You will stumble in the day, And the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother.
A discernment sadly lacking in many writings on Hosea was achieved by McKeating, who stated that, "Hosea's rejection of the northern priesthood seems to be all of a piece with his questioning of the legitimacy of their monarchy and his assertions that it does not enjoy divine favor."[13]   Of course, this is correct.  Neither the monarchy nor the priesthood of Israel had any standing whatever in the eyes of God. How could the priesthood have been legitimate, when it was instituted by Jeroboam I, for the specific purpose of supporting his throne, and made up of Jews who were "the lowest of the people" and "not of the sons of Levi," contrary to the Word of God (2 Kings 12:31)?  It is nothing short of amazing that so many commentators on this part of the Bible seem to be utterly blind to the true nature of Israel's apostasy.  Even Mays speaks of Israel's priests as having their "vocation given to them by Yahweh," but this cannot be true at all.  They were in no sense priests of God, but priests of Jeroboam, presiding over a bastard religion made up of a few elements of Judaism, grossly perverted, and overlaid with a rich veneer of pure paganism.  Adultery, debauchery, drunkenness and many other sinful rites marked the very "services" of Baal, whom they worshipped instead of God. The central idols in this paganism were the golden calves set up at Dan and at Bethel by Jeroboam I.