mh_parser/vol_split/30 - Amos/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Amos.ii" n="ii" next="Amos.iii" prev="Amos.i" progress="81.25%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Amos.ii-p0.1">A M O S.</h2>
<h3 id="Amos.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Amos.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The general title of
this prophecy (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.1" parsed="|Amos|1|1|0|0" passage="Am 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), with
the general scope of it, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.2" parsed="|Amos|1|2|0|0" passage="Am 1:2">ver.
2</scripRef>. II. God's particular controversy with Syria
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.3-Amos.1.5" parsed="|Amos|1|3|1|5" passage="Am 1:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>), with Palestine
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.6-Amos.1.8" parsed="|Amos|1|6|1|8" passage="Am 1:6-8">ver. 6-8</scripRef>), with Tyre
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.9" parsed="|Amos|1|9|0|0" passage="Am 1:9">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>), with Edom
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.11" parsed="|Amos|1|11|0|0" passage="Am 1:11">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>), and with
Ammon (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.13-Amos.1.15" parsed="|Amos|1|13|1|15" passage="Am 1:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>), for
their cruelty to his people and the many injuries they had done
them. This explains God's pleading with the nations, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.2" parsed="|Joel|3|2|0|0" passage="Joe 3:2">Joel iii. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Amos.ii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1" parsed="|Amos|1|0|0|0" passage="Am 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Amos.ii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.1-Amos.1.2" parsed="|Amos|1|1|1|2" passage="Am 1:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.ii-p1.11">
<h4 id="Amos.ii-p1.12">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 790.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen
of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king
of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of
Israel, two years before the earthquake.   2 And he said, The
<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> will roar from Zion, and utter
his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds
shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The general character of this
prophecy. It consists of <i>the words which the prophet saw.</i>
Are words to be seen? Yes, God's words are; the apostles speak of
the <i>word of life,</i> which they had not only <i>heard,</i> but
<i>which they had seen with their eyes, which they had looked upon,
and which their hands had handled</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.1" parsed="|1John|1|1|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:1">1 John i. 1</scripRef>), such a real substantial thing is
the word of God. The prophet saw these words, that is, 1. They were
revealed to him in a <i>vision,</i> as John is said to see <i>the
voice</i> that spoke to him, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.12" parsed="|Rev|1|12|0|0" passage="Re 1:12">Rev. i.
12</scripRef>. 2. That which was foretold by them was to him as
certain as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. It intimates how
strong he was in that faith which is <i>the evidence of things not
seen.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p4" shownumber="no">II. The person by whom this prophecy was
sent—<i>Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa,</i> and was one
of them. Some think he was a rich dealer in cattle; the word is
used concerning the king of Moab (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.3.4" parsed="|2Kgs|3|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 3:4">2
Kings iii. 4</scripRef>, <i>He was a sheep-master</i>); it is
probable that he got money by that business, and yet he must quit
it, to follow God as a prophet. Others think he was a poor keeper
of cattle, for we find (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.7.14-Amos.7.15" parsed="|Amos|7|14|7|15" passage="Am 7:14,15"><i>ch.</i>
vii. 14, 15</scripRef>) that he was withal a <i>gatherer of wild
figs,</i> a poor employment by which we may suppose he could but
just get his bread, and that God took him, as he did David, from
following the flock, and Elisha from following the plough. Many
were trained up for great employments, in the quiet, innocent,
contemplative business of shepherds. When God would send a prophet
to reprove and warn his people, he employed a shepherd, a herdsman,
to do it; for they had made themselves <i>as the horse and mule
that have no understanding,</i> nay, worse than the <i>ox that
knows his owner.</i> God sometimes <i>chooses the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.27" parsed="|1Cor|1|27|0|0" passage="1Co 1:27">1
Cor. i. 27</scripRef>. Note, Those whom God has endued with
abilities for his service ought not to be despised nor laid aside
for the meanness either of their origin or of their beginnings.
