The Wicked Kingdom Overthrown

v. 1. I saw, in a fifth vision, the Lord standing upon the altar, most likely that of the idolatrous sanctuary at Bethel, to which reference has just been made; and He said, Smite the lintel of the door, the prophet himself striking the blow against the supporting pillars, that the posts may shake, and cut them in the head, all of them, dashing down the pieces, as the building collapses, upon the heads of the whole people assembled about the national sanctuary; and I will slay the last of them with the sword, namely, the remnant which would succeed in escaping the downfall of the building. He that fleeth of them shall not flee away, though he may fancy himself safe, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered, not succeed in saving his life.

v. 2. Though they dig into hell, in the uttermost depths of the universe, thence shall Mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down, Cf Psa 139:7-8;

v. 3. and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, whose wooded heights were at the extreme western boundary of their kingdom, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, in the nethermost caves of the ocean, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them;

v. 4. and though they go into captivity before their enemies, hoping to save their lives by surrendering to the foe, thence will I command the sword, wielded by those who hated them, and it shall slay them; and I will set Mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good, keeping them under observation without ceasing, so that escape would be an utter impossibility. The omnipresence and the almighty power of the Lord is further brought out.

v. 5. And the Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, Cf Psa 46:7; Psa 75:4, and all that dwell therein shall mourn, for the melting is done by the judgments of the Lord, who makes the invaders and conquerors of the land His instruments; and it shall rise up wholly like a flood, rather, “the whole of it riseth like the Nile,”. and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt, the annual overflow of the Nile being once more made a picture of the overwhelming judgments of the Lord.

v. 6. It is He that buildeth His stories in the heaven, literally, “His upper chambers,” to which one would have to ascend by steps, and hath founded His troop in the earth, firmly fixing the vault of His sky above; He that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them. out upon the face of the earth, either in tidal waves or in another deluge:. The Lord is His name. After this emphatic declaration of His almighty power and sovereignty the Lord shows the children of Israel that they may not rely upon the fact of their being His chosen people.

v. 7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Since they had broken the covenant, they stood no nearer to Him than the heathen. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, this being a deed for which He alone should receive credit, and the Philistines from Caphtor, from the island of Crete, and the Syrians from Kir? very likely a province of Assyria.

v. 8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, directed against it to work His punishment, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, namely, the sinful people as such, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord, namely, the spiritual Israel, the true descendants of the patriarchs,

v. 9. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel, shaking them as in a colander, or sieve, among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. The nations of the world are the sieve by which Israel is cleaned of the chaff found in its midst of the godless people that claimed membership in the congregation of the Lord.

v. 10. All the sinners of My people, namely, those who persist in their godlessness and false security, shall die by the sword, which say. The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us, that is, precede or reach us. When God is once determined to punish the wicked, there is no power which may stop Him, and all the efforts of the godless to escape His wrath are futile.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Amo 9:1-10

6. The fifth vision displays the Lord standing by the altar and commanding the destruction of the temple (Amo 9:1). No one shall escape this judgment, flee whither he will (Amo 9:2-4); for God is Almighty (Amo 9:5, Amo 9:6). Their election shall not save the guilty Israelites; still they shall not be utterly destroyed (Amo 9:7-10).

Amo 9:1

I saw the Lord. It is now no longer a mere emblem that the prophet sees, but actual destruction. He beholds the majesty of God, as Isa 6:1; Eze 10:1. Upon (or, by) the altar; i.e. the altar of burnt offering at Jerusalem, Where, it is supposed, the whole nation, Israelites and Judaeans, are assembled for worship. It is natural, at first sight, to suppose that the sanctuary of the northern kingdom is the scene of this vision, as the destruction of idolatry is here emblemized; but more probably Bethel is not meant, for there were more altars than one there (Amo 3:14), and one cannot imagine the Lord standing by the symbol of the calf worship. Smite. The command is mysteriously addressed to the destroying angel (comp. Exo 12:13; 2Sa 24:15, etc.; 2Ki 19:35). The lintel of the door; ; cardinem (Vulgate); better, the chapiter (Zep 2:14); i.e. the capital of the columns. The word kaphtor is used in Exo 25:31, etc; for the knop or ornament on the golden candlesticks; here the idea is that the temple receives a blow on the top of the pillars which support it sufficient to cause its overthrow. The LXX. rendering arises from a confusion of two Hebrew words somewhat similar. The posts; the thresholds; i.e. the base. The knop and the threshold imply the total destruction from summit to base. Cut them in the head, all of them; rather, break them [the capital and the thresholds] to pieces upon the head of all. Let the falling building cover them with its ruins. The Vulgate renders, avaritia enim in capite omnium, confounding two words. Jerome had the same Hebrew reading, as he translates, quaetus eorum, avaritia, as if giving the reason for the punishment. The overthrown temple presents a forcible picture of the destruction of the theocracy. The last of them (Amo 4:2); the remnant; any who escape the fall of the temple. He that fleeth, etc. All hope of escape shall be cut off.

Amo 9:2

The thought of Amo 9:1 is further expanded, the notion of flight being, as Jerome says, dissected. For dig, the LXX. reads, “be hidden;” but the expression implies a breaking through (Eze 8:8). Hell (Sheol) is supposed to be in the inmost part of the earth (comp. Psa 139:7, Psa 139:8; Oba 1:4). Take them. To receive punishment.

Amo 9:3

The top of Carmel. Among the woods and thickets. There are no eaves on the summit of Carmel. “Amos tolls us that in his day the top of it was a place to hide in; nor has it changed its character in this respect … I would not have been prompted to place ‘the top of Carmel’ third in such a series of hiding places, yet I can fully appreciate the comparison from my own experience. Ascending from the south, we followed a wild, narrow wady overhung by trees, bushes, and tangled creepers, through which my guide thought we could get up to the top; but it became absolutely impracticable, and we were obliged to find our way back again. And even after we reached the summit, it was so rough and broken in some places, and the thorn bushes so thickset and sharp, that our clothes were torn and our hands and faces severely lacerated; nor could I see my guide at times ten steps ahead of me. From such biblical intimations, we may believe that Carmel was not very thickly inhabited”. Other writers speak of the occurrence of caves and deep valleys in the Carmel range. In the bottom of the sea. Both this and heaven (verse 2) are impracticable hiding places, and are used poetically to show the absolute impossibility of escape. Serpent (nachash, elsewhere called leviathan and tannin, Isa 27:1), some kind of seamonster supposed to be venomous. Dr. Pusey mentions that certain poisonous hydrophidae are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. and may probably infest the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Amo 9:4

Captivity itself, in which state men generally, at any rate, are secure of their lives, shall not save them from the sword (Le 26:33; Deu 28:65, etc. comp. Tobit 1:17, 18; 2:3, where we see that the murder of captives was not unusual). The prophet looks forward to the Assyrian deportation. For evil. The people are indeed subject to God’s special attention, but only in order to punish them (Psa 34:15, Psa 34:16; Jer 44:11).

Amo 9:5

To confirm the threats just uttered, the prophet dwells upon God’s omnipotence, of which he gives instances. He who will do this is the Lord God of hosts, There is no copula in the Hebrew here. (So Amo 4:13; Amo 5:8.) This title, Jehovah Elohim Zebaoth, represents God not only as Ruler of the heavenly bodies, but as the Monarch of a multitude of heavenly spirits who execute his will, worship him in his abiding place, and are attendants and witnesses of his glory (see note on Hag 1:2). Shall melt; ; comp. Psa 46:6; Psa 97:5; Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5. The expression denotes the destructive effects of the judgments of God. Shall mourn. The last clauses of the verse are a repetition of Amo 8:8, with some slight variation.

Amo 9:6

Stories; ; ascensionem (Vulgate); upper chambers, or the stages by which is the ascent to the highest heavens (comp. Deu 10:14; 1Ki 8:27; Psa 104:3). His troop (aguddah); vault. The word is used for “the bonds” of the yoke in Isa 58:6; for “the bunch” of hyssop in Exo 12:22. So the Vulgate here renders fasciculum suum, with the notion that the stories or chambers just mentioned are bound together to connect heaven and earth. But the clause means, God hath founded the vault or firmament of heaven upon (not in) the earth, where his throne is placed, and whence he sends the rain. The Septuagint renders, , “his promise.” So the Syriac. The waters of the sea. The reference is to the Deluge (Amo 5:8; Gen 7:4, Gen 7:11).

Amo 9:7

Israel’s election to be God’s people should not save them, unless their conduct corresponded with God’s choice. If they opened not, they were no better in his eyes than the heathen, their delivery from Egypt had no more significance than the migration of pagan nations. Here is a contrast to Amo 6:1, etc. The children of Israel were now no dearer than the children of the Ethiopians (Cushites). The Cushites are introduced as being descendants of the wicked Ham, and black in complexion (as Jer 13:23), the colour of their skin being considered a mark of degradation and of evil character. The Philipstines from Caphtor; from Cappadocia (LXX. and Vulgate). This rendering is mistaken. The immigration spoken of took place before the Exodus (see Deu 2:23; Jer 47:4); and Caphtor is either Crete (see Dillman on Gen 10:14) or the coast land of the Delta, “which was occupied from an early period by Phoenician colonists, and thus came to be known to the Egyptians as Keft ur, or ‘greater Phoenicia,'” Keft being the Egyptian name of Phoenicia” (Monthly Interpreter, 3:136). Medieval Jewish writers identified it with Damiette. The Syrians (Arum, Hebrew) from Kir; , “the Syrians out .of the ditch”; Syros de Cyrene (Vulgate); see note on Amo 1:5. “Aram” here probably means the Damascenes, Damascus shortly before the time of Moses having been occupied by a powerful body of immigrants from Armenia.

Amo 9:8

The sinful kingdom. The kingdom of all Israel and Judah, the same as the house of Jacob just below, though a different fate awaits this, regarded as the covenant nation, whose are the promises. Destroy it, etc; as was threatened (Deu 6:15). Saving that. In spite of the destruction of the wicked people, God’s promises hold good, and there is still a remnant who shall be saved (Jer 30:11).

Amo 9:9

For, lo! He explains how and why the whole nation is not destroyed. I will sift. Israel is to be dispersed among the nations, tried and winnowed among them by affliction and persecution, that the evil may fall to the ground and perish, and the good be preserved. The word rendered “sift” implies “to shake to and fro;” and this shaking shall show who are the true Israelites and who are the false, who retain their faith and cleave to the Lord under all difficulties, and who lose their hold of true religion and assimilate themselves to the heathen among whom they dwell. These last shall not return from captivity. The least grain; Hebrew, tseror, “pebble;” so the Vulgate, lapillus; Septuagint, ,” fragment.” It is used in 2Sa 17:13 of small stones in a building; here as hard groan in distinction from loose chaff (Keil). The solid grain, the good wheat, are the righteous, who, when the chaff and dust are cast away, are stored in the heavenly garner, prove themselves of the election, and inherit the promises (comp. Isa 6:13; Eze 20:38; Mat 3:12). Fall upon the earth; i.e. perish, be lost (1Sa 26:20).

Amo 9:10

If any are to be saved, it will not be the sinners; they need not flatter themselves that their wilful blindness shall secure them. The evil shall not overtake. They lulled themselves into a false security, and shut their cars against the warnings of the prophets; but that would avail them nothing. Prevent; come upon suddenly, surprise.

Amo 9:11-15

Part IV. EPILOGUE. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW KINGDOM AND THE REIGN OF MESSIAH. THE KINGDOM SHALL EMBRACE ALL NATIONS (Amo 9:11, Amo 9:12), SHALL BE ENRICHED WITH SUPERABUNDANT SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS (Amo 9:13, Amo 9:14), AND SHALL ENDURE FOREVER (Amo 9:15).

Amo 9:11

In that day. When the judgment has fallen. The passage is quoted by St. James (Act 15:16, Act 15:27), mostly from the Greek, in confirmation of the doctrine that the Church of God is open to all, whether Jew or Gentile. The tabernacle (sukkah): hut, or tent (as Jon 4:5); no palace now, but fallen to low esthete, a “little house” (Amo 6:11). The prophet refers probably to the fall of the kingdom of David in the ruin wrought by the Chaldeans. Interpreted spiritually, the passage shadows forth the universal Church of Christ, raised from that of the Jews. Pusey notes that in the Talmud Christ is called “the Son of the fallen.” The breaches. The house of David had sustained breaches under the hands of Jeroboam and Joash, and in the severance of the ten tribes at the hands of Assyriaus and Chaldees; these should be repaired. Unity should be restored, the captives should return, and another kingdom should be established under another David, the Messiah. Judah’s temporary prosperity under Uzziah and Hezekiah would have been a totally inadequate fulfilment of the prophecy. Prophecies of the temporal and spiritual are, as usual, blended together and run up into each other. His ruins. The destroyed places of David! will build it; Hebrew, her. The whole Jewish Church (comp. Jer 31:4; Jer 33:7). As in the days of old. The days of David and Solomon, the most flourishing times of the kingdom (2Sa 7:11, 2Sa 7:12, 2Sa 7:16). In the expression, “of old,” Hebrew, “of eternity,” may lurk an idea of the length of time that must elapse before the fulfilment of the promise. Septuagint, , “I will build it up as are the days of eternity.” This seems to signify that the building is to last forever.

Amo 9:12

That they (the true children of Israel) may possess the remnant of Edom; i.e. those who were nearest in blood, and yet most hostile of all men. David had subdued the Edomites (2Sa 8:14; 1Ki 11:16), and Amaziah had inflicted a great slaughter upon them (2Ki 14:7); but later they recovered their independence (2Ki 16:6, where “Edomites” should be read for “Syrians;” 2Ch 28:17), and were actively hostile against the Jews. It was on this account that they were emphatically denounced by Obadiah. “The remnant” is mentioned because, according to the threat in Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12, they would be punished so that only a few would escape. The Septuagint gives , , [ , Alexandrian], “That the remnant of men may earnestly seek the Lord,” regarding Edom as a representative of aliens from God, and altering the text to make the sense more generally intelligible, This version, which reads “Adam,” men, instead of “Edom,” is endorsed by St. James. Which are called by my Name; “over whom my Name hath been called”. This is closer to the Hebrew; but the meaning is much the same, viz. all those who are dedicated to God and belong to him being by faith incorporated into the true Israel. The Messianic kingdom shall be established in order that salvation may be extended to all hastens who embrace it. Saith the Lord; is the saying of Jehovah. This is added to show the immutability of the promise. The covenant God himself hath predicted it.

Amo 9:13

The prophet expatiates upon the rich blessings which shall follow the establishment of the kingdom. Under the figure of a supernatural fertility are represented the victories of grace (comp. Isa 11:6; Eze 26:10, etc.; Eze 34:25, etc.). The blessing is founded on the Mosaic promise (Le 26:5). The ploughman shall overtake the reaper. Ploughing and harvest shall be continuous, without sensible interval. The treader of grapes him that soweth seed. The vintage should be so abundant that it should last till sowing time. The mountains shall drop sweet wine. This is from Joe 3:18. And all the hills shall melt. As Joel says, “shall flow with milk,” in this promised land “flowing with milk and honey.” Septuagint, , “all the hills shall be planted” with vines and olives. For, as Corn. a Lapide quotes, “Bacchus amat colles” (Virg; ‘Georg.,’ 2:113). The hyperbolical expressions in the text are not to be taken literally; they depict in bright colours the blessings of the kingdom of Messiah. Material and temporal blessings are generally represented as closely connected with spiritual, and as figurative of them. Such predictions, understood literally, are common in the so called Sibylline Books; see e.g. lib. 3:743, etc; where, among other prodigies, we have

One is reminded of the golden age depicted by Virgil in his fourth eclogue. Trochon cites Claudian, ‘In Rufin.,’ 1:381, etc.

“… nec vomere sulcus adunco

Findetur; subitis messor gaudebit aristis.
Rorabunt querceta favis; stagnantia passim
Vina fluent, oleique lacus.”

Amo 9:14

I will bring again the captivity; i.e. I will repair the misery which they have suffered. The expression is here metaphorical, and does not necessarily refer to any restoration to an earthly Canaan. Shall build the waste cities (Isa 54:3). All these promised blessings are in marked contrast to the punishments threatened (Deu 28:30, Deu 28:33, Deu 28:39; compare similar premises in Isa 65:21, etc.).

Amo 9:15

The blessing shall last forever. They shall no more be pulled up. This was not true of the literal Israel; it must be taken of the spiritual seed, planted in God’s land, the Church of Christ, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. “Lo,” says Christ, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28:20)

HOMILETICS

Amo 9:1-4

A quest which none may elude.

We have here a vivid picture of a dreadful subject. The prophet makes a new departure in his mode of figuration. In other visions we saw the judgments of Heaven painted in terror-moving forms; the mighty forces of nature let loose and working destruction on sinners of men. Here we see, not judgments merely, but the Judge himself, active for destruction, fulminating his thunders, brandishing his two-edged sword, and spreading devastation where his anger rests. It is true all natural forces are his instruments, and their results his work. But they do not so reveal themselves to our sense. It is Scripture that shows us an omnipotent God in the forces of nature, and in every disaster they work a judgment from his hand.

I. THE GOD OF ISRAEL STANDING ON AN IDOL ALTAR. Not the altar of God at Jerusalem, but the altar for calf worship at Bethel, is probably here referred to. God‘s standing on the idol altar is not for purposes of fellowship. That would be a moral impossibility. “What concord hath Christ with Belial? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” Not light and darkness are less compatible, not fire and water more inherently antagonistic, than the great God, who “is all in all,” and the idol which is “nothing in the world.” Neither is it in token of tolerance. Between the two can be no peace, no truce, no parley. “God is a jealous God,” and can have no rival. His sovereignty and supreme greatness make him necessarily intolerant here. There can be no Dagons on any terms where the ark rests. It is for purposes of destruction only. “There, where, in counterfeit of the sacrifices which Cod had appointed, they offered would-be-atoning sacrifices and sinned in them, God appeared standing, to behold, to judge, to condemn” (Pusey). When God approaches sin, it is only to destroy it. Sometimes be destroys it in saving the sinner; sometimes the sin and the sinner, hopelessly wedded, are destroyed together.

II. IDOLATERS‘ JUDGMENT BEGINNING AT THEIR IDOL SHRINE. “Smite the lintel,” etc. This is the natural course. The lightnings of judgment strike the head of the highest sin, and strike it in the provision made for its commission. And there is a fitness in this Divine order. 1. It stops the worship. With the appliances destroyed, the observances could not go on. The interruption of sin is an intelligible and appropriate object of Divine judgment. The most effectual punishment of criminal indulgence is a visitation that stops it perforce. If not cured, at least the evil is stayed. 2. It regals the Divine hand. Two plagues had passed on Egypt without any very deep impression having been made. But when Moses smote the dust, and it became lice on man and beast, the magicians said unto Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” The miracle stopped at once the entire ceremonial of their national worship by making all the priests unclean. The idols were confounded, and Jehovah’s power revealed. When a man finds his sufferings in the seat of his sins, he has materials for identifying them as the visitation of God.

III. THIS JUDGMENT FOLLOWING THEM INTO ALL THEIR RETREATS. (Amo 9:2, Amo 9:3.) Driven in terror from their idol shrines, men seek escape in diverse ways, according to their diverse characters and surroundings. but it is a vain quest. The God who is omnipresent to infallible saving effect in the case of his saints (Psa 139:8-12) is so also to the inevitable destruction of the ungodly. One climbs the heaven of proud defiance, to be brought ignominiously down (Jer 49:16; Oba 1:4). Another “breaks through into the hell” of abject fear and self-abasement, to be dragged forth into the intolerable light. The Carmel of philosophic nescience presents no cave or grove impenetrable by the hounds of righteous judgment. Even the sea of deeper sinful indulgence has a serpent of avenging providence in its depths, from whose bite there is no escape.

IV. THIS JUDGMENT REACHING THEM THROUGH THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF ALL NATURAL CAUSES. The “sword,” as representing human agency, and the “serpent,” as representing the agency of natural causes, are both set in motion by God’s command. The causes of nature are to God as the bodily organs to the brain, viz. servants to do his bidding. He “acts himself into them.” Human wills are accessible to the will of the Supreme, and move with it as the tides with the circling moon. The Assyrian warring against Israel for his own reasons is, nevertheless, the rod of his anger in the band of Israel’s God. This fact gives moral significance to many events that seem purely natural. The drunkard’s bloated body, the sensualist’s shattered health, the spendthrift’s ruined fortunes, are results of natural laws, it is true, but of these directed and combined by supernatural power, and accomplishing Divine moral ends. The evil that comes through nature comes from its God.

Amo 9:4

The lidless eye.

God is not an absentee. He sits at the helm of things. He administers the affairs of the world which he has made. All creatures he takes cognizance of, determines their destiny, controls their actions. His kingdom ruleth over all. And this rule is moral. Under it condition takes the colour of character. God is pure to the pure, froward to the froward (Psa 18:26). This transgressors know to their bitter cost.

I. GOD‘S EYE FOLLOWS THE WICKED. In one sense his “eyes are upon the righteous” (Psa 34:15). On the wicked they rest in a very different sense.

1. In heedfulness. Divine omniscience is an uncomfortable fact which the wicked try not to realize. “They seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord.” Their whole aim is to get away from him; to be able to think thoughts he shall not know, and cherish desires he shall not sift, and do works he shall not observe (Joh 3:20; Isaiah cf. 27). But the project is futile (Jer 23:24; Psa 33:13; Pro 15:3). God is everywhere, sees everything, fills heaven and earth. No dispensation of inadvertency is possible. God will not ignore. He cannot be inattentive. Events of whatever kind, and everywhere, are infallibly submitted to his cognizance as the movements of the clouds above are faithfully mirrored in the glassy lake. He fills all things, and all that happens happens in his presence.

2. In perfect insight. “I the Lord do search the heart.” Noticing things, God sees them through and through, discerns their character, and appraises their moral value. The mind and heart of man are no mystery to him. No slightest motion of either eludes his perfect knowledge. The purpose before it comes forth in action, the thought before it has matured into a purpose, the fancy before it has taken shape in evil desire,all these are open to his eye. Even to the heathen he was totus oculus, a Being “all eye.” He knows all things eternally, immeasurably, immutably, and by a single act; and men and their works and words and wishes are continually in his sight.

3. In uncompromising displeasure. God is passible. He can be affected by the actions of his creatures. His possession of genuine character ensures his genuine feeling. The moral perfection of that character ensures his feeling appropriately. “There must be so much or such kind of passibility in him that he will feel toward everything as it is, and will be diversely affected by diverse things according to their quality” (Bushnell). Therefore “he is angry with the wicked every day.” Sin is to him as smoke to the eyes and vinegar to the teeth. It pains him inevitably, and leads to that infinitely pure recoil of his nature from evil, and antagonism to it, in which his wrath consists.

II. GOD‘S INFLUENCES FOLLOW HIS EYE. “I set mine eye upon them for evil,” etc. God’s look brings evil consequences where it falls on evil things.

1. To feel is faith God to act. Much human feeling comes to nothing. No action is taken on it. Its very existence may remain unspoken. Not so with God. It is a result of his perfection that his mental or moral attitude toward any object is his active attitude toward it also. Disposition associates itself inevitably with suitable action. Feeling against sin, he must also act against it. His very feeling is equivalent to action, for his volition is power, and to will a thing is to bring it to pass.

2. God‘s action exactly answers to his feeling. If he regard sin as evil, he will not treat it as good. His attitude towards it must be one all round, and therefore rigorous all round. And so it is. Whatever mystery may be about certain cases, there is no mystery about the connection between all suffering and sin. In sickness, in sorrow, in anxiety, in doubt, in all forms and degrees of pain, God’s eye and hand are on sinners for evil. Until sin becomes congenial to his nature, it cannot become satisfactory to the sinner.

III. GOD‘S MERCY WARNS THE SINNER OF BOTH. He makes no secret of his attitude and way in reference to sin. Both are made known to those whom they most concern.

1. This course is merciful. It gives the sinner an advantage. He sees the moral quality of sin as hateful in God’s sight, and its inevitable result as provoking his hostile action. He can neither sin ignorantly nor incur the penalty unawares. Forewarned, it is his fault if he is not forearmed.

2. It is moral. It tends to deter from sin, and so to save from its penal consequences. The thought that it is under God’s eye ought to make sin impossible, and does make it more difficult. The knowledge that it ends inevitably in ruin does much to stay the transgressor’s hand.

3. It is judicial. Sin done consciously under God’s eye, and deliberately in defiance of his wrath, is specially guilty. The warning which being heeded might have deterred from sinning will greatly aggravate the guilt of it if disregarded. The truth will be, as we treat it, a buoy lifting us out of the sinful sea, or a millstone sinking us deeper in its devouring waters.

Amo 9:5, Amo 9:6

The image of the Deity in great nature’s open eye.

God’s wrath “is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness.” And it is terrible as it is great. Impotent anger is ridiculous, but the wrath of Omnipotence overwhelms. Whatever, therefore, illustrates the power of God adds terror to his threat. And such is the effect of this passage. The stern purport of the previous commination is emphasized by the moving picture it presents of the Divine majesty and resistless might. Omnipotent resources will push forward to full accomplishment the purposes of Omniscience against doomed and abandoned Israel. We have here

I. GOD‘S NAME REVEALING HIS CHARACTER. This is the object of a name. It distingnishes the bearer from others, and this by expressing some leading characteristic.

1. The Lord. This is the word invariably substituted by the Jews for Jehovah in the reading of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a name of authority, and means “the supreme Lord.” The Lord is over all. He is Governor and Judge in one. He does as it pleases him. He disposes of all matters, and settles all interests without appeal. He reckons with none, and none can call him to account.

2. Jehovah. This is a verb, third person, signifying “he is,” and another form of the name “I am,” by which God revealed himself to Moses. Its root idea is that of “underived existence;” then, as arising out of this, “independent action;” and then, as the corollary of both, “eternity and unchangeableness” (see Fairbairn). It is thus the proper name of God to man; self-existent himself, the Author of existence to all persons and things, and manifesting his existence to those capable of knowing it. Jehovah is the concrete and historical name of God. As revealed by it, he exists by his own energy, and makes to be all things that are. Absolute and undetermined, he determines absolutely all things outside himself. Unseen and invisible, he comes forthconcretes himself, as it werein the works which his hands have made.

3. Jehovah of hosts. This title appears first in 1Sa 1:3, and, as has been remarked, “simultaneously with the foundation of the Jewish monarchy.” It may mean Lord of (Israel’s) armies (Psa 44:9), or of celestial beings (Psa 148:2), or of the heavenly bodies (Isa 40:26), or, more probably, of all three. In this wide sense we “see in the title a proclamation of the universal sovereignty of Jehovah, needed within the nation, lest that invisible sovereignty should be forgotten in the visible majesty of the king; and outside the nation, lest Jehovah should be supposed to be merely a national deity” (Kirkpatrick, on 1 Samuel). This is the God whose eye is for evil on IsraelGod supreme, God absolute, and God in special relation to the hosts of Israel who had forsaken him, to the heavenly bodies which they worshipped, and to the angel hosts, the ministers to do his will on those whom he would visit in wrath.

II. GOD‘S OPERATIONS REVEALING HIS WAY. What God does is a criterion of what he can do. His all-pervading activity will include in its sweep the accomplishment of the destiny again and again announced.

1. He occupies the sky. “Who buildeth his stories,” etc. There were, according to a rabbinical theory, seven heavens, the seventh containing the throne of the Eternal, symbolized by Solomon’s throne of ivory and gold, the six steps leading up to which symbolized in turn the six celestial regions below the highest heaven (1Ki 10:18-20). In terms of this mystic theory is the expression, “stories of the heaven.” Heaven is conceived of as a giddy height, approached by aerial steps or stages, all of them the handiwork of God. He stands on the “cloud-capped towers.” He dwells in the “airy palaces.” He walks on the “fleece-like floors.” He makes the different levels of the firmament steps between his throne and the earth below.

2. He metamorphoses the earth. (1Sa 1:5.) God’s word brought order out of chaos at first. “He spake, and it was done,” etc. By the same word, turning order into chaos again, shall all things be dissolved (2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:11). It is little for the word that makes and unmakes, that created and will dissolve the frame of nature, to move in earthquake upheaval the solid crust of earth till it mimicks the roll of the sea, or “Nile’s proud flood” in its rise and fall.

3. He distributes the waters of the sea. The sea is the most stupendous natural object. There is majesty in all its moods, and awe in its very presence. Hence in the mythology a god was allocated to it, brother to Zeus, the god of heaven and earth, and second only to him in power. And God’s “way is in the sea.” He rules its waves. He regulates its myriad currents and restless tides. Its great throbbing pulse beats but at his will. He holds its waters in the hollow of his hand, and concentrates or disperses them as it pleases him. He is a God, then, “whose wrath is terrible.” Every force of nature he not alone controls, but wields an instrument of his will. In Amo 5:8 the same fact is plod as an inducement to seek his favour, which here appears as a reason to dread his wrath. As the same locomotive will drive the train before it or draw it after it at the engineer’s will, so the fact of the omnipresent energy of God is fitted alike to alarm and to attract, but in either case to bring the sinner to his feet.

III. PHYSICAL CONVULSIONS THE COUNTERPARTS OF MORAL CONVULSION. Events in the two worlds happen according to similar if not identical laws. To a discriminating eye, the one set rises up in the likeness of the other, created so by God. “He daily buildeth his stories in the heavens when he raiseth up his saints from things below to heavenly places, presiding over them, ascending in them” (Pusey). “He toucheth the earth, and it melteth;” when he stretches out his hand in wrath on its inhabitants, and men’s hearts fail them for fear. “He calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the earth,” when he makes the wicked the rod of his anger to overrun and vex society (Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4). Verily the God who makes the heavens his throne, the earth his footstool, the elements his playthings, and men and angels his ministers, is a Being in whose favour is life and whose power is terrible.

Amo 9:7-10

The exalted brought low.

“Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” And yet the blind and infatuate Israel were always saying it. They said it in view of every imminent catastrophe. They said it in abbreviation of all argument. They said it in lieu of fit and seasonable action. They made it an amulet to hang around their neck when they rushed purblind into rebellious action. They ran into it as into an intellectual joss house, where any absurdity was raised to the dignity of a god. This last support of their false security the prophet in this passage knocks away. They had acted altogether out of character, and now

I. APOSTATE ISRAEL CAN ONLY TAKE RANK WITH THE HEATHEN IN GOD‘S ESTIMATION. National election was, no doubt, a pledge of national preservation, but only in connection with national faithfulness; for:

1. A spiritual relation with the unspiritual is impossible. “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” It is a moral impossibility. They are moral opposites and incompatible in the nature of things. Becoming assimilated to the heathen, Israel contracted themselves out of the covenant, and became “afar off,” even as they.

2. A relation, when it is repudiated on either side, virtually terminates. Israel had said, “We will not have this Man to rule over us;” and the relation of favour on the one side and fealty on the other could not survive the step. God must cease to be their God when they ceased to be his people. “God chose them that they might choose him. By casting him off as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of his protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in his sight” (Pusey).

3. Acts done because of a spiritual relation existing lose their meaning when it is broken off. “Have I not brought Israel,” etc.? They might think that, after bringing them out of Egypt, God Could never disown them, however unfilial and unfaithful. But had not the circumstances of their idolatry and corruption altered the ease? Theirs was not the only exodus. He had brought “the Philistines out of Caphtor, and the Syrians out of Kir;” yet these nations were aliens, and to be destroyed (Amo 1:5). If Israel conformed itself to these in character and way, then Israel’s exodus would lose its significance, and be no more than events of a like kind in their distant past. What the father did for the son is no binding precedent for the case of the prodigal.

II. ACCORDINGLY, ISRAEL SHALL FARE AS THE HEATHEN DO WHO FORGET GOD. Grouping Israel like to like with heathen, God’s attitude must be the same to both. They shall be treated:

1. As the objects of God‘s displeasure. He is angry with the wicked every day. He is angrier with those of them who sin against light and privilege. He is angriest with the spiritual renegades whose disaffection is guilty in proportion to the strength of the ties it sets aside.

2. As the victims of his destroying judgments. (Verse 8.) “And I will destroy it off the face of the earth.” Strange words from a God visibly in covenant. But the covenant was broken. The theoretically “holy nation” was actually a “sinful kingdom.” Israel’s character was not the character to which covenant promises referred. Heathenish in corruption, what but the bolts forged for their pagan kin could fall upon their heads?

3. This in the character of defiant transgressors. (Verse 10.) “Not because they sinned aforetime, but because they persevered in sin until death” (Jerome, in Pusey). Sin may be forgiven, but impenitence never. The unpardonable sin is unforsaken sin.

III. THE JUDGMENT THAT SHALL DESTROY THE WICKED MASS SHALL LEAVE A. RIGHTEOUS REMNANT. (Verse 8.) “Except that I shall not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” God ordains no indiscriminate destruction. His bolts strike his enemies. Of his friends:

1. Not one shall perish. “Not even a little grain falls to the ground.” The Divine nature, of which the righteous are partakers, is indestructible. The life of the saint is a living Christ within him (Gal 2:20). Christ “is alive forevermore” (Rev 1:18), and says to all in whom he is as their life, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” In a mixed community the righteous sometimes die for the fault of the wicked; but their death is precious in God’s sight (Psa 116:15), and “not an hair of their head shall perish.”

2. They shall be sifted out of the mass. (Verse 9.) In these graphic words the righteous minority are corn, and the corrupt masses the chaff. The nations are the sieve, and the Divine judgments the shaking of it. The result is not destruction of the grain, but separation between it and the chaff. “In every quarter of the world, and in well nigh every nation in every quarter, Jews have been found. The whole earth is, as it were, one vast sieve in the hands of God, in which Israel is shaken from one end to the other…. The chaff and dust would be blown away by the air; but no solid corn, not one grain, should fall to the earth” (Pusey). So in other cases. God’s judgments winnow men, discerning clearly between clean and unclean. When the storm is over, the seaworthy vessels are easy of identification, for they alone survive.

3. Their own sinfulness shall be sifted out of them. “What is here said of all God doth daily in each of the elect. For they are the wheat of God, which, in order to be laid up in the heavenly garner, must be pure from chaff and dust. To this end he sifts them by afflictions and troubles” (Pusey). Suffering is not purifying per se. But the suffering of the righteous is (Heb 12:11; 1Co 4:17). It subdues the flesh, deepens our sense of dependence on God, spiritualizes our thoughts, and tests, and by testing strengthens, faith (1Pe 1:7). In the night of suffering come out the stars, guiding, consoling, irradiating the soul.

“Then fear not in a world like this,

And thou shalt know ere long

Know how sublime a thing it is

To suffer and be strong.”

Amo 9:11, Amo 9:12

The rebuilding of the waste places.

“God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew,” as the cumulative series of woes announced might seem to indicate. As a people they conspire, rebel, and cast him off, and as a people they are scattered, decimated, and disowned. In their corporate character they cannot longer survive, But there were individuals among them who had either remained loyal or come back to their allegiance, and these stood in a different position. Not only would they be spared, but made the nucleus of a new people, and their existence the occasion of a new dispensation. Such is the burden of these verses. The sinners are destroyed, and a new prosperity blooms for the faithful remnant that survives. The waifs of the national wreck are drawn in safety from the waves, and the desolated land is renovated for their home.

I. THE RESTORATION OF DAVID‘S HOUSE. David’s house here is not merely the dynasty of David, but the kingdom of David, and this as a type of the kingdom of Christ. Its restoration, in the ultimate sense, is accomplished only in the establishment of the Messianic kingdom which it symbolized. “The raising up of the fallen hut of David commenced with the coming of Christ and the founding of the Christian Church by the apostles” (Keil). Interpreting the passage thus, the rabbis adopted “the Son of the fallen” as one of the titles of Christ.

1. This house has degenerated into a fallen hut before its true dignity is reached. Judah shrinks into a petty province, the royal line is represented by a carpenter’s wife, and the Jewish Church is a little flock with many a black sheep, ere the set time to favour Zion comes. “Strange comment on human greatness, that the royal line was not to be employed in the salvation of the worm until it was fallen. The royal palace had to become the hut of Nazareth ere the Redeemer of the worm could be born, whose glory and kingdom were not of this world” (Pusey).

2. Its restoration will be to a state of ideal perfection. The “breaches” would be repaired, and the “ruins” rebuilt, with the effect of making it “as in the days of old;” i.e. restoring it so as to embody the original design. This restoration to an as yet unrealized ideal could be only spiritual, and the Restorer Jesus Christ. The “hut” into which the “palace” had deteriorated (2Sa 5:11) was transformed into a far more glorious structure when Christ sat “upon the throne of David to order it,” etc. (Isa 9:7; Luk 1:32, Luk 1:33). The ideal of the Davidic kingdom is realized in the Christian Church; there fully, and there only.

3. This restoration will be a work of Divine power. “In the days of these kingdoms shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (Dan 2:44). The Church, composed of Spirit-quickened men, is the creature of God as no political kingdom can be. Redeemed by Jesus Christ, quickened by the Holy Ghost, made one in the white heat of heavenly grace, it is altogether a Divine thing. Every energy it has is God-given; every grace is Spirit-wrought. In this is the special glory of the Jerusalem which is above. And when, among the ruins of a Hebrew monarchy, there rises, radiant in the beauties of holiness, the kingdom of our God, then indeed the bricks are changed to hewn stones, and the sycamores to cedars, and the palace of David is rebuilt as in the days of old.

II. THE WIDE CIRCLE OF INTERESTS TO BE ADVANCED BY THIS RESTORATION. “The restoration was not to be for themselves alone. No gifts of God end in the immediate objects of his bounty and love. They were restored in order that they, the first objects of God’s mercies, might win others to God” (Pusey). Those brought in were to be:

1. Gentiles as well as Jews. (Amo 9:12.) James, in his speech at the council of Jerusalem (Act 15:14-17), declares the fulfilment of this prophecy in the calling of the Gentiles. Edom, as the nation most hostile to the Jews and furthest from David’s house, is put by a natural figure for the whole Gentile world. The “remnant of Edom,” whether mystic or natural, are the few called in each case out of the many (Mat 20:16; Amo 1:12). “All the nations,” etc; is a fuller and more literal statement of the ingathering of “the fulness of the Gentiles,” when God brings his sons from afar, and his daughters from the ends of the earth. The gospel kingdom is to be the universal kingdom, “filling the whole earth,” covering it with the knowledge of God, and making it, as the home of righteousness, a transfigured place.

2. The Gentiles by means of the Jews. “That they may take possession,” etc. It is in Abraham and his seed that the nations are blessed. In our spiritual freedom and fulness of privilege we may not forget that Christ who founded the Church, the apostles who preached the kingdom of God and organized it, and the holy men who wrote the Scriptures as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, were, almost without exception, Jews. It is thus that “out of Zion has gone forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” To those we owe to the Jews there are no earthly obligations parallel, and the time of their graffing in again is one for which by every tie we are bound to pray.

3. Both these in virtue of a Divine appropriating act. “And all the nations upon which my Name is called;” i.e. appropriated, or marked as God’s own (Gen 48:16; Deu 28:9, Deu 28:10; Jer 15:16). Those whom God saves are such as he has graciously chosen to be his own. “Whom he did foreknow them he also called.” Salvation is the evolution of an external plan, which in turn is the expression of Divine electing love.

III. GOD‘S PURPOSE IN THIS MATTER POTENTIALLY A FACT. “Saith Jehovah who doeth this.”

1. The Divine energy is the efficient cause of events. Second causes are not independent of or coordinate with the First Cause, but the instruments in its bands. Behind all and in all is the Divine Omnipotent energy, the ultimate cause, direct or indirect, of whatever is.

2. The Divine word pledges the exercise of this Divine energy. God’s word is absolute truth. It cannot be broken. If it goes before, the corresponding act will follow. As well divorce the lightning from the thunder as the work from the word of God. When he says, and what he says, and as he says, he does infallibly.

3. The Divine will constitutes the Divine energy. God wills all things into existence. His choosing that a thing shall be brings it to pass. What a source of unfailing consolation is this fact to the gracious soul! Its rich future is assured. Omnipotent power and unchanging truth have the issue in hand, and miscarriage is not to be named.

Amo 9:13-15

Out of the shadow into the sun.

Israel’s atmosphere has cleared. The thunders are silent. The storms are blown out. The clouds are scattered. The shadow of “the great doom’s image” has lifted. And now the sun comes out in the clear shining after rain. We look forth on a new land of promise, a land from which the curse of God and the track of the destroyer have disappeared. The ruins are rebuilt. The waste places bloom. The fields throw teeming crops, beyond the harvester’s power to gather. The erewhile sinful and down-trodden people are prosperous and pure and free. It is a scene of idyllic beauty and peacea happy finale to the dark storm times that have gone before. This time will be

I. A TIME OF TEEMING PLENTY. Figures of unheard of fertility and abundance are multiplied.

1. Seed time and harvest should overlap. “The ploughman shall overtake the reaper,” etc. With a certain difficulty of defining the exact idea here, the general purport of the language is plain. The teeming crops could scarcely be gathered till another seed time had come, or else growth would be so quick that the harvest would begin as soon as the seed time was over. So Shakespeare

“Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest.”

This rich promise was not now recorded for the first time. Conditionally on obedience, it had been made by the mouth of Moses seven centuries before (Le 26:5). But, absolutely made, it assumes a new value now. And as the events in it are altogether impossible in the natural world, it must obviously be taken in a spiritual sense. The plenty, like the previously threatened famine (Amo 8:11), was not to be one of bread and water, but “of hearing the words of the Lord.” In the spiritual sphere the seed time and the harvest may come together. The man who goes forth with seed may return with sheaves (Psa 126:6). Indeed, the Samaritan fields were “white unto harvest” (Joh 4:35), when, as yet, the sowing had only begun. In such a case poetic figure becomes literal truth, and Zion, as soon as she travails, brings forth (Isa 66:7, Isa 66:8).

2. The mountains should drop wine spontaneously. The vineyards of Israel were on the mountain slopes. Of the plethora of over-rich grapes with which they would be loaded many would burst, and in the spontaneous discharge of their juice the mountains would literally “drip new wine.” This process, in its spiritual analogue, is more wondrous and delightful still. Spiritual plenty has its inevitable and enriching overflow. Freely have ye received, freely give. Spiritual character is always imparting of itself in spiritual influence. From the gracious lip there drops continually the new wine of “a word in season.” And the religious life, “lived not for ourselves,” is a tide of helpful action beating perpetually on the shore of others’ lives.

3. The hills should dissolve themselves in the products they yield. This is the force of the expression, “All the hills shall melt.” The rich earth throws its own substance into the teeming crops it bears. The richer it is the larger proportion of its substance is expended in this process. Pure leaf mould would, in this way, almost totally disappear, transforming itself entirely into grain or fruit. In the spiritual sphere self-surrender for others is a law of life. Christ gave himself, and Christians give themselves, for men. “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you” (2Co 12:15) is the philosophy, not alone of Paul’s, but of all Christian living. The gracious heart expends itself in helpful action. The sum total of philanthropic effort in the world is just the concreted spiritual energy of the godly company.

II. A TIME OF NATIONAL RESTORATION. (Amo 9:14.) Each term here has a spiritual reference, and the whole has an ultimate spiritual fulfilment. This comes:

1. Generally, in the breaking of every yoke by Christ. Sin is bondageenthralment by the devil, the world, and the flesh. Ceremonialism was bondagesubjection to “weak and beggarly elements” in symbolic and wearisome observance. From both Christ comes a Liberator. He “makes an end of sin” in every aspect; “destroying the devil,” “delivering from this present evil world” (Gal 1:4), and fulfilling his righteousness in men “who walk not alter the flesh.” He abolishes type, substituting for it the thing typified: for the shadow, the substance; for the Law, “grace and truth.”

2. For individuals, when the Son makes them free. Spiritual bondage cannot survive believing union with Christ. His blood dissolves the chains of guilt. His Spirit breaks the bonds of indwelling sin. Acceptance with God is not conditioned on an impossible obedience to the whole Law, “for we are not under the Law, but under grace” (Rom 7:6). The life of self-surrender is not made burdensome by a carnal nature, “for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death.” The conditions of the life of joyous fellowship are presented in the inwrought spirit of adoption, and the “Abba, Father” of the free, on Spirit-opened lips (Rom 8:15, Rom 8:21; Joh 4:18). They are free indeed, whom, trebly loosing thus, the Son makes free.

3. For the nation, when brought into the Church during the millennial era. Their conversion in the latter days is distinctly and repeatedly foretold (Hos 3:4, Hos 3:5; Rom 12:12, Rom 12:15, 23; 2Co 3:16). National restoration this may not strictly be, but it is more than equivalent to it. When the long wandering return, when the hearts cold and embittered for ages glow with heavenly love, when the veil drops that hung on mind and sense, when the broken-off branches are set again in the good old olive tree, a spiritual fulfilment will have come of Amos’s words, more glorious than any literal or local one, as the glory of the second temple exceeds the glory of the first.

III. A TIME OF RESETTLEMENT IN THEIR OWN LAND. (Verse 15.) In three classes of events, come or coming, we have as many steps in the fulfilment of this promise.

1. The return from the Babylonish exile. The captivity was God’s final, because effective, disciplinary measure. Israel was thoroughly sickened with heathen gods and heathen ways. Osiris and Isis in Egypt, and Baal and Ashtaroth in Palestine, had won, almost without wooing, an attachment which, in Babylon, Bel and Nebo could not so much as stir. The last and bitterest prescription had succeeded, and soon the patient, cured abroad, was ordered home. Amidst tremendous difficulties, Jerusalem was repaired, the temple rebuilt, and the land in a measure resettled, and so an approximate fulfilment of Amos’s glowing prophecy realized (Ezr 7:13, etc.).

2. The calling of the Gentiles. They are the spiritual Israel, the true children of Abraham (Gal 3:7-9). They throw off the yoke of the mystic Babylon; “possess the kingdom forever” (Dan 7:8-22); “inherit the earth,” as their own land; repair the ruins, and restore the spiritual wastes left by sin; and they revel in “the feast of wines on the lees,” etc. “Throughout the world Churches of Christ have arisen which, for the firmness of faith, may be called cities; for the gladness of hope, vineyards; and for the sweetness of charity, gardens“ (Pusey).

3. The future restoration of the Jews to Palestine. This is foretold (Eze 28:25; Eze 36:28; Eze 37:25). God does the work (Eze 34:11-13) through Gentile agency (Isa 49:22; Isa 66:20). “They are to be nationally restored to the favour of God, and their acceptance publicly sealed by their restoration to their land” (David Brown, D.D.). Converted Israel will be eminent alike in character and influence in the millennial Church (Isa 59:21; Isa 66:19; Eze 39:29; Mic 5:7). Held again by the old people, her cities rebuilt, her grandeur restored, her broad acres reclaimed and fertile, and, above all, Jesus Christ on the throne of the nation’s heart, Palestine will be indeed “the glory of all lands.”

IV. ALL THIS SECURED BY INFALLIBLE GUARANTEE. There is no romancing with inspired men. What they say is coming, as God is true. The pledge of this is:

1. God‘s character. “Saith Jehovah,” i.e. “the One who is.” He is Reality as against the seeming, Substance as against the typical, Veracity as against the deceiving, Faithfulness as against the changeful. As being Benevolent he is true, human happiness depending on confidence in his character. As Independent he is true, being above all possible temptation to deceive. As Unchangeable he is true, falsehood being essentially a change of character. As Omnipotent he is true, the use of moral agents in free and yet infallible execution of his purposes being passible only as his Word is a revelation of his thought.

2. His existing relation. “Thy God.” Not a God unknown. Not a God apart. Not a God untried. In his present attitude, his covenant relation, his past deeds, in all such facts is “confirmation strong.” The God they connect themselves with is a God to trust. His perfections are the strands, and his relation their twining together, in the cord of confidence not quickly broken, which binds the soul to his eternal throne.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON

Amo 9:1-4

Inevitable judgment.

The thought of the Divine omniscience is a welcome thought to the friend, the child of God. But to the impenitent transgressor no thought is so distasteful, so distressing. If he cannot persuade himself that there is no God, he at all events hopes that the Divine eye does not rest upon him, that he is overlooked and forgotten. This vain refuge of sinners is discovered and destroyed by the revelation of this prophecy. The idolatrous temple shall be dismantled, the idolatrous altar shall be overthrown, when the Lord enters into controversy with unfaithful Israel. And in that day the sinful and deluded worshippers and priests shall be scattered. Whether slain or carried into captivity, none shall escape the eye or elude the chastening hand of the God who has been defied or forgotten. Every individual shall be dealt with upon the principles of eternal justice.

I. THE FOOLISH AND VAIN ENDEAVOURS OF SINNERS TO AVOID THE RECOMPENSE OF THEIR INIQUITY. The language of the prophet is vigorous and poetical. He pictures the smitten and scattered Israelites as delving into the abyss, as soaring to the heights of heaven, as hiding in the caves of Carmel, as crouching beneath the waters of the ocean; and all in vain. This figurative language represents the sophistry and the self-deception and the useless wiles and artifices by which the discovered sinner seeks to persuade himself that his crimes shall be unpunished.

II. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE. We are reminded of that ancient acknowledgment, “Thou God seest me!” as we read this declaration, “I will set mine eyes upon them.” The psalmist, in the hundred and thirty-ninth psalm, has given us the most wonderfully impressive description which is to be found even in sacred literature of the omnipresence and the omniscience of God. Next to that description, for vigour and effectiveness, comes perhaps this passage of the prophecies of Amos. At every point and at every moment the universal and all-comprehending Spirit is in closest contact with every created intelligence; and that presence which may be discerned in operation wherever any work of God in the realm of nature is studied, is equally recognizable in the intellectual, the spiritual kingdom. Every conscience is a witness to the ever-present, all-observing Deity.

III. THE CONSEQUENT CERTAINTY OF THE CARRYING OUT OF ALL THE REGAL AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS OF THE DIVINE RULER. The circumstances of Israel led to the application of this great principle to the case of the sinful and rebellious. It was a painful duty which the prophet had to perform, but as a servant of God he felt that there was no choice left him. It was his office, and it is the office of every preacher of righteousness, to say unto the wicked, “Thou shall surely die.”T.

Amo 9:7

National pride and presumption.

It is usual for nations to boast of their history, their position, their great qualities, their good fortune, their invincibility. We know this from our own observation of the nations of modern times. And in this respect all ages seem alike. There were, no doubt, very peculiar grounds for self-confidence and boastthlness on the part of the Jews. Yet such dispositions and habits were again and again censured and condemned by the inspired servants of Jehovah.

I. IT IS A BROAD GENERAL FACT THAT THE MOVEMENTS OF NATIONS ARE UNDER THE GUIDANCE OR SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY RULER. Amos is directed to point out that what was true of Israel in this respect was equally true of the Cushites, the Philistines, and the Syrians. In the case of all these nations there had been remarkable migrations and settlements. The hand of God is recognized in one as much as in the other. The Hebrews are sometimes charged with narrowness and vanity in their interpretations of Divine providence. Doubtless many of them may be justly so charged. But the language of Amos is a proof that the enlightened Jews took a far wider view. There is no contradiction between general and special providence. The nations of men, because they are men, are subject to the control and direction of God. Not one tribe is unworthy of his regard. In what manner, and to what extent, the great Ruler interposes in the political affairs of peoples it is not for our limited wisdom to decide. But the petty notion that one favoured nation enjoys the protection and guidance of Heaven, whilst other nations are neglected and uncared for, is utterly inconsistent with the teaching of the text.

III. THE GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION WHICH NATIONS HAVE ENJOYED IN THE PAST IS NO GROUND OF EXEMPTION FROM THE OPERATION OF THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD. There were those in Israel who deemed it incredible that a nation so favoured as theirs had been could possibly be called upon to experience defeat, conquest, captivity, disaster. But the fact is that great privileges simply place men upon a higher level of responsibility. To whom much is given, of them will much be required. Unfaithfulness is the one great ground of censure, condemnation, punishment. Israel had sinned in separating from Judah, in setting up rival altars at Dan and Bethel, in introducing an alien religion, idolatrous sacrifices and worship, in giving way in times of prosperity to luxury, pride, covetousness, and ambition. All the mercies accorded to their forefathers could not release the Israelites from the obligation to maintain the pure religion of Jehovah, and to keep his laws and ordinances. Nor could they be a ground for exemption from the action of those laws of Divine government which are universal in their operation, and disciplinary and morally beneficial in their tendency. The Captivity and the dispersion were conclusive proofs that there is no favouritism in the administration of God’s rule; that his laws are not to be defied with impunity by the most privileged of nations. Presumption is irrational and foolish, and is the sure, swift road to destruction.T.

Amo 9:9

Sifting and salvation.

If any prediction could convince the reader of the Old Testament that the prophets spoke and wrote under a supernatural inspiration, surely this prediction must possess this virtue. The history of Israel, not only in times immediately following upon those of Amos, but throughout the centuries which have since elapsed, is just a fulfilment of this language. How picturesquely and forcibly is the truth presented under this similitude, so natural as employed by one familiar with all the processes connected with husbandry!

I. THE PROVIDENTIAL SIFTING APPOINTED FOR THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

1. It has been determined by the Divine Ruler and Lord. “I will command,” says Jehovah. Men may trace the history of the Jews with the design of showing that all the events which have occurred to that people are explicable upon ordinary principles, that Israel drops into its place when marshalled by the enlightened philosopher of history. But beneath all such theory there is an explanation which satisfies the intelligence of the thoughtful and devout student of God’s Word: the Lord has ordered it.

2. It has taken place in different lands, and throughout lengthened periods. “Among all the nations,” was the expression of the inspired prophet. The successive invasions of Palestine, the conquest of Israel and then of Judah, the captivity into the East, the settlements in Assyria and in Persia, the partial restoration to the land of promise, the subjection of Palestine to successive conquerors, and its subjugation by the Romans, the dispersion among the Gentiles, the scattering of the sons of Israel amongst the nations, alike in the East and the West,these are but some of the more salient points in a history the most remarkable, the most romantic, and yet the most painful, in the Annals of mankind.

3. It has been ordained for a purpose of a moral and beneficial character. Sifting is for the purpose of separating the chaff and refuse from the pure grain. A process of sifting, winnowing, tribulation (in the literal meaning of that word), has been going on throughout the ages. Even yet the purposes of God are very partially accomplished, for the process is continued; nor is there any sign of its immediate termination.

II. THE DIVINE PRESERVATION OF THOSE SUBJECTED TO THIS TRIAL. Not a grain shall drop out of sight and perish. It is a wonderful paradoxsifting and salvation, trial and protection, scattering and gathering, alike experienced. Yet the marvellous story of the chosen people supports to the letter this ancient representation. It is the simple, actual, literal truth.

1. This protection is apparent in the preservation of the Israelites daring the Oriental captivity. This was even made to minister to the religious purity and enlightenment of a nation previously inclined to fall into idolatrous worship.

2. We recognize it equally in the preservation and the national or tribal distinctness of the Jews in the ages which have elapsed since the destruction of Jerusalem. The corn has been sifted, but the grain has not been lost. “Whom he scattereth he shall gather.”

3. There is a fulfilment of this inspired declaration in the individual conversions to God which have from time to time taken place among those who have been trained among the unbelieving and rebellious. As a nation Israel has never ceased to endure chastening. But members of the community, individual sons and daughters of Jacob, have again and again been seen to turn unto the Lord whom their fathers grieved by their ingratitude and insensibility. Precious grains have thus been preserved and gathered into the garner and saved.

4. Such cases are an earnest of a more complete fulfilment of the prediction. Sosuch is the assurance of the Christian apostle”all Israel shall be saved.”T.

Amo 9:10

The folly of self-confidence.

The conduct of these Israelites, and their fate, may well stand as a beacon of warning to all who have heard the Word of God with indifference and unbelief.

I. THE REASONS WHICH SHOULD PROMPT THE SINNER TO CONCERN.

1. The voice of his own conscience assures him of guilt and ill desert.

2. The warnings of Scripture should not be lost upon him, and revelation abounds with such warnings uttered upon the highest authority.

3. The examples of the impenitent who have been overtaken by judgment and destruction enforce the faithful admonitions of Holy Writ.

II. THE EXPLANATIONS OF THE SINNER‘S SELF–CONFIDENCE AND PRESUMPTION. It is unquestionable that there are many who say, “The evil shall not reach nor overtake us.” How can this be accounted for?

1. The voice of conscience may be silenced or unheeded.

2. The warnings of Scripture may be utterly disregarded.

3. The sinner may think rather of those instances in which judgment has been delayed than of those in which it has been hastened and fulfilled.

III. THE WISDOM AND DUTY OF IMMEDIATE REPENTANCE.

1. God’s Word will certainly be verified.

2. No human power can save the impenitent.

3. The time of probation is short, and may nearly have expired.T.

Amo 9:11

The reconstruction of the tabernacle of David.

The reference is probably not to that tabernacle which was replaced and superseded by the temple of Solomon, but to the house of David. The booth or hut may well serve as an emblem of the depressed state of the Jewish monarchy and people, not simply as they were in the time of Amos, but as the prophet foretold that they should be in days about to come. The language is very expressive, and depicts a restoration very complete. Breaches shall be closed, ruins shall be repaired, the structure shall be rebuilt. The fortunes of the people of David must indeed he dark for a season, but a brighter day shall surely dawn.

I. THE MOST GLORIOUS FULFILMENT OF THIS PROPHECY WAS IN THE ADVENT OF THE DIVINE SON OF DAVID. Jesus was recognized by the people as the descendant and successor of their national hero. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” He himself made the claim, only that he asserted that he was not only David’s Son, but also David’s Lord. Like David, he was “after God’s heart;” like David, he sang praises unto God in the midst of the Church; like David, he overcame the enemies of Jehovah and of his people; like David, he reigned over the nation of Israel But unlike David, he was Divine in his nature and faultless in his character; unlike David, he was rather a spiritual than a worldly Conqueror; unlike David, he was King, not over one people, but over all mankind. In Christ the true Israel has found more than the Israel “according to the flesh” lost in David’s removal.

II. THE MAIN PROOF OF THIS FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY IS TO BE FOUND IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MESSIAH‘S SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. Time has given an interpretation to this language which was impossible beforehand. How truly the house of David has been more than rebuilt, the kingdom of David more than re-established, is apparent to every observer of what has occurred in the Christian centuries. The kingdom of the Redeemer is:

1. Spiritual. In which respect it is more admirable and more glorious than that of David, which was founded upon the sword, and whose sway was over, not the heart, but the outward life.

2. Universal. For whilst David reigned over a strip of Syrian territory, Christ’s empire is vast, and is widening year by year. “The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.”

3. Everlasting. The few brief glorious years of David’s reign were prophetic of that sway which shall endure forever. Of Christ’s kingdom “there shall be no end.”T.

Amo 9:13-15

The golden age.

Nothing short of inspiration can account for such a close to such a book. Throughout his prophecies Amos has been exposing national sinfulness, threatening Divine chastisement, picturing the degradation, the desolation, the captivity of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah. How comes it that he is able to transcend this distressing representation? to look beyond these gloomy clouds? to discern, whether far or near, the vision of a smiling earth, a happy people, a splendid prosperity, an eternal joy? It is not the force of human reasoning; it is not the impulse of delusive hope. No; it is the presence of the Divine Spirit that has purged the prophet’s spiritual vision, so that he sees the glory yet to be; it is this that touches the prophet’s tongue, so that the wail of sorrow and distress is changed into the shout of triumph and the song of joy.

“The world’s great age begins anew,

The golden years return;

The earth doth, like a snake, renew

Her winter weeds outworn;

Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam

Like wrecks of a dissolving dream.”

I. THE PICTURE OF PROSPERITY. The inspired poet presses into the service all the resources of nature laid open to him by long years of observation and of fellowship. We notice as depicted:

1. The fruitfulness of the soil. The crops of corn, the summer vintage, follow each other in quick succession. From the laden vineyards and adown the sunny slopes flow rivers of delicious wine. The boughs of the trees are weighed down with fruit. For the tillers of the soil and the dwellers in the cities there is “enough and to spare.”

2. The peopling of the towns and villages. The banished ones have returned. The once-silent streets resound with the noise of traffic, with the voices of men, with the songs of the happy.

3. Security and perpetual possession. No longer do the dwellers in the fenced cities arm themselves and man their walls against the foe; no longer do the husbandmen dread the incursions of marauders. Quiet resting places and a sure habitation are secured by the goodness of Providence. Earth seems transformed into primaeval Paradise.

II. THE REALITY WHICH THIS PICTURE REPRESENTS.

1. By many interpreters this vision of peace and happiness is deemed predictive of national prosperity still awaiting the scattered children of Israel. The land of promise shall again flow with milk and honey. Jerusalem shall again be the seat of a mighty kingdom. The hills of Judah and the plains of Ephraim shall again be tilled by the children of Jacob. A converted Israel shallfrom the Mediterranean to the Jordan, and from the Jordan to the desert, from the heights of Lebanon to the river of Egyptwitness to the faithfulness of the Eternal, to the Messiah long rejected, but now and henceforth to be held in honour and to be served with devotion. Planted, and no more to be plucked up, the chosen people shall flourish like the green bay tree, like the cedar in Lebanon.

2. Other interpreters pass straight from this vision of prosperity and gladness to the spiritual prospect which it opens up to the eyes of the believers in God’s Word, of the disciples of Christ. There is peace of which the seat is the conscience, the heart, of man. There is plenty for the satisfaction of man’s deepest wants. There is a sure abiding place for the faithful in the care and love of the Eternal There is a kingdom which is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” There is a city of Which every renewed man becomes a denizen, nay, an immortal citizen. There is prosperity in which the poor, the feeble, the despised may share. And there are songs of gladness and of thanksgiving in which all the redeemed and saved shall join.T.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

Amo 9:9

The winnowing of God.

“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” Introduction: The free use made by Amos of all the scenes in nature. We may learn from the text three lessons.

I. THAT AMONG THOSE CALLED BY A RELIGIOUS NAME THERE EXISTS A GREAT DIVERSITY OF CHARACTER. “I will sift as corn is sifted.” If corn were gathered as manna waspure, unmixed with deleterious or useless elementsno sifting would be needed. But it grows with other growth, thistles, poppies, darnel, etc; and it seems impossible to keep the field perfectly clear. In the physical, as in the moral, world the false grows beside the true, and the evil beside the good; and God’s own law is, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” Indeed, during their growth it is difficult to distinguish these. You may mistake tares for wheat, fool’s parsley for the garden herb, poisonous fungi for edible mushrooms, and so forth, and only discover your error by serious or even fatal consequences. The mystery of the coexistence of good and evil, then, runs through nature. It is seen in character. “All are not Israel who are of Israel,” or are called by that sacred name. Let us now exemplify this from a comparison of the times of Amos with our own.

1. Idolaters were among the prophet‘s hearers. They had deliberately turned from Jehovah. They held that it was a wise policy on the part of Jeroboam I. to prevent the people going to Jerusalem. They were convinced that the calves at Bethel gave a centre to their national life; and therefore, from motives political and worldly, many of them said, “These be thy gods, O Israel.” Knowing as they did the history of their fathers, and the laws and ceremonies of the Mosaic institutes, they sinned against the light. Yet they still called themselves “Israel,” and they were not marked out by external sign from the true people of God. No brand was on their foreheads, no curse fell on their homes, no fire of judgment overwhelmed them with destruction; but they were amongst the sleek, successful men of Samaria. In this Christian land, and in our Christian congregations, may still be found those who have forsaken God and made unto themselves other gods. Sometimes, for example, a man deifies wealth. His thoughts are concentrated on it, and his full energies are directed to its attainment. To claims made on his generosity he turns a deaf ear; over scruples about the forsaking of righteousness and mercy he rides roughshod. If at last he succeeds he says, “It is my power, and the might of my hand, that has wrought this.” Yet prayerless, godless, as such men are, they still call themselves by the Christian name.

2. Amos spoke to others who were simply indifferent to religion. They considered that the questions debated between the true and false prophets were professional questions, with which they had no personal concern. Worshipping neither the calves nor Jehovah, their wish was to glide quietly through life, winning for themselves such enjoyment as was possible. Describe the attitude of many towards religion in our dayoccasionally attending worship, knowing nothing of the meaning of it, and taking their chance as to the unseen future. They are known, not to us, but to God.

3. Some in the days of Amos had the character as well as the name of “Israel.“ They dared not, could not, go up to Jerusalem. But their families were instructed in the Scriptures. They thought of the old days when Jehovah was universally acknowledged as the Lord, and, like Jacob, they prayed in an agony of supplication, “I will not leg thee go, except thou bless me.” These belonged not only to the “kingdom” but to the “house” of Israel, on which God would have mercy. (See the promise to this effect, distinguishing between the “kingdom” and the “house,” in verse 8.) Such are still to be found. In business, because of their integrity and charity, their name is as ointment poured forth. In the homes, as instructors of their children, they are preparing blessings for the world. In the sanctuary their praises wing their way to heaven, and in prayer they are princes “having power with God.” Now, these differing characters were and are mingled, as are the tares and wheat. They are even united, as are the chaff And the corn, and therefore the day of sifting and separation must come. It has not come yet. When corn is ripening and flowers are blossoming it is useless to send in the weeders. When the reapers are busy their scythes must cut down all growths alike. There is no time then for separation, but it comes at last. You see a heap of winnowed corn in the granary the weeds have been burned, the straw is gone, and all the chaff is scattered. So Israel was to be scattered by persecution, war, and captivity; but not one grain of God’s wheat should fall upon the ground. (Text.)

II. THAT THERE ARE TESTING TIMES IN WHICH SUCH DIVERSITY ASSERTS ITSELF. The earth is here represented as a great sieve, in which Israel should be ceaselessly tossed, that the evil might be lest and the good saved. The process is still carried on. There are testing times here, and there will be a testing time hereafter.

1. Preaching, for example, sometimes so disturbs conscience, that on self-examination the man sees what is true and false in his character. Many a hearer has thus been led to ask, “Am I as the chaff which the wind driveth away?”

2. Affliction is a sieve for testing character. Job was an example of this. His distresses revealed him to himself and to his friends; and not a grain of wheat (of that which was worth preserving) was lost. Show how this is still true of the afflicted. Illness, bereavement, losses, etc; lead to serious thought, and while they sometimes destroy unfounded hopes, they give more confidence in that “hope which is the true anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.”

3. Temptation is a revealer of character. Compare the text with our Lord’s words, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” What a revelation to Peter of his weakness and presumption was his denial I Illustrate by the story of the two house, built, the one on the rock, the other on the sand (Mat 7:24 27). Thus we may test ourselves. If the opportunity offers itself to gratify some passion secretly, without the least risk of detection, is the reply, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” or is the opportunity gladly seized to enjoy “the pleasures of sin for a season”?

4. Persecution tests character. It is easy to deceive ourselves when all our associations are religious. But let these be changed for worldly, sceptical, or immoral surroundings, and the reality of our religious life is proved. Then, either we say, “We must obey God rather than man,” and our character is ennobled by the struggle, or the old prayer is omitted, the old Bible neglected, and the old influences blotted out of memory. All such tests as we have mentioned are sent in mercy, to lead to self-examination, and, if need be, to repentance; but Christ draws the veil of the future, and tells us further of a day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and:

5. When the judgment of God, according to equity, will be declared. You may escape all other trials, but you will not escape that. Affliction may leave you untouched. Amidst persecution and temptation your reputation may be unscathed. But death will scatter all delusions, and from it, and from that judgment to which it leads, there is no escape (see verse 3, “And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel,” etc.). On that day there shall be “the manifestation of the sons of God;” the secret life will be commended, and the quiet service recompensed. With others the vain show will be over, the veil of outward respectability rent asunder, and the words will be heard, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity!” Then there will come the separation, as between the sheep and the goats, the tares and the wheat, the corn and the chaff. Men may have met in the same church, heard the same gospel, lived in the same home, yet above the portal of heaven is this inexorable law, “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, but they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Still the words hold good, “Whosoever believeth on him shall not parish, but have everlasting life;” “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” “Among thy saints may I be found,” etc.!

III. THAT OVER THE TESTING PROCESS GOD WATCHES AND RULES SO THAT NOTHING TRUE AND NOTHING GOOD MAY BE LOST. “For, lo, I will command yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth” (comp. Ma Job 3:3). Our text is true in a much broader sense than that in which we have attempted to deal with it.

1. In changes amongst the nations, where there seems little but confusion and unrest, God rules. He is testing and purifying his own people. Not a grain of his purpose will fall to the earth. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall not pass away.”

2. Movements take place in ecclesiastical life. One system makes room for another. The Old Testament economy with its ceremonies, the apostolic Church with its simplicity, the mediaeval Church with its superstitions, etc; all were changed, yet of all the praises and prayers offered through past ages not a grain fell to the earth.

3. In dogmatic theology changes are still going on. Formularies and phrases die out, but the truth in them is not lost. Christ lives and reigns still, and “of his dominion there shall be no end.” That which is saved by God is “the grain,” that which has life in it; and planted in the earth, it shall be developed in new forms of strength and beauty.

CONCLUSION. Therefore, amidst the wreck and the fall of much that seems precious, let your hearts as Christian men be quiet from fear of evil. Have trust in God, who commands and controls, and believe that amidst all his cares you are not forgotten, amidst all these perils you will be safe. Because good is stronger than evil, and Christ is mightier than our adversary, the words of his promise are true to all believers, “They shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”A.R.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Amo 9:1-4

Great sins, great calamities, great efforts.

“I saw the Lord standing upon the altar,” etc. “This chapter commences with an account of the fifth and last vision of the prophet, in which the final ruin of the kingdom of Israel is represented. This ruin was to be complete and irreparable; and no quarter to which the inhabitants might flee for refuge would afford them any shelter from the wrath of the omnipresent and almighty Jehovah.” The prophet in vision sees the Almighty standing upon the altar, and hears him give the command to smite the lintel of the temple door that the posts may shake; in other words, to destroy the temple. The temple here is not, I think (though the allusion is uncertain), the temple at Jerusalem, the temple of true worship, but the temple of idolatrous worship. The passage suggests three remarks.

I. THAT UNDER THE RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT OF GOD GREAT SIN EXPOSES TO GREAT CALAMITY. How terrible the calamities here referred to! The Israelites, when threatened by the Assyrians, would flock in crowds to Bethel and implore protection from the golden calf. But the very place where they sought protection would prove their ruin. Jehovah says, “Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword,” etc. The sin of these Israelites in their idolatrous worship was great. They were the descendants of Abraham, the friend of God. As a people, they were chosen of God and blessed with a thousand opportunities of knowing what was right and true in doctrine and in practice. Yet they gave themselves up to idolatry. Hence these terrible calamities. The greater the sin, the greater the punishment. “Unto whom much is given of him shall be much required; He that knoweth his Lord’s will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes;” “It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah,” etc.

II. THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF APPROACHING CALAMITIES WILL STIMULATE TO GREAT EFFORTS FOR ESCAPE. “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.” There are here supposed attempts at escape. There is the supposed attempt to get into hellSheol, the dark realm of shadows, where they could conceal themselves. There is an attempt to climb Mount Carmel, twelve hundred feet in height, there to conceal themselves under the shadows, intricacies, and the crowded forests of oak, pines, laurels, etc; and also in the deep caves running down to the sea. Men in view of great dangers always seek refuge. The sinner here, when he finds death approaching, what strenuous efforts does he employ in order to escape the monster’s touch! On the great day of retribution sinners are represented as crying to the rocks and mountains to fall on them.

III. THE GREATEST EFFORTS TO ESCAPE MUST PROVE UTTERLY FUTILE WHEN GOD HAS GIVEN THE SINNER UP. “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,” etc. There are many similar passages to these in the Bible, such as the following: “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Psa 139:8); “Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish forever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?” (Job 20:6, Job 20:7); “Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord” (Jer 51:53); “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord” (Jer 49:16). Whatever the efforts of the sinner in the prospect of approaching danger, there is no escape for him. God is everywhere, and everywhere all-seeing, all-just, and almighty.

