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Israel could not pass the blame off on to others for their spiritual condition and its consequences. They, themselves made their choices, well knowing that there would be a price to be paid for their iniquity. It must be taken into consideration that they had fully and deeply involved themselves in corruptible actions before the Lord. The example given was that of the city of Gibeah and the actions of the inhabitants who were of the tribe of Benjamin. The story is recorded in Judges nineteen. It was an act of the most despicable kind and has its very special reward of judgment. Hos. 9:9 The Lord promised that He would remember their sin and visit them with an appropriate penalty.
The Lord found Israel as a people living in the desert, a dry place where they were in servitude. He delighted in them as a weary traveler would find wild grapes and have their thirst quenched by eating of them. The fathers, the patriarchs He looked upon as the first ripe of the fig tree. As both fruit would be a source of joy and happiness, so Was Israel unto the Lord, in the beginning of their relationship. Hos. 9:10.
After the Lord had delivered them from Egypt and given them their own country and land, they went astray from Him. They went to Baal-peor. Not only were those who worshipped Baal-peor idol worshippers but their performances at their shrines and temples were of the vilest kind. The sexual practices at these places were of the most contrary to the scriptures. We may know the feelings of the Lord in all this by an incident which took place in their journey of Egypt. Some of the people of Israel joined themselves with these who followed Baal-peor. The anger of the Lord was great and the punishment of the Lord was most severe. We may fully understand the emotions of the Lord from the circumstances related in Num. 25:1-9 The Lord hates sin of any kind but for these there was immediate and serious punishment. They had found a vile and abominable form of worship and had consecrated themselves to it. Hos. 10:10 The very thing which the Lord hated. Jer. 44:4.
The prophet then predicted the end of Israel and the words of His prophecy were fulfilled. Not only would they cease to exist as a nation but all the glory that the Lord had bestowed upon them would flee away like the flight of a bird. They would face a time of zero growth in their numbers for the Lord declared that there would be no child bearing found among them. Surely, the wages of sin is death. Be it an individual or a nation, when the Lord brings judgment because of sin, it is righteous but strong and eternal. Eze. 18:4 Rather than destroying them, the Lord would have loved to have forgiven them but they were a people who persisted in their sin, therefore they paid the price. Eze. 33:11.