Hosea 8:8-14
8 Israel has been swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a vessel in which no one delights.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has paid fees for lovers.
10 Even though they pay for allies among the nations,
I will gather them up now;
And they will begin to diminish
Because of the burden of the king of officials.
11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
12 Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My Law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for My sacrificial gifts,
They sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will remember their guilt,
And punish them for their sins;
They will return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.
The Trumpet of Judgement (2)
Breaking the covenant (v 1-3)
Chapter 8 begins with the command, “Put the trumpet to your lips!” This is a horn that announces judgment. In other words, judgment is drawing near. Five sins are identified as the reasons why judgment will fall upon Ephraim (the northern kingdom). Today, let us look at three of these sins. The first is the sin of breaking the covenant. “They have violated My covenant” refers to the fact that the people of Israel were breaking the Mosaic Law. For this reason, judgment would come upon them swiftly, like an eagle swooping down. When faced with danger, they cry out, “My God, we of Israel know You,” but this is a complete falsehood. They had continually rejected the knowledge of the Lord. Their ignorance of His word is what drove them far away from what is good.
A king unlawfully set up (v 4a)
In the southern kingdom, kings came only from the line of David. But in the northern kingdom, the king was supposed to be the one chosen by God. However, the people rejected God’s choices and kept appointing kings according to their own preferences, one after another. As a result, the northern kingdom experienced frequent assassinations and rapid changes of royal dynasties. The Lord despised this situation and said, “They have set up kings, but not by Me.”
A golden calf (v 4b-7)
The third sin is idolatry. More specifically, the sin of making a golden calf and worshiping it. The golden calves were set up in Dan and Bethel, but they were nothing more than idols, mere objects crafted by human hands. Because they worshiped what is not God, the wrath of God would fall upon them. (1) The golden calf will be crushed into pieces, and the idolatry of the northern kingdom will come to an end. (2) The land of Ephraim will become barren, unable to produce fruit. And even if it should yield anything, foreigners will devour it. In this way, the northern kingdom was placed in a hopeless condition. Let us examine whether any of these three sins have slipped into our own lives. Are you responding to God’s love? Are you rejecting the will of the Lord? Are you placing your trust in anything other than God? If so, that is idolatry itself. Let us seek the knowledge of the Lord.
Today's prayer
O God the Creator, I am a weak person who is tempted to rely on what is seen. Please forgive me. I now return to You. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.