Amos 7 commentary

God bears long, but he will not bear always with a provoking people. The remembrance of the mercies we formerly received, like the produce of the earth of the former growth, should make us submissive to the will of God, when we meet with disappointments in the latter growth. The Lord has many ways of humbling a sinful nation. Whatever trouble we are under, we should be most earnest with God for the forgiveness of sin. Sin will soon make a great people small. What will become of Israel, if the hand that should raise him be stretched out against him? See the power of prayer. See what a blessing praying people are to a land. See how ready, how swift God is to show mercy; how he waits to be gracious. Israel was a wall, a strong wall, which God himself reared as a defence to his sanctuary. The Lord now seems to stand upon this wall. He measures it; it appears to be a bowing, bulging wall. Thus God would bring the people of Israel to the trial, would discover their wickedness; and the time will come, when those who have been spared often, shall be spared no longer. But the Lord still calls Israel his people. The repeated prayer and success of the prophet should lead us to seek the Saviour.

It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren, to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince, and troublers of the land, when they are the best friends to both. Those who make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment, are ready to think these the most powerful motives with others also. But those who have a warrant from God, like Amos, ought not to fear the face of man. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint. The Lord often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty. But no fervent prayers, or self-denying labours, can bring proud sinners to bear faithful reproofs and warnings. And all who oppose or despise the Divine word, must expect fatal effects to their souls, unless they repent.

Amos shows in this chapter that God had already often deferred the punishments which he had yet determined to inflict on the people; and thus he reminds the Israelites of their perverseness, inasmuch as they had abused the forbearance of God, and repented not after a long lapse of time: for God had suspended his judgments for this end — that they might willingly return to the right way, as he commonly allures men by his kindness, provided they be teachable. Since then this forbearance of God had been without fruit, Amos reproves the Israelites, though he had also another object in view: for ungodly men, we know, when God spares them and does not immediately indict the punishments they deserve, laugh at them, and harden themselves for the future, so that they fear nothing; and when the Lord threatens, and does not instantly execute his vengeance, they then especially think that all threatening are mere bugbears; and therefore they harden their minds in security and think that they can with impunity trifle with God. Inasmuch then as this obstinacy prevailed among the Israelites, the Prophet here shows in various ways, that in vain they gloried, and thus securely despised the judgment of God; for though the Lord for a time had spared them, yet the final vengeance was not far distant. This is the sum of the whole: but such expression must be considered in its order.

A vision, he says, had been shown to him by the Lord; and the vision was, that God himself had formed locusts. Yet some think יוצר, iutsar, to be a noun, and render it, creation; others, a swarm or a troop. But these are forced expositions. The Lord then, I doubt not, formed locusts in the Prophet’s presence, which devoured all the grass. He therefore says, when the grass began to grow, that is, after the cuttings of the king Here also expounders vary: some think that the shearings of the king are referred to, when the king had sheared his sheep. Others regard it as the mowing of hay; and they say, that the best grass was then cut for the use of the king, that he might feed his horses and his cattle. But these conjectures have nothing well-founded in them. I therefore doubt not, but the Prophet here calls that a royal cutting, when by a public order they began to cut their meadows. It is indeed credible that there was then some rule: as with us, no one begins the vintage at his own will, but a certain regular time is observed; so those cuttings, which were publicly done, were called royal; as the king’s highway is called that which is public. But yet the Prophet, I think, refers under this figurative expression to the previous calamities, by which the people had been already reduced as to their number.

But we must supply this prophecy or vision to its proper time. I doubt not, and I think that I can gather this from certain considerations, that the Prophet here compares the time which had preceded the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, with the prosperous time which followed. For when Jeroboam the Second began to reign, the kingdom was laid waste, partly by hostile incursions, and partly by drought and heat, by inclement weather, or by pestilence. Since then the condition of the people, as sacred history relates, was most miserable, hence the Prophet says, that locusts had been shown to him, which devoured all the grass and standing corn: for he not only says, that locusts were formed, but also that they devoured the grass, so that nothing remained, When they had finished, he says, to eat the grass of the earth, then I said, Lord Jehovah, etc. Thus then the Prophet shows that sure tokens of God’s wrath had then already appeared, and that the people had in part been already afflicted, but yet that God had afterwards given them time for repentance.

Now by locusts I understand a moderate kind of punishment. We have seen elsewhere (Joel 1:4) that the country had been then nearly consumed by the locusts and the cankerworms, and the like pests. But in this place the Prophet metaphorically designates hostile invasions, which had not immediately laid waste the whole country but in some measure desolated it. This was indeed manifest to all, but few viewed it as the judgment of God, as also the Lord complains, that the perverse regard not the hand of the smiter, (Isaiah 10:3,4) Though then the Israelites saw their land consumed, they did not think that God was displeased with them; for ungodly men do not willingly examine themselves nor raise their eyes to heaven, when the Lord chastises them: for they would grow, as it were, stupid in their calamities rather than set before themselves the judgment of God, that they may be seriously led to repentance: this they naturally shun almost all. Hence the Prophet says that this was especially shown to him. The calamity then was known to all, and evident before the eyes of the people; but the Prophet alone, by a vision, understood that God in this manner punished the sins of the people: at the same time, the special object of the vision was, — to make the Israelites to know that the hand of God was withheld, as it were, in the middle of its work. They had seen the enemies coming, they had felt many evils; but they thought that the enemies retreated either through good fortune or some other means. They did not consider that God had spared them, which was the main thing. It was therefore shown to the prophet in a vision, that God spared his people, though he had resolved to destroy the whole land.

And the Prophet expressly declares, that God had been pacified through his intercession and prayer: hence appears very clearly what I have already referred to, that is, that the Prophet condemns the unbelieving for having perversely trifled with God; for they regarded the threatening which they had heard from the mouth of Amos and of others as jests. Whence was this? Because God had spared them. The Prophet shows how this took place; “The Lord,” he says, “had at first resolved to destroy you, but yet he waits for you, and therefore suspends his extreme vengeance, that by his kindness he may allure you to himself; and this has been done through my prayers: for though ye think me to be adverse to you, as I am constrained daily to threaten you, and as a heavenly herald to denounce war on you; I yet feel compassion for you, and wish you to be saved. There is, therefore, no reason for you to think that I am influenced by hatred or by cruelty, when I address you with so much severity: this I do necessarily on account of my office; but I am still concerned and solicitous for your safety; and of this the Lord is a witness, and the vision I now declare to you.” We now see that God’s servants had so ruled and moderated their feelings, that pity did not prevent them from being severe whenever their calling so required; and also, that this severity did not obliterate from their minds the feelings of compassion. Amos, as we have already seen, severely inveighed against the people, sharply reproved their vices, and daily summoned irreclaimable men to the tribune it of God: as he was so vehemently indignant on account at their vices, and as he so sharply threatened them, he might have appeared to have forgotten all compassion; but this place shows that he had not yet divested himself of pity, though he faithfully discharged his office, and was not diverted from his purpose, when he saw that he had to do with wicked and obstinate men. He was therefore severe, because God so commanded him; it was what his calling required; but at the same time he pitied the people.

Let then all teachers in the Church learn to put on these two feelings — to be vehemently indignant whenever they see the worship of God profaned, to burn with zeal for God, and to show that severity which appeared in all the Prophets, whenever due order decays, — and at the same time to sympathize with miserable men, whom they see rushing headlong into destruction, and to bewail their madness, and to interpose with God as much as is in them; in such a way, however that their compassion render them not slothful or indifferent, so as to be indulgent to the sins of men. Indeed, the temper of mind which I have mentioned ought to be possessed, so that they may go forth as suppliants before God, and implore pardon for miserable and wretched men: but when they come to the people, in their new character, that they may be severe and rigid, let them remember by whom they are sent and with what commands, let them know that they are the ministers of God, who is the judge of the world, and ought not therefore to spare the people: this then is to be attended to by us.

Now as to the word repent, as applied to God, let us know, as it has been elsewhere stated, that God changes not his purpose so as to retract what he has once determined. He indeed knew what he would do before he showed the vision to his Prophet Amos: but he accommodates himself to the measure of men’s understanding, when he mentions such changes. It was then the eternal purpose of God, to threaten the people, to show tokens of his displeasure, and yet to suspend for a time his vengeance, that their perverseness might be the more inexcusable. But in the meantime, as this was without advantage, he sets forth another thing — that he was already armed to execute his vengeance. God then does not relate what he had decreed, but what the Israelites deserved, and what punishment or reward was due to them. When, therefore, God begins to inflict punishment on sinners, it is as though he intended to execute fully his vengeance; he however forms a purpose in himself, but that is hid from us. As soon then as he lifts up his finger, we ought to regard it as owing to his mercy, that we are not instantly reduced to nothing; when it so happens, it is as though he changed his purpose, or as though he withheld his hand. This then ought to be borne in mind, when the prophet says, that God created locusts to devour all the grass, but that he suppliantly entreated God to put an end to this calamity. He then adds, that it repented God, not that there was any change of mind in God, but because God suddenly and beyond hope suspended the vengeance which was near at hand. It shall not then be

With regard to the clause, Be propitious, I pray; how will Jacob rise up, or who will raise up Jacob? it appears that the Prophet saw no other remedy, except the Lord, according to his infinite goodness, forgave the people, and hence he prays for pardon. In the meantime, he shows that he prayed for the Church, “Lord,” he says, “thy hand does not now pursue strangers, but an elect people, thy peculiar possession:” for by the name, Jacob, the Prophet extols the covenant which God made with Abraham and the Patriarchs; as though he said, “O God, wilt thou be inexorable towards the people whom thou hast chosen and adopted, of whom thou art the Father? Remember that they are neither Babylonians, nor Egyptians, nor Assyrians, but a royal priesthood, and thy holy and peculiar people.” And there is nothing that inclines God more to mercy than the recollection of his gratuitous covenant, as we have elsewhere seen.

He then says, that Jacob was small. He does not allege the worthiness of Jacob, or adduce any proof of excellency, but says that he was small; as though he said, “O Lord, thou drawest forth now thy power against miserable creatures, who are already enfeebled enough” for he calls him small, because he had been worn out by many calamities: and hence I said, that reference is here made to that miserable time, of which Scripture records, when it declares that the free as well as the captive were reduced to extreme distress, before Jeroboam the second began to reign. Then indeed God restored his people; but short was that favor; for immediately after the death of king Jeroboam, a sedition arose, which proved ruinous to the whole kingdom: his son Zachariah, as it is well known, was slain by Shallum, (2 Kings 15:8-10)

How then will Jacob rise up? Some take the verb יקום, ikum, One MS. has יקים, which is, to cause to rise, or to raise up. This agrees with the Septuagint — αναστήσει, and comports with the rest of the sentence; for מי is ‘who,’ and not ‘how’ or ‘by what means.’ — Ed. in a transitive sense, “Who will raise him up?” but others think it to be a neuter verb, “How will Jacob rise up?” that is, by what means will Jacob rise up? as מי, mi, may be taken to mean, how, or by what means: How then will Jacob rise up? But this difference has little to do with the main point It is then enough to say, that the Prophet here speaks of the weakness of the people, that on this account God might be more ready to forgive them. It now follows —

Amos 7:4-6

4. Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

4. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus Jehova: et ecce vocans ad disceptandum in igne Dominus Jehova, et consumpsit (aut, voravit) abyssum magnam (et consumpta fuit possessio) (alii חלק vertunt partem agri; sed malo accipere pro tota possessione.

5. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

5. Et dixi, Adonai Jehova, cessa, obsecro; quis (hoc est, quomodo) consurget Jacob? (vel, quis attollet, ut prius dictum est;) quia parvus est.

6. The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

6. Poenituit Jehova super hoc; Etiam hoc non erit, dicit Dominus Jehova.

The Prophet shows that God had not once only spared the people, but that when he was again prepared for vengeance, he still willingly deferred it, that, if possible, the people might willingly recover themselves: but as all were unhealable, this forbearance of God produced no fruit. Now as to the words of the Prophet, we see that a heavier punishment is designated by the similitude of fire, than by what he said before when he spoke of locusts. We stated that by locusts is to be understood ordinarily a moderate punishment, one not so dreadful at first sight. For though the want and famine introduced by locusts, when they consume all kinds of fruit, are most grievous evils; yet fire sometimes strikes people with much greater dread. Hence the Prophet shows by mentioning fire, that God had become very indignant, having seen that the people had hardened themselves and could not be reformed by common and usual remedies. The Lord’s usual mode of proceeding, as he declares everywhere in Scriptures is this: At first he tries to find whether men are capable of being healed, and applies not the most grievous punishment, but such as may be endured; but when he perceives in sinners hardness and obstinacy, he doubles and trebles the punishment, yea, as he says by Moses, he increases his judgments sevenfold (Deuteronomy 28:25.) Such then was the manner which Amos now records; for God at first created the locusts, and then he kindled a fire, which consumed the great deep, and devoured their possession.

The point, denoting a participial form in the word here used, shows that they are mistaken who render יוצר, iutsar, creation, of which we have spoken before; for the point here corresponds with that in יוצר, iutsar, The Masoretic point, called Holem, is referred to, which, being put above the ו after the first radical letter, or in absence of the ו, denotes a participle. — Ed. . In both places the Lord shows himself to be the author of punishment, which is wont to be ascribed to chance; for men imagine that evils proceed from something else rather than from God. Hence it was necessary for this to be distinctly expressed, as the Prophet does also, when he says that locusts had been created by God, and that fire had been kindled by him.

God then called to contend by fire. It was not without a design that the Prophet uses the verb רוב, rub, which yet expositors have not duly weighed. For he indirectly condemns the hardness of the people, inasmuch as the Lord had already not only chastised the vices of the people, but had also contended with men depraved and obstinate: as when no justice can be obtained, a litigation becomes necessary; so the Prophet says here, that God was coming prepared with fire, to contend with the stubbornness of the people. The great deep, he says, was consumed by this fire. Hence what I have already said becomes more evident, — that a more dreadful punishment is here described than in the first vision. The locusts devoured the grass only but the fire penetrates into the utmost deep; it consumes and destroys not only the surface of the earth, but burns up the very roots, yea, it descends to the center and consumes the whole earth. They who render חלק, chelak, a part, do not sufficiently attend to the design of the Prophet, for he concludes that the surface of the earth had been laid waste, because the very gulfs had not escaped the burning. And when the fire reaches to the very bowels of the earth, how could their possession stand, which was also exposed to the heat of the sun? We see how the earth is burnt up by heat, when the sun is scorching at Midsummer. We now perceive the Prophet’s design.

He adds, that God was again pacified. We must ever bear in mind the object he had in view; for ungodly men thought the Prophets to be liars, whenever God did not immediately execute the vengeance he had denounced: but Amos here reminds them, that when God defers punishment, he does not in vain threaten, but waits for men to repent; and that if they still go on in abusing his patience, they will have at last to feel how dreadful is the vengeance which awaits all those who thus pervert the goodness of God, who hear not God inviting them so kindly to himself. This is the meaning. It follows —

Amos 7:7-9

7. Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

7. Sic ostendit mihi: et ecce Dominus stabat (stans) super murum perpendiculi, et in manu ejus perpendiculum.

8. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

8. Et dixit Jehova mihi, Quid tu vides Amos? Et dixi, Perpendiculum. Tunc dixit Dominus, Ecce ego pono perpendiculum in medio populi mei Israel: non adjiciam amplius ut transeam ipsum:

9. And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

9. Et destruentur excelsa Isaac, et evertentur (excidentur) sanctuaria Israel; et surgam super domum Jeroboam in gladio.

This vision opens more clearly to us what the Prophet meant before, and what was the object of his doctrine: his intention was to show the people that what they had gained by their obstinacy was only to render God implacable, and to cause him not to spare them any longer, as he had hitherto done. The meaning is, — “God has hitherto borne with you according to his own goodness, promise not to yourselves that he will ever deal in the same manner with you; for your contumacy and waywardness has provoked him. As he sees you to be beyond measure obstinate, he must now necessarily execute on you final vengeance. There is therefore now no forgiveness provided for you; but as ye are incurable, so the Lord on his part will remain unchangeable in the rigor of his judgment, and will by no means turn to mercy.”

Interpreters explain this vision in various ways, and refinedly philosophize on the word, plumbline; and yet frigid are almost all their refinements. Were I disposed plausibly to handle this passage, I would say, that the plumbline is the law of God; for it prescribed to his people a regular order of things, which might serve as a plumbline; inasmuch as all things were directed according to the best rule. I might speak thus; but I am not disposed to refine in this manner; for I doubt not but that God meant only that this would be the last measuring; for he would punish his people without any remission and without any delay. We now apprehend the Prophet’s meaning: but all this will become more evident from the words of the passage.

Thus he showed to me; and, behold, the Lord stood on a wall of a plumbline. The wall of a plumbline he calls that which had been formed by rule, as though he had said that it was a wall by a plumbline. God then stood on a plumbline-wall, and a plumbline, he says, was in his hand False then is what some interpreters say, that a plumbline was cast away by God, because he would no more perform the office of a mason in ruling his people. This is frivolous; for the Prophet testifies here expressly that a plumbline was in the hand of God.

But that which follows has an important meaning: God asks his Prophet, What sees thou, Amos? It is probable that the Prophet was astonished at a thing so mysterious. When locusts were formed, and when there was a contention by fire, he might have easily gathered what God meant; for these visions were by no means ambiguous: but when God stood on a wall with a plumbline, this was somewhat more hard to be understood; and the probability is, that the Prophet was made to feel much astonishment, that the people might be more attentive to hear his vision, as we commonly apply our thoughts more to hidden things; for we coldly attend to what we think to be easily understood; but mysteriousness, or something difficult to be known, sharpens our minds and attention. I do not then doubt but that God made the Prophet for a time to feel amazed, with the view of increasing the attention of the people. What then dost thou see, Amos? A plumbline, he says: but, at the same time, he knew not what was the meaning of this plumbline, or what was its design. Then God answers, Behold, I set a plumbline in the midst of my people; that is, I fix this to be the last rule, or the final measure, and I will not add any more to pass by them As God had twice leaped over the bounds of his judgment by sparing them, he says, now that the last end was come, “I will proceed no farther,” he says, “in forgiving them: as when a wall is formed to the plumbline, that no part may, in the least, exceed another, but that there may be regularity throughout so also this shall be the last order; this measuring shall be true and just. I will pass by them no more.” This, I have no doubt, is the real meaning of the Prophet. We now also perceive the design of the other two visions to have been to prevent the Israelites from deceiving themselves by false self-flatteries, because God was kind and favorable to them. He shows that he dealt so with them, not because they were just; for God had already begun to execute his judgments on them; and the punishments with which they had been visited were strong evidences of their crimes: for God is not without reasons angry with men, especially with his chosen people. Since then they had been already smitten once and again, the Prophet proves that they were worthy of heavier punishments; and that punishments had been mild and moderated, was to be ascribed, he says, to the indulgence of God, because he was willing to forgive his people; but that the time had now come when he would no longer pardon them; for he saw that he had to do with irreclaimable obstinacy. This is the meaning.

It now follows, And destroyed shall be the high places of Isaac, and overthrown shall be the sanctuaries (some render palaces) of Israel; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. The Prophet here distinctly declares, that the people in vain trusted in their temples and superstitions, for by these they kindled the more against themselves the wrath of God. He would not indeed have expressly threatened the high places and the temples, unless the Israelites had provoked in this way, as I have already said, the vengeance of God against themselves, inasmuch as they had corrupted the true and lawful worship of God.

