Hosea 2:9

Therefore will I return. God determines to turn away from mercy to merited judgment. He will inflict this punishment on Israel by depriving His people of the bounties they had so misused in idolatry and sin. The abuse of mercy will cause the removal of mercy (see on Gen. 6:3). At times God may withhold His good things from us that we may know that they come from Him and that He desires our appreciative fellowship.

My. In v. 5 Gomer claims that the material benefits listed were gifts from her lovers; here Hosea denies Gomer’s implied charge of nonsupport and states that he had provided her with these things. Similarly the blessings Israel enjoyed had come from God, but Israel had prostituted these blessings to the service of idols (see ch. 10:1; pp. 32, 33).

Corn. The necessities of life — food and raiment — will be taken away by some disaster of nature, such as storm or drought, or by hostile invasion. When we refuse to keep God in mind (see Rom. 1:28), our blessings will be cursed (Mal. 2:2). We will be brought to recognize that we are only the stewards of Heaven’s gifts and not the proprietors of them. If we will not know the Giver through abundance we may be led to know Him through want.