Isra’el had presumptive confidence in the covenant. This covenant was the promise God had made with Isra’el. He chose them out of all the other nations, made them a great nation, and gave them land. He said the promised Messiah would come through them and be a Savior for the world. But they thought that they could do whatever they wanted and, come what may, He would still be their God. Their confidence was misplaced.

Censure for Calf Idols

8 ¹ “Put the shofar to your lips! Like a vulture [he swoops down] on the house of Adonai, because they have violated my covenant and sinned intentionally against my Torah. ² Will they cry out to me, ‘We are Isra’el, God, we know you’?

Even though their lifestyles and lack of true devotion to God showed they had forgotten Him, in their own minds, they thought they knew Him. Hosea 8:2 says, “they cry out to me, ‘We are Isra’el, God, we know you.’’” The promise God made to His people and the agreement He had entered into with them had to be received by faith and evidenced in their commitment to the obligations of the covenant. True Isra’el was those who trusted in the promises of God and, out of love for Him, obeyed His commandments.

³ Isra’el has thrown away what is good; the enemy will pursue him. ⁴ They make kings, but without my authority; they appoint leaders, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold, they make themselves idols, but these can lead only to their own destruction. ⁵ Your calf, Shomron, has been thrown away; my fury burns against them. How long will it be until they are able to make themselves clean?

Instead of worshipping the only true and living God, the Israelites made their own gods. Human beings are made to worship; if they do not worship the true God, they will worship something else. So, with their silver and gold, they made themselves idols (Hosea 8:4b), and Hosea 8:5 refers to the ‘calf’ of Shomron they had made.

⁶ Here is what Isra’el produces: a craftsman makes something—it’s a non-god; the calf of Shomron will be broken to pieces. ⁷ For they sow the wind, so they will reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no ears, so it will yield no flour; and if it does yield any, foreigners will swallow it up. ⁸ Isra’el is swallowed up; now they are among the Goyim like a vessel nobody wants. ⁹ For they have gone up to Ashur; like a wild donkey, alone by itself, Efrayim has bargained for lovers. ¹⁰ But even if they bargain among the Goyim, now I will round them up. Soon, they will start to feel the burden of these kings and leaders. ¹¹ For Efrayim keeps building altars for sin; yes, altars are sinful for him. ¹² I write him so many things from my Torah, yet he considers them foreign.

The Isra’elites also had no respect or regard for God’s law. Hosea 8:1 combines breaking God’s covenant with rebellion against God’s law. We cannot call God, ‘God’, without obedience. Yeshua says, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ but not do what I say?”(Luke 6:46). Many of them were transgressing the covenant and rebelling against God’s law because they were ignorant of His Word.

¹³ They offer me sacrifices of flesh and eat them, but Adonai does not accept them. Now he will recall their crimes and punish their sins – they will return to Egypt. ¹⁴ For Isra’el forgot his maker and built palaces; and Y’hudah made more fortified cities; but I will send fire on his cities, and it will consume their strongholds.” ^[1]

They had forsaken God, not realizing that God alone was big enough for her needs. If we have God, we can be content with whatever we have – big or small; if we do not, we find ourselves striving to build big things to take God’s place.

This is still true today. On the one hand, many people think that to be happy and feel secure, they must invest their time and energy in their education, career, popularity, homes, possessions, reputations, or status. The world values and prizes these things. But how safe will these things keep us on judgment day?

Moshe had repeatedly warned them not to forget these things after they were established in the land (Deuteronomy 4:23; 6:10–23; 8:10–14, 19–20) – but they had. This was not an intellectual forgetting but a moral forgetting. Genuine, true worship of God and rigorous obedience towards Him were neglected entirely. They did not want to think about God because if they did, it would impinge on how they lived. They allowed other things to fill their minds and divert them from God.

Hosea’s message warns against abandoning faith to follow societal trends. You may feel pressured to conform to popular opinions that contradict your values in public life. Engage respectfully in faith-based moral discussions. Your voice can be a powerful testimony of God’s heart and influence the community positively.

Next, we will continue to explore Hosea.

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^[1] Hosea 8:1-14