5<\/strong>. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off<\/em> ] This rendering is very harsh in this context; Ewald prefers ‘He hath cast off thy calf’, a contrast to ‘Israel hath cast off that which is good’ in Hos 8:3<\/em><\/span>. But ‘casting off’ implies a previous connexion (e. g. Psa 43:2<\/span>); it is better to revert to the intransitive sense which belongs to the cognate verb in Arabic, and render, Thy calf, O Samaria, is loathsome<\/strong>. ‘Thy calf’ is a contemptuous expression for the small golden bull which was symbolic of Jehovah; such a bull, it appears, existed at Samaria, and doubtless at other places besides Dan and Bethel (e. g. at Gilgal).<\/p>\n ere they can attain innocency<\/em> ] Lit. ‘will they be incapable of innocency.’ Idolatry presented itself to Hosea, not only as a form of worship, but as an immoral way of living.<\/p>\n Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off – <\/B>Israel had cast off God, his good. In turn, the prophet says, the calf, which he had chosen to be his god instead of the Lord his God, has cast him off. He repeats the word, by which he had described Israels sin, Israel hath cast off and abhorred good in order to show the connection of his sin and its punishment. Thy calf, whom thou madest for thyself, whom thou worshipest, whom thou lovest, of whom thou saidst, Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt 1Ki 12:28-31<\/span>; thy calf, in whom thou didst trust instead of thy God, it has requited thee the dishonor thou didst put on thy God; it hath cast thee off as a thing abhorred. So it is with all peoples idols, which they make to themselves, instead of God. First or last, they all fail a man, and leave him poor indeed. Beauty fades; wealth fails; honor is transferred to another; nothing abides, save God. Whence our own great poet of nature makes a fallen favorite say, had I but servd my God with half the zeal I served my king, He would not in mine age have left me naked to mine-enemies.<\/P> Mine anger is kindled against them – <\/B>Our passions are but some distorted likeness of what exists in God without passion; our anger, of His displeasure against sin. And so God speaks to us after the manner of people, and pictures His divine displeasure under the likeness of our human passions of anger and fury, in order to bring home to us, what we wish to hide from ourselves, the severe and awful side of His Being, His Infinite Holiness, and the truth, that He will indeed avenge. He tells us, that He will surely punish; as people, who are extremely incensed, execute their displeasure if they can.<\/P> How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? – <\/B>Literally, how long will they not be able innocency? So again it is said, him that hath an high look and a proud heart, I cannot Psa 101:5<\/span>; we supply, suffer. New moons and sabbaths I cannot Isa 1:13<\/span>; our version adds, away with, i. e., endure. So here probably. As they had with abhorrence cast off God their good, so God says, they cannot endure innocency; but He speaks as wondering and aggrieved at their hardness of heart and their obdurate holding out against the goodness, which He desired for them. How long will they not be able to endure innocency? What madness this, that when I give them place for repentence, they will not endure to return to health of soul!<\/P> <\/p>\n Hos 8:5<\/span><\/p>\n Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cut thee off; or, Thy calf, O Samaria, hath kicked thee off.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Kicking calves<\/strong><\/p>\n The words of the text have a quaint sound. They suggest a ludicrous figure. There is something ludicrous in the notion of a boy trying to drive a calf, and getting kicked by it. When you understand what the words mean, you will soon grow grave enough. Samaria was the centre and capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, as Jerusalem was the centre and capital of the southern kingdom of Judah. Each city was a sacred city, a centre of worship, as well as of business and government. There was a temple in each of them, and in the temple certain symbols of the Divine presence and activity. At Mount Gerizim they had only the golden calf and the emblems of its worship. At first this calf was intended to be a nature-symbol of Jehovah. But it too closely resembled the animal forms in the heathen temples–especially in Egypt–and these animal forms were very apt to breed a kind of worship which gave free play to animal lusts. At best, moreover, the calf was a graven image, and was therefore a standing and flagrant violation of the law which God had given to Israel. Soon the Ten Tribes sunk into the idolatries of the nations around them, with their degradation of God and man. And they put no more restraint on their carnal passions and lusts than the beasts whose forms they placed in their temples. Men grow like the gods they worship, The animal part of their nature soon prevailed over the spiritual. As soon as a man suffers the beast in him to prevail, he grows worse than the beasts, and sinks below their level. What they do by the law of their nature, he does against the taw of his nature. Hosea paints a dreadful picture of the impotence and degradation into which the Israelites had sunk through their false worship. They were consequently so weakened by their strifes and divisions, their loss of manliness and patriotism, as to be unable to resist the foreign invader when he came. And so their calf had kicked them. If they did not speedily return to the God of their fathers, their calf would soon kick them off. They would find themselves abandoned by their god, in whose foul service they had sacrificed their manhood, their unity, their strength. They would fall before the sword of the foe, or be led captive by him into a strange land. So there is a principle in Hoseas quaint words. It is this–every sin carries in itself its own retribution, and is sure to avenge itself upon us if we fall into it. Punishment is only the other half of sin. Or every calf we worship is sure to kick us, or even to kick us off. Whatever we love best and pursue most heartily, that, for the time at least, is our god, our calf. For the moment we look to it for the happiness or the gratification we most crave, and serve and follow it with our supreme affection or desire. Look at some of these calf worshippers, and mark how their god treats them. There is the greedy boy, who puts no restraint upon his appetite. To gratify his appetite he