Our passage contains a gut-wrenching image of God standing broken-hearted as His beloved bride, Israel, abandons Him for other loves. Sin is depicted as adultery in order to teach us that all sin is a breach of covenant faithfulness and to evoke an emotional response within us that will lead us to turn back to our loving Lord. The beauty of the Gospel message is that though God is brokenhearted by our sin, He graciously receives us as we are and renews us by His Spirit to once again be His virgin bride.