Amos 9 commentary

The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profession will not protect them.

Christ died to gather together the children of God that were scattered abroad, here said to be those who were called by his name. The Lord saith this, who doeth this, who can do it, who has determined to do it, the power of whose grace is engaged for doing it. Verses 13–15 may refer to the early times of Christianity, but will receive a more glorious fulfilment in the events which all the prophets more or less foretold, and may be understood of the happy state when the fulness both of the Jews and the Gentiles come into the church. Let us continue earnest in prayer for the fulfilment of these prophecies, in the peace, purity, and the beauty of the church. God marvellously preserves his elect amidst the most fearful confusions and miseries. When all seems desperate, he wonderfully revives his church, and blesses her with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And great shall be the glory of that period, in which not one good thing promised shall remain unfulfilled.

The Prophet confirms the threatening which we have already explained; for he says that the people would be soon removed, as there was now no hope of repentance. But it must first be observed, that he speaks not here of the profane temples which Jeroboam the first had built in Dan and in Bethel, but of the true and lawful temple; for it would not have been befitting that this vision should have been made to the Prophet in one of those profane temples, from which, we know, God was far away. Had God appeared in Dan or Bethel, it would have been an indirect approbation of superstition. They are then mistaken who think that the vision was given to the Prophet in any other place than on mount Zion, as we have shown in other places. For the Prophets say not, that God had spoken either in Dan or in Bethel, nor had there been any oracle announced from these places; for God designed in every way to show that he had nothing to do with those profane rites and abominations. It is then certain that God appeared to his Prophet on mount Zion, and on the lawful altar. Calvin is not without many expounders, who agree with him in this view; yet the reasons assigned do not apply. “Though the true God,” as Dr. Henderson justly observes, “was seen beside the idolatrous altar, it was not for the purpose of receiving homage, but of commanding that the whole of the erection and worship at Bethel should be destroyed.” — Ed.

Let us now see the design of the vision. The greater part of interpreters think that the destruction of the kingdom and of the priesthood is predicted here, at the time when Zedekiah was taken and led ignominiously into exile, and when his children were killed, and when afterwards the temple was erased and the city demolished. But this prediction, I doubt not, ought to be extended much farther, even to the many calamities which immediately followed, by which at length the whole people were destroyed. I therefore do not confine what is here said to the demolition of the city and of the temple. But the meaning of the Prophet is the same as though he had said, that the Israelites as well as the Jews in vain boasted of their descent and of other privileges with which they had been honored: for the Lord had resolved to destroy them, and also the temple, which they employed as a cloak to cover their iniquities. We now then understand the intention of the Prophet. But this also must be noticed, — that if the Lord spared not his own temple, which he had commanded to be built, and in which he had chosen a habitation for himself, those profane temples, which he had ever despised, could not possibly escape destruction. We now see the design of this prophecy, which is the last, with the exception of the promise that is given, of which we shall speak in its proper place.

He says then that he saw God standing on the altar. The Prophet might have heard what follows without a vision; but God then, we know, was wont to sanction his predictions by visions, as we find in the twelfth chapter of Numbers. God then not only intended to commit to his Prophet what he was to proclaim, but also to add authority to his doctrine; and the vision was as it were the seal, which the Israelites as well as the Jews knew to be a proof, that what the Prophet declared by his mouth proceeded from heaven.

It now follows, Smite the lintel כפתור, caphtur, is, I think, called the cover which is on the top of the posts of the temple; for the Hebrews call כפתורים, caphturim, apples. As then they painted there pomegranates and flowers, the Hebrew doctors think that the part which is above the two posts of the temple is called כפתור, caphtur. But that part of the entrance might have taken its name from its round form. However this may be, they called the highest part of the porch of the temple כפתוד, caphtur. Now the posts sustained that which they commonly called the lintel. God then says, Strike the lintel, and let the posts be moved, or let them shake, let the whole gate of the temple shake. Then he adds, And strike and break all on the head, or on the head of all. This verb is differently read by interpreters. Correctly, according to the rule of grammar, it ought to be read in the third person, and it will dash to the ground But some however, render it thus, “and dash to the ground”, or break, because he had said before, Smite. As to the meaning, it matters not much for an explanation immediately follows. Now as to what he says, “on the head”, and as to the word אחריתם, achritam, which follows, some by the head understand the priests and the rulers of the people, which view I am inclined to embrace; but when they explain אחרית, achrit, to mean posterity or children, it does not seem to suit this place; for it ought rather as I think, to he referred to the common people. As then the Prophet had spoken of the head, he now adds the people in general. The Hebrews call whatever follows or comes after by אחרית, achrit. They indeed understand posterity by it, but it is a word that has variety of meaning: for it is taken for end, for a footstep, in short, for anything that comes after. These two lines are variously explained. The words can hardly admit the meaning here given to them. The scene was in the temple, and worshippers were present. The command was to strike the lintel; the fall of the pillars or posts was the consequence: many were destroyed, and those who remained were to be killed by the sword, and not one was to escape. There seems to be here an allusion to two previous events — the shaking and pulling down of the pillars of the house of Dagon by Sampson, — and the slaughter of the priests of Baal by Jehu. I render the verse thus: — I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, —

“Strike the lintel, that the pillars may shake, And break them down on the head of them all; And the remainder of them with the sword will I slay; Flee away from them shall not he who fleeth, And escape from them shall not he who escapeth.”

Junius and Tremelius, as well as Dathius, render the third and fourth lines, where the difficulty alone exists, according to the version given above; and Henderson renders the third line materially the same, —

And break them in pieces on the heads of them all.

But he retains “posterity” in the fourth line, which seems not consistent with the tenor of the passage.

The version of Junius and Tremelius is this, —

Et divide ipsos in capite ipsorum omnium, Quod autem post ipsos est gladio interrficam.

Dathius is more paraphrastic, and gives the same sense, —

Eosque diffinde ut ruant in caput omnium qui adsunt, Reliquos vero gladio interficam

Newcome, who is too fond of emendations, folllows Houbigant, who, for no reason that appears, turns the verb into the first person; and he gives this rendering of the third line, —

For I will wound them in the head, even all of them:

But this evidently does not comport with the context. — Ed.

It is easy now to gather the meaning of the Prophet: A vision was exhibited to him which showed that it was decreed by God himself to smite both the chiefs and the common people: and since God begins with his temple, how can profane men hope for pardon, who had deserted the true and pure worship of God? They were all apostates: how then could they have hoped that God would be placable to them, inasmuch as he had broken down his own temple?

He now adds, I will slay with the sword, etc. We see then that this vision is to be referred to the stroke which was shortly after to be inflicted. I will slay then with the sword whatever follows, that is, the common people.

