NOTES for Hos 9:1-17

Israel has sinned, and everything dearest is taken away from it: vineyards, "the fruit of the womb," the Promised Land, and God's mercy. Is the Lord really taking revenge on His people? After all, He Himself promised to have mercy on "No Mercy." But are the gifts so important if people have forgotten the One who gives them? What God wants from us first of all is faithfulness to Him, "the knowledge of God" (Hos. 6:6); then the day of the Lord can become a day of salvation.