Amos 7
Part III of Amos (ch. 7:1-9:10)
contains five visions, with explanations, continuing and
confirming the previous prophecy.
The afflictions are climactic, increasing in intensity.
The first two symbolize judgments which have been averted
by the prophet’s
intercession; the third and fourth adumbrate judgments which are to
fall inevitably;
and
the fifth proclaims the overthrow of the temple and the old theocracy.
The first vision (vs. 1-3), of
locusts, represents
ground, but shooting up afresh,
and its utter destruction postponed at the prophet’s
prayer.
1 “Thus hath
the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, He formed
grasshoppers in
the beginning of the shooting up of the latter
growth; and, lo,
it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.”
Thus hath the Lord
God showed unto me. By an inward illumination
(compare vs. 4, 7; and ch.8:1; Jeremiah 24:1-3). He formed grasshoppers; rather,
locusts (Nahum 3:17).
This points to the moral government of God, who uses nature
to work His purposes,“Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling
His word” (Psalm 148:8). In the beginning of the shooting up of the latter
growth; when the aftermath was beginning to grow under the influence of the latter
rains. If the herbage was destroyed then, there would be no hope of recovery in
the rest of the year. After the king’s mowings. It is deduced from this expression
that the first crop on certain grounds was taken for the king’s use — a kind of
royal perquisite, though there is no trace of such a custom found in Scripture, the
passage in I Kings 18:5,
where Ahab sends Obadiah to search for pasture, having
plainly nothing
to do with it; and in this case, as Keil remarks, the
plague would
seem to fall upon the people only, and the guilty king
would have escaped.
But to interpret the expression entirely in a spiritual
sense, with no
substantial basis, as “Jehovah’s judgments,” destroys the
harmony of the
vision, ignoring its material aspect altogether. It is
quite possible that the
custom above mentioned did exist, though it was probably
limited to
certain lands, and did not apply to the whole pasturage of
the country. It is
here mentioned to define the time of the plague of locusts
— the time, in
fact, when its ravages would be most irremediable. The
Septuagint, by a little
change of letters, render, βροῦχος εῖς Γὼν
ὁ βασιλεύς
– idou
brouchos eis Gon ho basileus
- by which they imply that the locusts
would be
as innumerable as the army of Gog.
The whole version is, “Behold, a swarm of
locusts coming from the East; and behold, one caterpillar,
King Gog.” The vision
is thought to refer to the first invasion by the Assyrians,
when Pul was bribed
by Menahem to withdraw. (II Kings 15:19-20)
2 “And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of
eating the
grass of the
land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee:
by whom shall
Jacob arise? for he is small.” The
grass of the land.
The term includes vegetables of all sorts, the feed of man and beast (Genesis 1:11;
see note on Zechariah
10:1). O Lord,...forgive. The
prophet is not concerned to
obtain the fulfillment of his prophecy; his heartfelt
sympathy for his people
yearns for their pardon, as he knows that punishment and
restoration
depend upon moral conditions. By whom shall Jacob arise? better, How
shall Jacob stand?
literally, as who? If he is thus weakened, as the vision
portends, how shall he endure the stroke? Small; weakened by internal
commotions and foreign attack (II Kings 15:10-16, 19).
*** The
Problem of Stability (v. 2)
***
The prayer of faith is free. The believing soul has the
privilege of reasoning
with God, and embraces it. It asks what it wills, and as it wills, and for
whom it wills. There is room for originality in it, and scope for inventive
resource; yet little risk of impropriety. The Spirit safeguards
that in an effective
“unction.” (I John 2:20) Then
grace is one thing ever, and there is a ground
plan of supplication which is practically the same with all the faithful. It
has
centrifugal energy, flowing from the individual outwards. Its rivers
wind
and
wander and discharge themselves ultimately on the desolate places of
ungodly lives; but they run first by the homes of the household of
faith.
And then it has a spiritual stream. It blesses temporal
interests too, but
leaves its fertilizing ooze most richly on the things of the
religious life. Of
the
prophet’s prayer here all this is characteristic, it reveals to us:
·
JACOB’S ACTUALITY. “Small.” There is a natural
spiritual
Christian Church is not distinct from, but a continuation
and expansion of,
the Jewish; and both together are the one visible
an already existing community, many were added at Pentecost
(Acts 2:47).
In the congregation of
(Psalm 22:22) Paul sees the one
and with Stephen (Acts 7:38) the wandering host of the tribes
(Exodus 16:2) was nothing else
than the “Church
in the wilderness.”
This Church, continuous from the
beginning, and one in all ages, is the
“good olive tree”
(Romans 11:17-24), whose Jewish “branches”
excised, and again to be “grafted in,” are meantime displaced
by the
ingrafted
Gentile shoots, which partake “of the root and fatness of the olive
tree.” In Amos’s time
it was a little flock, whose preservation was matter
to him of anxiety and prayer.
1. He is small in comparison with Esau. The heathen around outnumbered
existence, it would inevitably have been swallowed up. So with the
spiritual
gate is a strait one, Purity way is a narrow one (Matthew
7:13-14), and
the saints who enter the one and follow the other are a little
flock
(Luke 12:32). And no wonder.
Unbelief is natural, living after the flesh
is congenial (Exodus 23:2), and an overwhelming preference
for both is
a foregone conclusion. Hence, not only has the Church been
smaller than
the world, but within the Church itself the wheat has apparently
been less
than the tares. Relatively to Esau, Jacob is, and has been, small indeed.
2. He is small in
comparison with what he might have been. Smallness is
sometimes a misfortune, but it was
persistent national sin, drawing down the destroying judgments of
Heaven.
Their ranks had been thinned by
war, or pestilence, or famine in just and
necessary retribution for their
incorrigible unfaithfulness. So the
small
number of the saints is the sin of all concerned. It means
a. opportunities neglected,
b. ordinances
abused, and
c. a Holy Spirit resisted.
None of the agencies of a
heavenly culture have been withheld (Isaiah 5:1-4).
Every unbeliever is such in
despite of influences that ought to have brought
him to faith (Acts 7:51). Every
spiritual weakling is one who has debilitated
himself (Hebrews 5:12;
1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Moreover, as workers
for God the saints are not guiltless, for which of them has exercised his full
influence for good? The
difference between what the Church is and what
she might have been is the measure of her delinquency before
God.
“Of all the words from
tongue or pen,
the
saddest are these, What might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
When the sun shines and the showers fall, something subjective is
wrong with
the crop that stunts.
3. He is small in comparison with what he will yet be.
grown. The Gentiles are Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:7), and
their in-bringing
is the increase of spiritual
proportions yet.
The Church’s limits shall be the ends of the earth
(Psalm 72:8), and its
constituents the heathen nations (ibid. ch. 2:8;
72:11). It shall be a center to
which all the peoples shall gravitate
(Isaiah 2:2). It shall be a light illuminating and incorporating in its own
radiance the entire globe
(Hebrews 2:14). It is only a stone as yet, but it
will be a mountain one day, and fill the whole earth (Daniel
2:35, 44).
In the faith of such a destiny
the Church may well find strength to avail her,
even in the day of small things.
·
JACOB’S IDEAL. “Stand.” It is assumed here that he ought to stand;
that standing is his appropriate and normal position. And so it
is. In the
ideal and purpose and promise, and as the handiwork of
God, HE IS
NOT TO FALL. He is:
1. To stand
against destruction.
fall, small she might become, contemptible she might long
remain; but in
all, and through all, and after all, SHE WAS TO LIVE. The spiritual
has A PERPETUITY OF
EXISTENCE ALSO. The individual Christian
“shall
never perish” (John 10:28-29). The grace that
is in him is A DIVINE
THING, AND INDESTRUCTIBLE
(Galatians 2:20). His life is a living
Christ within, and he is immortal
while Christ lives. This involves that
the Church — God’s kingdom — is
an everlasting kingdom. If even a
member cannot perish, much
less the whole body. Redeemed by His Son,
and dowered in permanence with His Spirit, the Church stands, let what
may fall (Daniel 2:44). It is a structure
of God’s building, on a foundation
of God’s laying, according to a plan of God’s devising, it stands impregnable
on its rock (Matthew 16:18), and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Its immovable stability is a question of Divine will and
resource. There is:
a. the unchangeable purpose,
b. the unconquerable power, and
c. the inviolable
promise.
The house is impregnable over
which these three mount triple guard
(John 10:28). In the soil of God’s plan, in the rock cleft of His might,
in
the showers and sunshine of His pledge, the fair Church flower
CAN NEITHER FALL NOR
FADE, but must bloom while the ages run!
2. To stand against temptation.
Divine ideal was set before her
not to mingle with the nations, nor serve
their gods, nor learn their ways (Numbers 23:9; Deuteronomy
6:14; 18:9).
So with the Church as a whole,
and individual members in
particular. Temptation in some degree is inevitable. “There
hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with
the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)
While within is the iron of a
corrupt nature, and outside the loadstone (magnet)
of a corrupt
surrounding, there will be the drawing toward sin. But while God
is stronger than the devil, and His grace stronger than sin,
there shall not be a
lapsing into wickedness. The word of acceptance is peace-bringing.
The
change by regeneration is radical. The measure of grace conferred is
sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9). Therefore
proof, shall defy the devil’s darts, and stand
in the evil day (Ephesians 6:13).
The bride of Christ will abide
in loyal love, and be to eye and heart at last his
“undefiled,” with no
spot in her or wrinkle (Song of Solomon 6:9; 4:7). She
may grow weak almost to slothfulness, but even in her sleep
her “heart
waketh” (Song of Solomon
5:2-6). Her love may at times burn low
(Matthew 24:12), but the fire
remains alight, and glows at the slightest
breath from heaven. In the end she is presented to Christ a glorious
Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Ephesians 5:27).
3. To stand against misfortune. From this there is no
earthly immunity
(Job 5:7). God’s
of calamity. There will even be special evils to which their character
will
expose them alone of men. But over against this stand the Divine
helps
which also are theirs alone. God is for them.
They are the objects of a
special providence. The Divine favor — their shield
and buckler — is
armour of proof.
The darts of evil are turned aside, and fall pointless and
broken to the ground. Nay, the evil, having been endured and
survived,
may be utilized. God constitutes it the appropriate and
effective means of a
heavenly culture (Hebrews 12:11; II Corinthians 4:17). It destroys
nothing, not even a hair of their head (Luke 21:18); and it prunes
the tree
into richer and choicer fruit bearing. It even increases future
glory, adding
the spice of contrast to its otherwise perfect bliss.
·
JACOB’S ATTAINMENT OF HIS IDEAL A CARE OF GOD. God
concerns Himself about all that concerns His people. The prophet
assumes
that one way or other Jacob is bound to be upheld, and that God in the last
appeal will see it done. As
to this ideal:
1. God loves it. It is set up by His own hand, and characterized by His own
excellences, and it must be a thing after His own heart. All the
graces that
are acceptable with God shine in the saints, and the interests
dear to His
heart are those with which they are inseparably identified. Righteous
Himself, He loveth righteousness;
unchangeable, He loveth steadfastness;
and the things His heart loves His hand will guard.
