Two judgment oracles follow. In the first one, Hosea and Gomer's relationship is primarily in view, but the parallels with Yahweh and Israel's relationship are obvious. In the second one, it is almost entirely Yahweh and Israel's relationship that is in view. In both parts the general form of the messages is that of the lawsuit or legal accusation (Heb. rib).
In this message, the Lord described Israel's unfaithfulness to Him in terms similar to those that a husband would use to describe his wife's unfaithfulness to him. The whole message appears to be one that Hosea delivered to his children, but it really describes Israel as the unfaithful "wife"of Yahweh. As explained above (cf. 1:2), it appears that Hosea's wife really was unfaithful to him; this is not just an allegory in which God projected His relationship with Israel onto Hosea and his wife for illustrative purposes.
2:2 Hosea called on his children to act as witnesses against the conduct of their mother. She was not acting like a true wife, so he could not be a true husband to her. Perhaps they had separated. She needed to stop practicing harlotry and adultery.
In the figure Yahweh used, He called on the Israelites to contend with their mother, a figure for the nation as a whole. "Contend"(Heb. rib) probably refers to a legal accusation. Yahweh was bringing legal charges against Israel that could stand up in court. The legal charge was not a formal declaration of divorce, however, because He wanted to heal the relationship, not terminate it (cf. vv. 6-7, 14-23). The relationship between Yahweh and Israel was not what it should have been because Israel had become a harlot.27She had stopped worshipping and serving Yahweh exclusively and had worshipped and served other gods. This was spiritual adultery. Under the Mosaic Law, a husband could have his wife stoned for being unfaithful (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22), but this was not God's intention for Israel.
2:3 If she did not respond appropriately, Hosea threatened to strip her as naked as when she was born, namely, to expose her to shame and helplessness. Stripping naked like a prostitute was a metaphor used to describe the punishment due a covenant breaker in the ancient Near East.28Gomer had exposed herself to her lovers (v. 2), and now her husband would expose her for all to see. He would also make her like a desert wilderness in that she would become sterile and incapable of bearing other children. Her insistence on having sexual relations with many men would result in her not being able to bear the fruit of sexual relations, children. Even though she thirsted for children, she would bear no more.
The threat to Israel involved, first, making the nation an object of shame and ridicule in the world (cf. v. 10; Ezek. 16:35-43). Second, Yahweh would remove all her powers of fertility. Her flocks and herds would not flourish, her fields would become unproductive, and her women would be unfruitful.
2:4 Furthermore Hosea threatened to have no compassion on the children that Gomer had given birth to in her harlotry, children of other fathers.
For Israel this signified that Yahweh would not own as His own and love as His own the descendants that the Israelites bore. He would regard them as the products of others, not Himself.
Rather than slaying the guilty, steps would follow to restore the fallen to their former state.
2:5 The reason for Hosea's lack of compassion for these children was that Gomer had shamelessly played the harlot and had conceived them in adultery. She had brazenly sought out lovers who promised to provide money adequate to take care of her needs.
Israel pursued other gods (Baals) because she believed they could take care of her better than Yahweh. Trade agreements required acknowledging foreign gods.29
2:6 Hosea said he would oppose Gomer as though he put a hedge of thorns or a wall across her path so she would turn aside from her ways.
Yahweh would make it perilously difficult for Israel to pursue idols.
2:7 Consequently Gomer would pursue her lovers but not be able to catch up with them. She would seek them but not find them. Out of frustration she would give up pursuing them and return to her husband. She would conclude that she was better off with him than with them.
Out of frustration Israel would turn back to Yahweh.
In the section that follows, the relationship between Israel and Yahweh becomes even clearer. The mention of Baals and Israel's feasts makes this obvious. Hosea's relationship with Gomer recedes into the background.
2:8 Israel failed to acknowledge that it was Yahweh who had provided for her and had given her all she needed when she was pursuing pagan gods (cf. Deut. 7:13; 11:14; 26:10). The Israelites used the silver and gold that the Lord had bestowed on them to make idols of Baal, which they credited with their agricultural blessings.
2:9 Therefore the Lord would withdraw the blessings of fertility that he had formerly provided for Israel. Covenant curses would take their place (cf. Lev. 26:3-139; Deut. 28).
2:10 He would also expose Israel to shame (Heb. nabluth, a withered state) in the sight of those with whom she had committed adultery. No one would be able or willing to save her from this punishment.
2:11 Yahweh would also put an end to all Israel's happy annual, monthly, and weekly celebrations. In the time of Jeroboam II the Sabbath was apparently a feast day (cf. Amos 8:5). Idolatry had so corrupted Israel's sacred feasts that Yahweh no longer wanted His people to observe them.
2:12 The Lord would also destroy the vines and fig trees, Israel's finest crops. Israel regarded them as pay from her lovers. He would turn these groves of fruit trees into wild forests, and wild beasts would destroy the trees and their fruit. This suggests that there would no longer be Israelites in the land to care for these crops (cf. Isa. 5:5-6; 7:23-25; 17:9; 32:9-14; Mic. 3:12).
2:13 Yahweh would also punish Israel for observing sacred days in honor of the Baals and offering sacrifices to them.30She had gotten dressed up to impress her idols and to celebrate these occasions, but she had forgotten Yahweh, in the sense that she had refused to acknowledge Him (cf. Deut. 4:9; 8:11; Judg. 3:7; 1 Sam. 12:9-10; Ps. 78:9-11; Jer. 23:27).
