Book of Hosea Chapter 2 Vs. 5

 Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Hos. 2:5

their mother hath... Gomer had gone back to her former lovers to live as a harlot. This was used to illustrate how Israel had backslidden and gone from Jehovah to serve idol gods (Hos. 2:5-23).

I will go... Literally “Let me go,” it denotes strong desire and bent. Israel attributed her prosperity to the idols of her heathen neighbors; her “lovers” (compare verses 7, 10, 12). She would not be deterred from pursuing them.

that give me... Seven things Gomer had in harlotry:

1. Lovers

2. Bread

3. Water

4. Wool

5. Flax

6. Oil

7. Drink

The "mother" here is Israel. Israel had been unfaithful to God. The lovers here are possibly speaking of the countries around them. God did not want Israel mixing with the heathen nations around them because they would pick up bad habits from them. The worship of false gods was introduced to them by the people around them. They made treaties with these nations and picked up much of their culture.

Israel belonged to God, and He had provided for all of her needs, had even fought her battles for her. Now she is turning from God's help to worldly people's help. God was sufficient for them, and He is sufficient for us today as well in the church. There is no need to look to the world for answers, the world does not have answers. Only God has answers to our problems.

Punishment initiated

The Lord’s judgment, instead of bringing His relationship with Israel to a complete end, was designed to effect restoration. The first step in this process was to deprive the nation of its false gods and the prosperity it erroneously attributed to them.

Israel deprived of her lovers.

In Hos. 2:5 Israel’s unfaithfulness is vividly pictured. She resolved to pursue her lovers (the Baals; cf. Hos. 2:13, 2:17; 11:2) because she believed they supplied her physical nourishment (food… water), protection (wool and… linen; cf. Hos. 2:9), and pleasure (oil and… drink).