RM 'The trumpet to thy mouth! As an eagle against the house of the LORD.' 2. RV 'They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee.' They use the name Israel with its sacred associations, as an inducement to God to help them.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LONG-MERITED RETRIBUTION The enemy is coming immediately to destroy their temples and palaces and desolate the land, and as a punishment for their idolatry and disloyalty to God. In vain will they appeal to Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL] Hosea answers their appeal by saying that the name is worthless without the character which God requires. 4. In the constant changes of dynasty there was no thought for the religious character of the king, nor counsel asked of God's prophets. Revolution and idolatry had all along been the b... [ Continue Reading ]
THY CALF.. OFF] RV 'He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria'; meaning that the calf would be taken off by the enemy, Samaria, the capital, being put for the whole people. The allusion is, of course, to the golden bull at Bethel, under which symbol they worshipped God.... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM ISRAEL] The idol was the mere creation of Israel. THEREFORE.. GOD] RV 'and it is no God.' It has no real existence: cp. 1 Corinthians 8:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WIND] i.e. idolatry. IT.. STALK] RV 'he hath no standing corn,' as the result of his sowing. THE BUD] RV 'The blade.' IF SO BE.. UP] Again Hosea formally modifies his previous statement, only to hint more plainly at the fate of the nation. 8, 9. The condition of Israel in the land of captivity... [ Continue Reading ]
HIRED LOVERS] with reference to the tribute paid to Tiglath-pileser by Menahem (cp. Hosea 7:9), and the attempts made by others to coquet with Egypt. 10. This courting of foreign princes will be of no avail. Very soon the people will be gathered for judgment by God and taken into a strange land. T... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE WRITTEN.. LAW] RV 'Though I write for him my law in ten thousand _precepts_.' It mattered not how emphatically God's teaching should be made known to Israel; they would ignore it. 13. The sacrifices to Jehovah are a merely formal act, only killing and eating. Such sacrifices without repentan... [ Continue Reading ]
TEMPLES] RV 'palaces.' The building of fenced cities by Israel and Judah implied a want of faith in God's power to save.... [ Continue Reading ]