2. God appoints it.
Salvation
from first to last is of His devising. He
decides
that salvation shall be, and what, and how. It is the purpose
of His adorable
grace, and therefore something along the lines of which He may
be
expected to work. He has predestinated the individual “to
be conformed to
the image of His Son” (Romans
8:29), and the Church to “come to a
perfect man.” (Ephesians 4:13) And we may safely reckon that His
measures will work in these directions; helping the individual,
that he
is “changed into the same imago from glory to
glory” (II Corinthians 3:18)
and blessing the Church, that she gathers up and exemplifies
in her
many-sidedness the graces of Christ’s faultless character. The Divine
forceful action propels things in the direction of the Divine
gracious
appointment.
3. God has already
committed Himself to it. To
was pledged, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
(Hebrews 31:6;
Hebrews 13:5) To us it is pledged with greater
emphasis still, “They shall
never perish” (John
10:28); “Whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
(Romans 8:30) None shall pluck the Christian out of Christ’s hand, nor
shall the gates of hell prevail against His Church. The circle of the
promises towers a wall of fire around the saints. The result is
pledged to
them; so are the means. The inheritance is reserved for them,
and they for
the inheritance (1 Peter 1:4-5). Their faith will keep them,
and God
will keep their faith (ibid.
v. 5). Then God had already begun to
help.
operations of God. He does not
abandon a work once begun, nor allow
after disaster to neutralize accomplished good. He had done
something for
all. Having bestowed His grace, He swears by the gift that the
circle of our
good will he made complete. A part already of the work of God,
invulnerable in His armor, and immortal
in His life, they have “a
strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us.” (Hebrews
6:18)
·
THE WHOLE MATTER A FITTING SUBJECT OF PRAYER. The
prophet comes between God and
that:
1. Prayer is a universal means of grace. “Men ought always
to pray and not
tof faint.” (Luke 18:1) “....in everything by prayer and
supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6)
There is no blessing,
temporal or spiritual, that is not
the gift of God.
There is no way of securing the least
of these but by seeking it in prayer.
The heart must throb
continuously if the blood would be driven through the
body; the breath must be regularly drawn if this blood
would he purified
and oxidized. So prayer, the throb of the
new heart, the breath of the
new creature, must go on if the new life is to be maintained. The
interruption of it means the suspension of the most essential vital
function.
There is nothing we can count on
getting without it (Ezekiel 36:37; James 4:2).
There is nothing legitimate we
may despair
of getting by it (John 14:13). In
prayer the soul puts forth its tentacles round about, and lays hold of good
on every side.
2. Prayer is a universal instinct of grace. All vital functions go on without
an act of the will or the exercise of attention. (involuntary - CY - 2022)
And so with
prayer in the new-created soul. It does
not require a specific
injunction. It does not wait on an effort of the will. It goes up as
naturally
as the hunger cry of the young raven. The new man breathes,
the new heart
pulsates, the opened lips speak, and the action in each case is
prayer.
“Behold, he prayeth,” is an
infallible token of a converted man.
When a baby is born, there is a suspenseful moment when all
those in attendance watch
eagerly for the
newborn baby to begin breathing. In the same way, when a person is born
again, he
begins to sustain a spiritual life through prayer. A wise man, Rowland Hill,
once
said, "Prayer is the breath of a newborn
soul, and there can be no life without it."
CBN.com.
How should we pronounce the name of God? We don’t really know since, out of
caution, our Jewish brothers and sisters stopped speaking it millennia ago.
The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, is used to represent His name. Sometimes it is written
out as Jehovah or others use Yahweh. It is commonly taught that the Name is missing
the vowels, but I ran across two interesting hypotheses that suggest something else.
One said they actually were vowels (that one slips over my head). The other idea
said they were aspirate consonants – consonants that actually sound like vowels.
Based on this second idea, when pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually
sounds like breathing. YH (inhale): WH (exhale). Did you just try it? I did.
So a rabbinic thought is that a baby’s
first cry, his first breath, speaks the name
of God. A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is
too heavy for
mere words. Even an atheist would speak His name unaware, his very life giving
constant acknowledgment to his Creator. Likewise, a person is gone with their last
breath, when God’s name is no longer being spoken.
https://whatthenwhynow.org/calling-yhwh-with-my-every-breath/
3. Prayer is expansive like grace. Sin is selfish.
Seeking salvation, the
sinner prays for himself only. He
is conscious of need, but as yet knows
nothing of supply. Only when he
gets spiritual blessing himself does he
know how valuable it would be to others, and
begin to desire it for them.
(Thus Jesus’ statement “Ye
must be born again to see the kingdom of heaven.”
(John 3:3) Selfishness gives way with sin. Philanthropy grows with the love
of God. And prayer answers to and expresses the change. The prayer circle
widens as personal religion deepens. Its instinct is universal. It goes out to
the Church of the Firstborn. It seeks the coming of the kingdom. We
pray for
faith is:
a. God’s will,
b. the
Church’s weal, and
c. the
spontaneous offering of the gracious soul.
Intercessory
Prayer (v. 2)
In the language which the prophet employed in his appeal to
God, he
copied that of the great leader and lawgiver of his nation; and
he was
probably encouraged by remembering that Moses had not pleaded for
·
THE PROMPTING TO INTERCESSORY PRAYER. Why should one
man plead with God on another’s behalf? It is evident that
there is in
human nature not only a principle of self-love, but also a
principle of
sympathy and benevolence. Amos interceded for the nation from which he
sprang, in which he was interested, and which was endeared to him
by
sacred associations. He was well aware of his countrymen’s
offences, and
of God’s just displeasure with them. He knew and had foretold
that
retribution should befall them. Yet he entreated mercy — a withholding
of
judgment, a little respite at the least. He
identified himself with the sinful,
and sought forbearance.
·
THE GROUND OF CONFIDENCE IN INTERCESSORY PRAYER.
Amos could not ask for the
withholding of punishment on the ground that
punishment was undeserved; for he confessed that the people’s sin had
merited chastening. His reliance was not upon justice, but upon mercy. It
was forgiveness he besought; and forgiveness presumes
disobedience on
the part of the subject and offence taken on the part of the
ruler. In
pleading for our fellow men, as in pleading for ourselves, we have to rely
upon the pity and loving kindness of our God.
·
THE PLEA BY WHICH INTERCESSORY PRAYER IS URGED.
“Who is Jacob?” is the language of the prophet. “Who is Jacob, that he
should stand, that he should endure, if such a visitation befall
him? He is
feeble and impoverished.” Thus, whilst the main reliance of him
who
intercedes must ever be upon the character and promises of the
Eternal, he
will naturally bring before God — as well known to the
Omniscient — the
weakness and helplessness of those whose interest
he would promote. God
is not as man. Men sometimes are found willing to favor the
great, though
they are indifferent to the woes of the obscure; whilst with
God need,
poverty, and helplessness are a commendation to compassion and
assistance.
·
THE SUCCESSFUL ISSUE OF INTERCESSORY PRAYER. The
entreaty of the prophet was not in vain. The calamity — whether we
understand it literally, as a plague of locusts, or figuratively, as
the invasion
by Pul — was averted and withdrawn.
This is but one of many instances in
Old and New Testament Scripture
in which God represents Himself as
willing to listen to the pleading of the pious on behalf of their
sinful fellow
men. It is one office
of the
mankind, uttering the
plaintive and effectual intercession, “Spare them,
good Lord!”
3 “The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.”
Repented for this; or,
concerning this destruction. The punishment was
conditioned by man’s behavior or other considerations. Here the prophet’s
intercession abates the full infliction of the penalty
(compare analogous
expressions, Deuteronomy 32:36; I Samuel 15:11; II Samuel
24:16;
Jeremiah 18:8; 42:10; Jonah 3:10, where see note). Amos may
have had in
memory the passage in Joel 2:13. The Septuagint here and in
v. 6 has
Μετανόησον
Κύριε ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ
τοῦτο οὐκ
ἔσται λέγει
Κύριος –
Metanoaeson Kurie epitouto kai touto ouk
estai legei Kurios –
“Repent, O Lord, for
this; and this shall not be, saith the Lord.”
Hence
some early commentators gathered that the prophet’s intercession was rejected;
but the words do not necessarily
bear that sense. It shall not be. This
respite
refers to the retreat of the Assyrians under Pul, the usurping
monarch who
assumed the name of Tiglath-Pileser
II. (II Kings 15:17, etc.). Some commentators
consider the judgment to be literally plague of locusts; but this is not probable.
The Vision of Devouring
Locusts (vs. 1-3)
The prophet is appropriately called a seer. He sees clear
and he sees far.
Not only has Amos foresight of what is coming; he has
insight into what, in
certain circumstances, would have come. He is taken as it were
behind the
scenes, and made a witness of the forging of Heaven’s
thunderbolts, to be
laid up for use as
occasion may require. In this case he is
cognizant by
spiritual intuition of the preparation of judicial measures which,
as
circumstances turn out, are never executed.
·
ALL HIS CREATURES ARE MINISTERS OF GOD TO DO HIS
WILL. The angels are
His “hosts” — ministers of his that do His pleasure.
The Assyrian was the rod of His
anger. He says, “I will command the
serpent, and it shall bite them.” He maketh the winds His
messengers, the
flaming fire His minister (Psalm 104:4). All created things, in
fact, are
but different elements in a vast ministry, by which He
executes His purpose.
1. Judgments are generally brought about by second
causes. To this rule
there is scarcely an exception. Sometimes it is famine, brought
about by
drought, or mildew, or locusts. Sometimes it is desolating war,
brought
about by jealousy, love of power, and greed. Sometimes it is
pestilence, the
result of causes all within the natural sphere. We know nothing
of afflictive
judgments coming apart from the interposition of the causes out of
which
they would naturally arise.
2. Second causes are all in the hands of the First
Cause.
They do not operate at random.
Theirs is action “cooperant to
an end.” They are adjusted and controlled. They are combined
in schemes
of order and proportion, nicely fitted to the achievement of their
ultimate
results. The
eye is of the blindest that cannot see how:
“Behind
the dim unknown
Standeth
God, within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.”
(
3. Natural cause
are prepared and used for a moral end.
Manasseh’s captivity leads to
his conversion (II Chronicles 33:11-13).
desert discipline cultivates a robustness of national character
which was
wanting at the Exodus. So a long captivity in heathen
ever-recurring national idolatry. When all God’s measures were executed,
He
could look on the
Hebrews and say, “This people have I formed for
myself;
they shall show forth my praise” (Isaiah 43:21). And
that is God’s method in
all cases. Scripture declares, and experience and observation
argue:
“All
discord, harmony not understood:
All partial evil, universal good.”
(Pope)
·
GOD’S AGENTS STRIKE IN THE NICK OF TIME. “He formed
locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop.” In
consequence of the timing of this judgment, it is:
1. More thorough-going.
If the locusts had been sent earlier,
there might
have been time after they had gone for the second crop to grow.
If they
had conic later, it might have been already saved. God will
not beat the air.
He will strike how and when and
where the culprit shall feel His blow.
