John Trapp on Hosea 8:6

Verſe 6. For from Iſrael was it alſo,] There is an Emphaſis in Alſo, and it is as if the Prophet ſhould ſay, This calfe of Samaria is no leſſe from Iſrael, and came out of his ſhop or device, then that of old ſet up by them in the wilderneſſe. Iſrael then brought a calf out of Egypt, Jeroboam brought two; and Iſrael hath received them, and are much taken with them: ſo that they cannot attain to innocencie, (as it is in the former verſe) ſo far they are engaged, and ſo faſt joyned to idols, that they cannot get off: there is ſo much of Self in it: it was the barn of their own brain; and hence ſo over-admired, ſo claſped and hugged, with the Ape, &c. or rather, as Cleopatra hugged her Vipers that ſucked her blood, and took away her life; ſo did they their own inventions, though fairly warned of the danger, verſe 3, 4, 5. Lo this was Iſrael, that acted thus madly. Iſrael that was wont to laugh at, or pity other Nations for their Idolomany, for worſhipping the works of their own hands, for going a whoring after their own inventions, for changing the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beaſts, and creeping things: As in Lap-land, the people worſhip that all day for a god, whatſoever they ſee firſt in the morning. Now that a calf-worſhip ſhould be found in Iſrael, Rom. 1.23. Abbats Geogr. and not onely ſo, but found out by Iſrael; who was herein worſe then Egypt: for that the Egyptians worſhipped a living Ox of Gods making; but Iſrael, a dead calf of their own making: ſuch ſots they were grown, and ſo thwart to the very principles of reaſon.

the workman made it,] who confeſſedly is no God, therefore it is not God,] for no man can give that divinity to another, which himſelf hath not. Nay it is certain that God himſelf by his infinite power cannot make any thing to be a God to us. He cannot do this I ſay: like as he cannot lie, he cannot die, he cannot deny himſelf, &c. ſo he cannot raiſe a created excellency to that height, as to be a God to us. How vile then is the Voluptuary, that maketh his belly his god? the Mammoniſt, that maketh his gold his god? the Ambitioniſt, that maketh his honour his god? How abominable the Maſſe-monger, that maketh his god, and eateth him when he hath done? This made Averroes the Mahometan crie out; Quoniam Chriſtiani Deum ſuum manducant, ſit anima mea cum Philoſophis, that is, Foraſmuch as Chriſtians do eat their God, let my ſoul be rather with the ſouls of the Philoſophers. Thoſe Pſeudo-chriſtians the Papiſts, ſtick not to call the conſecrated Hoſt, their God and Lord: and Harding (that ſottiſh Apoſtate, for he was once a zealous Preacher againſt Popery, and wiſhed that he had a voice as loud as the bels of Oſeney, Artic. 2[illegible: 1 letter] to cry it down) in his diſputation againſt Juel, is not aſhamed to defend it. And yet we all know that that Hoſt or Sacrament, as they call it, of the Altar, is the work of the Baker, therefore it is no God, neither Lord nor God. (whatſoever our Lord God the Pope ſay to the contrary) Which yet further appeareth, in that (as the calf of Samaria here) it may bee broken in pieces, or to ſhivers, (which word of ours ſeemeth to come from the Hebrew ſhebharim here uſed) yea ground to powder, as was the molten calf in the wilderneſſe, whereto the Prophet may well here allude. Is not their breaden-god broaken by the Prieſt into three bits? Is it not chawed with his teeth? May it not be gnawed by mice, become meat for worms,In cau[illegible: 1 letter]elis Miſſae. &c? Mureſcit, putreſcit, & corrumpitur: all which things the Papiſts themſelves confeſſe may befall their god, which is therefore no god, or nomine tantum & non numine deus, a nominall god onely. And the like we may ſay of images, and reliques (ſuch as is at Genua, the tail of that Aſſe, whereon Chriſt rode into Jeruſalem) theſe and other monuments of idolatry may, nay they ought to be broken, burnt, and utterly aboliſhed, Exod. 34.13. Deut. 7.5. Ezek. 20.7. as (bleſſed be God) they are lately amongſt us, by our Worthies in Parliament: to whom perhaps, for that and the like good ſervices, we attributed but too much, we even idolized them: and the king of Sweden (that bright Northern-ſtarre) a little before his deceaſe, being in diſcourſe with Dr. Fabricius his Chaplain, he told him,Mr. Clark in his life. that he thought God would ere long take him away, becauſe the people did ſo overvalue and deifie him.