CONCLUSION. The only way to escape utter ruin is to renounce your sin, and commit yourself unto the safe keeping of him who is the Redeemer of mankind.D.T.

Amo 9:5-10

God as the Administrator of justice.

“And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn,” etc. These words present God to us as the Administrator of justice.

I. THE DOES IT WITH THE GREATEST EASE. The administrators of justice in connection with human government have often to contend with difficulties that baffle and confound them. But the Almighty has no difficulty. “He toucheth the land, and it shall melt.” By a mere touch he can punish a whole nation, nay, destroy the world. Whence come earthquakes and volcanoes? Here is their cause: “He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.” Never can there be any miscarriage of justice with God. He bears it right home in every case. He has no difficulty about it. He toucheth the clouds, and they drown the world; he kindles the atmosphere and burns cities, etc.

II. HE DOES IT WITH ALL THE POWERS OF NATURE AT HIS COMMAND. “It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth.” His throne is on high, above all the forms and forces of the universe, and all are at his call. From those heights which he has built, those upper chambers of the universe, he can pour floods to drown a world, or rain fires which will consume the universe. Every force in nature he can make with ease an officer to execute his justice.

III. HE DOES IT DISREGARDFUL OF MERE RELIGIOUS PROFESSION. “Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?” Jehovah here repels the idea which the Israelites were so prone to entertain, that because he had brought them out of Egypt and given them the land of Canaan, they were peculiarly the objects of his concern, and could never be subdued or destroyed. He now regarded and would treat them as the Cushites, or Ethiopians, who had been transplanted from their primal location in Arabia into the midst of the barbarous nations of Africa. The Almighty, in administering justice, is not influenced by the plea of profession. A corrupt Israelite to him was as bad as an Ethiopian, though he calls Abraham his father. “Think not to say that ye have Abraham to your father.” Conventional Christians are in the eyes of God as bad as infidels or heathen. He judgeth not as man judgeth, by the outward appearance; he looketh at the heart.

IV. HE DOES IT WITH A THOROUGH DISCRIMINATION OF CHARACTER. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.” There were some good people amongst the Israelites, men of genuine goodness; the great Judge would not destroy them. “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob …. I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve,” etc. He would burn up the chaff, but save the wheat. Evermore will the Almighty Judge recognize and tenderly guard the virtuous and the good, however humble their position in life. He will not destroy the righteous.D.T.

Amo 9:11-15

The restoration of the true moral theocracy.

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old,” etc. In the previous verses we have had to notice the destruction of the sinful kingdom; in this paragraph we have the establishment of the true kingdomthe true moral theocracy. “In that day,” i.e. when the judgment has fallen upon the sinful kingdom, and all the sinners of the people of Israel are destroyed. “The Israelites,” says Dr. Henderson, “now disappear from the scene, in order to give place to a brief and prominent exhibition of the restoration of the Jews from their repressed condition during their anticipated captivity in Babylon.” The Apostle James, at the first ecclesiastical council at Jerusalem, quotes this prophecy (Act 15:16, Act 15:17)not, however, in its identical phraseology, but in its general meaningand applies it to the establishment of Christ’s kingdom in the world by the admission of the Gentiles into it. The old Hebrew world was for ages governed by a theocracy. God was their King. He had under him and by his appointment human rulers and other functionaries; but they were simply his instruments, and he was their King. That form of government has passed away; but it was symbolical: it was the emblem of a higher theocracy that is to be established, not over the Jews merely, but over the Gentiles and over the whole world. It was to stand forever. We shall use these words as an illustration of this theocratic government. Four thoughts are suggested concerning it.

I. IT ROSE FROM THE HUMBLEST CONDITION. “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen.” “The fallen hut of David” (Delitzsch). Not the magnificent palace of David, which the monarch built for himself on Mount Zion (2Sa 5:11). “It is striking that Amos, prophesying in Israel, closes with a promise, not to the ten tribes primarily, but to the royal house of David, and to Israel only through its restoration. Strange comment on human greatness, that the royal line was not to be employed in the salvation of the world until it was fallen. The royal palace had to become the hut of Nazareth ere the Redeemer of the world could be born, whoso glory and kingdom were not of this world, who came to take from us nothing but our nature that he might sanctify it, our misery that he might bear it for us” (Pusey). Ay, this true moral theocracy had in truth a humble origin! Its Founder, who was he? The Son of a poor Jewish peasant, who commenced his life in a stable. Its first apostles, who were they? They were amongst the poorest of the poor. In its origin, indeed, its symbols are the little stone, the grain of mustard seed, and the few particles of leaven.

II. HEATHENS ARE SUBJECT TO ITS AUTHORITY. “That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my Name, saith the Lord that doeth this.” The old theocracy was confined to the Jews; this one, this moral theocracy, is to extend to the heathen. Even Edomthe old and inveterate foe of the theocratic people, who may be regarded as the representative of the whole heathen worldis to be subjected to it. It shall “inherit the Gentiles.” It is to have the heathen for its inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for its possession. The Bible assures us, in language most explicit and of frequent occurrence, that the time will come when from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same his Namethat is, the Name of this great moral King, Christshall be great among the Gentiles. Or, in the language of Daniel, “When the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Dan 7:27).

III. ABUNDANT MATERIAL PROVISIONS WILL ATTEND IT. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” “The metaphorical language here employed is at once in the highest degree bold and pleasing. The Hebrews were accustomed to construct terraces on the sides of the mountains and other elevations, on which they planted vines. Of this fact the prophet avails himself, and represents the immense abundance of the produce to be such that the eminences themselves would appear to be converted into the juice of the grape.” Just as this moral theocracy extends, pauperism will vanish. With the kingdom of God and his righteousness all necessary material good comes. “Godliness is profitable unto all things.” Let this theocracy, which means the reign in human hearts of Christliness, extend, and the earth “shall yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us.”

IV. LOST PRIVILEGES ARE RESTORED AS IT ADVANCES. “I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and cat the fruit of them.” Three blessings, which man has lost through depravity, are here indicated.

1. Freedom. “I will bring again the captivity,” or rather, “I will reverse the captivity,” give them liberty. Man in a state of depravity is a slavea slave to lust, worldliness, etc. This moral theocracy ensures freedom to all its subjects. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Joh 8:32).

2. Prosperity. “Shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof.” One of the sad evils connected with man’s fallen depravity is that he does not reap the reward of his labours. He builds cities and plants vineyards and makes gardens for others. Through the reign of social injustice he is prevented from enjoying the produce of his honest labours. Under this theocracy it will not be so. What a man produces he will hold and enjoy as his own.

3. Settledness. “I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” Unregenerate man has ever been restless, homeless, unsettled. He stands not on a rock, but rather on planks floating on surging waters; he is never at rest. All the subjects of the true theocracy are established. “God is their Refuge and Strength.”

CONCLUSION. Let us have faith in this predicted future of the world. This faith can alone sustain us in our arduous work; this faith has ever been the nerve of all the great men who have toiled for the world’s good.

“Poet and seer that question caught

Above the din of life’s fears and frets;

It marched with letters, it toiled with thought,

Through schools and creeds which the earth forgets.

And statesmen trifle and priests deceive,

And traders barter our world away;

Yet hearts to the golden promise cleave,

And still at times, ‘Is it come?’ they say.

“The days of the nations bear no trace

Of all the sunshine so far foretold;

The cannon speaks in the teacher’s place,

The age is weary with work and gold

And high hopes wither, and memories wane,

On hearths and altars the fires are dead:

But that brave faith hath not lived in vain,

And this is all that our watcher said.”
(Frances Brown.)

D.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Amo 9:1. Upon the altar Near the altar. As this prophesy is against the kingdom of Israel, it is probable that this altar was dedicated to the purposes of idolatry, especially as God appears near it, in order to foretel its ruin, and consequently that of the kingdom of Israel. Instead of lintel, we may read chapiter. Instead of, and cut them in the head, &c. Houbigant reads, for I will wound them all in the head, and I will slay their posterity with the sword.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Amos 9

Fifth Vision. The Downfall. Not even a little Grain perishes. After the Overthrow of all careless Sinners God will raise the fallen Tent of David to new Glory.

1I saw the Lord standing at1 the altar,

And He said, Smite the top2 that the thresholds may tremble,

And dash them3 upon the head of all,

And their remnant I will kill with the sword;
He that fleeth of them shall not flee away,
And he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

2 If they break through4 into hell,

From thence will my hand take them;
And if they climb up to heaven,
Thence will I bring them down.

3 And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,

From thence will I search and take them out.
And if they conceal themselves from my sight in the bottom of the sea,
From thence will I command the serpent5 and he bites them.

4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,

From thence will I command the sword, and it slays them,
And I set mine eye upon them for evil and not for good.

5 And the Lord, Jehovah of hosts,

Who toucheth the earth and it melteth,6

And all that dwell therein mourn;
And the whole of it riseth up like the Nile,
And sinketh down like the Nile of Egypt,

6 Who buildeth his upper chambers7 in the heaven,

And his vault,8over the earth He founded it,

Who calleth to the waters of the sea,
And poureth them out upon the face of the earth;
Jehovah is his Name.

7 Are ye not as the sons of the Cushites unto me,

Ye sons of Israel? saith Jehovah.
Have not I brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor,
And the Syrians from Kir?

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord, Jehovah, are upon the sinful kingdom,9

And I will destroy it
From off the face of the earth,
Saving that10 I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.

9 For behold, I, I will command

And will shake the house of Israel among all nations,
As one shaketh in a sieve,
And not even a little grain11 shall fall to the ground.

10 By the sword shall all the sinners of my people die,

Who say, The evil will not overtake nor reach12 us.

11 In that day will I raise up

The fallen hut13 of David,

And wall14 up its breaches,

And raise up its ruins,15

And build it16 as in the days of old;

12 That they may possess17 the remnant of Edom and all the nations

Upon whom my name is called,
Saith Jehovah who doeth this.

13 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,

When the ploughman reaches to the reaper,
And the treader of grapes to the sower of seed;
And the mountains drop new wine,
And all the hills melt:

14 And I bring back the captives18 of my people, Israel,

And they build the waste cities, and inhabit them,
And plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 And I plant them upon their land,

And they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I gave to them,
Saith Jehovah, thy God.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

A Fifth Vision. In the four previous visions, the Lord showed the prophet only what He was about to do; in this one the prophet sees the Lord actually engaged in executing his judgment.

1. Amo 9:1-4, describe an annihilating judgment which none can escape. Amo 9:1. The altar here cannot possibly denote the one at Jerusalem, in spite of all that Keil urges to the contrary. In that case the object of the vision would be one essentially different from that which is mentioned in the threatening, namely, all Israel, and would be Judah in particular, and this, without any indication of the change. There is the less reason for assuming such a change, since the chapter does not give any statement of sins as the ground of the judgment the execution of which it records. The reason of the omission is that the necessity for this judgment has been already shown in the setting forth of the sins of the ten tribes. Hence our chapter treats of a judgment upon this kingdom. That judgment has already been threatened and the grounds of it assigned, whereas one of another kind would require the reasons for it to be stated. But there is an entire lack of such reasons; for the prophet, in spite of what he says in chap. 2 Amo 9:4, does not consider Judah as deserving such a complete destruction of its political existence as this chapter describes. Such a judgment corresponds to the condition of things in Israel, but not at all to that in Judah so far as known to the prophet. And it by no means follows that because an annihilating stroke afterwards fell upon this kingdom, the prophet announced it here. That would be to take a very unhistorical view of prophecy. We should rather say that if he announced such a fate, he would also have described Judah as meriting it. But he does no such thing. Therefore he knows of no such corruption in Judah, regards its measure of iniquity as not yet full, and hence knows nothing of the judgment which was one day to destroy it. But in fact, had Judahs sin become so gross, and had the prophet known of it, still it would not have been noticed in this connection, because Amos is not a prophet for Judah, but only touches that kingdom lightly, for the most part passing it over wholly. And it cannot be assumed that he threatens such a destructive visitation upon Judah equally with Israel, whose desert of punishment he has set forth not only immediately before, but in a continuous series of chapters. A fundamental law of prophecy is to balance, so to speak, the sinfulness and the judgment against each other. But no such statement concerning Judah is found in our-chapter. In fine, it is only by violence that the phrase, the sinful kingdom, can be understood to mean Israel and Judah embraced in one. No, if the kingdom of Israel is so expressly and amply described as sinful and then expressly named the sinful kingdom, then, according to all the rules of a sound hermeneutics, certainly this kingdom of Israel must be intended in the first place, and not at the same time another kingdom the sinfulness of which was not specially noticed.

Smite, according to the simplest view, is addressed to the prophet. For of angels (Keil) there is no mention here. The prophet is not to be merely a spectator, but takes part in the action. That he was not in a situation to do what is here enjoined is no objection, for the whole transaction takes place in vision. A blow which strikes the pillar-capitals so that the foundation-beams shake, is manifestly = a crash that brings the whole building to the ground. We are then to think of a temple. The shaking to the ground is only the first step; the stroke aims farther, namely, to break to pieces. Upon the head of all; the whole people is considered as assembled around the national sanctuary. What is meant, then, is a destruction, and that total. That no one can escape is expressly said afterwards, but with a change from the language of vision to that of reality. Their remnant refers to the all, and shows that it is to be understood in its full force,should any succeed in escaping the crash of the building, even these God would slay with the sword. The universality of the destruction is also negatively set forth in the remaining clauses of Amo 9:1, and is still farther expanded with poetical minuteness in the three following verses. Cf. Psa 139:7-8.

Amo 9:3. On the top of Carmel. Named partly as a mountain which is of considerable height as compared with the sea over which it rises, and partly as a point on the extreme western boundary of the kingdom. Whoever hides himself there, must know of no other secure refuge in all the land beside. And if there be no security there, nothing is left but the sea.

Amo 9:4. Even going into captivity shall not save them.

2. Amo 9:5-6. To confirm the threatening, God is described as almighty, such illustrations being cited as show his omnipotence in destroying=He who thus speaks is the Lord, who touches the earth, etc. The first two members of Amo 9:5 stand in close relation to what follows, and are its foundation. Inasmuch as the Lord is enthroned in heaven, he is in a condition to call in the waters of the sea, etc. (and while such devastations are wrought in the earth, He himself is untouched by them). We are not, with Keil, to think here of a mountain of clouds, or of rain, for the inundation is plainly stated to proceed from the sea, not from rain. Nor is it natural to admit a reference to the physical fact that the waters of the sea ascend on high in vapor in order to come down again as rain. Amo 9:6, therefore is not to be regarded as an allusion to the Deluge, but rather as a marine inundation, such as often occurs in consequence of an earthquake; e.g., the tidal wave in Chili in 1868.

3. Amo 9:7-10. Are ye not, etc. Degenerate Israel should not rely upon their election; they are to be carried away. Still God in his grace will not destroy them wholly, but only sift them, and even the carrying away is to serve as a means to this end.

Amo 9:7. This is the sharpest thing that can be said of Israel, namely, to liken them to the heathen. The sons of the Cushites, Hams posterity, are as highly esteemed as the sons of Israel. And the bringing of Israel out of Egypt avails no more than the bringing of the Syrians and Philistines out of their former dwelling-places. Caphtor, probably,=Crete, from which, according to this statement, at least a portion of the Philistines emigrated. (Others say=Kasluhim.) In chap. 1 Amo 9:5, it was said that the Syrians should be carried away to Kir. According to the present passage, a portion of them must have emigrated from that place.

After thus rejecting Israels claim for impunity, Amos proceeds in Amo 9:8 to announce the punishment once more. It is expressly said upon whom it shall fall, namely, the sinful kingdom, which can be none other than the ten tribes, who are thus sufficiently indicated. But in the second member the threatening is mitigated; there still remains grace. The distinction between Israel and the heathen which has just been denieddenied so far as Israel made it a matter of boasting,is again set up. The preference, however, is a matter not of merit but of grace, and exists only because God will not wholly abandon his own people. House of Jacob is not=kingdom of Judah, denoting that this should be spared; for then it would not he a limitation of the preceding threatening which was aimed at Israel. Literally the phrase is=stock of Israel; but here, according to the prophets aim, it means simply the ten tribes, just as these have been styled in the previous chapters, Israel, House of Israel. The prophet does not acknowledge two nations, but throughout designedly holds in view the one people, Israel, of which the kingdom of the ten tribes is only the particularly corrupt portion; this house of Jacob, whose punishment is here in question, shall go forth from their own land, but shall not be entirely destroyed. This latter statement does not conflict with the carrying out of what is stated in Amo 9:1-4. For that only denies that any one can of himself escape the threatened destruction.

How we are to understand Amo 9:8 is set forth in Amo 9:9 by a significant figure. By its dispersion Israel comes, as it were, into a sieve, in which the good corn and the dust and dirt are tossed up together. Yet this is only in order to make a more speedy separation. The solid good grains remain, only the trash falls to the ground. So with Israel.

By the sword (Amo 9:10), shall all the sinners of my people die,but only these. The sinners are still marked as self-secure, by the addition, who say, the evil will not overtake, etc. To the thought expressed in Amo 9:10 we must assign a more general scope, standing as it does at the close of the book, as including in the wide sweep of the judgment a reference to Judah. For it must be supposed that the prophet sees in the same judgment which destroys Israel the execution of the threatening against Judah in chap. 2 Amo 9:5, only that Judah is not visited in the same degree, i.e., one which destroys its national existence. The stroke penetrates deeply and destroys the sinners, but at the same time purifies, and thus paves the way immediately for Judah, and so for Israel in general, so far as it still exists, to a new prosperity by which it rises again into a kingdom as powerful and happy as ever before.

4. Amo 9:11-15. In that day will I, etc. In the fact that the destruction is not to be absolutely total, the grace of God shines through the furious wrath of the judgment. But the grace is not limited to this negation; it advances to the positive declaration that God will magnify Israel by establishing a new condition of prosperity. This exercise of graceso the connection of the thought provesis not something adventitious, but is directly mediated through the action of the judgment. This judgment, just because it is so radical in its extirpation of all sinners among Gods people, operates, as before remarked, in a purifying direction, and its limitation contains the condition of a new position, a new salvation, the possibility of a rich bestowment of grace. For with the removal of sinners, every reason for the divine wrath ceases, and room is afforded for such an exhibition of grace as will restore Israel to a new prosperity. Very naturally, therefore, the question is no longer about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, in the narrow sense of that term, for this in its separation from Judah represented apostasy from Jehovah, and a constitution exactly opposed to the true idea of a people of God. No, the divine grace shows itself in this, that after the destruction of the ungodly elements, first and chiefly in the ten tribes, but also in Judah, there arises a single but prosperous and powerful kingdom of Israel under the legitimate monarchy, which attracts to itself all the elements spared and refined by the judgment, including those which belonged to the existing ten tribes. The discourse certainly turns in Amo 9:11 to Judah, yet not as a separate kingdom, but only in so far as it furnishes the divinely appointed basis and point of departure for the restoration of the entire people. More than that Judah cannot be, since it is not only outwardly enfeebled and proportionately suffering, but also, in the prophets view, contains many sinful elements and must expect the divine chastisement, through which it will become still weaker outwardly, so that its future exaltation is due only to the grace of God, who cannot let his covenant with Israel fall, cannot give up his people. This enfeebled, prostrate condition of Israeli.e., at first Judah, but also Israel because Judah alone was the true representative of Israelis expressed in Amo 9:11 by the fallen hut of David = the Davidic monarchy, and this, in a condition of real prostration. This is set forth by calling it not a palace but a hut, and this hut a fallen one; and the picture is made still more vivid by the mention of breaches and of ruins. Many expositors (among them Keil) think that the phrase, the fallen hut of David, presupposes the actual downfall of the kingdom of Judah,in connection with the execution of the threatening in the whole chapter against Israel and Judah. But apart from what was said on this view in the comments on Amo 9:1, the phrase itself contradicts it. For in the downfall, not only a hut, but the house in general was prostrated. The term hut has its appropriate meaning only when we think of something not wholly fallen but still existing, for the manner of this existence is then pointed out by the word hut, and is still further characterized by the epithet fallen, as also by the following expressions, breaches, ruins. The restoration of captives spoken of here, can therefore be no proof of the assumption that the downfall of Judah and the Babylonish exile is presupposed in Amo 9:11. For while a carrying away is certainly mentioned, it is from the kingdom of Israel, and the return is included in this promise, although in the first instance it refers to Judah; since the thought is that along with the renovation of Judah, as the one genuine kingdom of Israel, there is bound up the return of all the Israelites held captive in heathen lands, as a constituent of that future prosperity. But, besides, there were, independent of the exile in Babylon, captives out of the kingdom of Judah, who had been dragged away by the heathen, as we have already seen in Joel; and the prophet might therefore well suppose that there would be more, before the new period of salvation. It is not to the purpose that in the later prophets the promise of future salvation for Israel, including Judah, presupposes the foreseen destruction of the kingdom of Judah. For it is preposterous from this to infer that all had the same general view, without regard to the differences of time. Surely we cannot without ceremony transfer to the earlier prophets what belongs well enough to the later.This fallen hut is to be raised up again, and that in such a way that the breaches shall be walled up and the prostrate ruins restored. This then is a building of the hut, and the result is that it becomes what it was in ancient times=in the days of David himself. This restoration of the former power and greatness is then expanded in Amo 9:13, where the term possess is an allusion to Balaams prophecy, And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession. The acquisition shall be easily made, being Jehovahs gift to his people. The remnant of Edom = what has not already been subjugated again. Edom is particularly mentioned, because while they were related to the Israelites, they were of all nations the most hostile to them. To receive possession of them is therefore a peculiar token of Israels glory. But Israel is to gain more, even all the nations upon whom my name is called. This phrase manifestly refers in the first instance to the nations who by David were brought under the sway of Gods people and therefore were called by Jehovahs name. Still the question recurs why the dependence on Israel was expressed in just this peculiar manner. It was to indicate a peculiar relation of these nations to Jehovah which was the reason of their subjugation. This indeed existed under David, but was not then fully realized. What, then lay in intention and was contemplated in their conquest, actually occurs in the new and better time here brought into view. The nations shall so come under Israels rule that they will bear the name of Israels God, and be called his people, so that a conversion of the heathennot of all, for the prophecy does not touch that pointbut of heathen nations, is placed in prospect or at least intimated. (Upon the quotation in Act 15:16, and also the meaning of the promise in Amo 9:11-12, see Doctrinal and Moral.) But to the future prosperity of Israel belongs not only national power and greatness, but also a rich blessing upon the land and thus upon the people (Amo 9:13),in fulfillment of the promise in Lev 26:5. What is there said of the actionthe threshing shall reach unto the vintage,is here transferred to the person who performs it. The ploughman reaches to the reaper, i. e., the ploughing will still continue in one place, although the reaping has begun in another, which however does not mean that the crop will grow and mature so quickly, but that so much is there to plough that it lasts to the harvest. This, at all events, is the meaning of the next clause,The treader of grapes (will reach) to the sower of seed = the vintage will last to the sowing time, so abundant is it. The mountains drop new wine, etc. Cf. Joe 3:18. There the hills are said to flow with milk, here the expression is stronger,the hills melt, as it were, dissolve themselves in pure streams of milk, new wine, honey.

Amo 9:14. I bring back the captives, etc. This is another essential feature in the picture of Israels future. For when the period of judgment has once elapsed, and God in his grace brings his people to a new prosperity, its members cannot longer continue under the power of the heathen, for that would be an evidence that the state of punishment still continued. As to the captives thus restored, see above on Amo 9:11. The phrase, they build the waste cities, etc., clearly depicts the reviving activity of those who have been restored from exile to their desolated land, and the words in Amo 9:15, they shall no more be torn up, etc., distinctly express the final abolition of an exile. As Gods direct judgments, drought, and barrenness, are to cease, so also shall the indirect, namely, desolation by a foe. Therefore they shall not merely build cities but inhabit them; not only plant vineyards, but also drink the wine (the direct reverse of chap. 5 Amo 9:11); not only lay out gardens, but eat their fruit! And (Amo 9:15) especially shall the restored exiles never again be carried away by enemies. This, in immediate connection with what has just been said of the plantings which Israel is to make, is represented under the figure of a planting which shall never be torn up; at the same time with a reference to the firm planting formerly made by means of David, in 2Sa 7:10. The higher fulfillment of this will occur only when Davids fallen hut is again raised up.

DOCTRINAL AND MORAL

1. The prophet paints in a frightful manner the vast power of the divine judgments and mans helplessness before them. Gods omnipresence and omnipotence subserve his wrath; hence its energy. Nowhere can man escape Him; by no means can he protect himself; all places are accessible to God; all powers stand subject to his will. The judgment here primarily intended is one that is executed by a conquering foe. Now whence comes the crushing weight of so many conquerors, whom nothing can resist, before whom all means prove impotent? We do not understand how it is possible. Here we have the answer, here where we, as it were, glance behind the scenes. The conqueror is only the instrument of Gods wrath; but this is so mighty, so irresistible, that it is no wonder that nothing can withstand the victorious foe, that every resource fails, even though it may have a hundred times in other cases brought relief and defense. If the Lord will not, all is of no avail.
2. But when the judgment is one thus executed by a foreign conqueror, it is not to be denied that the description, as indeed often in the former chapters, so especially here, transcends what usually occurs in case of a hostile invasion and conquest. It has, so to speak, an eschatological coloring. The threatened punishment is a total, final, decisive destruction of sinners. The prophet knows of none that goes beyond it. The only counterpart to it is a glorious act of grace. As surely as the latter is something definite and conclusive, so is the former. If we inquire as to the fulfillment of this threatening, confessedly one such took place for Israel in the overthrow of the kingdom. But a complete and exact fulfillment is not to be found in that event; an unprejudiced comparison shows that the prophecy transcends the experience. This fact does not show that the threatening is unfounded, but that it has an eschatological character. The prophet, indeed, sees the last decisive judgment arise, the day of the Lord (although there is no express reference to that here), but still the judgment which came historically upon the ten tribes was not this last decisive one. What he threatens against Israel was, we venture to say, farther fulfilled in the last judgment upon Israel, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans; but this still awaits its complete fulfillment in the last judgment at the Parousia upon the entire body at the apostate members of Gods people, of whom Israel was a type. In this judgment the punitive righteousness of God will be fully revealed in its frightful universality. The threatenings, as well as the promises of prophecy, find their complete fulfillment first in the New Testament, yet not in the literal Israel, but in the people of God represented by Israel in so far as it is apostate. It is not unimportant to make this clear, in order to show the incorrectness of the popular argument, that because all the threatenings have been fulfilled in the literal Israel, therefore the promises must be so likewise; that the latter are to be taken just as strictly as the former, and hence the fulfillment of such of them as have not yet come to pass, is to be expected in Israel after the flesh.

3. But the divine judgment is not a work of absolute annihilation but of sifting, to separate the wheat from the chaff. Herein is revealed the eschatological character of these judgments, in that they are so strictly just; but since the separation of the wheat and the chaff is only relative, the sparing of those who are spared must be deemed an act of grace, and so much the more, since the sparing does not stand alone and simple, but the judgment upon the ungodly is itself a purifying work for the righteous, and cannot remain without a wholesome influence upon them; while on the other hand it is for them a deliverance, the dawn of a new prosperity which is possible only after the consummated excision of the destructive elements which provoke the wrath of God. What Amos calls the little grain in the sieve is substantially that which afterwards appears as the remnant of Jacob. But still the question with Amos was not about a still surviving remnant of the people in general when he now sees the kingdom of Israel fall, nor was it whether the whole people of God should or could go down or not. Hence the term remnant would ill apply to those whom he sees to be spared.

4. Israels provocation of the divine wrath in general lay in the ungodly course it took at the founding of the kingdom of the ten tribes and ever afterwards persevered in. After the destruction of this kingdom, and after the judgment which is to fall upon Judah, although this kingdom is not to be destroyed, there no longer remains any hindrance to the blooming of a new prosperity for Israel as a whole. Therefore the prophet, since it was his commission to announce the judgment of God upon all the ungodly, but especially upon the ungodly kingdom of the ten tribes, concludes, after this commission has been fulfilled, with a promise for Israel as the people of God. Under the only legitimate monarchy, the house of David, it is by Gods blessing raised out of its humiliation; its power and greatness are restored as they were in Davids time; the kingdom spreads out over the heathen; the land rejoices in the richest blessings; all captive exiles return,never again to be carried away; and the kingdom has the prospect of being established forever. It is very perverse to ask if an internal renovation is not also expressed in this exaltation. What is said in Amo 9:11, etc., concerning deliverance and restoration, refers only to the outward prosperity of Israel, not to its internal character; but certainly an inward renewing is presupposed, for the destruction of all sinners is, as Amo 9:10 shows, the only way to the promised outward restitution, its conditio sine qua non. Subjectively it is its ground and root, while objectively all results from the grace of God, who has intended prosperity and salvation for Israel as his people, and who therefore in all his judgments upon Israel aims at last at a new and so much the higher blessing, and the establishment of a complete state of prosperity. The flourishing Israel therefore is naturally to be considered as a people serving God and converted to Him, even though nothing has been expressly said on the point. Or they are considered as his members, consisting partly of those who remained faithful, partly of such as have been, converted. The emphasis with Which an annihilating judgment is beforehand pronounced upon ungodliness, leaves room for no other view. Such a divine blessing as is here promised, and especially its permanence, presupposes a godly life. Although Amos says nothing of a personal Messiah, yet in the wide sense we must call this prophecy Messianic, in substance if not in form, in so far as the Messiah of the later prophets is He who introduces the consummation of the people of God, and the great time of its happiness, and it is just this final completeness and glory which is here promised.

5. As to the fulfillment of the prophecy, it must be said, just as in the case of Joel, that this has not taken place exactly according to the letter, for that represents the new greatness and never-ending prosperity of the kingdom of Judah and Israel as coincident with the judgment upon the ten tribes. But although this latter event was followed by happier times for Judah, still this was not what is promised here, but in place of a flourishing exaltation of the Davidic line there followed its complete prostration along with the overthrow of the kingdom. But this, as we said above, the prophet does not take into the account. For this reason, the fair prospect of Israels future glory has maintained and still maintains its truth and validity, as it is not a product of human wish and hope, but flows from a revelation of the Holy Spirit and rests upon a view furnished by that Spirit. Nor do we deceive ourselves when we assume that the later prophets, who also foresaw and announced the downfall of Judah, found a basis for their promises in the promise of Joel and also in that of Amos which is so closely connected with it. For if such a noble future was predicted, the downfall of the kingdom could not be final, rather, not only would a remnant be saved, but there would be a lifting up out of this deep fall, a restitution after the overthrow. Israel, as the people of God by virtue of Gods covenant with them, may and indeed must suffer his judgments in case of apostasy, but so far from perishing by these, rather attains a condition of greatness and power, an enduring prosperity; this is the truth forever established and fortified by our promise. A certain fulfillment was no doubt experienced in the restoration accomplished by the Jews who returned from exile. But this was by no means the Messianic salvation, the consummation of Gods kingdom in Israel. Nor can a literal fulfillment of Amoss prophesy be sought herein, because our prophet does not take into account the facts which gave occasion for that return, namely, the overthrow of the kingdom and the exile. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ. Did then the promised great salvation come? Did He fulfill our promise? Not according to the letter, since by no means did a time of new grandeur break in upon Israel after the flesh; but in place of expecting any such thing in the future and seeking there the fulfillment of the promise, we rather affirm that it has already begun with Christs coming. For as, according to a principle before laid down, we have the true complement of the Old Testament in the New, so we see in Christs salvation the fulfillment of the promise of a time of glory for Israel, since Israel (with Canaan) was only a type of the true people of God. What therefore was promised to Israel passes over by virtue of the new covenant to all who belong to Israel through faith in Christ and form the people of God. And we are not at all to expect a literal fulfillment of these engagements to a national Israel, and in the shape of temporal blessings on the stand-point of the Old Testament. For, if we did, it would follow that there must be a literal possession of the remnant of Edom. But the boldest realist will hardly conclude that in the future Edom will again exist alongside of Israel. We may here appropriate in substance the observations of Keil, who says that the raising up of Davids fallen hut commenced with the coming of Christ and the founding of the Christian Church by the Apostles(as to which we refer, e.g., only to Luk 1:32-33, where Jesus is represented as the restorer of Davids throne, and one whose kingdom shall have no end),and the possession of Edom and of all the other nations upon whom the Lord reveals his name, took its rise in the reception of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven set up by Christ The land which will flow with streams of divine blessing is not Palestine, but the domain of the Christian Church, or the earth, so far as it has received the blessings of Christianity. The people which cultivate this land is the Christian Church, so far as it stands in living faith and produces the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Andwe may addso far as the Jews are converted to Christ and incorporated into the Christian community, there is a bringing back of the captives. Still this bringing back is not limited to Israel after the flesh. Its fulfillment is to be sought more generally in the freedom which Christ has brought, in consequence of which believers in Him are no longer prisoners under the control of an alien power. They possess the glorious liberty of the children of God, through their enjoyment of communion with God,incomplete, indeed, in the first instance, just as the return from exile is not complete. But it will be through Christ. He will one day conduct all the (genuine) members of Gods people out of exile and bondage into the heavenly Canaan, and no one shall ever again drive them out. But certainly this promise for the people of God first began to be fulfilled at the appearing of the Messiah and in the domain of the Christian Church. Its complete fulfillment is to be expected at the parousia of Christ; and then the spiritual blessing, the spiritual power and greatness, the spiritual freedom which the people of God now enjoy, will obtain a corresponding outward sensible manifestation. Inward prosperity will not lack that which is outward, yet in a higher sense than the Old Covenant understood it, since the distinction between the outward and the inward will in the main be done away. The hope of this final glory of the people of God has a right to nourish itself constantly from the prophecies which give such bright pictures of the future glory of Israel. So far these prophecies preserve constantly their significance for the religious life. By their confident and assured tone they greatly oppose and undermine the doubts awakened by the day of small things in which we live.

6. The opinion that our promise is fulfilled in Christ is confirmed in the New Testament (Act 12:15) by the Apostle James. He sees a fulfillment of the words of Amos (Amo 9:12) concerning the relation of the nations=the heathen, to the restored Israel, in Peters statement of the effects of faith in Christ among the heathen, since these without being circumcised had received the Holy Spirit. He thus probably understands the phrase, upon whom my name is called, in a pregnant sense=upon whom God has testified Himself as God, therefore as a promise of an inward relation of God to the heathen, but at bottom a promise of the bestowment of the Holy Ghost upon them. Therefore he regards the advices of Peter as a fulfillment of the prophetic utterance. This explanation does not conform to the original sense of the prophets words (see above in Critical and Exegetical), just as the words immediately preceding are given by James in a form quite different from the Hebrew. For us the only important point is that James considers the fulfillment of this promise as beginning with Christ. But we may draw a farther conclusion. If James sees this statement of Amos concerning the heathen and their relation to Israel fulfilled in the appearance of Christ, in so far as that caused the reception of the Spirit by believers in Him, then certainly he regards the promise of the restoration of Davids fallen hut as fulfilled in Christ. Although the promise, literally understood, treats of an outward restoration, a return of outward greatness to Israel as a kingdom, yet the tenor of the discourse is wholly different; James therefore, since he saw its fulfillment then occurring, could not possibly have cherished any dreams of an outward glorification of the kingdom of Israel to be expected in the future on the ground of the prophetic utterances. The only correct view is, that to him the people of God appeared in the closest union with the national Israel, and he; saw Christ and his salvation as obtained in the first instance for the latter. The national Israel to him always stood in the foreground. But he saw the promises to the nation fulfilled in the spiritual blessings which proceeded from Christ. But it was inconsistent to take the prophets promises literally in respect to Israel, i.e., to claim them for the national Israel, and yet not to take them literally in respect to their meaning, not to understand them as holding out an earthly greatness, a national blessing; and hence both Peter and Paul went far beyond this view. But it is remarkable that James, who was so pronounced a representative of the Judaistic tendency, should regard such a promise as we have in Amos, as fulfilled, so far as regards its meaning, in the appearance of Christ and the spiritual blessings thence resulting, without even once referring it to the second coming of the Saviour. Even he therefore is a patron of the so-called spiritual interpretation of the prophecies; and if the theological explanation here finds itself in agreement with a disciple of the Lord, and him a man of strong Jewish-Christian feeling, that is a proof that it is on the right track, and has so much the more reason for disowning the doctrine of a future glorification of the national Israel as guaranteed by the prophets.

7. In relation to the promises of prophecy, we may make the same remark as before in relation to prophetical threatenings in chap, 7, sec. 6, of Doctrinal and Moral. As the prophet is not the mere instrument of revelation without will of his own, we must, while fully acknowledging the objective ground of these promises, at the same time regard them as evidences of the prophets own strength of faith. While he at first on account of the prevailing sinfulness sees only punishment and downfall, a speedy outbreak of divine wrath, yet at the same time he holds firm as a rock the hope that the grace of God will return and a new salvation begin for the people of God. The divine promises made to Israel as the people of God are an anchor of his faith and a light to illumine the gloomy future before him, so that the final aim of the procedure remains to him immovably noble. If it is the old promises upon which his faith rests, these are reanimated and freshly confirmed by the new revelations he receives. But this occurs only when they are firmly believed, and therefore the utterance of them is an evidence of strength of faith.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Amo 9:1. Smite the top, etc. The judgments of God when they begin are like might blows, which make everything tremble, if they do not altogether dash to pieces. Apostasy from God (idolatry) is that which decides the case, and at last makes the divine judgments break forth.

Amo 9:2-3. That which is our greatest confidence when God is on our side, namely, that He is everywhere present, is our terror when He is against us. [The prophet has not employed a superfluous heap of words. Every suitable is important, even though at first it may seem otherwise. The Holy Spirit designs to shake off our self-flatteries and rouse our innate torpor, that we may not think of God as of ourselves, but know that his power extends to all hiding-places.Calvin.

Amo 9:4. And I set mine eye, etc. The eye of God upon us is our whole hope and stay and life. It is on the confessor in prison, the martyr on the rack, the poor in their sufferings, the mourner in the chamber of death, for good. What if that eye, the source of all good, rests on his creature only for evil?Pusey.]

Amo 9:5-6. Gods omniscience and omnipresence gain their whole significance from his omnipotence. But He is as certainly almighty as He is allwise and everywhere present. He commands the earth when and as He will, and it must obey Him. If He only touch it, it trembles. But no wonder that the earth obeys Him, for it is He who rules also the heaven. [This is the hope of his servants, the hopelessness of his enemies.Pusey.]

Amo 9:7. Are ye not as the sons of the Cushites, etc. Woe to him who considers what God through grace has made of him, as his own merit, and therefore boasts! God will be ashamed of him, and humble him under those over whom he exalts himself.

Amo 9:8. The eyes of the Lord, etc. Nothing escapes the eyes of God; even though the contrary may often seem to be the case, yet in the end it is proven that He has seen all, and in his own time administers chastisement. Whole kingdoms as well as individuals are objects of Gods attention for joy or for sorrow. Why does many a kingdom meet a frightful end? The eyes of the Lord were upon it and upon its sins, and though men were not conscious of it, finally the fact became manifest.

Amo 9:8-9. I will not utterly destroy, etc. That we do not utterly perish is due only to the goodness of God, which has no end. Who has reason to fear the divine judgments? Not those who are like wheat, but those who resemble chaff. Hence the grave question to each one; whom do you resemble? Although it often seems as if even the wheat fell to the ground, yet in the end it is shown to be otherwise. Much seems to be wheat, and is not. In the sifting power of Gods judgments lies their chief significance.

Amo 9:10. Who say, The evil shall not, etc. [In both destructions of Jerusalem, the people perished the more miserably being buoyed up by the false confidence that they should not perish. So too now, none are so likely to perish forever as they who say, The evil shall not overtake us. I will repent hereafter. There is time enough yet. God will forgive the errors of youth, the heat of passion. God is merciful. Thus Satan deludes thousands upon thousands to their destruction.Pusey.

Amo 9:11. As the prophet here declares that a redeemer would come and renew the whole state of the kingdom, we see that the faith of the fathers was ever fixed on Christ; for in the whole world it is He alone who has reconciled us to God. Nor could the fallen Church have been restored otherwise than under one head. If then at this day we desire to raise up our minds to God, Christ must immediately become a mediator between us; for when He is taken away, despair will overwhelm us. Our confidence will come to nothing unless it be founded on Christ alone.Calvin. The fallen hut. Strange comment on human greatness, that the royal line was not to be employed in the salvation of the world until it was fallen ! The royal palace had to become the hut of Nazareth, ere the Redeemer of the world could be born, whose glory and kingdom were not of this world, who came to take from us nothing but our nature that He might sanctify it, our misery that He might bear it for us. Yet flesh and blood could not foresee it ere it came, as flesh and blood could not believe it when He came.Pusey.

Amo 9:12. That they may possess, etc. No gifts of God end in the immediate object of his bounty and love. Israel was restored in order that they, the first objects of Gods mercies, might win others to God, not Edom only, but all nations upon whom his name is called.Pusey.

Amo 9:13. The mountains and hills of Juda, with their terraced sides clad with the vine, were a natural symbol of fruitfulness to the Jews; but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature, but what in natural things is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.Id.

Amo 9:14. And they build cities, etc. This needs no exposition, since throughout the world, amid the desert of Heathendom, which was before deserted by God, churches of Christ have arisen which for firmness of faith may be called cities, and for gladness of hope, vineyards, and for sweetness of charity, gardens; wherein they dwell who have builded them through the Word, whence they drink the wine of gladness who formed them by precepts, whence they eat fruits who advanced them by counsels.Rupertus.

Amo 9:15. It is a promise of perpetuity like that of our Lord, Lo, I am with you alway, etc. As Jerome says, the Church may be shaken by persecutions, she cannot be uprooted; she may be tempted, she cannot be overcome. For the Lord God Almighty hath promised that He will do it, I whose promise is the law to nature.Pusey.]

Often in oar time the Church of Christ seems like to Davids fallen hut, but only when we look at its outward condition and the many who shun it; so far as regards the power which goes out from Christ and the blessing which He procures, it is not a fallen but a restored hut. For his blessings are not small. Happy are all who believe in Him. But a day is coming when the Church shall triumph in the face of the world, and stand forth great and noble outwardly as well as inwardly.

Amen, Lord, all thy Word is true!
Amen, Lord, come, complete it all!

Footnotes:

[1][I Amo 9:1., used with =at or by. Cf. Gen 18:2; 1Sa 4:20.]

[2]Amo 9:1.=knob, h. pillar-top or capital, =threshold, usually that over which one enters a building, but also=the foundation-beams in which the posts are inserted. So here.

[3]Amo 9:1. for (Green, Heb. Gr., 125, 1). The suffix has no exact antecedent. It cannot be referred naturally to , nor in order to admit of such reference should the latter word be altered to mean projecting roof of the temple supported by pillars. It belongs to , and either denotes that the capital on various pillars was struck, or the thought is that one capital was dashed into many pieces. [Keil and Hengstenberg refer it to both the capitals and the thresholds or the entire building, which is greatly preferable.]

[4]Amo 9:2. with =to break through into.

[5]Amo 9:3. = water-serpent, not to be more closely definedelsewhere called or , Isa 27:1.

[6]Amo 9:5., lit. to melt; here denotes the dissolution of the earth. Others [Frst]=to fail through fear, to quake. The latter half of the verse is repeated with insignificant alterations from chap. 8 Amo 9:8.

[7]Amo 9:6. = , Psa 104:3, lit., places to which one has to ascend, upper chambers, lofts.

[8]Amo 9:6., vault=.

[9]Amo 9:8., lit., they rest upon the sinful kingdom, in order to destroy it. [Verbs and nouns expressive of anger are connected by with the object on which the anger rests. Cf. Psa 34:17 [Hengst.].

[10]Amo 9:8. introduces a limitation.

[11]Amo 9:9., lit., a thing tightly bound together; hence anything solid, as a pebble or little stone (2Sa 17:13); here, a kernel or grain of corn, as opposed to the loose, dusty chaff.

[12]Amo 9:10. , lit., to come between=so as to block up the way of escape. [Usage requires us to render, to come to meet one round about, i.e., from every side.]

[13]Amo 9:11., lit., a booth, here a hut.

[14]Amo 9:11., the close of E. V., is better replaced by wall from the margin. The plural suffix in * probably refers to walls understood. [Keil and Hengstenberg say that it indicates that both kingdoms are intended.

[15]Amo 9:11.The suffix in refers to Israel understood [but others refer it to David].

[16]Amo 9:11.The suffix all agree, refers to the fallen hut.

[17]Amo 9:12., take possession of, in reference to Num 24:18.

[18]Amo 9:14. . Keil vainly contends against explaining this formula as meaning to restore the captives, and insists that it=to turn a state of misery into one of prosperity. [Hengstenberg strongly maintains the latter view, which indeed in such cases Job 42:10 must be admitted.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Chapter opens with solemn threatenings and concludes with gracious promises. The reference to Gospel days is clearly proved from the application made to this scripture in the Acts of the Apostles, under the Apostle’s preaching.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

“I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. (2) Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: (3) And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: (4) And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. (5) And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. (6) It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. (7) Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?”

Amos Is here describing what he saw in a vision. So the Lord spake to the Prophets. The whole of Isaiah’s prophecy is called the vision of Isaiah. Isa 1:1 . Observe the opening of this memorable scripture: the Lord standing upon the altar, to shew his authority. And observe further, it is the altar, not between the cherubim on the mercy-seat, for now the Lord is come to judge, not to pardon. Smite the lintel of the door, said the Lord; as if he meant to say, let it be thrown down. And while those that run away seem to escape, it is but seemingly so, for the Lord will pursue and overtake, whether they take shelter in heaven or hell; whether on mount Carmel or the bottom of the sea. Reader! who can protect from the power of such an Almighty avenger of wrong! Who shall stand when he appeareth. See Nah 1:6 . The expostulation of the Lord is striking. Are ye not, 0 Israel, as the children of the Ethiopians? that is, what pretensions have you to my favour more than they. Reader! if we know not the Lord in a way of grace, we are no better than others in the claims of nature!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Omnipotence and Omniscience

Amo 9

The prophet gets clearer and brighter as he goes along. Up to this time we have had visions; now we have the clear, definite, concrete realisation: “I saw the Lord standing upon the altar.” We have come past the visions, the outlines, the apocalyptic cloudings, and we are face to face with the living God. This is music, this is progress, this is characteristic of the way of life; we end, not in vision of a poetic, ideal, shadowy kind, but in vision that means sight, touch; an immediate yet not overwhelming, a glorious yet not dazzling and blinding, presence. We were assured by his quality and tone that he would not perish in a cloud. It would have been contrary to the frankness of his nature, and out of harmony with the peculiar tone of his voice, if Amos had faded away. He must leave as definitely as he appeared. When he spoke we knew there was a man amongst us. Now that he is about to go away, and we shall see him, in this exposition, no more, he must speak to us in frankness; he must not leave us in thunder and judgment, he must find for us a gospel. First let him have his own way. He gives us a picture of omnipotence and omniscience unequalled in all poetry. If I say too much for Amos, produce the evidence to the contrary. The poetry of all languages is open to you; disprove the assertion that Amos’s description of the omnipotence and omniscience of God is unparalleled in sublimity.

