mh_parser/vol_split/30 - Amos/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="Amos.vii" n="vii" next="Amos.viii" prev="Amos.vi" progress="82.94%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="Amos.vii-p0.1">A M O S.</h2>
<h3 id="Amos.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Amos.vii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. A sinful people
studying to put a slight upon God's threatenings and to make them
appear trivial, confiding in their privileges and pre-eminences
above other nations (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.2-Amos.6.3" parsed="|Amos|6|2|6|3" passage="Am 6:2,3">ver. 2,
3</scripRef>), and their power (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.13" parsed="|Amos|6|13|0|0" passage="Am 6:13">ver.
13</scripRef>), and wholly addicted to their pleasures, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.4-Amos.6.6" parsed="|Amos|6|4|6|6" passage="Am 6:4-6">ver. 4-6</scripRef>. II. A serious prophet
studying to put a weight upon God's threatenings and to make them
appear terrible, by setting forth the severity of those judgments
that were coming upon these sensualists (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.7" parsed="|Amos|6|7|0|0" passage="Am 6:7">ver. 7</scripRef>), God's abhorring them, and abandoning
them and theirs to death (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.8-Amos.6.11" parsed="|Amos|6|8|6|11" passage="Am 6:8-11">ver.
8-11</scripRef>), and bringing utter desolation upon them, since
they would not be wrought upon by the methods he had taken for
their conviction, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.12-Amos.6.14" parsed="|Amos|6|12|6|14" passage="Am 6:12-14">ver.
12-14</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Amos.vii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6" parsed="|Amos|6|0|0|0" passage="Am 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Amos.vii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.1-Amos.6.7" parsed="|Amos|6|1|6|7" passage="Am 6:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.vii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Amos.vii-p1.10">The Danger of False
Security. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 790.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.vii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe to them <i>that are</i> at ease in Zion,
and trust in the mountain of Samaria, <i>which are</i> named chief
of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!   2 Pass ye
unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great:
then go down to Gath of the Philistines: <i>be they</i> better than
these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?   3
Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence
to come near;   4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch
themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock,
and the calves out of the midst of the stall;   5 That chant
to the sound of the viol, <i>and</i> invent to themselves
instruments of music, like David;   6 That drink wine in
bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are
not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.   7 Therefore now
shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the
banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p3" shownumber="no">The first words of the chapter are the
contents of these verses; but they sound very strangely, and
contrary to the sentiments of a vain world: <i>Woe to those that
are at ease!</i> We are ready to say, <i>Happy are those that are
at ease,</i> that neither feel any trouble nor fear any, that lie
soft and warm, and lay nothing to heart; and wise we think are
those that do so, that bathe themselves in the delights of sense
and care not how the world goes. Those are looked upon as doing
well for themselves that do well for their bodies and make much of
them; but against them this woe is denounced, and we are here told
what their ease is, and what the woe is.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p4" shownumber="no">I. Here is a description of their pride,
security, and sensuality, for which God would reckon with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p5" shownumber="no">1. They were vainly conceited of their own
dignities, and thought those would secure them from the judgments
threatened and be their defence against the wrath both of God and
man. (1.) Those that dwelt in Zion thought that was honour and
protection enough for them, and they might there be quiet from all
fear of evil, because it was a strong city, well fortified both by
nature and art (we read of Zion's <i>strong-holds</i> and her
<i>bulwarks</i>), and because it was a royal city, where were set
the thrones of the house of David (it was the head-city of Judah,
and therefore truly great), and especially because it was the holy
city, where the temple was, and the testimony of Israel; those that
dwelt there doubted not but that God's sanctuary would be a
sanctuary to them and would shelter them from his judgments. The
<i>temple of the Lord are these,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.4" parsed="|Jer|7|4|0|0" passage="Jer 7:4">Jer. vii. 4</scripRef>. They are <i>haughty because of
the holy mountain,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.11" parsed="|Zeph|3|11|0|0" passage="Zep 3:11">Zeph. iii.
