John Trapp on Hosea 8:4

Verſe 4. They have ſet up kings, but not by me, &c.] The Septuagint and vulgar Latine render it, They have reigned to themſelves: like as St. Paul telleth the haughty Corinthians, who, carried aloft by their waxen wings, domineered and deſpiſed others, ye have reigned as kings without us, &c. 1 Cor. 4.8. But our reading is according to the Originall: and ſo they are charged with a double defection: the one Civil, from the houſe of David, they have ſet up kings, &c. the other Eccleſiaſticall, from the ſincere ſervice of God, they had made them idols. For the firſt, it was not their fault to ſet up kings; but to do it without God, without his licence, and approbation. They took counſel, but not of God: they covered with a covering, but not of his ſpirit, that they might adde ſin to ſin, Eſay 30.1. They went headlong to work, in ſetting up Jeroboam the ſon of Nebat. For although the thing were done by the determinate counſell and foreknowledge of God, as was likewiſe Chriſts crucifixion, Acts 2.23. (See 1 King. 11.31, 17. and Chap. 12.15, 24.) yet becauſe the people were led by their own pride and ambition to chuſe a new king, without either asking Gods conſent, or eyeing his decree, they did it raſhly, and ſeditiouſly; neithey aimed they at any thing elſe, but at the eaſing of their burdens, and drawing to themſelves the wealth of the kingdome. As for Jeroboam, it is before noted, that although he had it cleared to him, that Gods will was he ſhould be king over the ten Tribes, yet becauſe it was a will of Gods decree, not of his command, as of a duty to be done by him; and becauſe he did not as David, who when he had the promiſe of the kingdome, (yea was anointed king) yet invaded not the kingdom, but waited till he was lawfully exalted thereunto by God: therefore paſſeth he for an uſurper. And the people are here worthily reprehended, ſith whatſoever is not of faith is ſin: and it is obedience when men obey a Divine precept; but not ever, when they follow a Divine inſtinct.

they have made princes, &c.] Some render it, They have removed Princes, R. Sal. Jark. (as if in the word Haſiru Sin were put for Samech) they have taken liberty to make and unmake Princes at their pleaſure: as the Roman Army did Emperours: and as that potent Earl of Warwick, in Henry the ſixths time, who is ſaid to have carried a king in his pocket. But becauſe the former reading is confirmed by the Chaldee Paraphraſe, and the ſence is agreeable to what went before: neither read we of any kings of Iſrael depoſed by the people, we retain it as the better.

Of their ſilver and their gold have they made them idols,] Of the guts and garbage of the earth had they made them terricula, fray-bugs, or moleſtations:Gnatſabim. terrorem enim & triſtitiam duntaxat afferunt ſuis cultoribus, for they cauſe terrour and heavineſſe onely to thoſe that worſhip them.Polan. Their ſorrow ſhall be multiplied that haſten after another God, Pſal. 16.4. The Greek Churches, for inſtance, ſo ſet upon Image-worſhip; and therefore now ſubjected to the Turkiſh tyranny: a type whereof were theſe ten Tribes carried captive by the Aſſyrian, without any return. Idols are called griefs, or ſorrows, ſaith Peter Martyr, becauſe they torment the minde; and trouble the conſcience; neither can they quiet or pacifie it:Com. in 1 Sam. 31.9. ſo that Idolaters muſt needs be alwayes in doubt and deſpair, as Papiſts are, whoſe whole religion is a doctrine of deſperation. Their penances and pilgrimages to ſuch or ſuch an Idoll, might ſtill their conſciences for a while: but this was a truce rather then a peace: a palliate cure, which would not hold long; a corrupting of the ſergeant, but not compounding with the Creditour.

that they may be cut off.] Not their ſilver and gold, the matter of their idols, as ſome ſence it; but the whole nation, Princes and people together. Idolatry is a God-provoking, and a land-deſolating ſinne, as in this Prophecy. Often it is not ſo much the enemies ſword as the ſin of idolatry that deſtroyeth cities and kingdoms, through the juſtice and jealouſie of Almighty God.