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God assigned his prophets to “kill” the people’s sin (6:5), but the people can only regard the prophetic passion as madness (9:7-8). Why not, if the priesthood is engaged in murder (6:9)? Perhaps this reference is to some battle between rival priestly groups. The people want God to help them but do not recognize that until their sins are repented of and cleansed, he can do nothing for them (7:1-2). Symptomatic of their condition is the series of coups that saw one pretender after another slaughtered in Samaria between 748 and 722 (7:3-7; 8:4).
When putting a new king on the throne does not give them the security they crave, the Israelites turn to foreign alliances, now with the attacker (Assyria), now with the attacker’s ultimate intended victim (Egypt) (7:8-11). Many times the tribute for such “protection” was ruinous, so that the nation was in effect mortgaging itself (8:7-10). The people are blinded to their only true source of hope, a radical turning to the One who truly has their best interests at heart (7:13-16).