Hosea 9

10–13 Here God (through Hosea) addresses the Israelites directly. God recalls the early days when He found Israel—when He chose Israel out of all the nations of the world to be His special people (Exodus 19:5–6). To God, the Israelites were like grapes in the desert or the best fruit of the fig tree—that is, until they worshiped a shameful idol at Baal Peor (verse 10), as described in Numbers Chapter 25. Thus, says the Lord, because of this long history of idolatry, Ephraim’s glory—Ephraim’s large and growing population—will fly away (verse 11). Ephraim will stop growing; its children will die and there will be none to replace them (verses 12–13).

14 –17 In verses 14 and 17, Hosea speaks out against the Israelites. He is not being vengeful; he is merely taking God's side against a sinful and rebellious people.

In verses 15–16, God again pronounces judgment on the Israelites. Because of their wickedness in Gilgal (see Hosea 4:15), God will drive them out of His house—out of His land (Israel). He will withdraw His covenant love from them, and they will cease to be a nation.

Hosea’s message certainly wasn’t popular in Israel! No wonder he was treated with hostility (verse 8). We, too, don’t like to hear unpopular messages; like the Israelites, we may think that our family, our community, our country is protected from disaster. But if, by our sin, we cause God to withdraw His love from us (verse 15), we shall soon find that He has also withdrawn His protection. When that happens, His judgment will soon follow.