Though Amos himself is not ashamed to own that he was a herdsman,
yet others ought not to upbraid him with it nor think the worse of
him for it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p5" shownumber="no">III. The persons concerned in the prophecy
of this book; it is <i>concerning Israel,</i> the <i>ten
tribes,</i> who were now ripened in sin and ripening apace for
ruin. God has raised them up prophets among themselves (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.2.11" parsed="|Amos|2|11|0|0" passage="Am 2:11"><i>ch.</i> ii. 11</scripRef>), but they regarded
them not; therefore God sends them one from Tekoa, in the land of
Judah, that, coming from another country, he might be the more
valued, and perhaps he was the rather sent out of his own country
because there he was despised for his having been a herdsman. See
<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.55-Matt.13.57" parsed="|Matt|13|55|13|57" passage="Mt 13:55-57">Matt. xiii. 55-57</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p6" shownumber="no">IV. The time when these prophecies were
delivered. 1. The book is dated, as laws used to be, by the reigns
of the kings under whom the prophet prophesied. It was in the days
of <i>Uzziah king of Judah,</i> when the affairs of that kingdom
went very well, and of Jeroboam the second kind of Israel, when the
affairs of that kingdom went pretty well; yet then they must both
be told both of the sins they were guilty of and of the judgments
that were coming upon them for those sins, that they might not with
the present gleam of prosperity flatter themselves either into an
opinion of their innocence or a confidence of their perpetual
security. 2. It is dated by a particular event to which is prophecy
had a reference; it was <i>two years before the earthquake,</i>
that earthquake which is mentioned to have been <i>in the days of
Uzziah</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.5" parsed="|Zech|14|5|0|0" passage="Zec 14:5">Zech. xiv. 5</scripRef>),
which put the nation into a dreadful fright, for it is there said,
They <i>fled before it.</i> But how could they flee from it? Some
conjecture that this earthquake was at the time of Isaiah's vision,
when the <i>posts of the door were moved,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.4" parsed="|Isa|6|4|0|0" passage="Isa 6:4">Isa. vi. 4</scripRef>. The tradition of the Jews is that
it happened just at the time when Uzziah presumptuously invaded the
priest's office and went in to burn incense, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.26.16" parsed="|2Chr|26|16|0|0" passage="2Ch 26:16">2 Chron. xxvi. 16</scripRef>. Josephus mentions this
earthquake, <i>Antiq.</i> 9.225, and says, "By it half of a
mountain was removed and carried to a plain four furlongs off; and
it spoiled the king's gardens." God by this prophet gave warning of
it <i>two years</i> before, that God by it would shake down their
houses, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.3.15" parsed="|Amos|3|15|0|0" passage="Am 3:15"><i>ch.</i> iii.
15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p7" shownumber="no">V. The introduction to these prophecies,
containing the general scope of them (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.2" parsed="|Amos|1|2|0|0" passage="Am 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>The Lord will roar from
Zion.</i> His threatenings by his prophets, and the executions of
those threatenings in his providence, will be as terrible as the
roaring of a lion is to the shepherds and their flocks. Amos here
speaks the same language with his contemporaries, Hosea (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.10" parsed="|Hos|11|10|0|0" passage="Ho 11:10"><i>ch.</i> xi. 10</scripRef>) and Joel,
<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.16" parsed="|Joel|3|16|0|0" passage="Joe 3:16"><i>ch.</i> iii. 16</scripRef>. The
lion roars before he tears; God gives warning before he strikes.
Observe, 1. Whence this warning comes—<i>from Zion</i> and
Jerusalem, from the oracles of God there delivered; for <i>by them
is thy servant warned,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.11" parsed="|Ps|19|11|0|0" passage="Ps 19:11">Ps. xix.