2. It is more
striking. The element of time is the chief index to the
miraculous character of many events. They follow immediately on the
Divine word or act, and so reveal themselves
to be Divine works. The
catching of a netful of fishes, or the
sudden calming of a storm, or the
recovery of a woman from fever, were none of them necessarily
miraculous
events. It was their
occurrence at the Saviour’s word that revealed the
Divine agency in
them. The coming of the locusts
at the prophet’s word,
and at the critical time, revealed God’s hand in the event.
3. It is more
effectual. A judgment is likely to serve its disciplinary
purpose
in proportion as it is real, appropriate, and manifestly of God. The
difference between a timely judgment and an untimely one would be the
difference between one blessed to its proper effect and one utterly
futile.
·
THEY MAKE AN END OF THE WORK THEY TAKE IN HAND.
In all that God does we should
expect thoroughness.
1. There is the power. All
forces and agents are under His control.
He can
bring them to bear in any quantity and on any point. For Him “nothing
is
too hard” (Jeremiah
32:27), and “all things are possible.”
(Matthew 19:26;
Mark 10:27) When God lifts His hand He can “smite
through.”
2. There is the
need. Divine judgments never come
unneeded, nor till it is
evident that nothing else will do. Each is wanted, and the whole of each. If
anything less, or anything else, were sent it would be inadequate.
The last
atom of imagined strength must be destroyed. The last remnant
of fancied
resource must be swept away. Only when every conceivable prop has been
knocked away will men be brought to their knees in absolute submission.
·
THE HAND OF JUDGMENT MAY BE ARRESTED BY THE
TOUCH OF PRAYER.
“Jehovah
repented of this: It shall not take place,
saith Jehovah.” The
pictured events never transpired. The adoption and
abandonment of them as retributive measures occurred only in vision.
Still,
a parallel for this “plastic vision” may be found in God’s
actual doings, as
in the case of:
a.
the antediluvians,
b.
Saul,
c.
Hezekiah,
d.
e.
II Samuel 24:16; Jonah 3:10, even Ahab, I
Kings 21:27-29 -
CY - 2022)). As to
this:
1. God does not
change His mind, but His method.
His immutability
arising out of His infinity is clearly revealed (Numbers 23:19; 1
Samuel
15:29; Ezekiel 24:14; Malachi
3:6). As self-existent and independent
He is above the causes of change, whilst as an absolute
Being
he is above the possibility of it. And the immutability of His Being is true of
His purpose. His ends are unchallengeably
right and His means resistlessly
powerful. He
may change His method, and often does. Up to a certain point
is mercy. Then it is
expostulation, denunciation, and judgment in quick
succession. When one
method fails to bring about desired results, another
and another are resorted to by a God who will not fail. The
variation of
method is really the expression of an unalterable plan.
2. This change of
method is correlative to a change of circumstances. It is
the varying of the one that leads to the varying of the other.
New
circumstances justify and even call for a new line of action. Yet these
circumstances are themselves part of His wider purpose, which therefore
remains unchanged and unchangeable.
3. Such a change of circumstances is often the introduction
of the element
of prayer. This is a new factor
in the problem, and puts another
complexion on the case.
would destroy. But
thing. God does not
destroy penitent
people. This,
and not the sparing of
them, would imply a change of purpose, and even of nature
itself.
Intercessory prayer, as here,
modifies the circumstances in a different way;
but the modification is real, and will be coordinated with a
corresponding
modification in God’s way.
4. The necessity of a case is a legitimate plea
with God. “How can Jacob
stand? for it is small.” (v. 5)
So David prays, “Pity me, for I am weak.”
(Psalm 6:2) God’s blessings are not only gifts, but
mercies. He bestows
them freely, and in pity for our need. The extremity of this need is,
therefore, its strength as an appeal for God’s help. “My God shall supply
all your need, according to His riches in
glory by Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:19)
In
this section we learn that the hand of judgment may be arrested by the touch of
prayer. “Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah.”
The pictured events never transpired. God does not change His mind but His
method
and often does. Up to a certain point is mercy.
Then it is expostulation,
denunciation, and judgment in quick succession. When one method fails to bring
about desired results, another and another are resorted to by a God who will not fail.
The variation of method is really the expression of an unalterable plan. (For instance,
God
had originally planned on the children of
Land, probably a week’s journey. Their disobedience and lack of faith changed
this: “After the number of the days in which ye
searched the land, even
forty
days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty
years, AND YE SHALL KNOW MY BREACH OF PROMISE” [altering
of purpose] – CY – 2013)
Learn:
might have been is the measure of her delinquency before God!
He is conscious of need, but as yet knows nothing of
supply. Only when
he gets spiritual
blessing himself does he know HOW VALUABLE
IT WOULD BE TO
OTHERS and begin to
desire it for them.
The prayer
circle widens as personal religion deepens.
God has
committed Himself to His people! To
was pledged, “I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Genesis
28:15;
Hebrews 13:5). To us it is pledged with greater emphasis
still, “They shall never
perish;” (John
10:28; “Whom He justified, them He also
glorified” (Romans
8:30), None shall pluck the Christian out of
Christ’s hand, nor shall the
gates of hell prevail against His Church. (John 10:28 again; Matthew 16:18).
The circle of the promises towers a wall of fire around the
saints. The result is pledged
To them; so are the means. The inheritance is reserved for
them, and they for
the inheritance (I Peter 1:4-5). Their faith will keep
them, and God will keep their
faith (Ibid. v.5). Then God had already begun to help.
many an evil. And there is continuity in the operations of
God. He does not abandon
a work once begun (“faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it”
(I
Thessalonians 5:24), nor allow after disaster to
neutralize accomplished good.
He had done something for
more, and He will do all. Having bestowed His grace, He
swears by the gift that
the circle of our good will He made complete. A part
already of the work of God,
invulnerable in His armor, and immortal in His life, they
have “a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon
the hope set
before us” (Hebrews 6:18).
The
Repentance of Jehovah (v. 3)
Whatever it was of which the Lord is here said to have
repented, the
meaning, the lesson, is the same. The plague of locusts, the
incursion of the
foe,
was stayed, and it was stayed in consequence of the prophet’s
intercession, and because of the
pity and loving kindness of Jehovah.
·
NO CHANGE IS ASSERTED IN THE CHARACTER, THE
GOVERNMENT, THE WILL, OF THE ETERNAL. In this sense the
Lord is not a man that He should
repent. Whilst all men are subject not only
to vicissitudes of circumstances, but to variations in
disposition, and even
in principles of action, God is a stranger to all such mutability.
“I,”
says he,
“am the Lord that changeth not.” (Malachi 3:6) Well for us is it that this
is so; that we have not to do with a mutable, a capricious
deity. Because He is
the Lord that changeth not,
therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed.
·
BUT ALL THE THREATS OF THE DIVINE JUDGE ARE
CONDITIONAL UPON HUMAN CONDUCT. The whole of revelation
bears out this statement. What God commands He enforces with the
promise of reward and with the threat of punishment. This is in
accordance
with His character and position as the Moral Governor of His
universe. He
does not, as an earthly tyrant might do, take pleasure in
inflicting
punishment upon any of His dependent creatures. On the contrary, He
desireth not
the death of a sinner. If the threatened respond to the appeal of
Heaven, if they turn from their
wickedness, they shall surely live, and not
die. He repenteth Him of the evil,
and is favorable and forgiving towards
the penitent.
·
THE DIVINE REPENTANCE DEMANDS THE ADORATION
AND THE PRAISE OF THOSE
WHO OWE TO IT THEIR
SALVATION. There is not one child
of Adam who is not indebted to the
repentance of Jehovah for the sparing of life, for long suffering,
for the
aversion of judgment. In fact, but for this, the original sentence against the
sinner must have been fulfilled, and the race of mankind must
have
perished. Every successive interposition of Divine mercy has been
the
evidence of that relenting which exclaims, “How shall I give thee up?”
(Hosea 11:8) And the advent and sacrifice of Immanuel, the
mediatorial
scheme (plan of salvation agreed upon before the foundation of
the world,
Revelation 13:8), the redemption
of mankind, the recovery of the lost,
are all to be attributed to this same cause. The fountain of
salvation must
be discovered in the repentance of THE UNCHANGING@! It is a paradox;
but it is a paradox honoring to God and life giving to man.
The second vision devouring fire
(vs. 4-6), represents a more severe judgment than
the preceding one, involving
greater consequences, but still one which was again
modified by the prayers of the
righteous prophet.
4 “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed
unto me: and, behold, the Lord
GOD called to
contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and
did eat up a
part.” Called to contend by fire; Septuaguint
ἐκάλεσε τὴν δίκην ἐν
πυρί - ekalese taen
dikaen en puri - “called for judgment
by fire;”
Vulgate, vocabat judicium ad ignem. God called the people to try their
cause
with Him by sending fire as a punishment among them (compare Isaiah 66:16;
Ezekiel 38:22); and in
the vision the fire is represented as so vehement that it
devoured the great
deep, drank up the very ocean itself (Genesis 7:11; Isaiah
51:10); or the subterranean fountains and springs, as
Genesis 49:25.
And did eat up a
part; τὴν μερίδα κυρίου– taen
(Septuagint). This version takes eth-hacheleq
as the “inheritance” or
“portion” of the Lord, i.e. the
is nowhere called absolutely “the portion;” nor were the
ten tribes specially so
designated. Rather, the portion (not a part) is that part
of the land and people
which was marked out for judgment. The particular calamity
alluded to is the
second invasion of Tigiath-Pileser
II, when he conquered
northern part of the kingdom, and carried some of the
people captive to
5 “Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall
Jacob arise? for
he is small. 6 The LORD repented for
this: This also
shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.” The
intercession is the same as in v. 2,
except that the prophet
says “cease” instead of “forgive;” and in effect the
tide of war was rolled back from
Revelation
and Prayer (vs. 1-6)
“Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me,” etc. This portion
of the Book
of
Amos (ch. 7 and 8) contains four symbolical visions
respecting
successive judgments that were to be inflicted on the
They were delivered at
of
the prophet’s ministry. Each of them, as it
follows in the series, is more
severe than the preceding.
* The
first presented to the mental eye of the prophet a swarm of young
locusts, which threatened to cut off all hope of the harvest
(vs. 1-3);
* the second, a fire
which effected a universal conflagration (vs. 4-6);
* the third, a plumb
line ready to be applied to mark out the edifices
that were to be destroyed (vs. 7-9); and
* the fourth, a
basket of ripe fruit, denoting the near and certain
destruction of the kingdom (ch.
8:1-3).
The intervening eight verses which conclude the seventh chapter
(vs. 10-17)
contain an account of the interruption of Amos by Amaziah the priest of
whose punishment is specially predicted. In point of style, this
portion differs
from that of the rest of the book, being almost exclusively historical and
dialogistic (
* A Divine
revelation leading to human prayer, and
* human prayer leading to a Divine
revelation.
·
A DIVINE REVELATION LEADING TO HUMAN PRAYER.