He afterwards says, Flee away from them shall not he who fleeth, nor shall he escape from them who escapeth; that is though they may think that flight is possible, their expectation will deceive them, for I shall catch them. Had the Prophet said that there would be to them no means of fleeing away, he would not have spoken with so much severity; but when he says, that when they fled, he would catch them, that when they thought that they had escaped, there would be no safety to them, he says what is much more grievous. In short, he cuts off all hope from the Israelites, that they might understand that they were certain to perish, because God had hitherto tried in vain to restore them to the right way. Inasmuch then as they had been wholly incurable, they now hear that no hope remained for them.

And since the Prophet denounces such and so dreadful a destruction of an elect people, and since the vision was exhibited to him in the temples there is no reason for us to trust in our outward profession, and to wait till God’s judgments come, as we see many are doing in our day, who are wholly careless, because they think that no evil can happen to them, inasmuch as they bear the name of God. But the Prophet here shows, that God sits in his temple, not only to protect those whom he has adopted as his people and peculiar possession, but also to vindicate his own honor, because the Israelites had corrupted his worship; and the Jews also had departed from true religion. Since then impiety everywhere prevailed, he now shows that God sits there as the punisher of sins, that his people may know that they are not to tolerate those evils, which for a time he does not punish, as though he had forgotten his office, or that he designs his favor to be the cover of their iniquity; but because he designs by degrees to draw to repentance those, who are healable, and at the same time to take away every excuse frown the reprobate. Let us proceed —

Amos 9:2-4

2. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

2. Si foderint ad sepulchrum (vel, ad infernum,) inde manus mea educet vos; et si ascenderint in coelos, inde detraham eos;

3. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

3. Et si occultaverint se in fastigio (vel, culmine) Carmeli, inde scrutabor et extraham eos; et si absconditi fuerint ab oculis meis (ad verbum, e regione oculorum meorum) in profundo (vel, pavimento, in fundo ipso) maris, inde mandabo serpenti ut mordeat eos:

4. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

4. Et si profecti fuerint in captivitatem coram inimicis suis, inde mandabo gladio ut occidat eos; et ponam oculum meum super eos in malum et non in bonum.

Here the Prophet denounces horrible punishments; but not without reason, for there was astonishing torpidity in that people, as there is usually in all hypocrites when they have any shadow of excuse. They were then the only elect people in the whole world. When, therefore, they thought that they excelled others and that they were endued with singular privileges beyond all other nations, this glory inebriated them, and they imagined that God was in a manner bound to them, as we have seen in other places. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet in so many ways enlarged on the judgment of God on hypocrites; it was, that they might be terrified by the vehemence and severity of his words.

Hence he says, If they dig for themselves passages to hell, that is, to the center of the earth, for שאול, shaul, is here put for the center; thence shall my hand draw them forth; and then, If they ascend to heaven, thence I will draw them down, saith the Lord; If they hide themselves in deserts, if they flee to the top of Carmel, I will trace them out: in short, they shall find no corner either in heaven, or on the earth, or in the sea, where they can be hid from my sight. There is no need here to understand by heavens high citadels, as the Chaldean paraphraser explains it: it is a frigid paraphrase. But the Prophet speaks in an hyperbolical language of the center of the earth, of the heavens, and of the deep of the sea; as though he had said, “Should all the elements open themselves for hiding-places, yet the Israelites shall in vain try to escape, for I will follow them when sunk in the depth of the sea, I will draw them down from heaven itself; there shall, in a word, be no hiding-place for them either above or below.”

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning; and an useful warning may be hence gathered, — that when God threatens us, we in vain seek subterfuges, as his hand extends itself to the lowest deep as well as to heaven; as it is said in Psalm 139:7-9,

‘Where shall I flee from thy presence, O Lord? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend to the grave, thou art present; if I take the wings of the dawn, (or, of the morning star,) and dwell in the extremities of the sea, there also shall thy hand lead me.’

The Prophet speaks not in that psalm, as some have very absurdly philosophized, of the unlimited essence of God; but he rather shows, that we are always in his sight. So then we ought to feel assured that we cannot escape, whenever God designs to make a scrutiny as to our sins, and to summon us to his tribunal.

But we must at the same time remember, that the Prophet has not employed a superfluous heap of words; there is not here one syllable which is not important though at the first view it seems to be otherwise. But the Holy Spirit, as I have already reminded you, knowing our heedlessness, does here shake off all our self-flatteries. There is in us, we know, an innate torpor by nature, so that we despise all threatenings, or at least we are not duly moved by them. As the Lord sees us to be so careless, he rouses us by his goads. Whenever then Scripture denounces punishment on us, let us at the same time learn to join with it what the Prophet here relates; “Thou hast to do with God, what can’t thou effect now by evasions? though thou climbest to heaven, the Lord can draw thee down; though thou descendent to the abyss, God’s hand will thence draw thee forth; if thou seekest a hiding-place in the lowest depths, he will thence also bring thee forth to the light; and if thou hidest thyself in the deep sea, he will there find thee out; in a word, wherever thou betakest thyself, thou canst not withdraw thyself from the presence and from the hand of God.” We hence see the design of all these expressions, and that is, that we may not think of God as of ourselves, but that we may know that his power extends to all hiding-places. But these words ought to be subjects at meditations though it be sufficient for our purpose to include in few words what the Prophet had in view. But as we are so entangled in our vain confidences, the Prophet, as I have said, has not in vain used so many words.

Now as to what he says, I will command the serpent to bite them, some understand by נחש, nuchesh, not a serpent on hand, but the whale, or some other marine animal, as the leviathan, which is mentioned in Scripture; and we may learn from other parts of Scripture that “nachash” means not only a serpent, but also a whale or some animal living in the sea. In a word, God intimates, that he would be armed everywhere, whenever he should resolve to punish his adversaries, and that in all elements are means in readiness, by which he can destroy the wicked, who seek to escape from his hand.

Now when he says, If they go into captivity among their enemies, I will there command the sword to slay them, some interpreters confine this part to that foolish flight, when a certain number of the people sought to provide for their safety by going down into Egypt. Johanan followed them, and a few escaped, (Jeremiah 43:2) but according to what Jeremiah had foretold, when he said, ‘Bend your necks to the king of Babylon, and the Lord will bless you; whosoever will flee to Egypt shall perish;’ so it happened: they found this to be really true, though they had ever refused to believe the prediction. Jeremiah was drawn there contrary to the wish of his own mind: he had, however, pronounced a curse on all who thought that it would be an asylum to them. But the Lord permitted him to be drawn there, that he might to his last breath pronounce the Woe, which they had before heard from his mouth. But I hardly dare thus to restrict these expressions of the Prophet: I therefore explain them generally, as meaning, that exile, which is commonly said to be a civil death, would not be the end of evils to the Israelites and to the Jews; for even when they surrendered themselves to their enemies, and suffered themselves to be led and drawn away wherever their enemies pleased, they could not yet even in this way preserve their life, because the Lord would command the sword to pursue them even when exiles. This, in my view, is the real meaning of the Prophet.

