Hosea 8
In Scripture the trumpet is used symbolically as the voice of God, whether to call His people together; or to sound an alarm; or to publicly proclaim His rights (Numbers 10; Joshua 6; Isaiah 27:1313And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:13); Jeremiah 6:1717Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. (Jeremiah 6:17); Matthew 21:3131Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. (Matthew 21:31); 1 Thessalonians 4:1010And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; (1 Thessalonians 4:10); Revelation 8). In Hosea 8:11Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. (Hosea 8:1) it is used to announce judgment about to take place on the hearers.
The responsibility—woefully neglected, however—of the 12 tribes as God’s earthly people, is plainly, set forth; nor is the promise of judgment ever found in Scripture without the occasion for it being plainly stated. Who was to be the agent of God in judgment is not said: “He shall come as an eagle against” (not merely the nation but) “the house of the Lord”, and the occasion for this action is given in the latter part of the first verse. “Trespassed against My law’’ is hardly sufficient to express the meaning of the original Hebrew; it is really “they have rebelled against My law.”
The righteousness of God and His holiness demand that sin be punished, but, as we know from many scriptures, there had been ample warning given; mercy had long been shown, and was slighted, too. Now with swiftness, seeing the prey front afar, as an eagle or vulture, an enemy would attack the nation that professed the name of Jehovah, but in heart had forsaken Him.
As generally in Hosea, the ten tribes are chiefly in view, but what was true of them was in substance. true of Judah also, though the latter still clung to the house of David their king. It is mere profession in verse 2, just as, in our own times, the unconverted call upon the name of God when alarmed, as though entitled to call Him “my God” apart from heart belief in His word. But God is a discerner of hearts, and they who cry “My God, we know Thee”, had cast off good; therefore the enemy should pursue them (verse 3).
Independence of God (characteristic of mankind ever since the fall of Adam and Eve) marked the course of the ten tribes, and their kings had almost no regard for Him; out of their wealth they made themselves idols, that they might be cut off (verse 1). So the calf, or calves, which the rulers of Israel had made as a substitute for the worship of the true God at Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:2828Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 12:28); 2 Kings 10: 20; 17:1616And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. (2 Kings 17:16); Hosea 10:55The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. (Hosea 10:5)), gave this wayward people no help in time of need; it should, in fact, be broken in pieces.
In the end of verse 5, the best reading is “how long will they be incapable of purity” (or innocency). Israel had sown the wind, and should reap the whirlwind. They had coveted the ways of the ungodly, and were now to be captives among them. They should begin to be straightened under the burden of the king of princes (verse 10 N.T.)
“They shall return to Egypt” (verse 13) refers to the state of the nation as recorded in the early chapters of Exodus; back into slavery of like kind were the ten tribes about to go, though the scene of it would be Assyria. Israel had forgotten his Maker, and built idol temples; Judah relied on walled cities for protection, and forgot God also, but their day of reckoning was to come.
ML 11/08/1936