11</scripRef>. Our God, whose special residence is there, will
issue out warrants, <i>given at that court,</i> as it were, for the
executing of judgments on the land. See <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.30" parsed="|Jer|25|30|0|0" passage="Jer 25:30">Jer. xxv. 30</scripRef>. In Zion was the mercy-seat;
thence the Lord roars, intimating that God's acts of justice are
consistent with mercy, allayed and mitigated by mercy, nay, as they
are warnings, they are really acts of mercy. We are chastened, that
we may be not be condemned. 2. What effect the warning has: <i>The
habitations of the shepherds mourn,</i> either because they fear
the roaring lion or because they feel what is signified by that
comparison, the consequences of a <i>great drought</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.4.7" parsed="|Amos|4|7|0|0" passage="Am 4:7"><i>ch.</i> iv. 7</scripRef>), which made <i>the
top of Carmel</i> (of the most fruitful fields) to <i>wither</i>
and become a desert, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.12-Joel.1.17" parsed="|Joel|1|12|1|17" passage="Joe 1:12-17">Joel i.
12-17</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Amos.ii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.3-Amos.1.15" parsed="|Amos|1|3|1|15" passage="Am 1:3-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Amos.ii-p7.9">
<h4 id="Amos.ii-p7.10">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p7.11">b. c.</span> 790.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Amos.ii-p8" shownumber="no">3 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.1">Lord</span>; For three transgressions of Damascus, and
for four, I will not turn away <i>the punishment</i> thereof;
because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of
iron:   4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,
which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.   5 I will break
also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain
of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:
and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.2">Lord</span>.   6 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.3">Lord</span>; For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not turn away <i>the punishment</i> thereof;
because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver
<i>them</i> up to Edom:   7 But I will send a fire on the wall
of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:   8 And I
will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the
sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and
the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.4">God</span>.   9 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.5">Lord</span>; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for
four, I will not turn away <i>the punishment</i> thereof; because
they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not
the brotherly covenant:   10 But I will send a fire on the
wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.   11
Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.6">Lord</span>; For three
transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away <i>the
punishment</i> thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the
sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear
perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:   12 But I will
send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
  13 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.7">Lord</span>; For
three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will
not turn away <i>the punishment</i> thereof; because they have
ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge
their border:   14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of
Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in
the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
  15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his
princes together, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Amos.ii-p8.8">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p9" shownumber="no">What the Lord says here may be explained by
what he says <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.14" parsed="|Jer|12|14|0|0" passage="Jer 12:14">Jer. xii. 14</scripRef>,
<i>Thus said the Lord, against all my evil neighbours that touch
the inheritance of my people Israel, Behold, I will pluck them
out.</i> Damascus was a near neighbour to Israel on the north, Tyre
and Gaza on the west, Edom on the south, Ammon and (in the next
chapter) Moab on the east; and all of them had been, one time, one
way, or other, <i>pricking briers and grieving thorns</i> to
Israel, evil neighbours to them; and, because God espouses his
people's cause, he there calls them <i>his evil neighbours,</i> and
here comes forth to reckon with them. The method is taken in
dealing with each of them is, in part, the same, and therefore we
put them together, and yet in each there is something peculiar.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p10" shownumber="no">I. Let us see what is repeated, both by way
of charge and by way of sentence, concerning them all. The
controversy God has with each of them is prefaced with, <i>Thus
said the Lord,</i> Jehovah the God of Israel. Though those nations
will not worship him as their God, yet they shall be made to know
that they are accountable to him as their Judge. The God of Israel
is <i>the God of the whole earth,</i> and has something to say to
them that shall make them tremble. Against them the Lord <i>roars
out of Zion.</i> And before God, by the prophet, threatens Israel
and Judah, he denounces judgments against those nations whom he
made use of as scourges to them for their being so, which might
serve for a check to their pride and insolence and a relief to his
people under their dejections; for hereby they might see that God
had not quitted his interest in them, and therefore might hope they
had not lost their interest in him. Now as to all these nations
here arraigned,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p11" shownumber="no">1. The indictment drawn up against them all
is thus far the same, (1.) That they are charged in general with
<i>three transgressions, and with four,</i> that is, with many
transgressions (as by one or two we mean <i>a few,</i> so by three
or four we mean many, as in Latin a man that is very happy is said
to be <i>terque quarterque beatus—three and four times happy</i>);
or <i>with three and four,</i> that is, with seven transgressions,
a number of perfection, intimating that they have <i>filled up the
measure of their iniquities,</i> and are ripe for ruin; or <i>with
three</i> (that is, a variety of sins) <i>and with a fourth</i>
especially, which is specified concerning each of them, though the
other three are not, as <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.15 Bible:Prov.30.18 Bible:Prov.30.21 Bible:Prov.30.29" parsed="|Prov|30|15|0|0;|Prov|30|18|0|0;|Prov|30|21|0|0;|Prov|30|29|0|0" passage="Pr 30:15,18,21,29">Prov.