will do things which are mean, selfish, wrong. What follows? The calf which Little Glutton worshipped has kicked him, and kicked him in his tenderest part, just where he feels it most. Take the case of a vain, foolish girl, who gives herself great airs when she goes to a new school. When she is found out, her fibs detected, or her foolish self-complacency resented and exposed, may we not say that her calf has kicked her, humbled her in the dust, so that she who wanted to be admired is despised. Her sin has wrought its own punishment. But in the mercy of God her punishment is intended to help her to recover herself. And men have made idols of their very sins–drunkenness and licentiousness. They have sacrificed their all to them. And not only our base passions, but even our best affections, our plainest duties, may be exalted into the place of God, and thus be turned into calves which will only too surely kick us, or kick us off, before they have done with us. Young men may be tempted to snatch at business success by taking some mean advantage of their fellows, so straining their integrity and defiling the clear honour of their soul, violating the allegiance they owe to principles, conscience, and God. Or men may suffer mere success in business to absorb all their energies, so that they neglect the culture of the mind, and the purest and best affections of the heart and home. In either case, if you yield to these temptations, you will have turned what was once a clear duty into an idol, into a calf such as that which of old men worshipped in Samaria. And your calf will kick you as it kicked them. Your want of integrity, your meanness and baseness will be detected and exposed. Your punishment will grow out of your sin. And young women need to be told that even love, if it be made an idol, will prove to be but a calf. If in the sacred name of love, you cast away prudence, principle, parental control, and marry a man who has not yet learned to earn his own livelihood, or whose character is dubious, or whose life is bad, you may be sure your calf will kick you for your pains. All these foolish and hurtful idolatries of ours spring from our false conceptions of God, and of what He requires of us. The true ends of life do not lie in mere worldly success, or even in gratified affection. Hosea teaches us to think of God as a wise and loving Father who is ever seeking to make us good. In this light we may see how poor and paltry are many of the aims which men pursue, and how inevitable it is that they should be frustrated of these poor aims in order that they may learn to set the true end of life before them. Our well-deserved falls and failures are parts of the process by which our Heavenly Father is teaching us to walk, and to walk with Him. (S. Cox, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Idols worshipped<\/strong><\/p>\n The gross and debasing idolatry of Israel soon brought upon them the judgments of heaven; and when in their deep distress they discovered their folly, they found that, having cast off Jehovah, they had no god to go to. It is to this course of wickedness the text refers. The prophet addresses the people of Samaria in tones of withering irony. Two important lessons.<\/p>\n The world a lie<\/strong><\/p>\n The story of Jeroboam the son of Nebat affords a perpetual warning. Other things besides consumption, and lunacy, and various maladies our flesh is heir to are hereditary. Jeroboams sin descended to his children; and was transmitted like an entail from sire to son. More than that, it struck like a malaria of a virulent disease to the very walls of his palace; it infected all his successors, and from the throne spread its deadly influence to the poorest and most distant cottages of the land.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>By the case of those who put riches in the place of God. The thirst for gold, like the drunkards, is insatiable. The more it is indulged, the more the flame is fed, it burns the fiercer.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The sentiment of the text is illustrated by the case of those who live for fame–for the favour, not of God, but of men. (T. Guthrie, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The sinner betrayed by his sin<\/strong><\/p>\n s:–Jeroboams calf symboled not only his casting off the true faith, but also his preference for the secular and sensual culture of Egypt, instead of the simplicity and purity of life which God had prescribed for His people. For a while the rebellious people seemed to prosper. At length the thunderbolt of Divine wrath fell. The godless land was ravaged, and the people carried away captive by the Assyrians. Egypt turned a deaf ear to their appeals. This, Hosea predicted in words of withering sarcasm: Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off. (The calf was a copy of the Egyptian Mnevis.)<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They will do nothing disreputable in religious or even secular society.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Nothing disreputable in club life.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Nothing that they (now blinded by indulgence) think will hurt them.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>At last, their own passion has become their standard, and they are socially a wreck before they are fully aware of their danger.<\/p>\n Cast off by the god of worldliness<\/strong><\/p>\n The <\/em>great Wolsey, after he had climbed the highest round of ambitions ladder, in the evening of life bitterly exclaimed, Would <\/em>that I had served my God as faithfully as I have served my king. He would not have abandoned me in my old age. The illustrious statesman, William Pitt, the favourite of king and people, died, says Wilberforce, his friend, of a broken heart. On his dying bed he is stated to have said, I fear I have neglected prayer too much to make it available on a death-bed. Still more distressing was the closing scene of Sheridans career. He who had stood on the pinnacle of glory, and gained the most flattering distinctions, writes in old age to one of his friends, I <\/em>am absolutely undone and broken-hearted. Misfortunes crowded on him, and his last moments were haunted by fears of a prison. Forsaken by his gay associates, dispirited, and world-weary, he closed his eyes in gloom and sorrow. Campbell, the author of The Pleasures of Hope, in his old age wrote I <\/em>am alone in the world. My wife and child of my hopes are dead; my surviving child is consigned to a living tomb (a lunatic asylum); my old friends, brothers, sisters, are dead, all but one, and she too is dying; my last hopes are blighted. As for fame, it is a bubble that must soon burst.