“As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.”
My Notes
What Does Hosea 11:2 Mean?
"As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images." God describes the heartbreaking pattern of parental love rejected: the prophets called Israel, and the more they called, the further Israel ran. The calling produced flight. The love produced distance. "They" (the prophets, or God himself) called, and "they" (Israel) went — in the opposite direction. The response to love was departure.
The verse captures the paradox of persistent grace meeting persistent resistance: every call drives them further away. Every act of love produces another act of rebellion. The calling doesn't stop. The leaving doesn't stop. And the sacrifices to Baal increase in proportion to the invitations back.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has your love for someone produced distance rather than closeness?
- 2.Why does the invitation to return sometimes trigger further departure?
- 3.Where are you running from God's calling — and what 'Baal' are you running toward?
- 4.How does God's persistent calling despite persistent rejection model the kind of love you're called to practice?
Devotional
The more I called, the further they ran. Every invitation to return produced another step away. Every expression of love triggered another sacrifice to Baal. The calling and the fleeing happened simultaneously — and the calling caused the fleeing.
This is the heartbreak of Hosea 11 — the chapter where God describes his love for Israel as a parent's love for a child. He taught Ephraim to walk (v. 3). He healed them. He drew them with bands of love (v. 4). He fed them. And the child that learned to walk walked away from the parent who taught him.
As they called them, so they went from them. The proportion is the agony: the calling and the going are matched. More prophets sent, more distance created. More grace offered, more Baal worshipped. The relationship between the invitation and the rejection is direct — as if the invitation itself provokes the rejection. As if being loved by God triggers the instinct to flee.
They sacrificed unto Baalim. The direction of the flight has a destination: other gods. Israel doesn't run into the wilderness. They run to another altar. The flight from God's love lands at Baal's feet. The child who was carried by his father now carries incense to a statue. The love rejected gets replaced, not by nothing, but by a counterfeit.
If you've ever loved someone who responded to your love by running — a child who rejected the values you taught, a friend who responded to loyalty with distance, a spouse who answered devotion with indifference — you know this verse. And you know the ache in it. God knows it too. He's been watching Israel run from his calling since Sinai. And he keeps calling. Even as they keep running.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
As they called them, so they went from them,.... That is, the prophets of the Lord, the true prophets, called Israel to…
As they called them, so they went from them - The prophet changes his tone, no longer speaking of that one first call of…
Here we find,
I. God very gracious to Israel. They were a people for whom he had done more than for any people under…
As they called them, &c. Or, The more they called them, &c. (comp. Hos 4:7). Since Israel disobeyed the first call by…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture