Hosea 2:5

"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."

The trouble indicated here was accurately pinpointed by Harper: "They have corrupted God's worship with so much that pertains to the cultus of the Baalim, that they might as well be worshipping the latter."[21]

"I will go after my lovers ..." Here again is the undeniable appearance of the theme used in Ezekiel 16:

"Thou art different from other women in thy whoredom, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and wherein thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different" (Ezekiel 16:34).

"I will go after my lovers ..." Who are these "lovers" so avidly sought after by Israel. Going back to Jerome, many commentators have understood these to be the nations of Assyria and Egypt;[22] and Joseph Kimchi ably defended the interpretation that "the host of heaven" worshipped by the Israelites as gods are the "lovers" of this passage.[23] However, we believe that Harper is correct in the comment that, "Israel's paramours were not the peoples round about ... but the Baalim."[24] Israel's apostasy to that cult was blatant, bold and willful.

"What a whore is this Israel! She does not wait for customers like the ordinary prostitute, but pursues her lovers anxiously, The "lovers" are the Baals, the fertility gods of the Canaanites."[25]

We in America have little reason to feel superior to the ancient Israelites who freely gave the pagan gods the thanks, adoration and worship for providing all of their physical wants, at the same time omitting to thank the true God who was indeed the giver of all things. Is it not so with us today? Our great plenty and abundance, our prosperity and eminence as a nation, do we thank God for them? or do we attribute all of these things to "our technology, our system of government, our free enterprise system, or our science, education, or political institutions?" As Butler affirmed:

"This is just as brazen and shameful and just as much spiritual whoredom as Baalism was in the days of Hosea. Let us take the exhortation of Hosea to heart and `plead with our mother' that she `put away her whoredoms from her face.'[26]

The mention of "bread and water, wool and flax, oil and drink" in this verse is a somewhat stereotyped reference to the basic things of life such as food, clothing, etc. The gift of such things was attributed to the heathen gods.