There are a number of references to the Exodus in Hosea (see 2:15; 11:1; 12:9) but 9:10, to me, is most significant. When the Lord led Israel from Egypt, He says he viewed her as grapes in the desert. That’s not the sort of thing you expect to find in a desert, and the presence of grapes would be a welcome sight to a weary traveler. The same is true of early fruit on the fig tree. It holds promise and gives hope.
This is how God saw His people.
God certainly knew their hearts. He knew how stubborn and rebellions and faithless they were. But it didn’t matter. Israel in the desert was a welcome sight to the Lord. They were precious to Him.
The problem was, Israel didn’t see herself as God saw her. She didn’t see herself as something special to the Lord. And so she gave herself to unbecoming behavior.
We spend too much time looking at ourselves through our own eyes, and the sameness of our day to day reflection obscures how really special we are. Through scripture we can learn to see ourselves through God’s eyes, and when we do, it should reinforce the need to behave as people special to the Lord should behave.