For Hosea the people of Israel are spiritually helpless as a result of their turning from God to other lovers. The infidelity of Israel to its true Lover is disastrous because, separated from Him, Israel has cut itself off from the source of its spiritual strength. It has become a barren garden. It is only a return to God in actions and not in mere words that will enable it to be the rich and glorious garden it was meant to be.

While Hosea insists that Israel must be punished for deserting its God, there is a suggestion that the punishment is not so much an external sanction meant to redress an insult or injury. The actual loss of the Lover's love is the natural consequence of Israel's infidelity. It is the very punishment itself, self-chosen and self-inflicted. By its infidelity Israel has emptied itself of meaning. It has robbed itself of the very One who could give it the strength and energy to be its best and most beautiful self.

When we sin and desert our Lover-God we too empty ourselves of meaning. There develops a gaping hole in us which cannot be satifsactorily filled by anything else or anyone else. We lose our spiritual and moral strength. Only a return to God will fill that vacuum and staunch the loss of the life giving energy necessary for us to become the rich, flourishing garden "we, like" Israel, were destined to be.