mh_parser/vol_split/30 - Amos/Chapter 9.xml

<div2 id="Amos.x" n="x" next="Obad" prev="Amos.ix" progress="83.92%" title="Chapter IX">
<h2 id="Amos.x-p0.1">A M O S.</h2>
<h3 id="Amos.x-p0.2">CHAP. IX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Amos.x-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. Judgment threatened,
which the sinners shall not escape (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.1-Amos.9.4" parsed="|Amos|9|1|9|4" passage="Am 9:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>), which an almighty power shall
inflict (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.5-Amos.9.6" parsed="|Amos|9|5|9|6" passage="Am 9:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>), which
the people of Israel have deserved as a sinful people (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.7-Amos.9.8" parsed="|Amos|9|7|9|8" passage="Am 9:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>); and yet it shall not be
the utter ruin of their nation (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.8" parsed="|Amos|9|8|0|0" passage="Am 9:8">ver.
8</scripRef>), for a remnant of good people shall escape, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.9" parsed="|Amos|9|9|0|0" passage="Am 9:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. But the wicked ones shall
perish, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.10" parsed="|Amos|9|10|0|0" passage="Am 9:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. II. Mercy
promised, which was to be bestowed in the latter days (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.11-Amos.9.15" parsed="|Amos|9|11|9|15" passage="Am 9:11-15">ver. 11-15</scripRef>), as appears by the
application of it to the days of the Messiah, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.15.16" parsed="|Acts|15|16|0|0" passage="Ac 15:16">Acts xv. 16</scripRef>. And with those comfortable
promises, after all the foregoing rebukes and threatenings, the
book concludes.</p>
<scripCom id="Amos.x-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9" parsed="|Amos|9|0|0|0" passage="Am 9" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Amos.x-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.1-Amos.9.10" parsed="|Amos|9|1|9|10" passage="Am 9:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.x-p1.11">
<h4 id="Amos.x-p1.12">The Certainty of the Sinner's
Doom. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p1.13">b. c.</span> 784.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.x-p2" shownumber="no">1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he
said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and
cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them
with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he
that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.   2 Though they
dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb
up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:   3 And though
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take
them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom
of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite
them:   4 And though they go into captivity before their
enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them:
and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
  5 And the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p2.1">God</span> of hosts
<i>is</i> he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all
that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a
flood; and shall be drowned, as <i>by</i> the flood of Egypt.
  6 <i>It is</i> he that buildeth his stories in the heaven,
and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the
waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p2.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> his name.  
7 <i>Are</i> ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O
children of Israel? saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p2.3">Lord</span>.
Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the
Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?   8
Behold, the eyes of the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p2.4">God</span>
<i>are</i> upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off
the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the
house of Jacob, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p2.5">Lord</span>.
  9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of
Israel among all nations, like as <i>corn</i> is sifted in a sieve,
yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.   10 All
the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The
evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p3" shownumber="no">We have here the justice of God passing
sentence upon a provoking people; and observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p4" shownumber="no">I. With what solemnity the sentence is
passed. The prophet saw in vision <i>the Lord standing upon the
altar</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.1" parsed="|Amos|9|1|0|0" passage="Am 9:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), the
altar of burnt-offerings; for the <i>Lord has a sacrifice,</i> and
multitudes must fall as victims to his justice. He is removed from
the <i>mercy-seat</i> between the <i>cherubim,</i> and stands upon
<i>the altar,</i> the <i>judgment-seat,</i> on which the fire of
God used to fall, to devour the sacrifices. He stands upon <i>the
altar,</i> to show that the ground of his controversy with this
people was their profanation of his holy things; here he stands to
avenge the quarrel of his altar, as also to signify that the sin of
the house of Israel, like that of the house of Eli, shall <i>not be
purged with sacrifice nor offering forever,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.14" parsed="|1Sam|3|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:14">1 Sam. iii. 14</scripRef>. He stands on the altar, to
prohibit sacrifice. Now the order given is, <i>Smite the lintel of
the door</i> of the temple, the chapiter, smite it with such a blow
<i>that the posts may shake,</i> and <i>cut them,</i> wound them
<i>in the head, all of them;</i> break down the doors of God's
house, or of the courts of his house, in token of this, that he is
going out from it, and forsaking it, and then all judgments are
breaking in upon it. Or it signifies the destruction of those in
the first place that should be as the door-posts to the nation for
its defence, so that, they being broken down, it becomes as a
<i>city without gates and bars.</i> "Smite the king, who is as the
lintel of the door, that the princes, who are as <i>the posts,</i>
may <i>shake; cut them in the head,</i> cleave them down, <i>all of
them,</i> as wood for the fire; and <i>I will slay the last of
them,</i> the posterity of them, them and their families, or the
<i>least</i> of them, them and all that are employed under them;
or, I will <i>slay them all,</i> them and all that remain of them,
till it comes to the last man; the slaughter shall be general."