Destroyed then shall be the high places of Isaac It may be asked, Why does he mention here the name of Isaac, which is rarely done by the Prophets? And there is also a change of one letter; for the word Isaac is commonly written with ץ, tsade, but here it is written with ש, shin; but it is well known that ש, shin and ץ, tsade, are interchangeably used. It is, however, beyond dispute, that the Prophet speaks here of the holy man Isaac; and the reason seems to be plainly this, — because the Israelites absurdly pretended to imitate their father in their superstitions; for temples, we know, had been erected where Isaac had worshipped God, and also their father Abraham and Jacob. Inasmuch then as the Israelites boasted of the examples of holy fathers, the Prophet here condemns this vain and false boasting. They who understand by the word Isaac, that the Prophet threatens the Idumeans as well as the Israelites, have no reason for their opinion; but the reason which I have already mentioned is quite sufficient.

We indeed know, that the Israelites had ever in their mouths the examples of the fathers, like the woman of Samaria, who said to Christ, ‘Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,’ (John 4:20) So also the Israelites were wont formerly to allege, that the holy patriarchs worshipped God in those places, — that God appeared in Bethel to holy Jacob, and also that in other places altars were built. Being armed with the examples of the fathers, they thought them to be their shield. The case is the same with the Papists in our day; when they hear of anything as having been done by the fathers, they instantly lay hold on it; but these are vain excuses. Like them were also the Israelites; hence the Prophet says, “Behold, ye gain nothing by this fallacious pretense; for destroyed shall be the high places of Isaac, even those which are now covered by an honorable name: and at the same time the temples or palaces of Israel shall be overthrown.

And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword We learn from this last clause that things were then, as we have stated elsewhere, in a prosperous state in the kingdom of Israel, though God had in various ways wasted it before Jeroboam: but they had been ever obstinate. He afterwards restored them to a better condition; for the state of the people greatly improved under Jeroboam: he recovered many cities enlarged the borders of his kingdoms and then the people, in their affluence began to grow wanton against God. As then the Prophet thus saw that they abused God’s goodness, he denounced destruction on Jeroboam; hence he says, Against the house of Jeroboam I will rise up with the sword; that is, “I will begin to execute my judgment on the offspring of the king himself; though I may spare him, yet his posterity shall not escape my hand.”

Prayer.

Almighty God, since thou so suspendest thy hand in chastising us, that except we be wholly blind and stupid, we must acknowledge that we are spared in order that we may willingly return to thee, and that being allured by the gentleness of thy forbearance, we may submit ourselves to thee in willing obedience, — O grant, that we may not harden our hearts, nor be slow, nor slothful, nor even backward to repent, when thou deferrest extreme punishment, but strive to anticipate thy final vengeance, and so submit ourselves to thee, that we may be pardoned while it is time, and so hasten to offer our hearts whole and sincere to thee, and so repent, while urged by extreme danger, that there may not remain any hidden hypocrisy in our hearts, but that we may in such a way search every faculty of our soul, that thou mayest become to us a real and faithful witness of that integrity which thou requires of all who return to thee to obtain pardon through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lecture Sixty-fourth

Amos 7:10-13

10. Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

10. Et misit Amazias sacerdos Bethel ad Jeroboam regem Israel, dicendo, Conspiravit contra te Amos in medio domus Israel: non poterit terra sustinere omnes ejus sermones.

11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

11. Quia sic dicit Amos, Gladio morientur Jeroboam; et Israel migrando migrabit e terra sua.

12. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

12. Et dixit Amazias ad Amos, Videns, vade, fuge (tibi, est supervacuum) in terram Jehudah; et comede illic panem et illic propheta:

13. But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.

13. Et in Bethel ne adjicias amplius prophetare, quia sanctuarium regis est, et domus regni est.

The Prophet here relates the device by which Satan attempted to depress his mind, that he might not go on in the discharge of his prophetic office. He says, that Amaziah had sent to the king to induce him to adopt some severe measure; for he pretended that as Amos scattered words full of sedition, and made turbulent speeches, the affairs of the king could not be carried on, except the king in due time prevented him: and besides, the same Amaziah said, that nothing could be better for the Prophet than to flee into the land of Judah, as he might live in safety there; for he had incurred great danger in having dared to prophesy against the king. It hence appears that Amaziah was a perfidious and cunning man, but not so bloody as to attempt openly anything serious against the Prophet’s life; unless perhaps he thought that this could not be done, and gave this advice, not so much through his kindness, as that the thing was impracticable: and this second supposition is probable from the words of the passage.

For, in the first place the Prophet says, that Amaziah had sent to the king He then tried whether he could excite the king’s mind to persecute Amos. It may be that his design did succeed: hence he undertook what in the second place is related, that is, he called the Prophet to himself, and tried to frighten him, and drive him by fear from the land of Israel, that he might no longer be troublesome to them. But we must, in the first place, notice the motive by which this Amaziah was influenced, when he endeavored so much, by any means possible, to banish the Prophet from the kingdom of Israel. It is certainly not credible that he was influenced by what he pretended to the king, that there was a danger of sedition; but it was a pretense cunningly made. Amaziah then had a care for his own advantage, as we see to be the case in our day with cardinals and milted bishops who frequent the courts of princes, and do not honestly profess what their designs are; for they see that their tyranny cannot stand unless the gospel be abolished; they see that our doctrine threatens to become a cold and even an ice to their kitchens; and then they see that they can be of no account in the world, except they crush us. And what do they at the same time pretend? that our doctrine cannot be received without producing a change in the whole world, without ruin to the whole civil order, without depriving kings of their power and dignity. It is then by these malicious artifices that they gain favor to themselves. Such was the device of Amaziah, and such was his manoeuvre in opposing the Prophet Amos.

Behold, he says to the king, he has conspired against thee קשר, kosher, is to bind, but, by a metaphor, it signifies to conspire: Conspired then has Amos against thee. But who speaks? Amaziah; and the Prophet omits not the title of Amaziah; for he says that he was the priest of Bethel He might have only said, “Amaziah sent to king Jeroboam”, but by mentioning that he was a priest, the Prophet shows that Amaziah did not strive for the peace of the public, as he pretended; and that this was therefore a fallacious pretense, for he fought for his own Helen, that is, he fought for his own kitchen, in short, for his living: for he would have been deprived, with disgrace, of his priesthood, and then reduced to penury and want, except he had driven away the Prophet Amos. Since then he saw that such and so great an evil was nigh him except Amos was banished, he had this object in view, and pretended another thing, and sent to the king and said, Amos has conspired; and he enhances the crime, In the midst of the house of Israel. “This is not done,” he says “in a corners or in some obscure place; but his doctrine is heard on all the public roads, whole cities are filled with it; in short, it burns like fire in the very bosom, in the very midst of the kingdom; and thou wilt soon find thy own house to be all in a flame, unless thou applies a remedy, yea, except thou extinguishest it.” We hence see how Amaziah acted, and the reason why he so earnestly persuaded the king to give liberty no longer to the Prophet Amos.

With regard to what follows, — that the land could no longer bear his words, the sentence admits of two probable meanings. The first is, that he said, that the people, being offended with his turbulent doctrine, did now of themselves hate and detest the Prophet Amos, as a seditious man. Kings are in our day stirred on in like manner, — “Why do you delay? Your subjects desire nothing so much as to extinguish this evil, and all of them will eagerly assist you: ye are in the meantime idle, and your people complain of your tardiness. They think the princes in power are unworthy of their station, since they thus suffer the ancient rites and ordinances of holy Mother Church to fall into decay.” So they speak: and we may imagine the words of Amaziah to have been in the same strain, — that he stimulated the king by this artifice — that the people were prepared to do their part. The other meaning is this, The land cannot bear his words; that is, “If he goes on here with full liberty to raise tumults, as he has begun, the whole kingdom will be on the verge of ruin, for many will follow him; and when an open sedition will arise, it cannot be checked without great difficulty. We must therefore make every haste, lest Amos should get the upper hand; for there is already the greatest danger.” As the Pharisees held a consultation, and said,

‘Lest the Romans come and take away our place and nation,’ (John 11:48)

so also Amaziah might have excited the king by causing him to fear, that the land, the country, or its inhabitants, had been disturbed by the words of Amos, and that therefore it was time to put a stop to him. Such was the message of Amaziah to the king.

Now our Prophet is wholly silent as to the answer of the king: it is therefore probable, either that the king was not much excited, — or that he dared not openly to take away the life of Amos; for he had probably obtained some authority among the people; and though he was hated, yet his name as a Prophet and his office were had in reverence, — or that the matter was by agreement arranged between the two enemies of sound doctrine, as flatterers often gratify kings by putting themselves in their place, and by bearing all the ill will. However this might have been, it is certainly a probable conjecture, that the king did not interfere, because he was so persuaded by the priest Amaziah, or because he feared the people, or because religion restrained him, as even the ungodly are sometimes wont to contain themselves within the bounds of moderation; not that they are touched by real fear towards God, or that they desire to embrace his true worship: they wish God to be thrust down from heaven, they wish all knowledge of religion to be obliterated; but yet they dare not pour forth their fury. Such fear then might have seized the mind of Jeroboam, that he did not tyrannically rage against the Prophet Amos. But if we regard the tendency of the words of Amaziah, he certainly wished the Prophet Amos to be immediately visited with capital punishment; for conspiracy is a crime worthy of death; and then, fear might have impelled the king to put the holy Prophet immediately to death. Amaziah therefore expected more than what he attained: and then appeared his vulpine wiliness, for he sent for the Prophet and advised him to withdraw to the land of Judah. Hence, as I said at the beginning, it is very probable that Jeroboam was not excited according to the expectation of the ungodly priest of Bethel, who at first was a cruel wild beast; but when he could not proceed openly to destroy Amos, he put on a new character; he became a fox, because he could do nothing as a raging lion. Hence follows his second attempt, And Amaziah said to Amos, etc.

I have passed over one clause in the last verse: Amos says, By the sword shall Jeroboam die, and Israel, by migrating, shall migrate from their own land. These, in short, are two heads of accusation. Some interpreters think that Amaziah had slanderously perverted the words of the Prophet Amos; for he did not denounce death on king Jeroboam, but only on his people and posterity: but I do not insist on this. It might then be, that Amaziah did not designedly pervert the words of Amos, but only wished to excite the ill will of the king. Die then shall Jeroboam or his posterity with the sword, and Israel also, by migrating, shall migrate from their own land. We hence learn, that Amaziah was not impelled only by the last address of the Prophet Amos, but that he then discovered the hatred which he had long harbored. Amaziah therefore had been, no doubt, on his watch, and had heard what Amos daily taught, and when he thought the matter ripe, he sent to the king. Having tried this way, and found that it did not answer, he came to his second attempt, which we are now to consider.

Amaziah then said to Amos, — that is, after his first proceeding disappointed him; for he did not obtain from king Jeroboam what he expected, — then Amaziah said to Amos, Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah! By saying Go, he intimates that he was at liberty to depart, as though he said, “Why wouldest thou willfully perish among us?” At the same time, the two clauses ought to be joined together. He says first, Go, and then, flee When he says Go, he reminds him, as I have already said, that if he wished, he might go away, as no one prevented his departure: “Go, then, for the way is open to you.” But when he says, flee, he means that he could not long remain safe there: “Except thou provident for thy life, it is all over with you: flee then quickly away from us, else thou art lost.” We hence see how cunningly Amaziah assailed God’s Prophet. He proposed to him an easy way of saving his life; at the same time he urged him with the fear of danger, and declared that he could not remain safe, except he immediately fled. These then were the two reasons which he used as mighty engines to depress the heart of the holy Prophet.

He afterwards subjoins, And eat there thy bread This is the third argument. He might be allowed to live in his own country, and be supplied there with sustenance; for Amos was, as we have said, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He must then have arisen from the tribe of Judah, and he had his habitation and his relations in that kingdom. Besides, Azariah was not an ungodly king: though not one of the most perfect, he yet respected and honored the servants of God. Hence, by saying, Eat there thy bread, Amaziah means that there was a safe residence for the Prophets in the kingdom of Judah, and that they were there esteemed both by the king and by the people, and that they might live there. This is the third argument.

Now follows the fourth: “If thou dost object to me, and say that thou art a Prophet, and that it is neither lawful nor right in thee to be silent, be a prophet there. Thou knowest that prophets are attended to in the kingdom of Judah; thou mayest then perform thine office there, and live at liberty, and without fear.” We hence see four of the reasons by which Amaziah attempted to persuade the Prophet Amos to leave the people of Israel, and to go to his own kindred.

But there follows a fifth reason: But in Bethel prophesy no more; for the sanctuary of the king it is, and his court. Here Amaziah annoys the Prophet by another pretense, or he tries, at least, to shake his courage, by intimating that it was unbecoming to raise commotions in the kingdom of Israel, and also that, by so doing, he offended God, because Jeroboam was a divinely appointed king, and endued with the chief authority. Since then the king could, by his own right, institute new modes of worship, Amaziah here argues that it is not in the power of any one who pleased to pull down those rites which had been universally received, and then confirmed by a royal edict, but that they ought to be received without any dispute. We then perceive now the import of the whole.

But it must be noticed in this place, that we must be watchful, not only against the open violence and cruelty of enemies, but also against their intrigues; for as Satan is a murderer, and has been so from the beginning, so he is also the father of lies. Whosoever then wishes strenuously and constantly to spend his labors for the Church and for God, must prepare himself for a contest with both: he must resist all fears and all intrigues. We see some not so fearful, though a hundred deaths were denounced upon them, who are yet not sufficiently cautious when enemies craftily insinuate themselves. I have not, therefore, said without reason, that God’s servants have need of being fortified against both; that they ought to be prepared against the fear of death, and remain intrepid, though they must die, and that they ought to lay down their necks, if needs be, while performing their office, and to seal their doctrine with their own blood; — and that, on the other hand, their ought to be prudent; for oftentimes the enemies of the truth assail them by flatteries; and the experience of our own times sufficiently proves this. More danger, I know, has ever been from this quarter; that is, when enemies attempt to terrify by such objections as these, “What is your purpose? See, the whole world must necessarily at length be consumed by calamities. What else do you seek, but that religion should everywhere flourish, that sound learning should be valued, that peace should prevail everywhere? But we see that the fiercest war is at hand: if once it should arise, all places would be full of calamities, savage barbarity, and cruelty, would follow, and religion would perish: all this ye will effect by your pertinacity.” These things have often been said to us. When therefore we read this passage, we ought to notice the arts by which Satan has been trying to undermine the efforts of the godly, and the constancy of God’s servants.

As to the first argument, there is no need much of dwelling longer upon it; for every one can of himself perceive the design of all this crafty proceeding. He says first, Seer, go. Amaziah addresses Amos in a respectful way: he does not reproachfully call him, either an exile, or a seditious man, or one unlearned, or a cowherd, or a person unworthy of his office. He does not use any such language, but calls him a seer; he concedes to him the honorable title of a Prophet; for by the word חזה, chese, he means this “I confess thee to be God’s Prophet: I grant that thou art a Prophet, but not our Prophet; Seer, then, go.” We hence see that he left to him untouched the honor of being a Prophet, that he might more easily creep into his favor, lest by raising a dispute at first, there should be between them a violent contest: he therefore avoided all occasions of contention.

It might however have been asked him, Why he was blind? For the office of a priest was to watch; and the Prophets were in such a manner joined to the priests, that when God substituted Prophets in their place, he indirectly charged them with idleness and indifference. For why were the priests appointed? That they might be the messengers of the Lord of hosts, as it is said by Malachi,

‘The people shall seek from the mouth of the priest my law, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts,’ (Malachai 2:7)

Amaziah then ought especially to have performed himself the Prophet’s office, for he was a priest. He was indeed, I allow, a spurious priest; but having claimed so honorable a name, he ought to have discharged its duties: this he did note and conceded that title to the Prophet. So now our milted bishops are very liberal in conceding titles, “O, Mr. Teacher, ye can indeed see and understand many things: but yet ye ought, at the same time, to consult the peace of the community.” They call those teachers who have been invested with no public office, but are yet under the necessity of undertaking the duties of others, for they see that these milted bishops are dumb dogs. In a like manner, also, did Amaziah act towards the Prophet Amos; for he was content with his own splendor and great pomp, and with his own riches; he lived sumptuously, and enjoyed a rich booty, and superstitions well warmed his kitchen. He therefore easily surrendered to others the title of a Prophet: in the meantime, he prided himself on his priesthood.

But as to the second argument, there was a sharper sting in it, Flee, he says. By flight he intimates, that it was necessary for the Prophet to depart, though he wished to remain. So this second reason was borrowed from necessity; for the Prophet could no longer be borne with, if he proceeded in the free discharge of his office. Flee then to the land of Judah, and there eat bread

With regard to this third reason, he seems to imply that the Prophet Amos would be too pertinacious and too much wedded to his own opinion, if he preferred not to live safely and quietly in his own country, rather than to endanger his life in another land. Go then. Where would he send him? To his own country. Why? “Thou art here a foreigner, and sees thyself to be hated; why then dost thou not rather return to thine own country, where thy religion prevails?” Amaziah did not indeed address the Prophet Amos, as man of profane men do at this day, who are less like Epicureans than they are to swine and filthy dogs; for they object and say, “Thou mayest return to thine own country; why hast thou come to us?” They send us away to our own country, when they know that there is there no safe place for us. But at that time pure religion flourished in the land of Judah: hence Amaziah says, “Why dost thou not live with thy own countrymen? for there are many there who will supply thee with sustenance; the king himself will be thy friend, and the whole people will also help thee.”

As to the fourth argument, we see what a crafty sophist is the devil, Be a Prophet there Who speaks? Amaziah, who perfectly hated the temple at Jerusalem, who would have gladly with his own hands set it on fire, who would have gladly put to death all the pious priests; and yet he allows to holy Amos a free liberty to prophesy, and he allows this, because he could not immediately in an open manner stop the holy Prophet in his course: he therefore sends him away to a distance. We hence see that Satan, by various arts and means, tempts the servants of God, and has wonderful turnings and windings, and sometimes transforms himself into an angel of light, as it is said by Paul, (2 Corinthians 11:14) and in this place we have a remarkable instance of this. Is not Amaziah an angel of light, when he advises the Prophet Amos to serve God freely in his own country, and to prophesy there, and to open his mouth in defense of God’s worship and of pure religion? provided he did not do all this in the land of Israel. We have then in this chapter, as I have said, a remarkable instance of the wiliness of Satan.

