Book of Hosea Chapter 7 Vs. 14

 THE CONFUSION OF THE NATION

And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. Hos. 7:14

have not cried... And they have never cried unto Me with their heart, but they keep howling from their beds for corn and new wine. No real repentance theirs, but some fear of drought and miscarriage of the harvests, a sensual and servile sorrow in which they wallow.

with their heart... Prayer, repentance, and service to God must be with the heart or they are fruitless (Isa. 29:13; Mat. 14:8; Rom. 10:9-10; Heb. 13:15).

when they howled... they assemble themselves for corn and wine.

Nine Characteristics of Rebels

1. Secret sins (Hos. 7:1)

2. Falsehood and lying (Hos. 7:1, 7:13)

3. Obstinate hearts (Hos. 7:2)

4. Glory in sins (Hos. 7:3)

5. Love of wine and women (Hos. 7:4-5, 7:14)

6. Extreme passions (Hos. 7:6)

7. Prayerlessness (Hos. 7:7, 7:10)

8. Ignorance (Hos. 7:9, 7:11)

9. Wicked imaginations (Hos. 7:15)

upon their beds... The former phrase may speak of appeals to pagan fertility gods upon beds of sacred prostitution, while the latter, if the marginal reading is correct, harkens to Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1Kgs. 18:28).

assemble themselves for... It appears, from this verse, they cried upon their beds at night, but did not direct those cries to God. At least they did not cry for Him with their hearts. Their hearts were far from God. This assembling themselves for corn and wine could be speaking of some false worship they were involved in. To rebel against God, is to rebel against His authority.

1Sam. 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams."

Jesus said the following, which actually is the same statement.

John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

They did not keep God's commandments, because they did not love God. They rebelled against Him.

Israel’s rejection of the Lord is illustrated here. The nation desired a plentiful crop (grain and new wine) but refused to exhibit the wholehearted devotion to God without which agricultural prosperity was impossible. They wailed (yālal; lit., howled; cf. Joel 1:11) and cut their bodies as they mourned over the crop failure. In the second sentence, the reading in the NIV margin (They slash themselves, following the LXX) seems better than They gather together. Cutting oneself was a sign of mourning (cf. Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 47:5) forbidden by the Law (Deut. 14:1) because of its pagan associations. The prophets of Baal cut themselves in an effort to arouse Baal, the storm god, to action (cf. 1Kgs. 18:28).