Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
KJV
Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
Commentary
Commentary
The scope of this chapter is to prosecute the exhortation given to
Israel in the close of the foregoing chapter to prepare to meet their
God; the prophet here tells them,
I. What preparation they must make; they must "seek the Lord," and not
seek any more to idols
( ver. 4-8 );
they must seek good, and love it, ver. 14, 15 .
II. Why they must make this preparation to meet their God,
1. Because of the present deplorable condition they were in, ver. 1-3 .
2. Because it was by sin that they were brought into such a condition, ver. 7, 10-12 .
3. Because it would be their happiness to seek God, and he was ready to
be found of them, ver. 8, 9, 14 .
4. Because he would proceed, in his wrath, to their utter ruin, if they
did not seek him, ver. 5, 6, 13, 16, 17 .
5. Because all their confidences would fail them if they did not seek
unto God, and make him their friend.
(1.) Their profane contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at
defiance, would not secure them, ver. 18-20 .
(2.) Their external services in religion, and the shows of devotion,
would not avail to turn away the wrath of God, ver. 21-24 .
(3.) Their having been long in possession of church-privileges, and in
a course of holy duties, would not be their protection, while all along
they had kept up their idolatrous customs, ver. 25-27 .
They have therefore no way left them to save themselves, but by
repentance and reformation.
1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a
lamentation, O house of Israel.
2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she
is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
3 For thus saith the Lord G OD ; The city that went out by a
thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
This chapter begins, as those two next foregoing began, with, Hear
this word. Where God has a mouth to speak we must have an ear to
hear; it is our duty, it is our interest, yet so stupid are most men
that they need to be again and again called upon to hear the word of
the Lord, to give audience, to give attention. Hear this
word. this convincing awakening word must be heard and heeded, as
well as words of comfort and peace; the word that is taken up against
us, as well as that which makes for us; for, whether we hear or
forbear, the word of God shall take effect, and not a tittle of it
shall fall to the ground. It is the word which I take up --not the
prophet only, but the God that sent him. It is the word that the
Lord has spoken, ch. iii. 1 .
The word to be heard is a lamentation, a lamentable account of
the present calamitous state of the kingdom of Israel, and a lamentable
prediction of its utter destruction. Their condition is sad: The
virgin of Israel has fallen ( v. 2 ),
has come down from what she was; that state, though not pure and chaste
as a virgin, yet was beautiful and gay, and had its charms; she looked
high herself, and was courted by many as a virgin; but she has
fallen into contempt and poverty, and is universally slighted. Nay,
and their condition is helpless: She shall no more rise, shall
never recover her former dignity again. God had lately begun to cut
Israel short ( 2 Kings x. 32 ),
and, because they repented not, it was not long before he cut Israel
down. 1. Their princes, that should have helped them up, were disabled: She is forsaken upon her land. Not only those she was in
alliance with abroad failed her, but her friends at home deserted her;
she would not have been carried captive into a strange land if she had
not first been forsaken upon her own land and thrown to the
ground there, and all her true interests abandoned by those that
should have had them at heart. There is none to raise her up, none that can do it, not that cares to lend her a hand.
2. Their people, that should have helped them up, were diminished, v. 3 .
"The city that had a militia, 1000 strong, and, in the beginning of the
war, had furnished out 1000 effective men, able-bodied and well-armed,
when they come to review their troops after the battle, shall find but
100 left; and, in proportion, the city that sent out 100 shall
have but ten come back, so great a slaughter shall be made, and
so few left to the house of Israel for the public service and safety."
Scarcely one in ten shall escape of the hands that should relieve this
abject, this dejected, nation. Note, The lessening of the numbers of
God's spiritual Israel, by death or desertion, is just a matter for
lamentation; for by whom shall Jacob arise, by whom shall the
decays of piety be repaired, when he is thus made small?
4 For thus saith the L ORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me,
and ye shall live:
5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to
Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel
shall come to nought.
6 Seek the L ORD , and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire
in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to
quench it in Bethel.
7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness
in the earth,
8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth
the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark
with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth
them out upon the face of the earth: The L ORD is his name:
9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that
the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him
that speaketh uprightly.
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and
ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn
stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant
vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty
sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn
aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for
it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the L ORD ,
the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in
the gate: it may be that the L ORD God of hosts will be gracious
unto the remnant of Joseph.
This is a message from God to the house of Israel, in which,
I. They are told of their faults, that they might see what occasion
there was for them to repent and reform, and that, when they were
called to return, they might not need to ask, Wherein shall we
return?
1. God tells them, in general
( v. 12 ),
" I know your manifold transgressions, and your mighty sins; and
you shall be made to know them too." In our penitent reflections upon
our sins we must consider, as God does in his judicial remarks upon
them, and will do in the great day,
(1.) That they are very numerous; they are our manifold
transgressions, sins of various kinds and often repeated. Oh what a
multitude of vain and vile thoughts lodge within us! What a multitude
of idle, foolish, wicked words have been spoken by us! In what a
multitude of instances have we gratified and indulged our corrupt
appetites and passions! And how many our own omissions of duty and in
duty! Who can understand his errors? Who can tell how often he offends?
God knows how many, just how many, our transgressions are; none of them
pass him unobserved; we know that they are to us innumerable; more
than the hairs of our head; and we have reason to see what danger
we have brought ourselves into, and what abundance of work we have made
for repentance, by our manifold transgressions, by the
numberless number of our sins of daily incursion.
(2.) That some of them are very heinous; they are our mighty sins; sins that are more exceedingly sinful in their own nature and by
being committed presumptuously and with a high hand, sins against the
light of nature, flagrant crimes, that are mighty to overpower your
convictions and to pull down judgments upon you.
2. He specifies some of these mighty sins.
(1.) They corrupted the worship of God, and turned to idols; this is
implied v. 5 .
They had sought to Bethel, where one of the golden calves was;
they had frequented Gilgal, a place which they chose to set up idols
in, because it had been made famous in the days of Joshua by God's
wonderful appearances to and for his people. Beer-sheba likewise, a
place that had been famous in the days of the patriarchs, was now
another rendezvous of idols; as we find also, ch. viii. 14 .
And thither they passed, though it lay at a distance, in the
land of Judah. Now, having thus shamefully gone a whoring from God, no
doubt they should have felt themselves concerned to return to him.
(2.) They perverted justice among themselves
( v. 7 ):
" You turn judgment to wormwood, that is, you make your
administrations of justice bitter and nauseous, and highly displeasing
both to God and man." That fruit has become a weed, a weed in
the garden; as nothing is more venerable, nothing more valuable, than
justice duly administered, so nothing is more hurtful, nothing more
abominable, than designedly doing wrong under colour and pretence of
doing right. Corruptio optimi est pessima -- The best, when
corrupted, becomes the worst. "You leave off righteousness in the
earth, as if those that do wrong were accountable to the God of
heaven only, and not to the princes and judges of the earth. "
Thus it was as before the flood, when the earth was filled with
violence. (3.) They were very oppressive to the poor, and made them poorer; they
trod upon the poor
( v. 11 ),
trampled upon them, hectored over them, made them their footstool, and
were most imperious and barbarous to those that were most obsequious
and submissive; they care not what shame and slavery they put those to
who were poor and such as they could get nothing by. The judges aimed
at nothing but to enrich themselves; and therefore they took
from the poor burdens of wheat, took it by extortion, either
by way of bribe or by usury. The poor had no other way to save
themselves from being trodden upon, and trodden to dirt, by them, than
by presenting to them horse-loads of that corn which they and their
families should have had to subsist upon, and they forced them to do
it. They took from the poor debts of wheat, so some read it. It
was legally due either for rent or for corn lent, but they exacted it
with rigour from those who were disabled by the providence of God to
pay it, as Neh. v. 2, 5 .
In demanding and recovering even a just debt we must take heed left we
act either unjustly or uncharitably. This sin of oppression by are
again charged with
( v. 12 ): They afflict the just, by turning the edge of the law and of the
sword of justice against those that are the innocent and quiet in
the land; they hated men because they were more righteous than
themselves, and he that departed from evil thereby made
himself a prey to them. They take a bribe from the rich to
patronize and protect them in oppressing the poor, so that he who has
money in his hand is sure to have the judgment on his side, be his
cause ever so bad. Thus they turn aside the poor in the gate, in
the courts of justice, from their right. If the poor sue for
their right, who cannot bribe them, or are so honest that they will
not, though they have it ever so clear in view and ever so near, yet they are turned away from it by their unrighteous sentence and
cannot come at it. And therefore the prudent will keep silence, v. 13 .
