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Amos Chapter
Seven
Amos 7
Chapter Contents
Visions of judgments to come upon Israel. (1-9) Amaziah
threatens Amos. (10-17)
Commentary on Amos 7:1-9
God bears long
but he will not bear always with a
provoking people. The remembrance of the mercies we formerly received
like the
produce of the earth of the former growth
should make us submissive to the
will of God
when we meet with disappointments in the latter growth. The Lord
has many ways of humbling a sinful nation. Whatever trouble we are under
we
should be most earnest with God for the forgiveness of sin. Sin will soon make
a great people small. What will become of Israel
if the hand that should raise
him be stretched out against him? See the power of prayer. See what a blessing
praying people are to a land. See how ready
how swift God is to show mercy;
how he waits to be gracious. Israel was a wall
a strong wall
which God
himself reared as a defence to his sanctuary. The Lord now seems to stand upon
this wall. He measures it; it appears to be a bowing
bulging wall. Thus God
would bring the people of Israel to the trial
would discover their wickedness;
and the time will come
when those who have been spared often
shall be spared
no longer. But the Lord still calls Israel his people. The repeated prayer and
success of the prophet should lead us to seek the Saviour.
Commentary on Amos 7:10-17
It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren
to
misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom
as traitors to their
prince
and troublers of the land
when they are the best friends to both.
Those who make gain their godliness
and are governed by the hopes of wealth
and preferment
are ready to think these the most powerful motives with others
also. But those who have a warrant from God
like Amos
ought not to fear the
face of man. If God
that sent him
had not strengthened him
he could not thus
have set his face as a flint. The Lord often chooses the weak and foolish
things of the world to confound the wise and mighty. But no fervent prayers
or
self-denying labours
can bring proud sinners to bear faithful reproofs and
warnings. And all who oppose or despise the Divine word
must expect fatal
effects to their souls
unless they repent.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Amos》
Amos 7
Verse 1
[1] Thus
hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and
behold
he formed grasshoppers in the
beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and
lo
it was the latter
growth after the king's mowings.
Thus —
This is the first of five prophetic representations of what was coming upon
this people.
The latter growth —
The shooting up of the first growth being too luxuriant
they often eat it down
with cattle; but if the second growth were eat up
it marred the whole harvest.
Mowed — It
is supposed the first mowing of the corn in the blade was for the king's use;
and after this the second springing grew up to the harvest.
Verse 2
[2] And it came to pass
that when they had made an end of eating the grass of
the land
then I said
O Lord GOD
forgive
I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob
arise? for he is small.
It came to pass — In
the vision.
By whom —
How shall any of Jacob escape
if thou dost cast him down?
Verse 3
[3] The
LORD repented for this: It shall not be
saith the LORD.
Repented —
This is spoken after the manner of men.
Verse 4
[4] Thus
hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and
behold
the Lord GOD called to contend
by fire
and it devoured the great deep
and did eat up a part.
Shewed — In
vision.
Called —
Commanded fire from heaven.
A part — Of
the land too.
Verse 7
[7] Thus he shewed me: and
behold
the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumbline
with a plumbline in his hand.
By a plumb-line —
Strongly and beautifully built.
Verse 8
[8] And
the LORD said unto me
Amos
what seest thou? And I said
A plumbline. Then
said the Lord
Behold
I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel:
I will not again pass by them any more:
Set a plumb-line — I
will exactly measure the whole ten tribes.
Pass by them — I
will no more forbear
but will pull down all that is faulty.
Verse 9
[9] And
the high places of Isaac shall be desolate
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall
be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
The high places —
The temples on high mountains built to idols.
Of Isaac —
The seed of Isaac.
Verse 10
[10] Then
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel
saying
Amos hath
conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not
able to bear all his words.
In the midst —
Openly
and publickly
endeavouring to stir up Israel to sedition or rebellion.
The land —
The people cannot bear all his harsh predictions.
Verse 11
[11] For
thus Amos saith
Jeroboam shall die by the sword
and Israel shall surely be
led away captive out of their own land.
Jeroboam shall die — He
nowhere said so
but spake of his house distinguished from his person
as verse
9.