11</scripRef>. Note, Many are puffed up with pride, and rocked
asleep in carnal security, by their church-privileges, and the
place they have in Zion. (2.) Those that dwelt <i>in the mountain
of Samaria,</i> though it was not a holy hill, like that of Zion,
yet they trusted in it, because it was the metropolis of a potent
kingdom, and perhaps, in imitation of Jerusalem, was the
head-quarters of its religion; and by lapse of time the hill of
Shemer became with them in as good repute as the hill of Zion ever
was. They hoped for salvation from these hills and mountains. (3.)
Both these two kingdoms valued themselves upon their relation to
Israel, that prince with God, which they looked upon as masking
them the <i>chief of the nations,</i> more ancient and honourable
than any of them; the <i>first-fruits of the nations</i> (so the
word is), dedicated to God and sanctifying the whole harvest. The
<i>house of Israel</i> came to them, that is, was divided into
those kingdoms, of which Zion and Samaria were the mother cities.
Those that were at ease were the princes and rulers, the great men,
that were <i>chief of the nations,</i> chief of those two kingdoms,
and to whom, having their residence in Zion and Samaria, the whole
house of Israel applied for judgment. Note, It is hard to be great
and not to be proud. Great nations and great men are apt to
overvalue themselves, and to overlook their neighbours, because
they think they a little overtop them. But, for a check to their
pride and security, the prophet bids them take notice of those
cities that were within the compass of their knowledge, that had
been as illustrious in their time as ever Zion or Samaria was, and
yet were destroyed, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.2" parsed="|Amos|6|2|0|0" passage="Am 6:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. "Go <i>to Calneh</i> (which was an ancient city built
by Nimrod, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.10.10" parsed="|Gen|10|10|0|0" passage="Ge 10:10">Gen. x. 10</scripRef>), and
see what has become of that, it is now in ruins; so is <i>Hamath
the great,</i> one of the chief cities of Syria. Sennacherib boasts
of <i>destroying the gods of Hamath.</i> Gath was likewise made
desolate by Hazael, and not long ago, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.12.17" parsed="|2Kgs|12|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 12:17">2 Kings xii. 17</scripRef>. Now <i>were they better
than these kingdoms</i> of Judah and Israel? Yes, they were, and
<i>their border greater than your border,</i> so that they had more
reason than you to be confident of their own safety; yet you see
what has become of them, and dare you be secure? <i>Art thou better
than populous No?</i>" <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.8" parsed="|Nah|3|8|0|0" passage="Na 3:8">Nah. iii.
8</scripRef>. Note, The examples of others' ruin forbid us to be
secure.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p6" shownumber="no">2. They persisted in their wicked courses
upon a presumption that they should never be called to an account
for them (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.3" parsed="|Amos|6|3|0|0" passage="Am 6:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
"<i>You put far away the evil day,</i> the day of reckoning, as a
thing that shall never come, or you look upon it as at such a
distance that it makes no impression at all upon you; you <i>put it
far away,</i> and think you can still put it yet further, and
adjourn it <i>de die in diem—from day to day,</i> and therefore
you <i>cause the seat of violence to draw near;</i> you venture
upon all acts of injustice and oppression, and have <i>fellowship
with the throne of iniquity, which frames mischief by a law,</i>
<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.20" parsed="|Ps|94|20|0|0" passage="Ps 94:20">Ps. xciv. 20</scripRef>. You cause
that to come near, as if that would be your protection from these
judgments which really ripens you for them." Note, <i>Therefore</i>
men take sin to be near them, because they take judgment to be far
off from them; but those deceive themselves who thus mock God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p7" shownumber="no">3. They indulged themselves in all manner
of sensual pleasures and delights, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.4-Amos.6.6" parsed="|Amos|6|4|6|6" passage="Am 6:4-6"><i>v.</i> 4-6</scripRef>. These Israelites were perfect
epicures and slaves to their appetites. Their dignities (in
consideration of which they ought to have been examples of
self-denial and mortification), they thought, would justify them in
their sensuality; the gains of their oppression and violence, they
thought, would bear the charge of it; and they put the evil day at
a distance, that they might give them no disturbance in it. That
which they are here charged with is not in itself sinful (these
things might be soberly and moderately used), but they placed their
happiness in the gratification of their carnal appetites; and
though they were men in office, that had business to mind, they
gave themselves up to their pleasures, spent their time in them,
and threw away their thoughts, and cares, and estates upon them.
