14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send a fire on his cities, And it will devour its fortresses."
But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Of the Rock that became your father, you are unmindful, Have forgotten God who gave you birth.
According to their pasture, so were they filled; They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, And it will devour its palaces, With shouting in the day of battle, With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
But I will send a fire on Teman, And it will devour the palaces of Bozrah."
But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, And it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
I will visit on her the days of the Baals, To which she burned incense, When she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, And went after her lovers, And forgot me," says Yahweh.
A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping [and] the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
Therefore he poured on him the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he didn't know; and it burned him, yet he didn't lay it to heart.
Yahweh will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up [his] zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yes, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies.
He took away the covering of Judah; and you did look in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool; and you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall; you made also a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn't look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the rock of your strength; therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set it with strange slips.
Moreover he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.
He built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle; in the lowland also, and in the plain: [and he had] farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he loved farming.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 8
Commentary on Hosea 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
This chapter, as that before, divides itself into the sins and punishments of Israel; every verse almost declares both, and all to bring them to repentance. When they saw the malignant nature of their sin, in the descriptions of that, they could not but be convinced now much it was their duty to repent of what was so bad in itself; and when they saw the mischievous consequences of their sin, in the predictions of them, they could not but see how much it was their interest to repent for the preventing of them.
Hsa 8:1-7
The reproofs and threatenings here are introduced with an order to the prophet to set the trumpet to his mouth (v. 1), thus to call a solemn assembly, that all might take notice of what he had to deliver and take warning by it. He must sound an alarm, must, in God's name, proclaim war with this rebellious nation. An enemy is coming with speed and fury to seize their land, and he must awaken them to expect it. Thus the prophet must do the part of a watchman, that was by sound of trumpet to call the besieged to stand to their arms, when he saw the besiegers making their attack, Eze. 33:3. The prophet must lift up his voice like a trumpet (Isa. 58:1), and the people must hearken to the sound of the trumpet, Jer. 6:17. Now,
Hsa 8:8-14
It was the honour and happiness of Israel that they had but one God to trust to and he all-sufficient in every strait, and but one God to serve, and he well worthy of all their devotions. But it was their sin, and folly, and shame, that they knew not when they were well off, that they forsook their own mercies for lying vanities; for,