Amos
Amos 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. III, pp. 1440–1441
1 By a basket of summer fruit is showed the near approach of Israel's end. 4 Oppression is reproved. 11 A famine of God's word threatened.
1 Thus hath the Lord GOD ashowed unto me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit.1
a ch.7.1,4,7. Je.1.11-14.
1 Summer fruit—'late summer-fruit,' such as had been spared long, were now very ripe, and hastening to decay—an apt emblem of Israel long spared, but now ripe for judgment.—C.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, bA basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, cThe end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And dthe songs of the temple2 shall be howlings3 in that day, saith the Lord GOD: theree shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.4
d ch.5.23; ver.10. Ho.10.5,6.
2 The temple—not at Jerusalem, but Bethel.—C.
3 Heb. shall howl.
e Je.9.21,22;22.18,19. ch.4.10;5.9,10.
4 Heb. be silent.
5 Saying, hWhen will the new moon5 be gone, that we may sell corn? and the isabbath, that we may set forth6 wheat, jmaking the ephah small, and the shekel great, and 7falsifying the balances by deceit?8
h Ps.2.3. Is.58.3,13. Mal.1.13, with 2 Ki.4.23. Ex.20.8. ver.10.
5 Or, month.
i Ne.13.15,16.
6 Heb. open.
j Mi.6.10,11, with De.25.13. Le.19.36. Pr.11.1.
7 Heb. perverting the balances of deceit, Ho.12.7. Pr.20.23.
8 How strange this scrupulous observance of an outward sabbath, when within the spirit never rested from its covetousness nor its injustice! But such is the deceitfulness of man's unrenewed heart, no matter by what outward respect for religion it may be modelled or restrained.—C.
6 That kwe may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The LORD hath sworn by 9the excellency of Jacob.1 Surely lI will never forget any of their works.
9 Himself, Ps.68.34. ch.4.2;6.8. Lu.2.32.
1 Excellency of Jacob. Not by Jacob's exaltation, but by JEHOVAH himself, whom alone Jacob chose for his God at the pillar in the wilderness, and from whom he received a new name, and with whom he prevailed for a blessing, Ex.28.19-22;32.28-30.—C.
8 Shall not the land ntremble2 for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and oit shall rise up wholly as a flood;3 and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that pI will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your qfeasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and rI will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it ass the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but oft hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander ufrom sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and vshall not find it.
u Nu.34.6,7,11,12. Eze.47.15-20.
v ver.11. Is.5.5,6.
14 They4 that swear by ythe sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner5 of zBeer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
y De.9.21. 1 Ki.12.30;14.16. Mi.1.5. Ho.4.15;8.5,6;10.5;13.2.
4 More literally—'They who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, By the life of thy god, O Dan: and, By the life of the way of (or to) Beer-sheba.' The sin of Samaria was the worship of the golden calf which Jeroboam set up. The god of Dan was the same; and 'the way to Beersheba' is a form of expression for the idol that was worshipped there.—P.
5 Heb. way, Ho.10.13. Ac.19.23;24.14.
z ch.5.5, with 2 Ch.36.16. Pr.29.1.
Notes
Ver. 4-6. By your oppression ye devour the substance of the poor, that they can scarcely preserve themselves in life: ye are weary of God's holy seasons, and desirous of their being over, that ye may return to your injustice, in making the measure wherewith you sell your corn too scanty, and causing the poor purchasers to give you more than just weight for the price, that, by your extortions, ye may force the poor to sell themselves to you for slaves, at a mere trifle, or oblige them to buy the very refuse of your grain. 7-10. God hath therefore sworn by himself that he will punish your wickedness by the most terrible and overwhelming judgments; and that your present prosperity shall, of a sudden, issue in the terrible destruction of your princes and people; and your luxurious and idolatrous revelling and mirth, in the most bitter mourning and anguish. 14. The sin of Samaria, and manner of Beer-sheba, denote idols worshipped there.
Ver. 12. They shall search for a living prophet, but God will raise up none—for they already have Moses and the prophets; and since they will not hear them, it is in vain to send them another. C.
Reflections.—Whatever God shows us ought to be carefully observed. His patience wears out at length; and obstinate sinning must end in deplorable misery; and sinful mirth in howling and ignominious death. Yea, hopeless is the case when fearful calamities only render men sullen and peevish.—Carnal men heartily hate God and his ordinances. Sabbaths and holy duties are intolerable burdens; and merchandise, even the basest, is to them a cordial pleasure. Nor when nations are ripening for ruin do they ever fail to oppress God's poor people. But riches got by rapine will bring on ruin. And let the oppressor be ever so high, the flood of God's wrath shall overwhelm him. They who would not tremble for the sins of the land, shall tremble under its judgments. And if men hate God's Word and ordinances, they, and every impudent idolater, must expect to be deprived of them, and hastened into eternal misery.