Men will reckon it their prudence, when they are wronged and injured,
to be silent, and make no complaints to the magistrates, for it will be
to no purpose; they shall not have justice done them.
(4.) They were malicious persecutors of God's faithful ministers and
people, v. 10 .
Their hearts were so fully set in them to do evil that they could not
bear to be reproved,
[1.] By the ministry of the word, by the reading and expounding of the
law, and the messages which prophets delivered to them in the name of
the Lord. They hate him that rebukes in the gate, in the gate of
the Lord's house, or in their courts of justice, or in the places of
concourse, where Wisdom is lifting up her voice, Prov. i. 21 .
Reprovers in the gate are reprovers by office; these they hated,
counting them their enemies because they told them the truth, as
Ahab hated Micaiah. They not only despised them, but had an enmity to
them, and sought to do them mischief. Those that hate reproof love
ruin.
[2.] By the conversation of their honest neighbours. Though things
were generally very bad, yet there were some among them that spoke
uprightly that made conscience of what they said, and, as it was
their praise, so it was the shame of those that spoke deceitfully, and
condemned them, as Noah's faith condemned the unbelief of the old
world, and for that reason they abhorred them; they were such
inveterate enemies to the thing called honesty that they could not
endure the sight of an honest man. All that have any sense of the
common interest of mankind will love and value such as speak uprightly,
for veracity is the bond of human society; to what a pitch of folly and
madness then have those arrived who, having banished all notions of
justice out of their own hearts, would have them banished out of the
world too, and so put mankind into a state of war, for the abhor him
that speaks uprightly! And for this reason the prudent shall
keep silence in that time, v. 13 .
Prophets cannot, dare not, keep silence; the impulse they are under
will not allow them to act on prudential considerations; they must cry aloud, and not spare. But as for other wise and good men
they shall keep silence, and shall reckon it is their prudence to do
so, because it is an evil time. First, They shall think it
dangerous to complain, and therefore shall keep silence; this was one
way in which they afflicted the just, that by false suggestions and
strained innuendos they made men offenders for a word ( Isa. xix. 21 );
and therefore the prudent, who were wise as serpents, because they knew not how what they said might be misinterpreted and
misrepresented, were so cautious as to say nothing, lest they should
run themselves into a premunire, because it was an evil time. Note,
Through the iniquity of the times, as good men are hidden, so good men
are silent, and it is their wisdom to be so; little said soon
amended. But it is their comfort that they may speak freely to God
when they know not to whom else they can speak freely. Secondly, They shall think if fruitless to reprove. They see what wickedness is
committed, and their spirits are stirred up, as Paul's at Athens; but
they shall think it prudent not to bear an open testimony against it,
because it is to no purpose. They are joined to their idols; let
them alone. Let no man strive or rebuke another; for it is but casting pearls before swine. The cautious men will say to a bold
reprover, as Erasmus to Luther, " Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere
mei, Domine -- Away to thy cell, and cry, Have mercy on me, O
Lord! " Let grave lessons and counsels be kept for better men and
better times. And there is a time to keep silence as well as a time to speak, Eccl. iii. 7 . Evil times will not bear plain dealing, that is evil men will not; and the men the prophet here speaks of had reason to think
themselves evil men indeed, when wise and good them thought it in vain
to speak to them and were afraid of having any thing to do with
them.
II. They are told of their danger and what judgments they lay exposed
to for their sins.
1. The places of their idolatry are in danger of being ruined in the
first place, v. 5 . Gilgal, the head-quarters of idolatry, shall go into
captivity, not only its inhabitants, but its images, and
Bethel, with its golden calf shall come to nought. The
victorious enemy shall make nothing of it, so easily shall it be
spoiled, and shall bring it to nothing, so effectually shall it be
spoiled. Idols were always vanity, and things of nought, and so
they shall prove when God appears to abolish them.
2. The body of the kingdom is in danger of being ruined with them, v. 6 .
There is danger lest, if you seek him not in time, he break out like
a fire in the house of Joseph and devour it; for our God is a
righteous Judge, is a consuming fire, and the men of Israel, as
criminals, are stubble before him; woe to those that make themselves
fuel to the fire of God's wrath. It follows, And there shall be none
to quench it in Bethel. There their idols were, and their
idolatrous priests; thither they brought their sacrifices, and there
they offered up their prayers. But God tells them that when the fire of
his judgments should kindle upon them all the gods they served at
Bethel should not be able to quench it, should not turn away the
judgment, nor be any relief to them under it. Thus those that make an
idol of the world will find it insufficient to protect them when God
comes to reckon with them for their spiritual idolatry.
3. What they have got by oppression and extortion shall be taken from
them
( v. 11 ):
" You have built houses of hewn stone, which you thought would be
lasting; but you shall not dwell in them, for your enemies shall
burn them down, or possess them for themselves, or take you into
captivity. You have planted pleasant vineyards, have contrived
how to make them every way agreeable, and have promised yourselves many
a pleasant walk in them; but you shall be forced to walk off, and shall
never drink wine of them. " The law had tenderly provided that if
a man had built a house, or planted a vineyard, he should
be at his liberty to return from the wars, Deut. xx. 5, 6 .
But now the necessity would be so urgent that it would not be allowed;
all must go to the battle, and many of those who had lately been
building and planting should fall in battle, and never enjoy what they
had been labouring for. What is not honestly got is not likely to be
long enjoyed.
III. They are told their duty, and have great encouragement to set
about it in good earnest, and good reason. The duties here prescribed
to them are godliness and honesty, seriousness in their applications to
God and justice in their dealings with men; and each of these is here
pressed upon them with proper arguments to enforce the exhortation.
1. They are here exhorted to be sincere and devout in their addresses
to God, v. 4 .
God says to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and with good
reason, for should not a people seek unto their God? Isa. viii. 19 .
Whither else should they go but to their protector? Israel was a prince with God; let his descendants seek the Lord, as he
did, and they shall be so too. Now, in order to their doing this, they
must abandon their idolatries. God is not sought truly if he be not
sought exclusively, for he will endure no rivals: " Seek you the
Lord, and seek not Bethel ( v. 5 ),
consult not your idol-oracles, nor ask at the mouth of the priests of
Bethel; seek not to the golden calf there for protection, nor bring
your prayers and sacrifices any longer thither, or to Gilgal, for you forsake your own mercies if you observe those lying
vanities. But seek the Lord ( v. 6, 8 );
enquire after him; enquire of him; seek to know his mind as your rule,
to secure his favour as your felicity." To press this exhortation we
are told to consider,
(1.) What we shall get by seeking God; it will be our life; we
shall find him, and shall be happy in him. So he tells them himself
( v. 4 ): Seek you me, and you shall live. Those that seek perishing gods
shall perish with them
( v. 5 ),
but those that seek the living God shall live with him: "You shall be
delivered from the killing judgments which you are threatened with;
your nation shall live, shall recover from its present languishings;
your souls shall live; you shall be sanctified and comforted, and made
for ever blessed. You shall live. "
(2.) What a God he is whom we are to seek, v. 8, 9 .
[1.] He is a God of almighty power himself. The idols were impotent
things, could do neither good nor evil, and therefore it was folly
either to fear or trust them; but the God of Israel does every thing,
and can do any thing, and therefore we ought to seek him; he challenges
our homage who has all power in his hand, and it is our interest to
have him on our side. Divers proofs and instances are here given of
God's power, as Creator, in the kingdom of nature, as both founding and
governing that kingdom. Compare ch. iv. 13 . First, The stars are the work of his hands; those stars which
the heathens worshipped
( v. 26 ),
the stars of your god, those stars are God's creatures and
servants. He makes the seven stars and Orion, two very
remarkable constellations, which Amos, a herdsman, while he kept his
cattle by night, had particularly observed the motions of. He made them
at the first, he still makes them to be what they are to this earth and
either binds or looses the sweet influences of
Peliades and Orion, the two constellations here mentioned.
See Job xxxviii. 31; ix. 9 ,
to which passages Amos seems here to refer, putting them in mind of
those ancient discoveries of the glory of God before he was called the God of Israel. Secondly, The constant succession of day and
night is under his direction, and is kept up by his power and
providence. It is he that turns the night (which is dark as the shadow of death ) into the morning by the rising of
the sun, and by the setting of the sun makes the day dark with
night; and the same power can, for humble penitents, easily turn
affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, but can as easily turn
the prosperity of presumptuous sinners into darkness, into utter
darkness. Thirdly, The rain rises and falls as he appoints. He calls for the waters of the sea; out of them vapours are drawn
up by the heat of the sun, which gather into clouds, and are poured
out upon the face of the earth, to water it and make it fruitful.
