Hosea 8:2-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:1-3

Ministerial faithfulness. The prophet is represented as a messenger with alarming tidings, or sentinel at his post to give warning of the enemy's approach, or rather as a herald commissioned to declare war. Earthly kings have heralds or special messengers for this purpose, and here the King of kings charges the prophet as his herald to proclaim war. "Go, then, and let the Israelites know, not now by thy mouth, but even by thy throat, by the sound of the trumpet, that I am an enemy to them,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:1-4

A trumpet-blast of judgment. In this passage the announcement of Israel's doom is still more direct than it has hitherto been. Up to this point the prophet's message has been principally one of complaint, with threatening of punishment in the future; now, however, he speaks of the judgment as immediately about to fall upon the sinful nation. I. THE PROCLAMATION OF JUDGMENT . ( Hosea 8:1 ) Hosea is here abruptly addressed by the Spirit as a sentinel or watchman. Being the herald... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:1-4

Doomsday The trumpet sounds the approach of judgment. It is judgment which begins at the house of God ( 1 Peter 4:17 ). The "eagle" is the Assyrian; in later times the Roman (cf. Deuteronomy 28:49 ). The cause of the judgment is that constantly insisted on: "They have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my Law" ( Hosea 8:1 ). I. KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THROUGH JUDGMENT . ( Hosea 8:2 ) In the day of doom Israel would cry to God, "My God, we know thee, we Israel" So... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:2

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. The more literal as well as more exact rendering is, to me wilt they cry , My God , we know thee , we Israel! Notwithstanding their provocation, their unfaithfulness to the covenant of God, and their disobedience to the Law, they appeal unitedly and severally to God in the day of their distress, and urge two pleas—their knowledge of God, or acknowledgment of him as the true God; and their high position as his people. Thus the Chaldee... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:2

On knowing God. Ignorance of God or forgetfulness of him leads to moral depravity. This may be illustrated both by national history and by individual experience. Israel was an example of this truth. The people had forsaken God, had turned to idols, and were therefore sunk in the licentiousness of pagan worship. Their only hope of moral restoration and of future blessedness lay in the fulfillment of the promise, "Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee." The converse of our first... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:2

Israel's cry. It could not be that, however tempted and however sinful, the children of the covenant should lose all remembrances of the mercies shown to them and the blessings promised to them. God had not forgotten them, neither did they altogether forget God. This cry, represented as rising to Heaven from Israel's lips, seems natural enough: "My God, we know thee." I. WHEN A CRY OF HYPOCRISY , FEAR , OR SELFISHNESS , IT WAS VAIN . Alas! It was often this.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:3

Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. This is the reply of Jehovah. The good which Israel rejected is not exactly God the One Good, nor Jehovah the greatest Good, nor the Law, which was good; but all the goodness which he bestows on such as keep his covenant. This Israel rejected, and in turn is rejected of God and delivered up into the hands of his pursuers. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:3-4

The abandonment of good, and the consequent pursuit of evil. "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good." Two things are contained in these verses. I. THE ABANDONMENT OF GOOD . "Israel hath rejected what is good" (Elzas). The good here undoubtedly refers to the true worship of the true God. Observe: 1. That true worship is the "good thing" for man . It is good not only because God requires it, but because it is the necessary condition of spiritual life, growth,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:4

They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not. Here was the first instance and evidence of Israel's rejection of Jehovah. Their conduct was not guided by Divine direction, nor in obedience to the Divine will, nor with the Divine sanction. This state of things began with Israel's revolt from the house of David, and rebellion against the son of Solomon their legitimate sovereign, and was repeated in subsequent usurpations. Perhaps we may go further back, even... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 8:4-8

The causes of the Divine judgments are more particularly specified. The first sin which brought down the Divine displeasure was their civil apostasy, as it has been called, or change of civil government. I. NATURE OF THE FIRST SIN BY WHICH ISRAEL INCURRED DIVINE WRATH . By this we are not to understand, with some, the election of Saul, because this political offence, if we may rightly so term it, included the twelve tribes in common, whereas it is the ten tribes of... read more

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