Now as to the fifth argument, it is especially needful to dwell on it. In Bethel, he says, add no more to prophesy, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom Here only Amaziah shows what he wished, even to retain possession of his priesthood; which he could not have done without banishing the Prophet: for he could not contend with him in arguments. He consulted then his own advantage by getting rid of the Prophet. Whatever various characters therefore he assumed in the last verse, and notwithstanding the many coverings by which he concealed himself, the ape now, as they say, appears as the ape. Amaziah then shows what he had in views even that he might remain quiet in the possession of his own tyrannical powers and that Amos should no more molest him, and pull up by the roots the prevailing superstitions: for Amaziah was a priest, and Amos could not perform his office without crying out daily against the temple of Bethel; for it was a brothel, inasmuch as God was there robbed of his own honor; and we also know that superstitions are everywhere compared to fornication. Amaziah then now betrays his wicked intention, In Bethel prophesy not; he would retain his quiet state, and wished not the word of God to be heard there. His desire was, as we have already said, to extinguish everywhere the light of heavenly truth; but as he could not do this, he wished to continue at least in his own station without any disputes, as we see the case to be in our time with the Pope and his milted bishops. They became quite mad when they heard that many cities and some princes made commotions in Germany, and departed from their submission to them; but as they could not subdue them by force, they said, “Let us leave to themselves these barbarians; why, more evil than good has hitherto proceeded from them; it is a barren and dry country: provided we have Spain, France, and Italy, secured to us, we have enough; for we have probably lost more than what we have gained by Germany. Let them then have their liberty, or rather licentiousness; they will again some time return, and come under our authority: let us not in the meantime be over-anxious about them. But let not this contagion penetrate into France, for one of our arms has been already cut off; nor let Spain nor Italy be touched by it; for this would be to aim at our life.” Such also was this Amaziah, as it evidently appears, — Prophesy not then in Bethel.

And he spoke cunningly when he said, Add no more to prophecy; for it was the same as though he pardoned him. “See, though thou hast hitherto been offending the king and the common feeling of the people, I will not yet treat you with strict justice, I will forgive thee all, let what thou hast done amiss remain buried, provided thou ‘addest no more’ in future.” We hence see that there is emphasis in the expression, when he says, Proceed not, or, add not; as though he had said, that he would not inquire into the past, nor would accuse Amos of having been seditious: provided he abstained for the future, Amaziah was satisfied, as we may gather from his words, Add then no more to prophesy.

And why? Because it is the king’s sanctuary This was one thing. Amaziah wished here to prove by the king’s authority that the received worship at Bethel was legitimate. How so? “The king has established it; it is not then lawful for any one to say a word to the contrary; the king could do this by his own right; for his majesty is sacred.” We see the object in view. And how many are there at this day under the Papacy, who accumulate on kings all the authority and power they can, in order that no dispute may be made about religion; but power is to be vested in one king to determine according to his own will whatever he pleases, and this is to remain fixed without any dispute. They who at first extolled Henry, King of England, were certainly inconsiderate men; they gave him the supreme power in all things: and this always vexed me grievously; for they were guilty of blasphemy (erant blasphemi) when they called him the chief Head of the Church under Christ. This was certainly too much: but it ought however to remain buried, as they sinned through inconsiderate zeal. But when that impostor, who afterwards became the chancellor of that Proserpina, The fabled queen of hell. — Ed. who, at this day, surpasses all devils in that kingdom — when he was at Ratisbon, he contended not by using any reasons, (I speak of the last chancellor, who was the Bishop of Winchester, This was probably Gardiner. — Ed. ) and as I have just said, he cared not much about the testimonies of Scripture, but said that it was in the power of the king to abrogate statutes and to institute new rites, — that as to fasting, the king could forbid or command the people to eat flesh on this or that days that it was lawful for the king to prohibit priests from marrying, that it was lawful for the king to interdict to the people the use of the cup in the Supper, that it was lawful for the king to appoint this or that thing in his own kingdom. How so? because supreme power is vested in the king. The same was the gloss of this Amaziah of whom the Prophet now speaks: It is the sanctuary of the king.

But he adds afterwards a second thing, It is the house of the kingdom So it is literally בית ממלכה. Newcome renders it, “The temple of the kingdom.” Henderson, “The royal residence.” Grotius, Sedes imperii, “The seat of the empire.” — Ed. These words of Amaziah ought to be well considered. He says first, It is the king’s sanctuary, and then, It is the house of the kingdom. Hence he ascribes to the king a twofold office, — that it was in his power to change religion in any way he pleased, — and then, that Amos disturbed the peace of the community, and thus did wrong to the king by derogating from his authority. With regard to the first clause, it is indeed certain that kings, when they rightly discharge their duty, become patrons of religion and supporters (nutricios — nursers) of the Church, as Isaiah calls them, (Isaiah 49:23) What then is chiefly required of kings, is this — to use the swords with which they are invested, to render free (asserendum) the worship of God. But still they are inconsiderate men, who give them too much power in spiritual things; (qui faciunt illos nimis spirituales—who make them too spiritual) and this evil is everywhere dominant in Germany; and in these regions it prevails too much. And we now find what fruit is produced by this root, which is this, — that princes, and those who are in power, think themselves so spiritual, that there is no longer any church discipline; and this sacrilege greatly prevails among us; for they limit not their office by fixed and legitimate boundaries, but think that they cannot rule, except they abolish every authority in the Church and become chief judges as well in doctrine as in all spiritual government. The devil then suggested at that time this sentiment to Amaziah, — that the king appointed the temple: hence, since it was the king’s sanctuary, it was not lawful for a private man, it was not even lawful for any one, to deny that religion to be of authority, which had been once approved of, and pleased the king. And princes listen to a sweet song, when impostors lead them astray; and they desire nothing more than that all things without any difference or distinction should be referred to themselves. They then gladly interfere, and at first show some zeal, but mere ambition impels them, as they so carefully appropriate every thing to themselves. Moderation ought then to be observed; for this evil has ever been dominant in princes — to wish to change religion according to their will and fancy, and at the same time for their own advantage; for they regard what is of advantage to themselves, as they are not for the most part guided by the Spirit of God, but impelled by their own ambition. Since then we see that Satan by these hidden arts formerly contended against God’s prophets, we ought to bewail and lament our own courses. But whosoever desires to conduct himself as it behaves him, let him watch against this evil.

It now follows, And it is the house of the kingdom Amaziah contends here no more for the royal prerogative, with regard to spiritual power. “Be it, that the king ought not to have appointed new worship, thou hast yet offended against the peace of the community.” The greater part of the princes He refers evidently to the Protestant princes. — Ed. at this day seek nothing so much as that they might enjoy their own quietness. They ever declare that they would he courageous enough even to death in the defense of their first confession; but yet what are the teachers they seek for themselves? Even those who avoid the cross and who, to gratify the Papists, or to render them at least somewhat milder, change according to their wishes: for we see at this day that the minds of princes are inflamed by these fanners, not to spare the sacramentarians, nor allow to be called into question what is asserted, not less grossly than foolishly and falsely, respecting the presence of Christ’s body, or his body being included under the bread. “When we show that we contend against them, and that we are separated from them, nay, that we will be their mortal enemies, we in this agree with the Papists; there will then be some access to them, at least their great fury will cease, the Papists will become gentle: they will no more be so incensed against us; we shall hereafter obtain some middle course.” So things are at this day carried on in the world; and nothing is more useful than to compare the state of our time with this example of the Prophet, so that we may go on in our works employing the same weapons with which he contended and not be moved by these diabolical arts; for we have no enemies more hostile and open than these domestic traitors.

It is then the house of the kingdom He now speaks of the secular arm, as they say, and shows that though religion were to perish a hundred times, yet care was to be taken, lest Amos should pull up by the roots the kingdom of Jeroboam, and the customs of the people. It now follows —

Amos 7:14-15

14. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

14. Et respondit Amos, et dixit ad Amaziam, Non sum Propheta ego, neque ego sum filius Prophetae; quia pecuarius sum ego et colligens (vel, quaerens) sicomoros:

15. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

15. Et sustulit me Jehova a tergo ovium (quum sequerer oves meas; de post oves, ad verbum,) et dixit mihi Jehova, Vade, propheta ad populum meam Israel.

The Prophet Amos first pleads for himself, that he was not at liberty to obey the counsel of Amaziah, because he could not renounce a calling to which he was appointed. As then he had been sent by God, he proves that he was bound by necessity to prophesy in the land of Israel. In the first place, he indeed modestly says, that he was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet: why did he say this? To render himself contemptible? By no means, though the words apparently have this tendency; but it was to gain for himself more authority; for his extraordinary call gave him greater weight than if he had been brought up from his childhood in the schools of the prophets. He then shows that he became a prophet by a miraculous interposition, and that the office was not committed to him by human authority, and in the usual way; but that he had been led to it as it were by force, so that he could not cast aside the office of teaching, without openly shaking off the yoke laid upon him by God.

This account then which Amos gives of himself ought to be noticed, I was not a Prophet, nor the son of a Prophet Had he said simply that he was not a Prophet, he might have been accused of presumption: how so? No one takes to himself this honor in the Church of God; a call is necessary; Were an angel to descend from heaven, he ought not to subvert public order; (Galatians 1:8) for all things, as Paul reminds us, ought to be done decently and in lawful order in the Church; for the God of peace presides over us. Had Amos then positively denied that he was a Prophet, he might on this account have been thrust away from his office of teaching, for he wanted a call. But he means that he was not a Prophet who had been from his childhood instructed in God’s law, to be an interpreter of Scripture: and for the same reason he says that he was not the son of a Prophet; for there were then, we know, colleges for Prophets; and this is sufficiently evident from sacred history. As then these colleges were instituted for this end — that there might be always seminaries for the Church of God, so that it might not be destitute of good and faithful teachers, Amos says that he was not of that class. He indeed honestly confesses that he was an illiterate man: but by this as I have already said, he gained to himself more authority inasmuch as the Lord had seized on him as it were by force, and set him over the people to teach them: “See, thou shalt be my Prophet, and though thou hast not been taught from thy youth for this office, I will yet in an instant make thee a Prophet.” It was a greater miracle, that Christ chose rude and ignorant men as his apostles, than if he had at first chosen Paul or men like him who were skillful in the law. If then Christ had at the beginning selected such disciples, their authority would have appeared less: but as he had prepared by his Spirit those who were before unlearned, it appeared more evident that they were sent from above. And to this refers the expression the Prophet uses, when he says, Jehovah took me away: for it intimates that his calls as we have said, was extraordinary. The rest we shall defer till to-morrow.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as thou permittest reins so loose to Satan, that he attempts, in all manner of ways, to subvert thy servants, — O grant, that they who have been sent and moved by thee, and at the same time furnished with the invincible strength of thy Spirit, may go on perseveringly to the last in the discharge of their office: and whether their adversaries assails them by crafts, or oppose them by open violence, may they not desist from their course, but devote themselves wholly to thee, with prudence as well as with courage, that they may thus persevere in continual obedience: and do thou also dissipate all the mists and all the crafts which Satan spreads to deceive the inexperienced, until at length the truth emerge, which is the conqueror of the devil and of the whole world, and until thy Son, the Sun of Righteousness, appear, that he may gather the whole world, that in thy rest we may enjoy the victory, which is to be daily obtained by us in our constant struggles with the enemies of the same, thine only Son. Amen.

Lecture Sixty-fifth

Amos 7:16

16. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

16. Et nunc audi verbum Jehova tu, qui dicis, Ne prophetes super Israel, et ne stilles (vel, loquaris) super domum Isaac.

17. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

17. Propterea sic dicit Jehova, Uxor tua in urbe prostituetur, et filii tui et filiae tuae gladio cadent, et terra tua funiculo devidetur, et tu in terra polluta morieris: et Israel migrando migrabit e terra sua (ad verbum est, de super terram suam.)

Amos having shown that he must obey God, who had committed to him the office of teaching, now turns his discourse to Amaziah, and points out what he would gain by his insolence in daring to forbid a Prophet, an ambassador of the God of heaven, to proclaim what he had in command. As, then, Amaziah had proceeded into such a degree of rashness or rather of madness Amos now assails him and says, Hear then now the word of Jehovah He sets here the word or the decree of God in opposition to the prohibition of Amaziah: for the ungodly priest had forbidden God’s servant to proclaim his words any more in the land of Israel: “Who art thou? Thou indeed thus speakest; but God will also speak in his turn.” He shows, at the same time, the difference between the speech of Amaziah and the word of God: the impostor had indeed attempted to terrify the holy man so as to makehim to desist from his office, though the attempt was vain; but Amos shows that God’s word would not be without effect: “Whether I hold my peace or speak,” he seems to say, “this vengeance is suspended over thee.” But he, at the same time, connects God’s vengeance with his doctrine; for this was also necessary, that the ungodly priest might know that he gained nothing else, by attempting to do everything, than that he had doubly increased the vengeance of God.

There is, therefore, great emphasis in these words, Now hear the word of Jehovah thou who sayest, Prophesy not. Amaziah was indeed worthy of being destroyed by God a hundred times, together with all his offspring: but Amos intimates that God’s wrath was especially kindled by this madness, — that Amaziah dared to put a restraint on God, and to forbid his Spirit freely to reprove the sins of the whole people. Since, then, he proceeded so far, Amos shows that he would have justly to suffer the punishment due to his presumption, yea, to his furious and sacrilegious audacity, inasmuch as he set himself up against God, and sought to take from him his supreme authority, for nothing belongs more peculiarly to God than the office of judging the world; and this he does by his word and his Prophets. As, then, Amaziah had attempted to rob God of his own right and authority, the Prophet shows that vengeance had been thereby increased: Thou then, who sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and speak not, hear the word of Jehovah

Remarkable is this passage, and from it we learn that nothing is better for us, when God rebukes us, than to descend into our own consciences, and to submit to the sentence which proceeds from his mouth, and humbly to entreat pardon as soon as he condemns us: for if we be refractory, God will not cease to speak, though we a hundred times forbid him; he will therefore go on notwithstanding our unwillingness. Further, we may vomit forth many blasphemies; but what can our clamorous words do? The Lord will, at the same time, speak with effect; he will not scatter his threatening in the air, but will really fulfill what proceeds from his mouth; and for this reason Paul compares heavenly truth to a sword, for vengeance is prepared for despisers. We ought therefore to take notice of this in the Prophet’s words, — that when profane men attempt to repel every tenth and all threatening, they gain nothing by their perverseness; for the lord will exercise his own right; and he will also join to his word, as they say, its execution. Thou then who sayest, Prophesy not, hear the word of Jehovah; though thou mayest growl, yet God will not be hindered by these thy commands; but he will ever continue complete in his own authority.” And he mentions word, as we have already said, to show that the truth, with which the ungodly contend, is connected with the power of God. God might indeed destroy all the unbelieving in silence, without uttering his voice; but he will have his Word honored, that the ungodly may know that they contend in vain, while they vomit forth their rage against his word, for they will at length find that in his word is included their condemnation.

Now, when he says, Prophecy not against Israel, and speak not against the house of Isaac, we may learn again from these words, that the word Isaac is used by the Prophet by way of concession; for the people of Israel were then wont to adduce the example of this holy patriarch. Thus superstitious men, neglecting the law of God, the common rule, ever turn aside to the examples of the saints; and they do this without any discrimination; nay, as their minds are perverted, when anything has been wrongfully done by the fathers, they instantly lay hold on it: and then, when there is anything peculiar, which God had approved in the fathers but wished not to be drawn, as they commonly say, into a precedent, the superstitious think that they have the best reason in their favor, when they can set up such a shield against God. As, then, the Israelites had at that time the name of their father Isaac in their mouths while they were foolishly worshipping God in Bethel and in other places, contrary to what the law prescribed, the Prophet Amos designedly repeats here again the name of Isaac, expressing it probably in imitation of what had been said by Amaziah.

Now follows a denunciation, Therefore thus saith Jehovah This לכן, lacen, therefore, shows that Amaziah suffered punishment, not only because he had corrupted God’s worship, because he had deceived the people by his impostures and because he had made gain by the disguise of religion; but because he had insolently dared to oppose the authority of God, and to turn aside the Prophet from his office, both by hidden crafts and by open violence. Inasmuch then as he had attempted to do this, Amos now declares that punishment awaited him. We hence see that destruction is doubly increased, when we set up a hard and iron neck against God, who would have us to be pliant, and when he reproves us, requires from us at least this modesty — that we confess that we have sinned. But when we evade, or when we proceed still outward, this issue will at last follow — that God will execute double vengeance on account of our obstinacy. Therefore then Jehovah saith: and O! that this were deeply engraven on the hearts of men; there would not then be so much rebellion at this day prevailing in the world. But we see how daring men are; for as soon as the Lord severely reproves them, they murmur; and then, if they have any authority they stretch every nerve to take away from God his own rights, and from his servants their liberty. At the same time, when we observe the ungodly to be so blind, that they perceive not the vengeance, such as the Prophet here denounces, to be nigh them, and dread it not, it behooves us duly to weigh what the Prophet here declares and that is, that perverse men, as I have already said, do gain this only by their obstinacy — that they more and more inflame God’s displeasure.

With respect to the kind of punishment he was to suffer, it is said, Thy wife in the city shall be wanton: it is so literally; but the Prophet speaks not here of voluntary wantonness. He then intimates that Amaziah could not escape punishment, but that his wife would be made a prostitute, when the enemies occupied the land of Israel. We indeed know that it was a common thing for conquerors to abuse women: and well would it be, were the practice abolished at this day. Besides, it was deemed lawful in that age for the conqueror to take to himself not only the daughter but also the wife of another. This then is the reason why the Prophet says, Thy wife shall be a prostitute. But he says, in the city; which was far more grievous, than if the wife of Amaziah had been led to a distance, and suffered that reproach in an unknown country: it would have less wounded the mind of Amaziah, if the enemies had taken away his wife, and this disgrace had continued unknown to him, it being done in a distant land. But when his wife was publicly and before the eyes of all constrained to submit to this baseness and turpitude, it was much more hard to be endured, and occasioned much greater grief. We hence see that the punishment was much increased by this circumstance, which the Prophet states when he says, Thy wife shall in the city be a prostitute.

Then it follows, Thy sons and thy daughters shall by the sword fall It is a second punishment, when he declares, that the sons and also the daughters of the ungodly priest would be slain by the enemies. It was indeed probable, that some also of the common people had suffered the same evils; but God no doubt punished the willfulness and madness of Amaziah for having dared to resist admonitions as well as threatening.

But he also adds, Thy land shall be divided by a line He means by this statement, that there should be none to succeed Amaziah; but that whatever land he possessed should become a prey to the enemies. Thy land then shall be divided by a line. It may at the same time be, that Amos speaks here generally of the land of Israel; and this seems to me probable. I indeed allow that neither by Amaziah nor by the other priests was the law of God kept; but we yet know that there was some affinity between the lawful priesthood, and the spurious priesthood which the first Jeroboam had introduced. Hence I conjecture that Amaziah had no possessions, it being lawful for priests to have only gardens and pastures for their cattle; but they cultivated no lands. I am therefore disposed to extend to the whole people what is said of the land of one man; and this opinion is confirmed by what immediately follows.

But thou shalt die in a polluted land. He called that the land of Amaziah in which he and the rest of the people dwelt; but he calls the land into which he, with all the rest, were to be driven, a polluted land. If any one objects and says that this punishment did not apply to one man, the ready answer is this, — that God meant that an especial mark should be imprinted on his common judgment, that Amaziah might know, that he had as it were accelerated God’s vengeance, which yet he intended to turn aside, when he sent away, as we have seen, the Prophet Amos into the land of Judah.

It follows at last, Israel by migrating shall migrate from his own land We here see that the Prophet proclaimed no private threatening, either to Amaziah himself or to his wife or to his children, but extended his discourse to the whole people: the fact at the same time remains unchanged that God intended to punish the perverseness of that ungodly man, while executing his vengeance on the whole people. Now follows —

Chapter 8.