xxx. 15, 18, 21, 29</scripRef>, where we read of <i>three things,
yea, four,</i> generally one seems to be more especially intended.
(2.) That the particular sin which is fastened upon as the fourth,
and which alone is specified, is the sin of persecution: it is some
mischief or other done to the people of God that is particularly
charged upon every one of them, for persecution is the
measure-filling sin of any people, and it is this sin that will be
particularly reckoned for—<i>I was hungry, and you gave me no
meat;</i> much more if it may be said, <i>I was hungry, and you
took my meat from me.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p12" shownumber="no">2. The judgment given against them all is
thus far the same, (1.) That, their sin having risen to such a
height, <i>God will not turn away the punishment thereof.</i>
Though he has granted them a long reprieve, and has often <i>turned
away their punishment,</i> yet now he will turn it away no longer,
but justice shall take its course. "<i>I will not revoke it</i> (so
some read it); I will not recall <i>the voice</i> which has <i>gone
forth</i> from Zion to Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.2" parsed="|Amos|1|2|0|0" passage="Am 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), speaking death and terror to the
sinful nations." It is an irrevocable sentence. God has spoken it,
and he will not <i>call it back.</i> Note, Though God bear long, he
will not bear always, with those that provoke him; and, when the
decree brings forth, it will bring up. (2.) That God will <i>kindle
a fire</i> among them; this is said concerning all these <i>evil
neighbours,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.4 Bible:Amos.1.7 Bible:Amos.1.10 Bible:Amos.1.12 Bible:Amos.1.14" parsed="|Amos|1|4|0|0;|Amos|1|7|0|0;|Amos|1|10|0|0;|Amos|1|12|0|0;|Amos|1|14|0|0" passage="Am 1:4,7,10,12,14"><i>v.</i> 4,
7, 10, 12, 14</scripRef>. God will <i>send a fire</i> into their
cities. When fires are kindled that lay cities, towns, and houses
in ashes, whether designedly or casually, God must be acknowledged
in it; they are of his sending. Sin stirs up the fire of his
jealousy, and that kindles other fires.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p13" shownumber="no">II. Let us see what is mentioned, both by
way of charge and by way of sentence, that is peculiar to each of
them, that every one may take his portion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p14" shownumber="no">1. Concerning Damascus, the head-city of
Syria, a kingdom that was often vexatious to Israel. (1.) The
peculiar sin of Damascus was using the Gileadites barbarously:
<i>They threshed Gilead with threshing-instruments of iron</i>
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.3" parsed="|Amos|1|3|0|0" passage="Am 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), which may be
understood literally of their putting to the torture, or to cruel
deaths, the inhabitants of Gilead whom they got into their hands,
as David put the Ammonites under <i>saws and harrows</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.31" parsed="|2Sam|12|31|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:31">2 Sam. xii. 31</scripRef>. We read with what
inhumanity Hazael king of Syria prosecuted his wars with Israel
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.8.12" parsed="|2Kgs|8|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 8:12">2 Kings viii. 12</scripRef>); he
<i>dashed their children,</i> and <i>ripped up their women with
child;</i> and see what desolations he made in their land,
<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.10.32-2Kgs.10.33" parsed="|2Kgs|10|32|10|33" passage="2Ki 10:32,33">2 Kings x. 32, 33</scripRef>. Or
it may be taken figuratively, for his laying the country waste, and
this very similitude is used in the history of it. <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.13.7" parsed="|2Kgs|13|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 13:7">2 Kings xiii. 7</scripRef>, He <i>destroyed
them, and made them like the dust by threshing.</i> Note, Men often
do that unjustly and wickedly, and shall be severely reckoned with
for it, which yet God just permits them to do. The church is called
<i>God's threshing, and the corn of his floor</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.10" parsed="|Isa|21|10|0|0" passage="Isa 21:10">Isa. xxi. 10</scripRef>); but if men make it
their threshing, and the chaff of their floor, they shall be sure
to hear of it. (2.) The peculiar punishment of Damascus is [1.]