They were in these enjoyments as in their element. Their hearts
were upon them; they exceeded all bounds in them, and this at a
time when God in his providence was calling them to <i>weeping and
mourning,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.12-Isa.22.13" parsed="|Isa|22|12|22|13" passage="Isa 22:12,13">Isa. xxii. 12,
13</scripRef>. When they were under guilt and wrath, and the
judgments of God were ready to break in upon them, they called for
<i>wine and strong drink,</i> presuming that <i>to-morrow shall be
as this day, and much more abundant</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.12" parsed="|Isa|56|12|0|0" passage="Isa 56:12">Isa. lvi. 12</scripRef>), thus walking contrary to God
and setting his justice at defiance. (1.) They were extravagant in
their furniture. Nothing would serve them but <i>beds of ivory</i>
to sleep upon, or to sit on at their meat, when sackcloth and ashes
would have become them better. (2.) They were lazy, and humoured
themselves in the love of ease. They did not only lie down, but
<i>stretched themselves</i> upon their couches, when they should
have stirred up themselves to their business; they were willingly
slothful, and took a pride in doing nothing; they <i>abound in
superfluities</i> (so the margin reads it), when many of their poor
brethren wanted necessaries. (3.) They were nice and curious in
their diet, must have every thing of the best and abundance of it:
They ate <i>the lambs out of the flock</i> (lambs by wholesale) and
the <i>calves out of the midst of the stall,</i> the fattest they
could lay their hand on; and these perhaps not out of their own
flock and their own stall, but taken by oppression from the poor.
(4.) They were merry and jovial, and diverted themselves at their
feasts with music and singing: They <i>chant to the sound of the
viol,</i> sing and play in concert, and they invent new-fashioned
<i>instruments of music,</i> striving herein, more than in any
thing else, to excel their ancestors; they set their wits on work
to contrive how to please their fancy. Some men never show their
ingenuity but in their luxury; on that they bestow all their
faculty of invention and contrivance. They invent <i>instruments of
music, like David,</i> entertain themselves with that which
formerly used to be the entertainment of kings only. Or it
intimates their profaneness in their mirth; they mimicked the
temple-music, and made a jest of that, because, it may be, it was
old-fashioned, and they took a pride in bantering it as the
Babylonians did when they urged the captives to sing to them the
<i>songs of Zion;</i> such was Belshazzar's profaneness when he
drank wine in temple-bowls, and such is theirs that sing vain and
loose songs in psalm-tunes, on purpose to ridicule a divine
institution. (5.) They drank to excess, and never thought they
could pour down enough: They <i>drank wink in bowls,</i> not in
glasses, or cups (as <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.35.5" parsed="|Jer|35|5|0|0" passage="Jer 35:5">Jer. xxxv.
5</scripRef>); they hate to be stinted, and must have large
draughts, and therefore make use of vessels that they can steal a
draught out of. (6.) They affected the strongest perfumes: They
<i>anoint themselves with the chief ointments,</i> to please the
smell, and to make them more in love with their own bodies, and to
guard against those presages of putrefaction which they carry about
with them while they live. No ordinary ointments would serve their
turn; they must have the chief, such as were far-fetched and
dear-bought, when cheaper would have served as well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p8" shownumber="no">4. They had no concern at all for the
interests of the church of God, and of the nation, that were
sinking and going to decay: <i>They are not grieved for the
affliction of Joseph;</i> the church of God, including both the
kingdoms of Judah and Israel (which are called <i>Joseph,</i>
<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.1" parsed="|Ps|80|1|0|0" passage="Ps 80:1">Ps. lxxx. 1</scripRef>), was in
distress, invaded, insulted, and broken in upon. As to their own
kingdom which they were entrusted with the government of, the
affairs of which they were directors of, the peace of which they
were the conservators of, great breaches were made upon it, upon
its peace and welfare; and they were so besotted that they were not
aware of them, so indulgent of their pleasures that they never laid
them to heart, and had such an aversion to the thing called
business that they were in no care or concern to get them repaired.