There is no living for those on whom God has said, <i>I will
slay</i> them, no standing before his sword.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p5" shownumber="no">II. What effectual care is taken that none
shall escape the execution of this sentence. This is enlarged upon
here, and is intended for warning to all that <i>provoke the Lord
to jealousy.</i> Let sinners read it, and tremble; as there is no
fighting it out with God, so there is no fleeing from him. His
judgments, when they come with commission, as they will overpower
the strongest that think to outface them, so they will overtake the
swiftest that think to out-run them, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.2" parsed="|Amos|9|2|0|0" passage="Am 9:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Those of them that flee, and take
to their heels, shall soon be out of breath, and shall not flee
away out of the reach of danger; for, as sometimes <i>the wicked
flee when none pursues,</i> so he cannot flee away when God
pursues, though <i>he would fain flee out of his hand.</i> Nay,
<i>he that escapes of them,</i> that thinks he has gained his
point, <i>shall not be delivered. Evil pursues sinners,</i> and
will arrest them. This is here enlarged upon by showing that
wherever sinners flee for shelter from God's justice, it will
overtake them, and the shelter will prove but a <i>refuge of
lies.</i> What David says of the ubiquity of God's presence (
<scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.7-Ps.139.10" parsed="|Ps|139|7|139|10" passage="Ps 139:7-10">Ps. cxxxix. 7-10</scripRef>) is
here said of the extent of God's power and justice. (1.) Hell
itself, though it has its name in English from its being
<i>hilled,</i> or <i>covered over,</i> or <i>hidden,</i> cannot
hide them (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.2" parsed="|Amos|9|2|0|0" passage="Am 9:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
"Though <i>they dig into hell,</i> into the centre of the earth, or
the darkest recesses of it, yet <i>thence shall my hand take
them,</i> and bring them forth to be made public monuments of
divine justice." The grave is a hiding-place to the righteous from
the malice of the world (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.3.17" parsed="|Job|3|17|0|0" passage="Job 3:17">Job iii.
17</scripRef>), but it shall be no hiding-place to the righteous
from the justice of God; thence God's hands shall take them, when
they shall rise in the great day to <i>everlasting shame and
contempt.</i> (2.) Heaven, though it has its name from being
<i>heaved,</i> or lifted up, shall not put them out of reach of
God's judgments; as hell cannot hide them, so heaven will not.
Though they <i>climb up to heaven</i> in their conceit, yet
<i>thence will I bring them down.</i> Those whom God brings to
heaven by his grace shall never be brought down; but those who
climb thither themselves, by their own presumption, and confidence
in themselves, will be brought down and filled with shame. (3.)
<i>The top of Carmel,</i> one of the highest parts of the dust of
the world in that country, shall not protect them: "<i>Though they
hide themselves there,</i> where they imagine nobody will look for
them, <i>I will search, and take them out thence;</i> neither the
thickest bushes, nor the darkest caves, in the <i>top of
Carmel,</i> will serve to hide them." (4.) The <i>bottom of the
sea</i> shall not serve to conceal them; though they think to hide
themselves there, even there the judgments of God shall find them
out, and lay hold on them: <i>Thence will I command the serpent,
and he shall bite them,</i> the <i>crooked serpent,</i> even <i>the
dragon that is in the sea,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.1" parsed="|Isa|27|1|0|0" passage="Isa 27:1">Isa.
