Israel, return to Yahweh your God; For you have fallen because of your sin.
Mays interpreted the demand for repentance in this verse as an appeal addressed to "the corporate Israel."[8]  However, such a view must be considered inaccurate.  Nations of people as corporate units are not the objects of God's commands which are invariably addressed "to all men," to "every one of you," to "every creature," and to "whomsoever."  The "seed of Abraham" who were the heirs of the promise of God were never in any sense the corporate Israel, the secular state, or the earthly domain of any of their monarchs; they were the people of like mind and faith with Abraham. The Pharisees claimed to be the "sons of Abraham"; but in reality, they were the sons of the devil, as Jesus said (John 8).  Those who are looking for and expecting the secular nation of Israel to be converted and turn to God are looking for something that is absolutely impossible, or at least something that is nowhere promised in God's Word.  Of that apostate nation, Christ through Paul declared that "they are hardened, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"  (Romans 11:25); and the last nineteen centuries have verified the truth of what the Scriptures say.  Some go beyond what is written and project a "return of Israel" (meaning the hardened secular portion of it) at some point during the end times; but the weakness of that projection lies in the impossibility of showing that there will be any "end times" at a point in the future beyond the period of "the fullness of the Gentiles," which may very well be, as many believe, another expression denoting the end of the gospel age and the end of the world.