He at last subjoins, I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. There is a contrast to be understood in this clause: for the Lord had promised to be a guardian to his people, according to what is said in Psalm 121:4,

‘Behold, he who guards Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers.’

As hypocrites ever lay hold on the promises of God without repentance and faith, without any religious feeling, and afterwards turn them to support their vain boasting, the Prophet therefore says here, that the eye of God would be upon them, not indeed in his wonted manner to protect them, as he had done from the beginning, but, on the contrary, to accumulate punishment on punishment: it was the same thing as though he said, “As I have hitherto watched over the safety of this people, whom I have chosen for myself, so I will hereafter most sedulously watch, that I may omit no kind of punishment, until they be utterly destroyed.”

And this sentence deserves to be specially noticed; for we are reminded, that though the Lord does not indeed spare unbelievers, he yet more closely observes us, and that he will punish us more severely, if he sees us to be obstinate and incurable to the last. Why so? Because we have come nearer to him, and he looks on us as his family, placed under his eyes; not that anything is hid or concealed from him, but the Scripture speaks after the manner of men. While God then favors his people with a gracious look, he yet cannot endure hypocrites; for he minutely observes their vices, that he may the more severely punish them. This then is the substance of the whole. It follows —

Amos 9:5

5. And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

5. Et Dominus Jehova exercituum percutiet terram, et contremiscet; et lugebunt omnes habitantes in ea, et ascendet sicut fluvius tota, et submergetur sicut a fluvio Egypti.

The Prophet repeats here nearly the same words with those we explained yesterday: he used then the similitude of a flood, which he again mentions here. But as the first clause is capable of various explanations, I will refer to what others think, and then to what I deem the most correct view. This sentence, that the earth trembles, when it is smitten by God, is usually regarded as a general declaration; and the Prophets do often exalt the power of God in order to fill us with fear, and of this we shall see an instance in the next verse. Yet I doubt not but that this is a special threatening. The Lord Jehovah, then, he says, will smite the land, and it will tremble.

Then follows the similitude of which we spoke yesterday, Mourn shall all who dwell in it; and then, It will altogether ascend as a river Here he intimates that there would be a deluge, so that the face of the earth would not appear. Ascend then shall the land as a river. The ascent of the earth would be nothing else but inundation, which would cover its surface. He afterwards adds, “and it shall be sunk”; that is, every convenience for dwelling: this is not to be understood strictly, as I have said, of the land, but is rather to be referred to men, or to the use which men make of the earth. Sunk then shall it be as by the river of Egypt We have said that Egypt loses yearly its surface, when the Nile inundates it. But as the inundation of the river is given to the Egyptians for fertilizing the land and of rendering its produce more abundant, so the Prophet here declares that the land would be like the sea, so that there would no longer be any habitation. It now follows —

Amos 9:6

6. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.

6. AEdificans in coelis ascensiones suas, et coagmentationem suam super terram fundans (qui fundat,) qui vocat aquas maris et effundit eas super faciem terrae, Jehova nomen ejus. This verse and the preceding are connected together, and form but one period, as it evidently appears from the construction of the words in Hebrew. The following may be considered a literal version: —

5. And the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, — Who touches the earth and it melts, And mourn do all who dwell on it, And it heaves up as a river, the whole of it, And sinks down as the river of Egypt, —

6. Who builds in the heavens his ascents, And fixes on the earth his station, Who calls the waters of the sea, And pours them forth on the face of the earth, — Jehovah is his name.

— Ed.

The Prophet describes now in general terms the power of God, that he might the more impress his hearers, and that they might not heedlessly reject what he had previously threatened respecting their approaching ruin; for he had said, ‘Lo, God will smite the land, and it shall tremble.’ This was special. Now as men received with deaf ears those threatening, and thought that God in a manner trifled with them, the Prophet added, by way of confirmation, a striking description of the power of God; as though he said, “Ye do hear what God denounces: now, as he has clothed me with his own authority, and commanded me to terrify you by setting before you your punishment, know ye that you have to do with God himself, whose majesty ought to make you all, and all that you are, to tremble: for what sort of Being is this God, whose word is regarded by you with contempt? God is he who builds for himself chambers Caenacula, in other places, ascensiones, and more correctly; for מעלות is properly ascents, steps to ascend, stairs; and hence, the places ascended to, chambers. in the heavens, who founds his jointings Coagmentationes suas — his joinings, cementings; but אנדתו is in the singular number. It is difficult to ascertain its meaning. It occurs not as a verb, but from its application, its ideal meaning seems to be, to join or bind together, so as to form a compact body. It is applied in 2 Samuel 2:25, to designate a troop, a compact body of men. It signifies in Exodus 12:22, a bundle of hyssop. Newcome renders it a storehouse, deriving its meaning from the Chaldee; and Henderson renders it vault, tracing it from the Arabic, and says that it signifies the vault or arch of heaven, the hemispheric expanse, which apparently to the eye is founded on the earth; but a band or troop has been its most common acceptation.

It must be borne in mind, that it must be something on earth that corresponds or forms a contrast with ascents in the heavens. God has his ascendings, or as it were, his steps or stairs in the heavens, along which, speaking after the manner of men, he ascends: then what has he on earth? It seems to me that something firm, solid, compacted, is intended; and the earth is said to be his footstool. Hence a firm footing, standing, or station, appears to be the meaning of the word. The French translation is —

Qui fonde son batiment sur la terre — “Who founds his building on the earth.”

— Ed. (some render it bundles) in the earth, who calls the waters of the sea, and pours them on the face of the earth”; in a word, He is Jehovah, whose being is in himself alone: and ye exist only through his powers and whenever he pleases, he can with-draw his Spirits and then vanish must this whole world, of which ye are but the smallest particles. Since then He alone is God, and there is in you but a momentary strength, and since this great power of God, the evidences of which he affords you through the whole order of nature, is so conspicuous to you, how is it that ye are so heedless?” We now perceive why the Prophet exalts in so striking a manner the power of God.

First, in saying that God builds for himself his ascendings (ascensiones) in the heavens, he alludes no doubt, to the very structure of the heavens; for the element of air, we know, rises upwards, on account of its being light; and then the element of fire comes nearer to what heaven is; then follow the spheres as then the whole world above the earth is much more favorable to motion, this is the reason why the Prophet says that God has his ascents in the heavens. God indeed stands in no need of the heavens or of the air as an habitation, for he is contained in no place, being one who cannot be contained: but it is said, for the sake of men, that God is above all heavens: he is then located in his own elevated throne. But he says that he founds for himself his jointing on the earth, for this part of the world is more solid, the element of earth being grosser and denser, and therefore more firm. So also the waters, though lighter than the earth, approach it nearest. God then builds in the heavens. It is a mechanism which is in itself wonderful: when one raises to heaven his eyes, and then looks on the earth, is he not constrained to stand amazed? The Prophet then exhibits here before our eyes the inconceivable power of God, that we may be impressed by his words, and know with whom we have to do, when he denounces punishment.