<\/p>\n How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?<\/strong>—<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Attainment hindered<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is important because without it there can be no fellowship with God. Without fellowship with God there can be no peace; without peace there can be no happiness.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is important because without it man cannot live well. A guilty man lives according to his thoughts.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is important because without it man cannot die well. There is nothing before a sinner but death, darkness, and despair.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The gratification of self. Self is one of the most favoured of idols, it is worshipped by all, and the man who worships self cannot worship God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The vanities of the world. The idolatry of the present day, if not so bold in its rebellion, is not so religious as in the days of old. The idolatrous Jews and heathen were essentially religious. It was death to any one to speak against the gods. It is pleasure now men worship, and a god of any sort is forgotten.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The blandishments of science. This is another idol men fall down before. These are the calves which keep men from God, calves set up by themselves at the instigation of Satan. No man can ever attain unto innocency so long as they remain.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>By the devil whom they serve. The world cannot offer them help. Satans object is only to effect their ruin.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>By the God whom they have neglected. How can He who has been scorned and forsaken be the succour of those who have despised His love and rejected His rule? <\/em>(J. J. S. Bird, B. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 5<\/span>. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast<\/B><\/I> thee <\/B>off<\/B><\/I>] Bishop Newcome<\/I> translates: “Remove far from thee thy calf, O Samaria!” Abandon thy idolatry; for my anger is kindled against thee<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> How long<\/B><\/I> will it be <\/B>ere they attain to innocency?<\/B><\/I>] How long will ye continue your guilty practices? When shall it be said that ye are from these vices? The calf<\/I> or ox<\/I>, which was the object of the idolatrous worship of the Israelites, was a supreme deity in Egypt; and it was there they learned this idolatry. A white ox was worshipped under the name of Apis<\/I>, at Memphis; and another ox under the name of Mnevis<\/I>, was worshipped at On, or Heliopolis. To Osiris the males of this genus were consecrated, and the females to Isis. It is a most ancient superstition, and still prevails in the East. The cow is a most sacred animal among the Hindoos.<\/P> <\/p>\n Thy calf; <\/B>Jeroboam at first set up two calves, at Dan and Beth-el, but it is probable that in process of time there were more set up in other places, for when Israel forgot his God he built temples, Hos 8:14<\/span>. The calf then here is the chief idol set up in Samaria, and worshipped there. The prophet, in contempt of the idol, and in derision of their folly, gives it its right name, it is no god, but a calf; nor yet so much, for that it is senseless and without life. <\/P> Hath cast thee off; <\/B>been the occasion of casting thee far off, in that by this thou hast provoked God to anger, and he hath cast thee off. Or else thus, if thy God, thy idol, thy calf, have done aught, it is mischief; thy calf could not keep itself in Samaria, but it is either carried a captive god, or, broken into pieces, is carried piecemeal into Assyria, and so hath cast time off: it carrieth somewhat of irony in it. <\/P> Mine anger is kindled against them; <\/B>now it is evident that my anger, as fire, burneth against the idols, idol-makers, and idol-worshippers, and shall so burn till they are purified or consumed. <\/P> How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?<\/B> the prophet is very concise, and perhaps here must be supposed some or other (some one of the people, or the prophet himself) sighing out to God, How long shall thine anger burn? and answer returned by God, How long will it be ere they be cleansed? <\/P> <\/p>\n 5. hath cast thee off<\/B>As theellipsis of thee<\/I> is unusual, MAURERtranslates, “thy calf is abominable.<\/I>” But theantithesis to Ho 8:3<\/span> establishesEnglish Version,<\/I> “Israel hath cast off<\/I> the thingthat is good”; therefore, in just retribution, “thy calfhath cast thee off,” that is, is made by God the cause of thybeing cast off (Ho 10:15<\/span>).Jeroboam, during his sojourn in Egypt, saw Apis worshipped atMemphis, and Mnevis at Heliopolis, in the form of an ox; this, andthe temple cherubim, suggested the idea of the calves set up at Danand Beth-el. <\/P> how long . . . ere theyattain to innocency?<\/B>How long will they be incapable of bearinginnocency? [MAURER].<\/P><\/p>\n Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off<\/strong>,…. Or, is the cause of thy being cast off by the Lord, and of being cast out of thine own land, and carried captive into another; the past tense is used for the future, as is common in prophetic writings, to denote the certainty of the thing: or “thy calf hath left thee” a; in the lurch; it cannot help thee; it is gone off, and forsaken thee; it has “removed” itself from thee, according to the sense of the word in La 3:17<\/span>; as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; or is removed far from thee, being carried captive itself into Assyria; for, when the king of Assyria took Samaria, he seized on the golden calf for the sake of the gold, and took it away; see Ho 10:5<\/span>; or “he hath removed thy calf” b; that is, the enemy, taking it away when he took the city; or God has rejected it with the utmost contempt and abhorrence: the calf is here, and in the following verse, called the calf of Samaria, because this was the metropolis of the ten tribes, in which the calf was worshipped, and because it was worshipped by the Samaritans; and it may be, when Samaria became the chief city, the calf at Bethel might be removed thither, or another set up