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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A M O S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter,
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I. The oppressors in Israel are threatened for their oppression of the
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poor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The idolaters in Israel, being joined to idols, are given up to
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their own heart's lusts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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III. All the sins of Israel are aggravated from their incorrigibleness
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in them, and their refusal to return and reform, notwithstanding the
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various rebukes of Providence which they had been under,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:6-11">ver. 6-11</A>.
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IV. They are invited yet at length to humble themselves before God,
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since it is impossible for them to make their part good against him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:12,13">ver. 12, 13</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Am4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Threatenings against Oppressors; Punishment of Proud Oppressors.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 790.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that <I>are</I> in the mountain
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of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which
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say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
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2 The Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days
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shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and
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your posterity with fish-hooks.
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3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every <I>cow at that which
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is</I> before her; and ye shall cast <I>them</I> into the palace, saith
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply
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transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, <I>and</I>
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your tithes after three years:
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5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and
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proclaim <I>and</I> publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O
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ye children of Israel, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is here foretold, in the name of God, that oppressors shall be
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humbled and idolaters shall be hardened.</P>
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<P>
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I. That proud oppressors shall be humbled for their oppressions: for
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<I>he that does wrong shall receive according to the wrong that he has
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done.</I> Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. How their sin is described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They are compared to the <I>kine of Bashan,</I> which were a breed of
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cattle very large and strong, especially if, though bred there, they
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were fed upon <I>the mountain of Samaria,</I> where the pastures were
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extraordinarily fat. Amos had been a herdsman, and he speaks in a
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dialect of his calling, comparing the rich and great men, that lived in
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luxury and wantonness, to the <I>kine of Bashan,</I> which were wanton
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and unruly, would not be kept within the bounds of their own pasture,
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But broke through the hedges, broke down all the fences, and trespassed
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upon the neighboring grounds; and not only so, but pushed and gored the
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smaller cattle that were not a match for them. Those that had their
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summer-houses upon the mountains of Samaria when they went thither for
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fresh air were as mischievous as the kine upon the mountains of Bashan
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and as injurious to those about them.
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(1.) They oppress the poor and needy themselves; they <I>crush</I>
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them, to squeeze something to themselves out of them. They took
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advantage of their poverty, and necessity, and inability to help
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themselves, to make them poorer and more necessitous than they were.
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They made use of their power as judges and magistrates for the invading
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of men's rights and properties, the poor not excepted; for they made no
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conscience of robbing even the hospital.
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(2.) They are in confederacy with those that do so. They <I>say to
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their masters</I> (to the masters of the poor, that abuse them and
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violently take from them what they have, when they ought to relieve
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them), "<I>Bring, and let us drink;</I> let us feast with you upon the
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gains of our oppression, and then we will protect you, and stand by you
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in it, and reject the appeals of the poor against you." Note, What is
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got by extortion is commonly made use of as <I>provisions for the
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flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof;</I> and <I>therefore</I> men are
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tyrants to the poor because they are slaves to their appetites.
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<I>Bring, and let us drink,</I> is the language of those that <I>crush
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the needy,</I> as if the <I>tears of the oppressed,</I> mingled with
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their wine, made it drink the better. And by their associations for
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drinking and reveling, and an excess of riot, they strengthen their
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combinations for persecution and oppression, and harden the hearts of
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one another in it.</P>
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<P>
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2. How their punishment is described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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God will <I>take them away with hooks, and their posterity with
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fish-hooks;</I> he will send the Assyrian army upon them, that shall
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make a prey of them, shall not only enclose the body of the nation in
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their net, but shall angle for particular persons, and take them
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prisoners and captives as with hooks and fish-hooks, shall draw them
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out of their own land as fish are drawn out of the water, which is
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their element, them and their children with them, or, They in their day
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shall be drawn out by one victorious enemy, and their posterity in
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their day by another, so that by a succession of destroying judgments
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they shall at length be wholly extirpated. These <I>kine of Bashan</I>
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thought they could no more be drawn out with a hook and a cord than the
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Leviathan can,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+41:1,2">Job xli. 1, 2</A>.
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But God will make them know that he has a <I>hook for their nose</I>
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and a <I>bridle for their jaws,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:29">Isa. xxxvii. 29</A>.