xxvii. 1</scripRef>. They shall find their plague and death where
they hope to find shelter and protection; diving will stand them in
no more stead than climbing. (5.) Remote countries will not
befriend them, nor shall less judgments excuse them from greater
(<scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.4" parsed="|Amos|9|4|0|0" passage="Am 9:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Thought
they go into captivity before their enemies,</i> who carry them to
places at a great distance, and mingle them with their own people,
among whom they seem to be lost, yet that shall not serve their
turn: <i>Thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay
them,</i> the sword of the enemy, or one another's sword. When God
judges he will overcome. That which binds on all this, makes their
escape impossible and their ruin inevitable, is that God will
<i>set his eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.</i> His eyes
are in every place, are upon all men and upon all the ways of men,
upon some for good, to <i>show himself strong</i> on their behalf,
but upon others for evil, to take notice of their sins (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.27" parsed="|Job|13|27|0|0" passage="Job 13:27">Job xiii. 27</scripRef>) and take all
opportunities of punishing them for their sins. <i>Their</i> case
is truly miserable who have the providence of God: and all the
dispensations of it, against them, working for their hurt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p6" shownumber="no">3. What a great and mighty God he is that
passes this sentence upon them, and will take the executing of it
into his own hands. Threatenings are more or less formidable
according to the power of him that threatens. We laugh at impotent
wrath; but the wrath of God is not so; it is omnipotent wrath.
<i>Who knows the power</i> of it? What he had before said he would
do (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.8.8" parsed="|Amos|8|8|0|0" passage="Am 8:8"><i>ch.</i> viii. 8</scripRef>) is
here repeated, that he would <i>make the land melt</i> and tremble,
and <i>all that dwell therein mourn,</i> that the judgment should
<i>rise up wholly like a flood,</i> and the country should be
<i>drowned,</i> and laid under water, <i>as by the flood of
Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.5" parsed="|Amos|9|5|0|0" passage="Am 9:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. But
is he able to make his words good? Yes, certainly he is; he does
but <i>touch the land</i> and <i>it melts, touch the mountains</i>
and they smoke; he can do it with the greatest ease, for, (1.) He
is <i>the Lord God of hosts,</i> who undertakes to do it, the God
who has all the power in his hand, and all creatures at his beck
and call, who having made them all, and given them their several
capacities, makes what use he pleases of them and all their powers.
Very miserable is the case of those who have the Lord of hosts
against them, for they have hosts against them, the whole creation
at war with them. (2.) He is the Creator and governor of the upper
world: <i>It is he that builds his stories in the heavens,</i> the
celestial orbs, or spheres, one over another, as so many stories in
a high and stately palace. They are his, for he built them at
first, when he said, <i>Let there be a firmament, and he made the
firmament;</i> and he builds them still, is continually building
them, not that they need repair, but by his providence he still
upholds them; his power is the pillars of heaven, by which it is
borne up. Now he that has the command of those stories is certainly
to be feared, for thence, as from a castle, he can fire upon his
enemies, or cast upon them great hailstones, as on the Canaanites,
or make the stars in their courses, the furniture of those stories,
to fight against them, as against Sisera. (3.) He has the
management and command of this lower world too, in which we dwell,
the terraqueous globe, both <i>earth</i> and <i>sea,</i> so that,
which way soever his enemies think to make their escape, he will
meet them, or to make opposition, he will match them. Do they think
to make a land-fight of it? He <i>has founded his troop in the
earth,</i> his troop of guards, which he has at command, and makes
use of for the protection of his subjects and the punishment of his
enemies. All the creatures on earth make one bundle (as the margin
reads it), one bundle of arrows, out of which he takes what he
pleases to discharge against the persecutors, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.13" parsed="|Ps|7|13|0|0" passage="Ps 7:13">Ps. vii. 13</scripRef>. They are all one <i>army,</i> one
<i>body,</i> so closely are they connected, and so harmoniously and
so much in concert do they act for the accomplishing of their
Creator's purposes. Do they think to make a sea-fight of it? He
will be too hard for them there, for he has the waters of the sea
at command; even its waves, the most tumultuous rebellious waters,
do obey him. He <i>calls for the waters of the sea</i> in the
course of his common providence, <i>causes vapours to ascend</i>
out of it, and <i>pours them out</i> in showers, the small rain and
the great rain of his strength, <i>upon the face of the earth;</i>
this was mentioned before as a reason why we should <i>seek the
Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.8" parsed="|Amos|5|8|0|0" passage="Am 5:8"><i>ch.</i> v. 8</scripRef>)
and make him our friend, as it is here made a reason why we should
