Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. Hos. 8:3
hath cast off... Jehovah’s reply to Israel’s hollow repentance. The word cast off means a scornful loathing of what is rotting or obscene. The thing that is good is the name of God, which is the salvation of Israel (Aben Ezra).
the enemy shall... Who is before compared to an eagle, which flies swiftly, and pursues its prey with eagerness and fierceness. Shalmaneser is meant, who should invade the land, come up to Samaria, besiege and take it. Nothing should stop him, nor should Israel escape from him, since they had cast off the Lord, and everything that was good. The Targum is, the house of Israel has erred from my worship, for the sake of which I brought good things upon them; henceforward the enemy shall pursue them.
They rejected the One true God and all the goodness that goes with Him. Now God has rejected them.
What does it matter? Israel hath spurned the good: the Foe must pursue him.
In reality she had rejected what was good (the Lord’s moral and ethical requirements; cf. Amos 5:14-15; Mic. 6:8). Consequently, an enemy would soon pursue her. The swift retreat pictured here fulfills another covenant curse (cf. Deut. 28:45).
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