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The enemy shall take them away as easily as the fisherman takes away
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the little fish, and shall make it their sport and recreation. When
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the enemy has made himself master of Samaria, then,
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(1.) Some shall attempt to escape by flight: <I>You shall go out at the
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breaches</I> made in the wall of the city, <I>every cow at that which
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is before her,</I> to shift for her own safety, and make the best of
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her way; and now the unruly kine of Bashan are tamed, and are
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themselves crushed, as they crushed the poor and needy. Note, Those to
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whom God has given a good pasture, if they are wanton in it, will
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justly be turned out of it; and those who will not be kept within the
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hedge of God's precept forfeit the benefit of the hedge of God's
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protection, and will be forced in vain to flee through the breaches
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they have themselves fearfully made in that hedge.
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(2.) Others shall think to shelter themselves, or at least their best
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effects, in the palace, because it is a castle well fortified and a
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garrison well manned: <I>You shall throw yourselves</I> (so some read
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it), or <I>throw them</I> (that is, your posterity, your children, or
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whatever is dear to you), <I>into the palace,</I> where the enemy will
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find it ready to be seized. Note, What is got by oppression cannot long
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be enjoyed with satisfaction.</P>
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<P>
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3. How their sentence to this punishment is ratified: <I>The Lord God
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has sworn it by his holiness.</I> He had often said it, and they
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regarded it not; they thought God and his prophets did but jest with
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them; therefore he <I>swears</I> it <I>in his wrath,</I> and what he
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has sworn he will not revoke. He swears by <I>his holiness,</I> that
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attribute of his which is so much his glory, and which is so much
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glorified in the punishment of wicked people; for, as sure as God is a
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holy God, those that <I>plough iniquity and sow wickedness shall reap
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the same.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. That obstinate idolaters shall be hardened in their idolatries
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>):
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<I>Come to Bethel, and transgress.</I> It is spoken ironically: "Do so;
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take your course; <I>multiply</I> your <I>transgressions</I> by
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multiplying your sacrifices, <I>for this liketh you;</I> but what will
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you do in the end hereof?" Here we see,
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1. How intent they were upon the service of their idols, and how
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willing they were to be at cost upon them; they <I>brought their
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sacrifices,</I> and their <I>tithes,</I> and their <I>free-will
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offerings,</I> hoping that therein they should be accepted of God, but
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it was all an abomination to him. The profuseness of idolaters in the
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service of their false gods may shame our strait-handedness in the
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service of the true and living God.
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2. How they mimicked God's institutions. They had their <I>daily
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sacrifice</I> at the altar of Bethel, as God had at his altar; they had
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their <I>thank-offerings</I> as God had, only they allowed
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<I>leaven</I> in them, which God had forbidden, because their priests
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did not like to have the bread to heavy and tasteless as it would be if
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it had not leaven in it, for something to ferment it. Holy bread would
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not serve them, unless it were pleasant bread.
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3. How well pleased they were with these services themselves: <I>This
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liketh you, O you children of Israel! So you love.</I> What was their
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own invention they were fond of and wedded to, and thought it must be
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pleasing to God because it was agreeable to their own fancy.
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4. How they upbraided with it: "<I>Come to Bethel, to Gilgal; bring the
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sacrifices</I> and <I>tithes</I> yourselves; <I>proclaim</I> and
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<I>publish</I> to the nation the <I>free-offerings,</I> pressing them
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to bring in abundance of such; <I>go on</I> in this way;" that is,
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(1.) "It is plain that you are resolved to do it, whatever God and
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conscience say to the contrary."
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(2.) "Your prophets shall let you alone in it, and not admonish you as
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they have done, for it is to no purpose. <I>Let no man strive nor
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rebuke his neighbour.</I>"
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(3.) "Your foolish hearts shall be more and more darkened and besotted,
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and you shall be quite <I>given up to</I> these <I>strong delusions, to
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believe a lie.</I>"
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(4.) "What will you get by it? <I>Come to Bethel</I> and <I>multiply
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your sacrifices,</I> and see what the better you will be, what returns
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you will have to your sacrifices, what stead they will stand you in in
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the day of distress. <I>You shall be ashamed of Bethel your
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confidence,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+48:13">Jer. xlviii. 13</A>.
