8:4-6
If we read 2 Kings 15:8-30 we see that political life in Israel was a bloody matter. They had completely shut God out of civic affairs in Israel, so chaos and bloodshed was the consequence. We need to beware of this today. God is being increasingly shut out of public life. The consequences will not be good. Some worry about a theocracy, but when God is given His rightful place we actually find that we have more freedom.
The riches of the kingdom were devoted to making idols, this would lead only to destruction. The bull was often worshipped in nations of the time, and we know that when Moses went up the mountain the people made a golden calf. In 1 Kings 12:26-30 we see that people were even claiming to be worshipping the Lord.
As well as being an offence to the Lord it was also absolutely stupid. How could a calf made by a metalworker be capable of saving them? But when a people reject God their thinking becomes futile.
8:7
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”. This is a well known phrase, and this is where it comes from! The principle of sowing and reaping is very common throughout the Bible, namely that what we do has consequences. In worshipping idols and making alliances with godless nations Israel was sowing to the wind. The result would be that destruction would come upon her. Her efforts would be totally fruitless, and even if they did yield anything, the fruit would go to foreign nations, not to Israel.
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