This was the mercy that had been withholden from them of late
( ch. iv. 7 );
and therefore to whom should they apply but to him who had power to
give it? For all the vanities of the heathen could not give
rain, nor could the heavens themselves give showers Jer. xiv. 22 .
It is God that has made these things; Jehovah is his name, the
name by which the God of nature, the God of the whole earth, has made
himself known to his people Israel and covenanted with them.
[2.] As he is God of almighty power himself, so he gives strength
and power unto his people that seek him, and renews strength to those that had lost it, if they wait upon him for it; for
( v. 9 )
he strengthens the spoiled against the strong to such a degree
that the spoiled come against the fortress and make bold and
brave attacks upon those that had spoiled them. This is an
encouragement to the people to seek the Lord, that, if they do
so, they shall find him above to retrieve their affairs, when they are
brought to the lowest ebb; though they are the spoiled, and their
enemies are the strong, if they can but engage God for them, they shall
soon recruit so as the next time to be not only the aggressors, but the
conquerors; they come against the fortress, to make reprisals
and become masters of it.
2. They are here exhorted to be honest and just in their dealings with
men, v. 14, 15 ,
where observe,
(1.) The duty required: Seek good, and not evil. Hate the evil, and
love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; re-establish it
there, whence it has been banished, v. 7 .
Note, Things are not so bad but that they may be amended if the right
course be taken; we must not despair but that grievances may be
redressed and abuses rectified; justice may yet triumph where injustice
tyrannizes. In order to this, good must be loved and sought, evil must
be hated and no longer sought. We must love good principles and adhere
to them, love to do good and abound in doing it, love good people, and
good converse, and good duties; and, whatever good we do, we must do it
from a principle of love, do it of choice and with delight. Those who
thus love good will seek it, will contrive to do all the
good they can, enquire for opportunities of doing it, and endeavor to
do it to the utmost of their power. They will also hate evil, will abhor the thought of doing an unjust thing, and abstain from all
appearance of it. In vain do we pretend to seek God in our devotions if
we do not seek good in our whole conversations.
(2.) The reasons annexed.
[1.] This is the sure way to be happy ourselves and to have the
continual presence of God with us: " Seek good, and not evil, that
you may live, may escape the punishment of the evil you have sought
and loved ( righteousness delivereth from death ), that you may
have the favour of God, which is your life, which is better than life
itself, that you may have comfort in yourselves and may live to some
good purpose. You shall live, for so the Lord God of hosts shall be
with you and be your life." Note, Those that keep in the way of
duty have the presence of God with them, as the God of hosts, a
God of almighty power. "He will be with you as you have spoken, that is, as you have gloried; you shall have that really which,
while you went on in unrighteous ways, you only seemed to have and
boasted of as if you had." Those that truly repent and reform enter
into the enjoyment of that comfort which before they had only flattered
themselves with the imagination of. Or, "As you have prayed when you
sought the Lord. Live up to your prayers, and you shall have what
you pray for."
[2.] This is the likeliest way to make the nation happy: "If you seek
and love that which is good, you may contribute to the saving of the
land from ruin." It may be, the Lord God of hosts will be gracious
to the remnant of Joseph; though there is but a remnant left, yet,
if God be gracious to that remnant, it will rise to a great nation
again; and if some among them turn from sin, especially if judgment be established in the gate, though we cannot be
certain, yet there is a great probability that public affairs will take
a new and happy turn, and every thing will mend if men mend their
lives. Temporary promises are made with an It may be; and our
prayers must be made accordingly.
16 Therefore the L ORD , the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus;
Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the
highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to
mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass
through thee, saith the L ORD .
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the L ORD ! to what end is it for you? the day of the L ORD is darkness, and not
light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or
went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a
serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the L ORD be darkness, and not
light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Here is,
I. A very terrible threatening of destruction approaching, v. 16, 17 .
Since they would not take the right course to obtain the favour of God,
God would take an effectual course to make them feel the weight of his
displeasure. The threatening is introduced with more than ordinary
solemnity, to strike an awe upon them; it is not the word of the
prophet only (if so, it might be made light of) but it is the Lord
Jehovah, who has an infinite eternal being; it is the God of
hosts, who has a boundless irresistible power, and it is Adonai--the Lord, who has an absolute incontestable sovereignty,
and a universal dominion; it is he who says it, who can and will make
his words good, and he has said,
1. That the land of Israel shall be put in mourning, true mourning,
that all places shall be filled with lamentation for the calamities
coming upon them. Look into the cities, and wailing shall be in all
streets, in the great streets, in the by-streets. Look into the
country, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! we
are all undone! The lamentation shall be so great as not to be confined
within doors, nor kept within the bounds of decency, but it shall be
proclaimed in the streets and highways, and shall run wild. The
husbandman shall be called from the plough by the calamities of his
country to the natural expressions of mourning; and, because those who
will come short of the merits of the cause, such as are skilful of
lamentation shall be called to artificial mourning, to put accents upon
the lamentations of the real mourners with their Ahone, ahone. Even in all vineyards, where there used to be nothing but mirth and
pleasure, there shall be general wailing, when a foreign force invades
the country, lays all waste, and there is no making any head against
it, no weapons left but prayers and tears.
2. That the land of Israel shall be brought to ruin, and the advances
of that ruin are the occasion of all this wailing: I will pass
through thee, as the destroying angel passed through the land of
Egypt to destroy the first-born, but then passed over the houses of the
Israelites. God's judgments had often passed by them, but now they
shall pass through them, shall run them through.
II. A just and severe reproof to those who made light of these
threatenings, and impudently bade defiance to the justice of God and
his judgments, v. 18 .
Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord, that really wish
for times of war and confusion, as some do who have restless spirits,
and long for changes, or who choose to fish in troubled waters, hoping to raise their families, as some had done, upon the ruins of
their country; but the prophet tells them that this should be so great
a desolation that nobody could get by it. Or it is spoken to those
who, in their wailings and lamentations for the calamities they were
in, wished they might die, and be delivered out of their misery, as Job
did, with passion. The prophet shows them the folly of this. Do they
know what death is to those who are unprepared for it, and how much
more terrible it will be than any thing that can befal them in this
life? Or, rather, it is spoken to those who speak jestingly of that day
of the Lord which the prophet spoke so seriously of; they desired it,
that is, they challenged it; they said, Let him do his worst; let
him make speed, and hasten his work, Isa. v. 19 . Where is the promise of his coming? 2 Pet. iii. 4 .
It intimates,
1. That they do not believe it. They say that they wish it would come
because they do not believe it will ever come; nor will they believe it
unless they see it.
2. That they do not fear it; though they may have some belief of it,
yet they had so little consideration of it, and their mind is so intent
upon other things, that they are under no apprehension at all of peril
from it; instead of having the conscience to dread it, they have the
curiosity to desire it. In answer to this,
(1.) He shows the folly of those who impudently wished for any of God's
judgments, and made a jest of any of the terrors of the Lord: " To
what end is it for you that the day of the Lord should come? You
will find it both certain and sad; not a thing to be bantered, for it
is neither a thing to be questioned whether it will come or no nor a
thing to be turned off with a slight when it does come. The day of
the Lord is darkness, and not light, v. 18 . Shall it not be so? v. 20 .
Do not your own consciences tell you that it will be so, that it will
be very dark, and no brightness in it? " Note, The day
of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent
sinners; the day of judgment will be so; and sometimes the day
of their present trouble. And, when God makes a day dark, all the world
cannot make it light.
(2.) He shows the folly of those who impatiently wished for a change of
God's judgment, in hopes that the next would be better and more
tolerable. They desire the day of the Lord, in hopes to better
themselves (though their hearts and lives be not amended), or, at
least, to know the worst. But the prophet tells them that they know not
what they ask, v. 19 .
It is as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, a
beast of prey more cruel and ravenous than a lion, or as if a man, to
escape all dangers abroad, went into the house for security, and leaned his hand on the wall to rest himself, and there a serpent bit him. Note, Those who are not reformed by the
judgments of God will be pursued by them; and, if they escape one,
another stands ready to seize them; fear and the pit and snare surround them, Isa. xxiv. 17, 18 .
