“Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the Lord because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law. 2 Israel cries out to me, ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’ 3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. 4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. 5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? 6They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.
God continues to speak here and continues to condemn Israel. This passage begins with an eagle over Israel: eagles eat carrion as well as small live mammals so the idea is probably that of massive destruction. In verse two, he states how the people cry out to him in the disaster they have brought upon themselves and say that they know him. But, for years, they ignored him and did as they pleased. Since they have ignored or rejected God for so long, they cannot now call on him for help and expect him to save them. Everything they are saying is just lip service and not really meant. Their behavior shows they do not truly know God.
Martin Luther focused a great deal on Paul’s teaching about justification by faith alone (and thus apparently not by works), and this passage seems to go against this idea. The Israelites say they believe but God refuses to accept their assertions or help them. Indeed, Paul insists that the evidence of our faith (whether it is real or not) is shown by how we behave. Anyone who has a true relationship with God and a real understanding of him and his nature will want to do what is right. Israel claims here that just stating their belief is enough but God replies by saying it is not.
In verse four, God explains that Israel did not know or love him because they chose their kings without his consent and worshiped other gods. As Paula Gooder points out, they effectively declared independence from God. As they continued like that, chaos grew in the nation. We all know the story of the golden calf (or bull) from Exodus. This tradition continued after the northern and southern kingdoms separated. The first king of Israel, Jeroboam I, did not want people going to Jerusalem in the southern kingdom to worship. He set up two worship sites in the north, one at Bethel (near Jerusalem) and the other at Dan, much farther north. At each of these he placed a golden calf and it became an important part of religious worship. Some scholars have argued that the golden calf was not meant to be idolatrous, that it represented a platform on which God could stand. Others suggest that they might have considered the calf a minor god or, at the start at least, a representation of Yahweh and that later they began to see the calf itself as a god. In any case, the prophets clearly see it as idolatry.
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