1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.
God now switches from the metaphor of Israel being His wife to Israel being His son.
Though God called the entire nation of Israel out of Egypt, Matthew applied this scripture to Christ. Jesus spent about two years in Egypt during His very early childhood hiding from King Herod. The entire nation of Israel is, then, a type of Christ.
2 But the more I called them, the more they ran from My calling. They sacrificed to Baalim, and burned incense to carved images.
3 I took Israel by the hands to teach him to walk, but they refused to recognize it was Me who healed them.
God taught Israel the way a father teaches his child to walk, but they still ignored Him.
4 I led them with cords of kindness, with lead-ropes of love. I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.
A yoke is the piece of curved wood that rests on an ox's neck, with the wagon or plow attached to it by ropes. The ox pushes the yoke, which pulls the load behind him. Taking the yoke off would be giving the animal rest, stopping his hard work.
He made their lives easy but they still rejected Him. Sounds like children in America today.
5 They won't go back to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian will be his king, because they refused to return (to Me).
They were seeking help from Egypt. In fact, some of them did go to Egypt to have protection from Assyria. But God has arranged it so that even these will be taken into captivity by the Assyrians.
6 And the sword will live in his cities, and will eat up his descendents, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
7 My people are determined to turn away from Me, and now, though they call to the Most High He will by no means lift them up.
Israel was determined to sin. They had no interest is God even when the prophets warned them of the coming destruction. No matter how much the prophets tried to call them back to God, they refused to repent. So now God will refuse to here their calls for help.
8 How can I give thee up, Ephraim? How can I deliver thee, Israel? How can I make thee as Admah? How can I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is torn within Me, My compassion grows stronger.
God loves Israel. He does not want to punish her, but sees He has no choice since He is the God of Justice. But He will not totally wipe her off the face of the earth like when King Chedorlaomer conquered Kings Admah and Zeboim in the time of Abraham (Genesis 14:8)
9 I will not give full vent to My anger. I will not completely destroy Israel. Because I am God, and not human. I am the Holy One living in the middle of thee, and I will not enter into the city.
God promises He will not totally destroy the people, but only punish them as much as is necessary. He did totally destroy the country of Israel, but there were people from all twelve tribes who returned to Judah after the captivity. God preserved them.
10 Someday they will follow Me. I will roar like a lion, and the children of Jacob will tremble, and return from the west.
God promises a time when Israel/Judah will really serve Him. At the time of Christ (the Lion of Judah), many of the common folk did serve God. And the unbelieving Israelites were thrown out of the Kingdom and replaced with the believing gentiles. The Gospel spread from Israel to the west towards Rome and Europe.
11 They shall tremble as a bird when they come out of Egypt, and as a dove when they come out of the land of Assyria, and I will place them in their houses," says the I AM.
God promises to call Israel back home to their homeland. They will come out of both Egypt (where many fled to avoid captivity) and Assyria (which at this time includes the territory of Babylon). This was fulfilled when Cyrus the Great gave the command for all captive people to return to their homelands in 457BC. (This date will disagree with Wikipedia and other sources ,which were derived from flawed Greek sources, but I have adjusted to accommodate information from 1st century BC Jewish histories and recent discoveries in Persia.)
12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God, and is faithful to Him.
Judah is under the rule of Hezekiah at this time and is serving God and being faithful. God will keep all His promises that the Messiah will come out of the descendants of Jacob.