What saith the Lord in his judgment tone? He says men cannot flee away from him. There is nothing beyond the sweep of his arm. But men may dig into hell? The Lord says, I am aware of it, but when they are in hell they shall feel my arresting hand; hell, define it as you may, is mine. But they may escape into heaven? True, yet thence will I bring them down. There is not a chamber in all the infinite palace of heaven from which I am excluded; I built all the mansions in the house called heaven. But have not mountaineers and adventurers and spoilers found refuge in the caves of Carmel? Yes, I made the caves of Carmel; I am the architect and the builder, and I have the key of every cave: men cannot follow into the caves of Carmel, they are so close together, and when the pursuer comes up the hill he cannot tell into which aperture his foe has passed; they represent a network, a honeycomb, and man can hide from man in the caves of Carmel: but I settled the geometry of that honeycomb, I know every figure, and I can divide Carmel as if it were a cloud, and discover the runner in his deepest secrecy: I will search and take them out from thence. But men may drown themselves? True, but they shall not die; in the depth of the sea I will command a serpent, and he shall bite them: the serpent is my servant; I made his tooth, his fang; I entrusted him with his treasure of poison. All things are mine. But men may flee into captivity? True; and yet I will pick them out one by one, and say, You are the man I want. You cannot mingle yourselves up with other people, and be lost in the crowd. God, who holds in his hand the throng of the stars, cannot be baffled by any little crowd of our making. All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do; the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth; they flame and search; they spare not Thou God seest me.

That is the lay prophet’s description of the omnipotence and omniscience of God. He was no layman who had that vision. No matter where he began, he concluded in glory. No mere herd man ever dreamed that dream. There are some things men cannot do; some thoughts men cannot think; some music men can only utter as the organ utters it, because the hand of skill and the soul of genius may be using the instrument for definite purposes. Thus the Bible proves its inspiration. It never made itself. The basket-work may be man-made no doubt it is but the fruit within the treasure are God’s: the casket may have been found somewhere by man, and paid for as an article in merchandise, but the inner jewellery, the flaming stone, the stones that look all lights and tabernacle all glories, these were not man-made, they were only man-gathered, that man might see some of the miracles of light, and fall down before new revelations of power and hints of possibility. No herdman and gatherer of sycamore fruit could have made that image of the omnipotence and omniscience of God.

But Amos does not rest there; he still pursues the fascination that is upon him, and still sees God in other aspects and relations: “It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven “; literally, It is he that has built the steps of the heavens; only each riser is millions of miles high, and each step lands the climber on some new world. Or, for stories read “spheres”; and the immensities, gleaming radiant worlds, how many are there of them? A thousand? Ten thousand? The poor little telescope has raked up more than a hundred thousand, and when the telescope is tired with looking, it says, I have not yet begun to see; beyond is the real life of the worlds: improve me, rub these lenses, burnish them, enlarge them, throw them away and replace them with others, for I have not yet begun to see the stories in God’s palace. A few of the under-stories I have seen, and they are entrancingly and inexpressibly lovely and glorious; I cannot get inside them, but their windows are ablaze with light; yet I am sure I have only begun, or hardly begun; the stories are miles, millions at once, higher and higher. He was a singular herdman who saw that thousands of years ago. He had no telescope; he had only the natural vision as an outward instrument, but he had a soul that used that vision to advantage. What is the vision worth? Nothing, except for the merest appearances, the most transient and superficial coming and going of shape and colour and weight and bulk. What can you see upon a green leaf? Nothing; and yet there is a population on that green leaf, mayhap, outnumbering the population of the chief metropolis of the world. He was a singular gatherer of sycamore fruit who made all this up in his own mind; he might have made the whole Bible, he might have made the universe; there is fire enough in that man to warm a whole heaven. Do not insult us by suggesting that this man made it all out of his own mind, and had no warrant, guarantee, authority, or inspiration. If so, you increase the miracle, you stupefy the understanding of man.

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord” ( Amo 9:8 ).

That is God’s voice. Amos could not have said these words in his own person. God must create his own instruments for preaching, for revelation, for exposition, for all manner and quality of teaching; otherwise we misrepresent God. No man has a right to speak in the divine name, unless that right has been given to him by the divine Sovereign. It is impertinence, it is profanity, it is blasphemy, rank and black, for any man to stand up and say, “Thus saith the Lord, and thus will he do,” if he be speaking only out of his own consciousness; then is he provoking men, taunting and mocking men; the words he uses are too large for his mouth, and the thoughts that he would express split him like thunderbolts, for they are not his own. That a herdman, a lay prophet, should have stood up and thus represented himself as the vicegerent and minister of God when he was nothing of the kind, adds to the miracle, and does not diminish it.

But will the Lord judge in fury? And will he proceed in his work with the indiscriminateness which makes no difference between old and young, right and wrong, good and bad? Hear this voice in the midst of the judgment storm:

“I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth” ( Amo 9:9 ).

We were terrified by the first loud burst of tremendous judgment; we thought it was indiscriminating, that it fell upon the earth in a fury of vengeance, and could make no distinctions between the right hand and the left: and, lo, the whole image is that of a man who is winnowing the corn. Watch him; he puts it all into the sieve; he takes it in his arms, he uses it so, putting it from point to point with his hands, and what falls out is blown away, and what remains is the wheat; and as he conducts this sifting process there breathes a voice through the wind, saying, What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Yet not the least grain shall fall upon the earth. This is minuteness, discrimination, careful criticism. Have no fear, therefore, if you are right; if you are the very least grain you shall not be lost; if you are only chaff you cannot be saved; if you are the rubbish of the universe you shall be blown away. But if there be in you one speck of value, one desire that cannot find words for its agony, one hope in the Cross of the eternal Redeemer of the world, if there be but the turning of an eyelid that the dying eye may catch the eternal Christ, you shall not be lost; that look shall be a whole lifetime of prayer, that one desire shall be magnified into a prevalent intercession. There is nothing ruthless in the government and judgment of God. Men condemn or praise wholesale, and therefore their condemnation or their praise is often worthless. But here is a Providence that separates, distinguishes, puts into contrast, weighs men, considers what is in them in the matter of proportion, so that the bad shall not overweigh the good, but the good that is in them shall be the beginning of their salvation. Keep thy poor little prayer. Let that go, and all is gone. Keep thy “God be merciful unto me a sinner,” and it will save thee; that will link thee on to the infinite, the eternal purpose, the boundless love. Keep thine “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” it shall save thee from hell. Do not give up the little least bit of religion that is in the heart, for God begins with that; God created that; it is the pledge and sign of his presence in the soul. Do not give up the tear of penitence, the silent, glistening, dumb tear that no words can express the meaning of; that tear is a crystal prayer; that tear is a jewel in the eyes of heaven; it cannot speak, it is too eloquent for speech, but it means the whole soul; let it stand in thine eye; it shall save thee when the lightnings are abroad.

“All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us” ( Amo 9:10 ).

On whom is the doom pronounced? “All the sinners.” Not one of the righteous is mentioned there. All the sinners, all the bad people, all the unsound hearts, all the untrue spirits they shall fall, though they have many a device to which they trust. So it was with the Ten Tribes. They were tribally dispersed, driven about; they were not individually lost. There is a tribal dispersion; there is a corporate dissolution; there is a family break-up. Every member of the family is living, but there is no family. That is one mystery of Providence. Every soul is there, but has nothing to do with any other soul. The tribes were once one in spirit, though twelve in number, a chosen unit; but the time came when they were separated on account of their sins by thunder and lightning and a great tempest, and every soul was alive, yet every soul was alone. Death is not the worst fate that can befall men. Death may be but transition; death may be but translation; death is only change of position, change of relation, change of sphere, change of service; but to be alive and yet to be dead; to be looking at a man and not to know him; to have all sacred memories dispersed or dissolved or turned into roots of poison and bitterness; to have been in the house, and to have left it so that no roof can cover all the members of the family; to be part of a shattered commonwealth, that is the destiny of disloyal souls. Do not mistake life as in itself a benediction and a comfort apart from God. There is a living death; there is a mortal life; there is a sensitiveness that only expresses a deeper blindness than itself; there is a consciousness that covers up a bottomless pit of lost memory, lost affection, lost hope, lost immortality.

Now Amos will talk in a language partly his own. The language he uses will be coloured in some degree by his occupation, or by his observation:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt” ( Amo 9:13 ).

The laws of nature turned upside down! Some people have imagined that the Lord has made a prisoner of himself in his own universe. He has so constructed the universe that he finds that what he has made is in reality a cage out of which he cannot get; he has made laws, and can do nothing with them; he has outbuilt himself, he has gone beyond his own strength, and he is a creature in the presence of his own creatorship. How often in the Bible he comes and tears the whole thing to pieces, and says that he made it, and has a right to do with it what he pleases; and he will put it together again, or partially; or he will gather it so far up, and then he will dissolve the whole thing. And so here we have the plowman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the seasons all mixed up with one another, and each pursuing the other without interval, a rush and tumult of action. This is God’s way. He really has not made a cage for his deity. Whatever he has done, all things are under his feet The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice. We are the victims of the seasons and of the winds; we are meteorologically bound. We do not know what will happen the day after to-morrow whether it will be a fog impenetrable, or a frost that will seal our front door. God can make it summer when he will, and turn summer into winter by one frown. He can make the snow but the background of the most glowing flowers. What a pity it would have been, and what an impossibility, if God had so built the universe that he could not get out of it, or into it, or round about it, or do anything with it an incredible, preposterous miracle! Our joy is to believe that God knows all his universe; has made it, established its laws; that he administers its economy; that not a bird falleth to the ground without his notice, and that no being can steal one drop of dew without God missing it or going after it. That is the large faith, the tender faith, the Christian faith, the faith in which we stand.

Amos disappears. He came in as a layman, but he has lost his laity in the grandeur, the range, the music of his prophecy. If this is being a layman, would God all the Lord’s people were laymen! What a thunder voice he had! How it crashed and roared amid the controversies, oppressions, tyrannies, and wrongdoings of the nations! And yet how gentle he was! He said some of the gentlest things ever uttered by any prophet of the Lord. But herein is the mystery, because only they who can be really angry can be really tender. Only men of tremendous force can be truly patient and really gentle. So when you find true patience or gentleness, you find but another aspect of real force, sensitiveness, and faculty of judgment and destruction. Again I say, the disparity between the prophet and the prophecy is a proof of inspiration. There is nothing in this man’s credentials to assure us that we are going to hear something very special and very great. There are some prophets whose prophecy is killed by their personal testimonials. They come with such a sheaf of recommendation in their hands, that having read a few of the pages we say, This is impossible; if all this had been true you need not have had this paper; burn it, and be your own credential. So with this man. He brings no paper, no certificate, no signed assurance, no diploma of the great and mighty and accepted and orthodox, to say that, on the whole, he is a respectable man, and ought to have a cordial hearing somewhere. He comes with nothing but himself, his God, his message, and he projects himself upon his age, and the age soon knows when it is in the grip of a master hand.

Does he end in judgment? No, God always ends in benediction if he can:

“And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God” ( Amo 9:14-15 ).

And the prophet goes! What an echo, what a vibration! What a strange, deep, tender peace comes after such a song! It is even so with the Christian prophet. He has plenty of judgment to denounce. He must look with eyes of fire upon every form of evil; yet he must find words that are tender, or he must make them tender by his intonation of them, whereby he may express the gospel that God waits to be gracious. But God’s purpose about every man is that he shall have vineyard and wheat-field and well-founded city, and that he shall be no more plucked up like an ill-planted tree, and have his roots torn up to the withering sun. Every man professing to be prophet of God or minister of the Cross must end in gentleness. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the good news to every creature.” This was said after the crucifixion; this was the supplement to Gethsemane; this was the outcome of the Cross. God plans no man’s destruction. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked…. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” The universe was constructed for music, not for discord.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

VI

THE BOOK OF AMOS PART 2

Amo 3:1-9:15

Helps commended: (1) “Bible Commentary,” (2) “Pulpit Commentary,” (3) Pusey’s Minor Prophets, (4) “Benson’s Commentary.”

The section, Amo 3:1-6:14 , consists of three parts, or three distinct addresses, each commencing with the words, “Hear this word.”

The first address consists, in particular, of the verdict and sentence of Jehovah against all Israel, and is divided as follows: (1) a principle stated (Amo 3:1-8 ); (2) a reason assigned (Amo 3:9-12 ); (3) a sentence announced (Amo 3:13-15 ).

The principle stated in Amo 3:1-8 is that an effect proves a cause. This principle is enforced by seven illustrative questions, viz: (1) communion proves agreement; (2) the lion’s roar proves the prey; (3) the cry of the young lion proves the prey possessed; (4) the fall of the bird proves the bait; (5) the springing of the snare proves the bird to be taken; (6) the sounding of the trumpet proves the alarm; (7) calamity in the city proves Jehovah. The application of all this is made by the prophet) bringing in his text, as follows: “The lion [Jehovah] hath roared; therefore I fear. The Lord hath spoken, therefore I prophesy.”

In Amo 3:9-12 we hear the prophet giving a special invitation to the Philistines and Egyptians, Israel’s inveterate enemies, to assemble in Samaria to witness the great wickedness and destruction of Israel because they did not do right, storing up violence and robbery in their palaces, and whose tumults and oppressions abounded toward the people. The judgment to follow was to be like the work of the lion devouring his prey.

The sentence announced (Amo 3:13-15 ) is the complete destruction of Israel, and the thoroughness of its execution is indicated by the sentence of destruction against its objects and places of worship and the smiting of the habitations of the rulers, showing the complete desolation of their city, Samaria.

The second address consists, in particular, of an indictment and a summons of Jehovah, and its parts are as follows: (1) the king of Bashan threatened (Amo 4:1-3 ); (2) a sarcastic command (Amo 4:4-5 ) ; (3) a list of providences (Amo 4:6-11 ); (4) a summons to an account (Amo 4:12-13 ).

In Amo 4:1-3 we have Jehovah’s threat against the carousing and oppressive women. Bashan was famous for its flocks and herds. The proud and luxurious matrons of Israel are here described as like the cattle of Bashan, because the cattle of the pastures of Bashan were uncommonly large, wanton, and headstrong by reason of their full feeding. These women because of their luxuries were oppressing the poor and crushing the needy. How perverted their natures must have been from the true instincts of womanhood! But such is the effect of luxury without grace. How depraved and animal-like to say, “Bring and let us drink,” but such are the marks of a well-developed animal nature. No wonder that just here we should hear Jehovah’s oath and threat announced: “they shall take you away with hooks,” indicating their humiliation in contrast with their present luxury and pride. How true the proverb: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

In Amo 4:4-5 we have a sample of the prophet’s sarcasm, commanding the people to multiply their offerings in their transgression at Gilgal and Bethel, the two most prominent places of worship in Israel. At these places they worshiped the calf after the pattern of Jeroboam 1.

In Amo 4:6-11 there are mentioned five distinct providences of the Lord as follows: (2) a scarcity of food, or a famine, per- haps the famine of 2Ki 8:1 ; (2) a severe drought; (3) a blasting with mildew; (4) a pestilence; (5) a destruction of cities. The express purpose of all these was to turn the people unto Jehovah. This is an everlasting refutation of the contention that God’s providences do not come into the realm of the temporal. He sent the famine, he sent the drought, he sent the blasting and mildew, he sent the pestilence, and he overthrew the cities, and why not believe that he “is the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever” (Heb 13:8 )? A great text is found in Amo 4:11 , and also in Amo 4:12 .

In Amo 4:12-13 we have the summons to get ready to meet a powerful and angry God. He had exhausted his mercy and chastisements to bring them back but all these things had failed, after which he calls them to meet him in judgment. So we may say that God is now in Christ exhausting his mercy and visiting the world with chastisements and when all has failed, he says to the one who has rejected his mercy and treated lightly his visitation, “Prepare to meet thy God,” and it is appropriate to say that we may prepare to meet God in Christ, or we must meet him in judgment out of Christ, and out of Christ, “God is a consuming fire.”

The third address consists of repeated announcements of judgments, with appeals to turn and do good, and its parts are as follows: (1) a lamentation, an exhortation, and a hope for the remnant (Amo 5:1-15 ) ; (2) another lamentation, a woe, a disgust, and a judgment (Amo 5:16-27 ); (3) another woe, an abhorrence, and a certain judgment (Amo 8:1-14 ).

In Amo 5:1-15 we have a lamentation, an exhortation, and a hope expressed. The lamentation is that of the prophet himself, over the condition of Israel and the judgment already decreed. The exhortation is to repentance and to seek the true God. The hope is, that through repentance, a remnant of Israel may be saved. In Amo 5:16-27 we have another lamentation, a woe, a disgust, and a judgment. The lamentation in this instance is that of the people when Jehovah comes in judgment upon the land; the woe is pronounced upon the hypocrite who wishes for the day of Jehovah, for it will be to him an awful day; the disgust here is that of Jehovah at their feasts, offerings, and music, because of their sins, and the judgment denounced is their captivity, beyond Damascus, or their captivity by the Assyrians. In Amo 6:1-14 we have another woe, an abhorrence and a certain judgment. The woe in this passage is to the rich, luxurious oppressors who feel secure; the abhorrence is that of Jehovah for the excellency, or pride, of Jacob. As a result of it all there is denounced against Israel again her certain doom and the extent of it particularly noted.

Amo 7:1-9:10 consists of revelations for all Israel, conveyed by means of visions. The several parts of this section are as follows: (1) the locusts, (2) the fire, (3) the plumb line, (4) the basket of fruit, (5) Jehovah himself. In Amo 7:1-3 we have the prophet’s vision of the locusts which are represented as eating the grass of the land, the latter growth after the king’s mowing. This signified a threatened judgment, which is the threatened invasion of Pul (Tiglathpileser II) (2Ki 15:1-17 ff.), but it was restrained by the intercession of the prophet, at which Jehovah repented and judgment was arrested.

In Amo 7:4-6 we have the prophet’s vision of fire which is represented as devouring the deep and was making for the land. This signified a threatened judgment more severe than the other, which is the second invasion of Tiglath-pileser II, who conquered Gilead and the northern part of the kingdom and carried some of the people captive to Assyria (2Ki 15:29 ). This, too, was restrained by the intercession of the prophet, at which God repented and arrested the judgment.

In Amo 7:7-9 we have the prophet’s vision of the plumb line in the hand of Jehovah by which he signified that justice was to be meted out to Israel and that judgment was determined. So the prophet holds his peace and makes no more intercession. This judgment was irremediable and typified the final conquest by Shalmaneser.

Just after the vision of the plumb line there follows the incident of the interference of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. This Amaziah was an imposter, and yet held the position of priest. He reported to Jeroboam what Amos was saying, advising his exile. He, moreover, attempted to appeal to the fear of Amos, and advised him to flee to Judah. The answer of Amos was full of dignity, born of the consciousness of the divine authority of his mission. He declared that he was no prophet, but that Jehovah had taken him and spoken to him; thus he had become a prophet in very deed. Then he prophesied against Amaziah declaring that God’s judgment would overtake him and Israel.

In Amo 8:1-14 we have the vision of a basket of ripe, summer fruit which indicates that the people were ripe for judgment and that judgment was imminent. Jehovah declared that the end had come; that he would not pass by them any more. This announcement was followed, on the part of the prophet, by an impassioned address to the money-makers, in which he declared the effect of their lust for gain, viz: they swallowed the needy and caused the poor to fail. He described the intensity of that lust, thus: the new moon and sabbath were irksome. Then follows a figurative description of judgment, which declared Jehovah’s perpetual consciousness of these things and his consequent retribution. The final issue of judgment the prophet declared to be a famine of the words of the Lord, as a result of which there would come eager and fruitless search, followed by the fainting of youth because of their thirst for a knowledge of God. All this finds fulfilment in the events which followed in the history of Israel. They were deprived of prophets and revelations after Amos and Hosea, and the captivity came according to this prophecy, during which they had no prophets in the strange land of their captivity. This is a foreshadowing of Israel’s condition today. She rejected the Messiah and for these two thousand years she has been without a prophet, priest or Urim and Thummim, no revelation from God to cheer their dark and gloomy hearts.

In Amo 9:1-10 we have the vision of God himself standing beside the altar which symbolizes judgment executed, though there was no symbol, or sign. We hear the manifesto of Jehovah himself. It is one of the most awe-inspiring visions of the whole Bible. The message proceeded in two phases: First, an announcement of judgment irrevocable and irresistible; secondly, a declaration of the procedure so reasonable and discriminative. Jehovah is seen standing by the altar, declaring the stroke of destruction to be inevitable, and all attempts at escape futile, because he has proceeded to action. While the judgment is to be reasonable and discriminative, the claims in which Israel had trusted were nothing. They became as the children of the Ethiopians. The Philistines and the Syrians had also been led by God. The eyes of Jehovah were on the sinful kingdom and the sifting process must go forward but no grain of wheat should perish.

In Amo 9:11-15 , we have a most consoling conclusion of this prophecy in sundry evangelical promises, after so many very severe and sharp menaces.

The phrase, “In that day,” refers to the time after the events previously mentioned had been fulfilled and extends into the messianic age. See Act 15:16 . But what does the prophet mean by raising up the tabernacle of David? The promise, doubtless, at least in the first place, was intended of the return of the Jews from the land of their captivity, their resettlement in Judea, rebuilding Jerusalem, and attaining to the height of power and glory which they enjoyed under the Maccabees. This restoration was an event so extraordinary, and the hope of it so necessary to be maintained in the minds of the Jewish people, in order to their support under the calamity of their seventy years of captivity, that God was pleased to foretell it by the mouth of all his prophets. This prophecy however must be extended to the days of the Messiah, and to the calling of the Gentiles to the knowledge of the true God, according to Act 15:16 . They did not possess the remnant of Edom until after their restoration in the days of Hyrcanus, when they made an entire conquest of Edom, but the statement which follows, viz: “and all the nations that are called by my name,” goes farther into the future and, at least, intimates the salvation of the Gentiles.

In Amo 9:13 we have the promise of the blessings of grace to come in the messianic age in which the reaping shall be so great that the reapers cannot get out of the way of the sowers. This we see fulfilled now sometimes in a small way but these times of harvest are but the firstfruits of the harvest which is to follow, especially, the harvest that is to follow in the millennium. The promise of Amo 9:14-15 will find its complete fulfilment at the return of the Jews to their own land and their conversion which will usher in the millennium and extend the glorious kingdom of our Lord.

QUESTIONS

1. Of what in general, does the section, Amo 3:1-6:14 consist and how does each part commence?

2. Of what, in particular, does the first address consist and what its parts?

3. What is the principle stated in Amo 3:13 , how illustrated and what the application?

4. In Amo 3:9-12 who were invited to witness Israel’s doom, what the reason assigned and what was to be the character of the judgment to come upon Israel?

5. What the sentence announced in Amo 3:13-15 , and how is the thoroughness of its execution indicated?

6. Of what, in particular, does the second address consist and what its parts?

7. What the force and application of “ye kine of Bashan” and what the threat against them?

8. What of the sarcastic command of Amo 4:4-5 ?

9. What the items of providence cited and what their purpose as expressed by the prophet in Amo 4:6-11 ?

10. What the summons of Amo 4:12-13 , and what application may be made of such texts in preaching?

11. Of what, in particular, does the third address consist, and what its

12. What the lamentation, what the exhortation and what the hope, of Amo 5:1-15 ?

13. What the lamentation, what the woe, what the disgust, and what. The judgment of Amo 5:16-27 ?

14. What the woe, what the abhorrence and what the certain judgment of Amo 6:1-14 ?

15. Of what, in general, does the section, Amo 7:1-9:10 , consist, and what are its several parts?

16. What is the vision of locusts and what its interpretation?

17. What the vision of fire and what its interpretation?

18. What the vision of the plumb line and what its interpretation?

19. What historical incident follows the vision of the plumb line and what the several points of the story in detail?

20. What the vision of the basket of fruit, what its interpretation and what the prophet’s explanation following?

21. What the vision of God himself and what its interpretation?

22. What, in general, the prophecy of Amo 9:11-15 ?

23. What the meaning of the phrase, “In that day”?

24. What does the prophet mean by raising up the tabernacle of David?

25. When did they possess the remnant of Edom?

26. What the meaning of Amo 9:13 ?

27. What the fulfilment of Amo 9:14-15 ?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Amo 9:1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

Ver. 1. I saw the Lord ] This seer, Amo 7:12 , saw the Lord in a vision; for otherwise God is too subtile for sinew or sight to seize upon him. We cannot look upon the body of the sun, neither can we see at all without the beams of it; so here.