It is all one to them whether the nation sink or swim, so that they
can but lie at ease and live in pleasure. Particular persons that
belonged to Joseph were in affliction, and they took no cognizance
of their case of the wrongs and hardships they sustained and the
troubles they were in, nor took any care to relieve them, and right
them, contrary to the temper of holy Job, who, when he was in
prosperity, <i>wept with him</i> that <i>was in misery</i> and his
<i>soul was grieved for the poor,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.30.25" parsed="|Job|30|25|0|0" passage="Job 30:25">Job xxx. 25</scripRef>. Some think that, in calling the
afflicted church <i>Joseph,</i> there is an allusion to the story
of Pharaoh's butler, who, when he preferred to give the cup again
into his master's hand, <i>remembered not Joseph, but forgot
him,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.40.21 Bible:Gen.40.23" parsed="|Gen|40|21|0|0;|Gen|40|23|0|0" passage="Ge 40:21,23">Gen. xl. 21,
23</scripRef>. Thus they <i>drank wine in bowls,</i> but <i>were
not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.</i> Note, Those are
commonly careless of the troubles of others who are set upon their
own pleasures; and it is a great offence to God when his church is
in affliction and we are not grieved for it, nor lay it to
heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p9" shownumber="no">II. Here is the doom passed upon them
(<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.7" parsed="|Amos|6|7|0|0" passage="Am 6:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Therefore
now shall they go captive with the first that go captive,</i> and
shall fall into all the miseries that attend captives; and the
<i>banquet of those</i> that <i>stretched themselves</i> upon their
couches <i>shall be removed.</i> Their plenty shall be taken from
them, and they from it, because they made it the food and fuel of
their lusts. 1. Those who lived in luxury shall lose even their
liberty; and by being brought into servitude shall be justly
punished for the abuse of their dignity and dominion. 2. Those who
trusted in the delights and pleasures of their own land shall be
carried away into a strange land, and so made ashamed of their
pride and confidence; they shall <i>go captive.</i> 3. Those who
placed their happiness in the pleasures of sense, and set their
hearts upon them, shall be deprived of those pleasures; their
banquet shall be removed, and they shall know what it is to fare
hard. 4. Those who <i>stretched themselves</i> shall be made to
contract themselves, and to come into a less compass. 5. Those who
<i>put the evil day far from them</i> shall find it nearer to them
than it is to others; <i>those shall go captive with the first</i>
who flattered themselves with hopes that if trouble did come they
should be the last who should be seized by it. Those are ripening
apace for trouble themselves who lay not to heart the trouble of
others and of the church of God. Those who give themselves to
mirth, when God calls them to mourning, will find it a sin that
shall not go unpunished, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.14" parsed="|Isa|22|14|0|0" passage="Isa 22:14">Isa. xxii.
14</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Amos.vii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.8-Amos.6.14" parsed="|Amos|6|8|6|14" passage="Am 6:8-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.vii-p9.4">
<h4 id="Amos.vii-p9.5">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p9.6">b. c.</span> 790.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.vii-p10" shownumber="no">8 The Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p10.1">God</span>
hath sworn by himself, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p10.2">Lord</span> the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of
Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city
with all that is therein.   9 And it shall come to pass, if
there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.   10
And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to
bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that
<i>is</i> by the sides of the house, <i>Is there</i> yet <i>any</i>
with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy
tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p10.3">Lord</span>.   11 For, behold, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p10.4">Lord</span> commandeth, and he will smite the great
house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.   12
Shall horses run upon the rock? will <i>one</i> plow <i>there</i>
with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of
righteousness into hemlock:   13 Ye which rejoice in a thing
of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own
strength?   14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a
nation, O house of Israel, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.vii-p10.5">Lord</span> the God of hosts; and they shall afflict
you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the
