I suspect that all that Baal-peor balling resulted in STI's (remember, this is before antibiotics) which in turn resulted in sterility, miscarriages, and stillbirths, interpreted by Hosea (properly, in my view) as the just judgment from God. Which is to say, the natural and logical consequence of their sin, which God detests BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT THEM TO SUFFER THESE CONSEQUENCES, and which God and all the prophets warned them against.
Bottom line: You wanted it, ou got it. This is the end of you, people.
Your thoughts?
It was far more insidious than that. The ancient Hebrews just could not resist, although they were supposed to only follow JHVH, to want to hedge their bets by sacrificing to Baal or especially Moloch. Sacrificing their children to Moloch in return for easy prosperity and fertility.
It does bear a weird parallel to the Republican-Democrat argument of today, in which the Republicans offer the freedom for prosperity from one’s own work and wisdom; but the Democrats promise endless free stuff and bad behavior, in exchange for the future of the children.
The worship of Baal and Moloch was evil beyond evil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch
“Again, you shall say to the Sons of Israel: Whoever he be of the Sons of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed l’Molech (to Moloch); he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
“And I will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people; because he has given of his seed l’Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
“And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he gives of his seed l’Molech, and do not kill him, then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, whoring l’Molech from among the people.”