in that city:<\/p>\n mine anger is kindled against them<\/strong>: the calves at Dan and Bethel, the singular before being put for the plural; or against the if of Samaria, and Samaria itself; or the inhabitants of it, because of the worship of the calf, which was highly provoking to God, it being a robbing him of his glory, and giving it to graven images:<\/p>\n how long [will it be] ere they attain to innocency<\/strong>? or “purity” c; of worship, life, and conversation: the words may be rendered thus, “how long?” d for there is a large stop there; and this may be a question of the prophet’s, asking how long the wrath of God would burn against the people, what; would be the duration of it, and when it would end? to which an answer is returned, as the words may be translated, “they cannot bear purity” e; of doctrine, of worship of heart, and life; when they can, mine anger will cease burning: or, as the Targum,<\/p>\n “as long as they cannot purify themselves,”<\/p>\n or be purified; so long as they continue in their sins, in their superstition and idolatry, and other impieties, and are not purged from them.<\/p>\n a “dereliquit vitulus te”, Lutherus; “descruit te vitulus tuus”, Schmidt. b “Elongavit sc. hostis, vitalum tuum”, Schindler. c “munditiem”, Calvin, Rivet, Schmidt. d “quousque?” Zanchius, Pareus, Cocceius. e “non possunt innocentiam praestare”, Cocceius; “quamdiu non poterunt animum adjungere ad innocentam”, Zanchius; “usquedum non poterunt ferre innocentiam”, Pareus.<\/p>\n “Thy calf disgusts, O Samaria; my wrath is kindled against them: how long are they incapable of purity.<\/em> Hos 8:6<\/span>. For this also is from Israel: a workman made it, and it is not God; but the calf of Samaria will become splinters.” Zanach <\/em> (disgusts) points back to Hos 8:3<\/span>. As Israel felt disgust at what was good, so did Jehovah at the golden calf of Samaria. It is true that zanach <\/em> is used here intransitively in the sense of smelling badly, or being loathsome; but this does not alter the meaning, which is obvious enough from the context, namely, that it is Jehovah whom the calf disgusts. The calf of Samaria is not a golden calf set up in the city of Samaria; as there is no allusion in history to any such calf as this. Samaria is simply mentioned in the place of the kingdom, and the calf is the one that was set up at Bethel, the most celebrated place of worship in the kingdom, which is also the only one mentioned in Hos 10:5<\/span>, Hos 10:15<\/span>. On account of this calf the wrath of Jehovah is kindled against the Israelites, who worship this calf, and cannot desist. This is the thought of the question expressing disgust at these abominations. How long are they incapable of , i.e., purity of walk before the Lord, instead of the abominations of idolatry (cf. Jer 19:4<\/span>); not “freedom from punishment,” as Hitzig supposes. To , “they are unable,” we may easily supply “to bear,” as in Isa 1:14<\/span> and Psa 101:5<\/span>. “For” ( k <\/em>, Hos 8:6<\/span>) follows as an explanation of the main clause in Hos 8:5<\/span>, “Thy calf disgusts.” The calf of Samaria is an abomination to the Lord, for it is also out of Israel (Israel’s God out of Israel itself!); a workman made it, – what folly! is a predicate, brought out with greater emphasis by , et quidem <\/em>, in the sense of iste. Therefore will it be destroyed like the golden calf at Sinai, which was burnt and ground to powder (Exo 32:20<\/span>; Deu 9:21<\/span>). The . . , from Arab. sabb <\/em>, to cut, signifies ruins or splinters.<\/p>\n The Prophet goes on with the same subject; for he shows that Israel perished through their own fault, and that the crime, or the cause of destruction, could not be transferred to any other. There is some ambiguity in the words, which does not, however, obscure the sense; for whether we read calf in the objective case, or say, thy calf has removed thee far off, it will be the same. Some say, “has forsaken thee,” as they do above, “Israel has forsaken good;” but the sense of throwing away is to be preferred. Thy calf, then, Samaria, has cast thee off, or, “The Lord has cast far off thy calf.” If we read thy calf in the “objective” case, then the Prophet denounces destruction not only on the Israelites, but also on the calf in which they hoped. But the probable exposition is, that the calf had removed far off, or driven far Samaria or the people of Samaria; and this, I have no doubt, is the meaning of the words; for the Prophet, to confirm his previous doctrine, seems to remind the Israelites again, that the cause of their destruction was not anywhere to be sought but in their wickedness, and especially because they, having forsaken the true God, had made an idol for themselves, and formed the calf to be in the place of God. Now, it was a stupidity extremely gross and perverse, that having experienced, through so many miracles, the infinite power and goodness of God, they should yet have betaken themselves to a dead thing. They forged for themselves a calf! Must they not have been moved, as it were, by a prodigious madness, when they did thus fall away from the true God, who had so often and so wonderfully made himself known to them? <\/p>\n Hence God says now Thy calf O Samaria; that is “The captivity which now impends over thee will not happen by a fortuitous chance, nor will it be right to ascribe it to the wrong done by enemies, that they shall by force take thee to distant lands; but thy very calf drives thee away God had indeed fixed thee in this land, that it might be to thee a quiet heritage to the end; but thy calf has not suffered thee to rest here. The land of Canaan was indeed thy heritage, as it was also the Lord’s heritage; but after God has been banished, and the calf has been introduced in his place, by what right can you now remain in the possession of it? Thy calf, then, expels thee, inasmuch as by thy calf thou hast first attempted to banish the true God.” We now perceive the mind of the Prophet. <\/p>\n He afterwards says that his anger kindled against them He includes here all the Israelites, and shows that it cannot be otherwise, but that God would inflict on them extreme vengeance, inasmuch as they were not teachable, (as we have before often observed,) and could not be turned nor reformed by any admonitions. <\/p>\n How long, he says, will they be not able to attain cleanness, or innocence? He here deplores the obstinacy of the people, that at no period or space of time had they returned to a sane mind, and that there was no