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Amos Chapter
One
Amos 1
Chapter Contents
Judgments against the Syrians
Philistines
Tyrians
Edomites
and Ammonites.
GOD employed a shepherd
a herdsman
to reprove and warn
the people. Those to whom God gives abilities for his services
ought not to be
despised for their origin
or their employment. Judgments are denounced against
the neighbouring nations
the oppressors of God's people. The number of
transgressions does not here mean that exact number
but many: they had filled
the measure of their sins
and were ripe for vengeance. The method in dealing
with these nations is
in part
the same
yet in each there is something
peculiar. In all ages this bitterness has been shown against the Lord's people.
When the Lord reckons with his enemies
how tremendous are his judgments!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Amos》
Amos 1
Verse 1
[1] The
words of Amos
who was among the herdmen of Tekoa
which he saw concerning
Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah
and in the days of Jeroboam the son
of Joash king of Israel
two years before the earthquake.
He saw —
Received by revelation.
Israel —
The kingdom of the ten tribes.
Jeroboam —
The great grand-son of Jehu.
The earth-quake — Of
which
only this text
and Zechariah 14:5
make any particular mention.
Verse 2
[2] And he said
The LORD will roar from Zion
and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn
and the top of
Carmel shall wither.
Will roar —
Alluding to the roaring of an hungry lion for prey.
Jerusalem —
The city God had chosen where he dwelt
the seat of God's instituted worship
and the royal seat of the kingdom as God had settled it
from which in both
respects the ten tribes had revolted.
The habitations —
Where the shepherds found pasturage they pitch their tents
and dwelt therein
that they might attend their flocks. And this was the delight and wealth of
these men; alluding to which Amos expresses the wealth and delight of the
kingdom of Israel.
Shall wither —
Either blasted
or dried up with drought
and turned into barrenness. So the
whole kingdom of the ten tribes
though as fruitful as Carmel should be made
horrid and desolate as a wilderness.
Verse 3
[3] Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus
and for four
I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with
threshing instruments of iron:
For three —
This certain number is put for an uncertain: three
that is
many.
Of Damascus —
Here Damascus is put for the whole kingdom of Syria.
Threshed —
Treated it with the utmost cruelty.
Gilead —
There was a country of this name
and a city
possessed by the Reubenites
Gadites
and Manassites; Gilead here is put for the inhabitants of this country
and city
whom Hazael
king of Syria most barbarously murdered.
Verse 4
[4] But
I will send a fire into the house of Hazael
which shall devour the palaces of
Benhadad.
Ben-hadad —
Ben-hadad was to the Syrian kings a common name
as Pharaoh to the Egyptian
kings
and Caesar to the Roman emperors.
Verse 5
[5] I will break also the bar of Damascus
and cut off the inhabitant from the
plain of Aven
and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the
people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir
saith the LORD.
The bar —
Literally the bar with which the city gates were shut
and fastened.
Of Eden —
Some royal seat
of the kings of Syria.
Kir —
Kir of Media
Isaiah 22:6
thither did Tiglath-Pilneser carry
the conquered Syrians
2 Kings 16:9
and placed them captives in that
barren mountainous country
about fifteen years after it was foretold by Amos.
Verse 6
[6] Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza
and for four
I will not turn
away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole
captivity
to deliver them up to Edom:
Carried away —
All the Jews whom they had taken captive.
Edom — Their
most inveterate enemies. These Edomites were ever ready to enslave
and
tyrannize over the Jews
if by any means they could get them into their hands.
Verse 7
[7] But
I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza
which shall devour the palaces thereof:
A fire —
Desolating judgments.
Gaza —
All the power and strength of Palestine is here included.
Verse 8
[8] And
I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod
and him that holdeth the sceptre
from Ashkelon
and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the
Philistines shall perish
saith the Lord GOD.
Ashkelon —
Another city of the Philistines
and a very strong one
which shall perish with
the king and the inhabitants thereof.
Verse 9
[9] Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus
and for four
I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity
to Edom
and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
The brotherly covenant — Which was between Hiram on the one part
and David and Solomon on the
other.
Verse 11
[11] Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom
and for four
I will not turn
away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword
and did cast off all pity
and his anger did tear perpetually
and he kept his
wrath for ever:
Pursue —
Watched for
and laid hold on every occasion to oppress Israel.
Did tear — As
a ravenous and fierce lion tears the prey.
Verse 12
[12] But
I will send a fire upon Teman
which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
Teman —
The metropolis of Idumea
so called from Esau's grandson of that name.
Bozrah —
This was a very strong city
and one of the chief in the whole kingdom
so that
in the menace against Bozrah and Teman
the strength and glory of Edom is
threatened with an utter overthrow.
Verse 13
[13] Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon
and for
four
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up
the women with child of Gilead
that they might enlarge their border:
Enlarge their border — By destroying all that dwelt in it
and hereafter might claim a title to
it.
Verse 14
[14] But
I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah
and it shall devour the palaces
thereof
with shouting in the day of battle
with a tempest in the day of the
whirlwind:
With a tempest —
With irresistible force
and surprising swiftness.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Amos》
01 Chapter 1
Verse 1-2
The words of Amos
who was among the herdmen of Tekoa.
