Book of Hosea Chapter 10 Vs. 2

 ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. Hos. 10:2

Their heart is... Ten Judgments on Ephraim

1. Altars broken down (Hos. 10:2)

2. Images destroyed (Hos. 10:2, 10:5)

3. Kingdom destroyed (Hos. 10:3, 10:7, 10:15)

4. Shame and disgrace (Hos. 10:6)

5. Destruction of high places of sin (Hos. 10:8)

6. Thorns and thistles on altars

7. Misery until they plead to die

8. War and defeat (Hos. 10:10, 10:14-15)

9. Reaping iniquity (Hos. 10:13)

10. Destruction of fortresses (Hos. 10:14-15)

Either between God and their idols or between God and the world.

divided; now shall... Divided hearts (1Kgs. 18:21; 2Kgs. 17:32-33, 17:41).

they be found... As this was their sin, so it is here threatened, that the effects thereof should prove and be an open manifestation of their guilt, so the effects hereof should manifestly prove them faulty.

Either God, or the king of Assyria stirred up by God to invade and destroy Ephraim.

he shall break... Utterly pull down those altars which they had multiplied to their idols. The Assyrians shall, as other conquering heathen idolaters, rage against the gods of the people they conquer, as well as against the people. Such was the pride and atheism of these men.

He shall spoil... Waste or destroy them; how goodly they had seemed to be, yet they should be broken to pieces; and where made of rich materials, as silver and gold, or if adorned with it, the enemy should the sooner spoil them. And then it will appear how stupefied were these people to trust in them, or ascribe any praise to them, when Baal cannot defend his own images or people.

The following Scripture has a great deal to say about the person whose heart is divided.

1Kgs. 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word."

God will not allow this. He wanted their total allegiance. He would not accept them worshipping Him and false gods at the same time.

Mat. 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

We see from this; God requires 100% of our loyalty. He will destroy these false gods Himself.

False is the heart of them: now must they atone for it. He shall break the neck of their altars; He shall ruin their pillars.

Israel’s unfaithfulness established her guilt (cf. Hos. 12:14, 13:12, 13:16) and necessitated her punishment. Is deceitful (ḥālaq) literally means is slippery, smooth. Often the term is used of deceitful, unreliable speech (cf. Psm. 5:9; 12:2; 55:21). With their heart (or mind) as subject ḥālaq refers to the hypocrisy which characterized her approach to the Lord. Appropriately the Lord would destroy the sites of her hypocritical and false worship (cf. sacred stones in Hos. 3:4; 10:1).