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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Amos III].</TITLE>
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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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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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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. III.</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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A stupid, senseless, heedless people, are, in this chapter, called upon
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to take notice,
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I. Of the judgments of God denounced against them and the warnings he
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gave them of those judgments, and to be hereby awakened out of their
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security,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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II. Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked
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thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his
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controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might
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expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:9-15">ver. 9-15</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Am3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_8"> </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>God's Remonstrance with Israel.</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 that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath spoken against you, O
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children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up
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from the land of Egypt, saying,
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2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth:
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therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
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3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
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4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a
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young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
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5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin <I>is</I>
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for him? shall <I>one</I> take up a snare from the earth, and have
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taken nothing at all?
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6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be
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afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath not done
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<I>it?</I>
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7 Surely the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> will do nothing, but he revealeth his
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secret unto his servants the prophets.
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8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> hath
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spoken, who can but prophesy?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The scope of these verses is to convince the people of Israel that God
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had a controversy with them. That which the prophet has to say to them
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is to let them know that the Lord has something to say against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They were his peculiar people above others, knew his name, and were
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called by it; <I>nevertheless he had something against them,</I> and
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they were called to hear what it was, that they might consider what
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answer they should make, as the prisoner at the bar is told to hearken
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to his indictment. The <I>children of Israel</I> would not regard the
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words of counsel and comfort that God had many a time spoken to them,
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and now they shall be made to hear the word of reproof and threatening
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that the Lord has spoken against them; for he will act as he has
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spoken.</P>
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<P>
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I. Let them know that the gracious cognizance God has taken of them,
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and the favours he has bestowed upon them, should not exempt them from
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the punishment due to them for their sins. Israel is a <I>family</I>
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that <I>God brought up out of the land of Egypt,</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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and it was no more than a family when it went down thither; thence God
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delivered it; thence he fetched it to be a family to himself. It is not
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only the ten tribes, the kingdom of Israel, that must take notice of
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this, but that of Judah also, for it is spoken against the whole
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<I>family</I> that God <I>brought up out of Egypt.</I> It is a family
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that God has bestowed distinguishing favours upon, has owned in a
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peculiar manner. <I>You only have I known of all the families of the
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earth.</I> Note, God's church in the world is a family dignified above
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all the families of the earth. Those that know God are known of him.
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<I>In Judah is God known,</I> and therefore Judah is more than any
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people known of God. God has <I>known</I> them, that is, he has chosen
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them, covenanted with them, and conversed with them as his
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acquaintance. Now, one would think, it should follow, "Therefore I will
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spare you, will connive at your faults, and excuse you." No:
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<I>Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.</I> Note, The
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distinguishing favours of God to us, if they do not serve to restrain
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us from sin, shall not serve to exempt us from punishment; nay, the
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nearer any are to God in profession, and the kinder notice he has taken
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of them, the more surely, the more quickly, and the more severely will
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he reckon with them, if they by a course of wilful sin profane their
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character, disgrace their relation to him, violate their engagements,
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and put a slight upon the favours and honours with which they have been
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distinguished. <I>Therefore</I> they shall be punished, because their
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sins dishonour him, affront him, and grieve him, more than the sins of
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others, and because it is necessary that God should vindicate his own
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honour by making it appear that he hates sin and hates it most in those
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that are nearest to him; if they be but as bad as others, they shall be
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punished worse than others, because it is justly expected that they
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should be so much better than others. <I>Judgment begins at the house
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of God,</I> begins at the sanctuary; for God will be sanctified either
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by or upon those that <I>come nigh unto him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+10:3">Lev. x. 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Let them know that they could not expect any comfortable communion
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with God unless they first made their peace with him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Can two walk together except they be agreed?</I> No; how should
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they? Where there is not friendship there can be no fellowship; if two
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persons be at variance, they must first accommodate the matters in
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difference between them before there can be any interchanging of good
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offices. Israel has affronted God, had broken their covenant with him,
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and ill-requited his favours to them; and yet they expected that he
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should continue to walk with them, should take their part, act for
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them, and give them assurances of his presence with them, though they
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took no care by repentance and reformation to <I>agree with their
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adversary</I> and to turn away his wrath. "But how can that be?" says
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God. "While you continue to <I>walk contrary to God</I> you can look
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for no other than that he should <I>walk contrary to you,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:23,24">Lev. xxvi. 23, 24</A>.
