1<\/strong>. the whole family<\/em> ] The expression used includes naturally Judah, though, as the context shews, Amos is practically thinking only of Israel. For family<\/em>, used in the sense of a whole people, cf. Amo 3:2<\/em><\/span>; Jer 8:3<\/span>; Mic 2:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n Amos, like Hosea, rebukes Israel directly, Judah indirectly. He had warned each nation separately. Now, ere he concentrates himself on Israel, he sums up what he had before said to Judah and in the Person of God. Ye have been alike in My gifts to you, alike in your waste of them and your sins; alike ye shall be in your punishment. What was said to Israel was said also to Judah: what was directed first to the former people, belongs to us, the later. What Jesus said to the Apostles, He said also to the Church, and to single souls, What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch Mar 13:37<\/span>.<\/P> Hear ye this word – <\/B>With that solemn threefold call, so frequent in the Old Testament, he summons them thrice Amo 3:1<\/span>; Amo 4:1<\/span>; Amo 5:1<\/span>, as in the Name of the Holy Trinity, to hear Gods words. : The prophet, at the outset of the chapter, rouses the hearers to anxious consideration. For the words of the most High God are to be heard, not with a superficial, unawed, wandering mind, but with reverence, fear, and love.<\/P> That the Lord hath spoken against – <\/B>(and upon) you, (coming down from heaven Heb 12:25<\/span>, both upon and against them) the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt To Abraham God had said, in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed Gen 12:3<\/span>. So now, in withdrawing that blessing from them. He takes it away from them, family by family Zec 12:12<\/span>. He includes them, one and all, and Judah also, since all had been brought out of Egypt.<\/P> <\/p>\n Amo 3:1-8<\/span><\/p>\n You only have I known of all the families of the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sin in the highly-favoured<\/strong><\/p>\n This is shameful ingratitude. The honour and blessing conferred on the Israelites gave the stain of ingratitude to every act of transgression of which they were guilty. It is direct rebellion. You only have I known, so as to reveal to you My will. Iniquity in you is disobedience to express commands, revolt against My authority. It is a dishonour offered to God. The privilege of being called after the name of God brings with it the danger of profaning that name by transgression. The nearer in privilege, the nearer we are to judgment. Distinguished blessings are leading to distinguished reward, or to distinguished punishment.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>We are taught here that the providence of God prepares good and evil for man. View what are called common mercies in their origin, and understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Evil is also prepared for the sinner, in the sense of calamity, judgment.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>We are taught by the prophets vindication of the doctrine of a special providence to be very earnest when affliction comes in, working together with God, that it may do us good. Remember that God intended that sorrow to come as it did come, and when it did come.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>When the trumpet of Gods Word is sounded by His ministers, let us give heed to the note of warning or exhortation.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>When there is evil in the land, let us with reverence acknowledge the hand of God.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>The Lord revealeth His secret to His servants the prophets.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> He does this by giving them spiritual apprehension of the truths of His Holy Word, causes them to see terror in the threatenings thereof, sweetness in its promises, duty in its precepts.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Nothing is coming upon man that has not been revealed.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> The Holy Spirit directs the thoughts and words of His ministering servants, so as best to suit the particular need of those whom they address. At all times the sincere preaching of the Word may be expected to give offence. See how dangerous is the conduct of those who despise, oppose, revile, and persecute men of God for telling them plain truth with faithfulness and honesty. See where the true strength of a faithful dispenser of Gods Word lies. The strength of the servant lies in his conviction that he is doing his Masters will. (Vincent W. Ryan, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Elected for what?<\/strong><\/p>\n Here was this desert prophet, with keen, prayer-washed eyes, piercing through the shows of things to the unclean realities behind. He disinterred the moral corruption that lurked behind their whited professions. What answer did the people make to this rude child of the desert? He stood there, rude in speech and in dress, despised by the official priest, a mere field-preacher, proclaiming to the grandees of the metropolis that the moral corruption of the people was eating away the vital elements of the national strength and that in galloping consumption they were hastening on to a terrible and fatal retribution. What answer did they make? They fell back upon their belief in God. Their reply to the herdman was found in their doctrine of providence. What was that doctrine? It was this: <\/strong>Their nation was the favourite of the Lord. They were hedged about with peculiar sanctities. We only are known unto the Lord. Only between us and the Lord is there the intercourse which implies security. Thy threats, O Amos, are as noisy nothings. They are meaningless and terrorless. Such was the refuge in which the people found their security. We are the children of privilege. Privilege implies favour. Favour guarantees security. Such was their doctrine of election, and I am not altogether sure that their doctrine is banished from the minds of all men to-day. Now let us mark the answer of the Lord through the mouth of His prophet. We have heard the false doctrine of election; now let us hear the true doctrine which is enshrined in the words of our text. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: <\/strong>therefore–note the swift, piercing logic–therefore I will punish you. The false doctrine ran thus–You only have I known: <\/strong>therefore I will indulge you. The true doctrine culminates in fire–You only have I known: <\/strong>therefore I will punish you. You only have I known–I marked you out for special office. I appointed you to discharge a special function. I elected you to special service. But the office has been prostituted. The function has been ignored. The service has been despised. Therefore I will punish you. I singled you out from among men, that all men through you might be blessed. But ye have defiled your mission, and, instead of being a centre of saving health, ye have become a noisome pestilence. That is the expression of a Divine method of government which prevails in all time. Election does not mean security. Security is dependent upon the discharge of the duty which election creates. There is an aristocracy of the election, a chosen few, and these are they who have fulfilled the obligations of their election, and are therefore qualified to enter into the peace and joy of their Lord. Election therefore does not, in the first place, create security. It creates responsibility, and my security or insecurity depends upon the manner in which that responsibility is regarded. There is nothing which can ensure the protecting presence of the Most High God except moral agreement. Can two walk together . . .? cries the prophet in the verse which follows my text. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? If there is to be helpful and intimate companionship between two people, there must be profound agreement, and if I am to enjoy the companionship of the great God, with all that that companionship means of consoling and sheltering grace, if God and I are to walk together, we must be agreed, and my part of the agreement must be faithful and unconditional obedience to all His revealed will. Election; the prophet declared that it could only be found in the fact of obedience. They had been elected to duty; not in the election, but in the duty would they find the defences which are as invulnerable ramparts against their foes. Election means selection to service. The Lords specialities are for the sake of generalities. An individual is elected that he may serve a nation. A nation is elected that she may serve a race. A call is not a self-securing privilege; it is the entrustment of an office. To evade my responsibility is to destroy my defences, and to bring down swift retribution from God. You only have I known: <\/strong>therefore I will punish you. Election, then, means selection for special service. This doctrine of election is here applied to nations. Certain nations are specially known by God. He whispers to them peculiar secrets, that they may proclaim them upon the house-tops to the nations of the world. Greece was specially known by God. The warm breath of the Lord came upon her people, and endowed her with that exquisite sense of the beautiful which has made her distinguished among all the nations of time. She revelled in the joy of perception, and exulted in the creation of lovely forms. God opened her eyes to the holiness of beauty, and gave her a mission to the race. And the Gentiles have come to her light. All the nations go to Greece to school. We go to the treasury of her graces for our own adornments. The Lord God elected her by special endowment, that by her election she might serve a race. Rome was specially known by God. She was His own handiwork. He fashioned her into special aptitude, giving her the endowment of a peculiar passion for order, a genius for polity, government, and empire. He breathed into her life the instinct of law, and by the speciality of her election He determined the speciality of her mission. And the Gentiles have come to her light. The foundations of modern jurisprudence are laid in ancient Rome. She has been the schoolmistress to all the nations. Israel was specially known by God. He breathed into her life a special genius for religion, a rare instinct for the Unseen and Eternal. To her He whispered the sublime truth of the unity of God and the august verities of the moral law. And the Gentiles have come to her light. Just as beauty is of the Greeks, and law of the Romans, so salvation is of the Jews! Israel was exalted, as a city set upon a hill, that the light of revelation might shine out upon the nation, yea, even upon them that were afar off. May it not be that the Lord has held secret communion with every nation, and whispered to her some peculiar message which makes her life distinctive and unique? It is along this line that I can travel with the least trembling when I contemplate the appalling divisions which distract the race. I gain some assurance from a broad application of this doctrine of election. Each nation has been specially elected. All nations are dependent upon each; each is dependent upon all. Because of the Divine distribution of gifts absolute severance is impossible. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: <\/strong>nor, again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Each nation is specially known of God, specially elected to unique and individual service. In this doctrine of the election of nations, which is an election to mutual service, and which entails mutual dependence, I base my hope of the ultimate practical comity of nations, and the realised brotherhood of the race. But now let us apply the prophets doctrine to the life of the individual, as we have applied it to the life of the nation. The prophets doctrine is this–election is not election to security, except through the discharge of obligation. Election is election to the service of o hers. How many of us, then, have been elected? Are there any exempt from the election? We are all known, all elected, all called–for the election is a call to individual faithfulness, and our response will determine whether the election shall issue in sunshine or in fire. Each life has its own peculiar mission. God appoints for each a special and individual task. My mission is my election. I may not know what my mission is. That matters not. God knows. My part is to discharge the duty that lies nearest, and then the next, and the next, and the next, and God will guide and control the connected purpose and mission. How can I turn the election into a glad consciousness of protecting providence and eternal security? By a spirit of obedience. By faithfulness in that which is least. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Humiliation under Gods chastisement<\/strong><\/p>\n We enjoy great and peculiar privileges as a people. Religious light; civil liberty; public credit; individual exertions; private wealth; national power; commercial prosperity. Let us not forget that privilege involves responsibility. The very adoption of sons carries with it the certainty of fatherly correction; for what son is there whom the father chasteneth not? We must be prepared to expect that, as there are occasions where a fathers love is manifested in the correction of his child, and the affection that he feels is expressed by the chastisement he applies, so there are times when the same necessity may compel God to adopt a different mode of treatment from that which He generally employs, and to prove the love that He feels for His children by the judgments that He brings upon them. Nothing seems more natural, nothing more probable, than that a period of great scientific advancement, and of great commercial prosperity, should be a season of great forgetfulness of God. There are multitudes who habitually forget their dependence on God; who form their plans, pursue their inquiries, calculate their gains, without reference to Him. If punishment is to begin, where can it begin so appropriately as in noticing that forgetfulness of God which seems to be the sin that doth most, easily beset us; and in teaching us the humbling but unwelcome truth of our entire dependence on God? In time of national distress, let us pray, as Elijah prayed; and as his prayers prevailed for the people, when the people had avowed their allegiance to God, so let us hope that the prayer of faith shall still maintain its character, and that to an humbled, penitent, and believing people the blessing will never be refused. (Henry Raikes, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Gods alarm to Great Britain<\/strong><\/p>\n In this chapter we have a denunciation of judgments against Israel, together with the grounds and reasons of it. Notice–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The special regard God had to His people. It is as if He should say, My heart has been set upon you, My thoughts of kindness have been peculiarly towards and concerning you.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The awful visitation which even Gods regard to them engaged Him to bring upon them. <\/em>Therefore <\/em>I will punish you. As to Israelites indeed, though God visits their iniquities with temporal judgments, it is with a design of love and of advantage to their souls. 3: <\/strong>The ground and reason of this, and that was their iniquities. I will punish you for all your iniquities.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Our temporal mercies, which purely relate to the things of this life.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Our mercies with regard to religious concerns, and to spiritual and eternal blessings.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Our provocations are exceeding great.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The honour of God, as the great Governor of the world, is concerned to show His righteous resentment against a professing people that are guilty of such exceeding high provocations.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The threatenings of Gods Word give us reason to fear His bringing judgments upon us.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>The examples God has made of other communities, and particularly of His professing people, for their iniquities, may justly raise our fears of His doing the same by us.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>God has already taken up a controversy with us.<\/p>\n National privileges<\/strong><\/p>\n A <\/em>nations guilt and punishment are graduated according to the scale of its privileges.<\/p>\n Privilege and punishment<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Because theirs was no common sin. The clearest light, the richest mercy, the strongest warnings, the most awful threatenings failed to deter them from wandering into forbidden paths. Punishment is proportioned to privilege. Can we wonder, then, that Divine indignation should be kindled against those who multiplied trangressions?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It was necessary that God should vindicate His own character. He had taught them by warning and example how deeply He hated sin. The story of Achan, the history of the spies, the fate of the whole congregation of Israel showed that the wrath of God was revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>To a certain extent the punishment was remedial. God hoped to awaken the people from the stupor into which sin had thrown them. (J. Telford, B. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A specially blest people<\/strong><\/p>\n Now it is a fact that some men are far more highly favoured by heaven than others. Some have more health, some more riches, some more intellect, some more friendships, some more means of spiritual improve ment.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Agreement with God is essential to the well-being of all intelligent existences. No spirit in the universe can be happy without thorough harmony with the will and mind of God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The condition of all sinners is that of hostility to the will of God. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n CHAPTER III <\/P> This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in<\/I><\/P> general<\/I>, 1, 2;<\/P> and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was<\/I><\/P> Samaria. Thee prophet assures them that, while they were at<\/I><\/P> variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect<\/I><\/P> his presence or favour<\/I>, 3-8.<\/P> Other neighbouring nations are then called upon to take warning<\/I><\/P> from the judgments about to be inflicted upon the house of<\/I><\/P> Israel, which would be so general that only a small remnant<\/I><\/P> should escape them<\/I>, 9-15.<\/P> The image used by the prophet on this occasion,<\/I> (see Am 3:12<\/span>,)<\/P> and borrowed from his former calling, is very natural and<\/I><\/P> significant, and not a little dignified by the inspired<\/I><\/P> writer’s lofty air and manner.<\/I> <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. III<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. Against the whole family<\/B><\/I>] That is, all, both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In this all the twelve<\/I> tribes are included.<\/P> <\/p>\n Hear, <\/B>with ear and mind, consider it well, for this is to hear indeed. <\/P> This word, <\/B>which is spoken, and the thing decreed too, of God. <\/P> The Lord hath spoken; <\/B>the Lord, who did show you greatest kindness, and whom you have repaid with greatest ingratitude, the everlasting God, who changeth not, hath determined and declared his determinate purpose; against you; or to, or concerning; for if menaces are words against them, yet advice, exhortations, and promises are to, and concerning, those to whom they are spoken. <\/P> O children of Israel; <\/B>subjects of Jeroboam the Second, now king of the ten tribes. <\/P> Against the whole family:<\/B> and let the two tribes consider too how far they are concerned in the prophets reproving for sin, calling to repent of sin, and threatening it they do not repent. <\/P> Brought up from the land of Egypt:<\/B> see Amo 2:10<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 1. children of Israel<\/B>notmerely the ten tribes, but “the whole family<\/I> brought upfrom Egypt”; all the descendants of Jacob, including Judah andBenjamin. Compare Jer 8:3<\/span>;Mic 2:3<\/span>, on “family”for the nation. However, as the prophecy following refers to the tentribes, they<\/I> must be chiefly, if not solely, meant: they werethe majority of the nation; and so Amos concedes what they so oftenboasted, that they were the elect people of God [CALVIN],but<\/I> implies that this only heightens their sins.<\/P><\/p>\n Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel<\/strong>,…. The prophecy against Israel begins in the preceding chapter, where notice is taken of their sins, at least some of them, and of their aggravated circumstances, and sure destruction; and here they are called upon to hearken and listen to what the Lord by his prophet had spoken, and was about to speak unto them; and to “receive” this word, as the Targum; to receive it as the word of God, and not men, and with all humility and reverence; and to take it, and apply it to themselves, to whom it justly belonged; and to make a proper use and improvement of it by humiliation and reformation. A word this was,<\/p>\n against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt<\/strong>; it was but a family that went down into Egypt, and, though it greatly increased there, it was no more when it was brought up from thence: a family under the peculiar care of Jehovah, as the bringing them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, when greatly distressed there, abundantly shows; and which was a wonderful blessing and favour; and therefore often mentioned, and led on to many other blessings and mercies: a family which was the Lord’s own, and therefore he had a right to chastise and correct them for their sins. It seems by this phrase, “the whole family”, as if the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin were included: though the prophecy seems chiefly intended against the ten tribes, which went by the name of Israel, ever since the breach in Rehoboam’s time, as distinct from Judah;<\/p>\n saying<\/strong>; as follows:<\/p>\n Amo 3:1<\/span> and Amo 3:2<\/span> contain the introduction and the leading thought of the whole of the prophetic proclamation. Amo 3:1<\/span>. “Hear this word which Jehovah speaketh concerning you, O sons of Israel, concerning the whole family which I have brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:<\/em> Amo 3:2<\/span>. You only have I acknowledge of all the families of the earth; therefore will I visit all your iniquities upon you.” <\/em> The word of the Lord is addressed to all the family of Israel, which God had brought up out of Egypt, that is to say, to all the twelve tribes of the covenant nation, although in