Standing upon the altar ] Or, firmly set, sc. to do execution upon that altar, sc. that idolatrous altar at Bethel mentioned before, and formerly threatened by another prophet, 1Ki 13:1-2 . The Rabbis say, God was seen standing upon that altar, as ready to sacrifice and slay the men of that age, whose idolatries and other impieties he could no longer bear with. And hence it is haply, that he is brought in standing; like as Act 7:55 , Jesus, at Stephen’s death, was seen standing at the right hand of God, where he is usually said to sit. Stat ut vindex, sedet ut iudex. He stood as his defender and sat as his judge.

And he said ] sc. to the angel that stood by, Zec 3:7 , or to the enemy commissioned by him, or to some other creature, for they are all his servants, Psa 119:91 , neither can he want a weapon to tame his rebels with.

Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake ] Smite with a courage, as Eze 9:5 . Angels give no light blows. “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he shall cut down the thickets of the forests with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one,” Isa 10:33-34 ; that is, by an angel shall he smite to the ground that mighty army which was like a thick wood. See Isa 37:36 Psa 78:25 ; Psa 89:6 . So at our Saviour’s resurrection, an angel, in despite of the soldiers set to watch, rolled away the grave stone, and sat upon it. And as a mighty man, when he sitteth down, shaketh the bench under him, so did he shake the earth; “and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men,” Mat 28:2 ; Mat 28:4 . Down with this idol temple, down with it, saith God here, even to the ground.

And cut them in the head, all of them ] Cleave them down the middle, so that every post may be sure to fall, being divided from the top to the bottom; and let this act be a sign to them all of what I intend to do to their persons, as many of them as by this gate have entered into this idol temple and altar. A deep cut in the head is dangerous and deadly, Gen 3:15 Psa 68:21 .

And I will slay the last of them ] I, by mine agents and instruments, as before: for it is but one hand and many executioners that God slays men with. Job could discern God’s arrows in Satan’s hand, and God’s hand on the arms of the Sabean robbers. The sword is bathed in heaven before it is imbrued in men’s blood, Isa 34:5 . “The Lord killeth and maketh alive,” saith holy Hannah, 1Sa 2:6 .

He that fleeth of them shall not flee away ] See Amo 2:14 . See Trapp on “ Amo 2:14 “ and say, Behold the severity of God, Rom 11:12 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Amo 9:1-4

1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said,

Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake,

And break them on the heads of them all!

Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword;

They will not have a fugitive who will flee,

Or a refugee who will escape.

2Though they dig into Sheol,

From there will My hand take them;

And though they ascend to heaven,

From there will I bring them down.

3Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,

I will search them out and take them from there;

And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,

From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.

4And though they go into captivity before their enemies,

From there I will command the sword that it slay them,

And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.

Amo 9:1 This refers to the destruction of a sacred worship site (i.e., altar). The mechanism was the earthquake (cf. Amo 1:1; Amo 8:7-10; Amo 9:1; Amo 9:9). The Israelites were trusting in their covenant relationship with YHWH, but God rejected their amalgamated religious worship (cf. Amo 5:21-24; Amo 8:10).

Smite the capitals The VERB (BDB 645, KB 697) is a Qal IMPERATIVE. This verse has two IMPERATIVES and a Qal IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE (i.e., quake BDB 950, KB 1271).

The term capital (BDB 499) refers to the carved (decorated) top of the support columns.

the thresholds Thresholds (BDB 706) refers to the frame in which the door of the temple is mounted (cf. Isa 6:4).

break them on the heads of them all This is referring to the destruction of the worshipers by supernatural means, similar to Samson destroying the Philistine temple in Jdg 16:23-30. Here the mechanism seems to have been a divinely timed and targeted earthquake.

The last three lines of Amo 9:1 assert that no Israelite will ultimately escape God’s judgment (cf. Amo 9:2-3). It is similar in meaning to Amo 5:19.

Prophetic literature is characterized by judgment passages being placed beside salvation passages. This chapter is a good example.

1. Amo 9:1-10, judgment

2. Amo 9:11-15, salvation

Both are true, but there are conditions/options based on God’s mercy and human faith/repentance. A remnant of Jews will survive to accomplish God’s redemptive plan!

Amo 9:2-3 These verses describe the futility of trying to escape from God’s judgment (e.g., Job 34:22; Jer 23:24; Isa 29:15). The metaphors used are the same as in Psa 139:8-12 (also note Pro 15:11).

Amo 9:2 Though they dig into Sheol Sheol (BDB 982, e.g., Isa 5:14; Isa 14:9; Isa 28:15; Isa 28:18; Isa 38:10) refers to the holding place of the dead. It is described as being in the earth (i.e., dig). This is similar to people trying to hide in the caves in Isa 2:10; Isa 2:19-21; Luk 23:30; and Rev 6:15-16.

SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead?

though they ascend to heaven This is the spacial opposite of Sheol. The language of these verses (i.e., Amo 9:1-4) is reminiscent of Psa 139:8. There is no where to hide from God!

In this verse heaven may refer to the atmosphere above the earth (cf. Gen 1:1; Gen 1:14-20) and not God’s throne (although Isa 14:12-14 seems to merge the Jewish concept of the first heaven and the third heaven).

Amo 9:3 the summit of Carmel This may be a dual metaphor: (1) this site had very thick vegetation (BDB 502 II) with many caves or (2) this was a traditional worship site (cf. 1 Kings 18).

though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea This is obviously metaphorical of sinful mankind’s attempt to hide from God (cf. Job 34:21-22; Psa 139:9-12; Jer 16:16-17).

The Israelites were a desert people. They were afraid of vast, deep water. The last place they would hide is the deep!

I will command the serpent and it will bite them This is an allusion to the mythical sea monster, Leviathan (cf. Job 3:8; Job 41:1; Psa 74:13-14; Psa 104:26; Isa 27:1) or Rahab (cf. Job 9:13; Job 26:12; Psa 89:10; Isa 51:9). Notice God commands (BDB 845, KB 1010, Piel IMPERFECT) the chaos monster.

Amo 9:4 This is a shocking verse. God’s anger and judgment will pursue them even into exile. They will be herded like cattle into a foreign land, but even there death will await them! God will show no compassion (cf. Hos 1:6; Hos 2:4) because they are no longer His covenant people (cf. Hos 1:9; Hos 2:23). This verse reflects the consequences of breaking God’s covenant (cf. Leviticus 26, esp. Lev 26:33).

I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good This is exactly opposite to the covenant promises! This same metaphor and terminology occur several times in Jeremiah (cf. Jer 21:10; Jer 39:16; Jer 44:11; Jer 44:27). It reflects the cursing and blessing sections of Leviticus 26 and especially Deuteronomy 27-29.

Notice that God has the power to command actions outside of the Promised Land in the nations supposedly controlled by other gods. These other gods are helpless but to obey. They are non-existent and cannot stop YHWH’s wrath!

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the LORD. One of the 134 places where the Sepherim say they altered “Jehovah” of the primitive text to “Adonai” (App-2). See App-4. Here it is combined with ‘eth = Jehovah Himself.

upon beside, or by.

the altar. Probably the same altar at Beth-al where Jeroboam had once stood (1Ki 13:1). Compare Amo 7:13, lintel = capital. Render: “smite the capital, shake the foundations, cut them off [i.e. the pillars] by the head, all of them”. and I will slay. This is the signification of the symbolical act. the last of them: i.e. the remnant of the People.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 9

Now in chapter 9 the final prophecy of Amos, he said,

I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: and he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered ( Amo 9:1 ).

So this great shaking of God. God said that though they try and flee, they’re not going to escape. Though they seem to escape, they’re not gonna get away.

Though they dig into hell, from there my hand will take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them from there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them: And thought they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will slay them: and I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good ( Amo 9:2-4 ).

So the judgment of God is gonna fall against apostate Israel. There is no escaping of it neither in the grave, nor in heaven, nor on Carmel, nor under the sea, nor even in captivity. There will the sword of God still pursue and they will be persecuted. God’s hand against them for evil.

And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein will mourn: and it will rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name ( Amo 9:5-6 ).

He is the One who is now declaring that judgment that He’s going to bring against the apostate nation.

Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, [totally heathen, totally pagan] O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon a sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD ( Amo 9:7-8 ).

God will spare a remnant. God will not utterly destroy, for God has yet a marvelous purpose for Jacob, and for the people of Israel.

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, and yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us ( Amo 9:9-10 ).

So God declares His judgment is going to come. They’re going to be sifted; they’d be sifted throughout all of the nations of the earth. And surely as you look at the Jewish race, that did indeed happen to them. They were sifted throughout the nations, throughout the world, scattered throughout the world.

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and I’ll close the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old ( Amo 9:11 ):

So the promise of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom, a promise of the restoration of the tabernacle of David. Now there are those who take this scripture and interpret as that there will not be a rebuilding, actually, of the temple in Jerusalem, but only of the tabernacle of David, so they will rebuild a tabernacle in Jerusalem. However, there are other scriptures that clearly declare the temple, giving its measurements, its walls and so forth. So that the tabernacle of David is speaking of the Davidic kingdom that God will raise up again. That Davidic kingdom which is fallen. He’ll raise up the ruins. “I’ll build it as in the days of old.”

That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all of the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this ( Amo 9:12 ).

And now God’s future blessings, the Kingdom Age, something that we look forward to today.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God ( Amo 9:13-15 ).

So this promised restoration. The day will come. I wish that you could go over to Israel with us. I wish that you could see the vineyards that have been planted, the gardens that have been planted, the waste cities that have been rebuilt. Surely God has declared this restoration of the land and as you go over you can see these things of which the Lord spoke, as He has brought the people back again into the land, as they have rebuilt the waste places, as they have planted vineyards, and gardens, and fields, and orchards, and you can see God’s Word fulfilled right before your eyes there in that land.

How faithful God is to His Word. When God said it, you better believe it, because you can be sure that it shall indeed happen. “God will not fail one word of His prophecy.”

There are many times people who come along proclaiming a gift of prophecy and the ability to foretell certain events. They have accurately predicted things that did indeed happen, which does not really prove necessarily that their predictions were from God. In order that a person might indeed claim divine inspiration for his prophetic utterances, you would have to have one hundred percent accuracy. Because God doesn’t make a single mistake. The Bible testifies of itself and says, “Not one word of the prophecy shall fail.” Up to this point, He’s batting a thousand. Not one single word of prophecy has failed. If He is batting a thousand up to this point, chances are He’ll continue to bat a thousand right on out to the end of the game. You can bank on it. You better bank on it. “Let us take heed to the things which we have heard,” the Bible says, “lest at any time we should drift away from them. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast,” and it is, “and every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation that God has offered to us?” ( Heb 2:1-3 )

Now God said concerning Israel, “There’s no escape. I don’t care. They try and hide in hell, I’ll dig them out from there. If they try to climb to heaven, I’ll pull them down from there. If they try to hide in the forests at Carmel, I’ll find them. If they try to hide in the bottom of the sea, I’ll send the serpent to bite them.” No escaping even if they be carried into captivity, the sword will follow them there. There is no escaping from God.

How shall we escape? There is no escape except the one escape that God Himself has provided, and that escape is in Jesus Christ. And that is the great salvation. “How shall we escape if we neglect the great salvation?” You see, God has made the only way of escape and that is through Jesus Christ. And if you reject Him, then there remains only that fearful looking forward to the fiery indignation of God’s wrath by which He will devour His adversaries. I mean, that’s just as straight as you can put it. Right out of the scriptures.

God has kept His Word. You have every reason to believe He will go right on keeping His Word, and will complete that which He has started. Israel was punished, Israel was carried away captive into the nations, Israel was sifted by the nations, and yet God spared her. “They will not utterly be destroyed.” And in a miracle in itself, Israel remained a national identity. The Jew remained a Jew though he had no homeland. And for two thousand years, sifted through the nations and still they remained a national ethnic group, identifiable ethnic group. As God said, “I’m going to spare a remnant of them, and then I will bring them back into the land, and bring them out from the nations where they’ve been scattered, I’ll plant them again in the land. They will build the waste places, they’ll plant their vineyards.” They’ve done it. It’s there, you can see it with your eyes. God has kept His Word. And God will continue to keep His Word, and that remaining portion of prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled will surely be fulfilled, and that glorious day will indeed come when Jesus will come again and establish the kingdom, God’s kingdom, sitting upon the throne of David, and the whole picture will then be complete. We shall live and reign with Him upon the earth.

So, the prophet Amos, very interesting fellow. Fig picker, herdman, and yet called of God, fulfilled his prophecy and left for us this glorious proof of the divine origin of the Word, as we can see today that proof in the land.

Next week Obadiah, and then that interesting character Jonah. I’m fascinated by the story of Jonah. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Amo 9:1-6

DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIED-

THOROUGH AND INESCAPABLE

TEXT: Amo 9:1-6

The judgment and destruction of Israel is inevitable, thorough and inescapable. This is because of the nature of her God-omniscient and omnipotent.

Amo 9:1 I SAW THE LORD STANDING BESIDE THE ALTAR: AND HE SAID, SMITE . . . We must agree with Lange and Pusey, against K & D, that the altar here is the altar Jeroboam set up at Bethel. It would symbolize all the idolatry of which Israel was guilty and which God is about to judge and punish. The whole context and intent of Amos ministry demands this interpretation. It is not possible in the light of the prophets ministry that this is the altar at Jerusalem. God is giving Amos a vision of the thoroughness and inescapability of His judgment upon Israel and so it is pictured as being in progress. God commands, Smash the pillars! Capitals are really the crowns or tops of the pillars in the idolatrous temple there at Bethel and other locations. These pillars were probably imitations of those in the true sanctuary at Jerusalem and so the Israelite temple was struck from above and made to collapse in total destruction upon the heads of those worshipping the golden calf. Should any succeed in escaping the crash of the building, even these God would slay with the sword. The point is, none shall escape who justly deserve the Lords judgment.

Zerr: Amo 9:1. As a general comment on this and several verses following, it should be stated that them and kindred pronouns stand for the people of Israel who have been so unfaithful to God, and who were destined to be punished with exile into a foreign land idolatry was the predominating corruption of the nation, hence the altar spoken of pertained to that used In the idolatrous worship. The lintel and door were parts of the idols temple and they were to be smitten by the prophet at the commandment of the Lord. Posts may shake signifies that the temple of idolatry was to be overthrown and its worshipers to be scattered. That fleeth . . .. not flee away means that, although the unfaithful idolators attempt to get away from tlie wrath of God they will not succeed. That escapeth , , . not be delivered denotes virtually the same as the preceding statement. Some may escape the immediate capture by the enemy but they will not succeed in the end, for they will be taken into the territory of the foreign foes.

The manner in which the Lord addresses Amos, saying, Smite . . . reminds us of Gods commission to Jeremiah in Jer 1:9-10 . . . See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. In a sense Amos did Smite the pillars, even as Jeremiah pulled down kingdoms by foretelling the judgment of the Lord. The Lords word of judgment is so absolutely certain to come to pass that when it is spoken it is as much as accomplished then.

Amo 9:2-4 THOUGH THEY DIG INTO SHEOL . . . CLIMB UP TO HEAVEN . . . HIDE . . . IN THE TOP OF CARMEL . . . HID . . . IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA . . . GO INTO CAPTIVITY . . . THENCE WILL I COMMAND . . . AND . . . SLAY THEM . . . These verses sound very much like Davids Psalms 139, praising God for His all-seeing providence. It is not unlikely to suppose that Amos may have accommodated this Psalm in expressing the message God wanted him to give to Israel. However, it is not necessary to assume that he must have done so. In either instance it would not deny the infallibility of Amos message. Such phrasing and figurative language is simply natural to the Hebrew expression to picture the omnipotence of God. There is simply no escape for the impenitent, in this world or any other, when Gods judgment time has come. Sheol is the O.T. name for the place of departed souls, corresponding to the N.T. word Hades. The word occurs 65 times in the Hebrew OT and is rendered in the King James Version 31 times hell, 31 times grave, and 3 times pit. This difference in translation is due to the fact that hell is ordinarily thought of as a place of punishment, while grave is substituted when the reference is to the souls of good men. In the American Standard Version no attempt is made to translate the word-it is merely transliterated into Sheol. Psa 16:10, quoted by Peter as a Messianic prophecy shows that Hades is the N.T. synonym for the O.T. Sheol. The reference to Mt. Carmel is made because it is a point on the extreme western boundary, immediately next to the Great Sea. As one writer has stated it, Whoever hides himself there, must know of no other secure refuge in all the land beside. And if there be no security there, nothing is left but the sea. The serpent is the one named Leviathan (cf. Isa 27:1). Amos describes the people in their misery and terror as going willingly, gladly, into captivity before their enemies like a flock of sheep to escape judgment. Captivity, at least seemed safe. Yet, here too, God would command the swords of their enemies to slay them.

Zerr: Amo 9:2, The impossibility of escaping tlie wrath of God is the thought of this verse. Hell and heaven are used figuratively because they are opposite terms, and denote the complete presence of God no matter where a man might flee. David used the same figure in Psa 139:8 where he was considering the subject, being discussed by Amos. Amo 9:3. In seeking to escape the wrath of God it would be natural to hunt out places that were considered as a good place of seclusion, Carmel was thought of as such a spot because it was a high point and was situated at the top of a long range that was separated from the country in general. Nothing is actually hidden from the vision of the Lord, hence the phrase hid from my sight means to become invisible to the general view. Even though the victim of Gods wrath might seek refuge in such an apparently secret place, the Lord would find some kind of means to take him. Ordinary serpents do not live in the bottom of the sea, hence the statement means that some agency would be called upon to carry out the vengeance of God upon the evil servant of Him who was so displeased at the corruption of the divine law. Amo 9:4. Even after the Lords people have been moved into the territory of a foreign land, the wrath of an offended God will not he satisfied, for the severity of their captors will reduce their numbers. Evil is not something wrong morally for God does not use such means to punish his people. The term refers to something in the nature of a chastisement that would cause great humiliation.

It is the omnipotent God who brings judgment. Judgment is never simply the action of humanity or nature alone. It arises out of the character of the holy God and finds expression through His control of time and history. God is the God of history, and history is the history of God. As such, history reflects Gods action and ultimate control; it is not dominated solely by economic, social, or political forces. When judgment falls, let God be seen!

Amo 9:5-6 FOR THE LORD . . . TOUCHETH THE LAND AND IT MELTETH . . . HE . . . BUILDETH HIS CHAMBERS IN THE HEAVENS . . . Now Amos substantiates all that he has promised before. The thoroughness and inescapability of the judgment which Amos prophecies is certain because of the nature and character of Jehovah of Hosts. He speaks and it comes to pass, He commands and the earth stands forth. He has no need to exert anything more than a mere touch and the earth melts! The word chambers means literally, places to which one has to ascend, upper chambers, stories. K & D say, The heaven in which God builds His stories, is the heaven of clouds; and the vault, according to Gen 1:7, is the firmament of heaven, which divided the water above the firmament from the water beneath it. Consequently the upper rooms of God are the waters above the firmament, in or out of which God builds His stories (Psa 104:3), i.e. the cloud-tower above the horizon of the earth, which is raised above it like a vault. Vault means literally, arch. It probably refers to the firmament, or the visible heavens, which seems to span the earth like an arch. We believe Amos is simply picturing Gods omnipresence. He dwells everywhere. He is high above everything that man can see or imagine. Not only so, but He is in absolute control of the forces of nature. Even in our own self-sophisticated age of science and technology the sea, the rain, the weather all remain uncontrolled by man yet mysteriously under universal laws which defy human comprehension and analyzation. What with all our advances we still are at the mercy of the sea, and floods. Jehovah commands the entire universe and uses it to bring judgment upon His enemies and blessing to His friends.

Zerr: Amo 9:5. God of hosts means he is the God of armies and all other forces that could lie used in proper causes. The touch of His hand when administered in wrath will result in the overthrow of that land or other object that might be touched; will cause it to melt. Flood (“river”) of Egypt is explained at Amo 8:8. Amo 9:6. The leading term in the lexicon definition of stories is, superiority of station, and the statement of the verse means that God is the high and exalted One. Troop is a strained rendering of the original which simply means to bind together as a man would a group of articles that he wanted to handle. The entire first sentence of this verse means that God is as exalted as the highest heaven, and also is strong enough to take possession of all things on the earth. As a specific example of this power, mention is made of the waters of the sea which have been made subject to Him more than once (Exo 14:16-31; Jon 1:4; Jon 1:15 : Mat 8:26-27).

Questions

1. Where was the Lord standing when Amos saw Him?

2. What are the capitals God commanded to be smashed?

3. Where is Sheol?

4. What is the serpent of the sea?

5. Where are the chambers which God builds in the heavens?

6. What is the vault upon the earth?

7. What is Amos purpose in all his figurative language?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The final vision was of judgment executed. In this there was no symbol, no sign. We hear the manifesto of Jehovah Himself. It is one of the most awe-inspiring visions of the whole Bible.

The message proceeded in two phases. First, announcement of judgment, irrevocable and irresistible; second, announcement of the procedure as reasonable and discriminative. Jehovah is seen standing by the altar, declaring the stroke of destruction to be inevitable, and all attempts at escape futile, because He has proceeded to act. While the judgment is to be reasonable and discriminative, the claims in which Israel had trusted were nothing. They became as children of Ethiopians. Philistines and Syrians had also been led by God. The eyes of Jehovah were on the sinful kingdom. The sifting process must go forward, but no grain of wheat should perish. The phrase “in that day” indicates the closing message of restoration, and all that is to precede it.

It is now declared that the reason of the divine judgment is not revenge, but the only way in which it is possible to usher in the restored order on which the heart of God is set. The process of restoration is described as threefold. First, preliminary: “I will raise up . . . that they may possess”; second: progressive, “I will bring again the captivity . . . they shall build the waste cities . . . Plant vineyards . . . make gardens”; finally, permanent: “I will plant them . . . they shall no more be plucked up.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Day of Restoration

Amo 9:1-15

The guilty will certainly be punished. If they enter the sacred place of worship, even that will not shelter them, Amo 9:1. Flight and concealment will be in vain. Let them climb ever so high, or burrow ever so deep; let them scale the loftiest hills, or dive into the deepest seas-the consequences of their sins will overtake them, Amo 9:2-3. How can sinners hope to escape from Him whose chambers are built in the heavens and whose voice governs the tides, Amo 9:6? The great desolations of the past prove the exactness and severity of His judgments, Amo 9:7-8. How remarkably Amo 9:9 has been fulfilled? Notwithstanding their scatterings, the Hebrew people have been preserved as a race.

The final paragraph, Amo 9:11-15, is very reassuring. It is a burst of noble anticipation, quoted by the Apostle James, Act 15:14-17. The promises made to Abraham and David are yet to be fulfilled. The derision of their foes, of whom Edom was the ringleader, will be silenced. Through the parted curtain, we descry the golden age of the future. There is a divine plan working to its conclusion, and Israel shall yet come again to the land given to their fathers.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 9

Not A Grain Lost

This final chapter readily divides into two parts. Verses 1 to 10 give the last of the five visions, and Jehovahs recital of the afflictions awaiting Israel in the lands of their wanderings, but with the assurance that not a grain of His wheat shall be lost. Then, in verses 11-15, as is customary with the prophets, the seer looks on to their restoration to glory and blessing in the last days, when their tribulations shall be forever past, and the nation be saved in the recovered remnant.

The vision has to do, this time, with the house of God. The Lord is seen standing upon, or by, the altar. He commands to smite the lintel, or chapter of the door, that the posts may shake. The fleeing priests and people are devoted to destruction from which there can be no escape (ver. 1). He declares that though they dig into sheol, the world of spirits, or attempt to climb to the heavens, His hand will find them out. They might hide themselves on the top of lofty Carmel, or in the depths of the sea, but they should not escape the judgment their sins deserved. Even when in captivity among their enemies, He would send a sword after them, and set His eyes on them for evil, and not for good (vers. 2-4). Such was the vision: Amos uses it as a text in the following verses. He describes the might of the God they had contemned, and calls on nature to witness to His power and wisdom. At His touch the land melts and the dwellers therein mourn. He spreads the clouds over the heavens, and pours the rain upon the earth. Jehovah is His name (vers. 5, 6). Who, then, can withstand such a God, or who could expect to prosper who despised Him? Israels special privileges would not avail now. They were no more deserving than others. In nothing were they superior to the Ethiopians. The same One who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt had brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir. In His eyes, Israel was now but a sinful kingdom even worse than their neighbors. So He would destroy them from off the face of the earth.