Verse 13
[13] But
prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel
and it is
the king's court.
The king's court — To
which therefore thou oughtest to shew more respect
and not thus to affront the
king in his own house.
Verse 14
[14] Then
answered Amos
and said to Amaziah
I was no prophet
neither was I a prophet's
son; but I was an herdman
and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
No prophet —
Not originally
or by study
or by any human designation.
An herdman — By
breeding and occupation I was and still am
an herdman.
Sycamore fruit —
This fruit was good food for man
or cattle.
Verse 16
[16] Now
therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest
Prophesy not against
Israel
and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
The house of Isaac — The
posterity of Isaac.
Verse 17
[17]
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city
and thy
sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword
and thy land shall be divided
by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into
captivity forth of his land.
In a polluted land —
Among the Heathen.
Israel —
The ten tribes.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Amos》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-17
Verses 1-6
O Lord
forgive
I beseech Thee . . . The Lord repented for this:
It shall not be
saith the Lord.
Intercession for pardon prevailing
I. Concerning
intercession.
1. This intercession was made by Amos alone. Neither Hosea nor
Isaiah
nor any other God-fearers of the time joined in it. To Amos alone the
vision appeared
and by him alone the intercession was made.
2. This intercession was made in the behalf of a wicked people. Amos
calls them Jacob
but they had renounced the principles of that holy man
and
stained their manners with the vilest corruptions. Corruption in manners
the
effect of corruption in principles
like a spreading pestilence
infected the
whole kingdom.
3. The form of this intercession is a prayer for pardon. Sin is the
cause of misery
and misery is the effect and punishment of sin. By pardon sin
is taken away
and when the cause is taken away the effect ceases. In going to
the throne for deliverance from misery
if we have a true sense of sin
pardon
will be our chief concern.
4. This intercession was made in a moment of extremity. In the
preceding reigns the kingdom had been mortally wounded
and though under
Jeroboam some of its wounds were bound up and healed
others continued bleeding
and terminated in a universal mortification.
5. Importunity in this intercession is tempered with reverence. For
the preservation of the house of Israel
the man of God is earnest and fervent
in prayer; but his prayer is blended with the reverence that is suitable to
Divine majesty and holiness.
6. This intercession is exemplary; an example and pattern to after
ages.
II. Concerning the
prevailing of this intercession. “The Lord repented for this.” His meaning is
the Lord accepted his importunity
granted the desire of his heart
and assured
him that the miseries
represented under the emblem of the grasshoppers
would
not eat up and consume all things. Illustrate the form of words in which this
meaning is expressed.
1. The holy writings frequently contain this expression.
2. Changes in the administration of providence
according to the
purpose of God
are expressed by these words.
3. These changes of administration encourage intercession
and
furnish excitements and motives to repentance. Encouraged by considerations of
the grace
mercy
and kindness of the God of Israel
Amos stood and interceded.
III. The sovereign
manner in which the Lord was pleased to express and communicate the prevailing
of the intercession. “It shall not be
saith the Lord.”
1. This intimation came immediately from the Holy One
by whom alone
pardon of sin and remission of punishment is granted.
2. This intimation was made by the Saviour of Israel
who alone had
power to restrain and countermand the destroyers of Israel. The waster is the
creature of His power
and the servant of His providence.
3. The intimation came to the individual who had made intercession.
4. This intimation is effective and sovereign. “He spake
and it was
done; He commanded
and it stood fast.”
5. The intimation is solemnly authenticated. Amos heard the words
distinctly pronounced
and “saith the Lord
” solemnly added by the glorious
Speaker. This encouraged him to continue interceding
and raised his hope of
prevailing.
Inferences.
1. Intercession for a wicked and perverse people is a duty. The Lord
allows
requires
and commands it
and in accepting it hath glorified Himself.
2. Supplication for pardon is an essential part of intercession.
3. Through the forbearance and long-suffering of God
some temporal strokes
may be mitigated
or removed
upon intercession; while the desolation
determined
deserved
and denounced
is making ready and hastening forwards.
4. Intercessors
though friends to their country
are sometimes
treated in it as enemies. Toward the restoration of the country Amos
contributed more by prayer than Jeroboam did by the sword. A few men who have
power with God in prayer are better than chariots of war
and stronger than
standing armies. Exhort--
Revelation and prayer
I. A divine
revelation leading to human prayer.
1. A Divine revelation. A vision of judgments symbolically
represented to the mind of the prophet. Destruction by grasshoppers.
Destruction by fire.
2. A human prayer. “Forgive.” This calamity is brought on by the sin
of the nation. Forgive the sin; remove the moral cause of the judgment. “By
whom shall Jacob arise?” Or
better
“How can Jacob stand? for he is small.”
Jacob’s--the nation’s--weakness
is the plea of the prayer for forgiveness. The
Israelites had been greatly reduced by repeated invasions on the part of the
Assyrian kings
and were now on the point of being attacked by the Assyrians
but purchased their retreat by one thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19-20). The nation was
now so weakened that it was unable to stand before another invader. How can
Jacob stand? The time has come when men may well ask this question in relation
to the Church. By whom shall it arise? Not by statesmen
scientists
etc.
II. Human prayer
leading to a Divine revelation. The prophet prays
and the great God makes a
new revelation of mercy. “The Lord repented for this: It shall not be
saith the Lord.” (Homilist.)
Verse 2
By whom shall Jacob arise?
The duty of Christians towards the Jews
These words were used as a plea for Israel before God
and proved
successful.
1. Jacob is fallen. And great was his fall. He stood higher than any
other on the face of the earth. He was nearer to God than any other people
were. Jacob
among the nations of the earth
was to God what Joseph was to his
father among his brethren: the
chiefest blessings invariably fell to his lot. “To whom pertaineth the adoption.”
The Jews as a nation were adopted by God into His family. And a dear son was
Ephraim to God for a long-period. Alas
that we are now compelled to say of
this once exalted people
Thou art fallen”! Many a downfall did Jacob
experience “ because of his iniquity.” He descended into the land of Egypt. God
raised him thence “with a stretched-out arm and great judgments.” He again fell
into Babylon
and once more did God graciously lift him out
and place him upon
his feet; but of all his falls
this
the last
is the deepest and the
heaviest. Hitherto he had but fallen backwards
as it were. This time he fell
prostrate on his face. In all his former falls he had contrived to keep his
hold of many promises
blessings
privileges. On this occasion he lost his
grasp of all
--he is “without a king
and without a prince
and without an
ephod
and without teraphim.” He descended lower than did any nation
so that
all look down now upon the Jew.
2. Jacob is unable to arise. Every movement he makes sinks him lower
in the mire. Does he renounce the Talmud? It is but to embrace infidelity. No
one has fallen among such cruel thieves as Jacob
and it is hard to pass by him
continually
as the priest and Levite are said to have done. Extend a helping
hand to Jacob.
3. Jacob is worth raising. True
Jacob has received a great fall
but
the pit into which he descended is not bottomless. The grace of God is deeper
than the fall of the Jew. The Christian Church has long acted towards the Jew
as if it thought he was not fit to be raised. Our hearts appear to have been
more tender to all than to the poor Jew. But Jacob is not so foul as that the
blood of the Cross cannot cleanse him.
4. Jacob is to be raised. What a multitude of things there are that
are worth raising
but of
whose restitution we have no certainty. It may be questionable whether Jacob
will again be restored to his own country
but there is not the shadow of a
doubt as to his being raised into the Divine favour. It is by the
instrumentality of the Gentiles that Jacob’s restoration is to be accomplished.
One great reason for extending the Gospel to us was that we might reach it to
others
and “to the Jew first.”
5. There is a large reward for raising Jacob. Once the Jews are
brought to believe
the lever that is to move the whole world will have been
obtained. The Jew is a wanderer in every land; he is found under the burning
sun of Hindoostan
and among the eternal snows of Siberia; he can speak every
tongue
so that
without any educational preparation
he is ready to preach the
Gospel of Christ unto all the nations of the earth. (David Roberts
D. D.)
Help for Jacob
The chosen people are in trouble and distress. They have forsaken
the living God
and He is punishing their apostasy. But the prophet of the
Lord
and the few faithful among his brethren deeply deplore the national sin
and earnestly invoke the Divine mercy. They will not rest
they cannot hold
their peace till God pardon the iniquity of His people
and restore to them the
tokens of His loving-kindness. At such a time how natural and significant the language of Amos.
Often in the Church of Christ are there not seasons of declension
lukewarmness
discouragement
inefficiency
fightings without
and fears
within
bitter partisanship
and uncharitable controversy
when all hands are
feeble
and all hearts arc faint? And thus afflicted
what need we so much to
know as our spiritual poverty and feebleness
and what so much to learn as the
sufficiency of our Divine resources?
I. Jacob is small.
1. In numbers.
2. In substance.
3. In influence.
4. In religious knowledge.
5. In fruitfulness and efficiency.
II. By whom shall
Jacob arise? His helplessness conceded
who shall help him? Shall the civil
ruler? Or the wealthy patron? Or by the popular orator? Or by the speculative
theorist? Or by the partisan controversial st? Or by the sensational
enthusiast? Nay
Jehovah-Jesus is our strength and salvation. The cause is His
and with Him is the residue of the Spirit. Year not for the future of the
Church. God shall help her
and that right early. To the full extent of her
necessity His plenipotence is hers. (J. Cross
D. D.)
The true Helper of the Church
This was an appeal to the heart of God at a time when the
judgments of heaven were bringing the chosen people to ruin. This is a question
which might well have been asked in every age which the Church has yet seen.
Her numbers have always been small in comparison with the ranks of the wicked.
The Church
to this day
is but a drop in the ocean. And she is weak as well as
small. When we look abroad over the world we behold a race of men dead in
trespasses and sins
given over to the dominion of the selfish passions
chained down in ignominious servitude to the world; whom no motives can
conquer
no means reclaim. To form such beings into materials for building up
the Church
they must be made to undergo a thorough and wonderful
transformation. Who shall accomplish this mighty change? The transformation
must not only be begun
it must be continued and perfected. After men are set
out on the heavenly course
they still have to contend with their original
corruptions
and with a world full of objects fitted to inflame them. All these
corruptions and temptations stand in the way of the growth of the Church. And
the Church as a body has to contend with a world in arms. Every natural man is
a foe. The whole bent of the natural heart in every age and country
in every
family and individual
is against it. Leave man to himself for a single
generation
and with all the means of civilisation and grace
the Church would
become extinct. Our strength is wholly incompetent to preserve the Church a
single hour
to add one to the number of her sons
to produce a single
impression on a single heart. If no other helper is found we must sit down in
tears
and give up all for lost. The Church is God’s interest. This interest
God has not committed to men; it is His own
His only portion. He has taken it
into His own hands. The great end which He purposes to Himself in all His works
is to bring out to view the riches of His nature
that creatures may see and
acknowledge Him as He is
and for ever enjoy Him. It is the natural course of
unbelief to put Him out of view. God is resolved to be acknowledged as the sole
author and finisher of the whole. For this reason He studiously constructs the
dispensations of His grace in a way to convince His people that it is “ not by
might nor by power
but by “His Spirit that the Church is enlarged. Then our
hope is only in God. Let all other dependencies be given up; the Church must
rise by God alone. This is our consolation in the darkest times. (E. D.
Griffin
D. D.)
How to have a revival
1. The first step is humiliation.
2. The second step is reformation.
3. The third step lies in the direction of religious duty. The path
of duty must be again frequented. The cross must once more be carried. Duty
must become
what it once was
the paramount consideration.
4. The spirit of prayer must be sought and exercised till the
blessing comes. (Homiletic Monthly.)
Jacob crippled
I. A sad
confession. “Jacob is small.” If none but those who have been redeemed from a
low life of flesh-love to a higher one of holiness may be classed under this
term to-day
then is Jacob small.
1. Numerically.
2. In worldly esteem.
3. In material resources.
4. In political power.
And alas! Jacob is small spiritually
in personal power. Faith
hope
and charity are small
so is our self-denial. All this diminutiveness
comes as the result of being prostrate
down
low. For Jacob to be prostrate is
a great reproach indeed. Jacob is
in too many cases
a self-made cripple.