what follows it is the ten tribes of Israel alone who are primarily threatened with the destruction of the kingdom, to indicate at the very outset that Judah might anticipate a similar fate if it did not turn to its God with sincerity. The threat is introduced by the thought that its divine election would not secure the sinful nation against punishment, but that, on the contrary, the relation of grace into which the Lord had entered with Israel demanded the punishment of all evil deeds. This cuts off the root of all false confidence in divine election. “To whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. The greater the measure of grace, the greater also is the punishment if it is neglected or despised.” This is the fundamental law of the kingdom of God. does not mean to know, to become acquainted with, or to take knowledge of a person (Hitzig), but acknowledge. Acknowledgment on the part of God is not merely taking notice, but is energetic, embracing man in his inmost being, embracing and penetrating with divine love; so that not only includes the idea of love and care, as in Hos 13:5<\/span>, but expresses generally the gracious fellowship of the Lord with Israel, as in Gen 18:19<\/span>, and is practically equivalent to electing, including both the motive and the result of election. And because Jehovah had acknowledged, i.e., had singled out and chosen Israel as the nation best fitted to be the vehicle of His salvation, He must of necessity punish all its misdeeds, in order to purify it from the dross of sin, and make it a holy vessel of His saving grace.<\/p>\n God’s Remonstrance with Israel.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 790.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 Hear this word that the LORD<\/B> hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is<\/I> for him? shall one<\/I> take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD<\/B> hath not done it?<\/I> 7 Surely the Lord GOD<\/B> will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD<\/B> hath spoken, who can but prophesy?<\/P> The scope of these verses is to convince the people of Israel that God had a controversy with them. That which the prophet has to say to them is to let them know that the Lord has something to say against them, v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>. They were his peculiar people above others, knew his name, and were called by it; nevertheless he had something against them,<\/I> and they were called to hear what it was, that they might consider what answer they should make, as the prisoner at the bar is told to hearken to his indictment. The children of Israel<\/I> would not regard the words of counsel and comfort that God had many a time spoken to them, and now they shall be made to hear the word of reproof and threatening that the Lord has spoken against them; for he will act as he has spoken.<\/P> I. Let them know that the gracious cognizance God has taken of them, and the favours he has bestowed upon them, should not exempt them from the punishment due to them for their sins. Israel is a family<\/I> that God brought up out of the land of Egypt,<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>), and it was no more than a family when it went down thither; thence God delivered it; thence he fetched it to be a family to himself. It is not only the ten tribes, the kingdom of Israel, that must take notice of this, but that of Judah also, for it is spoken against the whole family<\/I> that God brought up out of Egypt.<\/I> It is a family that God has bestowed distinguishing favours upon, has owned in a peculiar manner. You only have I known of all the families of the earth.<\/I> Note, God’s church in the world is a family dignified above all the families of the earth. Those that know God are known of him. In Judah is God known,<\/I> and therefore Judah is more than any people known of God. God has known<\/I> them, that is, he has chosen them, covenanted with them, and conversed with them as his acquaintance. Now, one would think, it should follow, “Therefore I will spare you, will connive at your faults, and excuse you.” No: Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.<\/I> Note, The distinguishing favours of God to us, if they do not serve to restrain us from sin, shall not serve to exempt us from punishment; nay, the nearer any are to God in profession, and the kinder notice he has taken of them, the more surely, the more quickly, and the more severely will he reckon with them, if they by a course of wilful sin profane their character, disgrace their relation to him, violate their engagements, and put a slight upon the favours and honours with which they have been distinguished. Therefore<\/I> they shall be punished, because their sins dishonour him, affront him, and grieve him, more than the sins of others, and because it is necessary that God should vindicate his own honour by making it appear that he hates sin and hates it most in those that are nearest to him; if they be but as bad as others, they shall be punished worse than others, because it is justly expected that they should be so much better than others. Judgment begins at the house of God,<\/I> begins at the sanctuary; for God will be sanctified either by or upon those that come nigh unto him,<\/I> Lev. x. 3<\/I><\/span>.<\/P> II. Let them know that they could not expect any comfortable communion with God unless they first made their peace with him (v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>): Can two walk together except they be agreed?<\/I> No; how should they? Where there is not friendship there can be no fellowship; if two persons be at variance, they must first accommodate the matters in difference between them before there can be any interchanging of good offices. Israel has affronted God, had broken their covenant with him, and ill-requited his favours to them; and yet they expected that he should continue to walk with them, should take their part, act for them, and give them assurances of his presence with them, though they took no care by repentance and reformation to agree with their adversary<\/I> and to turn away his wrath. “But how can that be?” says God. “While you continue to walk contrary to God<\/I> you can look for no other than that he should walk contrary to you,<\/I>” Lev 26:23<\/span>; Lev 26:24<\/span>. Note, We cannot expect that God should be present with us, or act for us, unless we be reconciled to him. God and man cannot walk together except they be agreed.<\/I> Unless we agree with God in our end, which is his glory, we cannot walk with him by the way.<\/P> III. Let them know that the warnings God gave them of judgments approaching were not causeless and groundless, merely to amuse them, but certain declarations of the wrath of God against them, which (if they did not speedily repent) they would infallibly feel the effects of (v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>): “Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey<\/I> in view? No: he roars upon his prey. Nor will a young lion cry out of his den<\/I> if the old lion have taken nothing<\/I> to bring home to him; nor would God thus give you warning both by the threatenings of his word, and by less judgments, if you had not by your sins made yourselves a prey to his wrath, nor if he were not really about to fall upon you with desolating destroying judgments.” Note, The threatenings of the word and providence of God are not bugbears, to frighten children and fools, but are certain inferences from the sin of man and certain presages of the judgments of God.<\/P> IV. Let them know that, as their own wickedness was the procuring cause of these judgments, so they shall not be removed till they have done their work, v.<\/I><\/span> 5<\/span>. When God has come forth to contend with a sinful people it is necessary that they should understand, 1. That it is their own sin that has entangled them; for can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him?<\/I> No, nature does not lay snares for the creatures, but the art of men; a bird is not taken in a snare by chance, but with the fowler’s design; so the providence of God prepares trouble for sinners, and it is in the work of their own hands<\/I> that they are snared.<\/I> Affliction does not spring out of the dust,<\/I> but it is God’s justice, and our own wickedness,<\/I> that correct us.<\/I> 2. It is nothing but their own repentance that can disentangle them; for shall one take up a snare from the earth,<\/I> which he laid with design, except he have taken something<\/I> as he designed? So neither will God remove the affliction he has sent till it have done its work and accomplished that for which he sent it. If our hearts be duly humbled, and we are brought by our afflictions to confess and forsake our sins, then the snare has taken something, then the point is gained, the end is answered, and then, and not till then, the snare is broken,<\/I> is taken up from the earth, and we are delivered<\/I> in love and mercy.<\/P> V. Let them know that all their troubles came from the hand of God’s providence and from the counsel of his will (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>): Shall there be evil in a city,<\/I> in a family, in a nation, and the Lord has not done it,<\/I> appointed it, and performed what he appointed? The evil of sin is from ourselves; it is our own doing. But the evil of trouble, personal or public, is from God, and is his doing; whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. Out of his mouth both evil and good proceed.<\/I> This consideration, that, whatever evil is in the city, the Lord has done it, should engage us patiently to bear our share in public calamities and to study to answer God’s intention in them.<\/P> VI. Let them know that their prophets, who give them warning of judgments approaching, deliver nothing to them but what they have received from the Lord<\/I> to be delivered to his people. 1. God makes it known beforehand to the prophets (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing,<\/I> none of that evil in the city spoken of (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>), but he reveals it to his servants the prophets,<\/I> though to others it is a secret. Therefore those know not what they do who make light of the warnings which the prophets give them, in God’s name. Observe, God’s prophets are his servants,<\/I> whom he employs to go on his errands to the children of men. The secret<\/I> of God is with them; it is in some sense with all the righteous<\/I> (Prov. iii. 32<\/span>), with all that fear God<\/I> (Ps. xxv. 14<\/span>), but in a peculiar manner with the prophets, to whom the Spirit of prophecy is a Spirit of revelation. It would have put honour enough upon prophets if it had been only said that sometimes God is pleased to reveal to his prophets what he designs to do, but it speaks something very great to say that he does nothing<\/I> but what he reveals to them,<\/I> as if they were the men of his counsel. Shall I hide from Abraham,<\/I> who is a prophet, the thing which I do?<\/I> Gen. xviii. 17<\/I><\/span>. God will therefore be sure to reckon with those that put contempt on the prophets, whom he puts this honour upon. 2. The prophets cannot but make that known to the people which God has made known to them (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>): The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?<\/I> His prophets, to whom he has spoken in secret by dreams and visions, cannot but speak in public to the people what they have heard from God. They are so full of those things themselves, so well assured concerning them, and so much affected with them, that they cannot but speak of them; for out of the abundance of the heart<\/I> the mouth will speak. I believed; therefore have I spoken,<\/I> Acts iv. 20<\/I><\/span>. Nay, and besides the prophetic impulse which went along with the inspiration, and made the word like a fire in their bones<\/I> (Jer. xx. 9<\/span>), they received a command from God to deliver what they had been charged with; and they would have been false to their trust if they had not done it. Necessity was laid upon them,<\/I> as upon the preachers of the gospel, 1 Cor. ix. 16<\/span>.<\/P> VII. Let them know that they ought to tremble before God upon the fair warning he had given them, as they would, 1. Upon the sounding of a trumpet, to give notice of the approach of the enemy, that all may stand upon their guard and stand to their arms: Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people be not afraid,<\/I> or run together?<\/I> so some read it, v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>. Will they not immediately come together in a fright, to consider what is best to be done for the common safety? Yet when God by his prophets gives them notice of their danger, and summons them to come and enlist themselves under his banner, it makes no impression; they will sooner give credit to a watchman on their walls than to a prophet sent of God, will sooner obey the summons of the governor of their city than the orders given them by the Governor of the world. God says, Hearken to the voice of the trumpet;<\/I> but they will not hearken,<\/I> nay, and they tell him plainly that they will not, Jer. vi. 17<\/span>. 2. Upon the roaring of a lion. God is sometimes as a lion, and a young lion, to the house of Judah,<\/I>Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>What have been Great Britains eminent mercies?<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>What have been our abuses of these eminent mercies? How have we rioted upon the bounties of providence! Has not our plenty been turned into means and occasions of feeding our pride and ambition, our intemperance, luxury, and debauchery? How unfruitful have we been under the means of grace. Has not the Holy Spirit, been grieved and provoked to withdraw from our solemn assemblies? And when we speak of religion, have we much more than the name?<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>What reason we have to fear that God will visit us with judgments for all these iniquities and abuses of his mercies.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>What course is to be taken for preventing such awful visitations? Public national sins must be followed with public national breaking them off by repentance and returning to the Lord. When dangers lie at the door of kingdoms and nations, the only method of preventing them, according to Gods ordinary rule of procedure in His government of this world, is national humiliation, fasting, and repentance for and departure from the provoking evils that have incensed His wrath against us, with earnest supplication and prayer for national forgiveness of national sins. (J. Guyse, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Our privileges. Knowledge, as it relates to God, signifies approval, love. Israel had been unto the Lord a peculiar treasure above all people. Is there not a remarkable parallel between our own position and that of ancient Israel? When we pass in review our own national history we may well stand amazed at Gods marvellous dealings with us. To us, pre eminently and emphatically, beyond all nations of the earth, has the kingdom of God, taken from the Jews for their unworthiness, been given. Truly our privileges are as incomparable as they are priceless.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Our penalties. Whether as a Church or a nation, we should be on our guard against unfaithfulness. We have the Word of the living God in our keeping. But are we as faithful to this trust as we ought to be? Do we not sometimes give a very halting and restricted testimony to the truth? <\/em>(R. W. Forrest, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The privilege. So surpassing had been the tenderness of God, so intimate the relationship in which He had stood to them, that it appeared as if He had ignored all other nations to magnify His mercy to them. They alone had had the presence of God in their midst, with a Divinely appointed priesthood, and a law given by the mouth of God. Other nations were as worthy as they. It was only the mercy of God which had chosen them. God exalts His people now to the highest privilege. He reveals His truth and makes known His character to them.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The punishment. This was a necessary result of their trangression.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>They are oftentimes the greatest sinners. Who of all the people on the face of the earth were greater sinners than the Israelites? Yet they were specially favoured of heaven. England is a specially favoured land, but where is there more moral corruption? It is true that civilisation has so decorated it that its loathsomeness is to some extent concealed; but here it is. The corpse is painted, but it is still a putrid mass.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>They are exposed to special punishment. Therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, etc. Therefore I will punish you. I who know all your sins, I who abhor all your sins, I who have power to punish you.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>They should, like all people, place them selves in harmony with God. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? <\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n