fear him and dread having him for our enemy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p7" shownumber="no">4. How justly God passes this sentence upon
the people of Israel. He does not destroy them by an act of
sovereignty, but by an act of righteousness; for (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.8" parsed="|Amos|9|8|0|0" passage="Am 9:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), it is a <i>sinful
kingdom,</i> and the <i>eyes of the Lord</i> are upon it,
discovering it to be so; he sees the great sinfulness of it, and
therefore he will <i>destroy it from off the face of the earth.</i>
Note, When those kingdoms that in name and profession were holy
kingdoms, and kingdoms of priests, as Israel was, become sinful
kingdoms, no other can be expected than that they should be cut off
and abandoned. Let sinful kingdoms, and sinful families, and sinful
persons too, see the eyes of the Lord upon them, observing all
their wickedness, and reserving the notice of it for the day of
reckoning and recompence. This being a sinful kingdom, see how
light God makes of it, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.7" parsed="|Amos|9|7|0|0" passage="Am 9:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p8" shownumber="no">(1.) Of the relation wherein he stood to
it: <i>Are you not as children of Ethiopians unto me, O children of
Israel?</i> A sad change! Children of Israel become as children of
the Ethiopians! [1.] They were so in themselves; that was their
sin. It is a thing to be greatly lamented that the children of
Israel often become as children of the Ethiopians; this children of
godly parents degenerate, and become the reverse of those that went
before them. Those that were well-educated, and trained up in the
knowledge and fear of God, and set out well, and promised fair,
throw off their profession and become as bad as the worst. <i>How
has the gold become dim!</i> [2.] They were so in God's account, and
that was their punishment. He valued them no more, though they were
children of Israel, than if they had been <i>children of the
Ethiopians.</i> We read of one in the title of <scripRef id="Amos.x-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.1-Ps.7.17" parsed="|Ps|7|1|7|17" passage="Ps 7:1-17">Ps. vii.</scripRef> that was <i>Cush</i> (an
<i>Ethiopian,</i> as some understand it) and yet a Benjamite. Those
that by birth and profession are children of Israel, if they
degenerate, and become wicked and vile, are to God no more than
children of the Ethiopians. This is an intimation of the rejection
of the unbelieving Jews in the days of the Messiah; because they
embraced not the doctrine of Christ, the kingdom of God was taken
from them, they were unchurched, and cast out of covenant, became
as children of the Ethiopians, and are so to this day. And it is
true of those that are called Christians, but do not live up to
their name and profession, that rest in the form of piety, but live
under the power of reigning iniquity, that they are to God as
children of the Ethiopians; he rejects them, and their
services.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p9" shownumber="no">(2.) See how light he makes of the favours
he had conferred upon them; they thought he would not, he could
not, cast them off, and put them upon a level with other nations,
because he had done that for them which he had not done for other
nations, whereby they thought he was bound to them, so as never to
leave them. "No," says he, "The favours shown to you are not so
distinguishing as you think they are: <i>Have I not brought up
Israel out of the land of Egypt?</i>" It is true I have; but I have
also brought the <i>Philistines from Caphtor,</i> or
<i>Cappadocia,</i> where they were natives, or captives, or both;
they are called the <i>remnant of the country of Caphtor</i>
(<scripRef id="Amos.x-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.47.4" parsed="|Jer|47|4|0|0" passage="Jer 47:4">Jer. xlvii. 4</scripRef>), and the
Philistim are joined with the Caphtorim, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.10.14" parsed="|Gen|10|14|0|0" passage="Ge 10:14">Gen. x. 14</scripRef>. In like manner the Syrians were
brought up from Kir when they had been carried away thither,
<scripRef id="Amos.x-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.16.9" parsed="|2Kgs|16|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 16:9">2 Kings xvi. 9</scripRef>. Note, If
God's Israel lose the peculiarity of their holiness, they lose the
peculiarity of their privileges; and what was designed as a favour
of special grace shall be set in another light, shall have its
property altered, and shall become an act of <i>common
providence;</i> if professors liken themselves to the world, God
will level them with the world. And, if we live not up to the
obligation of God's mercies, we forfeit the honour and comfort of
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p10" shownumber="no">5. How graciously God will separate between
the precious and the vile in the day of retribution. Though the
wicked Israelites shall be as the wicked Ethiopians, and their
being called Israelites shall stand them in no stead, yet the pious
Israelites shall not be as the <i>wicked</i> ones; no, the <i>Judge
of all the earth will do right,</i> more right than to <i>slay the
righteous with the wicked,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.25" parsed="|Gen|18|25|0|0" passage="Ge 18:25">Gen.