Amos 8:1-2

1. Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.

1. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus Jehova; et ecce corbis fructus aestivi (vel, canistrum.) Et dixit, Quid tu vides, Amos?

2. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

2. Et dixit, Corbem (vel, canistrum) fructus aestivi: et dixit Jehova mihi, Venit finis super populum meum Israel; non adjiciam amplius transire in eo.

CHAPTER 7

Am. 7:1-9. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters contain Visions, with Their Explanations. The seventh chapter consists of two parts. First (Am 7:1-9): Prophecies Illustrated by Three Symbols: (1) A vision of grasshoppers or young locusts, which devour the grass, but are removed at Amos' entreaty; (2) Fire drying up even the deep, and withering part of the land, but removed at Amos' entreaty; (3) A plumb-line to mark the buildings for destruction. Secondly (Am 7:10-17): Narrative of Amaziah's Interruption of Amos in Consequence of the Foregoing Prophecies, and Prediction of His Doom.

1. showed ... me; and, behold--The same formula prefaces the three visions in this chapter, and the fourth in Am 8:1.

grasshoppers--rather, "locusts" in the caterpillar state, from a Hebrew root, "to creep forth." In the autumn the eggs are deposited in the earth; in the spring the young come forth [Maurer].

the latter growth--namely, of grass, which comes up after the mowing. They do not in the East mow their grass and make hay of it, but cut it off the ground as they require it.

the king's mowings--the first-fruits of the mown grass, tyrannically exacted by the king from the people. The literal locusts, as in Joel, are probably symbols of human foes: thus the "growth" of grass "after the king's mowings" will mean the political revival of Israel under Jeroboam II (2Ki 14:25), after it had been mown down, as it were, by Hazael and Ben-hadad of Syria (2Ki 13:3), [Grotius].

2. by whom shall Jacob arise?--If Thou, O God, dost not spare, how can Jacob maintain his ground, reduced as he is by repeated attacks of the Assyrians, and erelong about to be invaded by the Assyrian Pul (2Ki 15:19, 20)? Compare Is 51:19. The mention of "Jacob" is a plea that God should "remember for them His covenant" with their forefather, the patriarch (Psa 106:45).

he is small--reduced in numbers and in strength.

3. repented for this--that is, of this. The change was not in the mind of God (Nu 2:19; Jas 1:17), but in the effect outwardly. God unchangeably does what is just; it is just that He should hear intercessory prayer (Jas 5:16-18), as it would have been just for Him to have let judgment take its course at once on the guilty nation, but for the prayer of one or two righteous men in it (compare Ge 18:23-33; 1Sa 15:11; Jr 42:10). The repentance of the sinner, and God's regard to His own attributes of mercy and covenanted love, also cause God outwardly to deal with him as if he repented (Jon 3:10), whereas the change in outward dealing is in strictest harmony with God's own unchangeableness.

It shall not be--Israel's utter overthrow now. Pul was influenced by God to accept money and withdraw from Israel.

4. called to contend--that is, with Israel judicially (Job 9:3; Is 66:16; Eze 38:22). He ordered to come at His call the infliction of punishment by "fire" on Israel, that is, drought (compare Am 4:6-11), [Maurer]. Rather, war (Nu 21:28), namely, Tiglath-pileser [Grotius].

devoured the ... deep--that is, a great part of Israel, whom he carried away. Waters are the symbol for many people (Re 17:15).

did eat up a part--namely, all the land (compare Am 4:7) of Israel east of Jordan (1Ch 5:26; Is 9:1). This was a worse judgment than the previous one: the locusts ate up the grass: the fire not only affects the surface of the ground, but burns up the very roots and reaches even to the deep.

7. wall made by a plumb-line--namely, perpendicular.

8. plumb-line in ... midst of ... Israel--No longer are the symbols, as in the former two, stated generally; this one is expressly applied to Israel. God's long-suffering is worn out by Israel's perversity: so Amos ceases to intercede (compare Ge 18:33). The plummet line was used not only in building, but in destroying houses (2Ki 21:13; Is 28:17; 34:11; La 2:8). It denotes that God's judgments are measured out by the most exact rules of justice. Here it is placed "in the midst" of Israel, that is, the judgment is not to be confined to an outer part of Israel, as by Tiglath-pileser; it is to reach the very center. This was fulfilled when Shalmaneser, after a three years' siege of Samaria, took it and carried away Israel captive finally to Assyria (2Ki 17:3, 5, 6, 23).

not ... pass by ... any more--not forgive them any more (Am 8:2; Pr 19:11; Mi 7:18).

9. high places--dedicated to idols.

of Isaac--They boasted of their following the example of their forefather Isaac, in erecting high places at Beer-sheba (Am 5:5; compare Ge 26:23, 24; 46:1); but he and Abraham erected them before the temple was appointed at Jerusalem--and to God; whereas they did so, after the temple had been fixed as the only place for sacrifices--and to idols. In the Hebrew here "Isaac" is written with s, instead of the usual ts; both forms mean "laughter"; the change of spelling perhaps expresses that their "high places of Isaac" may be well so called, but not as they meant by the name; for they are only fit to be laughed at in scorn. Probably, however, the mention of "Isaac" and "Israel" simply expresses that these names, which their degenerate posterity boasted in as if ensuring their safety, will not save them and their idolatrous "sanctuaries" on which they depended from ruin (compare Am 8:14).

house of Jeroboam with ... sword--fulfilled in the extinction of Zachariah, son of Jeroboam II, the last of the descendants of Jeroboam I, who had originated the idolatry of the calves (2Ki 15:8-10).

Am. 7:10-17. Amaziah's Charge against Amos: His Doom Foretold.

10. priest of Beth-el--chief priest of the royal sanctuary to the calves at Beth-el. These being a device of state policy to keep Israel separate from Judah. Amaziah construes Amos words against them as treason. So in the case of Elijah and Jeremiah (1Ki 18:17; Jr 37:13, 14). So the antitype Jesus was charged (Joh 19:12); political expediency being made in all ages the pretext for dishonoring God and persecuting His servants (Joh 11:48-50). So in the case of Paul (Ac 17:6, 7; 24:5).

in the midst of ... Israel--probably alluding to Amos' own words, "in the midst of ... Israel" (Am 7:8), foretelling the state's overthrow to the very center. Not secretly, or in a corner, but openly, in the very center of the state, so as to upset the whole utterly.

land is not able to bear all his words--They are so many and so intolerable. A sedition will be the result. The mention of his being "priest of Beth-el" implies that it was for his own priestly gain, not for the king or state, he was so keen.

11. Jeroboam shall die, &c.--Amos had not said this: but that "the house of Jeroboam" should fall "with the sword" (Am 7:9). But Amaziah exaggerates the charge, to excite Jeroboam against him. The king, however, did not give ear to Amaziah, probably from religious awe of the prophet of Jehovah.

12. Also--Besides informing the king against Amos, lest that course should fail, as it did, Amaziah urges the troublesome prophet himself to go back to his own land Judah, pretending to advise him in friendliness.

seer--said contemptuously in reference to Amos' visions which precede.

there eat bread--You can earn a livelihood there, whereas remaining here you will be ruined. He judges of Amos by his own selfishness, as if regard to one's own safety and livelihood are the paramount considerations. So the false prophets (Eze 13:19) were ready to say whatever pleased their hearers, however false, for "handfuls of barley and pieces of bread."

13. prophesy not again--(Am 2:12).

at Beth-el--Amaziah wants to be let alone at least in his own residence.

the king's chapel--Beth-el was preferred by the king to Dan, the other seat of the calf-worship, as being nearer Samaria, the capital, and as hallowed by Jacob of old (Ge 28:16, 19; 35:6, 7). He argues by implication against Amos' presumption, as a private man, in speaking against the worship sanctioned by the king, and that in the very place consecrated to it for the king's own devotions.

king's court--that is, residence: the seat of empire, where the king holds his court, and which thou oughtest to have reverenced. Samaria was the usual king's residence: but for the convenience of attending the calf-worship, a royal palace was at Beth-el also.

14. I was no prophet--in answer to Amaziah's insinuation (Am 7:12), that he discharged the prophetical office to earn his "bread" (like Israel's mercenary prophets). So far from being rewarded, Jehovah's prophets had to expect imprisonment and even death as the result of their prophesying in Samaria or Israel: whereas the prophets of Baal were maintained at the king's expense (compare 1Ki 18:19). I was not, says Amos, of the order of prophets, or educated in their schools, and deriving a livelihood from exercising the public functions of a prophet. I am a shepherd (compare Am 7:15, "flock"; the Hebrew for "herdsman" includes the meaning, shepherd, compare Am 1:1) in humble position, who did not even think of prophesying among you, until a divine call impelled me to it.

prophet's son--that is, disciple. Schools of prophets are mentioned first in First Samuel; in these youths were educated to serve the theocracy as public instructors. Only in the kingdom of the ten tribes is the continuance of the schools of the prophets mentioned. They were missionary stations near the chief seats of superstition in Israel, and associations endowed with the Spirit of God; none were admitted but those to whom the Spirit had been previously imparted. Their spiritual fathers travelled about to visit the training schools, and cared for the members and even their widows (2Ki 4:1, 2). The pupils had their common board in them, and after leaving them still continued members. The offerings which in Judah were given by the pious to the Levites, in Israel went to the schools of the prophets (2Ki 4:42). Prophecy (for example, Elijah and Elisha) in Israel was more connected with extraordinary events than in Judah, inasmuch as, in the absence of the legal hierarchy of the latter, it needed to have more palpable divine sanction.

sycamore--abounding in Palestine. The fruit was like the fig, but inferior; according to Pliny, a sort of compound, as the name expresses, of the fig and the mulberry. It was only eaten by the poorest (compare 1Ki 10:27).

gatherer--one occupied with their cultivation [Maurer]. To cultivate it, an incision was made in the fruit when of a certain size, and on the fourth day afterwards it ripened [Pliny, Natural History, 13.7,14]. Grotius from Jerome says, if it be not plucked off and "gathered" (which favors English Version), it is spoiled by gnats.

15. took me as I followed the flock--So David was taken (2Sa 7:8; Psa 78:70, 71). Messiah is the antitypical Shepherd (Psa 23:1-6; Joh 10:1-18).

unto my people--"against" [Maurer]; so Am 7:16. Jehovah claims them still as His by right, though slighting His authority. God would recover them to His service by the prophet's ministry.

16. drop--distil as the refreshing drops of rain (De 32:2; Eze 21:2; compare Mi 2:6, 11).

17. Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city--that is, shall be forced by the enemy, while thou art looking on, unable to prevent her dishonor (Is 13:16; La 5:11). The words, "saith THE Lord are in striking opposition to "Thou sayest" (Am 7:16).

divided by line--among the foe.

a polluted land--Israel regarded every foreign land as that which really her own land was now, "polluted" (Is 24:5; Jr 2:7).

Behold, he formed grasshoppers - גבי gobai is generally understood here to signify locusts. See the notes on Joel 1 (note) and Joel 2 (note).

The shooting up of the latter growth - The early crop of grass had been already mowed and housed. The second crop or rowing, as it is called in some places, was not yet begun. By the king's mowings we may understand the first crop, a portion of which the king probably claimed as being the better hay; but the words may signify simply the prime crop, that which is the best of the whole. Houbigant thinks the shearing of the king's sheep is meant.

By whom shall Jacob arise? - The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having devoured much of the produce of the land, were proceeding, till, at the intercession of the prophet, they were removed. Then, seeing in the light of prophecy the nation in every sense brought low, he cries, "By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." Calmet justly remarks: "After the death of Jeroboam the second, the kingdom, so flourishing and powerful before, was reduced to such weakness that it was obliged to have recourse to strangers for support. Menahem applied to Pul, king of Assyria, whence arose the final misery of the state.

The Lord repented - Changed his purpose of destroying them by the locusts. See Amo 7:6.

The Lord God called to contend by fire - Permitted war, both civil and foreign, to harass the land, after the death of Jeroboam the second. These wars would have totally destroyed it, had not the prophet interceded.

It devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part - We are here to understand the partially destructive wars which afterwards took place; for the Lord causes all these things to pass before the eyes of Amos in the vision of prophecy; and intimates that, at the intercession of his prophets, total ruin should be prevented.

With a plumbline in his hand - This appears to be intended as an emblem of strict justice, and intimated that God would now visit them according to their iniquities.

I will set a plumbline - I will visit them by justice without any mixture of mercy.

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate - Their total destruction is at hand. The high place of Isaac was Beer-sheba, where Isaac had built an altar to the Lord, Gen 26:25. This high place, which had been abused to idolatrous uses, was demolished by Josiah, king of Judah, as we read in 2Kgs 23:8, for he defiled all the high places from Geba to Beersheba.

I will rise against the house of Jeroboam - The Lord had promised to Jehu, the ancestor of Jeroboam, that his family should sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, was the fourth in order after Jehu; and on him the threatening in this verse fell; for he was murdered by Shallum after he had reigned six months, and in him the family became extinct. See 2Kgs 10:30; 2Kgs 15:8-10.

Amaziah the priest of Beth-el - The idolatrous priest who had been established by the king to maintain the worship of the golden calves which Jeroboam the elder had set up at this place.

Amos hath conspired against thee - This was truly a lying prophet; there is not one word of truth in this message which he sent to Jeroboam. Amos had not conspired against the king - had not said that Jeroboam should die by the sword - and had not said that Israel should be carried away captive, though this last was implied in God's threatening and afterwards delivered by this prophet; see Amo 7:17.

O thou seer - He pretends kindness to the prophet, and counsels him to go into Judea, and prophesy there and be safe, even in the time that he had accused him of high treason against Jeroboam. Hireling priests of this kind have ever been the great enemies of the true prophets of God; and when they could bring no charge of false doctrine or immorality against them, have accused them of conspiring against the government; and because they have preached against sin, have held them up as exciting insurrection among the people.

But prophesy not - at Beth-el - He must not speak against idolatry, because that was the king's religion; and he who speaks against the king's religion must be an enemy to the state. This was the doctrine held in England by popish James 2 and his insidious Jesuit hireling priests, till God in his mercy put this pitiful tyrant down, and with him his false prophets, and the degrading superstition which they endeavored to establish in these lands.

I was no prophet - I am an extraordinary messenger of God. I am not called to the prophetic office but for this occasion. I have no message to Judah, and therefore need not go there. I have a message to Israel alone, and I must faithfully deliver it.

For the account which Amos gives here of himself, see the introduction.

Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord - While he was speaking in his own vindication, God seems to have inspired him with the awful prediction which he immediately delivers.

Thy wife shall be a harlot - As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed.

1. His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest.

2. His sons and daughters were to fall by the sword.

3. Their inheritance was to be taken by strangers.

4. And himself was to die a captive in a heathen land.

Israel shall surety go into captivity - He now declares fully what he had not declared before, though Amaziah had made it a subject of accusation. This particular was probably revealed at this instant, as well as those which concerned Amaziah and his family.

Thus - This is the first of five prophetic representations of what was coming upon this people. The latter growth - The shooting up of the first growth being too luxuriant, they often eat it down with cattle; but if the second growth were eat up, it marred the whole harvest. Mowed - It is supposed the first mowing of the corn in the blade was for the king's use; and after this the second springing grew up to the harvest.

It came to pass - In the vision. By whom - How shall any of Jacob escape, if thou dost cast him down?

Repented - This is spoken after the manner of men.

Shewed - In vision. Called - Commanded fire from heaven. A part - Of the land too.

By a plumb - line - Strongly and beautifully built.

Set a plumb - line - I will exactly measure the whole ten tribes. Pass by them - I will no more forbear, but will pull down all that is faulty.

The high places - The temples on high mountains built to idols. Of Isaac - The seed of Isaac.

In the midst - Openly, and publickly, endeavouring to stir up Israel to sedition or rebellion. The land - The people cannot bear all his harsh predictions.

Jeroboam shall die - He nowhere said so, but spake of his house distinguished from his person, as ver.9.

The king's court - To which therefore thou oughtest to shew more respect, and not thus to affront the king in his own house.

No prophet - Not originally, or by study, or by any human designation. An herdman - By breeding and occupation I was and still am, an herdman. Sycamore fruit - This fruit was good food for man, or cattle.

The house of Isaac - The posterity of Isaac.

In a polluted land - Among the Heathen. Israel - The ten tribes.

1 THus hath the LORD God shewed unto me, and behold , he formed grashoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, and lo, it was the latter growth after the kings mowings .

Sometime this refers to what went before, here it refers to what the Prophet saw and is about to declare.

This is the first of five Visions or Prophetick Representations of what was coming upon this People for their sins. The Lord gave Amos a clear sight of the future calamity by this Vision.

I could not but observe, and it is worthy your observance too.

It is not said he called for them, but he formed, or created them, probably intimating somewhat extraordinary in them, either in their bigness or number, or rather sudden appearing of them. So the plague signified by them should suddenly come upon them.

In our Countrey grashoppers are not hurtful, but these in our Text were Locusts and so rendred, Isa. 33.4. and N[illegible: 1 letter]h. 3..17. and the word used by Amos here is Paraphras'd by the Heb. Criticks by a word that properly Notes Locust.

The shooting up of the first growth being too luxuriant they did either mow off the tops, or eat it down with Cattel, and this was done for preserving the Corn and increase of the Harvest, but if the second growth were cut off or eat up, it marred the whole Harvest, and these devouring Locusts were formed in such time as to do this, and so to bring a famine upon the land.

It is supposed that the first mowing of the luxuriant Corn in the blade was for the Kings use, and after this the second springing grew up to the Harvest. It may possibly intimate, that though the Kings of Israel did as 'twere mow the luxuriant Riches, yet they grew again, but when Assyrian Locusts come all is devour'd.

Marginal references: Or, green worms.

2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land , then I said , O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee , by whom shall Jacob arise ? for he is small .

Either visionally, the whole Scheme represented both Locusts, Grass, Herbs and Corn, and it represented the Grass as almost all eaten up and the Locusts ready to fall upon the Corn, and all that remain'd. Or else really, it was acted, and the Grass was devoured. Though the former seems most likely, I leave it to every ones judgment.

Amos interceded by Prayer for this People in this case.

And he sueth for Mercy, intreats for Pardon, hereby justifying Gods proceedings, and though this people for whom he prays is insensible of their condition, yet the prophet is deeply affected with it, and deprecates the displeasure of God, and implores his Mercy; to God belongs forgiveness, to them nothing but shame.

How shall any of Iacob escape, or if thou O God of Iacob dost cast him down, who will or can lift him up? he must needs perish if thou be still angry and shew not pitty.

Weak in strength, few in number, not able to resist his Enemies the Assyrians.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 span] for) [illegible: 1 span].

3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be , saith the LORD.

This spoke after the manner of man, is to be understood as becomes the Immutability and omniscience of God, what a man when he repenteth doth, desisting from the thing, so God desisting or suspending his own Act doth tell us he repenteth.

This explains the former, That sore Famine like to be caused by these Locusts came not, Amos prevailed by Prayer and the Judgment was diverted.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]

4 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me, and behold , the Lord GOD called to contend by fire , and it devoured the great deep , and did eat up a part .

In Vision or Hieroglyphic, Vid. ver. 1. let. b.

Vid. ver. 1. let. c.

Declar'd he would judge as by fire.

