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 27:13; Jeremiah 6:17; Matthew 21:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:10; Revelation 8). In 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 12:28; 2 Kings 10: 20; 17:16; 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