He further says, Who calls the waters of the sea, and pours them on the face of the earth This change is in itself astonishing; God in a short time covers the whole heaven: there is a clear brightness, in a moment clouds supervene, which darken the whole heaven, and thick waters are suspended over our heads. Who could say that the whole sky could be so suddenly changed? God by his own command and bidding does all this alone. He calls then the waters of the sea, and pours them down Though rains, we know, are formed in great measure by vapors from the earth, yet we also know that these vapors arise from the sea, and that the sea chiefly supplies the dense abundance of moisture. The Prophet then, by taking a part for the whole, includes here all the vapors, by which rain is formed. He calls them the waters of the sea; God by his own power alone creates the rain, by raising vapors from the waters; and then he causes them to descend on the whole face of the earth. Since then the Lord works so wonderfully through the whole order of nature, what do we think will take place, when he puts forth the infinite power of his hand to destroy men, having resolved to execute the extreme judgment which he has decreed?

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast showed to us by evidences so remarkable that all things are under thy command, and that we, who live in this world through thy favor, are as nothing, for thou couldest reduce us to nothing in a moment, — O grant, that being conscious of thy power, we may reverently fear thy hand, and be wholly devoted to thy glory; and as thou kindly offerest thyself to us as a Father, may we be drawn by this kindness, and surrender ourselves wholly to thee by a willing obedience, and never labor for any thing through life but to glorify thy name, as thou hast redeemed us through thy only begotten Son, that so we may also enjoy through him that eternal inheritance which is laid up for us in heaven. Amen.

Lecture Sixty-eighth

Amos 9:7

7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

7. Annon sicut filii AEthiopum vos mihi, filii Israel, dicet Jehova? Annon Israel ascendere feci e terra AEgypti? Et Philistim ex Cappadocia? Et Syrios e Kir?

The Prophet shows here to the Israelites that their dignity would be no defense to them, as they expected. We have indeed seen in many places how foolish was the boasting of that people. Though they were more bound to God than other nations, they yet heedlessly boasted that they were a holy nation, as if indeed they had something of their own, but as Paul says, they were nothing. God had conferred on them singular benefits; but they were adorned with the plumes of another. Foolish then and absurd was their glorying, when they thought themselves to be of more worth in the sight of God than other nations. But as this foolish conceit had blinded them, the Prophet says now, “Whom do you think yourselves to be? Ye are to me as the children of the Ethiopians I indeed once delivered you, not that I should be bound to you, but rather that I should have you bound to me, for ye have been redeemed through my kindness.” Some think that the Israelites are compared to the Ethiopians, as they had not changed their skin, that is, their disposition; but this view I reject as strained. For the Prophet speaks here more simply, namely, that their condition differed nothing from that of the common class of men: “Ye do excel, but ye have nothing apart from me; if I take away from you what is mine, what will you have then remaining?” The emphasis is on the word, to me, What are ye to me? For certainly they excelled among men; but before God they could bring nothing, since they had nothing of their own: nay, the more splendidly God adorned them, the more modestly and humbly they ought to have conducted themselves, seeing that they were bound to him for so many of his favors. But as they had forgotten their own condition, despised all the Prophets and felicitated themselves in their vices, he says, Are ye not to me as the children of the Ethiopians, as foreign and the most alien nations? for what that is worthy of praise can I find in you? If then I look on you, what are ye? I certainly see no reason to prefer you even to the most obscure nations.”

He afterwards adds, Have I not made to ascend, or brought, Israel from the land of Egypt? Here the Prophet reminds them of their origin. Though they had indeed proceeded from Abraham, who had been chosen by God four hundred years before their redemption; yet, if we consider how cruelly they were treated in Egypt, that tyrannical servitude must certainly appear to have been like the grave. They then began to be a people, and to attain some name, when the Lord delivered them from Egypt. The Prophet’s language is the same as though he had said, “Look whence the Lord has brought you out; for ye were as a dead carcass, and of no account: for the Egyptians treated your fathers as the vilest slaves: God brought you thence; then you have no nobility or excellency of your own, but the beginning of your dignity has proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God. Yet ye think now that ye excel others, because ye have been redeemed: God has also redeemed the Philistines, when they were the servants of the Cappadocians; and besides, he redeemed the Syrians when they were servants to other nations.”

Some take קיר, kir, to mean Cyrene; but as this is uncertain, I pass it by as doubtful. Whatever it was, there is no ground of dispute about the subject itself; for it is certain that the Israelites are here compared with the Philistines as well as with the Syrians, inasmuch as all had been alike redeemed by the Lord, and this favor was common to all of whom he speaks. As God then pitied in former ages other nations, it was certainly not peculiar to the race of Abraham, that they had been freed by God, and by means of extraordinary miracles: “Even the Philistine will say the same, and the Syrians will say the same; but yet ye say that they are profane nations. Since it is so, ye are now divested of all excellency, that is, there is nothing of your own in you, that ye should exalt yourselves above other nations.” This is the meaning. It now follows —

Amos 9:8-9

8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord

8. Ecce oculi Domini Jehovae ad reguum sceleratum, et delebo illud a superficie terrae, praeterquam quod non delendo delebo domum Jacob, dicit Jehova.

9. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

9. Quia ecce ego praecipiam, et agitabo inter cunctas gentes domum Israel, quemadmodum agitatur (subaudiendum est nomen tritici, agitatur triticum) in cribo, et non cadet lapis (id est, granum) in terram.

Here the Prophet concludes that God would take vengeance on the Israelites as on other nations, without any difference; for they could not set up anything to prevent his judgment. It was indeed an extraordinary blindness in the Israelites, who were doubly guilty of ingratitude, to set up as their shield the benefits with which they had been favored. Though then the name of God had been wickedly and shamefully profaned by them, they yet thought that they were safe, because they had been once adopted. This presumption Amos now beats down. Behold, he says, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon all the wicked Some restrict this to the kingdom of Israel, but, in my opinion, such a view militates against the design of the Prophet. He speaks indefinitely of all kingdoms as though he had said, that God would be the judge of the whole world, that he would spare no kingdoms or countries. God then will show himself everywhere to be the punisher of vices, and will summon all kingdoms before his tribunal, By destroying I will destroy from the face of the earth all the ungodly and the wicked.