It is madness therefore to defy the day of the Lord.
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in
your solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings,
I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will
not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a
mighty stream.
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the
wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun
your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond
Damascus, saith the L ORD , whose name is The God of hosts.
The scope of these verses is to show how little God valued their shows
of devotion, nay, how much he detested them, while they went on in
their sins. Observe,
I. How unpleasing, nay, how displeasing, their hypocritical services
were to God. They had their feast-days at Bethel, in imitation
of those at Jerusalem, in which they pretended to rejoice before God.
They had their solemn assemblies for religious worship, in which
they put on the gravity of those who come before God as his people
come, and sit before him as his people sit. They offered to God burnt-offerings, to the honour of God, together with the meat-offerings which by the law were to be offered with them;
they offered the peace-offerings, to implore the favour of God,
and they offered them of the fat beasts that they had, v. 21, 22 .
In imitation likewise of the temple-music, they had the noise of
their songs and the melody of their viols ( v. 23 ),
vocal and instrumental music, with which they praised God. With these
services they hoped to make God amends for the sins they had committed,
and to obtain leave to go on in sin; and therefore they were so far
from being acceptable to God that they were abominable. He hated, he despised, their feast-days, not only
despised them as no valuable services done to him, but hated them as an
affront and provocation to him, as we hate to see men dissemble with
us, pretend a respect for us when really they have none. Nothing more
hateful, more despicable, than hypocrisy. He that blesseth his
friend with a loud voice, it shall be counted a curse, when it
appears that his heart is not with him. God will not smell in their solemn assemblies, for there is nothing in them that is
grateful to him, but a great deal that is offensive. Their sacrifices
are not to him of a sweet smelling savour, as Noah's was, Gen. viii. 21 .
He will not accept them; he will not regard them, will not take any
notice of them; he will not hear the melody of their viols; for, when
sin is a jar in the harmony, it grates in his ears: " Take it
away, " says God, "I cannot bear it." Now this intimates,
1. That sacrifice itself is of small account with God in comparison
with moral duties; to love God and our neighbour is better than all
burnt offering and sacrifice. 2. That the sacrifice of the wicked is really an abomination to him, Prov. xv. 8 .
Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and so it will be found when, if
any place in hell be hotter than another, that will be the hypocrite's
portion.
II. What it was that he required in order to the acceptableness of
their sacrifices and without which no sacrifice would be acceptable
( v. 24 ): Let judgment run down as waters, among you, and righteousness
as a mighty stream, that is
1. "Let there be a general reformation of manners among you; let
religion (God's judgment ) and righteousness have their
due influence upon you; let your land be watered with it, and let it
bear down all the opposition of vice and profaneness; let it run wide
as overflowing waters, and yet run strong as might stream."
(2.) "In particular, let justice be duly administered by magistrates
and rulers; let not the current of it be stopped by partiality and
bribery, but let it come freely as waters do, in the natural course;
let it be pure as running waters, not muddied with corruption or
whatever may pervert justice; let it run like a might stream, and not suffer itself to be obstructed, or its course retarded, by the
fear of man; let all have free access to it as a common stream, and
have benefit by it as trees planted by the rivers of waters. "
The great thing laid to Israel's charge was turning judgment into
wormwood ( v. 7 );
in that matter therefore they must reform, Zech. vii. 9 .
This was what God desired more than sacrifices, Hos. vi. 6; 1 Sam. xv. 22 .
III. What little stress God had laid upon the law of sacrifices, though
it was his own law, in comparison with the moral precepts
( v. 25 ):
" Did you offer unto me sacrifices in the wilderness forty years? No, you did not." For the greatest part of that time sacrifice was very
much neglected, because of the unsettledness of their state; after the
second year, the passover was not kept till they came into Canaan, and
other institutions were in like manner intermitted; and yet, because
God will have mercy and not sacrifice, he never imputed the omission to
them as their fault, but continued his care of them and kindness to
them: it was not that, but their murmuring and unbelief, for which God
was displeased with them. He that so owned his people, though they did
not sacrifice, when in other things they kept close to him, will
certainly disown them, though they do sacrifice, if in other things
they depart from him. But, though ritual sacrifices may thus be
dispensed with, spiritual sacrifices will not; even justice and honesty
will not excuse for the want of prayer and praise, a broken heart and
the love of God. Stephen quotes this passage
( Acts vii. 42 ),
to show the Jews that they ought not to think it strange that
ceremonial law was repealed when from the beginning it was
comparatively made light of. Compare Jer. vii. 22, 23 .
IV. What little reason they had to expect that their sacrifices should
be acceptable to God, when they and their fathers had been all along
addicted to the worship of other gods. So some take v. 25 ,
" Did you offer to me sacrifices, that is, to me only? No, and
therefore not at all to me acceptably;" for the law of worshipping the
Lord our God is, Him only we must serve. " But you have borne
the tabernacle of your Moloch ( v. 26 ),
little shrines that you made to carry about with you, pocket-idols for
your private superstition, when you durst not be seen to do it
publicly. You have had the images of your Moloch--your king "
(probably representing the sun, that sits king among the
heavenly bodies), "and Chiun, or Remphan " (as Stephen
calls it, Acts vii. 43 ,
after the LXX.), which it is supposed, represented Saturn, the highest
of the seven planets. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, was the
most ancient, most general, and most plausible idolatry. They made
to themselves the star of their God, some particular star
which they took to be their god, or the name of which they gave to
their god. This idolatry Israel was from the beginning prone to
( Deut. iv. 19 );
and those that retain an affection for false gods cannot expect the
favour of the true God.
V. What punishment God would inflict upon them for their persisting in
idolatry
( v. 27 ): I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus. They were
led captive by Satan into idolatry, and therefore God caused them to go
into captivity among idolaters, and hurried them into a strange land,
since they were so fond of strange gods. They were carried beyond
Damascus. Their captivity by the Assyrians was far beyond that by
the Syrians; for, if less judgments do not work that for which they
were sent, God will send greater. Or the captivity of Israel under
Shalmaneser was far beyond that of Damascus under Tiglath-pileser, and
much more grievous and destructive, which was foretold ch. i. 5 .
For, as the sins of God's professing people are greater than the sins
of others, so it may be expected that their punishments will be
proportionable. We find the spoil of Damascus and that of Samaria
carried off together by the king of Assyria, Isa. viii. 4 .
Stephen reads it, I will carry you away beyond Babylon ( Acts vii. 43 ),
further than Judah shall be carried, so far further as not to return.
And, to make this sentence appear both the more certain and the more
dreadful, he that passes it calls himself the Lord, whose name is,
The God of hosts, and who is therefore able to execute the
sentence, having hosts at command.
INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 5
In this chapter the prophet exhorts Israel to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, Am 5:1; nevertheless to seek the Lord, and all that is good; to forsake their idols, and repent of their sins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwise they must expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, especially their oppression of the poor, Am 5:4; otherwise it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darkness and distress, however they might harden or flatter themselves, or make a jest of it, Am 5:16; for all their sacrifices and ceremonial worship would signify nothing, so long as they continued their idolatry with them Am 5:21; and therefore should surely go into captivity, Am 5:27.
Ver. 1. Hear ye the word which I take up against you,.... And which was not his own word, but the word of the Lord; and which he took up, by his direction as a heavy burden as some prophecies are called, and this was; and which, though against them, a reproof for their sins, and denunciation of punishment for them, yet was to be heard; for every word of God is pure, and to be hearkened to, whether for us or against us; since the whole is profitable, either for doctrine and instruction in righteousness, or for reproof and correction. It may be rendered, "which I take up concerning you", or "over you" {z}:
[even] a lamentation, O house of ; a mournful ditty, an elegiac song over the house of , now expiring, and as it were dead. This word was like Ezekiel's roll, in which were written "lamentation, and mourning, and woe", Eze 2:10; full of mournful matter, misery, and distress, as follows:
{z} Mkyle "de vobis", Tigurine version, Mercerus, Piscator, Cocceius; "super vos", Pagninus, Montanus; "pro vobis", Vatablus.