hope of them in future. How long then will they not be able to attain innocence? “Since it is so; that is, since they are unimpressible, ( incompatibiles ) as they commonly say, since they are void of all purity or innocence, I am, therefore, now constrained to adopt the last remedy, and, that is, to destroy them.” Here God shuts the mouth of the ungodly, that they could not object that the severity which he so rigidly exercised towards them was immoderate. He refutes their calumnies by saying, that he had patiently borne with them, and was still bearing with them. But he saw them to be so obstinate in their wickedness, that no hope of them could be entertained. It follows — <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Hos. 8:6<\/span><\/strong>. For<\/strong>] The reason of displeasure. It also<\/strong>] The calf as well as the kings set up, made by Israel, not by God. It deserved not their homage, no creature can be God; idol worship therefore folly in the extreme. <\/p>\n Hos. 8:7<\/span><\/strong>. Wind<\/strong>] an image of labour in vain, from which ruin springs as naturally as harvest from evil sowing; as the wind becomes a tempest (Pro. 22:8<\/span>; Gal. 6:7<\/span>). Whirlwind<\/strong>] Intensive form, a mighty whirlwind. Three things firstno stalk, no yield, devoured by strangers. Israels efforts in every direction were fruitless. <\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n IDOLATRY; ITS ORIGIN, EFFECTS, AND DESTINY.Hos. 8:5-6<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n These words describe the cause and nature of Israels sin, and justify Gods anger against them.<\/p>\n I. Idolatry in its origin<\/strong>. Idols are the device of man. The workman made it. Man in his natural and primeval condition had a knowledge of God sufficient for the condition in which he was placed. But sin alienated him from God and robbed him of fellowship with God. There is a natural tendency in man to embody in living forms (eidola<\/em>) the image of God, to imagine and honour other gods. Dissatisfied with the law, and forgetful of the claims of the true God, he has wandered in the conjectures of reason and the creations of fancy; in the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea, in all the lights of heaven and in all the elements of nature, he beheld the movements of a false deity; and associated vague notions of power and wisdom with the realities by which he is surrounded. Hence the creation of gods many and lords many. They are things made<\/em>, the work of mens hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not. They are not gods, but vanities, and have become a crime and a curse to heathendom. They that make them are like unto them, so is every one that trusteth in them. But from Israel<\/em> was it also, who boasted of the knowledge and law of God. Israel knew her sin, and felt that calf-worship was not the worship of Jehovah. This rendered her inexcusable and aggravated her guilt. Now among people to whom the oracles of God are committed, even in the Christian Church, we have idolatry. Men cut and carve gods of their own fancy. The wife of their bosom, the child of their loins, may be a god. An image of gold or of clay;business, fame, and success, may be set up, take the place of God in our affections, and unduly absorb homage and attention due to God. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. <\/p>\n II. Idolatry in its effects<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. It is dishonouring to human nature<\/em>. Man assimilates himself to the moral character of the object which he worships, becomes like the thing which he loves. He looks upon his God as the standard of virtue; abandons everything in life which offends; and desires favour by conformity to the will and character of his deity. The history of idolatry confirms this truth. When men have bowed down to the brutes, they have lowered themselves in the depths of vice. The more they worshipped the more they resembled the objects of their worship. Medhurst says that in China the priests teach this doctrine of assimilation. Think of Buddha and you will be transformed into Buddha. If men pray to Buddha and do not become Buddha, it is because the mouth prays, and not the mind. Our character and conduct can never rise higher than our aims. If we follow earthly objects we become earthly and grovelling. The pleasure-seeker becomes light and frivolous; the mammon-worshipper sordid and mean. My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. <\/p>\n 2. It is displeasing to God<\/em>. Mine anger is kindled against them. God here speaks after the manner of men to remind us of his claims. As men who incensed will execute their displeasure, so God will punish idolatry. It forbids his worship and denies his existence. It is degrading to his creatures and calamitous to the universe. Its temporal consequences have been awful to its votaries. What then must be its eternal? They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. <\/p>\n 3. It is a hindrance to moral purity<\/em>. How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? God is the fountain of all goodness, and his will the standard of all virtue. When Gods will is rejected there is no check to moral pollutions, and no motives to moral purity. The knowledge of God is essential to holiness and progress! inseparable from the welfare of men: and necessary to extricate a fallen world from the evils of idolatry. <\/p>\n (1) Purity of heart is necessary to purity of life. This is only gained by the love and worship of a pure object. A sinful object defiles physically and spiritually. God is opposed to sin, revealed as our example, renews the heart, and satisfies the conscience in Christ. I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. III. Idolatry in its destination<\/strong>. The calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. In origin it is a thing of nought, the work of mens hands and ingenuity. In its end it shall be nought. Idolatry is a nullity, and is doomed to destruction by its inherent weakness and Gods purpose. <\/p>\n 1. Idolatry is doomed to destruction by its own weakness<\/em>. With all its splendid rites and forms, its ancient priesthood and prevalence, it is coming to nought. It cannot satisfy the heart and the conscience. The heathens are closing their temples and pagodas, breaking their gods and forsaking their worship. Deserted by devotees, and their altars bereft of gifts and offerings, idols shall pine away and idol-worship perish by mere inanition. Idolatry in the old Roman Empire was thus destroyed, and this will be the process everywhere. Its seat is in the soul, and outward force cannot overturn it. But the gods of the heathen will be starved to death<\/em>, by the failure of their revenue and offerings. The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. <\/p>\n 2. Idolatry is doomed to destruction by the power of the gospel<\/em>. God has purposed to send the gospel to all the nations of the earth. As I live, saith the Lord, all the earth shall be filled with my glory. Nothing can frustrate this design nor rob the nations of this glory. What a conception! What is there in patriotism, philosophy, or philanthropy, to equal it? The mighty scheme, as a mere system of social government and social culture, stands forth in peerless grandeur. But how blessed that day when a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats: to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.