Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Hosea
Chapter 8: They Sowed the Wind
The trumpet of alarm sounds: an eagle, Assyria, is coming against the house of the LORD, because Israel has broken the covenant. They still cry 'My God, we know thee,' but their lives deny it. They crowned kings without God and melted their silver and gold into idols, bowing to a golden calf that a workman made, 'therefore it is not God.' Their whole course is summed up in one of Scripture's most quoted proverbs: 'they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.' They treated 'the great things of God's law' as a strange, foreign thing, and at the root of it all lay the deepest sin of all: 'Israel hath forgotten his Maker.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Hosea chapter 8, the broken covenant and the harvest of sin. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Its famous proverb, "sow the wind, reap the whirlwind," and its diagnosis, "forgotten his Maker," speak to every generation. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
We Know Thee
An empty claim to know God while casting off the good.
It Is Not God
A calf a workman made, worshipped as a god.
Sow Wind, Reap Whirlwind
The harvest of sin is greater than its seed.
Forgotten His Maker
God's word counted strange; the Creator forgotten.
They Have Sown the Wind (Hosea 8:1-7)
Judgment is sounded against a people who broke the covenant, claimed to know God while casting off the good, crowned kings and made idols without Him; their whole course will reap a whirlwind.
The Workman Made It; Therefore It Is Not God
"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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"the workman made it; therefore it is not God." Here is the whole folly of idolatry in seven words. A "workman made it", it is a manufactured thing, "of their silver and their gold", so "therefore it is not God." A god you can make is no god at all. The prophets mock this endlessly, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands" (Psalm 115:4; Isaiah 44:9-20). We do the same whenever we worship what our own hands or minds have produced, money, achievement, self, all of which "shall be broken in pieces." Only the uncreated Maker is God.
"they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." One of Scripture's most enduring proverbs. To "sow the wind" is to invest in emptiness, idols, alliances, self-will, things with no substance; and the harvest is not merely nothing but a destroying "whirlwind." Sin's reaping is always greater than its sowing. This is the fixed moral law of the universe, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Galatians 6:7-8). Empty seed yields a storm.
Explanation
The trumpet of alarm sounds: an "eagle" (Assyria) is coming "against the house of the LORD," because Israel "transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." They still protest their faith, "Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee", but the very next line exposes the lie: "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good." Their claim to know God was contradicted by their lives.
Two sins are highlighted. They "set up kings, but not by me", running their own affairs without God, and they made idols "of their silver and their gold," bowing to "the calf of Samaria." God dismisses the idol with contempt: "the workman made it; therefore it is not God." And He states the harvest that is coming: "they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." Their whole investment in emptiness will yield nothing but a destroying storm, "it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal."
Gospel Focus
Two truths in this passage confront us. First, the emptiness of profession without obedience. Israel cried, "My God, we know thee," while casting "off the thing that is good." God is not fooled by words, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him" (Titus 1:16), and the Lord Jesus warned, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father" (Matthew 7:21). A true knowledge of God shows in a changed life, not in a slogan. Second, the certainty of the harvest. "They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" is a law that never fails, "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). We cannot invest our lives in emptiness and idols and expect a harvest of peace; sin's seed brings a storm. But the same law works for good: those who "soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:8). Do not sow the wind. Sow to the Spirit, worship the Maker and not the made, and let your knowledge of God show in your works.
Israel Hath Forgotten His Maker (Hosea 8:8-14)
Israel has spent herself hiring foreign lovers and multiplying altars of sin; she treated God's law as a strange thing, and at the root of it all forgot her Maker, busy building temples and cities without Him.
The Great Things of My Law Counted a Strange Thing
"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. 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 visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 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."
Hebrew Study
"I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." God had given Israel "the great things of my law", His precious, weighty word, but they treated it as something foreign, alien, irrelevant, "a strange thing." What a tragedy: to hold the very oracles of God and reckon them strange. It is the sin of every generation that has the Scriptures and neglects them, that owns Bibles it never opens. God's word is not a strange thing but our life, and the blessed man delights in it, seeing "wondrous things out of thy law" (Psalm 119:18). To count God's word strange is to invite ruin.
"Israel hath forgotten his Maker." Beneath every other sin lies this one, forgetting God. Israel "forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples", busy with religion and building projects while the God who made her slipped from mind, "of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee" (Deuteronomy 32:18). To forget your Maker is to cut yourself off from your source, and no fortress or temple can save a people who have. The cure is remembrance: "Remember now thy Creator" (Ecclesiastes 12:1), and to know that "except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain" (Psalm 127:1).
