Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth.  The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; the more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up.  Their heart is false, now they pay for their guilt; God shall break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.

Prosperity seems to lend itself quite readily to idolatry.  But “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower,” says Jesus (John 15.1).  In saying “true vine” he implies that there are false vines, whose fruit we may be tempted to seek.  The national prosperity in Hosea is but one.