Amos
Though a native of the kingdom of Judah
Amos was sent with a
message to the ten tribes. The unity of the two kingdoms was not the less real
that their histories were divergent. In its origin
idea
and ultimate aim
the
theocracy was one. The division which took place after the death of Solomon was
a departure from the original conception
and the fruit of human sin. Yet
like
many other events in which the Divine purpose seems to fail
it was so
overruled as to promote the very end which it apparently frustrated. Not only
were the two kingdoms a source of moral discipline--a mutual check to each
other--but a richer
fuller illustration of God’s dealings with His people was
rendered possible than would otherwise have been attainable. This unity in
diversity
and diversity in unity
this double development
which is yet one
must not be overlooked if we would understand aright the history of God’s
covenant people. Whatever the two kingdoms were to their own thoughts
they
were one in the eyes of God. During the vigorous reign of Jeroboam II.
the
kingdom of the ten tribes attained to a high pitch of prosperity and power. As
this resulted from energy in the administration
rather than in any deeper
moral principle
it only hastened the progress of inward decay. Luxury
oppression of the poor
lewdness
and profligacy in its many varied forms
followed in the train. It was thus to a people at the crisis of their destiny
in the height of apparent
but delusive prosperity
that Amos
the humble
herdman of Tekoa
and gatherer of sycamore fruit
was sent. The circumstances
of his mission gave occasion to a new step being taken in advance in the
development of the prophetic testimony. Joel
Amos’s immediate predecessor
prophesied to those who were chargeable
indeed
with much formality and
shallowness of profession
and were therefore justly liable to severe
chastisement
but who were yet free from gross and open vice. Hence
in
unveiling the great movements of the future
he still identifies generally the
covenant people with the friends of God and the objects of Divine deliverance;
and “the nations” generally with the enemies of God
and the objects of His
righteous vengeance. In reading the Book of Amos
we find ourselves breathing
another atmosphere. The prophet no doubt first proclaims exterminating judgment
against the surrounding nations
but this is only the prelude to the
announcement of a similar doom on the chosen people themselves
who were
eagerly following in the footsteps of the heathen. The prospect is held out
indeed
of blessing in the end
but not in a form that could convey the
slightest comfort or hope to that ungodly generation. To them at least it was
made abundantly plain that
like their rebellious fathers of old
they should
spend their days in a wilderness of tribulation
and should not be permitted to
see the promised rest. The book consists of a somewhat lengthened introduction
chaps
1; 2.
followed by two chief divisions. The first
chaps. 3-6.
in the
simple form of prophetic addresses. The second
chaps
7-9.
in a series of
visions. The whole being concluded with a promise of future deliverance and
blessing. (Robert Smith
M. A.)
Amos
This was the earliest of four prophets
who all appeared during
the time when Assyria was the greatest world power
the other three being
Hosea
Micah
and Isaiah. It was probably during the latter half of Jeroboam’s
reign that the prophet Amos appeared. It was the age of Israel’s greatest
splendour; but prosperity
as is so often the case
brought the saddest evils
in its train. Although the Book of Kings passes quickly over the reign of
Jeroboam
and gives the briefest details
yet the pages of Amos and Hosea
abound with descriptions of the fearful evils which had crept in along with the
renewed prosperity of the nation. The simplicity which had once characterised
the national life had completely gone. In defiance of the Mosaic law
a class
of nobles had arisen
who possessed large estates
into which they swept the
smaller holdings
and “misused their power to oppress the masses
who had sunk
into a condition of poverty
and in some cases even actual slavery.”
Notwithstanding the terrible social evils
a show of worship was kept up. The
people sedulously attended the sanctuaries
and brought in abundance their sacrifices
and burnt-offerings. It would have seemed most unlikely that the luxurious
Israelite nobles and this humble man
Amos
would ever have anything to do with
each other. Yet this was the man whose voice was to ring throughout the nation
in unsparing condemnation of its many vices. Amos may be pictured as a lonely
man
whose spirit was deeply stirred within him by the blow-ledge of the sins
which were being committed by the people: a man with a heart completely given to God
his whole being consecrated to Jehovah’s service. In the silence of his native
fields Amos was spoken to by Jehovah
and received the commission to be His
prophet. He responded to the call. Like so many others
he forsook all to obey
the Divine summons. He journeyed into the territory of Israel
and made Bethel
Samaria
and other places his headquarters. The average observer would have
seen in the northern kingdom a nation at the zenith of its prosperity
and
would not have thought of its fall. But the keen eye of the prophet pierced through the
glittering cover which wealth had thrown over the foulest corruption . . .
There are two truths of vast importance on which Amos especially insists. He
“starts from the thought of the universal sovereignty of God.” That is the one
truth. The other is the need for righteousness. If the words which
more than
any others
describe the nature of his prophecies had to be given
we could
find none more appropriate than these: “Let judgment roll down as waters
and
righteousness as a mighty (or overflowing) stream” (Amos 7:7-17). The prophet taught
persistently that God is ever closely watching the doings of nations and of
men
and that He will reward or punish them in accordance with the eternal law
of righteousness. The great lesson he has emphasised is
that every sinful
nation
no matter how great and prosperous it may seem
will assuredly perish;
that the real strength of a people consists in righteousness. (Ernest
Elliot.)
The herdman of Tekoa
The prophet was by birth and residence a citizen of Judea.