xviii. 25</scripRef>. His <i>eyes are upon the sinful kingdom,</i>
to spy out those in it who preserve their integrity and swim
against the stream, who sigh and cry for the abominations of their
land, and they shall be marked for preservation, so that the
destruction shall not be total: <i>I will not utterly destroy the
house of Jacob,</i> not ruin them by wholesale and in the gross,
good and bad together, but I will distinguish, as becomes a
righteous judge. The house of Israel shall be <i>sifted as corn is
sifted;</i> they shall be greatly hurried, and shaken, and tossed,
but still in the hands of God, in both his hands, as the sieve in
the hands of him that sifts (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.9" parsed="|Amos|9|9|0|0" passage="Am 9:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): <i>I will sift the house of Israel among all
nations.</i> Wherever they are shaken and scattered, God will have
his eye upon them, and will take care to separate between the corn
and chaff, which was the thing he designed in sifting them. (1.)
The righteous ones among them, that are as the solid wheat, shall
none of them perish; they shall be delivered either from or through
the common calamities of the kingdom; <i>not the least grain shall
fall on the earth,</i> so as to be lost and forgotten—not the
least <i>stone</i> (so the word is), for the good corn is weighty
as a stone in comparison with that which we call <i>light corn.</i>
Note, Whatever shakings there may be in the world, God does and
will effectually provide that none who are truly his shall be truly
miserable. (2.) The wicked ones among them who are hardened in
their sins shall all of them perish, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.10" parsed="|Amos|9|10|0|0" passage="Am 9:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. See what a height of impiety
they have come to: <i>They say, The evil shall not overtake nor
prevent us.</i> They think they are innocent, and do not deserve
punishment, or that the profession they make of relation to God
will be their exemption and security from punishment, or that they
shall be able to make their part good against the judgments of God,
that they shall flee so swiftly from them that they shall not
overtake them, or guard so carefully against them that they shall
not prevent or surprise them. Note, Hope of impunity is the
deceitful refuge of the impenitent. But see what it will come to at
last: <i>All the sinners</i> that thus flatter themselves, and
affront God, shall <i>die by the sword,</i> the sword of war, which
to them shall be the sword of divine vengeance; yea, though they be
the <i>sinners of my people,</i> for their profession shall not be
their protection. Note, Evil is often nearest those that put it at
the greatest distance from them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Amos.x-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.11-Amos.9.15" parsed="|Amos|9|11|9|15" passage="Am 9:11-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.x-p10.5">
<h4 id="Amos.x-p10.6">Promises of Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p10.7">b. c.</span> 784.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.x-p11" shownumber="no">11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of
David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will
raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
  12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the
heathen, which are called by my name, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p11.1">Lord</span> that doeth this.   13 Behold, the days
come, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p11.2">Lord</span>, that the
plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him
that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all
the hills shall melt.   14 And I will bring again the
captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste
cities, and inhabit <i>them;</i> and they shall plant vineyards,
and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat
the fruit of them.   15 And I will plant them upon their land,
and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have
given them, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.x-p11.3">Lord</span> thy
God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p12" shownumber="no">To him to whom all the prophets bear
witness this prophet, here in the close, bears his testimony, and
speaks of <i>that day,</i> those days that shall come, in which God
will do great things for his church, by the setting up of the
kingdom of the Messiah, for the rejecting of which the rejection of
the Jews was foretold in the <scripRef id="Amos.x-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.1-Amos.9.10" parsed="|Amos|9|1|9|10" passage="Am 9:1-10">foregoing verses</scripRef>. The promise here is said
to agree to the planting of the Christian church, and in that to be
fulfilled, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.15.15-Acts.15.17" parsed="|Acts|15|15|15|17" passage="Ac 15:15-17">Acts xv.