II. An anxious
inquiry. “By whom
” etc. That he ought to arise is generally admitted.
1. Not by monarch’s smile.
2. Not by decrees of State.
3. Not by the addition of a few more men of means.
4. Not by a larger supply of education and literature.
5. Not by increasing the number of our sanctuaries.
What is needed is heaven’s force and life. “By My Spirit.” The
Holy Ghost is Jacob’s blessed Strength
Guardian
and Helper.
Verse 7-8
The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline
with a plumbline
in His hand.
God in relation to human work
All men are workers
the world is “full of labour.” The
words suggest two facts in relation to it.
I. God has a
commanding view of it. “He stands upon the wall” high up
so that every portion
comes within His glance. He observes--
1. Its quality
good or bad.
2. Its variety
overt or occult.
3. Its influence
useful or pernicious.
Solemn thought
that God’s eye is on us in all our activities
and
that the most
secret act eludes not His glance.
II. God tests the
character of it. “A plumbline in His hand.” The mason uses the “plumbline” to
determine the straightness of the wall
and thus God tests the character of
human actions. What is God’s “plumbline”?
1. His law as inscribed upon the human conscience. By this He tries
all men
heathen
etc.
2. God’s law as written in the Scriptures. By this He tries all who
possess the revelation.
3. God’s law as embodied in Christ. By this He tries all who have the
Gospel. (Homilist.)
Man’s moral character
I. There is a kind
of masonry in the formation of man’s character. Man’s character may be compared
to masonry in several respects.
1. It has one foundation. Walls are built
not upon two
but upon one
foundation. So is every man’s character. There is some one principle on which
it is organised. That principle is the paramount affection of the man. Whatever
he loves most
governs him. If he loves pleasure most
his character is
sensual; if he loves money most
his character is worldly. If he loves wisdom
most
his character is philosophic; if he loves God most
his character is
Divine
etc.
2. It has a variety of materials. In a building there are earth
lime
stones
bricks
wood
iron
etc. etc. These are brought together into a
whole. Character is not formed of one set of actions
thoughts
impulses
volitions. All kinds of acts enter into it
mental
moral
muscular
personal
political
religious--all are materials in the building.
3. It is a gradual advancement.
II. There is a
divine standard by which to test man’s character. What is the Divine
“plumbline” by which to test character? Here it is. “Whatsoever ye would that
men should do unto you
do ye even so unto them.” Or
perhaps more
intelligibly
the moral character of Christ. “If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ
he is none of His.”
III. There is a
terrible ruin for those whose characters will not bear the test of this
plumbline. “Behold
I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Israel: I will not again pass
by them any more: and
the high places of Israel shall be desolate
and the sanctuaries of Israel
shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the
sword” (Matthew 25:31-46). (Homilist.)
A test for uprightness
Italy is a land of volcanoes
and earthquakes
and other shaking
things of the sort
so that it is not easy to build tall and slender towers and
yet keep them true to the plummet:
There comes a shake
or the foundation yields a little
and the
towers tilts--like the leaning tower of Pisa
and the two leaning towers of
Turin. It is natural then that builders who have taken pains to do their work
thoroughly should seek for some way to “prove” it
so as to show that what they
have done is both upright and downright. The builders of the cathedral in
Florence took a very ingenious way of proving tiffs. High up
in the centre of
that beautiful building
is a lofty dome
like that of St. Paul’s
with stained
windows all round. On the casement of one of these windows is a small iron
ring
and it is by this the uprightness of the tower is tested every year. For
on a certain day in June
at a certain hour
the sun shines through that ring
and its light falls on a brass plate let into the marble floor far beneath. So
long as the sunbeam falls on a spot there
on that day and at that moment
it
proves that the building is as erect as on the day it was finished; if it had
tilted over so little to the one side or the other
that long ray of light
would have proved it
for then it could not have fallen exactly on the right
spot. (J. Reid Howatt.)