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Note, We cannot expect that God should be present with us, or act for
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us, unless we be reconciled to him. God and man cannot <I>walk together
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except they be agreed.</I> Unless we agree with God in our end, which
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is his glory, we cannot walk with him by the way.</P>
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<P>
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III. Let them know that the warnings God gave them of judgments
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approaching were not causeless and groundless, merely to amuse them,
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but certain declarations of the wrath of God against them, which (if
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they did not speedily repent) they would infallibly feel the effects of
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey</I> in view? No:
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he roars upon his prey. Nor will a <I>young lion cry out of his den</I>
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if the old lion <I>have taken nothing</I> to bring home to him; nor
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would God thus give you warning both by the threatenings of his word,
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and by less judgments, if you had not by your sins made yourselves a
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prey to his wrath, nor if he were not really about to fall upon you
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with desolating destroying judgments." Note, The threatenings of the
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word and providence of God are not bugbears, to frighten children and
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fools, but are certain inferences from the sin of man and certain
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presages of the judgments of God.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Let them know that, as their own wickedness was the procuring cause
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of these judgments, so they shall not be removed till they have done
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their work,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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When God has come forth to contend with a sinful people it is necessary
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that they should understand,
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1. That it is their own sin that has entangled them; for <I>can a bird
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fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him?</I> No, nature
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does not lay snares for the creatures, but the art of men; a bird is
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not taken in a snare by chance, but with the fowler's design; so the
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providence of God prepares trouble for sinners, and it is <I>in the
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work of their own hands</I> that they <I>are snared.</I> Affliction
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does not <I>spring out of the dust,</I> but it is God's justice, and
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<I>our own wickedness,</I> that <I>correct us.</I>
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2. It is nothing but their own repentance that can disentangle them;
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for <I>shall one take up a snare from the earth,</I> which he laid with
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design, except he have <I>taken something</I> as he designed? So
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neither will God remove the affliction he has sent till it have done
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its work and accomplished that for which he sent it. If our hearts be
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duly humbled, and we are brought by our afflictions to confess and
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forsake our sins, then the snare has taken something, then the point is
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gained, the end is answered, and then, and not till then, the <I>snare
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is broken,</I> is taken up from the earth, and <I>we are delivered</I>
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in love and mercy.</P>
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<P>
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V. Let them know that all their troubles came from the hand of God's
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providence and from the counsel of his will
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Shall there be evil in a city,</I> in a family, in a nation, <I>and
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the Lord has not done it,</I> appointed it, and performed what he
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appointed? The evil of sin is from ourselves; it is our own doing. But
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the evil of trouble, personal or public, is from God, and is his doing;
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whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. <I>Out of his
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mouth both evil and good proceed.</I> This consideration, that,
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whatever evil is in the city, the Lord has done it, should engage us
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patiently to bear our share in public calamities and to study to answer
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God's intention in them.</P>
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<P>
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VI. Let them know that their prophets, who give them warning of
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judgments approaching, deliver nothing to them but what they have
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<I>received from the Lord</I> to be delivered to his people.
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1. God makes it known beforehand to the prophets
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing,</I> none of that evil in
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the city spoken of
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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<I>but he reveals it to his servants the prophets,</I> though to others
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it is a secret. Therefore those know not what they do who make light of
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the warnings which the prophets give them, in God's name. Observe,
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God's prophets are <I>his servants,</I> whom he employs to go on his
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errands to the children of men. The <I>secret</I> of God is with them;
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it is in some sense with all <I>the righteous</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:32">Prov. iii. 32</A>),
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with <I>all that fear God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:14">Ps. xxv. 14</A>),
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but in a peculiar manner with the prophets, to whom the Spirit of
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prophecy is a Spirit of revelation. It would have put honour enough
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upon prophets if it had been only said that sometimes God is pleased to
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reveal to his prophets what he designs to do, but it speaks something
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very great to say that he <I>does nothing</I> but what he <I>reveals to
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them,</I> as if they were <I>the men of his counsel. Shall I hide from
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Abraham,</I> who is a prophet, <I>the thing which I do?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:17">Gen. xviii. 17</A>.
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God will therefore be sure to reckon with those that put contempt on
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the prophets, whom he puts this honour upon.
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2. The prophets cannot but make that known to the people which God has
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made known to them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?</I> His prophets, to
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whom he has spoken in secret by dreams and visions, cannot but speak in
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public to the people what they have heard from God. They are so full of
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those things themselves, so well assured concerning them, and so much
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affected with them, that they cannot but speak of them; for <I>out of
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the abundance of the heart</I> the mouth will speak. <I>I believed;
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therefore have I spoken,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:20">Acts iv. 20</A>.
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Nay, and besides the prophetic impulse which went along with the
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inspiration, and made the word <I>like a fire in their bones</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:9">Jer. xx. 9</A>),
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they received a command from God to deliver what they had been charged
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with; and they would have been false to their trust if they had not
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done it. <I>Necessity was laid upon them,</I> as upon the preachers of
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the gospel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:16">1 Cor. ix. 16</A>.</P>
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<P>
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VII. Let them know that they ought to tremble before God upon the fair
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warning he had given them, as they would,
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1. Upon the sounding of a trumpet, to give notice of the approach of
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the enemy, that all may stand upon their guard and stand to their arms:
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<I>Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people be not
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afraid,</I> or <I>run together?</I> so some read it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Will they not immediately come together in a fright, to consider what
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is best to be done for the common safety? Yet when God by his prophets
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gives them notice of their danger, and summons them to come and enlist
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themselves under his banner, it makes no impression; they will sooner
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give credit to a watchman on their walls than to a prophet sent of God,
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will sooner obey the summons of the governor of their city than the
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orders given them by the Governor of the world. God says, <I>Hearken to
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the voice of the trumpet;</I> but <I>they will not hearken,</I> nay,
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and they tell him plainly that they will not,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:17">Jer. vi. 17</A>.
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2. Upon the roaring of a lion. God is sometimes <I>as a lion, and a
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young lion, to the house of Judah,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:14">Hos. v. 14</A>.
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The lion roars before he tears; thus God warns before he wounds. If
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therefore the lion roars upon a poor traveller (as he did against
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Samson,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:5">Judg. xiv. 5</A>),
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he cannot but be put into great consternation; yet the <I>Lord roars
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out of Zion</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+1:2"><I>ch.</I> i. 2</A>),
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and none are afraid, but they go on securely as if they were in no
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danger. Note, The fair warning given to a careless world, if it be not
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taken, will aggravate its condemnation another day. The lion roared,
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and they were not moved with fear to prepare an ark. O the amazing
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stupidity of an unbelieving world, that will not be wrought upon, no,
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not by the <I>terrors of the Lord!</I></P>
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<A NAME="Am3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Am3_15"> </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>Israel Convicted and Condemned.</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>9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the
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land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of
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Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and
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the oppressed in the midst thereof.
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10 For they know not to do right, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, who store up
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violence and robbery in their palaces.
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11 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; An adversary <I>there shall
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|
be</I> even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy
|
|
strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
|
|
12 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth
|
|
of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children
|
|
of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a
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|
bed, and in Damascus <I>in</I> a couch.
|
|
13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord
|
|
G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, the God of hosts,
|
|
14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of
|
|
Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the
|
|
horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
|
|
15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and
|
|
the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have
|
|
an end, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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The Israelites are here again convicted and condemned, and particular
|
|
notice given of the crimes they are convicted of and the punishment
|
|
they are condemned to.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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1. Notice is given of it to their neighbours. The prophet is ordered to
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|
<I>publish it in the palaces of Ashdod,</I> one of the chief cities of
|
|
the Philistines; nay, the summons must go further, even to <I>the
|
|
palaces in the land of Egypt.</I> "The great men of both those nations,
|
|
that dwell in the palaces, that are inquisitive concerning the affairs
|
|
of the neighboring nations, and are conversant with the public
|
|
intelligence, let them <I>assemble themselves upon the mountains of
|
|
Samaria,</I>"
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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|
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There, upon <I>a throne high and lifted up,</I> the judgment is set.
|
|
Samaria is the criminal that is to be tried; let them be present at the
|
|
trial, for it shall be (as other trials are) public, in the face of the
|
|
country; let them make an appointment to meet there from all parts, to
|
|
judge between God and his vineyard. God appeals to all impartial
|
|
righteous men,
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+23:45">Ezek. xxiii. 45</A>.