Now the second clause I understand otherwise than most do: for they think it contains a mitigation of punishment, as the Prophets are wont to blend promises of favor with threatening, and as our Prophet does in this chapter. But it seems not to me that anything is promised to the Israelites: nay, if I am not much mistaken, it is an ironical mode of speaking; for Amos obliquely glances here at that infatuated presumption, of which we have spoken, that the Israelites thought that they were safe through some peculiar privilege, and that they were to be exempt from all punishment: “I will not spare unbelievers,” he says, “who excuse themselves by comparing themselves with you. Shall I tolerate your sins and not dare to touch you, seeing that you know yourselves to be doubly wicked?” We must indeed notice in what other nations differed from the Israelites; for the more the children of Abraham had been raised, the more they increased their guilt when they despised God, the author of so many blessings, and became basely wanton by shaking off, as it were, the yoke. Since then they so ungratefully abused God’s blessings, God might then have spared other nations: it was therefore necessary to bring them to punishment, for they were wholly inexcusable. As then they exceeded all other nations in impiety, the Prophet very properly reasons here from the greater to the less: “I take an account,” he says, “of all the sins which are in the world, and no nations shall escape my hand: how then can the Israelites escape? For other nations can plead some ignorance, as they have never been taught; and that they go astray in darkness is no matter of wonder. But ye, to whom I have given light, and whom I have daily exhorted to repent, — shall ye be unpunished? How could this be? I should not then be the judge of the world.” We now then perceive the real meaning of the Prophet: “Lo,” he says “the eyes of Jehovah are upon every sinful kingdom; I will destroy all the nations who have sinned from the face of the earth, though they have the pretense of ignorance for their sins; shall I not now, forsooth, destroy the house of Israel?” Here then the Prophet speaks ironically, Except that I shall not destroy by destroying the house of Israel; that is, “Do you wish me to be subservient to you, as though my hands were tied, that I could not take vengeance on you? what right have you to do this? and what can hinder me from punishing ingratitude so great and so shameful?”

He afterwards adds, For, lo, I will command, etc. The Prophet here confirms the former sentence; and hence I conclude that the second part of the preceding verse is ironically expressed; for if he had promised pardon to the Israelites, he would have gone on with the same subject; but, on the contrary, he proceeds in another direction, and says, that God would justly punish the Israelites; for the event would at length make it known, that among them not even a grain would be found, but that all would be like chaff or refuse: Lo, he says, I will shake among the nations the Israelites as corn is shaken in a sieve: a grain, he says, shall not fall on the earth; as though he said, “Though I shall scatter the Israelites through various places that they may be dispersed here and there, yet this exile shall ever be like a sieve: they now contend with me, when any grain has fallen. The event then shall show, that there is in them nothing but chaff and filth; for I will by sieving cleanse my whole floor, and nothing shall be found to remain on it.” If one objects and says, that there were some godly persons in that nation, though very small in number. This I admit to be true: but the Prophet speaks here, as in many other places, of the whole nation; he refers not to individuals. It was then true, with regard to the body of the people of Israel, that there was not one among them who could be compared to grain, for all had become empty through their iniquities; and hence they necessarily disappeared in the sieve, and were like chaff or refuse.

But it must be observed, that God here cuts off the handle for evasion, for hypocrites ever contend with him; and although they cannot wholly clear themselves, they yet extenuate their sins, and accuse God of too much severity. The Prophet then anticipates such objections, “I will command,” he says, “and will shake the house of Israel as corn is shaken.” It was a very hard lot, when the people were thus driven into different parts of the world; it was indeed a dreadful tearing. The Israelites might have complained that they were too severely treated; but God by this similitude obviates this calumny, “They are indeed scattered in their exile, yet they remain in a sieve; I will shake them, he says, among the nations: but not otherwise than corn when shaken in a sieve: and it is allowed by the consent of all that corn ought to be cleansed. Though the greater part disappears when the corn, threshed on the floor, is afterwards subjected to the fan; yet there is no one but sees that this is necessary and reasonable: no one complains that the chaff thus perishes. Why so? Because it is useless. God then shows that he is not cruel, nor exceeds moderation, though he may scatter his people through the remote regions of the earth, for he ever keeps them in a sieve.

He afterwards adds, And fall shall not a grain on the earth They translate צרור, tsarur, a stone, but צרר, tsarer is to tie, and hence this word means what is collected or, binding, as when the children of Jacob had their money tied in their sacks, they said, ‘Behold my binding;’ so also now it is taken for the solid grain. God then intimates that he would not be so rigid as not to moderate his punishment, so as to spare the innocent. I have already said that though there would be still a remnant among the people, yet what the Prophet says is true as to the whole body; for it had nothing either sound or pure. But this objection might be made: It is certain that many faithful worshipers of God were taken away into exile with the wicked; they then fell on the earth as useless chaff or refuse; but God denies that this would be the case. To this I answer, that though the Lord involves his servants with the ungodly when he executes temporal punishment, he is yet ever propitious to them; and it is certain, that however hardly they may be dealt with, they yet do not expostulate; they groan, indeed, but at the same time they acknowledge that they are mercifully treated by the Lord.

But another thing must also be remembered, — that though the Lord would not have dealt so severely with his people, had they been like the few who were good, yet not one of them was without some fault. Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, were indeed like angels among men; and it was indeed a miracle, that they stood upright in the midst of so much impiety; they were yet led into captivity. When they approached God, they could not object, that they were punished beyond what they deserved. Worthy, indeed, was Jeremiah of heavier punishment; and so was Daniel, though an example of the highest and even of angelic integrity. God then could have cast them away as refuse: it is nevertheless certain that they were wheat; and the Lord shook them in the sieve like the chaff, yet so as ever to keep them gathered under his protection; but at the same time in a hidden manner: as, for instance, the wheat on the floor is beaten together with the chaff, this is common to both; no difference can be observed in the threshing. True is this, and the case is the same when the wheat is being winnowed. When therefore the wheat is gathered, it is, together with the chaff, to be sifted by the fan, without any difference; but the wheat remains. So also it happened to the pious worshipers of God; the Lord kept them collected in the sieve. But here he speaks of the people in general; and he says that the whole people were like refuse and filth, and that they vanished, because there was no solidity in them, no use to be made of them, so that no one remained in the sieve. That God then preserved his servants, was an instance of his wonderful working. But the denunciation of punishment, here spoken of, belonged to the outward dealings of God. As then the people were like refuse or chaff shaken and driven to various places, this happened to them justly, because nothing solid was found in them. It now follows —

Amos 9:10

10. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

10. Gladio morientur omnes scelerati populi mei, qui dicunt, Non accedet et non antevertet proper nos malum.

Amos goes on with the same subject, — that God without any measure of cruelty would execute extreme vengeance on a reprobate people: Die, he says, by the sword all the wicked of my people. In naming the wicked of the people, he meant no doubt to include the whole people; though if any one thinks that the elect are by implication excepted, who were mixed with the ungodly, I do not object: this is probable; but yet the Prophet speaks here of the people generally. He says that the wicked of the people would perish by the sword: for it was not the sin of a few that Amos here refers to, but the sin which prevailed among the whole nation. Then all the wicked of my people shall die by the sword. He points out what sort of people they were, or at least he mentions the chief mark by which their impiety might be discovered, — they obstinately despised all the judgments of God, They say, It will not draw near; nor lay hold on our account, the evil.

