Hosea 11:7-8.
And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within Me, My repentings are kindled together.
Backsliding in v. 7 is translated as turning away, turning back, apostasy. In spite of the warnings of the prophets, not a single one of God’s people would exalt Him as the Most High. Not one!
In spite of their rejection of His love, it is breaking His heart to allow judgment to fall upon His people. At the end of v. 8, God expresses the sorrow of what was coming.
Admah and Zeboim were cities near to Sodom and Gomorrah that were also destroyed in the judgment on those two cities. God took no joy in leaving Israel to the harsh judgment they would experience at the hands of the Assyrians.
Linda's Bible Study 