wilderness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p11" shownumber="no">In the former part of the chapter we had
these secure Israelites loading themselves with pleasures, as if
they could never be made merry enough; here we have God loading
them with punishments, as if they could never be made miserable
enough. And observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p12" shownumber="no">I. How strongly this burden is bound on,
not to be shaken off by their presumption and security; for it is
bound by <i>the Lord the God of hosts,</i> by his mighty, his
almighty, hand, which none can resist; it is bound with an oath,
which puts the sentence past revocation: <i>The Lord God has sworn,
and he will not repent,</i> and, since he could swear by no
greater, he has sworn by himself. How dreadful, how miserable, is
the case of those whose ruin, whose eternal ruin, God himself has
sworn, who can execute his purpose and cannot alter it!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p13" shownumber="no">II. How heavily this burden lies! Let us
see the particulars. 1. God will abhor and abandon them, and that
implies misery enough, all misery: <i>I abhor the excellency of
Jacob,</i> all that which they are proud of, and value themselves
upon, and for which they call and count themselves the <i>chief of
nations.</i> Their visible church-membership, and the privileges of
that, their temple, altar, and priesthood, these were, more than
any thing, the excellencies of Jacob; but, when these were profaned
and polluted by sin, God abhorred them; he hated and despised them,
<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.21" parsed="|Amos|5|21|0|0" passage="Am 5:21"><i>ch.</i> v. 21</scripRef>. Note, God
abhors that form of godliness which hypocrites keep up, while they
abhor the power of it. And if he abhors their temple, for the
iniquity of that, no marvel that he hates their palaces, for the
injustices and oppression he finds there. Note, that creature which
we take such a complacency and put such a confidence in as to make
it a rival with God is thereby made abominable to him. He <i>hates
the palaces</i> of sinners, for the sake of wickedness of those
that dwell therein. <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.33" parsed="|Prov|3|33|0|0" passage="Pr 3:33">Prov. iii.
33</scripRef>, <i>The curse of the Lord is in the house of the
wicked.</i> And, if God abhor them, immediately it follows, He will
<i>deliver up the city with all that is therein,</i> deliver it up
into the hands of the enemy, that will lay it waste, and make a
prey of all its wealth. Note, Those that are abhorred and abandoned
of God are undone to all intents and purposes. 2. There shall be a
great and general mortality among them (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.9" parsed="|Amos|6|9|0|0" passage="Am 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>If there remain ten men in one
house,</i> that have escaped the sword of the enemy, yet they shall
be met with another way; <i>they shall</i> all <i>die</i> by famine
or pestilence. In the most sickly times, if there be ten in a
house, one may hope that at least the one-half of them will escape,
according to the proportion of two in a bed, <i>one taken and the
other left;</i> but here not one of ten shall live to bury the
rest. Another instance of the greatness of the mortality is
(<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.10" parsed="|Amos|6|10|0|0" passage="Am 6:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) that the
nearest relations of the dead shall be forced with their own hands
to wind up their bodies, and bury them, for want of other hands to
be employed in it; that is all that the <i>next of kin,</i> to whom
the right of redemption belongs, can do for them, and with great
reluctance will they do that. It intimates that the young people
shall be cut off soonest; for the uncle that survives is,
ordinarily, the senior relation. "When the uncle comes with the
sexton (or <i>him that burns</i>), <i>to bring out the bones out of
the house,</i> he <i>shall say</i> to him that he sees next about
the house, '<i>Is there any yet with thee?</i> Are there any left
alive?' And he shall say, 'No, this is the last; now the whole
family is cut off by death, and neither root nor branch remains.'"
But that which makes the judgment the more grievous is that their
hearts seem to be hardened under it. "When he that is found by the
sides of the house begin to enter into discourse with those that
are carrying off the dead, they shall say, '<i>Hold thy tongue;</i>
do not stand preaching to us about the hand of Providence in this
calamity, for <i>we may not make mention of the name of the
Lord;</i> God is so angry with us that there is no speaking to him;
he is so extreme to mark what we do amiss that we dare not so much
as make mention of his name." ' Thus <i>the foolishness of men
perverts their way,</i> and brings them into distress, and then
<i>their heart frets against the Lord.</i> Even then they will not
take notice of his hand, nor suffer those about them to do it.
