God’s Unfaithful People
For ashe is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her bharlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts;
And expose her, as in the day she was bborn,
And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land,
And slay her with cthirst.
She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
aWho give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my linen,
My oil and my drink.’
aI will hedge up your way with thorns,
And1 wall her in,
So that she cannot find her paths.
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
a‘I will go and return to my bfirst husband,
For then it was better for me than now.’
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold—
Which they prepared for Baal.
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
Given to cover her nakedness.
And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
Her feast days,
Her New Moons,
Her Sabbaths—
All her appointed feasts.
Of which she has said,
‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’
So I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And went after her lovers;
But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.
God’s Mercy on His People
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak1 comfort to her.
And athe Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in bthe days of her youth,
cAs in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
| << Hosea 2:1 | Hosea 2:3 >> |
What Does Hosea 2:2 Mean?
Hosea 2:2
Israel is so faithless to her duties, she openly invites adulteries and aggressively chases after her lovers. Her aggressiveness does not merely perpetuate a condition but creates a climate that increases its effects. Paul reveals this principle in Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." It is a law of nature that unless something intervenes to interrupt the growing cycle, more is reaped than is sowed.
The Bible uses a saying to describe this latter principle, "Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind" (see Hosea 8:7). It is like saying, "Fan a breeze and produce a hurricane!" Sowing faithlessness is no different: Unless real repentance interrupts it, it will produce more faithlessness until the spirit of harlotry, an attitude that causes many serious ramifications, permeates the entire nation.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Seventh Commandment (1997)
Hosea 2:2-7
Israel is seen as faithless wife and irresponsible mother—so faithless that she chases after her lovers! A spirit of harlotry, an attitude of faithlessness, was created in the whole nation, causing many detrimental ramifications and results. In other words, the deceit and its resulting infidelity are not confined to the God/Israel covenant marriage but affects personal relationships within families and the community. It even has a negative effect on the keeping of contracts in business and upholding promises of quality workmanship.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Seventh Commandment
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Hosea 2:2:
Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Amos 5:1-3
| << Hosea 2:1 | Hosea 2:3 >> |
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Israel, as a faithless wife and irresponsible mother, aggressively chases after her lovers and openly invites adulteries. Her actions create a spirit of harlotry, an attitude of faithlessness that permeates the nation. Unless real repentance interrupts the cycle, this produces more faithlessness and detrimental ramifications. The deceit and resulting infidelity affect personal relationships within families and the community, along with the keeping of contracts and promises of quality workmanship in business.