To return is turn from publicly humiliating God to publicly praising him for his incomprehensible patience. The second image of returning that the prophets cherished is that of pagan idol-worshippers returning to the worship of the true and living God. Idols are literally nothing. A lie is nothing, for a lie is a statement without substance. Yet lies destroy people every day.
Delusions are nothing, for a delusion is without foundation.
Most tellingly, perhaps, is the fact that we are inevitably conformed to what we worship. The third image of repentance, return, found in the prophets is the image of rebel subjects returning to their rightful ruler. The rebel subjects have thought they could rule themselves, only to find that their inept attempts at self-rule left them chaotic and fragmented. Their rebellion was born of ignorance of themselves, and their ignorance was born of ingratitude to their sovereign. Grateful now to that rightful ruler who alone can subdue disorder, and possessed now of the self-knowledge that without him they are ungovernable, they return.