Literally say some, God would from Heaven by fire punish. Others say metaphorically, by drought which should scorch up all fruits of the Earth, and dry up Fountains and Rivers. Or else by very sore, wasting, and irresistable judgments that like Fire should consume all, hereby denoting the Assyrian rage.

Eat up, i. e. Visionally, or in the Emblem.

Not literally, but as the other, ver. 2. in Hieroglyphic. So it appear'd to Amos.

Of the Land too, it seem'd to sieze on the Earth; now this in vision awakens the Prophet as before to pray earnestly.

6 The LORD repented for this: this also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

These two verses are almost word for word the same with ver. 2. and 3. which see.

7 ¶ Thus he shewed me, and behold , the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line , with a plumb-line in his hand .

Vid. ver. 1. let. b. c.

The Great God, who had long tried Israel and often spared.

Possibly it may denote his fixed purpose now to proceed to demolish this State.

Strongly, regularly and beautifully built, as art could build it.

Ready as an Artist to take the measures of this Wall to discover all the defects of it, and how much 'twas varied from what it was at first built. This shall be the last measuring it, and on this measuring what ever is faulty shall be pulled down though to the very Foundation. This was Visionally represented to the Prophet.

8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou ? and I said, A plumb-line . Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel , I will not again pass by them any more.

Who did before shew Amos the Emblem in Landskip or Vision.

This God asketh not as if he were ignorant what Amos saw, or as if he would be informed whether he saw aright, but it is introductory to that follows.

Or perpendicular to which Masons first build, and frame Walls of Houses, and by which they do at any time measure them whether they stand upright, or any way belly out, and decline.

I will exactly measure my people Israel, the whole Fabrique of the Ten Kingdoms. I will take a particular view of all, and how far 'tis right, or how far 'tis out of Order.

I will no more forbear, but I will pull down all that is faulty, though I pull up the very Foundations, and this is confirm'd in what followeth.

Marginal references: See 2 [illegible: 1 span] 13. Isa. 34.[illegible: 1 span] Lam. 2.8.; chap. 8.2.

9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate , and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste ; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword .

The Temples on high Mountains built to Idols, or for the Worship of God, though he forbad them.

The Father is here named, but his Children are intended all the seed of Isaac; I cannot, though some do, think the Prophet alludes to Isaac's being offered upon a High Mountain.

Shall be rased to the Foundation, or left to moulder and fall with length of time, and assaults of storms and weather.

This explains the former, and speaking after the custom of those times the Prophet calls the Idol Temples Sanctuaries, whether in Dan and Bethel or elsewhere.

God will, but not immediately, rise up: He will stir up some or other to do what he threatens.

In the days of Zec[illegible: 1 letter]ariah (son of Ieroboam) murthered by Shallum.

First of a Conspirator Shallum, next of Civil War.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter] Kin. 15.10.

10 ¶ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel , sent to Jeroboam king of Israel , saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel : the land is not able to bear all his words .

After that Amos had expresly and peremptorily foretold the ruin of Idolatry and Kingdom of Israel for their sins.

It appears not what Family he was of, nor is it much material we should know, 'tis probable he might be of some mean Family, or possibly an Apostate Priest of the Tribe of Levi.

By way of Eminency, no common Priest, but the chief Priest.

To the Calf at Bethel, and tis like he was Praefect or Governour for the King in the Civil Affairs of that City and Countrey.

Gave information by Messengers sent.

The second of that name of Iehu's Race the third from Iehu.

At that time living and on the Throne of Israel.

He accused the Prophet of High Treason, and conspiring to raise War against his Soveraign.

Openly, and publickly, or hath endeavour'd to raise all Israel into Sedition or Rebellion against their own King.

Either thus, if what he threateneth should come to pass 'twill be ruin and utter desolation to all. Or thus; The People are incensed so much against this Prophet for his harsh predictions, that he must be made an Example to quiet and content them.

What he saith will come, if it doth come will certainly ruin all, high and low, and a well order'd Government may not bear such a Prophet. Thus far the general Accusation.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter] Kin. 12.32.; [illegible: 1 letter] Kin. 14.23

11 For thus Amos saith , Jeroboam shall die by the sword , and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land .

So Amaziah falsely reports the Prophet.

He no where said so, nor did he insinuate so much, but spake of his house distinguish'd from his Person, as ver. 9.

This indeed he foretold, but did no more contribute to it, or contrive it, than the Physician doth who foretels the death of an uncounsellable Patient, sick of a mortal Disease.

This is added to signifie the greatness of the Captivity.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos , O thou seer , go, flee thee away into the land of Judah , and there eat bread , and prophesie there .

It is probable enough that this Arch-Priest of Bethel did send this advice, or gave it to the Prophet so soon as he had accus'd the Prophet to Ieroboam, and perhaps he thus intended to insinuate a great good Will towards the Prophet, presuming the Prophet knew nothing that Amaziah had accused him.

Whether this be spoken in scorn, or giving him the respect due to a Prophet, I determine not.

Be advised, stay not here, but with all speed flee out of the Kingdom, get thee into Iudah whence thou camest, there thou mayst be safe.

Thou wilt never get thy Bread here by this kind of Preaching, in Iudah 'tis likely thou mayst get thy livelihood by thy Prophetick art; thither go.

There thou mayst▪ freely declaim against our Vices, and predict our fall, which we do as little, as thou dost much believe.

13 But prophesie not again any more at Bethel , for it is the kings chappel , and it is the kings court .

As a Friend I advise thou do not, and as having Authority from the King, I do declare thou shalt not Prophesie in Bethel:

Where I am by the Kings Authority empowred to give Licence, or impose silence, and to see that none but fit persons preach before the King, who doth there pay his Devotions,

where all his Nobles attend him, and where no ordinary, obscure, and uncourtly Doctor may appear, beside such preaching so near to the Kings Court, will be speedily punisht, therefore as thou lovest thy self Amos follow my advice, and let the Kings Court, and this Country hear no more of thee.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span] 2.12.; [illegible: 1 span] Sanctuary.; [illegible: 1 word] house of [illegible: 1 letter]ingdom.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah , I was no prophet , neither was I a prophets son , but I was an herdman , and a gatherer of sycomore fruit .

So soon as this false accuser had under the vizzard of friendship given advice, and withal intimated his resolution to use his Authority to make Amos desist if he did not do it voluntarily; Amos gives him answer

readily, boldly, and yet smoothly, and out-shoots the Court Pontif in his own bow.

Not fearing his person or his power.

Not originally, or by succession, or by study, or by any humane designation and preparation; as many have been,

My Father was no Prophet, nor was I bred up in the school of the Prophets, such as 2 Kings 2.3, 5, 7, 15. and 4.38. and 6.1. Though you call me seer, whether ironically or seriously, I matter not, but assure you I am not such by Art, or Trade, or for a livelihood.

By breeding, choice, and occupation I was and still am an herd-man, and have my concerns in that mystery in or near Tekoah in Iudah, on which I can live, though I prophesie without stipend or salary, I needed not to run into the Prophets work for my bread.

The Tree and Fruit is known by one Name, Palestine abounded with both, and the Fruit was sweet, not large, yet good for food for man, or cattel, as some Fruits are with us; on these I could still, as I formerly did, live, and be content.

Marginal references: 1 King. 20▪35.; chap. 1.1.; Or, wild figs.

15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me , Go , prophesie unto my people Israel .

The great and jealous God whom you oppose by Idols,

by an extraordinary power of his Spirit took me off from my old, mean and private employment and recess, and I could not withstand him.

Commanded whether by voice from Heaven, or extraordinary irradiation of his mind, or impulse of the Divine prophetick Spirit comes all to one, his Authority is Divine.

Out of Iudah.

As a Prophet instruct, threaten, promise, invite, and foretel.

The Ten Tribes which with like civility are called by Amos Gods people as he called Seer.

A description of a shepheards employment;

Marginal references: Heb. from behind.

16 ¶ Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD : Thou sayest , Prophesie not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac .

When forbidden, Amos undaunted prophesieth to him that forbad him.

Amaziah who hast accused, yet pretendest to wish and advise my safety,

Who sent me, whom thou contradictest, from him I have somewhat to say to thee, and of much concern also to thee.

Usest thy power to silence me,

Preach not Sedition, or what tends to it under pretence that God speaks it against Israel, if thou canst speak good of us, and to us, this may be good for thee, but if thou wilt speak sad news against us, it will not be believed, it may hurt thee, it will do no good to others.

Distil not, Vid. Ezek. 21.1, 7. and Mic. 2.6.

The posterity of Isaac, this explains the former, and is an Hendiadis, or elegant ingemination.

17 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city , and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword , and thy land shall be divided by line : and thou shalt die in a polluted land , and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land .

Because thou hast so directly, and strenuously oppos'd the Lord,

which to a man of sense is a great affliction.

A common whore,

A notorious one that plays not the Adulteress in secret at home, but so that all take notice of it, and brand her for it;

Which in all likelyhood doth intimate their slaughter by Shallum when he slew Zechariah Ieroboam's Son, with whom no doubt but his friends fell, among which this Family was, or else by the sword, of Menahem, who slew Shallum.

Thy Estate, which no doubt was large, shall be shared among the Souldiers and Courtiers of Menahem.

Thy dishonour by a lewd Wife, thy childless solitariness, and thy Poverty shall come on thee e're thou die, its probable he fled to save his Life.

Among the Heathen, where thou mayest be sure my word was true.

Ten Tribes.

See ver 11. let. f. g.

Marginal references: See Jer. 28.12. and 29.21, 25.

Visions of the Locusts, the Fire, and the Plumb-Line. The Prophet’s Experience at Bethel - Amos 7 Amo 7:1-3

The first two visions. - Amo 7:1-3. The Locusts. - Amo 7:1. “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me; and, behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop; and, behold, it was a second crop after the king’s mowing. Amo 7:2. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the vegetable of the land, I said, Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for he is small. Amo 7:3. Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah.” The formula, “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me,” is common to this and the three following visions (Amo 7:4, Amo 7:7, and Amo 8:1), with this trifling difference, that in the third (Amo 7:7) the subject (the Lord Jehovah) is omitted, and 'Adōnâi (the Lord) is inserted instead, after vehinnēh (and behold). הראני denotes seeing with the eyes of the mind - a visionary seeing. These visions are not merely pictures of a judgment which was ever threatening, and drawing nearer and nearer (Baur); still less are they merely poetical fictions, or forms of drapery selected arbitrarily, for the purpose of clothing the prophet’s thoughts; but they are inward intuitions, produced by the Spirit of God, which set forth the punitive judgments of God. Kōh (ita, thus) points to what follows, and vehinnēh (and behold) introduces the thing seen. Amos sees the Lord form locusts. Baur proposes to alter יוצר (forming) into יצר (forms), but without any reason, and without observing that in all three visions of this chapter hinnēh is followed by a participle (קרא in Amo 7:4, and נצּב in Amo 7:7), and that the 'Adōnâi which stands before נצּב in Amo 7:7 shows very clearly that this noun is simply omitted in Amo 7:1, because 'AdōnâI Yehōvâh has immediately preceded it. גּבי (a poetical form for גּבה, analogous to שׂדי for שׂדה, and contracted into גּוב in Nah 3:17) signifies locusts, the only question being, whether this meaning is derived from גּוּב = Arab. jâb, to cut, or from גּבה = Arab. jb‛a, to creep forth (out of the earth). The fixing of the time has an important bearing upon the meaning of the vision: viz., “at the beginning of the springing up of the second crop (of grass);” especially when taken in connection with the explanation, “after the mowings of the king.” These definitions cannot be merely intended as outward chronological data. For, in the first place, nothing is known of the existence of any right or prerogative on the part of the kings of Israel, to have the early crop in the meadow land throughout the country mown for the support of their horses and mules (1Ki 18:5), so that their subjects could only get the second crop for their own cattle. Moreover, if the second crop, “after the king’s mowings,” were to be interpreted literally in this manner, it would decidedly weaken the significance of the vision. For if the locusts did not appear till after the king had got in the hay for the supply of his own mews, and so only devoured the second crop of grass as it grew, this plague would fall upon the people alone, and not at all upon the king. But such an exemption of the king from the judgment is evidently at variance with the meaning of this and the following visions. Consequently the definition of the time must be interpreted spiritually, in accordance with the idea of the vision. The king, who has had the early grass mown, is Jehovah; and the mowing of the grass denotes the judgments which Jehovah has already executed upon Israel. The growing of the second crop is a figurative representation of the prosperity which flourished again after those judgments; in actual fact, therefore, it denotes the time when the dawn had risen again for Israel (Amo 4:13). Then the locusts came and devoured all the vegetables of the earth. עשׂב הארץ is not the second crop; for עשׂב does not mean grass, but vegetables, the plants of the field (see at Gen 1:11). Amo 7:2 and Amo 7:3 require that this meaning should be retained. When the locusts had already eaten the vegetables of the earth, the prophet interceded, and the Lord interposed with deliverance. This intercession would have been too late after the consumption of the second crop. On the other hand, when the vegetables had been consumed, there was still reason to fear that the consumption of the second crop of grass would follow; and this is averted at the prophet’s intercession. והיה for ויהי, as in 1Sa 17:48; Jer 37:11, etc. סלח־נא, pray forgive, sc. the guilt of the people (cf. Num 14:19). מי יקוּם, how (מי qualis) can Jacob (the nation of Israel) stand (not arise), since it is small? קטן, small, i.e., so poor in sources and means of help, that it cannot endure this stroke; not “so crushed already, that a very light calamity would destroy it” (Rosenmüller). for נחם על, see Exo 32:14. זאת (this) refers to the destruction of the people indicated in מי יקוּם; and זאת is also to be supplied as the subject to לא תהיה.

Amo 7:4-6

The Devouring Fire. - Amo 7:4. “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to punish with fire; and it devoured the great flood, and devoured the portion. Amo 7:5. And I said, Lord Jehovah, leave off, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for it is small. Amo 7:6. Jehovah repented of this; this also shall not take place, said the Lord Jehovah.” That the all-devouring fire represents a much severer judgment than that depicted under the figure of the locusts, is generally acknowledged, and needs no proof. But the more precise meaning of this judgment is open to dispute, and depends upon the explanation of the fourth verse. The object to קרא is לריב בּאשׁ, and ריב is to be taken as an infinitive, as in Isa 3:13 : He called to strive (i.e., to judge or punish) with fire. There is no necessity to supply ministros suos here. The expression is a concise one, for “He called to the fire to punish with fire” (for the expression and the fact, compare Isa 66:16). This fire devoured the great flood. Tehōm rabbâh is used in Gen 7:11 and Isa 51:10, etc., to denote the unfathomable ocean; and in Gen 1:2 tehōm is the term applied to the immense flood which surrounded and covered the globe at the beginning of the creation. ואכלה, as distinguished from ותּאכל, signifies an action in progress, or still incomplete (Hitzig). The meaning therefore is, “it also devoured (began to devour) 'eth-hachēleq;” i.e., not the field, for a field does not form at all a fitting antithesis to the ocean; and still less “the land,” for chēleq never bears this meaning; but the inheritance or portion, namely, that of Jehovah (Deu 32:9), i.e., Israel. Consequently tehōm rabbâh cannot, of course, signify the ocean as such. For the idea of the fire falling upon the ocean, and consuming it, and then beginning to consume the land of Israel, by which the ocean was bounded (Hitzig), would be too monstrous; nor is it justified by the simple remark, that “it was as if the last great conflagration (2Pe 3:10) had begun” (Schmieder). As the fire is to earthly fire, but the fire of the wrath of God, and therefore a figurative representation of the judgment of destruction; and as hachēleq (the portion) is not the land of Israel, but according to Deuteronomy (l.c.) Israel, or the people of Jehovah; so tehōm rabbâh is not the ocean, but the heathen world, the great sea of nations, in their rebellion against the kingdom of God. The world of nature in a state of agitation is a frequent symbol in the Scriptures for the agitated heathen world (e.g., Psa 46:3; Psa 93:3-4). On the latter passage, Delitzsch has the following apt remark: “The stormy sea is a figurative representation of the whole heathen world, in its estrangement from God, and enmity against Him, or the human race outside the true church of God; and the rivers are figurative representations of the kingdoms of the world, e.g., the Nile of the Egyptian (Jer 46:7-8), the Euphrates of the Assyrian (Isa 8:7-8), or more precisely still, the arrow-swift Tigris of the Assyrian, and the winding Euphrates of the Babylonian (Isa 27:1).” This symbolism lies at the foundation of the vision seen by the prophet. The world of nations, in its rebellion against Jehovah, the Lord and King of the world, appears as a great flood, like the chaos at the beginning of the creation, or the flood which poured out its waves upon the globe in the time of Noah. Upon this flood of nations does fire from the Lord fall down and consume them; and after consuming them, it begins to devour the inheritance of Jehovah, the nation of Israel also. The prophet then prays to the Lord to spare it, because Jacob would inevitably perish in this conflagration; and the Lord gives the promise that “this shall not take place,” so that Israel is plucked like a firebrand out of the fire (Amo 4:11).

If we inquire now into the historical bearing of these two visions, so much is à priori clear, - namely, that both of them not only indicate judgments already past, but also refer to the future, since no fire had hitherto burned upon the surface of the globe, which had consumed the world of nations and threatened to annihilate Israel. If therefore there is an element of truth in the explanation given by Grotius to the first vision, “After the fields had been shorn by Benhadad (2Ki 13:3), and after the damage which was then sustained, the condition of Israel began to flourish once more during the reign of Jeroboam the son of Joash, as we see from 2Ki 14:15,” according to which the locusts would refer to the invasion on the part of the Assyrians in the time of Pul; this application is much too limited, neither exhausting the contents of the first vision, nor suiting in the smallest degree the figure of the fire. The “mowing of the king” (Amo 7:1) denotes rather all the judgments which the Lord had hitherto poured out upon Israel, embracing everything that the prophet mentions in Amo 4:6-10. The locusts are a figurative representation of the judgments that still await the covenant nation, and will destroy it even to a small remnant, which will be saved through the prayers of the righteous. The vision of the fire has a similar scope, embracing all the past and all the future; but this also indicates the judgments that fall upon the heathen world, and will only receive its ultimate fulfilment in the destruction of everything that is ungodly upon the face of the earth, when the Lord comes in fire to strive with all flesh (Isa 66:15-16), and to burn up the earth and all that is therein, on the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10-13). The removal of the two judgments, however, by Jehovah in consequence of the intercession of the prophet, shows that these judgments are not intended to effect the utter annihilation of the nation of God, but simply its refinement and the rooting out of the sinners from the midst of it, and that, in consequence of the sparing mercy of God, a holy remnant of the nation of God will be left. The next two visions refer simply to the judgment which awaits the kingdom of the ten tribes in the immediate future.

