Hosea 2:16

“And it will be at that day,” says YHWH, “that you will call me Ishi, and will call me no more Baali.”

And YHWH promises that ‘at that day' (the day when His promises were fulfilled) they will call Him Ishi (my husband) and will no longer call Him Baali (my lord). There is an indication here of just how distorted Yahwism had become. YHWH was being hailed by the name of Baal. It was so easy to take a word that meant ‘my lord' and apply it to YHWH. But the problem was that YHWH and Baal then became mixed up in their thinking, with the result that YHWH was being reduced to a nature god.

However, in the future all that will be reversed, and any connection with the word Baal removed, as Israel come back to YHWH and see Him as their ‘husband', and a tender relationship is renewed between them. This again was partially fulfilled in the inter-Testamental period, for Israel did return to YHWH for a time, turning their backs on idolatry which was never again a major problem for the Jews. And they very much sought to remove the name of Baal from their history by altering the names of those who in earlier days had been connected with the word ‘baal', at a time when it was still being used to indicate YHWH. Consider how Eshbaal (1 Chronicles 8:33) was altered to Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:8), and Meribbaal (1 Chronicles 8:34) was altered to Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:6), ‘bosheth' signifying ‘shame'.

And in the New Testament we see a similar picture of husband and wife applied to the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His own (Mark 2:19; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 19:7), so that, through what He has done for us, those who are members of His true church (all who have truly believed in Him) can call Him ‘my husband', while in that final Day all who are His will be presented to Christ as His bride (Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2), to share eternity with Him.

We should note here that in the eyes of Jesus (when He says ‘My congregation/church' - Matthew 16:18, compare John 15:1; Matthew 21:43), and in the eyes of the early church (Galatians 6:16; Romans 11:17; Ephesians 2:11; 1 Peter 2:9), those who believed in Jesus Christ became the true Israel. They carried on in the train of all believers from the time of Abraham, and the Gentiles who were converted were engrafted in, while unbelieving Israel was cut off. Thus it was as true Israel (made up of believing Israel and the Gentile proselytes who united with them) that they responded to Jesus Christ as their husband, not just as spiritual Israel.