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(5.) "<I>Come, and transgress,</I> come, and <I>multiply your
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transgression,</I> that you may <I>fill up the measure</I> of your
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iniquity and be ripened for ruin." Thus Christ said to Judas, <I>What
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thou doest do quickly;</I> and to the Jews, <I>Fill you up the measure
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of your fathers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:32">Matt. xxiii. 32</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Am4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Incorrigibleness of Israel; Judgments Called to Remembrance; Greater Judgments Threatened.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 790.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your
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cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not
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returned unto me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when <I>there
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were</I> yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain
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upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one
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piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not
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withered.
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8 So two <I>or</I> three cities wandered unto one city, to drink
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water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto
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me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your
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gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive
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trees increased, the palmer-worm devoured <I>them:</I> yet have ye not
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returned unto me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of
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Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken
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away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come
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up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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11 I have overthrown <I>some</I> of you, as God overthrew Sodom and
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Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning:
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yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: <I>and</I> because
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I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
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13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the
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wind, and declareth unto man what <I>is</I> his thought, that maketh
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the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the
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earth, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, The God of hosts, <I>is</I> his name.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. God complains of his people's incorrigibleness under the judgments
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which he had brought upon them in order to their humiliation and
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reformation. He had by several tokens intimated to them his
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displeasure, with this design, that they might by repentance make their
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peace with him; but it had not that effect.</P>
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<P>
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1. It is five times repeated in these verses, as the burden of the
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charge, "<I>Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord;</I> you
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have been several times corrected, but in vain; you are not reclaimed,
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there is no sign of amendment. You have been sent for by one messenger
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after another, but you have not come back, you have not come home."
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(1.) This intimates that that which God designed in all his
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providential rebukes was to reduce them to their allegiance, to
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influence them to return to him.
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(2.) That, if they had returned to their God, they would have been
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accepted, he would have bidden them welcome, and the troubles they were
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in would have been removed.
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(3.) That the reason why God sent further troubles was because former
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troubles had not done the work, otherwise it is <I>no pleasure to the
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Almighty that he should afflict.</I>
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(4.) That God was grieved at their obstinacy, and took it unkindly that
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they should force him to do that which he did so unwillingly: "<I>You
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have not returned to me</I> from whom you have revolted, <I>to me</I>
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with whom you are in covenant, <I>to me</I> who stands ready to receive
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you, <I>to me</I> who have so often called you." Now,</P>
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<P>
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2. To aggravate their incorrigibleness, and to justify himself in
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inflicting greater judgments, he recounts the less judgments with which
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he had tried to bring them to repentance.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) There had sometimes been a scarcity of provisions, though there
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was no visible cause of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,</I> for you
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had no meat to chew, whereby your teeth might be fouled," especially no
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flesh, which dirties the teeth. Or, <I>I have given you emptiness of
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teeth,</I> nothing to fill your mouths with. "<I>Bread,</I> the staff
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of life, has been wanting, for you have <I>sown much</I> and <I>brought
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in little,</I>" as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:9">Hag. i. 9</A>.
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Some think this refers to that <I>seven years' famine</I> that was in
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Elisha's time, which we read of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+8:1">2 Kings viii. 1</A>.
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Now when God thus <I>took away their corn in the season thereof,</I>
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because they had prepared it for Baal, they should have said, We will
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<I>go and return to our first husband,</I> having paid dearly for
|
|
leaving him; but it had not that effect. <I>They have not returned to
|
|
me,</I> saith the Lord.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Sometimes they had wanted rain, and then of course they wanted the
|
|
fruits of the earth. This evil was of the Lord: <I>I have withholden
|
|
the rain from you.</I> God has the key of the clouds, and, if he shut
|
|
up, who can open?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
The rain was withheld <I>when there were yet three months to the
|
|
harvest,</I> at the time when they used to have it, and therefore the
|
|
withholding of it was an extraordinary thing, and, if the course of
|
|
nature was altered, they must therein own the hand of the God of
|
|
nature; and it was at a time when they most needed it, and therefore
|
|
the want of it was a very sore judgment, and blasted their expectations
|
|
of a crop at harvest. And one circumstance which made this very
|
|
remarkable was that when there were some places that wanted rain, and
|
|
withered for want of it, there were other places near adjoining that
|
|
had it in abundance. God <I>caused it to rain upon one city, and not
|
|
upon another,</I> in the same country; nay, he caused it to rain
|
|
<I>upon one field,</I> one <I>piece</I> of a field, and it was thereby
|
|
made fruitful and flourishing, but on the next field, on the other side
|
|
of the hedge, nay, on another part of the same field, <I>it rained
|
|
not</I> at all, and it was so long without rain that all the products
|
|
of it <I>withered.</I> No doubt this was literally true, and there were
|
|
many instances of it which were generally taken notice of. Now,
|
|
|
|
[1.] By this it appeared that the withholding of the rain was not
|
|
casual, but by a divine direction and disposal, and that the cloud
|
|
which waters the earth is <I>turned round about by the counsels of God,
|
|
to do whatsoever he commands it, whether for correction, or for his
|
|
land, or for his mercy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:12-18">Job xxxvii. 12-18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Rain does not go by planets (as common people speak), but as God sends
|
|
it by his winds.
|
|
|
|
[2.] We have reason to think that those cities on which it rained not
|
|
were the most infamous for wickedness, such as Bethel and Gilgal
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that those on which it rained were such as retained something of
|
|
religion and virtue among them. And so in the town-fields it rained or
|
|
rained not, upon the piece, according as the owner was; for we are sure
|
|
<I>the curse of the Lord is in the house,</I> and upon the ground,
|
|
<I>of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the just,</I> and
|
|
his field is a <I>field that the Lord has blessed.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] It would be the greater grief and vexation to those whose fields
|
|
withered for want of rain to see their neighbours' fields well watered
|
|
and flourishing. <I>My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:13">Isa. lxv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>wicked shall see it, and be grieved.</I> Probably those that
|
|
were oppressed were rained upon, and so they recovered their losses,
|
|
while the oppressors withered, and so lost their gains.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Yet, as to the nation in general, it was a mixture of mercy with
|
|
the judgment, and, consequently, strengthened the call to repentance
|
|
and reformation, and encouraged them to hope for all mercy, in their
|
|
returns to God, since there was so much mercy even in God's rebukes of
|
|
them. But, because they did not make good use of this gracious allay to
|
|
the extremity of the judgment, they had not the benefit of it, which
|
|
otherwise they might have had, for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>two or three cities wandered</I> at uncertainty, as beggars, <I>unto
|
|
one city, to drink water,</I> and, if possible, to have some to carry
|
|
home with them, but <I>they were not satisfied;</I> it was but here and
|
|
there one city that had water, while many wanted, and then it was not,
|
|
as usual, <I>Usus communis aquarum--Water is free to all.</I> Those
|
|
that had it had occasion for it, or knew not how soon they might, and
|
|
therefore could afford but little to those that wanted, saying, <I>Lest
|
|
there be not enough for us and you.</I> Those that came <I>drank
|
|
water,</I> but <I>they were not satisfied,</I> because they drank it
|
|
<I>by measure, and with astonishment;</I> and those that <I>drink of
|
|
this water shall thirst again,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:13">John iv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were not satisfied, because their desires were greedy, and what
|
|
they had God did not bless to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6">Hag. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
And now, one would think, when they met with all this disappointment,
|
|
they should have considered their ways and repented; but it had not
|
|
that effect: "<I>Yet have you not returned to me,</I> no, not so much
|
|
as to pray in a right manner for the former and latter rain,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+10:1">Zech. x. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
See the folly of carnal hearts; they will wander from city to city,
|
|
from one creature to another, in pursuit of satisfaction, and still
|
|
they miss of it; they <I>labour for that which satisfies not</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:2">Isa. lv. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and yet, after all, they <I>will not return to God,</I> will not
|
|
incline their ear to him in whom they might have satisfaction. The
|
|
preaching of the gospel is as rain; God sometimes blesses one place
|
|
with it more than another; some countries, some cities, are, like
|
|
Gideon's fleece, wet with this dew, while the ground about is dry; all
|
|
withers where this rain is wanting. But it were well if people were but
|
|
as wise for their souls as they are for their bodies, and, when they
|
|
have not this rain near them, would go and seek it where it is to be
|
|
had; and, if they seek aright, they shall not seek in vain.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) Sometimes the fruits of their ground were eaten up by
|
|
caterpillars, or blasted with mildew,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Heaven and earth are armed against those who have made God their enemy.
