A Message of Warning to Israel

Here the Lord has the prophet Hosea deliver a message of warning to Israel: put away your idolatry or face punishment.
However, the language used portrays the Lord as a husband who is heartbroken and offended by the unfaithfulness of his wife and who retains a longing that his wife will return to him.
Even when the Lord is offended and angry, he acts so as to give sinners every opportunity to repent.
Even when his people forget him and give their affections to idols, his response is to win them back with tenderness and generosity.
This revelation of God’s nature in his dealings with faithless Israel, points us to the work of reconciliation that he will accomplish in Christ.
In the Cross of Christ the judgement and compassion of God are most fully revealed and it is through the Cross that God speaks tenderly to us to draw us to himself where we belong.