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V. The fourth series of messages on judgment and restoration: Israel's ingratitude 6:4--11:11 >
A. More messages on coming judgment 6:4-11:7 >
2. Israel's inevitable judgment 9:1-11:7 >
Israel's vulnerability 10:1-8 >
Judgment on Israel's cultic symbols 10:1-2
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10:1 Hosea compared Israel to a luxuriant (degenerate) vine. The grapevine was a common figure for Israel. Yahweh had planted Israel in Canaan as a vine and had blessed it with fruitful prosperity (cf. Ps. 80:8-10; Jer. 2:21; Ezek. 19:10-11). Yet the more the Lord blessed Israel the more the Israelites multiplied altars and sacred pillars to honor idols. They worshipped pagan gods in response to Yahweh's blessing.
10:2 Such behavior indicated an unfaithful (Heb. halaq, flattering, hypocritical, lit. slippery) heart that rendered the Israelites guilty before God. He would do away with the altars and pillars that they had erected.