15-17</scripRef>. It is promised,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p13" shownumber="no">I. That in the Messiah the kingdom of David
shall be restored (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.11" parsed="|Amos|9|11|0|0" passage="Am 9:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>); the <i>tabernacle of David</i> it is called, that
is, his house and family, which, though great and fixed, yet, in
comparison with the kingdom of heaven, was mean and movable as a
tabernacle. The church militant, in its present state, dwelling as
in shepherds' tents to feed, as in soldiers' tents to fight, is the
<i>tabernacle of David.</i> God's tabernacle is called the
tabernacle of David because David desired and chose to <i>dwell in
God's tabernacle for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.61.4" parsed="|Ps|61|4|0|0" passage="Ps 61:4">Ps. lxi.
4</scripRef>. Now, 1. These tabernacles had fallen and gone to
decay, the royal family was so impoverished, its power abridged,
its honour stained, and laid in the dust; for many of that race
degenerated, and in the captivity it lost the imperial dignity.
Sore breaches were made upon it, and at length it was laid in
ruins. So it was with the church of the Jews; in the latter days of
it its glory departed; it was like a tabernacle broken down and
brought to ruin, in respect both of purity and of prosperity. 2. By
Jesus Christ these tabernacles were raised and rebuilt. In him
God's covenant with David had its accomplishment; and the glory of
that house, which was not only sullied, but quite sunk, revived
again; the <i>breaches</i> of it were <i>closed</i> and its
<i>ruins raised up, as in the days of old;</i> nay, the spiritual
glory of the family of Christ far exceeded the temporal glory of
the family of David when it was at its height. In him also God's
covenant with Israel had its accomplishment, and in the
gospel-church the tabernacle of God was set up among men again, and
raised up out of the ruins of the Jewish state. This is quoted in
the first council at Jerusalem as referring to the calling in of
the Gentiles and God's <i>taking out of them a people for his
name.</i> Note, While the world stands God will have a church in
it, and, if it be fallen down in one place and among one people, it
shall be raised up elsewhere.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p14" shownumber="no">II. That that kingdom shall be enlarged,
and the territories of it shall extend far, by the accession of
many countries to it (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.12" parsed="|Amos|9|12|0|0" passage="Am 9:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), that the house of David may possess the <i>remnant
of Edom, and of all the heathen,</i> that is, that Christ may have
them given him for his <i>inheritance,</i> even the <i>uttermost
parts of the earth for his possession,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.8" parsed="|Ps|2|8|0|0" passage="Ps 2:8">Ps. ii. 8</scripRef>. Those that had been strangers and
enemies shall become willing faithful subjects to the Son of David,
shall be <i>added to the church,</i> or those of them that are
<i>called by my name, saith the Lord,</i> that is, that belong to
the election of grace and are ordained to eternal life (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.48" parsed="|Acts|13|48|0|0" passage="Ac 13:48">Acts xiii. 48</scripRef>), for it is true of the
Gentiles as well as of the Jews that <i>the election hath
obtained</i> and <i>the rest were blinded,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.7" parsed="|Rom|11|7|0|0" passage="Ro 11:7">Rom. xi. 7</scripRef>. Christ died <i>to gather together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad,</i> here
said to be those that were <i>called by his name.</i> The promise
is to all that are <i>afar off,</i> even as <i>many</i> of them
<i>as the Lord our God shall call,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.x-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.39" parsed="|Acts|2|39|0|0" passage="Ac 2:39">Acts ii. 39</scripRef>. St. James expounds this as a
promise <i>that the residue of men should seek after the Lord, even
all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called.</i> But may the
promise be depended upon? Yes, the Lord says this, who does this,
who can do it, who has determined to do it, the power of whose
grace is engaged for the doing of it, and with whom saying and
doing are not two things, as they are with us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p15" shownumber="no">III. That in the kingdom of the Messiah
there shall be great plenty, an abundance of all good things that
the country produces (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.13" parsed="|Amos|9|13|0|0" passage="Am 9:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>The ploughman shall overtake the reaper,</i>
that is, there shall be such a plentiful harvest every year, and so
much corn to be gathered in, that it shall last all summer, even
till autumn, when it is time to begin to plough again; and in like
manner the vintage shall continue till seed-time, and there shall
be such abundance of grapes that even the <i>mountains shall drop
new wine</i> into the vessels of the grape-gatherers, and the hills
