Hosea 10:9
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
Hosea 10:9 stands among God's mighty appeals to His backslidden children. It is spoken to those who had mixed themselves among the surrounding peoples. It is spoken to those whose shallow, unconsecrated work begot strange children, unfaithful offspring who fall away like dew before the morning sun. It is spoken to those who fed on wind instead of feeding upon God, pursuing emptiness rather than being nourished by Him.
It came at a time when God had multiplied prophets and visions for them, yet the prophets were left unheeded and the visions disregarded. Through it He still pleads with them to come to Him, to heal their backsliding and to love them freely and generously. Through it He calls them to strike root deep again and to grow strong as the cedars of Lebanon and to blossom in beauty as the lily. It declares that the ways of Jehovah are right, and that the just shall walk in them.