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|
|
|
They will all subscribe to the equity of his proceedings when they see
|
|
how the case stands. Note, God's controversies with sinners do not fear
|
|
a scrutiny; even Philistines and Egyptians will be made to see, and
|
|
say, that <I>the ways of the Lord are equal,</I> but <I>our ways are
|
|
unequal.</I> They are likewise summoned to attend, not only that they
|
|
may justify God and be witness for him that he deals fairly, but that
|
|
they may themselves take warning; for, if <I>judgment begin at the
|
|
house of God,</I> as they see it does, what shall be the end of those
|
|
that are strangers to him?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:17">1 Pet. iv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>If this be done in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry?</I> Or
|
|
this intimates that the sin of Israel had been so notorious that the
|
|
neighboring nations could come in witnesses against them, and therefore
|
|
it was fit that their punishment should be so. "If it could have been
|
|
concealed, we would have said, <I>Tell it not in Gath; publish it not
|
|
in the streets of Ashkelon;</I>" but why should their friends consult
|
|
their reputation, when they themselves do not consult it? If they have
|
|
grown impudent in sin, let them bear the shame: "<I>Publish</I> it in
|
|
<I>Ashdod,</I> in <I>Egypt.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Let them see how black the charge is, and how well proved. Let them
|
|
observe the behaviour of the inhabitants of Samaria; let them look off
|
|
from the adjacent hills, and they may see how rude and boisterous they
|
|
are, and hear how loud they cry of their sin is, as was that of Sodom.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Look into their streets and you will see nothing but riot and
|
|
disorder, <I>great tumults in the midst thereof;</I> reason and justice
|
|
are upon all occasions run down by the noise and fury of an outrageous
|
|
mob, the dominion of which is the sin and shame of any people, and is
|
|
likely to be their ruin.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Look into their prisons, and you will see them filled with injured
|
|
innocents: <I>The oppressed are in the midst thereof,</I> thrown down
|
|
and crushed by their oppressors, overpowered and overwhelmed, and
|
|
<I>they had no comforter,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:1">Eccl. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Look into their courts of justice, and you will see that those who
|
|
preside in those courts <I>know not to do right,</I> because they have
|
|
always been accustomed to do wrong; they act as if they had no notion
|
|
at all of the thing called justice, are in no care to do justice
|
|
themselves nor to see that others do justice.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Look into their treasures and stores, and you will see them
|
|
replenished with <I>violence and robbery,</I> with that which was
|
|
unjustly got and is still unjustly kept. Thus <I>they have heaped
|
|
treasures together for the last days,</I> but it will prove a
|
|
<I>treasure of wrath against the day of wrath.</I> It may well be said,
|
|
Those <I>know not to do right</I> who think to enrich themselves by
|
|
doing wrong.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Let them see how heavy the doom is, and how well executed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their country shall be invaded and ruined; and observe how the
|
|
punishment answers to the sin.
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>Great tumults</I> are <I>in the midst of the land,</I> and
|
|
therefore <I>an adversary shall be even round about the land;</I> the
|
|
Assyrian forces shall surround it and break in upon it on every side.
|
|
Note, When sin is harboured and indulged in the midst of a people they
|
|
can expect no other than that adversaries should be round about them,
|
|
so that, go which way they will, they go into the mouth of danger,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:43">Luke xix. 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They strengthened themselves in their wickedness, but the enemy
|
|
shall <I>bring down their strength</I> from them, that strength which
|
|
they abused in oppressing the poor, and doing violence to all about
|
|
them. Note, That power which is made an instrument of unrighteousness
|
|
will justly be brought down and broken.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They <I>stored up robbery in their palaces,</I> and therefore
|
|
their <I>palaces shall be spoiled;</I> for what is got and kept
|
|
wrongfully will not be kept long. Even palaces will be no protection to
|
|
fraud and oppression; but the greatest of men, if they have spoiled
|
|
others, shall themselves be spoiled, for <I>the Lord is the avenger of
|
|
all such.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their countrymen shall not escape,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
They shall be in the hands of the enemy, as a lamb in the mouth of a
|
|
lion, all devoured and eaten up, and they shall be utterly unable to
|
|
make an resistance; and if any do make their escape, so as neither to
|
|
fall by the sword or go into captivity, yet they shall be very few, and
|
|