He belonged to the district of Tekoa
a small town some twelve miles south of
Jerusalem
perched on a high hill
looking away eastwards across a waste of
barren hills to the Dead Sea peeping through their interstices
and the lofty
tableland of Moab bounding the horizon beyond. It stands on the edge of the
desert
where the fringes of agriculture thin away into a wilderness of rock
and sand
broken only by scattered patches of scanty pasturage. The town can
never have been much more than a prosperous village; but the adjacent soil is
fruitful and kindly
and its oil and honey became celebrated for their
excellence. For strategic purposes
it was fortified by Rehoboam
and it had the
advantage of lying in a region intersected by some of the busiest highways of
commerce. Its inhabitants might see much and hear more
and
in connection with
trading caravans
be drawn into travel and become acquainted with the world and
its doings. The place was thus
in several ways
not unsuitable for the
training of a prophet; and it is arbitrary to argue
as two or three scholars
have recently done
because there is now no sycamore culture in the district
and because Amos possesses an intimate knowledge of the north
that therefore
we must look for another Tekoa somewhere in Samaria Spite of a floating
tradition to the contrary
which still survives in popular circles
the
literary merits of the Book of Amos must be rated very high. The general information
of the writer is comprehensive and minute. He can paint in detail the religious
customs
the social conditions
the local circumstances and vicissitudes of
every part of the northern kingdom. With the geography and history
the
alliances and feuds
trade relations
national institutions
and aspirations of
the neighbouring nations
he is thoroughly familiar. He is possessed of
profound ideas about nature
providence
the movements of races
and their
place and function in the
world’s government. For breadth of survey
for
strength and massiveness of conception
alike in morals and in religion
he is
not surpassed by any of the prophets. He is a poet
orator
philosopher
statesman. But in those days and in his social environment
he might be all this
without being a man of books and cities. Native genius
interest in the
traditions of his people
intercourse with passing caravans
personal visits to
distant parts
and a spirit awake to the presence and working of God in human
history
past
present
and future
--these were influences potent enough to
educate the man
and admirably adapted to prepare the way for the prophet. And
this school was equally open to him
whether he was a poor man
living by his
labour
now in one service
now in another
or a prosperous sheep-master and
wealthy owner of fig orchards. Jerome remarks that Amos was “rude in speech
but not in knowledge”; and Jewish tradition has been pleased to credit him with
a stutter or impediment of speech. This is probably the origin of a mistaken
idea that his book is badly written
or at least betrays the rusticity of its
author. On the contrary; the Hebrew of Amos ranks among the purest and most
powerful compositions of the Old Testament. His language is choice and
melodious
possibly in a few peculiar spellings recording a provincial
pronunciation
or more likely the slips of the copyists’ pens. His style is
terse
dramatic
and simple
but very pointed and forcible. He loves brief
uninvolved sentences
though occasionally carried away into passionate appeal
or lyrical outbursts of poetic delineation. He indulges much in question
apostrophe
and exclamation. He is an orator more than an artist
or a bard.
With all his simplicity we find traces of paranomasia
rhythmic arrangement
and rhetorical construction. His exposition abounds in rich and varied imagery
derived from nature
and striking illustrations taken from everyday life. The
ordered arrangement
compact style
and general literary finish of his book
suggest slow
careful
and leisurely construction
while the fire of its
invective
the impetus of its appeals
and the terrible directness of its
denunciation prove it the record and embodiment of speech originally orally
delivered On the surface Amos may seem to make too much of mere morality
but
it is only an appearance. With him
to do right is to serve God
and the motive
must be the love of God and of our neighbour. (W. G. Elmslie
D. D.)
A sketch of Amos
I. The sphere of
life he occupied. He was a “herdman.” God has often selected the chief
messengers of His truth from men in the humbler walks of life. Elisha
David
etc. Our Lord Himself came from a peasant cottage in Nazareth. In this fact we
have two things.
1. Worldly pride divinely rebuked
2. Human nature divinely honoured.
II. The age in
which Amos lived. Two events are specified.
1. The political event of this period. “In the days of Uzziah
King
of Judah.” A comparatively peaceful and prosperous period.
2. The physical event of this period. Two years before the
earthquake. Why is the period of his life thus described?
III. The mission to
which he was called. What was it to pronounce Divine judgment? He announced
it--
1. As coming according to his vision.
2. As coming in a terrible form.
3. As issuing from a scene of mercy.
4. As fraught with calamitous results.
What an argument for repentance! (Homilist.)
Amos the herdman
Amos was not ashamed of his descent. He was not a farmer
but a
farm-labourer. Who cares to be on very close intimacy with a field-hand
or a
cow-herd? To a little outdoor work Amos added the process of cleaning and
preparing the fruit
either for preservation or for sale. Whilst he was doing
his farm-work and attending to his fruit
a blast from heaven struck his deeper
consciousness
and he stood up a prophet. The Lord will bring His prophets just
as He pleases
and from what place He chooses. Amos was a field-hand
and yet
he was fearless; he was all the more fearless because he was a field-hand. A
farmer could not have been so fearless. Amos was a farm-labourer
yet he was
equal to the occasion. Education is never equal to anything that is supremely
great. There are times in human history when inspiration must go to the
front--talent must go behind
genius must go into the first place. When we are
inspired we forget our rags. When God calls let not man despise. God’s
elections are startling. Amos begins where all rude
energetic minds begin;
they begin in denunciation. Judgment seems to be a natural work for them to
conduct. Amos issues his judgment against Damascus
Gaza
Tyrus
Edom
Ammon
Moab
Judah
Israel
--all round the circle that judgment-fire sparkles and
blazes. It seems so much easier to denounce than to discriminate. Even young
prophets began with thunder and lightning. Amos again and again says
“I will
send a fire.” And the nobles were lying on divans of ivory
having corrupted
themselves to the point of rottenness. There are times in human history when
only the disinfectant that can work the real miracle is fire. Fire never fails.
