Unwittingly or wittingly, "Ephraim" (= apostate Israel/ Christianity, who will be 'joined to idols') will be rendered sterile.
7The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah:
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
10Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
11Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
Woe to them
when I depart from them!
13Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm
a planted in a meadow;
but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.
b
14Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their princes are rebels.
16Ephraim is stricken;
their root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will put their beloved children to death.
17My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations.
As to who will repopulate the earth, there is no 'whisked away' rapture - there is 'being gathered' by the 'angels'/ 'messengers'. The living - on earth. The dead - in heaven.