|
|
When God pleased, that is, when he was displeased,
|
|
|
|
[1.] They suffered by a malignant air, the influence of which, either
|
|
too hot or too cold, blasted their fruits, with a force that could be
|
|
neither discerned nor resisted, and against which there was no defence.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They suffered by malignant animals. Their <I>vineyards</I> and
|
|
<I>gardens</I> yielded their increase in great abundance, so did their
|
|
<I>fig-trees</I> and <I>olive-trees;</I> but the <I>palmer-worm
|
|
devoured them</I> before the fruits were ripe, and fit to be gathered
|
|
in. This was either the same judgment with that which we read of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+1:4-6">Joel i. 4-6</A>,
|
|
|
|
or a less judgment of the same nature, sent before to give warning of
|
|
that. But they did not take warning: <I>Yet have you not returned unto
|
|
me.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) Sometimes the plague had raged among them, and the sword of war
|
|
had cut off multitudes,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The pestilence</I> is God's messenger; this he <I>sent among</I>
|
|
them, with directions whom to strike dead, and it was done. It was a
|
|
<I>pestilence after the manner of Egypt;</I> deaths were scattered
|
|
among them by the hand of a <I>destroying angel at midnight.</I> And
|
|
perhaps this pestilence, as that of Egypt, fastened upon the
|
|
first-born. <I>In the way of Egypt</I> (so the margin); when they were
|
|
making their escape to Egypt, or going thither to seek for aid, the
|
|
pestilence seized them by the way and stopped their journey. The sword
|
|
of war is likewise <I>the sword of the Lord;</I> this was drawn among
|
|
them with commission; and then it <I>slew their young men,</I> the
|
|
strength of the present generation and the seed of the next. God says,
|
|
<I>I have slain them;</I> he avows the execution. <I>The slain of the
|
|
Lord are many.</I> The enemy <I>took away their horses,</I> and
|
|
converted them to their own use; and the dead carcases of those that
|
|
were slain either with sword or pestilence were so many, and for want
|
|
of surviving friends were left so long unburied, that the <I>stench of
|
|
their camps came up into their nostrils,</I> and was both noisome and
|
|
dangerous, and might put them in mind of the offensiveness of their sin
|
|
to God. And yet this did not prevail to humble and reclaim them: <I>You
|
|
have not returned to</I> him that smites you. Such a rueful woeful
|
|
sight as this prevailed not to make them religious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) In these and other judgments some were remarkably cut off, and
|
|
made monuments of justice, others were remarkably spared, and made
|
|
monuments of mercy, the setting of which the one over against the other
|
|
one would have thought likely to work upon them, but it had not its
|
|
effect,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Some were quite ruined, their families destroyed, and themselves
|
|
in them: <I>I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and
|
|
Gomorrah.</I> Perhaps they were consumed with lightning, as Sodom was,
|
|
or the houses were, in some other way, burnt to the ground, and the
|
|
inhabitants in them. Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be <I>condemned
|
|
with an overthrow, and so made an example,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:6">2 Pet. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
God had threatened to destroy the whole land with such an overthrow as
|
|
that of Sodom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:23">Deut. xxix. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
But he began with some particular places first, to give them warning,
|
|
or perhaps with some particular persons, whose <I>sins went beforehand
|
|
to judgment.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] Others very narrowly escaped: "You <I>were</I> many of you as a
|
|
<I>firebrand plucked out of the burning,</I> like Lot out of Sodom,
|
|
when the fire had already kindled upon you; and yet you hate sin never
|
|
the more for the danger it has brought you to, nor love God ever the
|
|
more for the deliverance he wrought for you. You that have been so
|
|
signally delivered, and in such a distinguishing way, <I>have not
|
|
returned unto me.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God, in the close, calls upon his people, now at length, in this
|
|
their day, to understand the things that belong to their peace, before
|
|
they were hidden from their eyes,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How God threatens them with sorer judgments than any they had yet
|
|
been under: "Therefore, seeing you have not been wrought upon by
|
|
correction hitherto, <I>thus will I do unto thee, O Israel!</I>" He
|
|
does not say how he will do, but it shall be something worse than had
|
|
come yet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:14">John v. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or, "<I>Thus I will</I> go on to <I>do unto thee,</I> following one
