And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
Hosea's work was that of the last of the great prophets to the northern kingdom, laying bare its sad moral condition and degeneration and decay, pointing out the gross iniquity of its priests and princes, strongly predicting the coming captivity of the tribes, and warning against alliance with Egypt. In the prophetic allegory the children are the people belonging to the land, and the mother's infidelity represents their unfaithfulness to the Lord. Hosea's own painful and pathetic personal history with unfaithful children symbolized God's relation to His people.
The chapter presents the Maker and Redeemer as husband to His people, so that backsliding from Him and breaking His holy law is adultery. Israel's conformity to the world, idolatry, and every departure from God are named as such adultery, and trying to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin is dangerous spiritual adultery. The verse declares Jehovah's separation from His people of the northern kingdom and His disowning of them and withholding of mercy from them, because they are unfaithful and sinful children of whoredoms.
For that reason God would strip them naked and cause all mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts to cease, withdrawing those blessings as punishment because the people were unfit to have them. The fault was not in the feast days and sabbaths themselves but in the people. That removal was judgment for sin, not a change made in order to give something better.
Hosea's work was that of the last of the great prophets to the northern kingdom, laying bare its sad moral condition and degeneration and decay, pointing out the gross iniquity of its priests and princes, strongly predicting the coming captivity of the tribes, and warning against alliance with Egypt. In the prophetic allegory the children are the people belonging to the land, and the mother's infidelity represents their unfaithfulness to the Lord. Hosea's own painful and pathetic personal history with unfaithful children symbolized God's relation to His people.
The chapter presents the Maker and Redeemer as husband to His people, so that backsliding from Him and breaking His holy law is adultery. Israel's conformity to the world, idolatry, and every departure from God are named as such adultery, and trying to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin is dangerous spiritual adultery. The verse declares Jehovah's separation from His people of the northern kingdom and His disowning of them and withholding of mercy from them, because they are unfaithful and sinful children of whoredoms.
For that reason God would strip them naked and cause all mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts to cease, withdrawing those blessings as punishment because the people were unfit to have them. The fault was not in the feast days and sabbaths themselves but in the people. That removal was judgment for sin, not a change made in order to give something better.