Join us as we study through Hosea 8 verse by verse. Our discussion questions, verse by verse commentary, and applications can help you or your small group get the most out of this book as you grow in understanding and obedience.
Hosea 8 Bible Study and Questions – False Religion is Like Sowing Wind
Hosea 8 Bible Study Video
Hosea 8 Podcast
Outline
I. Israel claimed to know God but practiced idolatry (1-6)
II. Punishment is coming (7-10)
III. The Israelites are religious sinners (11-14)
I. Israel claimed to know God but practiced idolatry (1-6)
Discussion Questions
• What does the phrase “set the trumpet to your lips” mean?
• Who is the one like a “vulture” in verse 1?
• What does verse 2 show you about the people?
• Verse 3 says, “Israel has spurned the good.” How do you see modern culture spurning good today?
• What does it mean that “They made kings, but not through me?”
• If a person wants to make a decision “through” God, what would this look like?
• What calf is referred to in verse 5?
• When did the people of Israel first worship a calf?
• Why would a people who so clearly saw God’s miracles turn to calf worship?
• What does the fact that they worshiped a calf (and retained some elements of true worship) show us about people’s religious tendencies?
Cross-References
Isaiah 5:20-21 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
James 4:13-16 – Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Isaiah 44:9-20 – In this passage Isaiah describes the foolishness of idolatry.
Exodus 32:4-5 – And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. Set the trumpet to your lips! – A trumpet was used to make important announcements or proclamations. Thus, it means, “Pay attention. God has an important message to tell you.”
2. One like a vulture is over the house of Israel – When vultures circle in the sky it means death or very close to it. In this context the vulture likely represents Assyria. Although it hadn’t swooped in to “eat” Israel’s carcass yet, that day was not far away. Israel’s doom was near. Assyria would soon devour her like a vulture tearing into a dead animal.
3. My God, we Israel, know you – The people of Israel claimed to know God. They claimed to have a relationship with Him. After all, they were God’s chosen people and always would be. It was their birthright to receive God’s blessings, or so they thought.
John the Baptist would later warn the Jews against this type of “take God for granted” thinking.
Matthew 3:9 – And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Their historical relationship with God would not save them. More than a cultural knowledge of the facts was necessary to have a relationship with God. For that relationship to be real, they had to truly confess their sins and seek Him from their hearts. Reciting dogma was not enough.
Jesus gave a similar warning.
Matthew 7:21, 23 – Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Saying, “we know you” is not enough. The question is does God know you. God knows your heart. He knows what you think. He knows all of your motivations for why you go to church, why you pray, why you read the Bible, or why you give. He knows His sheep, and He calls them by name (John 10:3).
Food for thought: How can you be sure that God knows you? How can you make sure that your salvation is genuine and He never says to you, “depart from me?”
4. Israel has spurned the good – Israel chose to follow idols and the vile practices endorsed by those who led these cults. Spurning the goodness of God and His laws, they turned to demonic religion.
What happens here is a reminder of the depth of depravity of people. If any group of people every should have believed and followed God, it is the Jews. God chose them. He blessed them. Countless miracles were done by God on their behalf. Over and over again in their history He saved them from their enemies in supernatural ways. Many prophets were sent to them. The Scripture was entrusted to them.
And yet, even with all of these blessings, they “spurned the good.” They wanted no part of God anymore. Why would they do such a thing? How could they be so foolish? So blind?
The only answer that can be given is found in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
The heart of man is wicked. It is this wicked heart that causes people to call good evil, and evil good (Isaiah 5:20-21). Probably in every period of history believers thought that their period was the most wicked. But the world today seems to be descending into evil faster than ever before. In the past, many sins were secret. Those who committed them were ashamed, but now these sins are committed in broad daylight. Those who do them are applauded, given special protections and privileges, and highlighted as exemplary models; then their sins are promoted, and those who disagree with these sins are vilified.
Dwight Longenecker has a very good quote on this. “First we overlook evil. Then we permit evil. Then we legalize evil. Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those who still call it evil.”
Application: Do not join the world to call good evil and evil good. Stand up for what is right. Stand up for the truth, and teach your children the same thing. Here is one way to do this. Choose one current event or current trend in society each week, and have a discussion with your family about how to view this in light of Scripture. Your children will likely face an even more twisted world than you, so prepare them!
5. They made kings but not through me – Israel history in that time period is full of examples of treachery, assassinations, and coups. Entire families were wiped out over and over as ambitious people took the kingdom by force. Kings were anointed and kings were toppled, but not through consulting God.
Saul was the first king over Israel. God told Samuel to anoint him as king; so, Samuel obeyed. All the people recognized that this was of God. The same was true when David was chosen to replace Saul. God gave clear instructions to Samuel, who followed them, and anointed David. It was clear that God established these kings. And it made for a peaceful kingdom. Common people respected and obeyed God’s chosen leaders.
But in later years, Israel abandoned this concept of God anointing chosen kings. The prophets were not considered. It is, in fact, the expected result of tossing aside God’s authority. It is also not surprising that these kings were not blessed by God. Being a king of Israel in those days was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world!
Application: Whatever we do, we must seek God’s will (James 4:13-16). Whenever we make a plan, we should say “If it is God’s will, we will do this or that.” God blesses those who sincerely seek Him.
6. The calf of Samaria – Israel first worshiped a golden calf when Moses was on the mountain after the Exodus from Egypt. Jeroboam later had two golden calves cast when the Northern Kingdom split from Judah.
1 Kings 12:28-30 – So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.