<\/p>\n HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES<\/em><\/p>\n Hos. 8:5<\/span>. How long<\/em>. The hardness of heart and the stubborn holding out of the sinner a matter of astonishment even to God. Continuance in sin and aggravation of guilt only make the case worse. Gods patience will end, and Gods anger will be the hotter. By this powerful expression three things are intimated. First<\/em>, that these Israelites were refractory and desperate; not only unclean, but enemies to innocency, such as could not abide it: they were inveterate and incurable, their diseases ingrained, and not easily stirred by any potion. Secondly<\/em>, that God is most patient, who though he thinks overlong of the time that men continue in sin, and therefore cries, How long? &c., yet bears with their evil manners and inviteth them to better. Thirdly<\/em>, that he will at length break off his patience and proceed to punishment, since there is no other remedy (2Ch. 34:16<\/span>; Pro. 29:1<\/span>) [Trapp<\/em>].<\/p>\n The attainment of innocency<\/em>. I. The thing to be attainedInnocency. Man was originally innocent in body and soul, created in the image of God. But this holiness he lost through sin and can never perfectly, only comparatively attain it in this world. Sinless perfection is a delusion (1Jn. 1:8<\/span>). II. The method of attaining it. How shall man be just with God? Our guilt is removed in Christ, our natures renewed by grace, and the Holy Spirit imparts Divine enlightenment and transforms into the Divine nature. Believers in Christ are justified before God. Their faith works by love, and overcomes sin and the world. All men may secure this privilege. III. The reason why men do not attain it. <\/p>\n 1. Some despise and do not feel their need of it. Hos. 8:6<\/span>. Not God<\/em>. Such is the bewitching nature of idolatry, though men pretend that they worship God in the image, and the deceitfulness of the human heart; that they are gradually led to deify their idol. God therefore proves that it is not God<\/em> (Exo. 32:4-5<\/span>; 1Ki. 12:28<\/span>).<\/p>\n Whatever estimation men have of images, or whatever excellency or Divinity they conceive in or represented by them, yet it is sufficient to refute them, that themselves, who are but vain and empty things, gave all the excellency they have; for the workman made it<\/em> [Hutcheson<\/em>].<\/p>\n The workman was rather a god to his idol, than it to him; for he<\/em> made it; it<\/em> was a thing made. To say that it was made, was to deny that it was God. Hence the prophets so often urge this special proof of the vanity of idols. No creature can be God. Nor can there be anything between God and a creature; and that which is not a creature is God. God himself could not make a creature who should be God [Pusey<\/em>].<\/p>\n Broken in pieces<\/em>. Deifying any creature makes way for the destruction of it. If they had made vessels and ornaments for themselves of their silver and gold, they might have remained; but if they make gods of them, they shall be broken to pieces<\/em> [Mt. Henry<\/em>].<\/p>\n ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8<\/p>\n Hos. 8:5-6<\/span>. Idolatry<\/em>. Travellers tell us that there is a tribe in Africa so given to superstition that they fill their huts and hovels with so many idols, that they do not even leave room for their families. How many men there are who fill their hearts with the idols of sin, so that there is no room for the living God, or for any of his holy principles [Bate<\/em>].<\/p>\n Man, that aspires to rule the very wind, (5) Thy calf . . . hath cast thee off.<\/strong>Rather, is loathsome,<\/em> Nothing can exceed the scorn of this outburst. The last clause should be rendered, How long are ye unable to attain purity?<\/em> The attribution of consuming fire to God is not peculiar to the prophet. (Comp. Heb. 12:29<\/span>.)<\/p>\n 5<\/strong>. <\/strong> Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off <\/strong> R.V., “He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria.” The latter is a more accurate reproduction of the Hebrew, and gives better sense; but when taken with the context a difficulty remains; for the context suggests that Jehovah is the speaker, so that we would expect “I <\/em> have cast off.” The addition of one single consonant to the verb form, with corresponding vowel changes, produces this reading. The emendation becomes unnecessary if the verb is given an intransitive meaning: “Abominable is thy calf.” Calf <\/em> is a contemptuous designation of the bulls set up in Dan and Beth-el, and perhaps in Samaria, though the expression used here does not necessarily imply the presence of such calf <\/em> in the capital, Samaria; the name of the capital may be used instead of the name of the country, Israel. Throughout the entire section the sentences follow one another in rapid succession without indication of the logical connection. The righteous anger of Jehovah is aroused, therefore he must make an end of the calf. <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? <\/strong> An exclamation prompted by disappointment and sympathy. The exact force of the words “they attain to innocency” is disputed. The literal translation, “how long will they be incapable of innocency,” seems to come nearer to the real thought. The persistent idolatry reveals their incapacity for something better. Is this condition to continue forever?<\/p>\n ‘He has cast off (is disgusted at) your calf, O Samaria,<\/p>\n My anger is kindled against them,<\/p>\n How long will it be before they attain to innocency?