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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Hosea 8:1 - 8:7
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The Judgment Announced
v. 1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth, so the Lord calls out to the prophet in bidding him give a warning concerning the approach of the judgment. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, the enemy, especially the Assyrian, invading the country with the swiftness of an eagle pouncing upon his prey, Deu_28:49, because they have transgressed My covenant and trespassed against My Law. While God, according to His mercy, would like to live in the midst of His people, they make His presence impossible by their rebellious behavior.
v. 2. Israel shall cry unto Me, literally, "To Me will they cry," presuming upon the relation which had formerly obtained between Jehovah and them, My God, we know Thee (we, Israel). But it is a dead knowledge of the head only, faith no longer being found in their midst. The Lord wants to have the entire trust of the heart, as expressed in a person's whole life, He is not satisfied with a mere external worship.
v. 3. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, they are filled with aversion and loathing for the covenant of Jehovah. The enemy shall pursue him, as a punishment for such rebellious behavior, which is now more fully explained.
v. 4. They have set up kings, but not by Me, not by His direction nor with His consent; they have made princes, and I knew it not, for even in the case of Jeroboam and Jehu the manner of their accession did not meet with the Lord's approval, and in the case of most of the other rulers, murder and violence were the determining factors. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, thus cutting themselves off entirely from the covenant of the Lord, that they might be cut off, for on account of their idolatry they rushed into their own destruction with open eyes.
v. 5. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off, or, "Is rejected thy calf," one of the idols made with their gold, "O Samaria?" the reference being to the calf of Bethel and Samaria, which is being addressed for the whole nation. Mine anger is kindled against them; how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? How long would they be incapable of purity? How long would it be before they would cease from polluting themselves with their idol-worship?
v. 6. For from Israel was it also, that is, this calf originated from men; the workman made it, therefore it is not god. But the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces, smashed into tiny fragments. This is the result of Israel's idolatry.
v. 7. For they have sown the wind, by all their transgressions, and they shall reap the whirlwind, a fitting harvest for such a sowing; it hath no stalk, their sowing produces no stalk, the bud, the kernels of the ear, shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, the strangers, the invading enemies, shall swallow it up. Such is the result of seeking the friendship of the enemies of God; in the end they turn upon those who depended upon them and bring destruction upon them.