Tied back to Hosea and Gomer’s sexually chaste period within their marriage (Hosea 3:3), God promises a period of privation and punishment. There are three couplets in Hosea 3:4, seen by the repeated adverb without,
together these provide a picture of exile.1 Noticeably, the things that God will take from Israel or keep them from are not exclusively negative. Ortlund2 says that it is telling that mixed in with lawful items are pagan ones—household gods
—showing the degenerative state of their nation and worship. Their spiritual adultery, religions syncretism, and idolatry will result in an extensive punishment, rather than simply the removal of those aspects of Israel’s life that were sinful.
God identifies three areas of Israel’s life that needed transformation:3
Human leadership
Cultic rituals
Divine guidance
4 Car les enfants d'Israël resteront longtemps sans roi, sans chef, sans sacrifice, sans statue, sans éphod, et sans théraphim.