Hosea 8:4

"Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him."

Key Reflection

Israel had abandoned its covenant obligations and moral goodness, turning away from the Lord's guidance. As a result, Hosea foretold that their enemies would seize this opportunity to attack, reflecting the historical context where external threats often exploited internal weaknesses. The original audience would have understood that divine favor was conditional upon adherence to God’s laws; forsaking these led directly to vulnerability and foreign invasion.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

They have set up kings, but not by ME -God Himself foretold to Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon, and give ten tribes” to him, “and” would “take” him, “and” he “should reign according to all that” his soul desired and” should “be king over Israel”1 Kings 11:31,1 Kings 11:37; and, after the ten tribes had made Jeroboam king, God said by Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam and the two tribes, “Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me”1 Kings 12:22-24.

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