Amos 5:2
Ver. 2. The virgin of is fallen,.... The kingdom of Israel, so called, because it had never been subdued, or become subject to a foreign power, since it was a kingdom; or because, considered in its ecclesiastic state, it had been espoused to the Lord as a chaste virgin; and perhaps this may be ironically spoken, and refers to its present adulterate and degenerated state worshipping the calves at Dan and Bethel; or else because of its wealth and riches and the splendour and gaiety in which it appeared; but now, as it had fallen into sin and iniquity, it should quickly fall by it, and on account of it, into ruin and misery; and because of the certainty of it it is represented as if it was already fallen:
she shall no more rise; and become a kingdom again, as it never has as yet, since the ten tribes were carried away captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, to which calamity this prophecy refers, The Targum is,
"shall not rise again this year;''
very impertinently; better Kimchi and Ben Melech, for a long time; since as they think, and many others, that the ten tribes shall return again, as may seem when all Israel shall be converted and saved, and repossess their own land; see Ho 1:10. Abendana produces a passage out of Zohar, in which these words are interpreted, that the virgin of Israel should not rise again of herself, she not having power to prevail over her enemies; but God will raise her up out of the dust, when he shall raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, who shall reign in future time over all the tribes together, as it is said in Am 9:11;
she is forsaken upon her land; by her people, her princes, and her God; or prostrate on the ground, as the Targum; she was cast upon the ground, and dashed to pieces by the enemy as an earthen vessel, and there left, her ruin being irrecoverable; so whatever is cast and scattered, or dashed to pieces on the ground, and left, is expressed by the word here used, as Jarchi observes:
[there is] none to raise her up: her princes and people are either slain by the sword, famine, and pestilence, or carried captive, and so can yield her no assistance; her idols whom she worshipped cannot, and her God she forsook will not.
Amos 5:3
Ver. 3. For thus saith the Lord God,.... This is a reason why there were none to raise her up: since
the city that went out [by] a thousand shall leave an hundred; that is, the city in which there were a thousand constantly going in and out; or which sent, caused to go out, or furnished, a thousand men upon occasion for war, had only a hundred persons left in it; or there remained but a hundred of the thousand they sent out, the rest being destroyed by one means or another:
and that which went forth [by] an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel; where there were a hundred persons going out and coming in continually; or which sent out a hundred men to the army to fight their battles had now only ten remaining; to such a small number were they reduced all over the land, so that there were none, or not a number sufficient to raise up Israel to its former state and glory.
Amos 5:4
Ver. 4. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of ,.... Or "yet" {a}, notwithstanding all this, though such judgments were threatened and denounced, and such desolations should certainly come, in case of impenitence, and an obstinate continuance in a course of sin; yet hopes are given of finding mercy and kindness upon repentance and reformation, at least to the remnant of them; see Am 5:15;
seek ye me; seek my fear, as the Targum; fear and reverence, serve and worship, the Lord God; return unto him by repentance; seek to him by prayer and supplication; acknowledge your sins, and humble yourselves before him, and implore his pardoning grace and mercy:
and ye shall live; in your own land, and not be carried out of it; live comfortably, in great plenty of good things; and live spiritually, enjoying the favour of God, and his presence in his ordinances, and live eternally in the world to come.
{a} yk "attamen", Grotius.
Amos 5:5
Ver. 5. But seek not ,.... Do not go to Bethel, the place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set up and worshipped, to consult the oracle, idols, and priests there; or to perform religious worship, which will be your ruin, if not prevented by another course of living:
nor enter into Gilgal; another place of idolatry, where idols were set up and worshipped See Gill on "Am 4:4";
and pass not to Beersheba; a place in the further part of the land of Israel; it formerly belonged to Judah, but was now in the hands of the ten tribes, and where idolatrous worship was practised; see Am 8:14; it having been a place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had dwelt, and worshipped the true God:
for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity; that is, the inhabitants of it; they will not be able with their idols and idol worship to save themselves, and therefore go not thither. There is an elegant play on words here {b}, as there is also in the next words:
and Bethel shall come to nought; which also was called Bethaven, the house of vanity, or of an idol which is nothing in the world; and therefore, because of the idolatry in it, should come to nothing, be utterly destroyed, and the inhabitants of it. So the Targum,
"they, that are in Gilgal, and worship calves in .''
{b} hlgy hlg lglgh.
Amos 5:6
Ver. 6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live,.... This is, repeated to stir up unto it, because of their backwardness and slothfulness, and to show the importance and necessity of it. By the "Lord" may be meant the Messiah, Israel's God that was to come, and they were to prepare to meet, Am 4:12; and the rather, since life spiritual and eternal is only to be had from him, and he is to be sought unto for it, and all the blessings of it, peace, pardon, righteousness, rest, and salvation as well as temporal deliverance, and all outward mercies:
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour [it]; that is, lest his wrath and fury break out like fire as the Targum, by sending an enemy to invade the land, destroy it, and carry the inhabitants of it captive; even all the ten tribes, who frequently go by the name of Ephraim the son of Joseph, that being the principal tribe, and the first king of them being of it:
and [there be] none to quench [it] in Bethel; the calf worshipped there, and the priests that officiated, would not be able to avert the stroke of divine vengeance, or turn back the enemy, and save the land from ruin. The Targum is,
"and there be none to quench it, because of your sins, who have been serving idols in .''
Amos 5:7
Ver. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,.... This seems to be spoken to kings and judges, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe; in whose hands is the administration of justice, and who often pervert it, as these did here addressed and complained of; that which was the most useful and salubrious, and so the most desirable to the commonwealth, namely, just judgment, was changed into the reverse, what was as bitter and as disagreeable as wormwood; or "hemlock", as it might be rendered, and as it is in Am 6:12; even injustice:
and leave off righteousness in the earth; leave off doing it among men: or rather, "leave [it] on the earth" {c}; who cast it down to the ground, trampled upon it, and there left it; which is expressive not only of their neglect, but of their contempt of it; see Da 8:12.
{c} wxynh "in terram prosterunt", Piscator; "justitiam in terram reliquerunt, i.e. humi prosternitis et deseritis", Mercerus; "collocantes humi", Junius & Tremellius.
Amos 5:8
Ver. 8. [Seek him] that maketh the seven stars,.... Which some connect with the preceding words, without a supplement, "they leave righteousness on the ground, who maketh the seven stars"; understanding it of Christ, the Lord our righteousness, who is made unto us righteousness, whom the Jews rejected and despised, though the Maker of the heavens and the constellations in them. Some continue, and supply the words thus, and remember not him "that maketh the seven stars", as Kimchi; or forget him, as Japhet in Aben Ezra. The Targum is,
"they cease to fear him that maketh, &c.''
they have no regard unto him, no awe and reverence of him, or they would not act so unjustly as they do. There is but one word for the "seven stars" in the original text, which signifies that constellation called the Pleiades, and so the same word is rendered, Job 9:9; and the Vergiliae, because they appear in the spring of the year, when they yield their sweet influences, which the Scripture ascribes to them, and are desirable; hence they have their name in Hebrew from a word which signifies desire:
and Orion; another constellation; for Aben Ezra says, it is not one star, but many; and as he, with the ancients he mentions, takes the former to be the tail of Aries, and the head of Taurus; so this to be the heart of Scorpio. This constellation appears in winter, and is a sign of bad weather. Virgil calls it Nimbosus Orion; and it has its name in Hebrew from unsettledness and inconstancy, the weather being then very variable. Amos, being a herdsman, had observed the appearances and effects of these constellations, and adored the Maker of them, whom others neglected:
and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: maketh the constant revolution of day and night, and the days longer in the summer, and shorter in winter, as Kimchi interprets it; and also the various changes of prosperity and adversity, turning the one into the other when he pleases:
that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; as in the time of the universal deluge, to which some Jewish writers apply this, as Jarchi observes; or rather draws up by the heat of the sun the waters of the sea into the air, and forms them into clouds, where they lose their saltness, and become sweet; and then lets them down in plentiful and gentle showers, to water, refresh, and fructify the earth; which is an instance of divine power, wisdom, and goodness. The Targum is,
"who commands many armies to be gathered like the waters of the sea, and scatters them upon the face of the earth.''
Some, who understand these words of Christ our righteousness, interpret the whole mystically of his raising up the twelve apostles, comparable to stars; and of his turning the Gentiles, who were darkness itself, to the light of the Gospel; and of his giving up the Jews, who were formerly light, to judicial blindness and darkness; and of his watering the earth with large showers of the divine word;
the Lord [is] his name; he is the true Jehovah, that can and does do all this.
Amos 5:9
Ver. 9. That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong,.... Such as have been taken by an enemy, who have been stripped of their armour, and spoiled of all their goods and substance, and have no friends nor allies, nor anything to help themselves with; the Lord can supply them with strength, furnish them with weapons, and send them helpers, so that they shall rise up against their conquerors and spoilers, and in their turn subdue them. The Targum is,
"that strengthens the weak against the strong;''
or causes the weak to prevail over the strong. A learned man, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, chooses to render it, "who intends", or "designs, destruction to the strong" {d}; that is, in his secret purposes, and which he brings about in providence; though he is doubtful whether it may not have the signification of recreation and refreshment, and whether the construction and circumstances will admit of it; and some do so translate it, "who refreshes himself with destruction against the strong" {e}; takes delight and pleasure in it; it is a recreation to him:
so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress: lay siege to it and take it, in which the spoiler thought himself secure with the spoil and substance he had taken from the spoiled; such sudden changes and vicissitudes can God bring upon men when he pleases. Some apply this to the Romans strengthened against the Jews, and besieging their fortified city ; but not very aptly.
{d} ze le dv gylbmh "qui intendit destinat destructionem forti", Hottinger, Smegma Orientale, l. 1. c. 7. p. 129. {e} "Qui recreat se vastatione contra fortem [sive] robustum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. So Stockius, p. 136.
Amos 5:10
Ver. 10. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate,.... Openly and publicly in the courts of judicature: wicked judges hated the prophets of the Lord, such as Amos, who faithfully reproved them for the perversion of justice, even when they were upon the bench: or the people were so corrupt and degenerate, that they hated those faithful judges who reproved them for their vices in the open courts of justice, when they came before them, The former sense seems best, and more agreeable to the context:
and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly; not only hate him, but abhor him, cannot bear the sight of him, or to hear his name mentioned that speaks out his mind freely and honestly, and tells them of their sins, and advises them to repent of them, and leave them.
Amos 5:11
Ver. 11. Forasmuch therefore as your treading [is] upon the poor,.... This seems to be spoken to the princes, judges, and civil magistrates, as Kimchi observes; who oppressed the poor and needy, and crushed them to the ground, trampled upon them, stripped them of the little substance they had, and left them destitute; exercising a cruel and tyrannical power over them, they having none to stand by them, and deliver them:
and ye take from him burdens of wheat; which perhaps he had been gleaning in the field, and was carrying home for the support of his family; or which he had gotten with great labour, and was all he had in the world: this they took away from him, for the payment of pretended debts, or lawsuits; or as not in right belonging to him, but taken out of fields where he should not have entered:
ye have built houses of hewn stones; in a very grand and pompous manner for themselves and their children, with money they had extorted from the poor, and got by oppression and injustice:
but ye shall not dwell in them; at least but a very short time; for quickly and suddenly the enemy will come and turn you out of them, and destroy them, which would be a just retaliation for their spoiling the houses of the poor:
ye have planted pleasant vineyards: well situated, and filled with the choicest vines, which promise a large produce of the best wine:
but ye shall not drink wine of them; for before the grapes are fully ripe they should be either taken away by death, or be carried captive, and others should dwell in their houses, and drink the wine of their vineyards.
Amos 5:12
Ver. 12. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins,.... Their sins were numerous, and of the first magnitude, attended with very heavy aggravations; and these with all their circumstances were well known to the omniscient God, and therefore he determined to punish them as he had threatened. Some of their transgressions are pointed out, as follow:
they afflict the just; who are so both in a moral and evangelic sense; not comparatively only, but really; and particularly whose cause was just, and yet were vexed and distressed by unjust judges, who gave the cause against them, made them pay all costs and charges, and severely mulcted them: they take a bribe; of those that were against the just, and gave the cause for them. The word signifies "a ransom" {f}. The Targum it false mammon. Corrupt and unjust judges are here taxed:
and they turn aside the poor in the gate [from their right]; in the court of judicature, where they should have done them justice, such courts being usually held in the gates of cities; but instead of that they perverted their judgment, and did them wrong.
{f} rpwk "pretium redemptionis", Mercerus, Liveleus, Drusius, Lytron, Cocceius.
Amos 5:13
Ver. 13. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence at that time,.... Not the prophets of the Lord, whose business it was at all times to reprove, and not hold their peace, let the consequence be what it would; though the Targum calls them teachers; but private persons, whose wisdom it would be to say nothing; since reproof would do no good to these persons, and they would bring a great deal of hatred ill will, and trouble upon themselves as well as would hear the name of God blasphemed, which would be very afflictive to them: or the sense is, they would not speak to God on the behalf of these wicked men, knowing the decree was gone forth; nor say one murmuring word at it, believing it was in righteousness; and being struck also with the awfulness of God's righteous judgments:
for it [is] an evil time; in which sin abounded, and miseries and calamities on account of it.
Amos 5:14
Ver. 14. Seek good, and not evil,.... Seek not unto, or after, evil persons and evil things; not the company and conversation of evil men, which is infectious and dangerous; nor anything that is evil, or has the appearance of it, especially the evil of evils, sin; which is hateful to God, contrary to his nature and will; is evil in its own nature, and bad in its consequences, and therefore not to be sought, but shunned and avoided; but seek that which is good, persons and things: seek the "summum bonnum", "the chief good", God, who is essentially, perfectly, immutably, and communicatively good, the fountain of all goodness, and the portion of his people; seek Christ the good Saviour and sacrifice, the good Shepherd, and the good Samaritan, who is good in all his relations, as a father, husband, and friend, and in whom all good things are laid up; seek the good Spirit of God, who works good things in his people, and shows good things to them, and is the Comforter of them; seek to him for assistance in prayer, and to help in the exercise of every grace, and in the discharge of every duty, and as the guide into all truth, and to eternal glory; seek the good ways of God, the way of truth, the path of faith and holiness, and especially the good way to the Father, the way of life and salvation by Christ; seek the good word of God, the Scriptures of truth, the promises contained in them, and the Gospel of them; seek the company of good men, and that good part that shall not be taken away, the true grace of God, the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; seek the glories of another world, the goodness of God laid up, the best things which are reserved to last:
that ye may live; comfortably, spiritually, and eternally, which is the consequence of all this; See Gill on "Am 5:4";
See Gill on "Am 5:6";
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken; as they used to say, and boasted of; though they had not the temple, the ark of the testimony, the symbols of the divine Presence, as Judah had; but this they would have in reality, both his gracious presence here, and his glorious presence hereafter, did they truly and rightly seek those things; than which nothing is more desirable to good men, or can make them more comfortable, or more happy. The Targum is,
"seek to do well, and not to do ill, that ye may live; and then the word of the Lord God of hosts shall be your help, as ye have said.''
Amos 5:15
Ver. 15. Hate the evil, and love the good,.... Evil is not only not to be sought, but to be hated, especially the evil of sin, because of its evil nature, and pernicious effects and consequences; and, if it was for no other reason but because it is hateful and abominable unto God, therefore they that love him should hate evil, even with a perfect hatred; as all good men do, though it is present with them, and cleaves unto them, and they do it, Ps 97:10; and "good" is to be loved for its goodness' sake; and the good effects of it; a good God is to be loved, and all good men, and all good things; the good word of God, and his commands and ordinances; and highly to be esteemed, and affectionately regarded:
and establish judgment in the gate; openly, publicly, in every court of judicature, which used to be kept in the gates of cities; not only execute judgment and justice in all, cases brought into court, but let it have its constant course, and be always practised according to the settled laws of it:
it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph: who should escape the fire that should break out of his house, and devour it, even the ten tribes, Am 5:6; such of them as should seek the Lord, and that which is good; for in the worst of times God reserves a remnant for himself, as in the times of Elijah, Isaiah, Christ, and his apostles; a remnant according to the election of grace, to whom he has been gracious in the choice and reserve he has made of them; in the stores of grace he has hid up for them; in the provision and mission of his Son as a Saviour; and in waiting the time of their conversion, when he is gracious to them, in regenerating, quickening, pardoning, and justifying of them; and still will be in the visits of his love; in the supplies of his grace, in supporting them under afflictions, temptations, desertions, &c. and in giving them his word and ordinances for their comfort and relief: nor is this "may be" to be understood in a way of doubt or hesitation, but of good hope, yea, of a holy confidence; and so some render it, "without doubt the Lord God of hosts will be gracious" {g}, &c. see Zep 2:3.
{g} ylwa "sine dubio", Tarnovius; so Burkius.
Amos 5:16
Ver. 16. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus,.... The connection of these words is not with those that immediately precede, but with the whole context; seeing neither promises nor threats, exhortations, good advice, and intimations of grace and mercy, had no effect, at least upon the generality of the people, therefore the Lord declared as follows:
wailing [shall be] in all streets; in all the streets of the towns and cities of Israel, because of the slain and wounded in them:
and they shall say in all the highways, alas! alas! in the several roads throughout the country, as travellers pass on, and persons flee from the enemy; they shall lament the state of the kingdom, and cry Woe, woe, unto it; in what a miserable condition and circumstances it is in:
and they shall call the husbandmen to mourning: who used to be better employed in tilling their land, ploughing, sowing, reaping, and gathering in the fruits of the earth; but now should have no work to do, all being destroyed, either by the hand of God, by blasting, and mildew, and vermin, or by the trampling and forage of the enemy; and so there would be just occasion for mourning:
and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing; that have got the art of mourning, and were expert in making moans, and using plaintive tones, and who assisted at funerals, and other doleful occasions; and who are made use of to this day in some countries, particularly in Ireland; and were the old Romans, by whom they were called "siticines", "praefici", and "praeficae" and these mourning men and women were also employed among the Jews at such times; see Mt 9:23; in Jer 9:17, the mourning women are called "cunning women"; and so Lucian {h} calls: them sofistav twn yrhnwn, "sophists at lamentations", artists: at them, well skilled therein, such as those are here directed to be called for. Mr. Lively, our countryman, puts both clauses together, and renders them thus, "the husbandmen shall call to mourning and wailing such as are skilful of lamentation"; to assist them therein, because of the loss of the fruits of the earth; and such a version is confirmed by Jarchi, though he paraphrases it to a different sense;
"companies of husbandmen shall meet those that plough in the fields with the voice of mourners that cry in the streets.''
{h} Dialog. peri peny.
Amos 5:17
Ver. 17. And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing,.... The vines being destroyed, and no grapes to be gathered, and put into the press; when there used to be great shoutings, and large expressions of joy, at the gathering in of the vintage, and pressing the grapes; but now there shall be a different tone; see Jer 48:32;
for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord; through their cities, towns, and country, fields and vineyards, and destroy all in his way, as he passed through Egypt when he destroyed their firstborn.
Amos 5:18
Ver. 18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord,.... Either the day of Christ's coming in the flesh, as Cocceius interprets it; and which was desired by the people of Israel, not on account of spiritual and eternal salvation, but that they might be delivered by him from outward troubles and enemies, and enjoy temporal felicity; they had a notion of him as a temporal Saviour and Redeemer, in whose days they should possess much outward happiness, and therefore desired his coming; see Mal 3:1; or else the day of the Lord's judgments upon them, spoken of by the prophet, and which they were threatened with, but did not believe it would ever come; and therefore in a scoffing jeering manner, expressed their desire of it, to show their disbelief of it, and that they were in no pain or fear about it, like those in Isa 5:19;
to what end [is] it for you? why do you desire it? what benefit do you expect to get by it?
the day of the Lord [is] darkness, and not light; it will bring on affliction, calamities, miseries, and distress, which are often in Scripture expressed by "darkness", and not prosperity and happiness, which are sometimes signified by "light"; see Isa 5:30; and even the day of the coming of Christ were to the unbelieving Jews darkness, and not light; they were blinded in it, and given up to judicial blindness and darkness; they hating and rejecting the light of Christ, and his Gospel, and which issued in great calamities, in the utter ruin and destruction of that people, Joh 3:19.
Amos 5:19
Ver. 19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him,.... That is, should the day of the Lord come as they desired, they would not be the better for it; it would be only going from one trouble to another, like escaping Scylla, and falling into Charybdis: or as if a man, upon the sight of a lion, and at his yell, should take to his heels, and flee "from the face" of him, as the phrase is {i}, and a bear, a less generous, and more cruel and voracious creature, especially when: bereaved of its whelps, should meet him, and seize him: or should: he get clear of them both,
or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him; should he get into a house, and so escape the lion and the bear, and lean upon the wall of the house to support and ease him, being out of breath in running from these creatures; yet a serpent lurking in the wall of an old house bites him, and the venom and poison of it issues in his death; so he gains nothing by fleeing from the lion, or escaping the bear. These proverbial expressions signify that the Israelites would be no gainers by the day of the Lord, but rather fall into greater evils, and more distressing calamities. Some Jewish writers interpret the lion and the bear of Laban and Esau; the lion (they say {k}) is Laban, who pursued after Jacob to take away his life; the bear is Esau, who stood in the way to kill all that came, the mother with the children; but are much better interpreted of the Chaldeans, Persians, and Grecians, by Jerom; whose words are,
"fleeing from the face of Nebuchadnezzar the lion, ye will be met by Ahasuerus, under whom, was the history of Esther; or the empire of the Assyrians and Chaldeans being destroyed, the Medes and Persians shall arise; and when upon the reign of Cyrus ye shall have returned, and at the command of, Darius shall have begun to build the house of the Lord, and have confidence in the temple, so as to rest in it, lean your weary hands on its walls; then shall come Alexander king of the Macedonians, or Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, who shall abide in the temple, and bite likes serpent, not without in Babylon, and in Susa, but within the borders of the holy land; by which it appears that the day ye desire is not a day of light and joy, but of darkness and sorrow.''
The interpretation is pretty and ingenious enough, since the characters of the lion, bear, and serpent, agree with the respective persons and people mentioned; Nebuchadnezzar is often compared to a lion, Jer 4:7; and the Babylonian and Chaldean monarchy is represented by one in Da 7:4; and the Persian monarchy by a bear, Da 7:5; to which the Persians are compared, the Jews say {l}, because they eat and drink like a bear, are as fat as bears, and hairy like them, and as restless as they; and so the Persians were noted for their luxury and lust, as well as their cruelty; and, wearing long hair, are called hairy persons in the Delphic oracle, which Herodotus {m} interprets of them; See Gill on "Da 7:5"; and Antiochus may not unfitly be compared to a serpent; see See Gill on "Da 8:23";
See Gill on "Da 8:24";
See Gill on "Da 8:25";
See Gill on "Da 11:23"; but what is to be objected to this sense is, that the words are spoken to the ten tribes, or Israel, who were carried captive by the Assyrians; and not the two tribes, or the Jews, who fell into the hands, first of the Chaldeans, then the Persians, and then the Grecians, particularly into the hands of Antiochus; see Da 7:4.
{i} ynpm "a facie", V. L. Pagninus; "a faciebus", Montanus; "a conspectu", Mercerus. {k} Pirke Eliezer, c. 37. fol. 41. 1. {l} T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 72. 1. & Avoda Zara, fol. 2. 2. {m} Erato, sive l. 6. c. 19. Vid. Calliope, sive l. 9. c. 81.
Amos 5:20
Ver. 20. [Shall] not the day of the Lord [be] darkness, and not light?.... The design of such a question is strongly to affirm, that, in this day of the Lord spoken of, there should be nothing but misery and distress, and no prosperity and happiness, at least to the wicked Israelites, or the unbelieving Jews:
even very dark, and no brightness in it? signifying that there should be no deliverance, nor the least glimmering view or hope of it; that the calamity should be so very great, and the destruction so entire, that there should be no mixture of mercy, nor the least appearance of relief.
Amos 5:21
Ver. 21. I hate, I despise your feast days,.... Kimchi thinks this is said, and what follows, with respect to the kingdom of the house of Judah, which kept the feast the Lord commanded; but it is not necessary so to understand it; for doubtless the ten tribes imitated the worship at Jerusalem, and kept the feasts as the Jews did there, in the observance of which they trusted; but the Lord rejects their vain confidence, and lets them know that these were no ways acceptable to him; and were so far from atoning for their sins, that they were hated, abhorred, and despised by him, being observed in such a manner and with such a view as they were;
and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; a sweet savour of rest, as in Ge 8:21; take no pleasure in their duties and services performed, in their solemn assemblies convened together for religious purposes, nor accept of them; but, on the contrary, dislike and abhor them; see Isa 1:11.
Amos 5:22
Ver. 22. Though ye offer me burnt offerings, and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them],.... The daily burnt offerings, morning and night, and others which were wholly the Lord's; and the "minchah", or bread offering, which went along with them; in which they thought to do God service, and to merit his favour; but instead of that they were unacceptable to him, being neither offered up in a proper place, if in a right manner according to the law of Moses; however, not in the faith of the great sacrifice, Christ; nor attended with repentance towards God:
neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts; even though their peace offerings were of the best of the herd. Aben Ezra says the creature here meant is the same which in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language is called "giamus", a creature bigger than an ox, and like one, which is called a buffle or buffalo. And so Ben Melech says it means one of the kinds of the larger cattle; for not a lamb, a ram, or a sheep, is meant, as the word is sometimes rendered by the Septuagint, but a creature like an ox; not larger, or the wild ox, as the above Hebrew writers, but smaller; with which agrees the description Bellonius {n} gives of the Syrian "bubalus" or "buffalo", which he calls a small ox, full bodied, little, smooth, sleek, fat, and well made; and is no doubt the same the Arabs call "almari", from its smoothness.
{n} Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. p. 1. l. 2. c. 28. col. 283.
Amos 5:23
Ver. 23. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs,.... The ten tribes, very probably, imitated the, temple music at Jerusalem, both vocal and instrumental, and had their songs and hymns of praise, which they sung to certain tunes; but the music of these is called a noise, being very disagreeable to the Lord, as coming from such carnal and wicked persons; and therefore he desires it might cease, be took away, and he be no more troubled with it:
for I will not hear the melody of thy viols: which may be put for all instruments of music used by them, as violins, harps, psalteries, &c. the sound of which, how melodious soever, the, Lord would turn a deaf ear unto, and not regard.
Amos 5:24
Ver. 24. But let judgments run down as waters,.... Or "roll" {o}; in abundance, with great rapidity, bearing down all before them, which nothing can resist; signifying the plenty of justice done in the land, the full and free exercise of it, without any stoppage or intermission:
and righteousness as a mighty stream; the same thing expressed in different words; though some think that not the execution of judgment and justice by men is here exhorted to, but the vindictive justice of God is threatened; which like a mighty torrent of water should come down, overwhelm, bear away, and destroy all before it, even all the transgressors in Israel.
{o} lgyw "volvatur", Munster, Mercerus, Liveleus, Drusius; "volvat se", Montanus, Vatablus; "revolvet se", Piscator; "provolvatur", Cocceius.
Amos 5:25
Ver. 25. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings,.... No; they were not offered to God, but to devils, to the golden calf, and to the host of heaven: so their fathers did
in the wilderness forty years; where sacrifices were omitted during that time, a round number for a broken one, it being about thirty eight years; and these their children were imitators of them, and offered sacrifice to idols too, and therefore deserved punishment as they: even ye,
O house of Israel? the ten tribes, who are here particularly charged and threatened; See Gill on "Ac ".
Amos 5:26
Ver. 26. But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch,.... The god of the Ammonites; See Gill on "Am 1:13"; and
See Gill on "Jer 7:31"; called theirs, because they also worshipped it, and caused their seed to pass through the fire to it; and which was carried by them in a shrine, or portable tent or chapel. Or it may be rendered, "but ye have borne Siccuth your king" {p}; and so Siccuth may be taken for the name of an idol, as it is by Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, to whom they gave the title of king, as another idol went by the name of the queen of heaven; perhaps by one was meant the sun, and by the other the moon;
and Chiun, your images; Moloch or Siccuth was one, and Chiun another image, or rather the same; and this the same with Chevan, which in the Arabic and Persic languages is the name of Saturn, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi say; and is so rendered by Montanus here; and who in the Egyptian tongue was called Revan, or Rephan, or Remphan; as by the Septuagint here, and in Ac 7:43;
the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves; or the star "your god" {q}; meaning the same with Chiun or Saturn; perhaps the same with the star that fell from the air or sky, mentioned by Sanchoniatho {r}; which Astarte, the wife of Chronus or Saturn, is said to take and consecrate in Tyre; this they made for themselves, and worshipped as a deity. The Targum is,
"ye have borne the tabernacle of your priests, Chiun your image, the star your God, which ye have made to yourselves.''
Various are the senses put upon the word Chiun. Some read it Cavan, and take it to signify a "cake"; in which sense the word is used in Jer 7:18; and render it, "the cake of your images" {s}; and supposing that it had the image of their gods impressed upon it. Calmet interprets it "the pedestal of your images" {t}; and indeed the word has the signification of a basis, and is so rendered by some {u}; and is applicable to Moloch their king, a king being the basis and foundation of the kingdom and people; and to the sun, intended by that deity, which is the basis of the celestial bodies, and of all things on earth. Some take Moloch and Chiun to be distinct deities, the one to be the sun, the other the moon; but they seem rather to be the same, and both to be the Egyptian ox, and the calf of the Israelites in the wilderness, the image of which was carried in portable tents or tabernacles, in chests or shrines; such as the Succothbenoth, or tabernacles of Venus, 2Ki 17:30; and those of Diana's, Ac 19:24; the first of these portable temples we read of, is one drawn by oxen in Phoenicia, mentioned by Sanchoniatho {w}; not that the Israelites carried such a tent or tabernacle during their travels through the wilderness, whatever they might do the few days they worshipped the calf; but this is to be understood of their posterity in later times, in the times of Amos; and also when Shalmaneser carried them captive beyond Damascus, as follows. It may be further observed, for the confirmation and illustration of what has been said concerning Chiun, that the Egyptian Anubis, which Plutarch {x} says is the same with Saturn, is called by him Kyon, which seems to be no other than this word Chiun: and whereas Stephen calls it Rephan, this is not a corruption of the word, reading Rephan or Revan for Chevan; nor has he respect to Rimmon, the god of the Syrians, but it is the Egyptian name for Saturn; which the Septuagint interpreters might choose to make use of, they interpreting for the king of Egypt: and Diodorus Siculus {y} makes mention of an Egyptian king called Remphis, whom Braunius {z} takes to be this very Chiun; see Ac 7:43; but Rephas, or Rephan, was the same with Chronus, or Saturn, from whence came the Rephaim {a}, who dwelt in Ashtaroth Karnaim, a town of Ham or Chronus; see Ge 14:5. Some {b}, who take Siccuth for an idol, render it in the future, "ye shall carry", &c. and take it to be a prediction of Amos, that the Israelites should, with great reproach and ignominy, be obliged by the Assyrians, as they were led captive, to carry on their shoulders the idols they had worshipped, and in vain had trusted in, as used to be done in triumphs; See Gill on "Am 1:15".
{p} Mkklm twko "Siccuth regem vestrum", , Montanus, Vatablus, Calvin, Mercerus. {q} Mkyhla bkwk "sidus deum vestrum", Liveleus; "sidus, [vel] stellam deos vestros", Calvin. {r} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 38. {s} Mkymlu Nwyk "placentam imagiuum vestrarum", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Vatablus. {t} Dictionary, in the word "Chiun". {u} "Basim imaginum vestrarum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "statumen", Burkius. {w} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 35. {x} De Iside. {y} Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 56. {z} Selecta Sacra. l. 4. c. 9. sect. 132. p. 435. {a} Vid. Cumberland's Sanchoniatho, p. 120. {b} Vid. Scholia Quinquarborei in loc. So Jarchi and Lyra.
Amos 5:27
Ver. 27. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,.... The chief city of Syria; and which, as Aben Ezra says, lay to the east of the land of Israel, and was a very strong and fortified place: and Syria being in alliance with Israel, the Israelites might think of fleeing thither for refuge, in the time of their distress; but they are here told that they should be taken captive, and be carried to places far more remote than that: Stephen says, "beyond Babylon"; as they were, for they were carried into Media, to Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan, to the cities of the Medes; their way to which lay through Syria and Babylon;
See Gill on "Ac 7:43";
saith the Lord, whose name [is] the God of hosts; and therefore is able to do what he threatens; and it might be depended upon it would be certainly done, as it is clear, beyond all contradiction, it has been done; see 2Ki 17:6.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
The convincing, awakening word must be heard and
heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; for whether we
hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect. The Lord still
proclaims mercy to men, but they often expect deliverance from
such self-invented forms as make their condemnation sure. While
they refuse to come to Christ and to seek mercy in and by him, that
they may live, the fire of Divine wrath breaks forth upon them. Men
may make an idol of the world, but will find it cannot protect.
The convincing, awakening word must be heard and
heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; for whether we
hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect. The Lord still
proclaims mercy to men, but they often expect deliverance from
such self-invented forms as make their condemnation sure.
While
they refuse to come to Christ and to seek mercy in and by him, that
they may live, the fire of Divine wrath breaks forth upon them. Men
may make an idol of the world, but will find it cannot protect.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary