Hosea Chapter 8
Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind
A. Sowing idolatry, reaping exile
1. (Hosea 8:1–6) Casting off God and embracing idols.
Hosea 8:1–6 (KJV)
“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.
Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him.
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.
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off, mine anger is kindled against them, how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
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.”
The LORD begins this section with an urgent command. Set the trumpet to thy mouth. In Israel, the trumpet served as a signal for assembly, alarm, and war. Here it announces impending judgment. The enemy shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, swift, fierce, and unavoidable. The Assyrian invasion is presented not as random geopolitics but as covenant judgment. The cause is explicitly stated. Israel has transgressed God’s covenant and trespassed against His law. This is not ignorance but rebellion. They violated a relationship they knowingly entered.
In the midst of judgment, Israel cries out with religious language. My God, we know thee. Yet the LORD exposes the emptiness of their confession. Knowledge of God is not proven by words but by submission. Israel had cast off the thing that is good, rejecting God’s law, His moral order, and His revealed will. Because they rejected the good, the enemy would pursue them. Their confession was orthodox in form but hollow in substance.
The LORD then identifies political rebellion as part of their spiritual apostasy. They set up kings, but not by me. Israel chose leaders according to political convenience, ambition, and intrigue, rather than divine direction. These rulers were not recognized by God because they were established apart from His will. This was especially true during the northern kingdom’s rapid succession of kings through conspiracy and assassination. Leadership chosen without God inevitably leads to disaster.
Idolatry lay at the center of this rebellion. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves. Resources given by God were turned into objects of false worship. The result was separation and destruction, that they may be cut off. God then addresses Samaria directly. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off. The golden calf worship established under Jeroboam had become a symbol of Israel’s spiritual corruption. God declares His anger kindled against them and questions how long it will take before they attain to innocence, meaning genuine repentance and cleansing.
The LORD strips the idol of all illusion. The calf was made by a workman. It is not God. What human hands create cannot be divine. Therefore the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. What Israel trusted for security and blessing would be utterly destroyed. Idolatry always ends this way. What replaces God cannot stand before God.
2. (Hosea 8:7–10) Israel judged and regathered.
Hosea 8:7–10 (KJV)
“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.
Israel is swallowed up, now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself, Ephraim hath hired lovers.
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.”
The LORD now summarizes Israel’s spiritual economy. They have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. Wind represents emptiness, vanity, and rebellion. Whirlwind represents intensified judgment and destruction. The harvest always corresponds to the seed, but it often feels disproportionate. Sin planted gradually over time is often reaped suddenly and violently. Judgment feels overwhelming because it arrives concentrated, though it was long prepared.
The imagery of failed agriculture reinforces this truth. The stalk has no bud. Even when something appears to grow, it produces no nourishment. If it should produce, strangers would swallow it up. Israel’s efforts yield no lasting fruit. Whatever prosperity appears is consumed by foreign powers. The nation itself is swallowed up and scattered among the Gentiles, becoming like a vessel in which is no pleasure. Once chosen for honor, Israel would be treated as useless, set aside because of rebellion.
The LORD again exposes Israel’s misplaced trust. They went up to Assyria, compared to a wild donkey alone by himself. The image suggests stubborn independence and reckless isolation. Ephraim hired lovers, seeking protection and favor through political alliances rather than covenant faithfulness. These alliances were bought with tribute, compromise, and submission, yet they provided no security.
Despite this, mercy appears again. Though they hired among the nations, God declares, now will I gather them. Judgment is not the final word. Exile would come, sorrow would follow, and the burden of foreign kings would weigh heavily upon them. Yet God’s covenant purposes would not fail. He would gather His people again according to His promise. Even in wrath, He remembers mercy. Discipline is real, but restoration remains certain in God’s redemptive plan.
B. Why God will not accept their offerings
1. (Hosea 8:11–13) Israel considers God’s word a strange thing.
Hosea 8:11–13 (KJV)
“Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
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 punish their sins, they shall return to Egypt.”