Perhaps it was forbidden by some of the idolatrous kings to make
mention of the name of <i>Jehovah,</i> as by the law of Moses it
was forbidden to make mention of the names of the heathen-gods: "We
may not do it without incurring the penalty." Note, Those hearts
are wretchedly hardened indeed that will not be brought to make
mention of God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God has
gone out against them, and when, as here, sickness and death are in
their families. Thus those <i>heap up wrath</i> who <i>cry not when
God binds them.</i> 3. Their houses shall be destroyed, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.11" parsed="|Amos|6|11|0|0" passage="Am 6:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. God <i>will smite the
great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts;</i>
they shall both be cracked so as to lose their beauty and strength,
and to be hastening towards a fall. The princes' palaces are not
above the rebuke of divine justice, nor the poor men's cottages
beneath it; neither shall escape. When sin has marked them for ruin
God will find ways to bring it about. It is by order from him that
breaches are made.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p14" shownumber="no">III. How justly they are thus burdened. If
we understand the matter aright, we shall say, <i>The Lord is
righteous.</i> 1. The methods used for their reformation had been
all fruitless and ineffectual (<scripRef id="Amos.vii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.12" parsed="|Amos|6|12|0|0" passage="Am 6:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Shall horses run upon the
rock,</i> to hurl or harrow the ground there? Or will <i>one plough
there with oxen?</i> No, for there will be no profit to countervail
the pains. God has sent them his prophets, to <i>break up their
fallow-ground;</i> but they found them as hard and inflexible as
the rock, rough and rugged, and they could do no good with them,
nor work upon them, and therefore they shall not attempt it any
more. They will not be reclaimed, and therefore shall not be
reproved, but quite abandoned. Note, Those who will not be
cultivated as fields and vineyards shall be rejected as barren
rocks and deserts, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.7-Heb.6.8" parsed="|Heb|6|7|6|8" passage="Heb 6:7,8">Heb. vi. 7,
8</scripRef>. 2. They had abused their power to the wrong and
oppression of many, whose injured cause the sovereign Judge would
not only right, but revenge: <i>You have turned judgment into
gall,</i> which is nauseous, and <i>the fruit of righteousness into
hemlock,</i> which is noxious; it would make one sick to see how
those that were entrusted with the administration of public justice
bore down equity with that power which they out to have defended
and supported it, and so turned its own artillery against itself.
Note, When our services of God are soured with sin his providences
will justly be embittered to us. 3. They had set the judgments of
God at defiance, and, confiding in their own strength, thought
themselves a match for Omnipotence, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.13" parsed="|Amos|6|13|0|0" passage="Am 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. They <i>rejoiced in a thing of
nought,</i> pleased themselves with a fancy that no evil should
befal them, though they had no ground at all for that confidence,
nothing to trust to that would bear any weight. They said, "<i>Have
we not taken to us horns;</i> have we not arrived to great dignity
and dominion, have we not pushed down our enemies and pushed on our
victories, and this <i>by our own strength,</i> our own skill and
courage, our own wealth and military force? Who then need we be
afraid of? Who then need we make court to? Not God himself." Note,
Prosperity and success commonly make men secure and haughty; and
those that have done much think they can do any thing, any thing
without God, nay, any thing against him. But those who trust in
their own strength rejoice in <i>a thing of nought,</i> and so they
will find. Probably they did not say this with their lips,
<i>totidem verbis—in so many words,</i> but it was the language of
their hearts and of their actions, both which God understands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.vii-p15" shownumber="no">IV. How easily and effectually this burden
shall be brought upon them, <scripRef id="Amos.vii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.14" parsed="|Amos|6|14|0|0" passage="Am 6:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. He that brings it upon them is <i>the Lord the God
of hosts,</i> who both may do and can do what he pleases, who has
all creatures at his command, and who, when he has work to do, will
not be at a loss for instruments to do it with; though they are the
house of Israel, yet he will <i>raise up against them a nation</i>
which they feared not, but had many a time hoped in, even the
Assyrians, and this nation shall <i>afflict them,</i> bring them
into straits, and put them to pain, from the <i>entering in of
Hamath,</i> in the north, to <i>the river of the wilderness,</i>
the river of Egypt, Sihor or Nile, in the south. The whole nation
has shared in the iniquity, and therefore must expect to share in
the calamity. Note, When men are in any way instruments of
affliction to us we must see God raising them up against us, for
they are in his hand—the rod, the sword, in his hand. The Lord has
bidden Shimei curse David.</p>
</div></div2>