That the fire which shall be sent shall fasten upon the court in
the first place, not on the chief city, nor the country towns, but
on <i>the house of Hazael,</i> which he built; and <i>it shall
devour the palaces of Ben-hadad,</i> the royal palaces inhabited by
the kings of Syria, many of whom were of that name. Note, Even
royal palaces are no defence against the judgments of God, though
ever so richly furnished, though ever so strongly fortified. [2.]
That the enemy shall force his way into the city (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.5" parsed="|Amos|1|5|0|0" passage="Am 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>I will break the bar
of Damascus,</i> and then the gate flies open. Or it may be
understood figuratively: all that which is depended upon as the
strength and safety of that great city shall fail, and prove
insufficient. When God's judgments come with commission it is in
vain to think of <i>turning them out.</i> [3.] That the people
shall be destroyed with the sword: <i>I will cut off the inhabitant
from the plain of Aven,</i> the <i>valley of idolatry,</i> for the
gods of the Syrians were <i>gods of the valleys</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.20.23" parsed="|1Kgs|20|23|0|0" passage="1Ki 20:23">1 Kings xx. 23</scripRef>), were worshipped in
valleys; as the idols of Israel were worshipped on <i>the hills;
him also that holdeth the sceptre</i> of power, some petty king or
other that used to boast of the sceptre he held from Beth-Eden, the
<i>house of pleasure.</i> Both those that were given to idolatry
and those that were given to sensuality should be cut off together.
[4.] That the body of the nation shall be carried off. The
<i>people shall go into captivity unto Kir,</i> which was in the
country of the Medes. We find this fulfilled (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.16.9" parsed="|2Kgs|16|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 16:9">2 Kings xvi. 9</scripRef>) about fifty years after this,
when <i>the king of Assyria went up against Damascus,</i> and
<i>took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew
Rezin,</i> at the instigation of Ahaz king of Judah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p15" shownumber="no">2. Concerning Gaza, a city of the
Philistines, and now the metropolis of that country. (1.) The
peculiar sin of the Philistines was <i>carrying away captive the
whole captivity,</i> either of Israel or Judah, which some think
refers to that inroad made upon Jehoram when they took away <i>all
the king's sons</i> and <i>all his substance</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.21.17" parsed="|2Chr|21|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 21:17">2 Chron. xxi. 17</scripRef>), or, perhaps, it
refers to their seizing those that fled to them for shelter when
Sennacherib invaded Judah, and <i>selling them to the Grecians</i>
(<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.4-Joel.3.6" parsed="|Joel|3|4|3|6" passage="Joe 3:4-6">Joel iii. 4-6</scripRef>), or (as
here) to the Edomites, who were always sworn enemies to the people
of God. They spared none, but carried off all they could lay their
hands on, designing, if possible, to <i>cut off the name of
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.4-Ps.83.7" parsed="|Ps|83|4|83|7" passage="Ps 83:4-7">Ps. lxxxiii.