We need voices of this kind; they help to keep the average of human history
well up to the mark. (Joseph Parker
D. D.)
Lessons from the prophecy of Amos
It is well to notice--
1. The importance of prophecy in an evidential point of view
as one
of the supernatural elements of the Bible. To the honest
earnest
impartial
inquirer
no more convincing or impressive proof of the truth of this revealed
Word can be offered than its propHetic element affords. The age of miracles is
past. The testimony of the “more sure (confirmed) word of prophecy
” as it has
been fulfilled
and as it is daily being fulfilled before our eyes
is all the
more important.
2. The importance of the Old Testament Scriptures. The prophet Amos
alleges his own inspiration. Much has been made by hostile critics of the
supposed discrepancies and contradictions of Scripture; but how little has been
said about its marvellous unity! What is it which imparts this unity?
3. In the Book of Amos is illustrated a principle of the Divine
dealing. Amos was one of the people
and not in the order of the prophets. The
Lord had suddenly and unexpectedly called and commissioned him to be a prophet
of Israel. And so
in working for God
the question is not so much whether it
is Amos the rude
or Isaiah the polished; the question is
are we verily and
indeed called of Him? Are we qualified by His grace
and anointed by His
Spirit?
4. The doctrine of a special providence is here strikingly set forth.
Judgments were appointed to descend on several nations in succession. Than this
there can be nothing more certain
that national sins draw down national
judgments and punishments. Men are apt to think they may escape in a crowd. We
have each our share in public misfortune and in national guilt
and in God’s
sight are held liable accordingly. But it is also true
that a special
providence works in and with each of God’s true children. (R. W. Forrest
M.
A.)
The refining power of religion
One point of interest in the Book of Amos is its testimony to the
power of inspiration and religion on the untaught and uncultivated mind. It
shows how such a mind may strike out bold
simple pathways
and forcible
expressions
which arrest us with a greater force than even those of the more
refined and cultivated. Imagery borrowed from natural scenery and its
circumstances
will be among the most forcible modes of expression which such
men will use. We may often gather important lessons from this influence of
nature on the mind. She teaches us to dive more into her own calm and profound
depth
to read the will of God. In Amos we have a mind accustomed to see duties
or acts of religion through images borrowed from the external world. But not
only does the form of nature influence the ruder mind of the peasant; he is
influenced by the customs and conventionalities of the society in which he
lives. Amos makes use of these frequently in connection with his religious
mission. One practical question opens out to us
it is the real condition and
value of the uneducated mind under the influences of religion. There is often
an inclination alike to overrate as to underrate this; and serious injury is
done by both tendencies. (E. Monro.)
An unscholarly messenger
Do you remember what was the immediate agent in Bishop
Hannington’s conversion? Someone sent him a little book. Hannington determined
to read every word of it
so he began with the preface. He became impressed
with the notion that the book was unscholarly. “I therefore threw the book
away
and refused to read it.” Some time after he was leaving Exeter for St.
Petherwyn
and he spied the old book. He knew his friend would ask him if he
had read it. “I suppose I must read through it
and so I stuffed it into my
portmanteau. At Petherwyn I took the book out
and read the first chapter. I
disliked it so much that I determined never to touch it again. I rather think I
flung the book across the room. So back into my portmanteau it went
and
remained until my visit to Hurst
when I again saw it
and thought I might as
well read it
so as to be able to tell the sender about it. So once more I took
the old thing
and read straight on for three chapters or so
until at last I
came upon that called
‘Do you feel your sins forgiven?’ And by means of this
my eyes were opened. I was in bed at the time
reading. I sprang out of bed
and leaped about the room rejoicing and praising God that Jesus died for me.
From that day to this I have lived under the shadow of His wings in the
assurance of faith that I am His and He is mine.” The Lord used that which was
apparently contemptible to be a minister of salvation! What appeared to James
Hannington to be despicable turned out to be the instrument of his redemption.
Now God loves to use the apparently base and ignoble
and the despised! He
loves to send His power along commonplace wires! He calls into His service some
uncultured speaker
whose words tumble out in disorder
and whose thoughts are
wanting in logical succession
and He fills the ungainly speech with power
and
through the rough utterance there come spiritual stabs that pierce to the very
hearts of the hearers. He loves to use some letter which is devoid of literary
grace
and written with no grammatical accuracy
and He fills it with the
dynamic of the Holy Ghost
and it is mighty to the bringing down of strongholds.
(Sunday Companion.)
Distinguished workers of humble origin
Many of God’s most distinguished workmen have been called from
scenes of the humblest labour. It was when toiling over a shoemaker’s bench
that Carey’s soul was filled with a zeal for missionary labour. Morrison was
once a maker of shoe-lasts. John Williams
of Erromanga
was called from the
blacksmith’s shop. Dr. Livingstone from working in a cotton mill. Our Saviour
also called His disciples from among the fishermen. (J. L. Nye.)