1. Here is a Divine revelation. What is the
revelation? It is a vision of
judgments made to the mind of the prophet. Both judgments are
symbolically represented.
a. Destruction by grasshoppers at the beginning, or the “shooting up of
the latter growth after the king’s mowings.” The prophet saw the
devouring grasshoppers eating up the grass of the land. No agents
are too
insignificant for the employment of Jehovah. He can inflict terrible
judgments by insects. Here was a prospect of famine set before the
prophet.
b. Destruction by fire. “Thus
hath the Lord God showed unto me: and,
behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured
the
great deep, and did eat up a part.” Perhaps this represents a great drought,
the sun’s fire burning
up all vegetation. It is said this fire “devoured the
great deep.” It drank
up the pools, the lakes, the rivers. Thus in two
symbolical forms is a Divine
revelation made to the mind of Amos.
Most terrible and alarming
is the prospect of his country, thus divinely
spread out before him. God
makes revelations of His mind to His people.
“Shall I hide from
Abraham the thing that I do?” (Genesis 18:17)
2. Here is a human
prayer. What is the prayer? Here it is: “O Lord God,
forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.” And
again, in v. 5, “O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom
shall Jacob
arise? for he is small.” “Forgive.” This calamity is brought on by the sin of
the nation. Forgive the sin; remove the moral cause of the
judgment. “By
whom shall Jacob arise?”
Or, better, “How can Jacob stand? for he is
small.” Jacob’s — the nation’s — weakness is the plea of the
prayer for
forgiveness. The Israelites had been greatly reduced by internal
commotions and hostile invasions, and were now on the point of being
attacked by the Assyrians, but purchased their retreat by a payment
of a
thousand talents of silver (II Kings 15:19-20). The nation was now
so
weakened that it was unable to stand before another invader. How
can
Jacob stand? The time has come
when men may well ask this question in
relation to the Church. How can it stand? The numbers are
decreasing,
viewed in relation to the growth of the population. By whom shall
it arise?
Not by statesmen, scientists, ritualists, priests. A new order of men is
required to enable the Church to stand. Heaven raise them up!
·
HUMAN PRAYER LEADING TO A DIVINE REVELATION. The
prophet prays, and the great God makes a new revelation — a
revelation of
mercy. “The Lord repented for this: It shall not
be, saith the Lord.” “The
Lord repented for
this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.”
“Repented,” which means merely
that He appeared to Amos as if He
repented. The Immutable One changeth not. Though we are far enough
from holding the absurdity that human prayer effects any
alteration in the
ordinances of nature or the purposes of the Almighty, we nevertheless
hold
with a tenacious faith the doctrine that a man gets from God by prayer that
which he would not get without it. Indeed, in every
department of life man
gets from the Almighty, by a certain kind of activity, that
which he would
never obtain without the effort. A man has a field which he has
never tilled,
and on which
tills it this year, and in autumn God crowns it with His
goodness. Another
man has no health; for many years he has neglected the
conditions of
physical vigor, and he is infirm and afflicted. This year he attends
rigorously to the laws of his physical well being. He takes the
proper
exercise, the right food, the pure air, and he feels his
infirmities and his
pains decrease, and new vigor pulsating through his veins. Another man
has never enjoyed the light of Divine knowledge; his soul
has been living in
the region of indolence; he has neglected all the means of
intelligence. He
alters his course and sets to work; he reads and thinks, studies
God’s holy
book, and prays; he feels his nature gradually brightening under
the genial
rays of truth. Thus
everywhere God reveals to man His goodness in
connection with his activity, which never comes without human effort.
It is
so in prayer. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth
much.” It puts the
soul in that angle on which the Divine light falls, in that
soul in which its intellectual and moral powers will grow. “Ask,
and ye shall
receive.”
“More
things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like
a fountain for me night and day.
For what
are men better than sheep or goats,
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If,
knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friends?
For so the
whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”
(Tennyson.)
There is great power in prayer! Who knows whether evil may not be averted until
it has actually fallen? Besieged cities have been saved even after the garrison had
thrown open the gates, and battles won after the ranks of the victors had begun
to break. With God all
things are possible, and by prayer He is always
moved.
Till the moment of death we may pray for life, for salvation till the moment of
destruction. And
having received, we may ask again and
again. “Men ought
always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). Prayer has reference to returning
wants, and is normally a habit of soul. As often as we hunger we eat, and, on
the same principle, as often as we need we pray. Continued prayer is matter
of necessity, a command of God,
and an instinct of the soul. “In everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made
known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). In this instance, half a century later the
mercy of God’s dealings appeared. After ravaging the greater portion of the
land, the Assyrians unaccountably withdrew, and left the capital untouched.
The connection between Amos’s prayer and the unwonted slackness of
Tiglath-Pileser belongs to that region into which sense cannot penetrate, but
which is all patent to the eye of faith.
God’s judgments are directed against us as transgressors in a certain way.
If we cease so to transgress the reason for them is gone, and they will not
be sent. The knowledge of these two facts operates as a powerful incentive
to reformation, and so a means to the arrest of impending judgment. We
face a different way when we adequately realize that we thereby face a
different end. God warns before He strikes. He warns that He may not
need to strike at all. His threats are the merciful heralds of His judgments,
offering terms of peace before
the stern hour of intervention arrives. “Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5). A threat like that is only a
promise in disguise. It speaks of a gracious heart which “wills not that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)
The Vision of Consuming
Fire (vs. 4-6)
The prophet’s vision goes on, and the situation in it
becomes more critical.
One woe is averted only for a worse to take its place. The Divine avenging
hosts remain in battle line. They return to the attack with
renewed vigor.
For the barrage is substituted the
booming of the great guns. Escaping as
by
the skin of their teeth from the wasting locust, incorrigible
in
the prophet’s eye by the devouring fire. In connection with this second
scene in the panoramic vision notice:
·
GOD CONTENDING BY FIRE.
Again and again is it so in Scripture.
1. It is the most
destructive element in nature. It destroys all comfort,
inflicting intense pain. It destroys all life, no animal or vegetable organism
being capable of enduring it.
It destroys the very form of organic matter,
reducing it to its original elements. It destroys with unparalleled rapidity
and thoroughness almost anything it attacks.
2. It is the
element used and to be used by God in bringing about the
greatest catastrophes.
a. It was in the fire shower from heaven that
was
overwhelmed (Genesis 19:24 – I recommend
www.arkdiscovery.com
b. Fire
smote the
c. It was the fire of the Lord that burnt up
Taberah, and also Korah and
his company in their
(Numbers 11:1; 26:10).
d. By fire from heaven were Ahaziah’s
fifties consumed before Elijah (II Kings 1:10-12).
e. It was by bringing down fire that James
and John proposed
to destroy
f. And it is in a lake burning with
the false prophet, and all the finally
impenitent shall
be
overwhelmed at last.
3. It is in Scripture a
frequent emblem of active power.
a. God the Father in wrath (Deuteronomy 4:24;
9:3; Hebrews 12:29),
b. God the Son in judgment (II Thessalonians
1:8),
c. God the Holy Ghost in grace, are
each so figured (Luke 3:16).
d. the busy mischief-making tongue is fire (James 3:6);
e. God’s Word is a fire (Jeremiah 23:29);
f. His ministers are “burning ones” (seraphim – Hebrews 1:14);
g. spiritual life is fire (Luke
12:49);
h. affliction is fire (I Corinthians 3:13; I Peter 4:12); and
i. the misery of the finally lost is fire
(Mark 9:44).
A God contending by fire is a God putting
forth the extreme of
destructive
energy. At last, God’s judgment against sin will be
overwhelming, all
sin will be dealt with by judgment. There will
no tares
escape, nor any wheat burned (Matthew 13:30).
·
JUDGMENT DRINKING UP THE GREAT DEEP. As the fire is
figurative, so probably is the “deep.” It is the heathen world.
God’s
judgment which includes this is:
1. Discriminating. “The
deep.” The sweltering, restless
sea is a fit symbol
of the wicked in their unrest of heart and rebellion against
God (Isaiah
57:20; Psalm 46:3). These are
the natural prey of the eagles of
judgment. They deserve it, provoke it, and are its characteristic
objects.
The righteous may suffer sometimes with the wicked, but the ungodly
cannot escape.
2. Extensive. “The great deep.” Not merely “wells,” which are
individuals
(II Peter 2:7), nor “rivers,”
which are nations (Isaiah 8:7; Jeremiah 46:7-8),
nor “seas,” which are races (Psalm 65:7;
Isaiah 17:12), but “the great deep,”
or rebellious humanity in its entire extent, shall be
contended with and
destroyed. When the last word has
been spoken God’s argument against
sin WILL BE OVERWHELMING; and all the ground covered by sin
will have been covered also by judgment.
·
JUDGMENT EATING UP “THE PORTION” DOOMED. “Probably
the definite portion foreappointed
by God to captivity and desolation”
(Pusey).
1. God’s acts are
coextensive with His decrees. His plan has reference to all
events, and these in turn exactly embody His plan. He had devoted
beforehand a definite number to judgment; and all these, and these
only,
would it eat up in the day of its falling. No tares escape, nor is any
wheat
burned. “The
Lord knoweth them that are His.” (II Timothy 2:19)
2. To be nominally God’s
people establishes no special relation to Him.
Outward relations, if they have
not inward relations to which they
correspond, are nothing. Mere names and semblances leave unchanged
the
underlying realities which God regards, and to which His dealings are
adjusted. A hollow profession
is simply unbelief plus hypocrisy.
3. God’s judgments
on His professing people are not for annihilation, but
for weeding out. The “portion”
was not all
37:31-32). After
it had been devoured, a remnant would remain.
Judgments are the gardener’s
knife; they prune out the worthless branches,
but leave the tree. Exposure to the wind is not for
destruction of the wheat,
but for the scattering of the chaff. In the track of the fire is
to be found all
that is fireproof.
·
THE LEGITIMATE MEASURE OF ASKING IN PRAYER. (v. 5.)
It seems a forlorn hope to offer
such prayer. Yet here it is done by a
man under the guidance of God’s Spirit. In imitation of him:
1. We may ask anything that is innocent. It may not be
promised. No one
else may have received it. It may be a thing utterly unlikely
to be done. It
may be what God is threatening not to do. Yet it is legitimate
matter of
prayer, and we need not despair of it. God cannot do
less than He promises,
but He may do more;
and, as a matter of fact, He does much for which
no
explicit promise is to be found.
2. We may ask any amount that can be
enjoyed. God’s is no ungenerous heart
or hand. He has
exhaustless store. He loves to see us
filled and thoroughly
furnished. Hence He giveth liberally,
satisfies with His mercy, gives all we
can receive, and more than we can ask or think.
Economy in asking where
there is infinity to draw on is modesty run mad. (Ponder that statement, and
the following one too!
- “....good measure, pressed down and shaken together,
and running over...” is how God gives! Luke
6:38 - CY - 2022)
3. We may ask it
up till the last moment. White, in the nature of things,
answer is possible, request may be made. Who knows whether evil
may not
be averted until it has actually fallen? Besieged cities have
been saved even
after the garrison had thrown open the gates, and battles won
after the
ranks of the victors had begun to break. With God all things
are possible,
and by prayer He is always moved. Till the moment of death we may pray
for life, for salvation till the moment of destruction.
4. Having received, we may ask again
and again. “Men ought always to
pray.” Prayer has reference to returning wants, and is normally a habit of
soul. As often as we
hunger we eat, and, on the same principle, as often as
we need we pray.