Nevertheless He remembered His promise to the fathers, and His word as to the coming Seed must not fail; so He excepts a remnant. He will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (vers. 7, 8). He will sift them among all nations as wheat is sifted in a sieve, but not the least grain shall fall to the ground. Only the sinners of His people will die by the sword, they who said, The evil shall neither overtake nor hinder us (vers. 9, 10). This is the figure the blessed Lord uses when addressing self-confident Peter. He is to go into Satans sieve, but not for final destruction; only that the chaff may be separated from the wheat.

Such shall be the result of Israels sifting among the nations. They are not all Israel that are of Israel; that is, not all that are descended from Jacob are children of faith. Only those who bow to the word of the Lord and believe His testimony are the Israel of God. Upon such, a New Testament apostle invokes peace from God. These will be the wheat that will be preserved for the coming kingdom.

In that day, Davids tabernacle, long fallen, will be again reared up, and the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt and raised up on the old ruins. Then shall restored Israel possess the land of Edom, and all the saved nations shall own their sway (vers. 11, 12). It is noticeable that this is the scripture quoted by James in the 15th chapter of Acts to justify the call of the Gentiles, though there is probably more in his use of it than that. It harmonizes perfectly with the thought of grace going out to the nations. It also shows that after the present work of God in taking out from among the Gentiles a people for His name is completed, the Lord will turn His hand once more to Israel, and raise up the tabernacle of David, fulfilling all the promises made through the prophets (Act 15:16, 17).

In that glorious restoration period, Palestine shall once more be under cultivation, and made to rejoice and blossom as the rose. The captivity of Israel will be settled in their own patrimony. The waste cities shall be rebuilt and inhabited. Vineyards and gardens shall flourish, and God Himself shall plant His chosen people in the land given to their fathers and confirmed by His oath; and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land, to which He shall restore them, but shall dwell there under the beneficent sway of the Lord Jesus Christ. The words, Saith the Lord thy God, abruptly close the book. He has spoken, and He will perform His word for His own names sake.

20 The writer passed through the California earthquake of April 18, 1906, and was an eye-witness of its horrors. Not the least solemn thing noticed was the persistent efforts of the preachers of all denominations to quiet the fears of the populace by assuring them that God had no part in the calamitous events that had taken place. Natural causes explained everything! This the Christless were only too ready to believe; and thus were their partially awakened consciences lulled to rest and their ears closed against the voice of Him who through Amos said, I have overthrown some of you!

From vers. 11 and 12 of this chapter, it was my solemn opportunity to press the truth upon many at that time, and not altogether, I trust, without fruit; but the day will declare it.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Amo 9:2-4

What a variety, what a reduplication of expression in order to represent as utterly impossible that the parties who are here threatened could escape the vengeance of their God! It matters not where they might be, or whither they might betake themselves, the agency of vengeance is always close at hand. These words assert to us the greatness, the certainty, the ubiquity of Divine vengeance.

I. Consider the text as illustrated in the case of the Jews. If it were specially in the destruction of Jerusalem that these threatenings were accomplished, it is easy to show that at the same time, as well before as after, vengeance, as though by a kind of natural instinct, seized on the Jews wheresoever they were found. The history of the Jews, since their exile from Jerusalem, has been a history of fierce wrongs, disgraceful to the nations of the earth, of extortion, contempt, hatred, cruelty; the history of a people which every other seemed anxious to exterminate, or to preserve only that they might oppress. The serpent and the sword seemed to start forth wheresoever the exiles were found.

II. The text has reference to all men as well as to the Jews. In the kind of instinct with which vengeance has appeared to follow the exiles of Judea; in the mysterious but indissoluble association between themselves and suffering; we have but the picture of what has been universally appointed to the exiles from paradise. They may cross the ocean and ascend the mountain and dive into the cavern, but can never hide themselves from conscience, which, armed with fearful powers, is always ready to put on them the stamp of offenders, and to exact from them some of the penalties of offence. The commission of sin seems to produce the ministry of vengeance; its cry is heard as soon as the guilty pleasure has been enjoyed.

III. The words of the text may be applied to the second coming of Christ. The scenery of the last dread assize is brought into every district, yea, into every household of the world; and it does not sweep the earth of its inhabitants and gather them confusedly into one court of judicature, but it spreads that court of judicature over the whole earth; so that wheresoever a man is found, there is the white throne reared, there are the books opened, and there is the trumpet sounded.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,541.

References: Amo 9:7-10.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 330. Amo 9:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 825; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 172. Amo 9:11-15.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 331. Amo 9:13.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 296. Amo 9:13.-Ibid., vol. viii., No. 466; F. Hastings, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 261. Amos.-R. Smith, Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iv., pp. 535, 599, 673, 727.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 9

The Passing of a Kingdom and the Coming of the Kingdom

1. The fifth vision: The passing of a kingdom (Amo 9:1-10)

2. The coming of the kingdom (Amo 9:11-15)

Amo 9:1-10. In his fifth vision the prophet saw the Lord standing by the altar. He utters His word. The description of what is to take place is very vivid. He stands by the altar and the people are assembled before Him. He smites the lintel of the door, so that everything trembles and the building falls upon them, cutting all of them in the head and none can escape. Even if they break into sheol (not hell, but the world of spirits in the unknown regions), from thence His hand will take them; if they climb into heaven, He would bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel He would search for them and take them out. If they conceal themselves from His sight in the bottom of the sea, He would command the serpent to bite them. It is to be an all consuming judgment with no possibility of escape.

Even as they went into captivity the sword of judgment would follow them. Thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them; and I will set Mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. He is the Lord who has all power to do this (Amo 9:5-6). They had degraded themselves down to the level of the heathen nations, hence they were unto Him like the Ethiopians. Then He calls them the sinful kingdom. This kingdom is to pass away from the face of the earth, there is no hope for its restoration. But the Lord in mercy promises that the house of Jacob is not utterly to be destroyed. In His own time He will assemble the outcasts of Israel with dispersed Judah and lead them back to their land. In the meantime they will be sifted among all nations, as wheat is sifted in a sieve, but not the least grain shall fall on the ground. The sinners of His people will die by the sword.

Amo 9:11-15. While the sinful kingdom, the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, is passed away and will never come into existence again, there is another kingdom which will come, into which Judah and Israel will be gathered with the nations of the earth. This kingdom of heaven, promised to David, is now announced by the prophet. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. This prophecy is quoted by James in Act 15:15-16 at the first great church council held in Jerusalem. On that occasion the Holy Spirit used the prophecy of Amos to unfold the program of God concerning the future. Yet there is no church council, no general conference, general assembly or general association which reckons in any way with that which the Spirit of God has laid down as the program of the future. We learn from the passage in Acts that during this age the Gentiles are visited to gather out from among them a people for His Name (the Church). When this is accomplished the Lord returns, and, as a result of His return, the restoration of the tabernacle of David takes place: that is, the kingdom will be restored to His people, the kingdom of heaven comes and the Lord Jesus Christ will be enthroned as its king upon the throne of David. Then the conversion of the world will take place.

This is seen here in the passage before us. Amo 9:12 tells us that when the tabernacle of David is raised up, when that day has come, His people restored and saved will possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations. The last three verses of the prophecy of Amos describe the millennium in its earthly blessings. It also shows the permanent blessing and glory into which redeemed and restored Israel has entered, They shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

standing

The position of the Lord (Adonai) is significant. The altar speaks properly of mercy because of judgement executed upon an interposed sacrifice, but when altar and sacrifice are despised the altar becomes a place of judgment. Cf. Joh 12:31.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

I saw: 2Ch 18:18, Isa 6:1, Eze 1:28, Joh 1:18, Joh 1:32, Act 26:13, Rev 1:17

upon: Amo 3:14, Eze 9:2, Eze 10:4

Smite: Isa 6:3, Isa 6:4, Zec 11:1, Zec 11:2

lintel: or, chapiter, or knop

cut them: or, wound them, in the head. Psa 68:21, Hab 3:13

shall not flee: Amo 2:14, Amo 2:15, Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18, Isa 30:16, Jer 48:44

Reciprocal: Exo 14:25 – Let us flee Jos 10:18 – General 1Sa 5:9 – the hand 2Ki 18:10 – they took it Job 11:20 – they shall not escape Job 20:24 – flee from Job 27:22 – he would fain flee Isa 9:14 – will cut Isa 17:3 – fortress Jer 4:29 – shall flee Jer 11:11 – which Jer 16:16 – every mountain Jer 25:35 – the shepherds Jer 42:16 – that the sword Jer 46:6 – not Jer 49:8 – dwell Jer 52:8 – General Lam 1:3 – all Lam 2:22 – my terrors Lam 4:19 – they pursued Eze 11:8 – General Eze 15:7 – they shall Eze 17:21 – all his fugitives Eze 21:24 – ye shall Hos 8:1 – the house Hos 13:8 – as a Hos 13:16 – Samaria Amo 4:12 – thus Amo 5:19 – As if Amo 6:11 – the Lord Mic 2:3 – from Mic 6:14 – and thou Zep 1:12 – that I Zep 2:14 – upper lintels Zec 5:8 – the weight Mat 24:28 – General Luk 17:37 – wheresoever

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Amo 9:1. As a general comment on this and several verses following, it should be stated that them. and kindred pronouns stand for the people of Israel who have been so unfaithful to God, and who were destined to be punished with exile into a foreign land Idolatry was the predominating corruption of the nation, hence the altar spoken of pertained to that used In the idolatrous worship. The lintel and door were parts of the idols temple and they were to be smitten by the prophet at the commandment of the Lord. Posts may shake signifies that the temple of idolatry was to be overthrown and its worshipers to be scattered. That fleeth . . .. not flee away means that, although the unfaithful idolators attempt to get away from tlie wrath of God they will not succeed. That escapeth , , . not he delivered denotes virtually the same as the preceding statement. Some may escape the immediate capture by the enemy but they will not succeed in the end, for they will be taken into the territory of the foreign foes.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Amo 9:1. I saw Namely, in a vision or ecstasy; the Lord That is, the glory and majesty of the Lord, as Isaiah did, Isa 6:1, or a bright glorious light, indicating the presence of God; standing upon the altar Resting upon, or over the altar. The altar of burnt-offering seems to be meant here, and the glory of God resting upon it to have denoted that his justice demanded the lives of the sinners here spoken of to be cut off. He stands upon the altar, says Henry, to show that the ground of his controversy with this people was their profanation of his holy things: here he stands to avenge the quarrel of his altar; as also to signify, that the sin of the house of Israel, like that of the house of Eli, should not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. And he said To an angel, as Jerome explains it; or rather God here speaks to his peoples enemies, and gives them a commission to destroy them and their temple. Smite the lintel of the door This signified that the temple, which was then represented to the prophet, should be destroyed. Whether this was the temple at Beth-el, or that of Jerusalem, is not quite certain. The Chaldee understands the vision of the kingdom of Judah; if so, the temple at Jerusalem is undoubtedly intended. And even if the vision relates, as most suppose, to the kingdom of Israel, yet still the temple of Jerusalem may be here spoken of, and the scene be laid there, because Israel had forsaken this altar and temple and set up others in opposition to them; and here God, in his jealousy, appears prepared to take vengeance. Possibly, the vision might also be designed to intimate his future departure from Judah too. There Eze 9:2, saw the slaughter-men stand. By the lintel of the door, the chapiter, knop, or ornament that was upon the lintel, is intended, namely, of the door of the gate of the temple, or possibly of the gate that led into the priests court. That the posts may shake The posts were the strength and beauty of the gate, and by these the princes, the door-posts as it were of the nation, are supposed to be represented, as the king is by the lintel of the door. And cut them, wound them deep in the head That is, the people who were represented in the vision as standing in the court of the temple. He says in the head, more fully to signify the destroying of the chief or heads of this sinful people. All of them Spare not one of them; let the destruction be general. And I will slay the last of them That is, their posterity and their families them, and all that remain of them, till it come to the last man. Observe, reader, there is no living for those of whom God hath said, I will slay them; no standing before his sword. He that fleeth of them shall not flee away That is, shall not escape. He that escapeth of them shall not be delivered That is, he that escapeth in battle, or escapes one or two, or even several judgments, shall, nevertheless, not escape finally; but shall fall in some other way, or be made captive. The greatest precaution, and the highest station in life, will not avail a man any thing when God is resolved to punish. This is intended for a warning to all that provoke the Lord to jealousy: let sinners read it and tremble. As there is no fighting it out with God, so there is no fleeing from him. His judgments, when they come with commission, as they will overpower the strongest, who think to withstand them, so they will overtake the swiftest, who think to outrun them.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Amo 9:1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar in Jerusalem, as in Isa 6:1, and Eze 9:3. Here the prophet heard the awful words, that God would hunt the idolaters from all their hiding places. The sword of the Assyrians pursued them down to Egypt.

Amo 9:2. Though they dig into hell; the deep places of the earth, where they often hid themselves from the devouring sword. 1Sa 14:11.

Amo 9:3. Though they hide in the woods and caves of Carmel, the Chaldeans and the Assyrians shall hunt them out.

Though they be hid in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command ha-nachish, the serpent, and he shall bite them. This is rendered by the LXX, dragons, and is often understood of the larger species of serpents: but here, I think, such rendering to be erroneous. The ancients were deficient in their acquaintance with natural history. The dragon or crocodile, and leviathan or whale, are quite distinct from the nachish, which inhabits the bottom of the sea. The sea-serpent, though unknown to the elder critics, was known to Amos the prophet; and since his time it has often been seen. It has been repeatedly observed on the Norwegian coast. About the year 1825, the fisher-men near the Delaware, in the United States, had their nets destroyed by two sea-serpents; and being encouraged by the people on shore, they went out again with proper hooks and chains, and succeeded in taking one of the two, nearly fifty feet in length, and about five feet in circumference. But as no scientific description has reached us, we must suspend our belief.

On this subject, the terrific lines of Virgil seem in perfect unison with the ideas of the prophet.

Ecce autem gemini Tenedo tranquilla per alta (Horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues Incumbunt pelago, pariterque ad litora tendunt: Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, jubque Sanguine exuperant undas; pars ctera pontum Pon legit, sinuatque immensa volumine terga. Fit sonitus spumante salo: jamque arva tenebant, Ardentesque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni, Sibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora. NEID. 2:203.

When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spied Two serpents, ranked abreast, the seas divide, And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide, Their flaming crests above the waves they show; Their bellies seem to burn the seas below:

Their speckled tails advance to steer their course, And on the sounding shores their billows force. And now the strand, and now the plain, they held; Their ardent eyes with blood streaks are filled; Their nimble tongues they brandished as they came, And licked their hissing jaws that sputtered flame.

Amo 9:7. Are ye not as children of Ethiopia unto me? Black in moral character as the skin of the Ethiopians. So in Eze 16:3 : Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. The Hebrew claims of divine paternity were lost by idolatry.

Amo 9:11. I will raise up the tabernacle of Davidand will build it as in the days of old. Chrysostom and other ancient fathers understood this of our Lords resurrection, or the restoration of his fleshly tabernacle, to ascend and reign in his spiritual kingdom. But it seems rather to refer to the conversion of the jews, and their restoration to the promised land, the heritage of their fathers, where the Lord will deliver them from surrounding foes, and once more pitch his tabernacle among them.

An apostle however applies this prophecy, in the first instance, to the rebuilding of the spiritual temple by the conversion of the gentiles, and their incorporation with the believing seed of Abraham, so as to become a habitation of God through the Spirit. Act 15:16-17. The exaltation of Christ was to be distinguished by this great event, and much of the wisdom of God may be seen in it; it was like opening the prison doors on the day of a public coronation, that encreasing multitudes might participate in the general joy. The conversion of the gentiles after the day of pentecost afforded a specimen of the spiritual nature of Christs kingdom; and their release from the bonds of heathen darkness would show that it was to be a reign of mercy. Before the coming of Christ the blessings of salvation were chiefly confined to the jews; now they are conferred on the poor benighted gentiles, and are to be extended to all the ends of the earth. At the same time we are here reminded that all this mercy is contained in a promise of honour and glory to Christ, in raising up the tabernacle of David which had fallen down, and building it again as in the days of old. All the mercy promised to sinful men is promised in reward of Christs obedience; this is Gods way of showing mercy, and it must be ours in seeking it. Let us pray that the tabernacle of David may be built up, and still more extensively: in the success of Christs cause we shall find our own spiritual prosperity.

REFLECTIONS.

We see how impossible it is for sinners to escape the judgments of God. We have here a noble and solemn description of his universal presence and irresistible power, and of his determination to punish all his enemies. How dreadful then is the case of those, who have the eyes of God against them for evil. There is no place to which they can escape from his notice, or where they can shun his avenging hand. Stand therefore in awe, and sin not.

We are here taught Gods esteem for his people, and the care which he takes of them. Though he may sift them among all nations, and bring distressing judgments upon them, he will not permit the least grain to fall to the earth; not one of his faithful servants shall be lost. He will defend them in the day of evil, or if they suffer with others, they shall not be destroyed. His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor; but the precious grain shall all be preserved.

Let us rejoice in the fulfilling of this prophecy. Gods name is called upon by the heathen, the kingdom of Christ is established among them; and we in this nation have been led to seek the Lord, and are become a part of his people. There is still hope therefore, concerning the restoration and the conversion of the jews. Let it be our prayer that God would bring them into his church and favour again, and give his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Amo 9:1-8. The Vision of an Avenging God.The last vision impresses upon Amos the anger and omnipotence of the supreme ruler and judge. Yahweh is seen (Amo 9:1) stationed by or over the altar (i.e. of Bethel) or over an altar. The agents of His vengeance are bidden by the prophet to smite the Temple. The command goes forth to cut them (the pillars) off at the top of all of them. Those who escape the shattering of the Temple (the last of them) will fall by the sword. There will be no escape for them either in the superhuman heights and depths (Amo 9:2) or in the terrestrial thickets and caves of the almost inaccessible heights of Carmel (Amo 9:3), or in the bottom of the sea. The serpent, that terrible monster which was supposed to have its home in the sea (cf. Gen 12:1, Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9 f.), will rout them out there and bite them, even if they could escape the eye of Yahweh. This time not even captivity (Amo 9:4) will serve as a substitute for death. For Yahwehs kindly regard for His people is to give place to relentless punishment. There follows (Amo 9:5 f.) a kind of doxology (cf. Amo 4:13, Amo 5:8 f.), which hardly suits its present context and is held by many scholars to be a later addition. Yahweh, the God of Hosts, it is who by a touch convulses the earth (Amo 8:8). He is the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the waters of the sea (Amo 9:6). The usual interpretation of the next verse (Amo 9:7; see Driver and Kent) makes Yahweh say that Israelites, Ethiopians, Philistines, and Aramans are all equal in Gods sight. This is too beautiful and evangelic (Horton) to be the correct interpretation (cf. especially Amo 3:2). A more plausible interpretation is offered by Ehrlich. Yahweh says, Are ye not (in your behaviour) to me like Cushites? In other words, your apostasy has become second nature. You can as little change your ways as the Ethiopian can change his skin. The rest of the verse may then be explained thus: You think I am bound to you by a covenant that cannot be annulled. But have I not brought also the Philistines from Caphtor (Egyptian Keftiu, Crete and the whole of the neighbouring district; see Macalister, Philistines) and the Aramans from Kir? The last clause of Amo 9:8 would seem to have been added by a later scribe.

Amo 9:5. For the Lord, the God of Hosts: take this, with Ehrlich, as the subject to Yahweh is his name (Amo 9:6), all that intervenes being a description of the subject.and it shall rise up wholly like the River (cf. Amo 8:8): Riessler would read ka-yor kilayim (cf. Bab. killaln, Ar. kil), and it shall rise up like the Double River, i.e. the Euphrates-Tigris.

Amo 9:6. his vault: i.e. the vault of the heavens. But the word might be translated his band (phalanx), as in 2Sa 2:25. So Ehrlich, who thinks that the reference is to the earthly elements, of which one, water, is mentioned immediately.

Amo 9:7. and the Syrians from Kir: cf. Amo 1:5*. For from Kir (mik-kr) Riessler would read from Haran (mi-rn; Haran in Mesopotamia, cf. Gen 11:31).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

9:1 I saw the Lord standing upon the {a} altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the {b} head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

(a) Which was at Jerusalem: for he did not appear in the idolatrous places of Israel.

(b) Both the most important of them, and also the common people.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Yahweh’s inescapable punishment 9:1-4

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

In the final vision that Amos recorded, he saw Yahweh standing beside an altar. The altar at Bethel is probably in view since Bethel was the worship site in view in most of this book and since Amos’ encounter with Amaziah occurred there (Amo 7:10-17). Another possibility is that any and every Israelite shrine might be in view. [Note: Ellison, p. 68.] The Lord gave a command that someone (an angel?) would strike the capitals that supported the roof of the temple there with such force that its foundation stones would shake and the whole structure would fall down (cf. Jdg 16:29-30; Isa 6:4; Eze 40:6). The Lord also said He would slay with the sword the rest of the priests and worshippers who survived being killed by the collapse of the temple. No one would escape with his or her life.

"The temple was not a literal temple, for the collapse of such a building would affect only a few. Rather it represents the religion of the northern kingdom, which, in the end, brought about the destruction of its adherents. The decay of the social structure that resulted from their cold externalism could lead only to national ruin. The gross sin of idolatry could lead only to judgment." [Note: McComiskey, p. 327.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

2. NEMESIS

Amo 9:1-6

There follows a Vision in Bethel, the opening of which, “I saw the Lord,” immediately recalls the great inauguration of Isaiah. He also “saw the Lord”; but how different the Attitude, how other the Word! To the statesman-prophet the Lord is enthroned, surrounded by the court of heaven; and though the temple rocks to the intolerable thunder of their praise, they bring to the contrite man beneath the consciousness of a lifelong mission. But to Amos the Lord is standing and alone-to this lonely prophet God is always alone-and His message may be summed up in its initial word, “Smite.” There-Government: hierarchies of service, embassies, clemencies, healings, and though at first devastation, thereafter the indestructible hope of a future. Here-Judgment: that Figure of Fate which terrors fascinated eye ever sees alone; one final blow and irreparable ruin. And so, as with Isaiah we saw how constructive, prophecy may be, with Amos we behold only the preparatory havoc, the leveling and clearing of the ground of the future.

“I have seen the Lord standing over the Altar, and He said, Smite the capital”-of the pillar” that the” very “thresholds quake, and break them on the head of all of them!” It is a shock that makes the temple reel from roof-tree to basement. The vision seems subsequent to the prophets visit to Bethel; and it gathers his whole attack on the national worship into one decisive and irreparable blow. “The last of them will I slay with the sword: there shall not flee away of them one fugitive: there shall not escape of them a” single “survivor!” Neither hell nor heaven, mountain-top nor sea-bottom, shall harbor one of them. “If they break through to Sheol, thence shall My hand take them; and if they climb to heaven, thence shall I bring them down. If they hide in Carmels top, thence will I find them out and fetch them; and if they conceal themselves from before Mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, thence shall I charge the Serpent and he shall bite them; and if they go into captivity before their foes”-to Israel as terrible a distance from Gods face as Sheol itself! “thence will I charge the sword and it shall slay them; and I will set Mine eye upon them for evil and not for good.”

It is a ruder draft of the Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Psalm; but the Divine Pursuer is Nemesis, and not Conscience.

“And the Lord, Jehovah of the Hosts; Who toucheth the earth and it melteth, and all its inhabitants mourn, and it rises like the Nile, all of it” together, “and sinks like the Nile of Egypt; Who buildeth His stories in the heavens, and His vault on the earth He foundeth; Who calleth to the waters of the sea and poureth them forth on the face of the earth-Jehovah” of Hosts “is His Name.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary