Amos
Amos 9
Chapter IX · Vol. III, pp. 1441–1443
1 The certainty of Israel's desolation. 11 The restoring of the tabernacle of David.
1 I sawa the Lord standing upon the 1altar: and he said, bSmite the lintel2 of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them3 in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: che that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
a ch.3.14. Eze.10.4;9.2;38.17. Is.34.6.
1 Upon the altar. As this prophecy terminates with the restoration of the tabernacle of David, the altar here seen is most probably that of Jerusalem. See Is.6.1. Eze.9.3.—C.
b ch.8.3. Ps.68.21. Is.51.9. Hab.3.13.
2 Or, chapiter or knop.
3 Or, wound them.
c Is.24.17,18;30.16,17. Je.48.44. ch.2.14,15;5.19.
2 Thoughd they dig into hell,4 thence shall mine hand take them; though they 5climb 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 ehid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent,6 and he shall bite them:
e Ps.139.12. Je.23.24;37.10,17;16.16. Ps.94.7.
6 Serpent—any carnivorous fish, as the shark. The meaning is, that in the lowest depth of earth or sea, or the most inaccessible pinnacles of the mountains, in their own land at home or in the land of strangers far away, God's judgments would search and follow, discover and smite them.—C.
4 And gthough they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and hI will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that itoucheth the land, and it shall melt, jand all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is he that buildeth his kstories7 in the heaven, and hath founded his 8troop9 in the earth; lhe that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the LORD is his name.
7 Or, spheres. Heb. ascensions.
8 Or, bundle, Ge.2.1.
9 Troop. Storehouse (Newcome). It seems, from its connection with the 'stories,' or upper chambers of heaven, to signify the 'gathering together' of waters in the sea which form the storehouse of clouds, showers, and fertility.—C.
7 Aren ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. oHave not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the pPhilistines from Caphtor, and qthe Syrians from Kir?1
8 Behold, rthe eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and sI will destroy it from off the face of the earth; tsaving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and uI will 2sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain3 fall upon the earth.
10 Allv the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 Inx that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David4 that is fallen, and close5 up the breaches thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
x Ac.15.16. Ho.1.10,11;3.5. Ro.11.25-27. Mat.16.18. Ac.15.15-17. Re.11.15. Eze.xxxvii.xl.-xlviii. Is.11.11-16.
4 Restore the kingdom to Messiah, which work, though begun, is merely in progress to final accomplishment. For, undoubtedly as Israel has been literally cast out, so surely, if any solid and equal principle of interpretation be adopted, will Israel literally be restored; and as his cities have literally been rendered desolate, so literally will his 'ruins' be raised up again, ver. 14,15.—C.
5 Heb. hedge or wall.
12 Thaty they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name,6 saith the LORD that doeth this.
13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, zthat the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth7 seed; and athe mountains shall drop sweet8 wine, and all the hills shall melt.
z Le.26.5. Eze.36.35. Ho.2.21-23. Jn.4.35.
7 Heb. draweth forth.
a Joel 3.18,20. Is.35.1;41.19;55.13. Ps.72.16;65.12,13.
8 Or, new.
14 Andb I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
b See Je.23.3;30.3,18. Ho.1.11;3.5. Je.3.18. Is.61.4,11;65.21,22;62.8,9. Eze.37.25-28;36.33-36. Ro.11.25,26.
Notes
Ver. 1. God's standing on the altar at Beth-el, and smiting the lintel, and cutting the posts, denote his treading down and destroying that and other idolatrous temples, together with the king, princes, priests, and people that worshipped there. 5, 6. I, the almighty Former of heaven and earth and all that is therein, and the Governor of seas and rains, will, with the greatest ease, ruin the whole country by the ravaging army of the Assyrians. 7. In my view, ye Israelites are no better than the black, barbarous, and idolatrous Ethiopians; and though I brought you from Egypt, that is no more than what I did for the Philistines, or will do for the Syrians, who are mere heathens. 9. I will despise and afflict you, O ye Israelites and Jews, among all nations; but with such exact care, that not one elect person shall be ruined, or his existence prevented. 11, 12. After the return from Babylon, the Jewish church and nation were re-established, and the Maccabees conquered the Edomites and neighbouring heathens. But by the coming of Christ the church was restored, religion revived, and shone more gloriously than ever before; and Gentiles, as well as Jews, became the happy subjects of his government. 13. The harvest and vintage continuing till the next seed-time, &c., denotes the amazing abundance of spiritual blessings in the apostolic and millennial periods. 14, 15. Their rebuilding the waste cities, &c., denotes the great deliverance from the heathenish idolatry and corrupt lusts; and the abundant peace and prosperity and fixed settlement of the gospel church. These last five verses had a partial fulfilment among the Jews after their captivity in Babylon; and will have a more noted fulfilment among all the Hebrews in the glorious future.
Reflections.—Obstinate wickedness issues at last in dreadful and unavoidable ruin. It avails not who may be for us, if God be against us: wherever we go his eyes are upon us for evil; whatever we do, his hand can destroy us; and all creatures are at his command to execute his judgment. Alas! how sins indulged turn professors of the true religion into worse than heathens! And if they abandon their peculiar holiness, God must strip them of their peculiar privileges. Nothing can be a more lying refuge than hopes of impunity in impenitency: and never is ruin nearer than when men put it far from their thoughts. But marvellously God preserves his elect amidst the most fearful shakings, confusions, and miseries. When all seems desperate, he wonderfully revives his church, and blesses her with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And great shall be the glory of the coming, and especially of the eternal period, in which not one good thing promised shall remain unfulfilled.
Concluding Remarks on the Book of Amos.
Of the book of Amos two distinct views may be taken. (1) It may be viewed as a mere composition, without any reference to inspiration. And if so, what an elevated idea does it convey of the literary state of Israel, when a common herdman and fruiterer could produce such a work. Viewed in this light, the sublimity and beauty of its imagery, combined with the purity of its morals, the honesty of its rebukes, and the tenderness and incorruptibility of its patriotism, place it far above every book hitherto produced upon these subjects, in any country, by any of the same rank, opportunities, and education. (2) But while, to humble the pride of man, it may be lawful to draw such a comparison, yet the true view of the book is that of its inspiration—the work of a 'holy man of old speaking as he was moved by the Holy Ghost.' And here we must note the wisdom of God in 'condescending to men of low estate.' He delivers his oracles not by 'the wise,' not by 'the scribe,' not by 'the disputers of this world,' but 'chooses the weak to confound the strong, and things which are not to bring to nought things that are; that no man should glory in his sight.' No doubt God has chosen a Moses, 'learned in all the learning of the Egyptians;' and a Paul, 'bred at the feet of Gamaliel;' but if he did so to demonstrate the power of sanctified learning, he also chose an Amos, who was 'neither a prophet, nor the son (scholar) of a prophet,' but a simple 'herdman and gatherer of sycamore fruit,' and a few Galilean fishermen, 'without (human) learning,' to demonstrate that God's work is to be done, 'not by wisdom, nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.'
Amos prophesied of the same events as Hosea, and seems to have been his contemporary. He is quoted in the New Testament, Ac. 7. 42, 43; 15. 15-18, corresponding to Am. 5. 25, 26; 9. 11, 12. C.