Though you play the whore, O Israel, do not let Judah become guilty. Do not enter into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear, ‘As the Lord lives.’ Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? Ephraim is joined to idols — let him alone. When their drinking is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies; they love lewdness more than their glory. A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars. (Hosea 4: 15-19)

Judah and Benjamin were the two tribes - centered on Jerusalem - that had continued as the Southern Kingdom. Ephraim encompasses the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom.

Gilgal means place of standing stones, probably a small version of stonehenge. It had been a center of ancient Canaanite worship.

Beth-Aven, meaning house of nothingness, was not far from Gilgal. Beth-Aven was named for the idols, especially of calves, that were worshiped there.

Gilgal and Beth-Aven were each notorious as centers of heathen worship, even their place names are reminiscent this historic role.

Both towns were in the mountainous boundary land north of Jerusalem that separated Israel from Judah. In Hosea they have become citadels of virtue.

The source of our separation from God, no matter how profound or long-held, can be transformed. A place of nothingness can become a sacred place.

Choices have consequences. But even the worst consequences may be overcome. Nothing is eternal but God and the love of God.