What arouses God's anger? We've seen Israel's unfaithfulness and how she went after Baal and the calf-idols (Hosea 13:1-3); that certainly did it. But it isn't just idolatry. Pride provokes God's anger too.

God had heard Israel's cries in Egypt (v. 4) and saved her. The people had stood at Mount Sinai and heard God say, ″You shall have no other gods before me″ (see Exodus 20:3). They had been showered with gifts as He provided for them and met their every need (Hosea 13:5). No other nation has known the privileges that Israel had.

But the more God gave her, the more highly she thought of herself and her own abilities. She quickly forgot God (v. 6) and thought she didn't need Him. This pride and ingratitude made God furious. He may have been like a father or a husband, but Israel would soon see Him in a very different guise. He would turn on her like some ferocious predator-like a lion, a leopard, or a bear (vv. 7-8).

Idolatry, pride, and one other thing all kindle God's wrath-unbelief. Israel would be destroyed because instead of trusting God, her ″helper″ (v. 9), she wanted a king to believe in.

God had allowed the nation to have a king in His law (see Deuteronomy 17:14-20), but they wanted one for all the wrong reasons. You can read the sorry tale in 1 Samuel 8. They wanted a military leader who could secure their future, ″a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have″ (1 Samuel 8:5). God saw it for what it was: ″they have rejected me as their king″ (1 Samuel 8:7). He gave them what they asked for, but where had it got them? Their monarch had become little more than a puppet of the Assyrian empire! If only they had not looked to their rulers, but to the Lord God (Hosea 13:4).

God had been so patient, but Israel's record of continued idolatry, pride, and unbelief could not be ignored (v. 12). In the end, God's anger would burn against her, and she would feel it.

Heavenly Father, thank you for being far more patient than I could ever be, and may I never take that patience for granted. Help me to run from sin. For Jesus' sake, amen.