<\/p>\n For from Israel is even this,<\/p>\n The workman made it, and it is no God,<\/p>\n Yes, the calf of Samaria will be broken in pieces.’<\/p>\n YHWH has especially determined that ‘the calf of Samaria’ will be cast off in His disgust, and will be broken in pieces, and it is spoken of prophetically as something already accomplished. The use of ‘cast off, be disgusted at’ here contrasts with its use in Hos 8:3<\/span>. In Hos 8:3<\/span> Israel had cast off, and been disgusted at, that which was good. Here YHWH is disgusted at their golden calf. That this refers to the calf at Bethel can hardly be doubted for there is no suggestion anywhere else of the making of ‘calves’ other than at Bethel and Dan (compare Hos 10:5<\/span>). But the one at Dan had probably by this time been melted down or taken as ‘hostage’ by invaders (Dan, being on the northern border was very vulnerable). Thus the one at Bethel was probably called ‘the calf of Samaria’. This may have been (a) because ‘Samaria’ as their leading city was seen as standing for the people of Israel, or (b) because the golden calf of Bethel had itself been taken to Samaria, or simply (c) because it was the centre point of the worship of the people of Samaria..<\/p>\n It was both their casual attitude as to who should reign over them, and their willingness to worship before the golden calves, that had made YHWH angry with them, and caused Him to despair as to when they would return to a state of purity. For by this they were both disregarding His rule and debasing His Name. The calves may well have been seen by them as the base on which the invisible YHWH stood, in the same way as the god Hadad stood on the back of a bull, but this made them no more acceptable to YHWH, for it meant that they were still involving graven images in their worship contrary to His commandment, and YHWH knew, even if they did not, that that inevitably led to idolatry. It is significant in this regard that the graven image was not seen as acceptable even though the sophisticated among them no doubt argued that they did not worship it, for God knew their hearts and recognised that, whether they themselves recognised it or not, a great deal of their worship was being directed at the calf itself (Baal was worshipped in the form of a bull). The same applies today when people argue that they are only ‘venerating’ images and using them as a means of worshipping God. The sad truth is that there is often little difference in many of these cases between veneration and worship, and it is not long before worship begins to be directed at the images.<\/p>\n The debased condition of Israel was further revealed by the fact that ‘this’ (we can sense the contempt behind the word), which was a graven image made by the hands of a workman, was being worshipped even though it was ‘no God’. And the total folly of worshipping it was revealed by the fact that men would later ‘break it in pieces’. So they worshipped a god that could be broken in pieces? What kind of a god was that?<\/p>\n ‘He has cast off your calf, O Samaria.’ The change of person to ‘He’ might indicate that this was an interjection by Hosea himself, but it is not necessary to see it in that way for we often have such changes of person being used in the prophets to bring out a special emphasis, without the person involved being changed, especially when that person was God.<\/p>\n Hos 8:5-6<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Thy calf, O Samaria<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Houbigant reads these verses thus: Mine anger is kindled against them: when will they attain to innocency? Thy calf, O Samaria, shall be cast off: It had Israel for its founder: the workman made it; nor is it a god. Therefore the calf of Samaria shall be consumed in the fire.<\/em> <\/p>\n DISCOURSE: 1163 Hos 8:5<\/span>. How long will it be ere they attain to innoceney?<\/em><\/p>\n IT is impossible to read the history of Gods ancient people, or to survey the world around us, without being filled with wonder at the patience and forbearance of God. In vain were all his mercies to the Jews in delivering them from their bondage in Egypt, and in giving them Possession of the promised land: no manifestations of his power and grace were sufficient to convince them of his exclusive right to their service, or to knit them to him as their only Lord and Saviour. They would make to themselves idols of wood and stone, and transfer to them the allegiance which they owed to God alone. Yet, instead of breaking forth against them in wrathful indignation to destroy them, he bore with them, and, with tender anxiety for their welfare, said, How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? Precisely thus does he wait for us also, who, notwithstanding all that he has done for the redemption of our souls, are ever prone to depart from him, and to fix on the creature that regard which is due to him only. Yet he is waiting to be gracious to us also, and longing for the return of our souls to him as their proper rest. I.<\/p>\n What is the attainment here specified<\/p>\n Perfect innocency is utterly unattainable in this life [Our Lord said of his disciples, Now ye are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you [Note: Joh 15:3<\/span>.]. And we too may be clean, yea so clean as to be without spot or blemish, if only we use the means which God himself has appointed [Note: Eph 5:26-27<\/span>.]. There is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness [Note: Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>That every false and worldly confidence is sure in the end to cheat and disappoint us. <\/strong>Speak to those who are worshipping some other object than the one true God–drink, business.