A stupid, senseless, heedless people, are, in this
chapter, called upon to take notice, I. Of the judgments of God
denounced against them and the warnings he gave them of those
judgments, and to be hereby awakened out of their security,
1 Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
The scope of these verses is to convince
the people of Israel that God had a controversy with them. That
which the prophet has to say to them is to let them know that the
Lord has something to say against them,
I. Let them know that the gracious
cognizance God has taken of them, and the favours he has bestowed
upon them, should not exempt them from the punishment due to them
for their sins. Israel is a family that God brought up
out of the land of Egypt, (
II. Let them know that they could not
expect any comfortable communion with God unless they first made
their peace with him (
III. Let them know that the warnings God
gave them of judgments approaching were not causeless and
groundless, merely to amuse them, but certain declarations of the
wrath of God against them, which (if they did not speedily repent)
they would infallibly feel the effects of (
IV. Let them know that, as their own
wickedness was the procuring cause of these judgments, so they
shall not be removed till they have done their work,
V. Let them know that all their troubles
came from the hand of God's providence and from the counsel of his
will (
VI. Let them know that their prophets, who
give them warning of judgments approaching, deliver nothing to them
but what they have received from the Lord to be delivered to
his people. 1. God makes it known beforehand to the prophets
(
VII. Let them know that they ought to
tremble before God upon the fair warning he had given them, as they
would, 1. Upon the sounding of a trumpet, to give notice of the
approach of the enemy, that all may stand upon their guard and
stand to their arms: Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and
the people be not afraid, or run together? so some read
it,
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. 10 For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. 12 Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. 13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, 14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.
The Israelites are here again convicted and condemned, and particular notice given of the crimes they are convicted of and the punishment they are condemned to.
1. Notice is given of it to their
neighbours. The prophet is ordered to publish it in the palaces
of Ashdod, one of the chief cities of the Philistines; nay, the
summons must go further, even to the palaces in the land of
Egypt. "The great men of both those nations, that dwell in the
palaces, that are inquisitive concerning the affairs of the
neighboring nations, and are conversant with the public
intelligence, let them assemble themselves upon the mountains of
Samaria,"
1. Let them see how black the charge is,
and how well proved. Let them observe the behaviour of the
inhabitants of Samaria; let them look off from the adjacent hills,
and they may see how rude and boisterous they are, and hear how
loud they cry of their sin is, as was that of Sodom. (1.) Look into
their streets and you will see nothing but riot and disorder,
great tumults in the midst thereof; reason and justice are
upon all occasions run down by the noise and fury of an outrageous
mob, the dominion of which is the sin and shame of any people, and
is likely to be their ruin. (2.) Look into their prisons, and you
will see them filled with injured innocents: The oppressed are
in the midst thereof, thrown down and crushed by their
oppressors, overpowered and overwhelmed, and they had no
comforter,
2. Let them see how heavy the doom is, and
how well executed,
(1.) Their country shall be invaded and
ruined; and observe how the punishment answers to the sin. [1.]
Great tumults are in the midst of the land, and
therefore an adversary shall be even round about the land;
the Assyrian forces shall surround it and break in upon it on every
side. Note, When sin is harboured and indulged in the midst of a
people they can expect no other than that adversaries should be
round about them, so that, go which way they will, they go into the
mouth of danger,
(2.) Their countrymen shall not escape,
II. Notice is given of it to themselves,