Amo 7:7-9

The Third Vision. - Amo 7:7. “Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made with a plumb-line, and a plumb-line in His hand. Amo 7:8. And Jehovah said to me, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A plumb-line. And the Lord said, Behold, I put a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel: I shall pass by it no more. Amo 7:9. And the sacrificial heights of Isaac are laid waste, and the holy things of Israel destroyed; and I rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” The word אנך, which only occurs here, denotes, according to the dialects and the Rabbins, tin or lead, here a plumb-line. Chōmath 'ănâkh is a wall built with a plumb-line, i.e., a perpendicular wall, a wall built with mechanical correctness and solidity. Upon this wall Amos sees the Lord standing. The wall built with a plumb-line is a figurative representation of the kingdom of God in Israel, as a firm and well-constructed building. He holds in His hand a plumb-line. The question addressed to the prophet, “What does he see?” is asked for the simple purpose of following up his answer with an explanation of the symbol, as in Jer 1:11, Jer 1:13, since the plumb-line was used for different purposes, - namely, not only for building, but partly also for pulling buildings down (compare 2Ki 21:13; Isa 34:11). Jehovah will lay it beqerebh ‛ammı̄, to the midst of His people, and not merely to an outward portion of it, in order to destroy this building. He will no longer spare as He has done hitherto. עבר ל, to pass by any one without taking any notice of him, without looking upon his guilt or punishing him; hence, to spare, - the opposite of עבר בּקרב in Amo 5:17. The destruction will fall upon the idolatrous sanctuaries of the land, the bâmōth (see at 1Ki 3:2), i.e., the altars of the high places, and the temples at Bethel, at Daniel (see at 1Ki 12:29), and at Gilgal (see Amo 4:4). Isaac (ישׂחק, a softened form for יצחק, used here and at v. 16, as in Jer 33:26) is mentioned here instead of Jacob, and the name is used as a synonym for Israel of the ten tribes. Even the house of Jeroboam, the reigning royal family, is to perish with the sword (קם על as in Isa 31:2). Jeroboam is mentioned as the existing representative of the monarchy, and the words are not to be restricted to the overthrow of his dynasty, but announce the destruction of the Israelitish monarchy, which actually was annihilated when this dynasty was overthrown. The destruction of the sacred places and the overthrow of the monarchy involve the dissolution of the kingdom. Thus does Amos himself interpret his own words in Amo 7:11 and Amo 7:17.

Amo 7:10-11

Opposition to the Prophet at Bethel. - The daring announcement of the overthrow of the royal family excites the wrath of the high priest at Bethel, so that he relates the affair to the king, to induce him to proceed against the troublesome prophet (Amo 7:10 and Amo 7:11), and then calls upon Amos himself to leave Bethel (Amo 7:12 and Amo 7:13). That this attempt to drive Amos out of Bethel was occasioned by his prophecy in Amo 7:7-11, is evident from what Amaziah says to the king concerning the words of Amos. “The priest of Bethel” (Kōhēn Bēth-ēl) is the high priest at the sanctuary of the golden calf at Bethel. He accused the prophet to the king of having made a conspiracy (qâshar; cf. 1Ki 15:27, etc.) against the king, and that “in the midst of the house of Israel,” i.e., in the centre of the kingdom of Israel - namely at Bethel, the religious centre of the kingdom - through all his sayings, which the land could not bear. To establish this charge, he states (in Amo 7:11) that Amos has foretold the death of Jeroboam by the sword, and the carrying away of the people out of the land. Amos had really said this. The fact that in Amo 7:9 Jeroboam is named, and not the house of Jeroboam, makes no difference; for the head of the house if naturally included in the house itself. And the carrying away of the people out of the land was not only implied in the announcement of the devastation of the sanctuaries of the kingdom (Amo 7:9), which presupposes the conquest of the land by foes; but Amos had actually predicted it in so many words (Amo 5:27). And Amaziah naturally gave the substance of all the prophet’s addresses, instead of simply confining himself to the last. There is no reason, therefore, to think of intentional slander.

Amo 7:12-13

The king appears to have commenced no proceedings against the prophet in consequence of this denunciation, probably because he did not regard the affair as one of so much danger. Amaziah therefore endeavours to persuade the prophet to leave the country. “Seer, go, and flee into the land of Judah.” בּרח־לך, i.e., withdraw thyself by flight from the punishment which threatens thee. “There eat thy bread, and there mayst thou prophesy:” i.e., in Judah thou mayst earn thy bread by prophesying without any interruption. It is evident from the answer given by Amos in Amo 7:14, that this is the meaning of the words: “But in Bethel thou shalt no longer prophesy, for it is a king’s sanctuary (i.e., a sanctuary founded by the king; 1Ki 12:28), and bēth mamlâkhâh ,” house of the kingdom, i.e., a royal capital (cf. 1Sa 27:5), - namely, as being the principal seat of the worship which the king has established for his kingdom. There no one could be allowed to prophesy against the king.

Amo 7:14-15

Amos first of all repudiates the insinuation that he practises prophesying as a calling or profession, by which he gets his living. “I am no prophet,” sc. by profession, “and no prophet’s son,” i.e., not a pupil or member of the prophets’ schools, one who has been trained to prophesy (on these schools, see the comm. on 1Sa 19:24); but (according to my proper calling) a bōqēr, lit., a herdsman of oxen (from bâqâr); then in a broader sense, a herdsman who tends the sheep (צאן), a shepherd; and a bōlēs shiqmı̄m, i.e., one who plucks sycamores or mulberry-figs, and lives upon them. The ἁπ. λεγ. bōlēs is a denom. from the Arabic name for the mulberry-fig, and signifies to gather mulberry-figs and live upon them; like συκάζειν and ἀποσυκάζειν, i.e., according to Hesych. τὰ σῦκα τρώγειν, to eat figs. The rendering of the lxx κνίζων, Vulg. vellicans, points to the fact that it was a common custom to nip or scratch the mulberry-figs, in order to make them ripen (see Theophr. Hist. plant. iv. 2; Plin. Hist. nat. 13, 14; and Bochart, Hieroz. i. 384, or p. 406 ed. Ros.); but this cannot be shown to be the true meaning of bōlēs. And even if the idea of nipping were implied in the word bōlēs, it would by no means follow that the possession of a mulberry plantation was what was intended, as many commentators have inferred; for “the words contain an allusion to the 'eating of bread' referred to in Amo 7:12, and the fruit is mentioned here as the ordinary food of the shepherds, who lived at the pasture grounds, and to whom bread may have been a rarity” (Hitzig). From this calling, which afforded him a livelihood, the Lord had called him away to prophesy to His people Israel; so that whoever forbade him to do so, set himself in opposition to the Lord God.

Amo 7:16-17

In return for this rebellion against Jehovah, Amos foretels to the priest the punishment which will fall upon him when the judgment shall come upon Israel, meeting his words, “Thou sayst, Thou shalt not prophesy,” with the keen retort, “Thus saith Jehovah.” הטּיף, to drip, applied to prophesying here and at Mic 2:6, Mic 2:11, and Eze 21:2, Eze 21:7, is taken from Deu 32:2, “My teaching shall drip as the rain,” etc. Isaac (yishâq) for Israel, as in Amo 7:9. The punishment is thus described in Amo 7:17 : “Thy wife will be a harlot in the city,” i.e., at the taking of the city she will become a harlot through violation. His children would also be slain by the foe, and his landed possession assigned to others, namely, to the fresh settlers in the land. He himself, viz., the priest, would die in an unclean land, that is to say, in the land of the Gentiles, - in other words, would be carried away captive, and that with the whole nation, the carrying away of which is repeated by Amos in the words which the priest had reported to the king (Amo 7:11), as a sign that what he has prophesied will assuredly stand.

Intercession for Israel; Ruin of Israel Foretold. (b. c. 785.)

1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God , forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 3 The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord . 4 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord God , cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God . 7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

We here see that God bears long, but that he will not bear always, with a provoking people, both these God here showed the prophet: Thus hath the Lord God showed me, v. 1, 4, 7. He showed him what was present, foreshowed him what was to come, gave him the knowledge both of what he did and of what he designed; for the Lord God reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets, ch. iii. 7.

I. We have here two instances of God's sparing mercy, remembered in the midst of judgment, the narratives of which are so much like one another that they will be best considered together, and very considerable they are.

1. God is here coming forth against this sinful nation, first by one judgment and then by another. (1.) He begins with the judgment of famine. The prophet saw this in vision. He saw God forming grasshoppers, or locusts, and bringing them up upon the land, to eat up the fruits of it, and so to strip it of its beauty and starve its inhabitants, v. 1. God formed these grasshoppers, not only as they were his creatures (and much of the wisdom and power of God appears in the formation of minute animals, as much in the structure of an ant as of an elephant), but as they were instruments of his wrath. God is said to frame evil against a sinful people, Jer. xviii. 11. These grasshoppers were framed on purpose to eat up the grass of the land; and vast numbers of them were prepared accordingly. They were sent in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, after the king's mowings. See here how the judgment was mitigated by the mercy that went before it. God could have sent these insects to eat up the grass at the beginning of the first growth, in the spring, when the grass was most needed, was most plentiful, and was the best in its kind; but God suffered that to grow, and suffered them to gather it in; the king's mowings were safely housed, for the king himself is served from the field (Eccl. v. 9), and could as ill be without his mowings as without any other branch of his revenues. Uzziah, who was now king of Judah, loved husbandry, 2 Chron. xxvi. 10. But the grasshoppers were commissioned to eat up only the latter growth (the edgrew we call it in the country), the after-grass, which is of little value in comparison with the former. The mercies which God give us, and continues to us, are more numerous and more valuable than those he removes from us, which is a good reason why we should be thankful and not complain. The remembrance of the mercies of the former growth should make us submissive to the will of God when we meet with disappointments in the latter growth. The prophet, in vision, saw this judgment prevailing far. These grasshoppers ate up the grass of the land, which should have been for the cattle, which the owners must of course suffer by. Some understand this figuratively of a wasting destroying army brought upon them. In the days of Jeroboam the kingdom of Israel began to recover itself from the desolations it had been under in the former reigns (2 Kings xiv. 25); the latter growth shot up, after the mowings of the kings of Syria, which we read of 2 Kings xiii. 3. And then God commissioned the king of Assyria with an army of caterpillars to come upon them and lay them waste, that nation spoken of ch. vi. 14, which afflicted them from the entering of Hamath to the river of the wilderness, which seems to refer to 2 Kings xiv. 25, where Jeroboam is said to have restored their coast from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain. God can bring all to ruin when we think all is in some good measure repaired. (2.) He proceeds to the judgment of fire, to show that he has many arrows in his quiver, many ways of humbling a sinful nation (v. 4): The Lord God called to contend by fire. He contended, for God's judgment upon a people are his controversies with them; in them he prosecutes his action against them; and his controversies are neither causeless nor groundless. He called to contend; he did by his prophets give them notice of his controversy, and drew up a declaration, setting forth the meaning of it. Or he called for his angels, or other ministers of his justice, that were to be employed in it. A fire was kindled among them, by which perhaps is meant a great drought (the heat of the sun, which should have warmed the earth, scorched it, and burnt up the roots of the grass which the locusts had eaten the spires of), or a raging fever, which was as a fire in their bones, which devoured and ate up multitudes, or lightning, fire from heaven, which consumed their houses, as Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed (ch. iv. 11), or it was the burning of their cities, either by accident or by the hand of the enemy, for fire and sword used to go together; thus were the towns wasted, as the country was by the grasshoppers. This fire, which God called for, did terrible execution; it devoured the great deep, as the fire that fell from heaven on Elijah's altar licked up the water that was in the trench. Though the water designed for the stopping and quenching of this fire was as the water of the great deep, yet it devoured it; for who, or what, can stand before a fire kindled by the wrath of God! It did eat up a part, a great part, of the cities where it was sent; or it was as the fire at Taberah, which consumed the outermost parts of the camp (Num. xi. 1); when some were overthrown others were as brands plucked out of the fire. All deserved to be devoured, but it ate up only a part, for God does not stir up all his wrath.

2. The prophet goes forth to meet him in the way of his judgments, and by prayer seeks to turn away his wrath, v. 2. When he saw, in vision, what dreadful work these caterpillars made, that they had eaten up in a manner all the grass of the land (he foresaw they would do so, if suffered to go on), then he said, O Lord God! forgive, I beseech thee (v. 2); cease, I beseech thee, v. 5. He that foretold the judgment in his preaching to the people, yet deprecated it in his intercessions for them. He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee. It was the business of prophets to pray for those to whom they prophesied, and so to make it appear that though they denounced they did not desire the woeful day. Therefore, God showed his prophets the evils coming, that they might befriend the people, not only by warning them, but by praying for them, and standing in the gap, to turn away God's wrath, as Moses, that great prophet, often did. Now observe here,

(1.) The prophet's prayer: O Lord God! [1.] Forgive, I beseech thee, and take away the sin, v. 2. He sees sin at the bottom of the trouble, and therefore concludes that the pardon of sin must be at the bottom of deliverance, and prays for that in the first place. Note, Whatever calamity we are under, personal or public, the forgiveness of sin is that which we should be most earnest with God for. [2.] Cease, I beseech thee, and take away the judgment; cease the fire, cease the controversy; cause they anger towards us to cease. This follows upon the forgiveness of sin. Take away the cause and effect will cease. Note, Those whom God contends with will soon find what need they have to cry for a cessation of arms; and there are hopes that though God has begun, and proceeded far, in his controversy, yet it may be obtained.

(2.) The prophet's plea to enforce this prayer: By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? v. 2. And it is repeated (v. 5) and yet no vain repetition. Christ, in his agony, prayed earnestly, saying the same words, again and again. [1.] It is Jacob that he is interceding for, the professing people of God, called by his name, calling on his name, the seed of Jacob, his chosen, and in covenant with him. It it Jacob's case that is in this prayer spread before the God of Jacob. [2.] Jacob is small, very small already, weakened and brought low by former judgments; and therefore, if these come, he will be quite ruined and brought to nothing. The people are few; the dust of Jacob, which was once innumerable, is now soon counted. Those few are feeble (it is the worm Jacob, Isa. xli. 14); they are unable to help themselves or one another. Sin will soon make a great people small, will diminish the numerous, impoverish the plenteous, and weaken the courageous. [3.] By whom shall he arise? He has fallen, and cannot help himself up, and he has no friend to help him, none to raise him, unless the hand of God do it; what will become of him, then, if the hand that should raise him to stretched out against him? Note, When the state of God's church is very low and very helpless it is proper to be recommended by our prayers to God's pity.

3. God graciously lets fall his controversy, in answer to the prophet's prayer, once and again (v. 3): The Lord repented for this. He did not change his mind, for he is one mind and who can turn him? But he changed his way, took another course, and determined to deal in mercy and not in wrath. He said, It shall not be. And again (v. 6), This also shall not be. The caterpillars were countermanded, were remanded; a stop was put to the progress of the fire, and thus a reprieve was granted. See the power of prayer, of effectual fervent prayer, and how much it avails, what great things it prevails for. A stop has many a time been put to a judgment by making supplication to the Judge. This was not the first time that Israel's life was begged, and so saved. See what a blessing praying people, praying prophets, are to a land, and therefore how highly they ought to be valued. Ruin would many a time have broken in if they had not stood in the breach, and made good the pass. See how ready, how swift, God is to show mercy, how he waits to be gracious. Amos moves for a reprieve, and obtains it, because God inclines to grant it and looks about to see if there be any that will intercede for it, Isa. lix. 16. Nor are former reprieves objected against further instances of mercy, but are rather encouragements to pray and hope for them. This also shall not be, any more than that. It is the glory of God that he multiplies to pardon, that he spares, and forgives, to more than seventy times seven times.

II. We have here the rejection of those at last who had been often reprieved and yet never reclaimed, reduced to straits and yet never reduced to their God and their duty. This is represented to the prophet by a vision (v. 7, 8) and an express prediction of utter ruin, v. 9.

1. The vision is of a plumb-line, a line with a plummet at the end of it, such as masons and bricklayers use to run up a wall by, that they may work it straight and true, and by rule. (1.) Israel was a wall, a strong wall, which God himself had reared, as a bulwark, or wall of defence, to his sanctuary, which he set up among them. The Jewish church says of herself (Cant. viii. 10), I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. This wall was made by a plumb-line, very exact and firm. So happy was its constitution, so well compacted, and every thing so well ordered according to the model; it had long stood fast as a wall of brass. But, (2.) God now stands upon this wall, not to hold it up, but to tread it down, or, rather, to consider what he should do with it. He stands upon it with a plumb-line in his hand, to take measure of it, that it may appear to be a bowing, bulging wall. Recti est index sui et oblique—This plumb-line would discover where it was crooked. Thus God would bring the people of Israel to the trial, would discover their wickedness, and show wherein they erred; and he would likewise bring his judgments upon them according to equity, would set a plumb-line in the midst of them, to mark how far their wall must be pulled down, as David measured the Moabites with a line (2 Sam. viii. 2) to put them to death. And, when God is coming to the ruin of a people, he is said to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet; for when he punishes it is with exactness. It is now determined: "I will not again pass by them any more; they shall not be spared and reprieved as they have been; their punishment shall not be turned away," ch. i. 3. Note, God's patience, which has long been sinned against, will at length be sinned away; and the time will come when those that have been spared often shall be no longer spared. My spirit shall not always strive. After frequent reprieves, yet a day of execution will come.

2. The prediction is of utter ruin, v. 9. (1.) The body of the people shall be destroyed, with all those things that were their ornament and defence. They are here called Isaac as well as Israel, the house of Isaac (v. 16), some think in allusion to the signification of Isaac's name; it is laughter; they shall become a jest among all their neighbours; their neighbours shall laugh at them. The desolation shall fasten upon their high places and their sanctuaries, either their castles or their temples, both built on high places. Their castles they thought safe, and their temples sacred as sanctuaries. These shall be laid waste, to punish them for their idolatry and to make them ashamed of their carnal confidences, which were the two things for which God had a controversy with them. When these were made desolate they might read their sin and folly in their punishment. (2.) The royal family shall sink first, as an earnest of the ruin of the whole kingdom: I will rise against the house of Jeroboam, Jeroboam the second, who was now king of the ten tribes; his family was extirpated in his son Zecharias, who was slain with the sword before the people, by Shallum who conspired against him, 2 Kings xv. 10. How unrighteous soever the instruments were, God was righteous, and in them God rose up against that idolatrous family. Even king's houses will be no shelter against the sword of God's wrath.

Amaziah's Charge against Amos; Amaziah's Doom. (b. c. 785.)

