HOSEA LESSON 8


     We will begin this lesson in Hosea 8:1 "[Set] 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."

     The trumpet, in this case, would be the trumpet blowing to tell
of impending doom. It would proclaim war in the land. It is Hosea who
is to blow the trumpet to proclaim punishment upon these people. This
is frightening to our generation, because the same apostasy, that was
going on then, prevails in our society today. The people were
unfaithful to God and His teachings. Even though they had been
separated out as God's people and were the keepers of His law, they
left God and started worshipping demon spirits. They committed
spiritual adultery with their worship of false gods. The eagle is a
mighty bird that strikes swiftly. The "eagle", is symbolic of God many
times.

     Hosea 8:2 "Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee."

     They should have known Him, because they were entrusted with His
law. They should have, also, known that He would not tolerate the
worship of false gods. They have brought this upon themselves through
their unfaithfulness. Now, they cry out to God, as if He should help
them.  Their flimsy excuse for Him helping them, is that they knew
Him. I would prefer to say, they knew of Him. It reminds me very much
of the following. Matthew 7:21  "Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 7:22 "Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works?" Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

     Hosea 8:3 "Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the
enemy shall pursue him."

     They rejected the One true God and all the goodness that goes
with Him. Now, God has rejected them.

     Hosea 8:4 "They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made
princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold have they
made them idols, that they may be cut off."

     Israel was to be under the direction of God in their civil
matters, as well as their religious matters. They have rebelled
against God, and done what was right in their own sight. They have
even used the silver and gold, that God had blessed them with, to make
false gods {idols} with. The worship of false gods is what has cut
them off from God. They are an unfaithful wife to God.

     Hosea 8:5  "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger
is kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to
innocency?"

     This is speaking of the calf they set up in the temple as a
symbol of God. This is just plainly saying, that their worship of
idols had gotten them cut off from God. They must repent and turn back
to God.

     Hosea 8:6 "For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it;
therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in
pieces."

     We have mentioned over and over in these lessons, that things you
can see with your natural eye that have been made with human hands are
not God. The Creator of it all is God, not His creation. God is
Spirit. John 4:24 "God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship [him] in spirit and in truth." He is the Great I Am. He is the
self-existing One. The idol of the calf shall be destroyed.

     Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it
yield, the strangers shall swallow it up."

     When a man sows seed into the wind, it scatters and is not
productive. We know that whatever we sow, that shall we reap. The Word
of God is many times spoken of as seed. The problem with what they
have done, is that it will bring no good results. Their production
from their lives does not bring good things, but bad.

     Hosea 8:8 "Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the
Gentiles as a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure."

     This speaks of what most people think are the lost 10 tribes.
They do not go back into the land as a whole, but are scattered in the
Gentile nations around them. God does not completely shut the door to
them, however. They become part of the Gentile world.

     Hosea 8:9 "For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by
himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers."

     A wild ass is of a very independent nature. They have gone up on
their own to Assyria. God did not send them. They were doing what was
right in their own sight. God did not want them seeking help from the
worldly nations around them. That is just what they did, and found
themselves alienated from God for it. The "hiring of lovers" shows
that God looks on this as if they have committed spiritual adultery.
They are His wife, and yet they have left Him and played the harlot
with these heathen nations.

     Hosea 8:10 'Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now
will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of
the king of princes."

     We see from this, the Lord will allow all of this to happen,
because they have broken His commandments. It is God that gathers them
for their punishment. The kings and princes suffer with the people.
They are all guilty. There will come a time, when Jesus comes to the
earth, that they are offered salvation through Him.

     Hosea 8:11 "Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars
shall be unto him to sin."

     It appears, the tribe of Ephraim led the way in the worship of
false gods. Since he has built altars to false gods, all the altars he
builds will be considered evil.

     Hosea 8:12 "I have written to him the great things of my law,
[but] they were counted as a strange thing."

     God had chosen the whole house of Israel to reveal His Word to.
They were married to God on the way to the promised land. They made
covenant with God to keep His commandment, and receive His blessings
in return. They knew the law, and the consequences of not keeping that
law. Their idolatry was with full knowledge. They disregarded the law
of God and His commandments, and began to worship false gods.

     Hosea 8:13 "They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine
offerings, and eat [it; but] the LORD accepteth them not; now will he
remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to
Egypt."

     We mentioned in another lesson, that they were still going
through the motion of worshipping God. They still sacrificed to God.
Their sacrifices were unacceptable to God, because they were
unfaithful to Him. Their hearts were not with God. Christians, be
careful why you go to church. Do not go because you are obligated to
go. You would be committing the same sin they are committing here. We
must go to church because we love God and want to fellowship with Him.
The return to Egypt, here, is symbolic of turning them back to the
condition He found them in in Egypt. They were lost with no Redeemer.
God sent Moses to bring them out of bondage from Egypt, now God is
sending them back into bondage.

     Hosea 8:14 "For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth
temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a
fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof."

     We see, now, that the making of these idols to worship was just
an outward expression of the rebellion that was in their hearts.
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them." God loved them and wanted them to love Him, too. God had not
abandoned them. They had abandoned God. God had loved Israel and
provided a way for them to be His. They have, now, walked away from
Him to worship false gods. The punishment that comes is of their own
making.  Reluctantly, God sends the fire of punishment to devour them.


                          Hosea 8 Questions


1.  What does God tell Hosea to do in verse 1?
2.  Why is he to do this?
3.  What would the trumpet proclaim?
4.  What had they left the worship of God and began doing?
5.  What does the "eagle" symbolize many times?
6.  Why should they have known God better?
7.  Did they know Him, or know of Him?
8.  Quote Matthew chapter 7 verses 21, 22, and 23.
9.  They rejected the _______ _______ _____.
10. Israel was to be under the direction of God in their ______
    matters, as well as in their __________ matters.
11. What terrible thing had they done with their silver and gold?
12. What calf is verse 5 speaking of?
13. What makes us know definitely that an idol is not God?
14. God looks on this unfaithfulness to Him as __________ __________.
15. Because ___________ hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be
    unto him to sin?
16. Who had God revealed His Word to?
17. When had they become the wife of God?
18. Why were their sacrifices to God unacceptable?
19. Why should Christians go to church?
20. God sent _________ to free them from bondage in Egypt.
21. Quote Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10.
22. God had not _________ them.
23. ___________, God sends the fire of punishment to devour them.