those of the meanest and least considerable, like <I>two legs,</I> or
|
|
<I>shanks,</I> of a lamb, <I>or,</I> it may be, <I>a piece of an
|
|
ear,</I> which the lion drops, or <I>the shepherd</I> takes from him,
|
|
when he has eaten the whole body; so, perhaps, here and there one may
|
|
escape from Samaria and from Damascus, when the king of Assyria shall
|
|
fall upon them both, but none to make any account of; and those that do
|
|
escape shall do so with the utmost difficult and hazard, by hiding
|
|
themselves in the <I>corner of a bed</I> or under the <I>bed's
|
|
feet,</I> which intimates that their spirits shall sneak shamefully in
|
|
the time of danger. They shall not hide themselves in dens and caves,
|
|
but in the <I>corner of a bed,</I> or the <I>piece of a bed,</I> such
|
|
as poor people must be content with. They shall very narrowly escape,
|
|
as it is foretold concerning the last destruction of Jerusalem that
|
|
there shall be <I>two in a bed together, one taken and the other
|
|
left.</I> Note, When God's judgments come forth against a people with
|
|
commission it will be in vain to think of escaping them. Some make
|
|
their <I>dwelling in the corner of a bed,</I> and <I>in a couch,</I> to
|
|
denote their present security and sensuality; they are at ease, as
|
|
<I>in a bed,</I> or <I>on a couch,</I> but, when God comes to contend
|
|
with them, he shall make them uneasy, shall take them away out of the
|
|
bed of their sloth and slumber. Those that stretch themselves lazily
|
|
upon their couches when God's judgments are abroad shall <I>go captive
|
|
with the first that go captive.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Notice is given of it to themselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let this be <I>testified,</I> and <I>heard, in the house of Jacob,</I>
|
|
among all the seed of Israel, for it is spoken by <I>the Lord God, the
|
|
God of hosts,</I> who has authority to pass this sentence and ability
|
|
to execute it; let them know from him that the day is at hand when God
|
|
will <I>visit the transgressions of Israel upon him,</I> when he will
|
|
enquire into them and reckon for them: there will come <I>a day of
|
|
visitation,</I> a day of punishment, and in that day all those things
|
|
they are proud of, and put confidence in, shall fail them, and so they
|
|
shall smart for the sins they have been guilty of about them.
|
|
|
|
1. Woe to <I>their altars,</I> for God will <I>visit</I> them. He will
|
|
enquire into the sins they have been guilty of at their altars, and
|
|
bring into the account all their superstition and idolatry, all their
|
|
expenses on their false gods, and all their expectations from them; and
|
|
he will lay the altars themselves under the marks of his displeasure,
|
|
for <I>the horns of the altar shall be cut off,</I> and <I>fall to the
|
|
ground,</I> and with them the altar itself demolished and broken to
|
|
pieces. We find the altar at Bethel prophesied against
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+13:2">1 Kings xiii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and immediately <I>rent</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that prophecy fulfilled with <I>Josiah burnt men's bones upon
|
|
it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:15,16">2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
This seconds that prophecy, and seems to point at the same event. Note,
|
|
If men will not destroy idolatrous altars, God will, and those with
|
|
them that had them in veneration. Some make <I>the horns of the
|
|
altar</I> to signify all those things which they flee to for refuge,
|
|
and trust in, and which they make their sanctuary: they shall all be
|
|
cut off, so that they shall have nothing to take hold of.
|
|
|
|
2. Woe to their houses, for God will visit them too. He will enquire
|
|
into the sins they have been guilty of in their houses, the robbery
|
|
that have stored up in their houses, and the luxury in which they
|
|
lived: <I>and I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their nobility, and gentry, and rich merchants, had their winter-houses
|
|
in the city and their summer-houses in the country, so nice were they
|
|
in guarding against the inconveniences of the winter when the country
|
|
was thought too cold, and of the summer when the city was thought too
|
|
hot, though the climate of that good land was so temperate, like that
|
|
of ours, that neither the cold nor heat was ever in extremity. They
|
|
indulged a foolish affectation of change and variety; but God will,
|
|
either by war or by the earthquake, smite both the winter-house and the
|
|
summer-house; neither shall serve to shelter them from his judgments.
|
|
<I>The houses of ivory</I> (so called because the ceiling, or wainscot,
|
|
or some of the ornaments of them, were edged or inlaid with ivory)
|
|
<I>shall perish,</I> shall be burnt or pulled down; <I>and the great
|
|
houses shall have an end;</I> the most splendid and spacious houses,
|
|
the houses of their great men, shall no longer be, or at least be no
|
|
longer theirs. Note, The pomp or pleasantness of men's houses will be
|
|
so far from fortifying them against God's judgments that it will make
|
|
them the more grievous and vexatious, as their extravagance about them
|
|
will be put to the score of their sins and follies.</P>
|
|
|
|
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