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: 15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord : Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

One would have expected, 1. That what we met with in the former part of the chapter would awaken the people to repentance, when they saw that they were reprieved in order that they might have space to repent and that they could not obtain a pardon unless they did repent. 2. That it would endear the prophet Amos to them, who had not only shown his good-will to them in praying against the judgments that invaded them, but had prevailed to turn away those judgments, which, if they had had any sense of gratitude, would have gained him an interest in their affections. But it fell out quite contrary; they continue impenitent, and the next news we hear of Amos is that he is persecuted. Note, As it is the praise of great saints that they pray for those that are enemies to them, so it is the shame of many great sinners that they are enemies to those who pray for them, Ps. xxxv. 13, 15; cix. 4. We have here,

I. The malicious information brought to the king against the prophet Amos, v. 10, 11. The informer was Amaziah the priest of Bethel, the chief of the priests that ministered to the golden calf there, the president of Bethel (so some read it), that had the principal hand in civil affairs there. He complained against Amos, not only because he prophesied without license from him, but because he prophesied against his altars, which would soon be deserted and demolished if Amos's preaching could but gain credit. Thus the shrine-makers at Ephesus hated Paul, because his preaching tended to spoil their trade. Note, Great pretenders to sanctity are commonly the worst enemies to those who are really sanctified. Priests have been the most bitter persecutors. Amaziah brings an information to Jeroboam against Amos. Observe, 1. The crime he is charged with is no less than treason: "Amos has conspired against thee, to depose and murder thee; he aims at succeeding thee, and therefore is taking the most effectual way to weaken thee. He sows the seeds of sedition in the hearts of the good subjects of the king, and makes them disaffected to him and his government, that he may draw them by degrees from their allegiance; upon this account the land is not able to bear his words." It is slyly insinuated to the king that the country was exasperated against him, and it is given in as their sense that his preaching was intolerable, and such as nobody could be reconciled to, such as the times would by no means bear, that is, the men of the times would not. Both the impudence of his supposed treason, and the bad influence it would have upon the country, are intimated in that part of the charge, that he conspired against the king in the midst of the house of Israel. Note, It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince and troublers of the land, when really they are the best friends to both. And it is common for designing men to assert that as the sense of the country which is far from being so. And yet here, I doubt, it was too true, that the people could not bear plain dealing any more than the priests. 2. The words laid in the indictment for the support of this charge (v. 11): Amos says (and they have witnesses ready to prove it) Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive; and hence they infer that he is an enemy to his king and country, and not to be tolerated. See the malice of Amaziah; he does not tell the king how Amos had interceded for Israel, and by his intercession had turned away first one judgment and then another, and did not let fall his intercession till he saw the decree had gone forth; he does not tell him that these threatenings were conditional, and that he had often assured them that if they would repent and reform the ruin should be prevented. Nay, it was not true that he said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, nor did he so die (2 Kings xiv. 28), but that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword, v. 9. God's prophets and ministers have often had occasion to make David's complaint (Ps. lvi. 5), Every day they wrest my words. But shall it be made the watchman's crime, when he sees the sword coming, to give warning to the people, that they may get themselves secured? or the physician's crime to tell his patient of the danger of his disease, that he may use means for the cure of it? What enemies are foolish men to themselves, to their own peace, to their best friends! It does not appear that Jeroboam took any notice of this information; perhaps he reverenced a prophet, and stood more in awe of the divine authority than Amaziah his priest did.

II. The method he used to persuade Amos to withdraw and quit the country (v. 12, 13); when he could not gain his point with the king to have Amos imprisoned, banished, or put to death, or at least to have him frightened into silence or flight, he tried what he could do by fair means to get rid of him; he insinuated himself into his acquaintance, and with all the arts of wheedling endeavored to persuade him to go and prophesy in the land of Judah, and not at Bethel. He owns him to be a seer, and does not pretend to enjoin him silence, but suggests to him,

1. That Bethel was not a proper place for him to exercise his ministry in, for it was the king's chapel, or sanctuary, where he had his idols and their altars and priests; and it was the king's court, or the house of the kingdom, where the royal family resided and where were set the thrones of judgment; and therefore prophesy not any more here. And why not? (1.) Because Amos is too plain and blunt a preacher for the court and the king's chapel. Those that wear silk and fine clothing, and speak silken soft words, are fit for king's palaces. (2.) Because the worship that is in the king's chapel will be a continual vexation and trouble to Amos; let him therefore get far enough from it, and what the eye sees not the heart grieves not for. (3.) Because it was not fit that the king and his house should be affronted in their own court and chapel by the reproofs and threatenings which Amos was continually teazing them with in the name of the Lord; as if it were the prerogative of the prince, and the privilege of the peers, when they are running headlong upon a precipice, not to be told of their danger. (4.) Because he could not expect any countenance or encouragement there, but, on the contrary, to be bantered and ridiculed by some and to be threatened and brow-beaten by others; however, he could not think to make any converts there, or to persuade any from that idolatry which was supported by the authority and example of the king. To preach his doctrine there was but (as we say) to run his head against a post; and therefore prophesy no more there. But,

2. He persuades him that the land of Judah was the fittest place for him to set up in: Flee thee away thither with all speed, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. There thou wilt be safe; there thou wilt be welcome; the king's court and chapel there are on thy side; the prophets there will second thee; the priests and princes there will take notice of thee, and allow thee an honourable maintenance. See here, (1.) How willing wicked men are to get clear of their faithful reprovers, and how ready to say to the seers, See not, or See not for us; the two witnesses were a torment to those that dwelt on the earth (Rev. xi. 10), and it were indeed a pity that men should be tormented before the time, but that it is in order to the preventing of eternal torment. (2.) How apt worldly men are to measure others by themselves. Amaziah, as a priest, aimed at nothing but the profits of his place, and he thought Amos, as a prophet, had the same views, and therefore advised him to prophesy were he might eat bread, where he might be sure to have as much as he chose; whereas Amos was to prophesy where God appointed him, and where there was most need of him, not where he would get most money. Note, Those that make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment themselves, are ready to think these the most powerful inducements with others also.

III. The reply which Amos made to these suggestions of Amaziah's. He did not consult with flesh and blood, nor was it his care to enrich himself, but to make full proof of his ministry, and to be found faithful in the discharge of it, not to sleep in a whole skin, but to keep a good conscience; and therefore he resolved to abide by his post, and, in answer to Amaziah,

1. He justified himself in his constant adherence to his work and to his place (v. 14, 15); and that which he was sure would not only bear him out, but bind him to it, was that he had a divine warrant and commission for it: "I was no prophet, nor prophet's son, neither born nor bred to the office, not originally designed for a prophet, as Samuel and Jeremiah, not educated in the schools of the prophets, as many others were; but I was a herdsman, a keeper of cattle, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit." Our sycamores bear no fruit, but, it seems, theirs did, which Amos gathered either for his cattle or for himself and his family, or to sell. He was a plain country-man, bred up and employed in country work and used to country fare. He followed the flocks as well as the herds, and thence God took him, and bade him go and prophesy to his people Israel, deliver to them such messages as he should from time to time receive from the Lord. God made him a prophet, and a prophet to them, appointed him his work and appointed him his post. Therefore he ought not to be silenced, for, (1.) He could produce a divine commission for what he did. He did not run before he was sent, but pleads, as Paul, that he was called to be an apostle; and men will find it is at their peril if they contradict and oppose any that come in God's name, if they say to his seers, See not, or silence those whom he has bidden to speak; such fight against God. An affront done to an ambassador is an affront to the prince that sends him. Those that have a warrant from God ought not to fear the face of man. (2.) The mean character he wore before he received that commission strengthened his warrant, so far was it from weakening it. [1.] He had no thoughts at all of ever being a prophet, and therefore his prophesying could not be imputed to a raised expectation or a heated imagination, but purely to a divine impulse. [2.] He was not educated nor instructed in the art or mystery of prophesying, and therefore he must have his abilities for it immediately from God, which is an undeniable proof that he had his mission from him. The apostles, being originally unlearned and ignorant men, evidenced that they owed their knowledge to their having been with Jesus, Acts iv. 13. When the treasure is put into such earthen vessels, it is thereby made to appear that the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man, 2 Cor. iv. 7. [3.] He had an honest calling, by which he could comfortably maintain himself and his family; and therefore did not need to prophesy for bread, as Amaziah suggested (v. 12), did not take it up as a trade to live by, but as a trust to honour God and do good with. [4.] He had all his days been accustomed to a plain homely way of living among poor husbandmen, and never affected either gaieties or dainties, and therefore would not have thrust himself so near the king's court and chapel if the business God had called him to had not called him thither. [5.] Having been so meanly bred, he could not have the courage to speak to kings and great men, especially to speak such bold and provoking things to them, if he had not been animated by a greater spirit than his own. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint, Isa. l. 7. Note, God often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and a herdman of Tekoa puts to shame a priest of Bethel, when he receives from God authority and ability to act for him.

2. He condemns Amaziah for the opposition he gave them, and denounces the judgments of God against him, not from any private resentment or revenge, but in the name of the Lord and by authority from him, v. 16, 17. Amaziah would not suffer Amos to preach at all, and therefore he is particularly ordered to preach against him: Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, hear it and tremble. Those that cannot bear general woes may expect woes of their own. The sin he is charged with is forbidding Amos to prophesy; we do not find that he beat him, or put him in the stocks, only he enjoined him silence: Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; he must not only thunder against them, but he must not so much as drop a word against them; he cannot bear, no, not the most gentle distilling of that rain, that small rain. Let him therefore hear his doom.

(1.) For the opposition he gave to Amos God will bring ruin upon himself and his family. This was the sin that filled the measure of his iniquity. [1.] He shall have no comfort in any of his relations, but be afflicted in those that were nearest to him: His wife shall be a harlot; either she shall be forcibly abused by the soldiers, as the Levite's concubine by the men of Gibeah (they ravish the women of Zion, Lam. v. 11), or she shall herself wickedly play the harlot, which, though her sin, her great sin, would be his affliction, his great affliction and reproach, and a just punishment upon him for promoting spiritual whoredom. Sometimes the sins of our relations are to be looked upon as judgments of God upon us. His children, though they keep honest, yet shall not keep alive: His sons and his daughters shall fall by the sword of war, and he himself shall live to see it. He has trained them up in iniquity, and therefore God will cut them off in it. [2.] He shall be stripped of all his estate; it shall fall into the hand of the enemy, and be divided by line, by lot, among the soldiers. What is ill begotten will not be long kept. [3.] He shall himself perish in a strange country, not in the land of Israel, which had been holiness to the Lord, but in a polluted land, in a heathen country, the fittest place for such a heathen to end his days in, that hated and silenced God's prophets and contributed so much to the polluting of his own land with idolatry.

(2.) Notwithstanding the opposition he gave to Amos, God will bring ruin upon the land and nation. He was accused for saying, Israel shall be led away captive (v. 11), but he stands to it, and repeats it; for the unbelief of man shall not make the word of God of no effect. The burden of the word of the Lord may be striven with, but it cannot be shaken off. Let Amaziah rage, and fret, and say what he will to the contrary, Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Note, it is to no purpose to contend with the judgments of God; for when God judges he will overcome. Stopping the mouths of God's ministers will not stop the progress of God's word, for it shall not return void.

CHAP. VII.

Verſe 1. THus hath the Lord God ſhewed unto me,] ſc. in a Propheticall viſion: this being the firſt of thoſe five that follow, to the end of the Propheſie: all foretelling the evils that ſhould befall this people, to whom Amos is again ſent, as Ahijah was to Jeroboams wife with heavie tidings, and as Ezekiel was afterwards to his rebellious countreymen, with a roul written full of lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Ezech. 2.10.

and behold he formed graſhoppers,] Or, locuſts, fore-runners of famine, Joel 1.4. (See the Note there) or, (as ſome will) of the Aſſyrians, whom the divine juſtice made a ſcorpion to Iſrael, as Iſrael had been a ſcourge to Judah. When the Iſraelites were in their flouriſh, as the graſſe or wheat is in the beginning of the ſhooting up of the latter groweth, they had been firſt mowed by Benhadad, king of Syria: but, growing up again under Jeroboam their king, they were devoured by Pul and his Army, as by ſo many greedy locuſts.

In the beginning of the ſhooting up of the latter growth,] For in thoſe fat and fertile countreys they uſed Luxuriem ſegetum tener â depaſcere in herba.Virg. Georg. 1. Now if the latter growth were eaten up too, what elſe could follow but extreme famine?

It was the latter growth after the kings mowings.] Or, ſheep-ſhearings, as ſome read it: but the former is better: and Diodate here noteth, that it is thought that the kings did take the firſt crop, in eſum & uſum jumentorum, to keep their warre horſes, and for other ſervices: leaving the latter mowings for other cattle, who were taught to ſay, After your Majeſtie, is good manners.

Verſe 2. When they had made an end of eating,] Not the corn onely, but the graſſe, to the very roots; beſides a peſtilent ſtench left behinde them; when, I ſay, they had done their worſt. Prayer is the beſt lever at a dead lift: as is to bee ſeen, Jam. 5.18. upon the prayer of Elias the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit, after three years and a halfs drought; when it might well have been thought that root, and fruits, and all had been dried up, and that prayer had come too late. But that's ſeldome ſeen: as all Gods people can ſay experimentally. But what ſhall we think of Jamblicus, Lib. 5. cap. 27. a Heathen Authour, who hath ſuch a commendation of prayer, which might well beſeem an experienced Chriſtian? He calleth it, Rerum divinarum ducem & lucem, copulam, quâ homines cum Deo conjunguntur, the guide and light of divine duties: the band whereby men are united to God. Nay he proceedeth and ſaith, that prayer is clavis inſtar, qua Dei penetralia aperiuntur, inſtead of a key, wherewith Gods cabinet is opened: and much more to the ſame purpoſe: All this the Prophet knew full well, and therefore ſets to work in good earneſt: and as when a cart is in a quagmire, if the horſes feel it coming, they'le pull the harder, till they have it out: ſo He.

Then I ſaid, O Lord God forgive, I beſeech thee,] Sin, he knew, was their greateſt enemy; the mother of all their miſery. Of that therefore hee prayes for pardon, and then hee knew all ſhould be well: as when the ſore is healed, the plaiſter falleth off. Of Chriſt it is ſaid, that He ſhall ſave his people from their ſinnes, Mat. 1.21. as the greateſt of evils: and the Church in Hoſea chap. 14.2. cries, Take away all iniquity. Feri Domine, feri, ſaith Luther, nam à peccatis abſalutus ſum. Smite me as much as thou pleaſeſt, now that thou haſt forgiven my ſins.

By whom ſhall Jacob ariſe? for he is ſmall.] Here is much in few. It is Jacob, thy confederate: and he is down upon all four: and he is but ſmall, low and little, and (as ſome render it) Quis ſtabit Jacobo? Behold, He whom thou loveſt is ſick, Ioh. 11.3. They that are thine by covenant, are at a very great under: trodden on by the buls of Baſan, as a poor ſhrub of the wilderneſſe, ſo the Pſalmiſts word imports, Pſal. 102.17. Why ſhouldeſt thou be as a man aſtonied, (that knowes not whether he had beſt help or not?) or as a mighty man that cannot ſave? Jer. 14.9. Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midſt of us; and we are called by thy Name: leave us not. Thus the Prophets indeed prayed for their unkind countreymen: ſo did Paul, Athanaſius, Luther. I have obtained of God, ſaid He, that never whileſt I live ſhall the Pope prevail againſt my countrey: when I am gone, let thoſe pray that can pray. And indeed, he was no ſooner gone, but all Germany was on a flame:Act. & Mon. as when Auſtins head was laid, Hippo was ſoon ſurprized by the enemy; and when Pareus's, Heidelberg.

Verſe 3. The Lord repented for this: it ſhall not be, ſaith the Lord.] Here was mutatio rei, non Dei: facti, non conſilij: a change not of Gods will, but of his work; therefore (by way of explication) it followeth, it ſhall not bee ſaith the Lord. To ſpeak properly, there can be no repentance in God, 1 Sam. 15.20. but this is ſpoken after the manner of men: and it notably ſetteth forth the power of faithfull prayer, able after a ſort, to alter Gods minde, and to transfuſe a dead Palſie into the hands of Omnipotencie, Exod. 32.10. where God is fain to be-ſpeak his own freedom: and Moſes is repreſented as the great Chancellour of heaven.

Verſe 4. And behold the Lord God,] whoſe Aſterisk, or ſtarry Note this behold is, ſaith Tarnovius, ſtirring up to attention. Another compareth it to an hand in the margent of a book, pointing to ſome notable thing. Another to the ſounding of a trumpet before ſome proclamation: or to the ringing of a bell before the ſermon of ſome famous Preacher.

the Lord God called to contend by fire,] that is, by parching heat and drought, cauſing dearth, as Joel 1.19. For which purpoſe, God called his Angels, thoſe miniſtring ſpirits that execute his judgements upon the wicked (as they did once upon Sodom) to contend for him (a metaphor from civil courts) to plead for him by fire, to deſtroy the perverſe Iſraelites by fire and brimſtone,Eſay 66.16. Ezech. 38.22. as they had done Sodom and Gomorrah (ſo ſome interpret it according to the letter) or by the woe of warre, compared to fire, 2 King. 14.26. Eſay 26.11. as being a miſery which all words (how wide ſoever) want compaſſe to expreſſe: Or, by immoderate heat and drought, as afore: ſo great, that it devoured the great deep,] as that fire of the Lord in Eliah's time licked up the water that was in the treuch, 1 King. 18.38. See Eſay 51.10.

and did eat up a part.] Or, it devoured alſo the field: Not onely the waters, in and under the earth, that ſerve to make it fruitfull, but a part of the earth it ſelf: which was altogether above and againſt the common courſe of nature.Kimchi. Some render it, and did eat up that part, or that field, ſc. that mentioned verſe 1. the Kings field; that as the King had chiefly offended, ſo he ſhould be principally puniſhed.Druſius. Other, interpret it by chap. 4.7. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereon it rained not, withered.

Verſe 5. Then ſaid I, O Lord God, ceaſe I beſeech thee.] See verſe 2. and perſevering in prayer for the publike, remember to plead, not merit but miſery, Pſal. 79.8, 9. and with all humility to acknowledge that it is of the Lords mercies that we are not conſumed: becauſe his compaſſions fail not, Lam. 3.22.

Verſe 6. The Lord repented for this,] As he is gracious, Exod. 22.27. and quickly repenteth him of the evil, Joel 2.13. Redire nos, non perire deſiderat. I ſaid,Chryſelog. I would ſcatter them into corners, &c. Deut. 32.26, 27. Mercy could not behold ſuch ſtrange wrath and cruelty, and not weep her ſelf even ſick, as it were.

this alſo ſhall not be, ſaith the Lord.] So ready is he to yeeld himſelf overcome by the ſuits of his ſervants. Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus. See verſe 3.

Verſe 7. This he ſhewed me, and behold,] See verſe 4.

The Lord ſtood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, &c.] Here he was ſet, or ſtood firme, (as the word ſignifieth) as not to be removed from his purpoſe, by any intreaties: he was fully reſolved upon their ruine, and it ſhould be done exactly, ad amuſſim, by line and by rule, as it were, and with ſo much juſtice, and moſt exquiſite diligence, that againſt it ſhould lie no manner of exception. It is ſaid of the Areopagites in Athens, that their ſentence was ſo upright, that none could ever ſay he was unjuſtly condemned of them. How much more true is this of the righteous judgement of God, who muſt needes therefore be juſtified and every mouth ſtopped? Mat. 22.12. And he was ſpeechleſſe, becauſe ſelf-condemned Tit. 3.11. and had not what to requeſt.

with a plumb-line in his hand] To ſhew that he would accurately examine their actions, and puniſh their pravities. (See Lam. 2.8. and 2 King. 21.13.) not ſparing them as heretofore. A heavy ſentence ſurely Pſal. 130.3.

Verſe 8. Behold I will ſet a plumb-line] I will call them to a ſtrict account and ſhew them no favour Jer 16.13. I will now actually execute my juſtice which I have hitherto ſuſpended; and pay them home for the new and the old; bringing upon them an evill, an onely evill, without mixture of mercy Ezech. 7.5.