Security then, which of itself ever generates a contempt of God, is here mentioned as the principal mark of impiety. And doubtless the vices of men reach a point that is past hope, when they are touched neither by fear nor shame, but expect God’s judgments without any concern or anxiety. Since then they thus drove far away from themselves all threatening, while at the same time they were ill at ease with themselves, and as it were burying themselves in deep caverns, and seeking false peace to their consciences, they were in a torpor, or rather stupor, incapable of any remedy. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Prophet lays down here this mark of security, when he is showing that there was no remnant of a sound mind in this people. Die then shall all the wicked by the sword, even those who say, It will not draw near; nor anticipate us, on our account, the evil: for we can not explain the word הקדים, ekodim, in any other way than by referring it to the threatening. For the Prophets, we know, commonly declared that the day of the Lord was at hand, that his hand was already armed, that it had already seized the sword. As then the Prophets, in order to smite despisers with fear, were wont to threaten a near punishment; so the Prophet does here; wishing to expose the impious stupor of the people, he says, “You think that there will not be such haste as is foretold to you by the Prophets; but this sheer perverseness will be the cause of your ruin.”

As to the expression, It will not come on our account, from a regard to us, it deserves to be noticed. Though hypocrites confess in general, that they cannot escape the hand of God, yet they still separate themselves from the common class, as if they are secured by some peculiar privilege. They therefore set up something in opposition to God, that they may not be blended with others. This folly the Prophet indirectly condemns by saying, that hypocrites are in a quiet and tranquil state, because they think that there will be to them no evil in common with the rest, as also they say in Isaiah 28:15, ‘The scourge, if it passes, will not yet reach us.’ We now then see what the Prophet has hitherto taught, and the meaning of these four verses which we have just explained. Now follows the promise —

Amos 9:11

11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

11. In die illa erigam tabernaculum David, quod cecidit, et sepiam rupturas ejus, et subversiones ejus erigam, et aedificabo illud, sicuti diebus antiquis (seculi, ad verbum.)

Here now the Prophet begins to set forth the consolation, which alone could support the minds of the godly under afflictions so severe. Threatening alone might have cast the strongest into despair; but the event itself must have overwhelmed whatever hope there might have been. Hence the Prophet now applies comfort by saying, that God would punish the sins of the people of Israel in such a way as to remember still his own promise. We know, that whenever the Prophets designed to give some hope to a distressed people, they set forth the Messiah, for in him all the promises of God, as Paul says, are Yea and Amen, (2 Corinthians 1:20) and there was no other remedy for the dispersion than for God to gather all the scattered members under one head. Hence, when the head is taken away, the Church has no head; especially when it is scattered and torn, as was the case after the time of Amos. It is no wonder then that the Prophets, after having prophesied of the destruction of the people, such as happened after the two kingdoms were abolished, should recall the minds of the faithful to the Messiah; for except God had gathered the Church under one head, there would have been no hope. This is, therefore, the order which Amos now observes.

In that day, he says, will I raise up the tabernacle of David: as though he had said, that the only hope would be, when the redeemers who had been promised would appear. This is the import of the whole. After having shown then that the people had no hope from themselves, for God had tried all means, but in vain and after having denounced their final ruin, he now subjoins, “The Lord will yet have mercy on his people, for he will remember his covenant.” How will this be? “The Redeemer shall come.” We now then understand the design of the Prophet and the meaning of the verse.

But when he speaks of the tabernacle of David, he refers, I doubt not, to the decayed state of things; for a tabernacle does notcomport with royal dignity. It is the same as though Amos had said, “Though the house of David is destitute of all excellency, and is like a mean cottage, yet the Lord will perform what he has promised; he will raise up again his kingdom, and restore to him all the power which has been lost.” The Prophet then had regard to that intervening time, when the house of David was deprived of all splendor and entirely thrown down. I will then raise up the tabernacle of David: he might have said the tabernacle of Jesse; but he seems to have designedly mentioned the name of David, that he might the more fully strengthen the minds of the godly in their dreadful desolation, so that they might with more alacrity flee to the promise: for the name of Jesse was more remote. As then the name of David was in repute, and as this oracle,

‘Of the fruit of thy loins I will set on thy throne,’ (Psalm 132:11)

was commonly known, the Prophet brings forward here the house of David, in order that the faithful might remember that God had not in vain made a covenant with David: The tabernacle then of David will I then raise up, and will fence in its breaches, and its ruins will I raise up; and I will build it as in the days of old Thus the Prophet intimates that not only the throne of David would be overthrown but also that nothing would remain entire in his mean booth, for it would decay into ruins and all things would be subverted. In short, he intimates that mournful devastation would happen to the whole family of David. He speaks, as it is well understood, metaphorically of the tabernacle: but the sense is clear, and that is, that God would restore the royal dignity, as in former times, to the throne of David.

This is a remarkable prediction, and deserves to be carefully weighed by us. It is certain that the Prophet here refers to the advent of Christ; and of this there is no dispute, for even the Jews are of this opinion, at least the more moderate of them. There are indeed those of a shameless front, who pervert all Scripture without any distinction: these and their barking we may pass by. It is however agreed that this passage of the Prophet cannot be otherwise explained than of the Messiah: for the restitution of David’s family was not to be expected before his time; and this may easily be learnt from the testimonies of other Prophets. As then the Prophet here declares, that a Redeemer would come, who would renew the whole state of the kingdom, we see that the faith of the Fathers was ever fixed on Christ; for in the whole world it is he alone who has reconciled us to God: so also, the fallen Church could not have been restored otherwise than under one head, as we have already often stated. If then at this day we desire to raise up our minds to God, Christ must immediately become a Mediator between us; for when he is taken away, despair will ever overwhelm us, nor can we attain any sure hope. We may indeed be raised up by some wind or another; but our empty confidence will shortly come to nothing, except we have a confidence founded on Christ alone. This is one thing. We must secondly observe, that the interruption, when God overthrew the kingdom, I mean, the kingdom of Judah, is not inconsistent with the prediction of Jacob and other similar predictions. Jacob indeed had said,

‘Taken away shall not be the scepter from Judah, nor a lawgiver from his bosom, or from his feet, until he shall come, the Shiloh,’ (Genesis 49:10)