What seest thou? And I
said
A plumbline.--
Straight up and down religion
Bricklayers
and stone masons
and carpenters
in the building of
walls
use an instrument made of a cord
at the end of which a lump of lead is
fastened. They drop it over the side of the wall
and
as the plummet naturally
seeks the centre of gravity in the earth
the workman discovers where the wall
recedes and where it bulges out
and just what is the perpendicular. Our text
represents God as standing on the wall of character
which the Israelites had
built
and in that way testing it. What the world wants is a straight up and
down religion. Much of the so-called piety of the day tends this way and that
to suit the times. We have all been building a wall of character
and it is
glaringly imperfect
and needs reconstruction. How shall it be brought into
perpendicular? Only by the Divine measurement. The whole tendency of the times
is to make us act by the standard of what others do. There are ten thousand
plumblines in use
but only one is true and exact
and that is the line of
God’s eternal righteousness. Nothing would make times so good
and the earning
a livelihood so easy
as the universal adoption of the law of right. Suspicion
strikes through all bargain-making. In the same way we need to measure our
theologies. All sorts of religions are putting forth their pretensions. All
religions but one begin at the wrong end
and in the wrong place. The Bible
religion demands that we first get right with God My text gives me a grand
opportunity of saying a useful word to all young men who are now forming habits
for a lifetime. A young man is in danger of getting a defect in his wall of
character that may never be corrected. Oh
this plumbline of the everlasting
right! God will throw it over all our lives to show us our moral deflections. (T.
De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
The plumbline
Builders could not build our houses as they ought without a
plumbline. Israel had been built up as a people
so to speak
with a plumbline;
everything was right; God approved of them. But now Israel had become a very
different people from what they were at the beginning. Very early Jeroboam
began to introduce calf worship. The people thus became very wicked
and
departed from the way of the Lord more and more. Amos went to warn Jeroboam the
Second. But all his warnings were in vain. Amaziah the high priest told him to
go away
for they did not want
his services there. God comforted Amos by showing him a plumbline
and in
effect saying
“I have noticed how Israel
like a wall which was once upright
has been gradually giving way
and yet I have passed it by
but I cannot do so
any more.” This is what God says at last to every kingdom or nation that ceases
to be upright and true. How many nations there have been that have begun
fairly
but have got worse as time passed by! God is always with His plumbline
trying our lives. What is His plumbline? The grand old Book. By this
too
we
ought all to be trying ourselves. You are building up a life. Every thought you
cherish
every word you utter
and every deed you perform is the building up of
character and life. Bricklayers are not foolish enough to think that if they
build a wall out of perpendicular it Will stand. If a man will grow up crooked
or dishonest
or untruthful
he is bound to come down sooner or later. If Jesus
comes to us
He is sure to find something or other in our character that is not
right
and very likely He will find a good many bulging defects. It may be
selfishness
untruthfulness
unkindness
or some other sin. We must build up
our life according to His law. We cannot do anything ourselves without His
help; but that help He is ever ready to give. (David Davies.)
Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of
Israel.
The conventional and the genuine priests of a people
I. The
conventional priest. Amaziah was chief priest of the royal sanctuary of the
calves at Bethel.
1. He was in close intimacy with the king.
2. He seeks to expel an independent teacher from the dominion of the
king.
II. Here we have
the genuine priest of a people. Amos seems to have been a prophet not
nationally recognised as such.
1. He is not ashamed of his humble origin. “I was no prophet
” that
is
I am not a prophet by profession
“neither was I a prophet’s son.” By the
son of a prophet he means a disciple or pupil. He had not studied in any
prophetic college. No true prophet is ever ashamed of his origin
however
humble. As a rule the greatest teachers of the world have struggled up from the
regions of poverty and obscurity.
2. He is conscious of the Divinity of his mission. “The Lord took me
as I followed the flock
and the Lord said unto me
Go
prophesy unto My people
Israel.” Amos seems to have had no doubt at all as to the fact that the Lord
called him. How he was called does not appear. When God calls a man to work
the man knows it. No argument will convince him to the contrary.
3. In the name of heaven he denounces the conventional priest. In return
for this rebellion against Jehovah
Amos foretells for the priest the
punishment which will fall upon him when the judgment shall come upon Israel
meeting his words
“Thou sayest
Thou shalt not prophesy” with the keen retort
“Thus saith Jehovah.” The punishment is described in verse 17. (Homilist.)