I will not againe paſs by them any more] A metaphor from men that paſſe by ſuch things as they ſlight and count inconſiderable: winking at ſmall faults as not worthy to be reckoned upon. Hence Mic. 7.18. God is ſaid to pardon iniquity and paſſe by tranſgreſſion: as elſewhere he is ſaid to bind them up in a bundle, to ſeale them up in a bag, to caſt them behind his back, to remove them as far as the Eaſt is from the Weſt, Pſal. 103. ſo that he beholdeth no ſin in Jacob, nor perverſeneſſe in Iſrael Num. 23.21. The Church, privy to her own infirmities, calleth her ſelf black Cant. 1.5. but Chriſt calleth her faire all over chap. 4.7. She ſaith, God hath puniſht us leſſe then our ſins, Ezra 9.13. He ſaith, She hath received double for her ſins Iſa. 40.1. Too much ſaith God; too little, ſaith She. O beautifull contention? But this is a priviledge proper to the communion of Saints, with whom God will not deale according to the rigour of his law (as he doth with the wicked) but according to his prerogative.

Verſe 9. And the high-places of Iſaac ſhall be deſolate] The Edomites alſo came of Iſaac: but by a Synechdoche the Iſraelites only are here and ver. 16. to be underſtood. Like as elſewhere Heber is put for the Iſraelites only Num. 24.24. and Ioſeph, for Ephraim Rev. 7.8. Some think that the high places of Iſaac are here mentioned, to ſhew that they were erected by the people in an apiſh imitation either of Beerſheba where Iſaac worſhipped, or of mount Moriah where Iſaac ſhould have been offered: And that Iſaac is here written with Sin and not tſadi to ſhew that God held himſelf not adored, but derided by thoſe high-places of irriſion, or thoſe ridiculous ultars, which therefore he threateneth to deſolate, and lay waſt.

and I will riſe againſt the houſe of Jeroboam with the ſword] as a prelude to the utter extermination of all by the Aſſyrians. See this fullfilled 2 King. 15.10. and chap. 17. Jeroboam was very proſperous and victorious: yet deſigned to deſtruction. Aug. Mat. 6.30. It is ſaid of wicked men, that foeneâ quadam felicitate temporaliter floreant, they flouriſh to day as graſs, and to morrow are caſt into the oven: and as the mettle whereof men make glaſs is neareſt melting when it ſhineth brighteſt, ſo are graceleſſe perſons neareſt deſtruction, when at greateſt luſtre. The Turks obſerving that few of their Viſiers die in their beds,Grand Sig. Serag. have this proverbe amongſt them, that the greateſt man is but as a ſtatue of glaſſe.

Verſe 10. Then Amaziah the Prieſt of Beth-el] Obſerving that the prophet had foretold a deſolation, and not prayed as before that it might be averted: becauſe he ſaw God was fully reſolved, and their deſtruction determined.

Amos hath conſpired againſt thee in the land] Thus Eliah was the Troubler of Iſrael, Jeremy a feedſman of ſedition, Chriſt an enemy to Caeſar, Luther a trumpet of rebellion, all Contra-remonſtrants, antimagiſtraticall. As Athaliah cryed Treaſon, Treaſon, when her ſelf was the greateſt traytour: and as in Nero's dayes Sedition was unicum crimen corum qui crimine vacabunt, Lipſiu[illegible: 1 letter]. laid ordinarily to the charge of thoſe that were moſt free from it, ſo was it here. Amos bath conſpired &c. whereas Amos might well have ſaid as Latimer did, 3 Serm. bef. K. Ed. 6. As for ſedition, for ought that I know, methinks I ſhould not need Chriſt, if I might ſo ſay. Religion is an utter enemy to rebellion: and as there are few conſcionable Chriſtians, (Prophets eſpecially) that have not paſſed under this calumniation: ſo he cannot be rightly eſteemed ſuch an one, that deſerveth it. But Amazia's honour and incomes were now at ſtake: as he well perceived when he heard Amos ſay, Go not up to Bethe-el &c. the high-places of Iſaac ſhall be deſtroyed: and hence, his zeale againſt the Prophet, like as Eraſmus told the Electour of Saxony, that the Pope and his ſhavelings were therefore ſo ſharp ſet againſt Luther, becauſe he lifted at the triple crown; and ſought to bring down the monks fat paunches.

the land is not able to beare all his words] his burdenſome propheſies (See Mal. 1.1. with the Note) much leſſe can I endure them, or any faithfull ſervant of thine, true to his truſt. Such a lying accuſation we read of Eſth. 3.8. made by haughty Haman againſt the innocent Jewes, that they kept not the kings lawes, and that therefore it were good policy to weed them out, as not to be longer endured. So Francis King of France, deſiring to excuſe to the Proteſtant-Princes of Germany his cruell perſecution of the Lutherans in his Kingdome, wrot to them that he looked upon them all as Anabaptiſts, and as enemies to civil government: and therefore uſed ſuch ſeverity againſt them. This gave occaſion to Calvin to write his admirable Inſtitutions, to vindicate our religion from that ſoule aſperſion:Saultet. Annal. 454. the like diveliſh policy was afterwards uſed to blanch over that horrid French maſſacre. For it was given out, that the Proteſtants had conſpired againſt the King, the Queen-mother, the kings brethren, the king of Navarre, and the Princes of the blood. There was alſo coyne ſtamped in memory of the matter, in the forepart whereof with the kings picture was this inſcription, Virtus in rebelles: Cambd. Eliſab. 163. and on the other ſide, Pietas excitavit juſtitiam: Piety hath ſtirred up juſtice. Here was a faire glove drawn upon a foule hand: and this they learned of the devill, who was firſt a ſlanderer and then a murtherer: as thoſe that have a mind to kill another mans dog, make the world beleeve he was mad firſt, that they may do it with the better pretext.

Verſe 11. For thus Amos ſaith, Jereboam ſhall die by the ſword &c.] When did Amos ſay ſo? he ſaid indeed that the houſe of Jeroboam ſhould be ſmitten with the ſword ver. 9. and this Amaziah maliciouſly transferreth to the perſon of Jeroboam, the more to enrage him againſt the Prophet: whom therefore he nameth once and againe, to create him the more diſpleaſure. That Jeroboam died by the ſword, we read not, but that his ſon Zechary was ſlaine, and his houſe deſtroyed in the next generation we find 2 King. 15. according to Amos his Prophecy. But to colour this calumny, ſome truth ſhall be admingled.

and Iſrael ſhell ſurely be led away captive] This indeed the Prophet had oft affirmed, (though not in any of thoſe three laſt viſions) and it proved too true: but becauſe Amos ſaith ſo, he muſt paſſe for a traytour againſt the majeſty both of the king and of the people. What an impudent ſycophant was this? The king and people are pretended: and what good ſubject can endure it? but that which irked him was, that his own authority was by this plain-dealing Prophet impaired, and his gaine like to be leſſened, if the ſuperſtition of Bethel were thus decried. It is ſaid of Phlugius and Sidonius (authours of the Interim in Germany) that among other points of Popery therein defended, they ſpake much for Chriſme and extreame unction, ut ipſi diſcederent unctores, Melch. Adam. that thereby they might hold fat biſhopricks. Such arguments prevaile much with all ſelf-ſeekers, whoſe covetouſneſſe and ambition uſually ride without reines, and over whoſe neck it mattereth not.

Veeſe 12. Alſo Amaziah ſaid unto Amos] After he had maliciouſly miſinformed the king, but prevailed not; ſo God would have it, in whoſe heart is the kings hand, & who rebuketh even kings for their ſakes, ſaying, Doe my Prophets no harme. O thou Seer] Faire words; the better to inſinuate. Mel in ore, verba lactis: Fel in corde, fraus in factis. Some think he calleth the Prophet thus by way of jeare, quaſi fatidicum aut fanaticum, as a fortune-teller or diſtracted. Others, that he giveth the Prophet good words, and ſeemeth to give him good counſel, as fearing the people, [non-Latin text not transcribed] ligam fecit. with whom Amos was in ſome credit: and therefore the king was told of a conſpiracy againſt him in the middeſt of the houſe of Iſrael, verſe. 10.

Flee-thee away into the land of Judah] Age. fuge: as a friend wrote to Brentius, when he was in danger to be ſurprized by the Emperours Agent,Melch. Adam. in vita Brent. Fuge, fuge Brenti citò, citiùs, citiſſimè, Flie for thy life, haſt, haſt, haſt. So the Phariſees (for no great love, be ſure, but only to be fairely rid of him) came and ſaid to Chriſt, Get thee out and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee Luk. 13.31.

into the land of Judah] This he ſpeaketh ſcornfully, q. d. we are not good enough for you? you are ſo ſtrict &c.Mercer.

and there eat bread, and propheſie there] Invidiosè omnia & contemptim dicit: If you ſtay heare, you may hap to ſtarve for it. Away therefore into your own country: and there make thee a living by propheſying. He ſeemes to meaſure Amos by himſelf: as if he were of thoſe that propheſied, for an handfull of harly, and a morſell of bread, Ezek. 13.19. Mic. 3.11. and as a certaine Popiſh Prieſt confeſſed concerning himſelf and his ſymmiſts, We preach the goſpell ſaid he, tantum ut nos paſcat & veſtiat, only to pick a living out of it.

Verſe 13. But propheſie not any more at Bethel] Take heed of that: leſt, by diffuſing too much light amongſt us, thou marre our markets, and hinder the ſale of our falſe wares. This was the naked truth of the buſineſſe: though ſomething elſe was pretended, and the kings intereſt pleaded.

for it is the kings chappell, and the kings court] Touch theſe mountaines and they will ſmoake, Truth is a good miſtreſſe, but ſuch of her ſervants as follow her too cloſe at heeles, may hap to have their teeth ſtruck out. Ahab hateth Michaiah: and Herod, Iohn Baptiſt, and the Pope Savanarola, for their plaine dealing, laying them faſt enough for it. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Great ones love it [non-Latin text not transcribed] they muſt heare pleaſing things: or, if told of their faults, it muſt be done with ſilken words, as She ſaid. They are uſually beſet with their Aiones and Negones as One hath it,Bucloc. that will ſay as they ſay: & mirifica eſt ſympathia inter magnates & paraſitos, and there is a wonderfull ſympathy betwixt kings and court-paraſites, as was betwixt Ahab and the falſe prophets. Few Veſpaſian[illegible: 1 letter] are to be found (of whom as it was ſaid, that he was the only One who was made the better man by being made Emperour, ſo) Quintilian commendeth him for this, that he was patientiſſimus veri moſt patient of truth, though never ſo ſharp. Jeroboam was none ſuch: or at leaſt Amaziah the Prieſt of Bethel would make the Prophet ſo beleeve, when he tells him it is the kings court, an ill ayre for truth to breath in. Nihil veritate gravius, nihil aſſentatione ſuavius.

Verſe 14. Then anſwered Amos and ſaid to Amaziah] With no leſſe courage,So Ioh. 1.19.21. I ſuppoſe, then Paul and Barnabas uſed to the ſtubborne Jewes Act, 13.46. or Baſil to Valent the Emperour, or Johannes Sarisburienſis to the Pope Anno 154. or Biſhop Ridly, when offering to preach before the Lady Mary, and receiving a repulſe, he was brought by Sr. Thomas Wharton her ſervant to the dining place and deſired to drink. Which after he had done, he pauſed a whille looking very ſadly: and ſodainely brake out into theſe words. Surely I have done amiſſe: why ſo? quoth the knight: for I have drunk, ſaid He, in that place where Gods word offered hath been refuſed: whereas if I had remembred my duty, I had departed immediately and ſhaken off the duſt of my ſhooes;Act. & Mon. fol: 1270. for a teſtimony againſt this houſe. Theſe words were by the ſaid Biſhop ſpoken with ſuch a vehemency, that ſome of the hearers afterwards confeſſed the haires to ſtand upright on their heades.

I was no Prophet, neither was I a Prophets ſon] Neither born, nor bred a Prophet: neither have I raſhly or ambitiouſly put my ſelf upon this tremend employment: my call thereto was extraordinary. The Prophets ſcholars were called their ſons 2 King. 2.3, 5, 7, 15. Eſa. 8.18. Mar. 10.24. 1 Cor. 4.14, 17.

but I was an heardman, and a gatherer of Sicomore fruit] Of meane condition, and hardly bred; ſo that I could live with a little, and needed not to turn Prophet ventris cauſâ, for food ſake. When one ſaid to the Philoſopher, If you will but pleaſe Dionyſius, you need not feed upon green herbs, he preſently replied, And if you can feed upon green herbes,Melch. Adam. you need not pleaſe Dionyſius. Nature is content with a little, grace with leſſe. It is not for a ſervant of God to be a ſlave to his palate: Luther made many a meale of a herring.

Verſe 15. And the Lord took me, as I followed the flock] As he took Eliſha from the plow-taile, the Apoſtles from caſting and mending their nets &c. Aſinos elegit Chriſtus & idiotas, ſed [illegible: 1 letter]culdvit in prudentes: ſimulque dona dedit, & miniſteria, he called them to the office, and withall he gifted them. He called alſo learned Nathaneel, and Nicodemus, a Maſter in Iſrael: leſt, if he had called none but ſuch as were ſimple, (ſaith Ioh. de Turrecremata) it ſhould have been thought, they had been deceived, through their ſimplicity. But it is Gods way to chuſe the fooliſh things of the world, to confound the wiſe; and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no fleſh ſhould glory in his preſence, 1 Cor. 1.27, 28, 29.

and the Lord ſaid unto me,] He often inculcates the Name of the Lord, to ſhew that there was a neceſſity of his propheſying: for who can ſafely diſobey ſuch a commander. See chap. 3.8. Aut faciendum, aut patiendum. The Philoſopher could tell the Emperour, who challenged him to diſpute, that there was no conteſting with Him that had twenty Legions at his command.

Go propheſie unto my people Iſrael.] Keep within my precincts, and thou ſhalt bee ſure of my protection: be true to thy truſt, and I will ſee to thy ſafety. If thou have not fine manchet (as Bucer ſaid to Bradford, encouraging him to beſtow his talent in preaching) yet give the poor people barley-bread, or what ever elſe the Lord hath committed unto thee. Having therefore ſuch a call from heaven to this work,Act. & Mon. 1454. with what face canſt thou hinder me therein? with what countenance will ye appear before the judgement-ſeat of Chriſt (ſaid Dr. Taylour Martyr to Stephen Gardiner, Lord Chancellour, who had thus ſaluted him, Art thou come, thou villain? how dareſt thou look me in the face for ſhame? knoweſt thou not who I am, &c?) How dare ye for ſhame look any Chriſtian man in the face, ſeeing you have forſaken the truth, denied our Saviour Chriſt and his word,Ibid. 1387. and done contrary to your own oath and writing. And, if I ſhould be afraid of your Lordly looks, why fear you not God, the Lord of us all? who hath ſent us on his errand, which we muſt deliver, and truth be ſpoken, however it be taken, 1 Cor. 9.16.

Verſe 16. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord,] Hear, thou deſpiſer and wonder, and periſh: for I work a work in thy dayes, a work which thou wilt in no wiſe beleeve, though a man declare it unto thee, Acts 13.41. But whether thou wilt hear, or forbear, beleeve or otherwiſe, thy doom is determined, and ſhall bee pronounced. Hear, therefore, and give ear: be not proud, Ezek. 3.27. for the Lord hath ſpoken it. Oh that thou wouldſt give glory to the Lord, and confeſſe thy ſinne! Oh that thou wouldſt ſubmit to Divine juſtice, implore his mercy,Jer. 13.15, 16. and putting thy mouth in the duſt, ſay as once that good man did, Veniat, veniat, verbum Domini, Melc. Ad. & ſubmittemus, ei ſexcenta ſi nobis eſſent eolla. Let the Lord ſpeak, for his ſervant heareth! But becauſe there is little hopes of that, ſtand forth and hear thy ſentence, and the evil that ſhall befall thee, as ſure as the coat is on thy back, or the heart in thy body. For hath the Lord ſpoken, and ſhall he not do it?

Thou ſayeſt propheſie not,] By a bold countermand to that of God in the former verſ. Go, propheſie, &c. But wee to him that ſtriveth with his maker: Eſay 45.9. let the potſherd ſtrive with the p[illegible: 1 letter]tſherds of the earth, let men meddle with their matches,Eccleſ. 6.10, and not with him that is mightier then they.

and drop not thy word,] which is as ſharp as vineger, and nitre. Or, though it were as ſweet as honey, yet it would cauſe pain to exulcerate parts, when dropped upon them.

againſt the houſe of Iſaac.] though commanded ſo to do verſe 9. Toothleſſe truths would be better diſgeſted.

Verſe 17. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord, Thy wife, &c.] Thou ſhalt bee ſure of thy ſhare in the common calamity, which thou wilt not hear of; but thou ſhalt hear and be aſhamed, &c. Eſay 26.11. So little is gotten by thwarting with God, and ſeeking to fruſtrate his counſell. With theſe froward pieces, God will ſhew himſelf froward: and if they walk contrary to him, he will alſo walk as croſſe to them: he will tame ſuch ſturdy rebels, as he did Pharaoh, Pſal. 16. Lev. 26. and that way raiſe him a name: all they ſhall get by him is but more weight of puniſhment; as when Jeboiakim had burnt Jeremies roul of curſes, all that he gained, was that the roul was renewed, and there were added beſides thereunto, many like words, Jer. 36.32. See the like, Ier. 20.2. 1 King. 13.4. and 22.25. Acts 5.38, 39.Dum devit[illegible: 1 letter] tur impletur. The counſel of God (ſaith Gregory) whiles ſhunned, is executed: the wiſdom of man may wriggle, but cannot eſcape.

Thy wife ſhall be an harlot in the city,] a common ſtrumpet,Kimchi. for a puniſhment of thy ſpirituall harlotry;Rev. 2.20 together with thy ſeducing my ſervants to commit fornication, and to eat things ſacrificed unto idols.

Or,Per vim ſtuprabitur. thy wife ſhall be an harlot,] that is, ſhe ſhall be raviſhed by the enemy before thy face; ſo Theodoret, Calvin, Mercer, &c. See Eſay 13.16. Lam. 5.11. The Iriſh rebels bound the husband to the bed-poſt, whiles they abuſed his wife before his face.

And thy ſonnes and thy daughters ſhall fall by the ſword,] becauſe thou haſt taken my ſonnes and my daughters, and theſe haſt thou ſacrificed unto devils to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a ſmall matter, that thou haſt ſlain my children, and brought them forth to the murtherer? Ezek. 16.20, 21. that thou haſt ſent ſo many ſouls to hell,Peremptores potius quam parentes. Bern. and nuzled up thine own ſons and daughters in ignorance and ſuperſtition, being therein, rather a parricide then a parent?

Thy land ſhall be divided by line,] thy purchaſes ſhall be parted among the enemies:Virg. Eclog. thine ill-gotten riches ſhall be made a ſpoil to the ſouldier. Impius haec, &c.

and thou ſhalt die in a polluted land,] i. e. In Aſſyria, filled with the uncleanneſſe of the inhabitants, from corner to corner, as Canaan was, Ezra 9.11. Lev. 26.38. Here thou ſhalt die for thine abominable idolatries, to thy great regret. Seldom do ſuch eſcape the viſible vengeance of God, as by virulent tongues, or violent hands perſecute his true Prophets. Whether Amos for his boldneſſe was firſt ſcourged by Amaziah, and then wounded to death by his ſon Ʋzziah (as ſome will) is uncertaine.

and Iſrael ſhall ſurely,] though thou wouldſt not beleeve it, verſe 11.