Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. Hos. 2:11
her feasts days... Ever since the Exodus from Egypt, Israel had intermingled the worship of the Lord with the worship of false gods (compare Amos 5:26; Acts 7:43).
All of these times were when she communed with God. All communication with God is cut off. These had been times set aside, when God and His people fellow shipped.
sabbaths, and all... It is clear here that the sabbaths of Israel were to be done away with as much as her mirth, feasts, new moons, and other rituals. This is what happened when God made the new covenant: not a single commandment was given regarding the keeping of any particular day as the sabbath. It is plainly set forth in the N.T. that every man may do as he pleases regarding a sabbath day (Rom. 14:5-6), and that no man is to judge another on this question (Col. 2:14-17), for Christianity is not a religion of days, weeks, years, and rituals (Gal. 4:9-10).
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. Hos. 2:12
The themes in Hos. 2:5-9 are repeated in Hos. 2:12-13. In implementing the covenant curses the Lord would destroy the produce (her vines and her fig trees; cf. Deut. 28:38-42; Joel 1:7; Amos 4:9), which Israel erroneously regarded as the pay given by her paramours in exchange for her services (cf. Hos. 9:1; Mic. 1:7). The vineyards would be reduced to an overgrown thicket inhabited by wild animals. This would be an effect of the depopulation which would accompany the nation’s military defeat and exile (cf. Psm. 80:12-13; Isa. 5:5-6; 7:23-25; 17:9; 32:9-14; Mic. 3:12).
The coming judgment would also bring the cessation of Israel’s joyous religious celebrations, including the great yearly festivals (Exo. 23:14-17), the monthly New Moons (i.e., New Moon sacrifices; Num. 10:10, 28:11-15), and the weekly Sabbath observances. These feasts had been corrupted by Baal worship (cf. Hos. 2:13) and were no longer desired by the Lord.
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