Verse 14-15
Verse 15
The Lord took me as I followed the flock
and the Lord said unto
me
Go
prophesy unto My people Israel.
The messenger faithful to his mission
Holy Scripture seldom teaches more impressively than when it
teaches by contrasts. There may be instituted a contrast between two classes of
religious workers.
1. Professional religious workers. In every age there have been such
men--conventional religionists
whose creed is compromise
and whose maxim is
“Sail with the stream.”
2. Men whose hearts the Lord has touched. Such was Amos. Observe the
surroundings of his life. What Was it the mere professionals were afraid of in
his message? They may have feared lest the people should be roused to think.
More probably they felt the inward uneasiness which hollow profession must ever
experience when brought into contrast with genuine piety and the power of the
Holy Ghost. The presence and testimony of Amos condemned them. The priest
Amaziah suggested that Amos would be wise to flee away to the land of Judah.
There would have been nothing necessarily sinful in following this advice. The
presence of the prophet in Jerusalem would have been hailed with the warmest
sympathy and welcome. He would have gained a wide popularity
and would have
been an object of general admiration. And we are all liable to be influenced by
such motives. We do not like to stand alone
beset with continual difficulties
arising from our position. No doubt Amos would have yielded had he not been
walking in the Spirit
and it is only this that will keep an.y of us at the
post of duty. We are often tempted to run away from the cross given us to bear
flattering ourselves all the time that in doing so we are seeking opportunities
of greater usefulness. We cannot get away from the Cross; it is the law of true
Christian experience. Satan will always entice us to run away. Consider the
temptations of the prophet more in detail.
1. Immunity from danger is promised. Amos was in a state of continual
danger where he was.
2. If Amos would only go across the border
he had a clear prospect
of obtaining what none of us can do without--bread. He might count upon a comfortable
maintenance
a good living. A judicious use of his religion would have got him
on in the world
and his godliness might have been made the steppingstone to
rank and fortune. The position of Amos where he was must have been very
precarious; he had left his regular means of livelihood
and was living a life
of faith. He must have been living
as we say
“from hand to mouth.” To stay
where he was would be to continue in poverty
perhaps to starve.
3. There was something more than even bread. Which of us does not
know the yearning of the human heart for sympathy? How painful it is to stand
alone! Which of us is altogether indifferent to popularity?
4. Even this was not all. The temptation is backed by an attempt to
get up a question of casuistry. The king has commanded you not to speak
and
you are disobeying him. How dare you arrogate to yourself such airs of
superiority
and set yourself up as better than every one else? This is one of
the severest trials of the Christian life. It does seem to those who do not
take pains to find out the truth
as if we assumed an attitude of religious
superiority. But
after all
our position is not as trying as Amos’s was. Our
only safety is ever to put our direct duty to God before our indirect. Be loyal to
Him-personally
first; be loyal to Him indirectly
through your king or your
parent
second; and remember you cannot be loyal to Him indirectly
when you
have ceased to be loyal to Him directly. Against all these considerations of
expediency and self-interest what had Amos to set? Only one mighty word from
the lips of God. It was this that kept him at his post. “Go
prophesy unto My
people Israel.” That was all; but it was clear. The voice said
“Amos
go!”
From that moment Amos lived for God and His work; he turned his back on the
sheepfold
gave up the gathering of sycamore
and began to deliver his message.
Everything seemed to wave him back to his primitive seclusion. But against all
opposition rang out the clear inner voice
“Amos
go; have not I sent thee?” And
he went
with his life in his hand. He went
in the face of the jeers
and
scoffs
and threats of the world
and the advice of such religious professors
as Amaziah. We do not want two-faced Christians. We want men who
like Amos
are carried forward by the mighty consciousness of the Divine call
men in whom
inmost heart the mighty
some of God is heard
calling them as by name
and
bidding them Go. (W. M. Hay-Aitken
M. A.)
A humble origin remembered
Felix Faure
the late president of the French Republic
never sought to conceal his lowly origin. Hanging in a conspicuous place on the
wall of his presidential office was a photograph of a young man wearing a
tanner’s blouse and wooden shoes. Faure the president
did not forget that he
was once Faure the currier.
──《The Biblical Illustrator》