Hosea is shining the spotlight on Israel's double life-her infidelity that has so grieved God. Her pretence at devotion to Yahweh (while worshipping other gods) and her duplicity in foreign affairs (courting Egypt while flirting with Assyria) were not her only crimes (Hosea 12:7-9).

The sad truth is that God's child, Israel, has turned out to be just like all the other kids.

Israel has become like ″the merchant″ (literally ″Canaanite″) who ″uses dishonest scales″ and ″loves to defraud″ (v. 7). God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt (v. 9) and had given them the land that was occupied by the wicked Canaanites. He had said to Israel, ″Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants″ (Leviticus 18:24-25). Israel was supposed to have been a distinct, different, and holy nation (see Exodus 19:6). Instead, she had simply copied all the dishonest practices of the peoples around her. She had become like the world.

Israel's dishonesty had made her wealthy (Hosea 12:8), and her riches had made her arrogant and blind. It's a well-worn path. Years later, the Laodiceans went the same way (see Revelation 3:17-19), and the result was a church that the Lord Jesus found repulsive.

Israel's sins made God feel the same way. She provoked His anger (Hosea 12:14). If the only way He could shock her into repentance was to evict her from the land and make her into a homeless people once again, He would do it. Her religiosity (v. 11) would not save her. If she thought she could devise her own clever schemes, like her father Jacob, and that she no longer needed God (v. 12), she would have another thing coming.

It could all have been so different, if Israel had only listened to the prophets God had sent to her through the years to warn her, to rescue her, and to care for her (vv. 10,13). But God's people had ignored His Word and gone their own merry way. They would now pay for their sins (v. 14).

Heavenly Father, help me to be wholly yours, holy and distinct. For Jesus' sake, amen.