that were dry and barren shall be moistened and shall melt with the
<i>fatness</i> or <i>mellowness</i> (as we call it) <i>of the
soil.</i> Compare this with <scripRef id="Amos.x-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.24 Bible:Joel.3.18" parsed="|Joel|2|24|0|0;|Joel|3|18|0|0" passage="Joe 2:24,3:18">Joel
ii. 24, and iii. 18</scripRef>. This must certainly be understood
of the abundance of spiritual blessings in heavenly things, which
all those are, and shall be, blessed with, who are in sincerity
added to Christ and his church; they shall be abundantly
replenished with the goodness of God's house, with the graces and
comforts of his Spirit; they shall have bread, the bread of life,
to <i>strengthen their hearts,</i> and the wine of divine
consolations to <i>make them glad-meat indeed</i> and <i>drink
indeed</i>—all the benefit that comes to the souls of men from the
word and Spirit of God. These had been long confined to the
vineyard of the Jewish church; divine revelation, and the power
that attended it, were to be found only within that enclosure; but
in gospel-times the mountains and hills of the Gentile world shall
be enriched with these privileges by the gospel of Christ preached,
and professed, and received in the power of it. When great
multitudes were converted to the faith of Christ, and nations were
born at once, when the preachers of the gospel were <i>always
caused to triumph in</i> the success of their preaching, then the
<i>ploughman overtook the reaper;</i> and when, the Gentile
churches were <i>enriched in all utterance, and in all
knowledge,</i> and all manner of <i>spiritual gifts</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.x-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.5" parsed="|1Cor|1|5|0|0" passage="1Co 1:5">1 Cor. i. 5</scripRef>), then the <i>mountains
dropped sweet wine.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p16" shownumber="no">IV. That the kingdom of the Messiah shall
be well peopled; as the country shall be replenished, so shall the
cities be; there shall be mouths for this meat, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.14" parsed="|Amos|9|14|0|0" passage="Am 9:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Those that were carried captives
shall be brought back out of their captivity; their enemies shall
not be able to detain them in the land of their captivity, nor
shall they themselves incline to settle in it, but the remnant
shall return, and shall <i>build the waste cities and inhabit
them,</i> shall form themselves into Christian churches and set up
pure doctrine, worship, and discipline among them, according to the
gospel charter, by which Christ's cities are incorporated; and they
shall enjoy the benefit and comfort thereof; they shall <i>plant
vineyards,</i> and <i>make gardens.</i> Though the mountains and
hills drop wine, and the privileges of the gospel-church are laid
in common, yet they shall enclose for themselves, not to monopolize
these privileges, to the exclusion of others, but to appropriate
and improve these privileges, in communion with others, and they
shall <i>drink the wine,</i> and <i>eat the fruit,</i> of their own
<i>vineyards and gardens;</i> for those that take pains in
religion, as men must do about their vineyards and gardens, shall
have both the pleasure and profit of it. The <i>bringing again</i>
of the <i>captivity</i> of God's Israel, which is here promised,
may refer to the cancelling of the ceremonial law, which had been
long to God's Israel as a <i>yoke of bondage,</i> and the investing
of them in the liberty wherewith Christ came to make his church
free, <scripRef id="Amos.x-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.5.1" parsed="|Gal|5|1|0|0" passage="Ga 5:1">Gal. v. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.x-p17" shownumber="no">V. That the kingdom of the Messiah shall
take such deep rooting in the world as never to be rooted out of it
(<scripRef id="Amos.x-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.9.15" parsed="|Amos|9|15|0|0" passage="Am 9:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>I will
plant them upon their land.</i> God's spiritual Israel shall be
planted by the right hand of God himself upon the land assigned
them, and <i>they shall no more be pulled up out of it,</i> as the
old Jewish church was. God will preserve them from throwing
themselves out of it by a total apostasy, and will preserve them
from being thrown out of it by malice of their enemies; the church
may be corrupted, but shall not quite forsake God, may be
persecuted, but shall not quite be forsaken of God, so that the
gates of hell, neither with their temptations nor with their
terrors, shall prevail against it. Two things secure the perpetuity
of the church:—1. God's grants to it: It <i>is the land which I
have given them;</i> and God will confirm and maintain his own
grants. The part he has given to his people is that good part which
shall never be taken from them; he will not revoke his grant, and
all the powers of earth and hell shall not invalidate it. 2. Its
interest in him: He is <i>the Lord thy God,</i> who has said it,
and will make it good, <i>thine, O Israel!</i> who shall <i>reign
for ever</i> as thine <i>unto all generations.</i> And because he
lives the church shall live also.</p>
</div></div2>