The LORD exposes the tragic irony at the heart of Israel’s worship. Ephraim had constructed many altars, supposedly for religious purposes, yet they became altars to sin. When opportunities for false worship and compromise are multiplied, sin inevitably multiplies as well. Israel institutionalized disobedience. Their altars did not restrain sin, they facilitated it. This principle remains timeless. When a people create space for compromise, it should never surprise them when compromise overtakes devotion.
At the root of this failure was Israel’s rejection of God’s Word. The LORD declares, I have written to him the great things of my law. God had clearly revealed His will, His covenant, His moral standards, and His redemptive purposes. Yet these great things were counted as a strange thing. The problem was not obscurity but alienation. God’s law felt foreign because Israel’s heart had grown distant. What should have been treasured truth felt intrusive and irrelevant.
This statement also affirms the divine authorship of Scripture. God Himself says, I have written. Scripture is not merely human reflection on divine ideas but divine revelation given through human instruments. As Charles Spurgeon rightly observed, the Word of God carries the authority of its Author. Every letter, word, and sentence stands as intentional revelation from the living God. To reject Scripture is not to reject tradition or religion but to reject God Himself.
The LORD also describes the nature of Israel’s worship. They sacrificed flesh and ate it. In other words, they continued ritual observance. Offerings were made, meals were consumed, religious forms were maintained. Yet the LORD accepteth them not. Outward ceremony without inward obedience is unacceptable worship. Because their sin remained unrepented and uncovered, God would remember their iniquity and punish their sins. The phrase they shall return to Egypt symbolizes a return to bondage, humiliation, and judgment. Though not a literal reversal of the Exodus, it represents a complete undoing of covenant privilege.
The greatness of God’s law stands in sharp contrast to Israel’s indifference. Scripture speaks of the most important matters of life and eternity. Nothing in it is trivial. Every verse carries weight, purpose, and meaning. Yet to the natural man, the Word of God appears strange. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) declares, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” When hearts are captive to sin and idolatry, truth feels alien, demanding, and unwelcome.
Some reject Scripture under the pretense that human knowledge or science has surpassed it. Yet all true knowledge finds its coherence in God’s revelation. Scripture addresses the deepest realities of creation, redemption, morality, and destiny. When people dismiss the Bible as outdated or irrelevant, the issue is never intellectual inadequacy but spiritual resistance.
2. (Hosea 8:14) When God’s people forget their Maker, there is no refuge.
Hosea 8:14 (KJV)
“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.”
The LORD now summarizes the fundamental cause of judgment. Israel had forgotten his Maker. This forgetfulness was not a lapse of memory but a deliberate exclusion of God from national life. Israel built temples, but not to the LORD who created them. Worship was redirected, corrupted, and emptied of covenant loyalty. Because they forgot their Maker, the judgment described throughout the chapter was inevitable.
Judah’s guilt, though different in form, was no less real. Judah multiplied fenced cities. Instead of trusting the LORD for protection, they trusted military infrastructure, strategic planning, and human defenses. Fortified cities became functional idols. While Israel’s sin was blatant idolatry, Judah’s sin was subtle self reliance. Both were expressions of misplaced trust.
The LORD declares that He will send fire upon his cities and devour their palaces. Human strength, wealth, and defenses cannot stand against divine judgment. This truth was demonstrated historically when the Assyrian army threatened Judah in the days of Hezekiah. Judah was spared not because of walls or armies, but because of God’s intervention.
Isaiah 37:33–36 (KJV)
“Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
This deliverance proves that safety comes from the LORD alone. Walls without God fall. Cities without covenant faithfulness burn. Only God provides true refuge.
There is a sobering modern application. Success, size, resources, and impressive facilities are not evil in themselves. Yet they become idols when hearts shift from dependence on God to trust in visible achievements. If God grants growth, stability, or beauty, it must always lead to deeper humility and worship, not self confidence. When God’s people forget their Maker, even blessings become instruments of judgment.
