Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because they have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They made kings, but not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds. Hosea 8 ESV
Hosea 8 Assyrian Vulture
1-6 Set the trumpet to your lips - This is the call to Assyria, to come and take the northern tribes. Look, they are week, confused, vulnerable.
One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord - Some translations have it as an eagle, which is a bird of prey, yet both will scavenge. I have seen one eagle chase a dozen vultures off a carcass more than once. They are both birds of opportunity, and when a nation becomes weak like this, they see it afar off, the vultures circle above waiting for the victim to die, while the eagle would be more inclined to come before it's dead. Often an eagle will watch an osprey catch a fish rather than try for his own, he will wait, then come to bully and steal the other's catch. It says the vulture is coming, circling because they transgressed the covenant and broke the law.
My God, we - Israel - know You - This is a rather blended and tainted plea, as God will demonstrate throughout this chapter that they don't really know Him, nor do they want Him for Who He is. He is one of many gods to them, and their view is degrading, they think to appease Him so that He will give them their way. God has defined Himself through His revelation, given to us in His word, but they have rejected that for their own formula. As we discussed in prior posts, Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom, and in Jesus time He tells the Samaritan woman that she doesn't know who she worships, their religion was not only a diluted version of Judaism, but it was also defiant.
…22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.… Matthew 7: 22-24
Israel has spurned the good - When a nation calls good what God has called evil, and evil what God has called good. They have been offering their children to Molech, worshiping idols, violence and greed abound. If you "know" Him than you would know that He is holy and has condemned all these things.
…4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,… 2 Timothy 3: 4-6
They made kings but not through Me - Once you are turned over to depravity you get to live in the times of the "Emperor's New Clothes", you know longer choose integrity, and you will even pass on it in favor of voting for free stuff in a democracy. We have people here that vote as they did during the times of slavery, to keep their slaves, which are now the unborn, the people marked for convenience. What does God look for, what does His word say? Many of these people claim to know Him, but their actions say to the contrary. Israel chose kings that appealed to their carnality, and how frightening is it that God turned them over to such men.
“To choose leaders without the direction of God is not only sinful, it is foolish. Those who follow their own wisdom in the choice of leaders inevitably get what they deserve” (Boice).
…20So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence. 21When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 22The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.… 2 Kings 17: 20-22
I have spurned your calf, O Samaria - So the northern kingdom selected not only their own king, but even priests, and their king decided upon a national religion. Now they said they worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, yet they made images to do so, so this is more of a problem than people then and now like to admit. Remember, Christ told the Samaritan woman that she didn't even know who she worshiped. We have to be more than just hearers of the Word, but also doers, and it would seem that they didn't even hear, for one of the first deplorable acts of those in the wilderness was to take their gold and silver jewelry and make a calf. Listen carefully, they said they worshiped the same God that Judah worshiped, the God of Scriptures, yet they did so in a forbidden manner.
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Exodus 32: 1-6
It is not God - God will not accept it as a form of worship to Him; it's not Him, He was not made with hands nor with the imagination. God has to reveal Himself for us to know Him, and He has even given direction on the approach to Him. Those who had read the Book of the Law should have pointed out that God said not to make any graven image, and there were those who fled from this apostasy, for it was a power play, a way to keep the people from going to Jerusalem, a way to control them, just like the Roman Catholic church did not want the Bible printed in other languages, thought the Latin Vulgate was not the original, and when you look at the Bible it was originally written in at least Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; the language was not important, but keeping with the Author's intent was. There are many groups today that claim extra Biblical revelation, new revelation, that is contradictory to God's word, but fits nicely with what they want to believe, but it's beyond Strange Fire, and offers another Christ, another gospel, it is not the door, nor can it be lumped in with the "Door".
5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7
7-10 They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind - In times of prosperity they judged themselves okay with God, and in times of famine they complained against God, yet He told them early and often that the wages of sin was death. They did not care if evil befell their neighbors, and they had a system that revered those financially well off as spiritually good. Sin though, that they did not hate, and rich or poor, that was more precious to them, and like a gentle breeze it came forth from their hearts, gentle in the night of their lack of understanding, but now it returns to them, hundreds of years visited upon them in a day, week, time, times and half a time. They have filled up with every false breath the chamber of winds, and now the warm breeze of sins honey moon has become a tornado, the finger of God, "but why"? they ask.
…6Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor. 7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. 8The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.… Galatians 6: 6-8
For they have gone up to Assyria - They admired Assyria's wealth, power, and even religion, but for God their priorities are all wrong, for He puts a much hire premium upon truth. This is before their captivity, they are actually courting those that will become their captors.
Because of the tribute - Not because of shame or sinfulness, but much like many so called Christians today, they will not bother to stand for the truth of God, but taxation is a different story. Hit them in their pocket book and now Assyria doesn't look so wonderful, but Assyria is use to the tribute now, and they know you are weak because you came to them instead of humbling yourself before God. Assyria will not accept their defiance, and they are know for their violence. The whirlwind is coming.
11-14 They would be regarded as a strange thing - They have calves that they consider consistent with worshiping the true God, altars, men called priests, but the words of the true God they wouldn't recognize. Strange fire has become normal fire for them, and the true God sounds like a foreign God. Remember, Hosea said before this, My people die for lack of of knowledge. When you reject the truth you can't know the truth, you aren't set free, but remain a prisoner to ignorance and sin, following the nose of pride you become even more lost.
1Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises. 2I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else. 3On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.… Psalm 138: 1-3
14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. 15Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,… 2 Timothy 2: 14-16
“If this be the Word of God, what will become of some of you who have not read it for the last month? Most people treat the Bible very politely… When they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing. That is your style of entertaining this heavenly messenger. There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write “damnation” with your fingers.” (Spurgeon)
They sacrifice meat and eat it - It was without understanding, so without truth, not in the spirit to which it was prescribed, so they were basically conducting a heathen ritual, amounting to a ceremonious dinner theatre.
…4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.… Hebrews 10: 4-6
They shall return to Egypt - This is symbolic of captivity, slavery, yet some did flee to Egypt, but the majority were taken into captivity in Assyria.
Judah has multiplied fortified cities - Just in case God doesn't come through for us, and we need to protect our sinful nation, build the fortresses, make the walls of Jerusalem impenetrable. That didn't work out so well.
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