Continued prayer is matter of necessity, a command of
God, and an instinct of
the soul. “In everything by prayer and
supplication,” etc. Half a
century later the mercy of God’s dealings
appeared. After ravaging the greater portion of the land, the
Assyrians
unaccountably withdrew, and left the capital untouched. The connection
between Amos’s prayer and the unwonted slackness of Tiglath-Pileser
belongs to that region into which sense cannot
penetrate, but which is all
patent to the eye of faith.
·
THE MERCIFUL ASPECT OF GOD’S THREATS. (v. 6.) The
perseverance of the prophet’s prayer is justified by the event. God’s
threat
is not executed. Judgment is arrested on the way. Does God,
then, change?
No; but circumstances do, and
with them His adjusted mode of action. The
unexecuted threat is not unmeaning nor unnecessary.
1. It forewarns of the coming evil. When the black
clouds rise we know the
storm is brewing. So when God speaks we know He is going to act
and
how. A threat is a conditional prophecy. It tells us exactly what, in given
circumstances, we may expect. Knowledge
of the evil coming is a
prerequisite to any measure of precaution.
2. It thereby
often turns from the path in which the evil lies. All actions
have their proper issues, and whatever changes the one changes
the other.
God’s judgments are directed against
us as transgressors in a certain way.
If we cease so to transgress the reason for them is gone, and they will not
be sent. The knowledge
of these two facts operates as a powerful incentive
to reformation, and so
a means to the arrest of impending judgment. We
face a different way when we adequately realize that we thereby
face a
different end.
3. It displays God’s character in a most atractive aspect.
He
warns
before He strikes. He warns that He may not need to strike at all. His
threats are the merciful heralds of His judgments, offering
terms of peace
before the stern hour of intervention arrives. “Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)
A threat like that is only a promise in
disguise.
It speaks of a gracious heart
which “wills not that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance.” (II
Peter 3:9)
The third vision, the plumb line (vs. 7-9),
represents the Lord Himself as coming to
examine the conduct of
7 “Thus He shewed me: and, behold,
the LORD stood upon a wall
made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in
His hand.” Upon (rather, over) a wall
made by a plumb line. The word translated “plumb line” (anakh) occurs only
here.
Septuagint ἀδάμας:
– adamas - so the
Syriac; Vulgate, trulla
caementarii;
γάνωσις –
gamosis - “brightening,”“splendor;” Theodotion, th>komenon –
taekomenon - As the word in other dialects means tin or lead, it is usually taken
here to mean the plumb line which builders use to ascertain that their work is
even
and perpendicular. The “wall”
is the
solidly constructed, accurately arranged. God had made it upright; how was it now?
(“…God hath made
man upright; but they have sought
out many inventions.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:29)
8 “And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said,
A plumbline. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumbline
in the midst of
my people
more:” Amos, what seest
thou? A question asked to give occasion for
the explanation of the symbol, as in Jeremiah 1:11,13;
24:3. I will set
a plumb line in
the midst of my people
measure, so it should be destroyed. The line was used not
only for building,
but also for pulling down (see II Kings 21:13; Isaiah
34:11; Lamentations 2:8).
And this should be done “in the midst” of the
people, that all might be tried
individually, and that all might acknowledge the justice
of the sentence,
which now denounced complete ruin. Pass by; so as to
spare, or forgive (ch.8:2;
Proverbs 19:11; Micah
7:18). The judgment is
irremediable, and the prophet
intercedes no more. The final conquest by Shalmaneser is here typified.
9 “And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the
sanctuaries
of
Jeroboam with the
sword.” The high places of Issac. The
shrines of idolatry
all over the land.
The bamoth are the altars erected on high
places and now
dedicated to
idols (I Kings 3:2; II Kings 23:8; Isaiah 16:12; Hosea 10:8).
Isaac here and in v.16 is used as a synonym for
of contrasting the deeds of the
people with the blameless life of the
patriarch and his
gentle piety. Septuagint, βωμοὶ τοῦ γέλωτος
–
bomoitou gelotos - “altars of derision” - with reference to the meaning of the
name Issac, whence Jerome’s
version, excelsa idoli.
The sanctuaries of
(ch.4:4), and perhaps in other places, which had been
sanctified by
ancient patriarchal worship. Septuagint, αἱ τελεεταὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ –
hai teleetahitou
With the sword. God is represented as
standing like an armed warrior taking
vengeance on the guilty family. Jeroboam II, had saved
was popular owing to his success in war (II Kings
14:25-28); but his dynasty was
overthrown, and this overthrow was the destruction of the Israelitish
monarchy. The murder of his son Zachariah
by Shallum (II Kings 15:10) led to
those disastrous commotions which culminated in the
conquest of
the Assyrians and the deportation of the people.
Righteousness to the
Plumb Line (vs. 7-9)
There has been reprieve after reprieve. The enemy of God’s wrath has been
met in the breach by intercessory
prayer,
and, for the time, turned back.
Once and again the hounds of vengeance have been cried off.
But
respite is
not escape. There is a certain
limit beyond which the system of Divine
reprieves cannot go. And that limit has now been reached. The locust
has
been disappointed of his meal. The fire has been beaten back from the
tinder. But the criminal is obdurate, and now the plumb line is
applied to
the
bowing wall, and the word goes forth to overturn and destroy utterly.
In this graphic delineation we notice:
·
THE WALL. This figure
for
1. Something
built. Other nations grow up as it may happen, shaped by the
circumstances in which they arise. The nation of
growth, but a
Divine creation. “This people have
I formed for myself.”
(Isaiah 43:21) So with the Church. It is not a voluntary association. It is not
a human institution. It is a vineyard of God’s husbandry, a house of God’s
building (Matthew
16:18). Every stone in it is quarried and chiseled and laid by
the Divine hand.
2. Something
strong. A wall has substance, stability, resisting power, and is
in Scripture emblematic of these things (Ezekiel 4:3; Isaiah
25:4;
Zechariah 2:5). In regard to
these qualities
“known within her palaces for a Refuge.” (Isaiah 43:21) Salvation is to
her for walls and bulwarks. (ibid. ch. 26:1) In these things is her strength;
and fortified thus, she “shall
not be moved” (Psalm 46:5).
3. Something upright. “Made by a plumb line.” God “made man uprigh
but they have sought out many inventions.” (Ecclesiastes
7:29)
And He made
them free of any moral twist. It is made according to
righteousness.
Formed into a nation by God,
administration theoretically faultless The uprightness
of this God-built wall
was a main condition of its strength. In the perfection of the one was the
perfection of the other. The loss of one would be the loss of both.
The wall
that leans is about to fall.
·
THE PLUMB LINE. This is
the regulating appliance, and the testing
instrument with which the building must tally.
1. It is righteousness.
Righteousness
in the moral world answers to
straightness
in the world of matter. It is the moral rectilineal,
or line
of “oughtness” — the line along which moral beings ought to move.
This is manifestly the plumb line by which to adjust the wall
the perpendicular. Exemplified in
the character, this righteousness is
uprightness. Exemplified in the conduct, it is justice. In either case it is the
deal of rightness.
2. It is righteousness as it exists in God. GOD IS UNIVERSAL
PERFECTION
— “Light,” “Love,” “Truth,” “the Holy One,” “the righteous
God,” and ALL IN IDEAL FORM! He is, in fact, the
typical moral Being.
Each grace exists in Him in its
highest form. His righteousness is unspotted
righteousness, and the realized ideal of ALL THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS
OUGHT TO BE!
3. It is this righteousness as it is revealed in Scripture. Scripture is the rule
of man, just as being the revelation of God. What He is is our Model. What
He does is our Exemplar. What He
is and does and requires is the burden of
Scripture — a formulation of His
whole will “To the Law and to the
testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because
there is
no light in them.” ” (Isaiah 8:20-22)By the Law must
true character revealed, and its fitting destiny settled. “Those
that have
sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law.” (Romans 2:14-15)
The Law is the unerring plumb line, exposing every
deviation from
the moral perpendicular.
·
THE TESTING. “Behold,
I will set a plumb line in the midst of my
people
to reveal irregularity if it exists.
1. This is no longer to be put off. “I shall pass by
it no more.” The limit of
Divine forbearance was now reached.
a. No more passing
by,
b. no longer
indulgence,
c. no further
forgiveness,
d. no more
postponement of the vengeance vowed.
There is a last word of God to every man, and after it nothing can
come but the blow.
2. The wall is to be tried by the rule it was built by. (v.
7.) “He destroys
it by that same rule of right wherewith he had built it. By
that law, that
right, those providential leadings, that grace which we have
received, by
the same we are judged” (Pusey). God has only one standard, and He
uses
it always. Things ought to be
Hs he made them, and He tries them to
discover if they are so. The measure of divergence from original
righteousness, whether in men or Churches, is the measure of guilt in
the
diverging party. Comparison with its own pure ideal would bring out
3. The testing is to be one of the
entire nation.
“The wall is not the emblem
of
people” (Pusey). There was
general deflection, sad to discover this there
will be a general plumbing. All the wall must be tested before it can be
all
destroyed.
·
THE DEMOLITION. The
wall is found to have bowed, and the word
is given to pull it down. In this destruction would be involved:
1. The idolatrous places. “The sacrificial
heights of Isaac,” all the high
places at Dan,
the wasting of these would appear, on the one hand, the
vanity of idol
worship, and,
on the other, God’s special wrath
against it — matters which
it was necessary to emphasize in the mind of idol loving
2. Idolatrous objects. “The holy things of
and adjuncts of their idolatrous worship. Dan and
Jehovah, would be destroyed. Broken idols and leveled shrines would
alone remain, a commentary on the impotence of the “lying vanities” to
which blinded
3. The Hebrew monarchy. “The house of Jeroboam” was the
reigning
family. (Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
is scheduled for Monday, September
19, two days from now - CY -
2022) It was the last dynasty of the Israelitish
monarchy. In it and with it was to perish (Hosea 1:4), and did perish,
“the kingdom of the house of
with the national idol worship as of necessity to be involved in whatever
destruction this provoked. It was specially fitting, moreover, that
the family
of the arch-idolater should be the one to sink in the
burning grave of the
idolatry he set up.
The Plumb
Line of Judgment (vs. 7-9)
The pictorial style of Amos here sets before us in an
impressive and
memorable way a great truth. Whether in a dream or in a prophetic
ecstasy,
the
prophet beheld one with a plumb line standing by a wall. He recognized
in
the wall the palaces, the temples, the city ramparts of
figure, a representation of the eternal Ruler of the nations; in the plumb
line, the emblem of
just and orderly procedure. And a voice
explained the
vision as predictive of the destruction and ruin of the capital
of
execution of the decree of Divine justice against the unfaithful,
sinful,
rebellious, and impenitent people.
·
THE SIN OF MAN MAY EXHAUST THE PATIENCE OF GOD. It
must not, indeed, be supposed that the Divine nature is
susceptible of
capricious changes, such as men are liable to experience. But we have
to
consider God as the moral Governor of the nations of mankind. And
we
are taught that He is, as we say, in earnest in the laws which
Hhe
enforces, and in the
promises and threats by which He accompanies
them. He will not continue to threaten, and then falsify His
own words, by
withholding punishment from those who withhold repentance. With no
weariness, with no irritability, but with a
righteous judgment and a
compassionate heart, He will execute His threats.
