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. THEY HAVE SET UP KINGS, BUT NOT BY ME - not with my sanction (; ). Israel set up Jeroboam and his successor, whereas God had appointed the house of David as the rightful kings of the whole nation. It is true God had said to Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, "Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee;" and by Shemaiah had warned Rehoboam that he should "not go up nor fight against the children of Israel: for the thing," said God, "is from me" (2 Kin. 12:24 ). Yet the separation of the ten tribes was not the less the act of their own and Jeroboam's self-will, without any...

The Prophet here notices two things, with respect to which he reprobates the perfidy and impious perverseness of the people, — they had, against the will of God, framed a religion for themselves, — and they had instituted a new kingdom. The salvation of that people, we know, was, as it were, founded on a certain kingdom and priesthood; and by these two things God testified that he was allied to the children of Abraham. We know where the happiness of the godly is deposited, even in Christ; for Christ is to us the fulness of a blessed life, because he is a king and a priest. Hence I have said, that through a certain kingdom and priesthood did the favor of God towards the people then shine forth. Now when the Israelites overturned the kingdom, which God by his own authority instituted, and when they corrupted and adulterated the priesthood, did they not, as it were, designedly extinguish th...

1-4 When Israel was hard pressed, they would claim protection from God, but this would be disregarded. What stead will it stand in to say, My God, I know thee, if we cannot say, My God, I love thee, serve thee, and cleave to thee only?...

Verse Hosea 8:4. _THEY HAVE SET UP KINGS, BUT NOT BY ME_] Properly speaking, not one of the kings of Israel, from the defection of the ten tribes from the house of David, was the _anointed_ of the Lord. _I KNEW_ IT _NOT_] It had not my _approbation_. In this sense the word _know_ is frequently understood. _THAT THEY MAY BE CUT OFF._] That is, They shall be cut off in consequence of their idolatry....

THEY HAVE SET UP KINGS, BUT NOT BY ME - God Himself foretold to Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon, and give ten tribes” to him, “and” would “take” him, “and” he “should reign according to all that” his soul desired and” should “be king over Israel” 1 Kings 11:31, 1 Kings 11:37; and, after the ten tribes had made Jeroboam king, God said by Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam and the two tribes, “Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me” 1 Kings 12:22. Yet although here, as everywhere, man’s self-will was

EXPOSITION This chapter deals with the punishment of apostasy. Once more the sins of the northern kingdom are enumerated and its approaching fall predicted. There is a close connection between the verses in the first section of the chapter. That connection is as follows: The first verse begins with an exclamation containing Jehovah's command to the prophet to act as his herald, putting the trumpet to his mouth and sounding the alarm about coming calamity. In the second clause of the same verse the nature of the calamity is announced. In the third and last clause of it the cause of the calamity is declared. The second verse represents Israel in their extremity crying to God for deliverance; the cry is very earnest, and proceeds from every member of the community, backed also with the assertion of their acquaintance with Jehovah. In the third verse Jehovah rejects their cry and refuses to...

THEY HAVE SET UP KINGS, BUT NOT BY ME,.... Not by his authority, order, and command; not by asking advice of him, or his leave, but of themselves, and of their own, accord: this refers to the case of Jeroboam their first king, after their separation from the house of David, and from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; for though his becoming king of Israel was according to the secret will of God, and by his overruling providence; yet it was done without his express orders, and without asking counsel of him, or his consent, and of their own heads; and many of his successors were conspirators, and set up themselves with the consent of the people, to the dethroning of others, and upon the slaughter of them, as Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea: the people of Israel had no right to choose a king for themselves; the right was alone in the Lord; it was he that chose, appointed, and constituted...

CHAPTER 8:1-9:9 The Apostasy is Followed by Judgment _ 1. The judgment announced (Hosea 8:1) _ 2. The apostasy which resulted in judgment (Hosea 8:8) 3. Warning against self-security (Hosea 9:1) Hosea 8:1. The prophet is commanded to sound the alarm of the impending judgment. The message is that the enemy will come swift as an eagle upon the house of the Lord, which here does not mean the temple (which was in connection with Judah), but Israel as the chosen people was the house, the dwelling-place of the Lord. All their spurious profession, their false claim, “My God, we know Thee, we, Israel”, will go for nothing, because

ISRAEL'S UNSANCTIFIED NATIONAL LIFE. Man-made kings, like man-made gods (the calf of Samaria), are impotent; Israel sows the wind and shall reap the whirlwind; the sources of the national life are withered, and the nation ceases to count (Hosea 8:4). Resort to foreign aid only further diminishes its vital forces (Hosea 8:8). Multiplication of altars only multiplies sin; the rites of an unholy cultus can but hasten the Divine punishment (Hosea 8:11). Probably Hosea 8:14 is an addition, and there may be glosses besides. HOSEA 8:4. Hosea is the first prophet to denounc

THEY HAVE SET UP KINGS. Compare Hosea 7:7. See 2 Kings 15:13 2 Kings 15:17, 2 Kings 15:27 (Shallum, Menahem, Pekah). MADE PRINCES. caused [men]to bear rule. Hebrew. _sarar_. to bear rule. See note on Hosea 12:3. KNEW. acknowledged. IDOLS. elaborate idols. OF THEIR SILVER, &C. Compare Hosea 2:8; Hosea 13:2. THEY. he. The nation spoke