Explanation
Israel is being "swallowed up," reduced to "a vessel wherein is no pleasure" among the nations. She has degraded herself, "gone up to Assyria," paying tribute, "Ephraim hath hired lovers", the harlot now paying her lovers instead of being paid, a picture of utter degradation. Her religion has multiplied, "many altars," but only "to sin," and her sacrifices are rejected, "the LORD accepteth them not."
Two devastating summaries follow. First, "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing", they had God's word and treated it as foreign. Second, and deepest of all, "Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples," busy building while forgetting the God who built them. Judah too trusts her "fenced cities." But no structure can save a people who have forgotten their Maker: "I will send a fire upon his cities." The whole chapter converges on this root, a people who forgot the God who made them.
Gospel Focus
Two sins here reach across the ages. The first is treating God's word as "a strange thing." Israel possessed "the great things of my law" and reckoned them foreign and irrelevant, exactly the sin of a generation that owns Scriptures it never reads and hears truth it never heeds. God's word is not strange; it is life, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word... of God" (Matthew 4:4), and the delight of the blessed (Psalm 1:2; 119). Do not count strange the very words that could save you. The second, and the root of all, is forgetting our Maker. "Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples", busy with religion and achievement while the Creator is out of mind. This is the oldest and deepest sin: not always denying God, but simply forgetting Him, crowding Him out with buildings and cities and plans. And no temple or fortress can compensate for it, "except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain" (Psalm 127:1). The gospel calls us back to the Maker Himself, revealed in Jesus Christ, "by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2). Open His word as your life, not a strange thing, and remember your Maker, before the fire comes.
Chapter 8 in Review
Hosea 8 sounds the alarm over a broken covenant. Israel cries "My God, we know thee," but has "cast off the thing that is good"; she crowns kings "but not by me" and worships a calf that "the workman made... therefore it is not God." Her whole course reaps the famous harvest: "they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." She has hired foreign lovers, multiplied altars "to sin," counted "the great things of God's law" a "strange thing," and, at the root of it all, "Israel hath forgotten his Maker," busy building temples and cities while the God who made her is forgotten.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a mirror and a warning. It exposes the emptiness of professing to know God while denying Him in works. It presses on us the unbreakable law of sowing and reaping, sin's seed brings a storm, so sow to the Spirit instead. It rebukes the folly of worshipping what our own hands have made. And it names the two great sins of a religious people who possess the truth: treating God's word as a strange thing, and forgetting the Maker while busy with buildings and plans. The gospel calls us back, to a knowledge of God shown in works, to sowing to the Spirit, to treasuring His word as life, and to remembering our Maker, the Creator God revealed in Jesus Christ. Do not sow the wind, and do not forget the One who made you.
- Professing to know God while casting off the good is empty; true knowledge shows in works (8:2-3; Titus 1:16; Matthew 7:21).
- A god you can make is no god: "the workman made it; therefore it is not God" (8:6; Psalm 115:4).
- The law of the harvest: "sown the wind... reap the whirlwind"; sin's reaping exceeds its sowing (8:7; Galatians 6:7-8).
- Religion multiplied without obedience only multiplies sin (8:11; Isaiah 1:11-15).
- To treat God's word as "a strange thing" is to invite ruin (8:12; Psalm 119:18; Matthew 4:4).
- The root sin is forgetting our Maker while busy building (8:14; Deuteronomy 32:18; Psalm 127:1).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you say "we know thee" while your works cast off the good? Does your life match your profession?
- What are you sowing? What harvest is your present sowing preparing?
- Is God's word "a strange thing" to you, owned but neglected, or the delight and food of your soul?
- Have you, in the busyness of building and achieving, quietly "forgotten your Maker"? How will you remember Him?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The "calf of Samaria" is the golden-calf worship set up by Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:26-33). The folly of idols "the work of men's hands": Psalm 115:4-8; 135:15-18; Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:3-5; Acts 17:29. Profession without obedience: Titus 1:16; Matthew 7:21-23; James 2:19; 1 John 2:4. The law of sowing and reaping: Galatians 6:7-8; Job 4:8; Proverbs 22:8; Hosea 10:12-13. Multiplied empty religion rejected: Isaiah 1:11-15; Amos 5:21-24; Proverbs 15:8. God's word treasured, not counted strange: Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 1:2; 19:7-11; 119:18, 72; Matthew 4:4. Forgetting the Maker: Deuteronomy 6:12; 8:11-14; 32:15-18; Judges 3:7; Isaiah 17:10; Ecclesiastes 12:1; and building in vain without Him: Psalm 127:1; the Maker revealed in Christ: John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The broken covenant, man-made idols, and the harvest of the whirlwind: Hosea 8:1-7; Psalm 115:4; Galatians 6:7-8; Titus 1:16.
- God's word counted strange, and Israel's forgotten Maker: Hosea 8:8-14; Psalm 119:18; Deuteronomy 32:18; Psalm 127:1.