SCRIPTURE: HOSEA 6:4, HOSEA 13:3

God spoke to the minor prophet, Hosea, about the charges He had against His people & the coming judgment that was approaching them. In His charges, God compares the love that Israel has for the Lord to the early dew & morning cloud that quickly evaporates (Hosea 6:4, 13:3). These two things are fleeting & transitory, temporary & not long-lasting. The comparison symbolized Israel’s frequent renewal during dark trials & tribulations, but just as the light began to break through, their love & faithfulness would disappear without a trace.

God charged Israel with the crimes of idolatry & apostasy—of which they were more than guilty. The relationship between God & Israel is significant, God made a covenant promise to Israel, they are God’s chosen people & all nations have been born through them. This covenant is often referred to in scripture as a binding marriage, God as the Husband & Israel as the wife, which explains God’s comparison of idolatrous Israel to an adulterous wife.

At the time, Israel saw tremendous military victory because of God. They had amassed great wealth, prosperity, & independence. However, they grew spiritually depraved & corrupt. They allowed the influence of their neighbors to appeal to their sensual desires, leading them into idol worship of the pagan fertility god (baal). They stopped trusting God & began relying on foreign alliances for security, however they continued to reap the good gifts of the Lord (James 1:17). Their perversion of God’s gifts included the practice of magic, ritual sacrifice (they were sacrificing their children at baal's altar), casual sexual interactions, & sacred prostitution. Israel is an example of faith today. Many of us only love & show faithfulness to God in troubling times because we so desperately need Him to save us. However, once in the clear, we repeat the same actions that brought us into the darkness in the first place. This is the fading love that God talks about, the love He doesn’t want from us. He desires our consistency, steadfastness, whole-hearted devotion, & never-ending love, which comes only in honest reverence of His glory (Romans 12:9-10).