Confront the Unfaithful Mother
Study note
God tells the children to confront their mother, who represents Israel. She has chased after other lovers, meaning false gods and foreign nations. She wrongly believed that these false gods gave her food, clothing, and wealth. God calls on her to turn away from her unfaithfulness.
1 From now on, call your brothers "My People" and your sisters "Shown Mercy." Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 Challenge your mother — keep challenging her — because she is no longer my wife and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to stop being unfaithful and quit her sinful behavior. Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 If she does not stop, I will strip everything from her and leave her as bare and helpless as the day she was born. I will turn her into a dried-up desert and let her die of thirst. Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 I will show no pity on her children either, because their mother was unfaithful when she conceived them. And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
5 Their mother acted shamefully. She said, "I am going after my lovers — the ones who give me my food, my water, my clothing, my oil, and my wine." For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
God Blocks Israel's Way
Study note
God says He will put obstacles in Israel's path so she cannot find the false gods she has been chasing. When she fails to reach them, she will finally realize that life was better when she was faithful to God. She did not even understand that it was God, not the false gods, who had given her grain, wine, silver, and gold.
6 So I will block every path she takes with thick thorn bushes. I will build a wall so she cannot find her way. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 She will chase after her lovers but never catch them. She will look for them everywhere but come up empty. Then she will finally say, "Maybe I should go back to my first husband — things were so much better back then." And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
8 She never understood that I was the one providing everything — the grain, the wine, the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, but she turned around and used it all to worship Baal. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
Consequences of Unfaithfulness
Study note
God declares that He will take back the gifts He had given Israel, since she used them to worship the false god Baal. He will end her celebrations and festivals. He will destroy her vineyards and fig trees that she credited to her false lovers. God will hold her accountable for every day she burned incense to the Baals, dressed up in jewelry, and forgot about the LORD.
9 So I will take back my grain when it is ready and my wine when it is ripe. I will reclaim the wool and linen I provided for her clothing. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will expose her shame for her lovers to see, and not one of them will be able to rescue her from me. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11 I will end all her parties. I will stop her yearly feasts and monthly feasts. I will stop her weekly Sabbaths and every special day. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
12 I will destroy her vineyards and fig trees — the ones she bragged were gifts from her lovers. I will let them turn into wild overgrown patches, and animals will devour what is left. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 I will hold her accountable for all those days she burned incense to the Baals, dressed herself up in jewelry, and ran after her lovers — forgetting all about me. This is what the LORD has said. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
God Wins Israel Back
Study note
In a dramatic turn, God promises to gently draw Israel back to Himself. He will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her heart. The Valley of Achor, which means 'trouble,' will become a door of hope. Israel will call God 'my husband' instead of 'my master.' God promises to make a new covenant and betroth Israel to Himself forever in righteousness, justice, faithful love, and mercy.
14 But listen to this — I am going to win her back. I will lead her out to a quiet, open place and speak gentle, loving words straight to her heart. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards. I will transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will sing there with joy, just like she did when she was young, just like the day she came up out of Egypt. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 "When that day comes," the LORD promises, "you will call me 'My Husband' and never again call me 'My Master.'" And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 I will scrub the names of those Baal gods right out of her vocabulary. Nobody will even whisper their names anymore. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18 On that day I will make a peace agreement for my people with the wild animals, the birds, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will get rid of every weapon of war — bows, swords, all of them — and let my people live in total safety. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
19 I will make you mine forever. I will bind you to me through righteousness, justice, faithful love, and tender mercy. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will unite you to me through unwavering faithfulness, and you will truly know who the LORD is. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
Restoration of the Relationship
Study note
God describes a complete restoration of the broken relationship. He will answer the heavens, the heavens will answer the earth, and the earth will produce grain, wine, and oil for His people. The name Jezreel, which once meant scattering and judgment, now means 'God plants.' Those once called 'Not My People' will be called 'My People,' and they will say, 'You are my God.'
21 "When that day comes," the LORD promises, "I will respond. I will answer the heavens, and the heavens will answer the earth." And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 Then the earth will produce grain, new wine, and olive oil in abundance, and the land of Jezreel will flourish. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 I will plant my people in the land as my own. I will say to the ones I called 'No Mercy,' 'You have my full mercy now!' And to the ones I called 'Not My People,' I will say, 'You are my people!' And they will answer back, 'You are our God!' And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.