Hosea 9:10 (ESV)
Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
When God found Israel, in the desert wasteland of unbelief, it brought Him great joy. Joy as if finding a grape vine full of grapes in the desert. Remember the call of Abraham as written here:
Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abram and his family were idol worshippers. God called them and it was joy to Him. They were NOT grapes in the desert, but taking them out of idolatry was like finding grapes in the desert. This does not speak of their worth to God, but rather His joy in calling them to become His people. God rejoices in our coming to Him by His grace.
Hebrews 12:22 (ESV)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
But the nation turned (or returned) to idols. That is what is meant in Hosea’s exchange with God, above:
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
When tempted to return to idols, the nation did so. God’s joy over them is turned to wrath. That is the point of the prophet’s book, Hosea. When we turn to idols we suppress God’s joy over us and, instead, receive His discipline.
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