Which he saw concerning
Israel.--
The sphere of the prophet’s labours
The prophet was specifically appointed for the Israelites
though
born elsewhere. But how
and on what occasion
he migrated into the kingdom of
Israel
we know not. It is probable that this was designedly arranged
that God
might check the insolence of the people
who flattered themselves so much in
their prosperity. Since the Israelites had hitherto rejected God’s servants
they were now constrained to hear a foreigner and a shepherd condemning them for
their sins
and exercising the office of a judge: he who proclaims an impending destruction
is a celestial herald. This being the case
we hence see that God had not in
vain employed the ministry of this prophet; for He is wont to choose the weak
things of the world to confound the strong
and He takes prophets and teachers
from the lowest grade to humble the dignity of the world
and puts the
invaluable treasure of His doctrine in earthen vessels
that His power
as Paul
teaches us
may be made more evident. But there was a special reason as to the
prophet Amos; for he was sent on purpose severely to reprove the ten tribes;
and he handled them with great asperity. For he was not polite
but proved that
he had to do with those who were not to be treated as men
but as brute beasts;
yea
worse in obstinacy than brute beasts; for there is some docility in oxen
and cows
and especially in sheep
for they hear the voice of their shepherd
and follow where he leads them. The Israelites were all stubbornness
and wholly
untameable. It was then necessary to set over them a teacher who would not
treat them courteously
but exercise towards them his native rusticity. (John
Calvin.)
Two years before the
earthquake.--
Earthquakes in Palestine
Palestine lies almost in the centre of one great volcanic region
of the earth’s surface
that
namely
which includes the basin of the
Mediterranean
and the provinces of Western or Central Asia. Traces of that
volcanic action are found in every direction. The black basaltic rocks of the
Hauran
the hot springs of Tiberias
and Emmaus
and Gadara
the naphtha
fountains near the Dead Sea
the dykes of porphyry
and other volcanic rocks
that force their way through thy limestone
the many caves in the limestone
rock themselves
--all these show that we are treading on ground where the
forces of the hidden fires of the earth have been
in times past
in active
operation. We are
that is
in a zone of earthquakes. On some of these
earthquakes
tremendous in their phenomena
and in the extent of the desolation
caused by them
we have full details
in earlier and even in contemporary
history. The Jewish writer
Josephus
speaks of one which occurred in b.c. 31
as having destroyed many villages
and countless flocks
and herds
and human
lives
which he estimates (with somewhat
perhaps
of Oriental vagueness as to
statistics) now at ten
and now at thirty thousand. Herod and his army
who
were then carrying on war against the Arabs
were only saved by their being
encamped in tents
and so free from the peril of falling houses. As it was
he
had to combat the panic and depression which it spread through his troops
and
with something of a sceptical epicureanism
to assure them that these natural
phenomena were not signs of greater evils to come
but were calamities by
themselves
having no connection with any others that followed or preceded
them. Within the last thirty years again the shocks of an earthquake were felt
over the whole of Syria
in Beirdt
Damascus
Cyprus; Safed was almost utterly
destroyed; Tiberias was left little better than a heap of ruins
and one-third
of the population perished
to the number of a thousand. Rivers forsook their
beds
and left them dry for hours. The hot springs that flow into the Sea of
Tiberias were largely swollen in volume
and the level of the lake was raised.
One such convulsion has left its impress on the history of the kingdom of
Judah. It seems to have been the first great earthquake in the history of
Israel. It occurred in the time of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5). There is no trace of
anything of the kind in the Book of Judges
or in the earlier history of the
Kings. (Dean Plumptre.)
The Lord will roar from Zion.
The stern voice of God
The prophet not only shows here
that God was the Author of
his doctrine
but at the same time he distinguishes between the true God
and
the idols
which the first Jeroboam made
when by this artifice he intended to
withdraw the ten tribes from the house of David
and wholly to alienate them
from the tribe of Judah:
it was then that he set up the calves in Dan and Bethel. The prophet now shows
that all these superstitions are condemned by the true God. “Jehovah then will
roar from Zion
He will utter His voice from Jerusalem.” He
no doubt
wished
here to terrify the Israelites
who thought they had peace with God. Since
then
they abused His long-suffering
Amos now says that they would find at
length that He was not asleep. “When God
then
shall long bear with your
iniquities
He will at last rise up for judgment.” By “roaring” is signified
the terrible voice of God; but the prophet here speaks of God’s voice
rather
than of what are called actual judgments really executed
that the Israelites
might learn that the examples of punishments which God executes in the world
happen not by chance or at random
but proceed from His threatenings; in short
the prophet intimates that all punishments which God inflicts on the ungodly
and the despisers of His Word are only the executions of what the prophets
proclaimed
in order that men
should there be any hope of their repentance
might anticipate the destruction which they hear to be nigh. The prophet
commends very highly the truth of what God teaches
by saying that it is not
what vanishes
but what is accomplished; for when He destroys nations and
kingdoms
it comes to pass according to prophecies. (John Calvin.)
The penalty of sin
I. The change
which sin works in the relations between earth and heaven. “The Lord will roar
from Zion.” The figure is that of a lion ready for its prey. Can this be He of
whose tenderness Moses spoke? (Deuteronomy 32:9-14.) What had wrought
such a change between God and His people? Years of wandering
and rebellion
and sin can alone explain this change. Contrast between the friendship and the
enmity of God a fruitful means to awaken the sinner and save His own people
from wandering (Isaiah 40:11).
II. The place from
which danger should come--Zion and Jerusalem. These were the centres of the old
national worship--places that God had chosen to put His name there. In the
palaces of Zion God had been known for a refuge. Sin turned the sources of
peace and prosperity into the seat of their mightiest enemy.
III. The time of the
prophecy of woe. An era of hope. Prosperity had returned (2 Kings 14:25). The prophecy burst
upon them like thunder out of a blue sky
or as if one
in full tide of health
should see his own funeral procession pass. However dazzling the prosperity to
which sin may have raised men
its time of most luxuriant growth is often the
hour of its blasting. “The Judge standeth at the door.”