Afterwards followed this memorable promise,

‘Sit of thy progeny on thy throne shall he, who shall call me his Father, and in return I will call him my Son, and his throne shall perpetually remain,’ (Psalm 132:11,12)

Here is promised the eternity of the kingdom; and yet we see that this kingdom was diminished under Rehoboam, we see that it was distressed with many evils through its whole progress, and at length it was miserably destroyed, and almost extinguished; nay, it had hardly the name of a kingdom, it had no splendor, no throne, no dignity, no scepter, no crown. It then follows, that there seems to be an inconsistency between these events and the promises of God. But the Prophets easily reconcile these apparent contrarieties; for they say, that for a time there would be no kingdom, or at least that it would be disturbed by many calamities, so that there would appear no outward form of a kingdom, and no visible glory. As then they say this, and at the same time add, that there would come a restoration, that God would establish this kingdom by the power of his Christ, — as then the Prophets say this, they show that its perpetuity would really appear and be exhibited in Christ. Though then the kingdom had for some time fallen, this does not militate against the other predictions. This then is the right view of the subject: for Christ at length appeared, on whose head rests the true diadem or crown, and who has been elected by Gods and is the legitimate king, and who, having risen from the dead, reigns and now sits at the Father’s right hand, and his throne shall not fail to the end of the world; nay, the world shall be renovated, and Christ’s kingdom shall continue, though in another form, after the resurrection, as Paul shows to us; and yet Christ shall be really a king for ever.

And the Prophet, by saying, as in ancient days, confirms this truth, that the dignity of the kingdom would not continue uniform, but that the restoration would yet be such as to make it clearly evident that God had not in vain promised an eternal kingdom to David. Flourish then shall the kingdom of David for ever. But this has not been the case; for when the people returned from exile, Zerobabel, it is true, and also many others, obtained kingly power; yet what was it but precarious? They became even tributaries to the kings of the Persian and of the Medes. It then follows, that the kingdom of Israel never flourished, nor had there existed among the people anything but a limited power; we must, therefore, necessarily come to Christ and his kingdom. We hence see that the words of the Prophet cannot be otherwise understood than of Christ. It follows —

Amos 9:12

12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. עשה זאת, “who will do these things.” It appears that זאת is a pronoun which is plural as well as singular: and the Welsh hyn is exactly the same; it will admit thing or things to be added to it — y peth hyn—y pethan hyn When it is put by itself, hyn it conveys the idea of one particular thing, or of several things, according to the context.

The relative pronoun, אשר, who, whom, is of the same character; it is both singular and plural, as whom also is in the English language, and sawl in Welsh.

עשה is considered a participle, and the participle in Hebrew may often be rendered as a personal noun, and in this instance the doer. It is the ὁ ποιων of the Greek. But if the verbal form be retained, the auxiliary verb must be in the same tense with the leading verb in the context, “who will do these things.”—Ed.

12. Ut possideant reliquias Edom et omnes gentes, super quas (alii vertunt, super quos) invocatum est nomen meum, dicit Jehova hoc faciens.

By these words the Prophet shows that the kingdom under Christ would be more renowned and larger than it had ever been under David. Since then the kingdom had been greatest in dignity, and wealth, and power, in the age of David, the Prophet here says, that its borders would be enlarged; for then he says, Possess shall the Israelites the remnant of Edom He speaks here in common of the Israelites and of the Jews, as before, at the beginning of the last chapter, he threatened both. But we now apprehend what he means, — that Edom shall come under the yoke.

And it is sufficiently evident why he mentions here especially the Idumeans, and that is because they had been most inveterate enemies; and vicinity gave them greater opportunity for doing harm. As then the Idumeans harassed the miserable Jews, and gave them no respite, this is the reason why the Prophet says that they would come under the power of his elect people. He afterwards adds, that all nations would come also to the Jews. He speaks first of the Idumeans, but he also adds all other nations. I cannot finish today.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that as we see everywhere so many evident tokens of thy displeasure, and more grievous ones are impeding, if we indeed duly consider how grievously we have provoked thy wrath, and how wickedly also the whole world at this day rages against thee and at the same time abuses thy many and excellent benefits, — O grant, that we may ever remember thy covenant and entertain a perpetual confidence in thy only-begotten Son, that whenever it may please thee to sift us, thou mayest keep us in safety, until we come, not into any earthly storehouse but into thy celestial kingdom, where we may become partakers of that glory which thy Son has obtained for us, who has once for all redeemed us that we may ever remain under his guardianship and protection. Amen.

Lecture Sixty-ninth

In yesterday’s Lecture, we could not finish the verse in which Amos says, that the Idumeans and other nations would come under the power of the people of God. As to the first clause there is no ambiguity, but the latter admits of two meanings. Some take its sense to be this, “Other nations on whom my name is called:” and others refer this to the children of Abraham in this way, “That possess the remnants of Edom and all nations they may, upon whom,” etc.; that is, that they on whom my name is called, even the descendants of Abraham, may possess the Idumeans and all other nations. If we choose the reference to be made to the chosen people, the order of the words seems to be somewhat broken; and yet this sense is very suitable, — that possess their enemies the faithful may, on whom my name is called; for the reason appears to be here expressed by the Prophet, why he promised a large kingdom to the Israelites, and that is, because they were enrolled in God’s name, the Lord owned them as his people, inasmuch as he had chosen and adopted them in the person of their father Abraham. But if the other view be more approved, then the particle אשר, asher, is not, as I think, a pronoun relative, but an adverb expressing a cause, “That they may possess the remnants of Edom and all nations, for my name shall have been, or shall be, called on them:” This sentence is an instance, common in Hebrew, of the use of two pronouns, —a relative and a personal pronoun; to the latter of which is prefixed the preposition. It has already been noticed, that in Welsh the same idiom exists; in that language this line is rendered word for word like the Hebrew: and the true rendering is no doubt that which is mentioned last by Calvin. The Hebrew literally is this, —

Whom shall be called my name upon them.

The same line in Welsh, without any change even in the order of the words, —

Y rhai y gelwir vy enw arnyt.

Another peculiarity is, that the preposition is prefixed and joined to the personal pronoun in Welsh as well as in Hebrew; and a third is, that the relative y rhai (the whom) in Welsh, like אשר in Hebrew, admits of no case. It is the same when a nominative to a verb, or when an accusative governed by it. — Ed. for who can have possession of this right or title but those who, having been aliens, shall pass over into the family of Abraham? Israel is indeed said to possess whatever comes from another quarter, and is incorporated into the body of the Church.

But on this point I will not contend; for this main thing is evident to us, — that the extension of the kingdom under Christ is here promised as though he had said that the Jews were included within narrow bounds, even when the kingdom of David especially flourished, but that God would under Christ extend their borders, and cause them to rule far and wide. What it is to call God’s name on a people, we have elsewhere stated. Let us now go on with the context.

