people there. But I'm telling you, the best thing about heaven is going to be with Jesus Christ.

Are you serving Him with your first love?

Now, there's another characteristic, and this one is a difficult subject. Oh, Lord, please help me that I could be able to express this in a way that the Holy Spirit could make the sense.

That's what I'm calling spiritual pride.

We have in this session together, we have given much attention to our history and the faithfulness of our foreelders.

I had no choice in the matter. I was born into Anabaptist circles, and I'm at least the ninth generation.

I'm happy to be identified as a conservative Anabaptist, though not as my primary identification.

I love the study, the subject of church history, and our history has many things to teach us.

But listen carefully. There is not a far distance between proper appreciation for our heritage and the respect we ought to have. There's not a far distance between that and feeling superior because of our background.

I'm not trying to take anything away from what has been said here, but I'd like to remind us that there was a group of people who likely were shocked who heard these words from the mouth of Jesus. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the Kingdom of God. And this is in the context that they themselves would be thrust out despite Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob being in the Kingdom.

They thought they were the people. My brothers and sisters, with all the emphasis that we have had, rightful emphasis, things that I greatly appreciate, please guard against this feeling. We are the people.

Spiritual pride is a call to repentance. There's a great need for humility as we relate to differing backgrounds and cultures. We ought to be neither apologetic nor arrogant. We ought not be ashamed nor smug.

And now I'm giving another characteristic. And as I look out on our contemporary scene, I see this so much, brothers and sisters.

I'm calling this characteristic of fallow ground. I'm labeling it as resistance. Instead of honoring, respecting, and obeying the authorities God has placed in our lives, we are resisting.

We resist the counsel of our brothers and sisters because we think our way is better, and it might be.

We lament that our opinions, our voice is not heard or understood. I know what that's like. I know what it's like to work with a team of brothers.

And I can't hardly escape the sense that my opinions and my viewpoints don't get the first base.

And if you're here in a situation like that, I sympathize with you. That doesn't feel good.

But our Father in heaven had some things to teach me.

And through a series of events and taking me into the classroom with a subject that I didn't choose.

And the subject is called submission. Anybody taking that subject today?

I hope so.

When I began to see and to accept that there were some things I had to change. And I think of a young man. I heard him say one, "I'll come back to this," but I'm thinking of a young man one day. I heard him say, "I, in this church that I'm in, I know I want to accept my leadership. But I just hope that someday I will be in a church where I can truly have a sense of respect, where I can really see godly spiritual leadership." He wasn't saying he didn't have that. It was ungodly where he was at, but he just wished for leadership that he could look up to. Well, that young man has had some experience, and about twenty years ago, he was ordained into the same leadership.

And today, I haven't heard him say that at all. Something changed within him. But coming back to my case, I felt from the Lord that the Lord was directing me. Look, the point is not, "What is my opinion? How do I live? This is better, and this is, you know, all those things."

You emphasize support for the brother who has been set over you, not just by words, but a kind of support that he is going to feel. And I'm not talking flattery and that type of thing, but that is real. Do you know what happened? There was a massive change in our relationship.

The change.

I now was heard and not only heard, but sought after. Well, how do you see this? Because. There was a support that was being felt.

I am so sorry. I have seen brothers who are very capable and gifted and called to make a serious contribution to the Lord, but that contribution is being hindered and is, is, is withering because they can't get along.

Before you think that the answer lies in going out and starting something new that is alive and real.

Think about this, brother, sister.

Have you made an honest effort to show submission? Submission is not a standalone thing. It's coupled with humility. It is not becoming a doormat and so on and so forth. That's not my subject, but. You look into that. As Jude was writing and speaking of false believers who crept into the church, he mentions several characteristics of such people. He mentions moral impurity, and he says, likewise, also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

I'd like here at the last now, I've been referring to Hosea, and after all these things that the Lord has said, the invitation, he now in the last chapter.

I want to read this to you. O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, "Take away all our iniquity. Receive us graciously, for we will not offer the sacrifice of our lips. Assyria shall not save us. We will not ride on horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands. You are our gods, for in you the fatherless find mercy.

I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from Him. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall grow like the lily. He and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty light shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall be revived like grain and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard and observed Him. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit is found in me." Who is wise?

Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the transgressors stumble in them. We reap mercy, and we are restored to glorious relationship. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with me.