·
THE JUST RETRIBUTION OF GOD IS ACCORDING TO
UNCHANGING AND INFLEXIBLE RULES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
In human punishment there is
often an element of caprice and an element of
vindictiveness. From the Divine mind both are forever absent. No sinner
can complain, or ever will be able to complain, that he has
been punished
beyond his deserts. On the contrary, he
will ever recognize that wisdom
and righteousness have characterized all the appointments of
the eternal
King. The plumb line is employed not only in construction but in
destruction. And God who has made men’s moral nature, and who rules
over it and in it, will not violate His principles of righteousness
in the
administration of His government or in the execution of His sentences.
·
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS A POWERFUL
ENCOURAGEMENT TO REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE. It is a
dissuasive from sin and impenitence, inasmuch as it is a guarantee that
rebellion shall not go unpunished. It is an inducement to repentance, for it
is part of God’s unchanging purpose that the penitent and
submissive shall
receive pardon and acceptance. And it is not to be forgotten that God’s
purposes of mercy are as much distinguished by law as are His
purposes of
punishment. Mercy is in accordance with the “plumb line” of Divine
righteousness, and
in His gospel God appears, as He is, just and “the
Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus.” (Romans
3:26)
Man’s Moral Character
(vs. 7-9)
“Thus He showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall
made by a
plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand,” etc. “Behold, the Lord stood
upon a wall made by a plumb line,” viz. perpendicular. “Amos.”
* “The Lord knoweth them that are
His” (II Timothy 2:19),
*
He saith
to Moses, “I know thee by name” (Exodus 33:12, 17).
* “He calleth His own sheep by name” (John 10:3).
* “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people
No longer are the symbols, as in the former two, stated generally;
this one is expressly
applied to
ceases to intercede, as Abraham did in the case of
used, not only in building, but in destroying houses (II Kings
21:13; Isaiah 28:17;
34:11; Lamentations 2:8). It denotes that God’s judgments
are measured out
by the exactest
rules of justice. Here it is placed in the
midst of
the
judgment is not to be confined to an outer part of
Pileser — it is to reach the
very center. This was fulfilled when
Shalmaneser, after a three years’ siege of
of
Hoshea the King of Israel, and carried away
more.” I will not
forgive them any more (ch. 8:2; Proverbs 19:11;
Micah 7:18). “And the high places,” dedicated to
idols, “of Isaac.” They
boasted of following the example of their forefather Isaac, in
erecting high places at
erected them before the temple was appointed at
Israelites did so after the temple had been fixed as the
only place for
sacrifices and worship. The mention of Isaac and
intended simply to express the names which their posterity boasted
in, as if
they would ensure their safety; but these shall not save them.
Homiletically,
we
may use these words as suggesting certain things concerning man’s
moral character.
·
THERE IS A KIND OF MASONRY IN THE FORMATION OF
MAN’S CHARACTER. “Thus
He showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood
upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His
hand. And the
Lord said unto me,
Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A
plumb line.” A
plumb line is an architectural instrument; and the wall on which
the Lord
stood was being measured by a plumb line. Moral masonry is
suggested.
Man’s character may be compared
to masonry in several respects.
1. It has one foundation. Walls are built, not
upon two, but upon one
foundation. So is every man’s character.
There is some one principle on
which it is organized, some one fount to which you can trace
all the
streams of human activity.
The principle is the paramount affection of the
man. Whatever he loves most, governs him.
a. If he loves
pleasure most, his character is
sensual;
b. if he loves
money most, his character is worldly;
c. if he loves
wisdom most, his character is philosophic;
d. if he loves God
most, his character is Divine.
2. It has a variety
of materials. In a building there are earth,
lime, stones,
bricks, wood, iron, etc. These are brought together into a whole.
Character
is not formed of one set of actions, thoughts, impulses,
volitions. All kinds
of acts enter into it, mental, moral, muscular, personal,
political, religious
— all
are materials in the building.
3. It is a gradual advancement. You cannot build a house in a day; stone
by stone it must advance: so the
formation of character is a slow work.
Men cannot become either devils
or saints at once, cannot spring into these
characters by a bound. It takes time to build up a Satan, and a
longer time
still to build up a seraph within us. Acts make habits; habits
make
character.
·
THERE IS A DIVINE STANDARD BY WHICH TO TEST MAN’S
CHARACTER.
Here is the great God standing on the wall with a “plumb
line” in His hand,
with which to test His people
“plumb
line” by which to test character? Here it is: “Whatsoever ye would
that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.” Or, perhaps more
intelligibly, the moral character of Christ: “If any man have not the spirit
of
Christ, he is none
of His.” That
spirit is love for God and men. Without
love we are “nothing.” Here is a plumb line. Are you Christly? If not, your
moral masonry is not architecturally sound or symmetric. He who
now
stood before Amos on the wall, with a “plumb line in His hand,”
stands
today amongst men with this moral test of character.
·
THERE IS A TERRIBLE RUIN FOR THOSE WHOSE
CHARACTERS WILL NOT BEAR THE TEST OF THIS PLUMB LINE.
“Behold, I will
set a plumb line in the midst of my people
again pass by them any more: and the high places of Isaac shall
be desolate,
and the sanctuaries of
house of Jeroboam with the sword.” See this test applied on the day of
judgment, as represented in Matthew 25:31-46, “When the Son of man
shall come in his glory,”
From vs. 10-17, we find this
bold prophecy, no longer conceived in general
terms or referring to distant
times, but distinct and personal, arouses the
animosity of the priestly
authorities at
and warn him to leave the
country without more words, or to fear the worst.
10 “Then Amaziah the priest of
saying, Amos hath
conspired against thee in the midst of the house
of
of
a crafty and determined man, hearing this prophecy against the royal house,
takes it up as a political matter, and makes a formal accusation against Amos
with the view of silencing
him. Hath conspired against thee. Probably
some
of the Israelites
had been convinced by the prophet’s words, and had joined
themselves to him; hence Amaziah
speaks of “a conspiracy” (I Samuel 22:8,13;
I Kings 15:27) against the king. Or very possibly the story
was fabricated in
order to accentuate the charge against Amos. In the midst of the house of
would have the greatest effect. The land, personified,
cannot endure such
language, which is calculated to disturb its peace, and is
quite contrary to its
ideas and hopes.
(Likewise, the modern press is all over the influences of
Christianity in our day, and attack
anything that is not POLITICALLY
CORRECT! – CY – 2013 Now in 2022 the press seems to be
promoting,
not
only lies, but are involving themselves in
a one-world global economy
which will be the
forerunner of the Anti-christ - CY - 2022)
Amos (like Christians concerned for the
had deserved better from
welfare than any other man from the king down. He saw their
sin, and
lamented it; their impending ruin and would have
averted it; their one way
of escape, and
pressed its adoption strenuously. Had they not been as blind
as besotted, they would have revered him as a national
benefactor. But the
reformation he preached meant the abandonment of rooted
habits and the
harassing of vested interests in sin, neither of which would be so much as
named. Accordingly, Amos anticipated the experience of all
reformers
since, in being ASSAILED BY A
POLICY OF FALSEHOOD, BACKED
BY FORCE. We have here:
at the sanctuary of the golden
calf there. His position and functions were in
profane mimicry of those of the
high priest at
charge:
Ø
He appeals to force. The tyrant Jeroboam was the embodiment of
IRRESPONSIBLE
POWER IN
of brute force. Its appeal
to the strong arm as the only argument
worth using is
characteristic. Error eschews argument.
The kingdom
of darkness instinctively
fears the light. What is an outrage
on reason
takes its shelter
COWARDLY BEHIND A SWORD. The true
religion makes its appeal
to truth. The religion that appeals to the
sword is prima facie FALSE.
Ø
He is prompted by jealousy. He had a vested interest
in the
national idolatry. To
abolish it would be to take the bread out
of his mouth. Like the
chief priests and scribes with Christ,
and the Ephesian
silversmiths with Paul, Amaziah was striking
for his livelihood. Conflicting
self-interest, actual or supposed,
is a constant
and effective obstacle in the way of the religious
life. It is the preliminary necessity of leaving all in act or
spirit
that makes the followers of
the Lord so few.
Ø
He makes a lying accusation. (v.11) Amos had not really made
either statement. That
applied to Jeroboam had been made about
Jeroboam’s house. That
about
call to repentance, and a
conditional promise of escape, which
modified its character altogether.
The charge, therefore, consists
of a lie and a half-truth,
and is an attempt to work on the king’s
personal fears, by
construing into a conspiracy against his kingdom
and life what Amos did to
save both. For this now stale device
PERSECUTORS IN ALL
AGES have shown a
characteristic
predilection. Christ was calumniously accused of
speaking against Caesar
(Luke 23:2; John 19:12; Matthew 22:21).
Paul was falsely charged
with “doing contrary to the decrees
of Caesar,” and “stirring up sedition among the Jews”
(Acts 17:7; 24:5). And
often since has the assertion of liberty of
conscience been construed
into rebellion against the civil power.
Falsehood and violence are the traditional propaganda of
THE
Ø
He judges the prophet’s
morals by the standard of his own.
(v. 12.) His relation to his own office was utterly
sordid. He
held the office of priest
for the “bit of bread” it secured
him.
And he assumes that Amos is
like himself. It is thus that the
saint “judges the world, yet himself is judged of no man”
(I Corinthians 2:15). Forming an estimate of the righteous,
the wicked leave conscience
out of the computation, and so
vitiate the finding.
Ø
He condemns idolatry by the
argument he uses in its defense.
(v.13.) “The king’s sanctuary,” set up and
consecrated by the king,
maintained by his
authority, and subordinated to his purposes. The
national idolatry was a
creature of the king. Its claim to be a religion
was no stronger than his claim
to be a god. For religious ordinances
state authority is so
inadequate as only to expose them to suspicion —
the suspicion of adjustment
to a state policy rather than to
the WORD AND
GLORY OF GOD!
11 “For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam
shall die by the sword, and
shall surely be
led away captive out of their own land.” This
is a partly
correct account of what the prophet had said, but it differed in some important
particulars. Amaziah carefully
omits the fact that Amos had merely been the
mouthpiece of God
in all his announcements; he says falsely that a violent death
had been predicted for Jeroboam
himself; and, in stating that Amos had foretold
the captivity of
or of the hope held out to repentance, or of the prophet’s
intercession.
12 “Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O
thou seer, go, flee thee away into
the
Also Amaziah said.
Jeroboam appears to have taken no steps
in consequence of this accusation, either deeming that the
words of a
visionary were unworthy of serious consideration, or, like
Herod
(Matthew 14:5), fearing the people, who had been impressed
by the
prophet’s words and bold bearing. Therefore Amaziah endeavors by his
own authority to make Amos leave the country, or else does
not wait for
the command of the king, who was probably at
Amaaiah calls Amos chozeh - ὁ
ὁρῶν - ho horon – seer
- (I
Chronicles
21:9; 25:5), either with reference to the visions just
given, or in derision of
his claims — as we might say, “visionary.” Flee thee away; fly for thine
own good to escape punishment, patronizing and counseling
him. Go to the
land of
kingdom will be acceptable. Eat bread. Amaziah speaks, as if Amos
was
paid for his prophecies, made a gain of godliness. Prophesy there.