IV. The visitation
was to touch them on the side where they would most feel it--temporal
prosperity. “The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn”--poetic
personification of the ruin that should come to that class of which Amos had so
recently been a member. “Carmel”--the place of surpassing fertility--abounding
in rich pastures
olives
and vines. God takes what men prize most if haply
their heart may be softened by His visitation. Application
Verse
3
I will not turn away the punishment thereof.
The purpose of Divine threatenings
The order of God’s threatenings seems to have been addressed to
gain the hearing of the people. The punishment is first denounced upon their
enemies
and that
for their sins
directly or indirectly against themselves
and God in them. Then
as to those enemies themselves
the order is not of
place or time
but of their relations to God’s people. It begins with their
most oppressive enemy
Syria; then Philistia
the old and ceaseless
although
less powerful enemy; then Tyre
not an oppressor
as these
yet violating a
relation which they had not
the bonds of a form or friendship and covenant;
malicious also and hard hearted through covetousness. Then followed Edom
Ammon
Moab
who burst the bonds of blood also. Lastly
and nearest of all
it
falls on Judah
who had the true worship of the true God among them
but
despised it. Every infliction on those like ourselves finds an echo in our own
consciences. Israel heard and readily believed God’s judgments upon others. It
was not tempted to set itself against believing them. How then could it refuse
to believe of itself what it believed of others like itself? “Change but the
name
the tale is told of thee
” Horace says. The course of the prophecy
convicted them
as the things written in Holy Scripture for our ensamples
convict Christians. If they who sinned without law
perished without law
how
much more should they who have sinned in the law be judged by the law? God’s
judgments rolled
round like a thunder-cloud
passing from land to land
giving
warning of their approach
at last to gather and centre on Israel itself
except it repent. In the visitations of others it was to read its own; and that
the more
the nearer God was to them. Israel is placed last
because on it the
destruction was to fall to the uttermost
and rest there. (E. B. Pusey
D.
D.)
God’s dealings with other nations
The prophet shows that God
as a Judge
would call all the
neighbouring nations Co account. Had the prophet threatened the Israelites
only
they might have thought that what they suffered was by chance
when they
saw the like things happening to their neighbours. Thus all the authority of
the prophet must have lost its power
except the Israelites were made to know
that God is the Judge of all nations. Amos puts the Israelites in the same
bundle with the Moabites
the Idumaeans
and other heathen nations; as though
he had said
“God will not spare your neighbours; but think not that ye shall
be exempt from His vengeance
when they shall be led to punishment: I now declare to you
that God will be the Judge of you all together.” The design of Amos was--
1. To set before the eyes of
the Israelites the punishment of others to awaken them
and also to induce them
to examine themselves. He designed to lead them into a teachable frame of mind: for he knew them to
be torpid in their indulgences
and also blinded by presumption
so that they
could not be easily brought under the yoke.
2. He had this also in view
that God would punish the Syrians
because they cruelly raged against the
Israelites
especially against Gilead and its inhabitants. As God
then would
inflict so grievous a punishment on the Syrians
because they so cruelly
treated the inhabitants of Gilead
what was to be expected by the Israelites
themselves
who had been insolent towards God
who had isolated His worship
who had robbed Him of His honour
who had in their turn destroyed one another?
For there was among them no equity
no humanity; they had forgotten all reason.
(John Calvin.)
Divine cognisance of human sins
1. That the sins of all the
peoples on the earth
whatever the peculiarities of their character or country
are under the cognisance of God. Seven countries are named here. Heaven’s
omniscient eye detected the sill of each man of all the various men and
nations. God’s knowledge of men’s sins should--
Because they have threshed
Gilead with threshing instruments.
Signs of cruelty
We be many ways guilty of cruelty.
1. If we exercise tyrannous
cruelty
in inflicting punishments.
2. If we fight with or beat
our neighbour
or maim his body. This is a breach of the sixth commandment.
3. If we procure any way the
death of our neighbour
whether it be by sword
famine
poison
false
accusation
or otherwise.
4. If we use any of God’s
creatures hardly.
5. If because of our
neighbours’ infirmities
we use him discourteously
and make him our
laughingstock or taunting recreation.
6. If we injure a stranger.
7. If we molest any widow
or
fatherless children.
8. If we wrong the poor. This
we may do--
The enormity of the sin of persecution
The sin of inflicting suffering.
I. Persecution is a most
arrogant crime. The religious persecutor acts upon the assumption that his
ideas of religion are absolutely true that his theological knowledge is the
test by which all other opinions are to be tried; shows an arrogance before
which servile spirits bow
but from which all thoughtful and noble men recoil
with disgust and indignation But his arrogance is shadowy and harmless compared
with the arrogance of him who enters the temple of human conscience and claims
dominion over the moral workings of the soul. Yes
such arrogant men abound in
all ages
and are by no means rare
even in this age and land of what is called
civil and religious liberty.
II. Persecution is a most
absurd crime. Far wiser is the fool who would legislate for the winds or the
waves
and like Canute give commands to the billows
than he who attempts to legislate
for human thoughts and moral convictions. And truth never seems to rise in
greater power and majesty than under the hand of cruel persecution.
III. Persecution is a most
cruel crime. What ruthless inhumanities are here charged against the various peoples
mentioned. It has often been observed
that no anger is so savage as the anger
which springs up between relations of blood. A brotherly hate is the chief of
hates. No animosity burns with a more hellish heat than that connected with
religion. (Homilist.)
Verse 9-10
I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus
which shall devour the
palaces thereof.
The Divine judgment on Tyre
To follow out the accomplishment of the prophecies respecting
Tyre
under the conduct of so good a guide as Bishop Newton
is a most
interesting occupation. He gives the following quotation from Maundrell. “This
city
standing in the sea
upon a peninsula
promises at a distance something
very magnificent. But when you come to it
you find no similitude of that glory
for which it was so renowned in ancient times. On the north side
it was an old
Turkish
ungarrisoned castle; besides which you see nothing here but a mere
Babel of broken walls
pillars
vaults
etc.
there being not so much as one
entire house left; its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches
harbouring themselves in the vaults
and subsisting chiefly upon fishing
who
seem to be preserved in this place by Divine providence
as a visible evidence
how God has fulfilled His word concerning Tyre
namely
that it should be ‘as a
top of a rock
a place for fishers to dry their nets on.’” Newton himself says: “Such hath been the
fate of this city
once the most famous in the world for trade and commerce.
But trade is a fluctuating thing:
it passed from Tyre to Alexandria
from Alexandria to Venice
from Venice to
Antwerp
from Antwerp to Amsterdam and London
the English rivalling the Dutch
as the French are
now rivalling both. All nations almost are now wisely applying themselves to
trade; and it behoves those who are in possession of it to take the greatest
care they do not lose it. It is a plant of tender growth
and requires sun and
soil and fine seasons to make it thrive and flourish. It will not grow like the
palm tree
which
with the more weight and pressure
rises the more. Liberty is
a friend to that
as that is a friend to liberty. But the greatest enemy to
both is licentiousness
which tramples upon all law and lawful authority
encourages riots and tumults
promotes drunkenness and debauchery
sticks at
nothing to supply its extravagance
practises every art of illicit gain
ruins
credit
ruins trade
and will
in the end
ruin liberty itself. Neither
kingdoms nor commonwealths
neither public companies nor private persons
can
long carry on a beneficial
flourishing trade without virtue and what virtue
teacheth
sobriety
industry
frugality
modesty
honesty
punctuality
humanity
charity
the love of our country
and the fear of God. The prophets
will inform us how the Tyrians lost it; and the like causes will always produce
the like effects.” (Vincent W. Ryan
M. A.)
Verse 11-12
For three transgressions
of Edom
and for four
I will not turn away the punishment thereof.
Edom
1. A
threatening. Here a certain number is put for an uncertain. It may be treated
jointly. Three and foyer make seven. Thus may be indicated the multitude and
magnitude of the wickedness
and the greatness and heaviness of the punishment.
It may be treated severally
and in this sense; going on still
even to a
fourth time
in provoking Me
and adding obstinacy and impenitency to their
side
I will bear them no longer.
2. The
equity. These Idumaeans were stubbornly wicked
and heaped up sin upon sin.
3. Execution
of judgment. “I win send a fire.” Fire is put in Scripture for a most
grievous plague
by sword
or famine
or pestilence. Now for the application.
Edom is a special type of the kingdom of Anti-Christ.
Antichristian Esau is Edom. The similitude between them we will consider--
1. In
their persons;
2. in
their sins; and
3. in
their judgments. (T. Taylor
D. D.)
Verses 13-15
I will not turn away the punishment thereof.
God’s dealing with nations
I. The opportunity
for repentance which all possess. The punishment of the six heathen nations
as
of Judah and Israel
opens with a picture of the forbearance of God which had
preceded this hour of wrath. “For three transgressions of--
and for four
I
will not turn away the punishment thereof.” The cup of iniquity was not full
till the fourth transgression. God’s dealing with individuals is such--“Who
hath hardened himself against Him
and hath prospered?” (Proverbs 29:1.)
II. Persistence in
course of sin has only one end. “I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
Men may put far away the evil day
but all history
all prophecy
all strivings
of conscience point to the certainty of ruin.
III. The causes of
the divine indignation vary according to human light. In the fate of Tyrus
for
instance (Amos 1:9)
we see that a brotherly
covenant (the league of Hiram with David and Solomon) formed no barrier to the
grasping spirit of the mercantile nation. Edom (Amos 1:11) “did pursue his brother with
the sword
and cast off all pity.” The heathen nations were to suffer because
they had offended against those eternal principles of compassion and of truth
which are written on the hearts of all men alike. Judah (Amos 2:4) and Israel (Amos 1:6-8) were judged by a higher
standard
for the light had been greater. “In Judah is God known; His name is
great in Israel.”
IV. The vindication
of God’s ways to men which these pictures of national sin furnish is complete.
The preservation of truth and purity is of far higher moment than the fate of
one nation
for human society can only be founded on the eternal principles of
right and wrong. The detail of Israel’s sin makes us shrink back with horror.
Their law gave no power to sell an insolvent debtor
but they were ready to
sell the righteous man (one in trouble through no fault of his own) for silver;
and the poor (whom there was none to succour)
to provide for themselves a pair
of luxurious sandals. They panted after the very dust which the poor spread on
their head in token of mourning
and by the vilest sin they profaned the name
of God which was called on them as His people. Even their altars witnessed
their extortions (Amos 1:8; Deuteronomy 24:12-13) and banquetings.
Application--The prophet would have the people clearly understand the equity of
the judgments which he foretold. Men can be impartial in estimating the sin of
others (David and Nathan’s parable). To study God’s dealings with others will
often open our eyes to our own future. (J. Telford
B. A.)
Great sufferings following great sins
This passage illustrates three truths.
1. That the sins of all the people on the earth
whatever the
peculiarities of their character or conduct
are under the cognisance of God.