4-7</scripRef>. (2.) The peculiar punishment of the Philistines is
that the fire which God will send shall devour the palaces of Gaza,
and that the <i>inhabitants</i> of the other cities of the
Philistines, Ashdod (or Azotus), Ashkelon, and Ekron, shall all be
<i>cut off,</i> and God will make as thorough work with them in
their ruin as they would have made with God's people when they
carried away the whole captivity; for even the <i>remnant</i> of
them <i>shall perish,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.8" parsed="|Amos|1|8|0|0" passage="Am 1:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. Note, God will make a full end of those that think to
make a full end of his church and people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p16" shownumber="no">3. Concerning Tyre, that famous city of
wealth and strength, that was itself a kingdom, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.9" parsed="|Amos|1|9|0|0" passage="Am 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. (1.) The peculiar sin of Tyre is
<i>delivering up the whole captivity to Edom,</i> that is, selling
to the Edomites those of Israel that fled to them for shelter, or
in any way fell into their hands; not caring what hardships they
put upon them, so that they could but make gain of them to
themselves. Herein they forgot the <i>brotherly covenant,</i> the
league that was between Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.5.12" parsed="|1Kgs|5|12|0|0" passage="1Ki 5:12">1 Kings v. 12</scripRef>), which was intimate
that Hiram called Solomon his <i>brother,</i> <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.9.13" parsed="|1Kgs|9|13|0|0" passage="1Ki 9:13">1 Kings ix. 13</scripRef>. Note, It is a great
aggravation of enmity and malice when it is the violation of
friendship and of a <i>brotherly covenant.</i> (2.) Here is nothing
peculiar in the punishment of Tyrus but that <i>the palaces
thereof</i> shall be <i>devoured,</i> which was done when
Nebuchadnezzar took it after thirteen years' siege. Their merchants
were all princes, and their private houses were as palaces; but the
fire shall make no more of them than of cottages.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p17" shownumber="no">4. Concerning Edom, the posterity of Esau.
(1.) Their peculiar sin was an unmerciful, unwearied, pursuit of
the people of God, and their taking all advantages against them to
do them a mischief, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.11" parsed="|Amos|1|11|0|0" passage="Am 1:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. He did <i>pursue his brother with the sword,</i> not
only of old, when the king of Edom took up arms to oppose the
children of Israel's passage <i>through his border</i> (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.20.18" parsed="|Num|20|18|0|0" passage="Nu 20:18">Num. xx. 18</scripRef>), but ever since upon all
occasions; they had not strength and courage enough to face them in
the field of battle, but, whenever any other enemy had put Judah or
Israel to flight, then the Edomites set in with the pursuers, fell
upon the rear, slew those that were half dead already, and (as is
usual with cowards when they have an enemy at an advantage) they
did <i>cast off all pity.</i> Those that are least courageous are
commonly most cruel. Edom was so; his malice <i>destroyed his
compassion</i> (so the word is); he stripped himself of the
tenderness of a man, and put on the fierceness of a beast of prey;
and, as such a one, he did tear, his <i>anger did tear
perpetually.</i> His cruelty was insatiable, and he never knew when
he had sucked enough of the blood of Israel, but, like the
horse-leech, still cried, <i>Give, give.</i> Nay, he <i>kept his
wrath for ever;</i> when he wanted objects of his wrath, and
opportunity to show it, yet he kept it in reserve (it <i>rested in
his bosom</i>), he rolled it under his tongue as a sweet morsel,
and had it ready to spit in the face of Israel upon the next
occasion. Cursed be such cruel wrath, and anger so fierce, so
outrageous, which makes men like the devil, who <i>continually
seeks to devour,</i> and unlike to God, who <i>keeps not his anger
for ever.</i> Edom's malice was unnatural, for thus he pursued his
brother, whom he ought to have protected: it was hereditary, as if
it had been entailed upon the family ever since Esau hated Jacob,
and time itself could not wear it out, no, nor the brotherly
conduct of Israel towards them (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.2.4" parsed="|Deut|2|4|0|0" passage="De 2:4">Deut.
