Hosea 10:14
Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
God sent this word through Hosea to the ten tribes of Israel in the closing years of the northern kingdom. It came as a severe reproof to arouse the impenitent nation to its imminent danger of utter destruction. It urged full and complete repentance while threatening disaster for continued transgression.
The threatened disaster was because Israel had plowed wickedness, reaped iniquity, and eaten the fruit of lies. This was by trusting in its own way and in the multitude of its mighty men, relying on its own strength and military power. Its leaders sought prestige and political power through political alliances with heathen nations instead of turning from the practices that had weakened the kingdom.
The judgment means a tumult or uproar breaking out among the people, with all fortresses spoiled. That spoiling would be through the capture of its fortified cities. It would bring brutal suffering for families, pictured by a mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
This foretells the coming violent defeat and destruction of the ten tribes as the consequence of continued sin. Reliance on human strength and alliances could not restore its power or prevent that end. It ends with the king of Israel being utterly cut off.