Hosea 8 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Set the trumpet — The Lord here commands the prophet to publish, as by sound of trumpet, that which God will bring upon apostate Israel. He — The king of Assyria. As an eagle — Swift, hungry, surmounting all difficulties. House of the Lord — The family of Israel, the Israelites church.

Shall cry — But not sincerely.

They — Israel. Kings — Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hosea. Not by me — Not by my direction. Knew it not — Did not approve of it.

Thy calf — The chief idol set up in Samaria. Cast thee off — Hath provoked God to cast thee off. Against them — Idols, and idol worshippers. How long — How long will it be, ere they repent and reform?

From Israel — By their invention. It — Both the idol and the worshippers of it.

Sown the wind — A proverbial speech to denote lost labour. Whirlwind — A tempest, which destroyeth all that is in its way; an emblem of the wrath of God. No stalk — All your dependance on idols, and foreign assistance, will be as seed that bear neither stalk nor bud. No meal — Or suppose it produced stalk and bud, yet the bud shall be blasted, and never yield meal.

Gone up — Israel is like a wild ass. A wild ass — Stubborn, wild, untamed. Alone — Solitary, where is no path or tract; so they were in their captivity.

Gather them — I will assemble them together, that they may be taken and destroyed together. A little — For a while before their final captivity. The burden — The tribute laid on them by the king.

Altars — Those which they shall find in Assyria. To sin — Shall be the occasion of his greater guilt and punishment.

Written — By Moses first, by other prophets afterwards. But they were counted — Israel looks on them, as nothing to them.

They shall return — Many shall fly from the Assyrian into Egypt.

Temples — Idol temples. Devour the palaces — This was fulfilled when all the cities of Judah and Israel were laid in ashes by the king of Assyria.