2. That of all the sins of the people
that of persecution is
peculiarly abhorrent to the Divine nature.
I. Great sins
entail great sufferings. The calamities threatened to these different tribes of
different lands are of the most terrible description. But they are all such as
to match their crimes.
1. The connection between great sins and great sufferings is
inevitable. The Moral Governor of the world has so arranged matters that every
sin brings with its own punishment
and it is only when the sin is destroyed
the suffering ceases. Thank God this sin can be destroyed through faith in the
mediation of Him who came to put away sin by faith in the sacrifice of Himself.
2. Tim connection between great sins and great sufferings is
universal. All these sinful peoples had to realise it from their own bitter
experience. It does not matter where
when
or how a man lives
his sins will
find him out.
II. Great sins
often entail great sufferings upon people who are not the actual offenders.
“The fire
” which is here the instrument of God’s retribution to us sinners
would not only scathe the persons and consume the property of the actual
offenders
but others. The fact is patent in all history and in all experience
that men here suffer for the sins of others. Two facts may reconcile our
consciences to this.
1. That few
if any
suffer more than their consciences tell them
they deserve.
2. That there is to come a period when the whole will appear to be in
accord with the justice and goodness of God. (Homilist.)
The atrocities of barbarism and the sins of civilisation
The sins Amos condemns in the heathen are at first sight very
different from those which he exposes within Israel. Not only are they sins of
foreign relations
of treaty and war
while Israel’s are all civic and
domestic; but they are what we call the atrocities of barbarism--wanton war
massacre and sacrilege; while Israel’s are rather the sins of civilisation--the
pressure of the rich upon the poor
the bribery of justice
the seduction of
the innocent
personal impurity
and other evils of luxury. So great is this
difference that a critic more gifted with ingenuity than insight
might
plausibly distinguish
in the section before us
two prophets with two very
different views of national sin--a ruder prophet
and of course an earlier
who
judged nations only by the flagrant drunkenness of their war; and a more subtle
prophet
and of course a later
who exposed the masked corruptions of their
religion and their peace. Such a theory would be as false as it would be
plausible. For not only is the diversity of the objects of the prophet’s
judgment explained by this
that Amos had no familiarity with the interior life
of other nations
and could only arraign their conduct at those points where it
broke into light in their foreign relations
while Israel’s civic life he knew
to the very core. But Amos had besides a strong and a deliberate aim in placing
the sins of civilisation as the climax of a list of the atrocities of
barbarism. He would recall what men are always forgetting
that the former are
really more cruel and criminal than the latter; that luxury
bribery
and
intolerance
the oppression of the poor
the corruption of the innocent and the
silencing of the prophet--what Christ calls offences against His little
ones--are even more awful atrocities than the wanton horrors of barbarian
warfare. (Geo. Adam Smith
D. D.)
That they might enlarge
their borders.--
Enlarging our borders
The message that comes from the old Hebrew prophet is the
injunction to make our lives broader
larger
richer than they already are. Men
are enlarged by travel
but the best part of that enlargement comes from
intercourse with other human beings. The world of physical nature can do much
to enlarge a man
but the world of human minds and hearts can do more. A man is
like a planet; he is in the field of two forces
the centrifugal and the
centripetal. As he grows
two methods are open to him. His idea of perfect
manhood may be reached by pruning away excrescences. This is the conventional
way: it produces
a Chesterfield. The other is the educating of all his faculties to their full limit: this produces a
Gladstone or a Browning. It exhibits many faults in a man; but it enlarges his
borders
and gives magnitude and grandeur. Every one of us desires
or thinks
he desires
breadth of thought
range of sympathy. Yet at our best we are never
full
rounded circles. We may openly resent any imputation of narrowness
but
in our hearts we must plead guilty. Let us learn to measure ourselves. How
intolerant is youth of the methods of age! Let youth learn to enlarge its
borders
and include the thoughts and feelings and methods of age. Every man
if he devotes himself earnestly to his life’s calling
must be
in some degree
narrowed by it. At least
he must give so much time to it that but little
remains
and but little strength
for other things. This in itself is not an
evil; but it frequently happens that such a man becomes wilfully narrow
and
underrates or despises pursuits and faculties which are quite as high as his
own. “Enlarge your borders
” is the command of our text. Broaden your sympathies!
Extend your range of observation and understanding! Pierce through to the
realities of things
and do not be deceived by externals! We all sadly need
this injunction. Herein lies much of the inefficiency of our modern charitable
work. The visitor and visited are not in touch
and never can be until both
shall have their borders enlarged. In another field our text finds ready
application. It is the field of theology
Men of broad religions views are so
rare in our time
that the Sodom of our modern denominational life hardly seems
worthy to be saved. There is a want of intellectual capacity to see the “other
side of things.” There is such a radical difference in the very texture of
men’s minds
that the same facts
especially in art
in poetry
and in religion
will lead equally good and able men to widely different conclusions. Many are
the forces which serve to enlarge our borders
as often without our
consciousness as with it. Whatever opens up the minds and hearts of men to each
other
whether it be joy or sorrow
is a blessing to them. The lessons which
God teaches us through the varied experiences of life are
many of them
hard
and bitter
but the wayward human heart needs deep probing. But the grandest enlargement
of life is that which comes through the thought of God. It can enlarge your
life by putting into your hand the key of love and compassion
which can open
the doors of human hearts as can nothing else on this broad earth. A
consciousness of God is the greatest broadening and deepening power which can
come into any life. (Bradley Gilman.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》