ii. 4</scripRef>), and the express law given to Israel (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.23.7" parsed="|Deut|23|7|0|0" passage="De 23:7">Deut. xxiii. 7</scripRef>), <i>Thou shalt not
abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother.</i> (2.) Here is nothing
peculiar in their punishment; but (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.12" parsed="|Amos|1|12|0|0" passage="Am 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) a <i>fire</i> shall be <i>sent
to devour their palaces.</i> Note, The fire of our anger against
our brethren kindles the fire of God's anger against us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Amos.ii-p18" shownumber="no">5. Concerning the Ammonites, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.13-Amos.1.15" parsed="|Amos|1|13|1|15" passage="Am 1:13-15"><i>v.</i> 13-15</scripRef>. (1.) See how
violently the fire of their anger turned against the people of God;
they not only triumphed in their calamities (as we find, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.2 Bible:Ezek.25.6" parsed="|Ezek|25|2|0|0;|Ezek|25|6|0|0" passage="Eze 25:2,6">Ezek. xxv. 2, 6</scripRef>), but they did
themselves use them barbarously; they <i>ripped up the women with
child of Gilead,</i> a piece of cruelty the very mention of which
strikes a horror upon one's mind; one would think it is not
possible that any of the human race should be so inhuman. Hazael
was guilty of it, <scripRef id="Amos.ii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.8.12" parsed="|2Kgs|8|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 8:12">2 Kings viii.
12</scripRef>. It was done not only in a brutish rage, which falls
without consideration upon all that comes before it, but with a
devilish design to extirpate the race of Israel by killing not only
all that were born, but all that were to be born, worse than
Egyptian cruelty. It was <i>that they might enlarge their
border,</i> that they might make the land of Gilead their own, and
there might be none to lay claim to it or given them any
disturbance in the possession of it. We find (<scripRef id="Amos.ii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.1" parsed="|Jer|49|1|0|0" passage="Jer 49:1">Jer. xlix. 1</scripRef>) that the Ammonites inherited
<i>Gad</i> (that is, Gilead) under pretence that Israel had no
sons, no heirs. We know how heavy the doom of those was, and how
heinous their crime, who said, <i>This is the heir; come, let us
kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours</i> by occupancy. See
what cruelty covetousness is the cause of, and what horrid
practices those are often put upon that are greedy to <i>enlarge
their own border.</i> (2.) See how violently the fire of God's
anger burned against them; shall not God <i>visit for these
things</i> done to any of mankind, especially when they are done to
his own people? <i>Shall not his soul be avenged on such a nation
as this?</i> No doubt, it shall. The fire shall be kindled <i>with
shouting in the day of battle,</i> that is, war shall kindle the
fire; it shall be a fire accompanied with the sword, or a roaring
fire, which shall make a noise like that of soldiers ready to
engage, and it shall be as a <i>tempest</i> in the <i>day of the
whirlwind,</i> which comes swiftly, furiously, and bears down all
before it. Or this tempest and whirlwind shall be as bellows to the
fire, to make it burn the stronger, and spread the further. It is
particularly threatened that <i>their king and his princes shall go
together into captivity,</i> carried away by the king of Babylon,
not long after Judah was. See what changes God's providence often
makes with men, or rather their own sin; kings become captives, and
princes prisoners. <i>Milchom shall go into captivity;</i> some
understand it of the god of the Ammonites, whom they called
<i>Moloch—a king. He, and his princes,</i> and his priests that
attended him, shall to <i>into captivity;</i> their idol shall be
so far from protecting them that it shall itself go into captivity
with them. Note, Those who by violence and fraud seek to enlarge
their own border will justly be expelled and excluded their own
border; nor is it strange if those who make no conscience of
invading the rights of others be able to make no resistance against
those who invade theirs.</p>
</div></div2>