The idoloatrous priest has no
conception of the inspiration under
which the prophet speaks. He judges others by himself, attributing to
Amos the sordid motives by which he himself was influenced.
13 “But prophesy not again any more at
chapel, and it is
the king’s court.” The king’s chapel; i.e. “a
sanctuary”
(Exodus 25:8; Leviticus
19:30) founded by the king (I Kings 12:28), not by God.
So in truth it had only an earthly sanction, and the
prophet of the Lord was
out of place there. The
king’s court; literally, house of the kingdom.
“National temple” (Kuenen); “a
royal temple, the state church” (Pusey).
Not the political, but the religious, capital, the chief
seat of the religion
appertaining to the nation. Amaziah
speaks as a thorough Erastian; as if the
human authority were everything, and the Lord, of
Himself, had no
claims on the land.
14 “Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah,
I was no prophet,
neither was I a
prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer
of sycomore fruit:” The
prophet, undaunted by Amaziah’s threats, in simple
language declares that he
does not practice prophesying as a profession or
to gain a livelihood, but in obedience to the voice of
God. The exercise of
the prophetical office was restricted neither to sex nor
rank. There were
many prophetesses in
22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14);
and besides a large number of
nameless prophets there are twenty-three whose names are
preserved in
Holy Writ, omitting those whose writings have come down to
us. A prophet’s son;
i.e. brought up in the
schools of the prophets, the pupils of which were called
“sons of the
prophets” (see I Kings 20:35; II Kings
2:5). Amos was neither
Self-commissioned nor
trained in any human institution. A herdman (boger);
usually “a cowherd;” here “a shepherd;” αἰπόλος - aipolos - (Septuagint). A
gatherer of sycomore fruit. The phrase, boles shiqmim,
may mean either
one who plucks mulberry figs for his own sustenance, or one
who
cultivates them for others. The latter is probably the
meaning of the term
here. The Septuagint rendering, κνίζων συκάμινα – knizon sukamina –
“pricking sycamore
fruit,” and that of the Vulgate, vellicans
sycomoros,
indicate the artificial means for ripening the fruit, which
was done by scraping,
scratching, or puncturing it, as is sometimes done to the
figs of commerce.
As the tree bore many crops of fruit in the year, it would
afford constant
employment to the dresser.
God has chosen the man, and that means unconditional consecration. God has
commissioned him, and he makes the fact the basis of his whole life program.
“I must work the
works of Him that sent me, while it is day:
the night
cometh, when no man can work” (John
9:4). That
is a comprehensive life
maxim. In the spiritual circle nothing is held
supremely important but that
God’s work be done.
15 “And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD
said unto me, Go,
prophesy unto my people
literally, from after from behind, as in the call of David (II Samuel 7:8;
Psalm 78:70), The Divine call came to him suddenly and imperatively, and he
must needs obey it. He, therefore, could not follow Amaziah’s
counsel.
Like the Apostle Paul, “woe is unto me, if I preach not the
gospel.”
(I Corinthians 9:16)
The Herdsman Becomes a
Prophet (vs. 14-15)
The simple dignity of Amos’s reply to Amaziah
must strike every reader
with admiration. The priest of
who
had a calling which he was Constrained to fulfill in some place or
other. But Amos did not prophesy because he had been trained to
the
prophetic vocation; he prophesied because the Lord constrained him to do
so. The Lord had made him very sensitive to the prevailing
sins of his
countrymen, had sent him with a message of warning to the court of
fulfillment of this sacred ministry.
·
GOD IS NOT DEPENDENT UPON EDUCATION OR LEARNING
FOR THE QUALIFICATION OF THE AGENTS HE SELECTS. Amos
was not the first or the last unlettered, intellectually
uncultivated man
employed by Infinite Wisdom upon
a high and sacred ministry of
usefulness. There were in
Amos was not trained. The spiritual
power, which is the true “note” of a
prophetic calling, is not confined to those who are
reared in seats of
learning, who have acquired the scholarship which is
imparted by the
intellectual discipline of school and university.
·
GOD CAN, HOWEVER, GIVE AN EDUCATION AND TRAINING
OF HIS OWN, EFFECTIVE FOR THE PURPOSES OF A SPIRITUAL
MINISTRY. It
is a common mistake to suppose that those who have not
been educated in the way which is familiar to us have not been
educated at
all The Lord taught Amos in the solitude of the fields, the
valleys, the hills
of
His education was, in a sense,
very thorough. It gave him insight into the
mighty works of the Creator, into His wonderful ways in dealing
with the
children of men, into the secrets of the human heart. His writings
are a
sufficient proof of his familiarity with
the works and ways of God. His
sublime descriptions of natural scenery, of the heavens and the
earth, his
minute acquaintance with the processes of growth and of
husbandry, his
knowledge of the human heart and all its conflicts, — these are
evidences
that his mind was not uninformed or untrained.
·
AN UNLETTERED BUT DIVINELY TAUGHT NATURE MAY
BE A BLESSING TO MEN, AND MAY BRING GLORY TO GOD. The
service which Amos rendered to
subsequent ages, is a proof that God can use instruments, which seem
to
man’s wisdom unsuitable, in order to effect His own purposes.
The power
of this prophet’s ministry is unquestionable. To some extent
his message
was heeded; and that it was not more effective was not owing
to any fault
in him, but rather to the hardness of heart which distinguished those
to
whom he was sent. At the same time, there was so manifest an evidence of
Divine power in
the life and work of Amos as must have impressed all who
knew him with the conviction that the power of God was upon
him. A
Divine election, Divine
qualifications, may be as really present in the case
of a minister of religion who has enjoyed every social and
educational
advantage, as in the case of him who is called from the plough to
prophesy
in the name of the Lord. But the impression upon the popular
mind is in the
former case far more deep, and naturally so. Thus God is honored,
whilst
witness is borne to Him before men, and the cause of righteousness
is
maintained and advanced.
Prophecy
(v. 15)
Amos was one of the “goodly fellowship of the prophets,” who once
witnessed for God on
earth, and who now praise God in heaven. There
was
a long succession of prophets in Hebrew history, and especially during
one
epoch of that history. The Christian dispensation has also enjoyed the
benefit of prophetic gifts and prophetic ministrations.
·
THE AUTHOR AND THE AUTHORITY OF PROPHECY. No true
prophet ever spake the counsels of his
own wisdom merely. The preface to
a prophetic utterance is this: “Thus saith
the Lord.” “The Lord took me,”
says Amos, in his simple, graphic style, “as I was following the flock,
and
the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy.”
1. The prophet was called and appointed by the Lord of all
truth and
power.
2. The prophet was entrusted by the Lord with a special
message. It was
these facts that aggravated the guilt of those who were inattentive
to the
Divine message, who rejected and persecuted the Divine messengers.
·
THE MATTER AND SUBSTANCE OF PROPHECY. The function of
the prophet was to utter forth the mind and will of the
Eternal. Sometimes
it is supposed that it was his special duty to declare things
to come, to
foretell. Doubtless the prophet was often directed to warn of evils
about to
descend upon the guilty and impenitent. But to foretell was not so
much
his distinctive office as to
tell forth the commands and the counsels of the
Lord.
·
THE PROPHET AS THE VEHICLE OF PROPHECY. Personality,
loving intelligence and will, a truly human nature, — such was
the
condition to be fulfilled by the chosen vehicle of the Divine
purposes. Men
of temperaments as different as Elijah and Jeremiah were selected by
him
who can make use of every instrument for the fulfillment of
His own
purposes. One thing was
necessary, that the prophet’s whole nature should
be penetrated by the Spirit of God, that he should give
himself up entirely
to become the minister and the messenger of Eternal Wisdom.
·
THE METHODS OF PROPHECY.
Speech was no doubt
the chief
means by which the prophet conveyed his message to his fellow
men;
speech of every kind:
Ø
bold and gentle,
Ø
figurative and plain,
Ø
commanding and persuasive.
Life was no inconsiderable
part of prophecy. There were
cases in which the very actions and habits of the prophet were a
testimony
to men. Symbols were not
infrequently employed in order to impart lessons
which could be better taught thus than by the logical forms of
speech. God
made use of every method which human nature allowed and the conditions
of the prophetic ministry suggested.
·
THE MEANING OF PROPHECY.
An agency so special and so highly
qualified must have aimed at an end proportionably
important and valuable.
It may be noted that:
1. Prophecy was largely intended to lead sinful people to
repentance and
reformation.
2. To encourage the obedient and spiritual amidst
difficulties and
persecutions.
3. To introduce higher views of religion than those current at
the time, and
thus to prepare the way for the dispensation of the Messiah, for
the religion
of the Spirit, for the universal kingdom of truth and
righteousness.
16 “Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest,
Prophesy not
against
house of
Isaac.” Hear thou the word of the Lord. The punishment of him
who tried to impede God’s message. Drop not thy word. Be not
continually pouring forth prophecy. The word is used
similarly in
Micah 2:6,11 and Ezekiel 21:2. The idea, though not the
term, is
taken from Deuteronomy 32:2. Septuagint μὴ ὀχλαγωγήσῃ –
mae ochlagogaesaes - “raise no tumult,”
which rather expresses
Amaziah’s fear of the effect of the utterance than translates the
word.
17 “Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Thy wife shall be an harlot in the
city, and thy
sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy
land shall be
divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted
land:
and
With this denunciation compare that of Jeremiah (Jeremiah
20:3-6) against
Pashur. As husband, as
father, as citizen, Amaziah shall suffer grievously.
Shall be an harlot
in the city. Not play the harlot willingly, but suffer open
violence when the city is taken (compare Isaiah 13:16; Lamentations
5:11).
And thy daughters. This would be abnormal cruelty,
as the Assyrians
usually spared the women of conquered towns. Shall be divided by line.
Amaziah’s own land was to be portioned out to strangers by the measuring line
(Zechariah 2:2). A
polluted land; an unclean land; i.e.
a Gentile country.
Amaziah himself was to share his countrymen’s captivity. The sins and
idolatry of the people are often said to defile the land; e.g. Leviticus 18:25;
Numbers 35:33; Jeremiah 2:7. Shall
surely go into captivity; or, be led
away captive. Amos
repeats the very words which formed part of his
accusation (v.11),
in order to show that GOD’S PURPOSE IS
UNCHANGED, and that, he the prophet, must utter THE SAME
DENUCIATION! (see
the accomplishment, II Kings 17:6-23).
BEWARE OF PRACTICAL ATHEISM – It is getting a foothold
in
Schemes Foiled by
Fearless Candor (vs. 10-17)
Amos had deserved well of
welfare than any other
man from the king down. He saw their sin,
and
lamented it; their impending ruin. and
would have averted it; their one way
of
escape, and pressed its adoption strenuously. Had they not been
as blind
as besotted, they would have revered him as a national
benefactor. But the
reformation he preached meant the abandonment of rooted habits and
the
harassing of vested interests in sin, neither of which would be so
much as
named. Accordingly, Amos
anticipated the experience of all reformers
since, in being assailed by a policy of falsehood, backed by force. We have
here:
.