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The Lord himself, and He alone, will never fail or cast off those that trust in Him. Why should He taunt Israel upon the faithlessness and vanity of their earthly idols, if to trust Himself might prove equally vain? Wherefore should He remind you that the golden calves of worldly pleasure, pelf, and pride will all cast you off, if perchance He will cast you off Himself? It is a curious fact that just as foolish and worldly people generally cherish unfounded hopes, so Christian persons often indulge unfounded fears. The one never imagine that their calf, their idol, will cast them off: the other are constantly doubting and dreading that their God will forsake them. If there is anything that God makes quite plain, it is that this can never be; He never fails nor forsakes. The truth is that God draws nearer and closer to His people in their trouble. (J. Thain Davidson, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The sin of Jeroboam. He was hardly seated on the throne, when a political difficulty arose,–and that a very serious one. The Mosaic law required every male to go up three times each year to Jerusalem. An astute and sagacious politician, Jeroboam foresaw how this custom might be attended with dangerous results. But he was not the man to meet the difficulty aright. He did what, no doubt, the world had thought a clever thing. Setting up one calf in Bethel and another in Dan, in imitation of the cherubim in the temple, he sent forth this edict, Let him that sacrificeth, kiss the calves,–go and worship these. Jeroboam succeeded, but his success brought down ruin on his house and government. It was followed by results which should teach our statesmen that no policy in the end shall thrive which traverses the Word of God. That can never be politically right, which is morally and religiously wrong. What the calf did to the monarch, it did to the people–here called Samaria. Following the steps of their king, they apostatised from God, and turned their backs on His temple. Then judgment succeeded judgment, and one trouble breaking on the back of another, the land had no rest. The commonwealth sank under the weight of its idolatry. The voice of God in providence might have been heard saying, Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Warning from the sin and sorrow of Samaria. The sentiment of the text is illustrated–<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The calf stands in general for sin. No sin ever, in the long-run, meets the promise it makes to the imagination. In the end the soul has to pay for its guilty pleasures out of its own pains. True of fleshly lusts. Their glow is that of a fever rising; soon they will burn. Nature does not <\/strong>put enough strength in the human frame to endure more than a temperate, lawful supply of the appetites. This fuel gone, the indulgence has become a necessity, and consumes the life itself. Selfishness cannot enjoy its accumulations beyond a limited amount; beyond this they feed impatience and ennui. Pride, as Bulwer says, is a garment all stiff brocade outside, and all grating sackcloth on the side next the skin.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The calf stands for a peculiar class of sins. The Samaritans did not regard their worship as degrading. The calf represented life, productiveness; a far nobler object of worship than that set up by many heathen nations. It represented especially polite sins, and those lines of conduct whose evil consists chiefly in that they are not obedience to God. For instance, such as meet our ideas of expediency, but are not according to strict conscience. Young men generally begin with such sins. Thus the standard is gradually lowered.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The calf stands for a current form of unbelief. The calf-worship was mixed with some features of the true worship of Israel. It had a line of priests. Its chief sites were places already sacred in the religious history of Gods people. The altars were dedicated at the time of a true religious festival–the Feast of Tabernacles. A current form of infidelity is a blending of human conceits with some scriptural teaching. It uses Sabbaths, sanctuaries, ministries. It admires Jesus, and praises His precepts. But it denies supernaturalism. Not Gods Word, but the human reason, is supreme. (L<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>An <\/em>attainment spoken of. How long will it be ere they attain unto innocency? Innocency is here put for true and saving religion. And this is a most desirable attainment, more so than all besides.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>A hindrance suggested. The calves were the idols set up to prevent the Israelites from worshipping Jehovah. The hindrances to attaining innocency (that is, satisfying the natural cravings of religion in worshipping God) are the idols which are set up in the human heart. These idols may be–<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The consequences inferred. A time is coming when true religion will be the only thing worth possessing. The day of sifting will arrive. Gods anger will be kindled against the persistently ungodly. Then what avail will the false gods which men have served so long be to afford them shelter? The calf will cast thee off. There are two penalties, then, to the guilty. They lose both earth and heaven. They are cast off–<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
(2) Purity of the object worshipped must therefore have sufficient influence to beget holy life. The mere representation of God, the presentation of a holy object would not touch the heart, change the opinions, and draw men from evil practices. A display of power and persuasion alone can overcome evil habits, wean mens affections from idols, and fix them on God. God has interposed by his Son and his Spirit, and sinners are converted from the error of their ways. We have one true and living God made known to us as the object of supreme love and regard. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. <\/p>\n
2. Others despond in seeking it. God is able and willing to save. Examples of men most degraded and abandoned encouraged. How long, then, before you accept the proffered mercy and find peace with God!<\/p>\n
And make the sea confess his majesty;
Whose intellect can fill a little scroll
With words that are immortal; who can build
Cities, the mighty and the beautiful:
Yet man,this glorious creature,can debase
His spirit down to worship wood and stone,
And hold the very beasts which bear his yoke,
And tremble at his eye, for sacred things. [Landon<\/em>.]<\/p>\nFuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF CHRISTIAN INNOCENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n
In illustration of this pathetic complaint, I shall consider,<\/p>\n
[Once we possessed it in our first parents: but since the Fall, we all have inherited a corrupt nature; since it was impossible to bring a clean thing out of an unclean. Nor can we by any means wash away so much as one sin that we have ever committed. Rivers of tears would be insufficient for that. Sinners therefore we must be even to the end.]
Yet is there in a scriptural sense<\/em> an innocency to lie attained<\/p>\n