Minor Prophets X: An Infatuation With Gold Cows

"Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? Hosea 8:5 

Hmmm? Is this "calf-idol" one of the calf idols established by Jeroboam I at Bethel and Dan in 1 Kings?

Biblical Flashback....

Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings. 1 Kings 12:26-33

...and why is Hosea so upset?

It is clear this passage is referring to a cult of some sort and God denounces their idolatry among other things. In verse 11 special attention is given to their calf-idol. According to Robert Chisholm’s “Interpreting the Minor Prophets” the Old Testament makes no reference anywhere else to this idol. So, according to Chisholm the two gold calf idols set up by Jeroboam in Bethel and Dan in the 1 Kings 12 may be in view but this might not be Jeroboam’s two gold calves since its location referred to as “Samaria” (possibly all of Israel en masse). This is in the North but the text doesn’t clear this up. Regardless, if this is not one of the two set up by him then the idolatry initiated by Jeroboam has spread. So when verse 6 states, “This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God.” It is a total rejection of Jeroboam’s decree in 1 Kings that, “Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (Chisholm 37) .

This type of idol worship was rampant and people (God’s people) were expending a lot of energy making chasing after “bovine” idols (Baal). I’m guessing this is exceptionally repulsive to Hosea as it basically returns Israel right back to the sins of the people from the Exodus at the foot of Sinai. The people and priests had build altars but not to God, they had built altars for sinning. Their religious acts would then constitute religious hypocrisy. Sacrifices to God without the “heart” behind them are an offense to God. Egypt in this passage is metaphor or symbolic of a future exile and bondage (Assyria). In their deliverance from Egyptian bondage they had experienced God’s grace. Having rejected grace and basically spit in God’s face they would be returned to bondage as judgment. The unclean condition/status of the altar means that the people won’t even be able to properly offer to God even if they wanted to. In not being able to offer properly they will not be able to participate in the worship of Yahweh.

Chisholm, Robert B. "Hosea." Interpreting the Minor Prophets. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1990. 37. Print.

Chisholm, Robert B.. "Israel's Guilt And Punishment ." The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition Of The Scriptures. Ed John Walvoord & Roy Zuck. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985. 1397. Print.