·
A FAITHFUL PROPHET. Like
every true man, Amos was:
1. Humble.
(v. 14.) He remembers and confesses his lowly
origin. He
asks no respect but such as might be due to his native
condition. He treats
the prophetic office as an entirely unmerited dignity. His
exercise of it was
disinterested. He was neither a professional prophet nor the son of one.
His
prophesying was an incident, and the trust of Divine
grace. The man whom
office spoils was unfit for it. The religion that is puffed up by
employment
in God’s work was never intelligent, or of a high order.
2. Loyal to his Divine commission. (v.
15.) In a believing life God is all.
His will is the supreme interest
and exclusive rule. God has chosen the
man, and that means unconditional consecration. God has
commissioned
him, and he makes the fact the basis of his whole life program. “I
must
work the works of Him that sent me.” (John 9:4) That is a comprehensive
life maxim. In the spiritual circle nothing is held supremely
important but
that God’s work be done.
3. Zealous. Amos made the salvation of
life effort. He could think, speak, be
active about nothing else. “The land
could not bear his words,” so vehement were they and so persistent. The
advocacy that will take no refusal, that
must be either yielded to or
silenced, is that which alone beseems the stupendous importance of the
cause of God. “The zeal of thine
house hath eaten me up.” (Psalm
69:9;
John 2:17) If this is not an all-absorbing
passion, it is not after
The One Example.
4. Bold.
(vs. 16-17.) Prohibition is treated as a
challenge. It only leads
him to repeat and emphasize. There is no bravado in this, but
only a
supreme regard for the principle, “We ought to obey God rather than
men.” (Acts 5:29)
The King’s messenger, on the King’s business, must brook
obstruction from none. The best soldier is the boldest. Perfect
devotion to
and faith in his Captain speaks in absolute fearlessness in
his service.
5. Explicit. (v. 17.) The heathen oracles always “paltered in a double
sense.” After the event their deliverances could be reconciled
with
whatever happened. But the prophet, delivering God’s message, is
sure of
his ground. He specifies details with confidence, for no jot
or tittle of the
Divine Word can fail. (Matthew
5:18) As in other cases, the fulfillment
of this particular detail of the prophecy is not recorded
(Isaiah 22:17-18;
Jeremiah 29:22), nor could it be
expected to be in the condensed account
of the Scripture narrative. “Scripture hath no leisure to relate all which
befalls those of the viler sort.”
Yet the broad fact of the Captivity and exile,
accompanied by all the horrors of Oriental warfare, forms a
constructive
record of the events.
·
A HARROWING PICTURE.
(v. 17.) These are the horrors born of
idolatry. When Amaziah came to suffer
them in his family he would know
practically what his chosen idolatry was, and made of men.
1. Family dishonor. “Wife dishonoured,” etc. A common atrocity
(Isaiah 13:16; Zechariah 14:2),
and to all concerned the most
diabolically cruel conceivable. Between this crime and idolatry there
are
analogies, and probably affinities, in virtue of which the one is
figuratively
called by the name of the other (Jeremiah 3:9; Ezekiel 23:37). The
patron of the one is fitly punished by being made the victim of the
other.
2. Family
impoverishment. A Hebrew’s property is inalienable. If he lost
it
by mismanagement, it reverted to his family at the jubilee.
But the
Assyrian
would know nothing of jubilees. (Leviticus 25) The chance of disgorgement
was small when he had eaten up the inheritance.
3. Family extermination. We all like to
perpetuate our name and family.
The Hebrew had this feeling in almost
unparalleled strength. To die
childless was with him the sum of all disaster. What more
appropriate than
that it should wait on idolatry, “the sum of all sin”?
4. Dishonoured death. Dying in a
strange country, both Jacob and Joseph
made provision for being buried in their own land (Genesis
47:30;
50:25; Hebrews 11:22). No Jew
could die happy expecting burial in a
heathen country. Exposure to such a fate would
cap the climax of
Amaziah’s wretchedness.
5. Exile for all
Israel They had polluted their land, and were unworthy
longer to remain in it. They had become assimilated to
the heathen in their
character and ways, and would be associated with them yet on
closer
terms. It was a holiday
heathenism they were in love with, and they
would
be cured of their penchant
by a sight of it in its working dress.
·
A CLENCHING ARGUMENT. “The
word of Jehovah.” It was Amos
who spoke it; but the word was God’s. And IT CANNOT BE
BROKEN!
1. The Divine truth
is pledged to it.
2. The Divine energy is lodged in it.
3. The Divine purpose is couched
in it,
The thing
it affirms is potentially a fact.
The
Conventional and the Genuine Priests of a People (vs. 10-17)
“Then Amaziah the priest of
saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the
house of
Israel: the land is not able to bear all his
words,” etc. In these words we
have types of two classes of priests who are ever found amongst the
people.
·
THE CONVENTIONAL PRIEST OF A PEOPLE. Amaziah was the
recognized, authorized, conventional priest of
the royal sanctuary of the calves at
teacher — a kind of archbishop. We find this man doing three
things which
such conventional priests have done in all ages, and are doing
now.
1. He was in close intimacy with the king. He “sent to Jeroboam King of
kings and those in authority; they have generally proved ready
to obey their
behests, study their whims, and wink at their abominations. In their
prayers they will often insult the Omniscient by describing
their royal
masters, whatever their immoralities, as “our most religious,”
“our most
gracious sovereign.” As a rule, they are the mere creatures of kings.
2. He seeks to expel
an independent teacher from the dominion of the
king. He seeks to do this in two ways.
a. By appealing to the king. He does this in a spirit that has ever
characterized his class — by bringing against Amos the groundless charge
of
treason. “Amos hath conspired against thee in the
midst of the house of
endeavors to influence the king against the true teacher. He does
this:
b. By alarming the
prophet. “Amaziah
said unto Amos, O thou seer, go,
flee thee away into the
there: but prophesy not again any more at
chapel, and it is the king’s court.” It does not appear that the king took any
notice of the message which this authorized religious teacher had
sent him
concerning Amos; hence, in order to carry out his malignant purpose,
he
addresses the prophet and says, “O
thou seer, go, flee thee away.” Not
imagining that Amos could be actuated by any higher principle than
that of
selfishness, which reigned in his own heart, the priest advised him to
consult his safety by fleeing across the frontier into the
where he might obtain his livelihood by the unrestrained
exercise of his
prophetical gifts. Here, then, we have, in this Amaziah,
a type of many so
called authorized religious teachers of a country. Two feelings
inspire them:
* a miserable servility
towards their rulers, and
* a cruel envy
towards their religious rivals.
They want to sweep the land of
all schismatics. Thank
God, the days of the Amaziahs, through the advancement of popular
intelligence, are drawing to a close!
·
HERE WE HAVE THE GENUINE PRIEST OF A PEOPLE, Amos
seems to have been a prophet not nationally recognized as such.
He was no
professional prophet. Observe three things concerning the prophet.
1. He is not ashamed of his humble origin. “I was no prophet”
— that is,
“I am not a prophet by
profession,” — “neither was I a prophet’s son.” By
the son of a prophet he means a disciple or pupil. He had not
studied in any
prophetic college. On the contrary, “I am nothing but a poor laboring
man” — “an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit.”
No true prophet
is ever ashamed of his origin, however humble. As a rule, the
greatest
teachers of the world have struggled up from the regions of poverty
and
obscurity. From the lower grades of social life the Almighty
generally
selects His most eminent servants; “not many mighty does He call.”
(I Corinthians 1:26-28)
2. He is conscious of the Divinity of his mission. “The Lord took me
as I
followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my
people
the Lord called him. How he was called does not appear. When God calls a
man to work, the man knows it. No
argument will convince him to the
contrary. The conventional teacher may say, “You are unauthorized,
unrecognized, unordained; you have intruded
yourself into the holy
calling.” But the true teacher knows when he is divinely called,
and under
this impression he carries on his work. “The Lord took me as I followed
the flock,”
3. In the name of Heaven he denounces the conventional priest. In return
for this rebellion against Jehovah, Amos foretells for the priest the
punishment which will fall upon him when the judgment shall come upon
the keen retort, “Thus saith
Jehovah.” The punishment is thus described in
v. 17, “Thy wife shall be an harlot in
the city,” i.e. at the taking of the
city she will become a harlot through violation. His children
also would be
slain by the foe, and his lauded possessions assigned to others,
viz. to the
fresh settlers in the land. He himself, viz. the priest,
would die in an unclean
land, that is to say, in the land of the Gentiles; in other
words, would be
carried away captive, and that with the whole nation, the carrying
away of
which is repeated by Amos in the words which the priest had
reported to
the king (v. 11) as a sign that what he has prophesied will
assuredly stand
(Delitzsch).
·
CONCLUSION. To which class of teachers dost thou belong, my
brother? That represented by Amaziah, who, though recognized by his king
and country as the true teacher, was nevertheless destitute of loyalty to the
one true God and the spirit of true philanthropy and honest
manhood; or
that represented by Amos, who although a poor laborer,
unrecognized by
his country as a true teacher, yet was called of God and
manfully fulfilled
his Divine mission? Heaven multiply in this country and
throughout the
world religions teachers of this Amos type!
A Polluted
Land (v. 17)
If in Amos we have an example of a faithful prophet, in Amaziah we have
an
example of an unfaithful priest. One servant of the Lord seems in this
narrative to be set against another; but, in fact, the priest was
a nominal
servant, whilst the prophet was sincere and devoted. The fate predicted for
Amaziah was indeed terrible; but we discern in its appointment,
not the
malice of a human foe, but the justice of a Divine Ruler. Among the
circumstances which enhanced the horror of this fate is mentioned the
pollution of the heathen land in which the
wicked priest should close his
life.
·
A LAND MAY BE POLLUTED NOTWITHSTANDING ITS
WEALTH, LUXURIOUSNESS, AND POLITICAL EMINENCE AND
POWER. Some of
the ancient monarchies of the world were no less
remarkable for moral corruption than for grandeur, prosperity, and
military
strength. Such was the case with
guard against the deceptiveness of external
appearances. The semblance of
national greatness may mislead us in our judgment. The surface may
deceive; there may be much to outward view fascinating and
commanding.
Yet beneath the surface there may be injustice, oppression,
selfishness,
wretchedness, and disunion; the land may be polluted by vice and, if
not by
idolatry, yet by practical atheism.
·
A LAND MAY BE POLLUTED ALTHOUGH IT BE CHOSEN AS
THE SCENE OF THE EXECUTION OF PURPOSES OF DIVINE
JUDGMENT. It
must not be supposed that, because certain nations were
appointed by Divine providence to be the ministers of retribution
upon
that upon which their power was exercised for purposes of
chastisement.
The records of the Old Testament
Scriptures are decisive upon this point.
Idolatrous people were permitted
to scourge
land was to be the means of cleansing those defiled by sin.
·
TO CLEANSE A LAND FROM POLLUTION IS THE HIGHEST
END WHICH THE PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS CAN SET BEFORE
THEM. Splendor,
opulence, military power, are in the view of the
enlightened as nothing compared with the righteousness which exalteth a
nation. “Righteousness
exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any
people.” (Proverbs 14:34)
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