Amos
Amos 2
Chapter II · Vol. III, p. 1436
1 God's judgments upon Moab, 4 upon Judah, 6 and upon Israel. 9 God complaineth of their unthankfulness, and threateneth them.
1 Thus saith the LORD, aFor three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones1 of the king of Edom into lime:
a ch.1.3,6,9,11,13. ver.4,6. Ps.83.4,7. Je.48.27-30. Eze.25.8. Zep.2.8,10.
1 A large portion of bones is lime combined with phosphoric acid. And as, in barbarous nations, the heads of the enemies are used as the ornaments of the houses of chieftains and the palaces of kings, so it is not improbable that the barbarous king of Moab burned the bones of his captive into lime, and converted them into plaster (as the word also signifies) for the walls of his palace.—C.
2 Butb I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab shall die cwith tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
b ch.1.4,6,10,12,14. De.32.22. Ps.83.7-17. Is.xv. xvi.; 25.10. Je.xlviii. Eze.25.8-11. Zep.2.8-10. Is.11.14.
3 And I will cut off the djudge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
d Nu.24.17. 2 Ki.1.1. Je.48.7,11.
4 Thus saith the LORD, eFor three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despisedg the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their hlies2 caused them to err, iafter the which their fathers have walked:
e ch.3.2. De.31.16,17; 32.15-27. Le.xxvi. De.xxviii.
g Ex.xx.-xxii. Le.i.-xxvii. Nu.v. vi. xv. xviii. xix. xxviii. xxix. De.iv.-xxvii.
h Ho.7.3,13; 11.12; 10.13; 2.4. Hab.2.18. Is.28.15. Je.16.19,20. Ro.1.25. Re.22.15; 21.8.
2 Lies. False doctrines; the vain traditions of their elders, making void the commandments of God,—ending in the worship of idols, which are also lies.—C.
i Ju.2.11-17; 10.6.
5 But I jwill send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
j 2 Ch.28.18. De.32.22-27. Je.25.9; 21.10; 52.13.
6 Thus saith the LORD, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because kthey sold3 the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;4
k ch.8.6; 5.11,12, with 2 Ch.19.7.
3 Perverted judgment for a paltry bribe.—C.
4 See note * below.
* When a Hebrew became poor and got into debt, his creditor had power, not by the Mosaic law, but by an evil practice which sprung up with other national corruptions, to sell him, his wife, sons, or daughters. The practice is mentioned and condemned by Nehemiah, Ne.5.5. The pair of shoes expresses the price for which he was sold, and thus shows the corruption of the nation that would permit such enormities.—P.
7 Thatl pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek; nand a man and his father will go in unto the same maid,5 too profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon pclothes laid to pledge qby every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned6 in the house of their god.7
9 Yet destroyed I the rAmorite before them, whose sheight was like the height of the cedars,8 and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed this fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
10 Also uI brought you up from the land of Egypt, and vled you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
u Ex.12.51. Mi.6.4. Je.32.20,21; 2.6.
v De.2.7; 8.2-4. Ne.9.12-21. Is.63.13.
11 And xI raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for yNazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
14 Therefore cthe flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:3
c ch.9.1-4. Is.30.16. Ps.76.5. Ec.9.11. Ps.33.16,17.
3 Heb. his soul or life.
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
Notes
Ver. 6-8. The most insignificant bribes can carry a cause against the most righteous of the poor. They greedily pant after the small substance which the poor or the meek possess, and insolently trample upon and plunder them. Fathers and sons incestuously commit whoredom with the same woman, to the great dishonour of my name which they profess. Contrary to law, they detain the pledges of the poor, and use them as carpets whereon to prostrate themselves, or to feast or sleep in, before their idolatrous altars; and their drink-offerings are purchased by the fines of those whom they had unjustly condemned.
Reflections.—Alas! how horrid are the barbarities of war! But if sinners perish who sinned without law, apostates from God and rebels against his revealed laws may expect double sorrow! Nothing is too horrid for hardened professors. If once men violate their consciences for any advantage, they will soon do it for a very trifling one. And no injury in God's reckoning is more abominable than what is done to the meek; who will not, or, to the poor, who cannot, resent it. Great is the kindness of God in what he hath done for us, and in raising up ministers and patterns of holiness in our families. But, alas! how apt are men to forget mercies received, and to seduce ministers and saints into scandal! The consciences of sinners testify that it is not for want, but through the abuse, of the means of grace they are so wicked! And the obstinacy of professors, in many and highly aggravated crimes, is infinitely provoking to God, and infallibly ruinous to themselves.