|
|
judgment with another, like the plagues of Egypt, till I have made a
|
|
full end." Nothing but reformation will prevent the ruin of a sinful
|
|
people. If they turn not to him, his anger is not <I>turned away,</I>
|
|
but <I>his hand is stretched out still. I will punish you yet seven
|
|
times more, if you will not be reformed;</I> so it was written in the
|
|
law,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:23,24">Lev. xxvi. 23, 24</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How he awakens them therefore to think of making their peace with
|
|
God: "<I>Seeing I will do this unto thee,</I> and there is no remedy,
|
|
<I>prepare to meet they God, O Israel!</I>" that is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) "Consider how unable thou art to meet him as a combatant." Some
|
|
make it to be spoken by way of irony or challenge: "Prepare to meet
|
|
God, who is coming forth to contend with thee. What armour of proof
|
|
canst thou put on? What courage canst thou steel thyself with? Alas! it
|
|
is but putting <I>briers and thorns</I> before a consuming fire,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:4,5">Isa. xxvii. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Art thou able with less than 10,000 to meet him that comes forth
|
|
against thee with more than 20,000?"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:31">Luke xiv. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "Resolve therefore to meet him as a penitent, as a humble
|
|
suppliant, to meet him as <I>thy God,</I> in covenant with thee, to
|
|
submit, and stand it out no longer." We must prepare to <I>meet God in
|
|
the way of his judgments</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:8">Isa. xxvi. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
to <I>take hold on his strength, that we may make peace.</I> Note,
|
|
Since we cannot flee from God we are concerned to prepare to meet him;
|
|
and therefore he gives us warning, that we may prepare. When we are to
|
|
meet him in his ordinances we must prepare to meet him, prepare to seek
|
|
him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. How he sets forth the greatness and power of God as a reason why we
|
|
should prepare to meet him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
If he be such a God as he is here described to be, it is folly to
|
|
contend with him, and our duty and interest to make our peace with him;
|
|
it is good having him our friend and bad having him our enemy.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He <I>formed the mountains,</I> made the earth, the strongest
|
|
stateliest parts of it, and by the word of his power still upholds it
|
|
and them. Whatever are the products of the everlasting mountains, he
|
|
formed them; whatever <I>salvation</I> is <I>hoped for from hills and
|
|
mountains,</I> he is the founder of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:11,12">Ps. lxxxix. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that formed the <I>great mountains</I> can <I>make them plain,</I>
|
|
when they stand in the way of his people's salvation.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He <I>creates the wind.</I> The power of the air is derived from
|
|
him, and directed by him; he brings the wind out of his treasures, and
|
|
orders from what point of the compass it shall blow; and he that made
|
|
it rules it; even <I>the winds and the seas obey him.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He <I>declares unto man what is his thought.</I> He makes known
|
|
his counsel by his servants the prophets to the children of men, the
|
|
thought of his justice against impenitent sinners, and the thought of
|
|
good he thinks towards those that repent. He can also make known, for
|
|
he perfectly knows, the thought that is in man's heart; he
|
|
<I>understands it afar off,</I> and in the day of conviction will set
|
|
the evil thoughts among the other sins of sinners <I>in order before
|
|
them.</I>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He often <I>makes the morning darkness,</I> by thick clouds
|
|
overspreading the sky immediately after the sun rose bright and
|
|
glorious; so when we look for prosperity and joy he can dash our
|
|
expectations with some unlooked-for calamity.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He <I>treads upon the high places of the earth,</I> is not only
|
|
higher than the highest, but has dominion over all, tramples upon proud
|
|
men, and upon the idols that were worshipped in the highest places.
|
|
|
|
(6.) <I>Jehovah the God of hosts is his name,</I> for he has his being
|
|
of himself, and is the fountain of all being, and all the hosts of
|
|
heaven and earth are at his command. Let us humble ourselves before
|
|
this God, prepare to meet him, and give all diligence to make him our
|
|
God, for happy are the people whose God he is, who have all this power
|
|
engaged for them.</P>
|
|
|
|
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