Amos 9:13

13. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

13. Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Jehova, et occurret arator messori, et calcator uvarum efferenti semen; et stillabunt montes dulcem liquorem, et omnes colles liquefient (nempe ut lacte diffluant.)

Here the Prophet describes the felicity which shall be under the reign of Christ: and we know that whenever the Prophets set forth promises of a happy and prosperous state to God’s people, they adopt metaphorical expressions, and say, that abundance of all good things shall flow, that there shall be the most fruitful produce, that provisions shall be bountifully supplied; for they accommodated their mode of speaking to the notions of that ancient people; it is therefore no wonders if they sometimes speak to them as to children. At the same time, the Spirit under these figurative expressions declares, that the kingdom of Christ shall in every way be happy and blessed, or that the Church of God, which means the same thing, shall be blessed, when Christ shall begin to reign.

Hence he says, Coming are the days, saith Jehovah, and the plowman shall draw nigh, or meet, the reaper The Prophet no doubt refers to the blessing mentioned by Moses in Leviticus 26:5 for the Prophets borrowed thence their mode of speaking, to add more credit and authority to what they taught. And Moses uses nearly the same words, — that the vintage shall meet the harvest, and also that sowing shall meet the plowing: and this is the case, when God supplies abundance of corn and wine, and when the season is pleasant and favorable. We then see what the Prophet means, that is, that God would so bless his people, that he would suffer no lack of good things.

The plowman then shall come nigh the reaper; and the treader of grapes, the bearer of seed. When they shall finish the harvest, they shall begin to plow, for the season will be most favorable; and then when they shall complete their vintage, they shall sow. Thus the fruitfulness, as I have said, of all produce is mentioned.

The Prophet now speaks in a hyperbolical language, and says, Mountains shall drop sweetness, and all the hills shall melt, that is, milk shall flow down. We indeed know that this has never happened; but this manner of speaking is common and often occurs in Scripture. The sum of the whole is, that there will be no common or ordinary abundance of blessings, but what will exceed belief, and even the course of nature, as the very mountains shall as it were flow down. It now follows —

Amos 9:14

14. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

14. Et reducam captivitatem populi mei Israel; et aedificabunt urbes dirutas, et habitabunt illic; plantabunt vites, et bibunt vinum earum; facient hortos, et comedent fructus ipsorum.

As the prophecy we have noticed was one difficult to be believed, especially when the people were led away into exile, the Prophet comes to the help of this lack of faith, and shows that this would be no hindrance to God to lead his people to the felicity of which he speaks. These things seem indeed to be quite contrary, the one to the other, — that the people, spoiled of all dignity, should be driven to a far country to live in miserable exile, and that they should also be scattered into various parts and oppressed by base tyranny; — and that at the same time a most flourishing condition should be promised them, and that such an extension of their kingdom should be promised them, as had never been previously witnessed. Lest then their present calamities should fill their minds with fear and bind them fast in despair; he says that the Israelites shall return from exile, not indeed all; but as we have already seen, this promise is addressed to the elect alone: at the same time he speaks here simply of the people. But, this prophecy is connected with other prophecies: it ought not therefore to be extended except to that remnant seed, of whom we have before taken notice.

Restore then will I the captivity of my people Israel; and then, They shall build nested cities and dwell there; they shall plant vineyards, and their wine shall they drink; they shall make gardens, and shall eat their fruit. He reminds the people here of the blessings mentioned in the Law. They must indeed have known that the hand of the Lord was opposed to them in their exile. Hence the Prophet now shows, that as soon as the Lord would again begin to be propitious to them, there would be a new state of things; for when God shows his smiling countenance, prosperity follows and a blessed success in all things. This then is what the Prophet now intends to show, that the miserable exiles might not faint in despair, when the Lord chastised them. It follows at last —

Amos 9:15

15. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

15. Et plantabo eos super terram suam, (in terra sua,) et non evellentur amplius a terra sua, quam dedi illis, inquit Jehova Deus tuus.

The Prophet further mentions here a quiet dwellings in the land, for it was not enough for the people to be restored to their country, except they lived there in safety and quietness; for they might soon afterwards have been removed again. It would have been better for them to pine away in exile, than to be restored for the sake, as it were, of sporting with them, and in a short time to be again conquered by their enemies, and to be led away into another country. Therefore the Prophet says, that the people, when restored, would be in a state of tranquillity.

And he uses a most suitable comparison, when he says, I will plant them in their own land, nor shall they be pulled up any more: for how can we have a settled place to dwell in, except the Lord locates us somewhere? We are indeed as it were flitting beings on the earth, and we may at any moment be tossed here and there as the chaff. We have therefore no settled dwelling, except as far as we are planted by the hand of God, or as far as God assigns to us a certain habitation, and is pleased to make us rest in quietness. This is what the Prophet means by saying, I will plant them in their own land, nor shall they any more be pulled up How so? “Because, he says, I have given to them the land”. He had indeed given it to them before, but he suffered them to be pulled up when they had polluted the land. But now God declares that his grace would outweigh the sins of the people; as though he said, “However unworthy the people are, who dwell in this land, my gift will yet be effectual: for I will not regard what they deserve at my hands, but as I have given them this land, they shall obtain it.” We now apprehend the meaning of the Prophet.

Now, if we look on what afterwards happened, it may appear that this prophecy has never been fulfilled. The Jews indeed returned to their own country, but it was only a small number: and besides, it was so far from being the case, that they ruled over neighboring nations, that they became on the contrary tributaries to them: and further still, the limits of their rule were ever narrow, even when they were able to shake off the yoke. In what sense then has God promised what we have just explained? We see this when we come to Christ; for it will then be evident that nothing has been in vain foretold: though the Jews have not ruled as to the outward appearance, yet the kingdom of God was then propagated among all nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun; and then, as we have said in other places, the Jews reigned.

Further, what is here said of the abundance of corn and wine, must be explained with reference to the nature of Christ’s kingdom. As then the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, it is enough for us, that it abounds in spiritual blessings: and the Jews, whom God reserved for himself as a remnant, were satisfied with this spiritual abundance.

If any one objects and says, that the Prophet does not speak here allegorically; the answer is ready at hand, even this, — that it is a manner of speaking everywhere found in Scripture, that a happy state is painted as it were before our eyes, by setting before us the conveniences of the present life and earthly blessings: this may especially be observed in the Prophets, for they accommodated their style, as we have already stated, to the capacities of a rude and weak people. But as this subject has been discussed elsewhere more at large, I only touch on it now as in passing and lightly. Now follows the Prophecy of Obadiah, who is commonly called Abdiah. There is no Prayer here, for the Lecture is not completed: it includes a portion of the Book of Obadiah. — Ed.

End of the Commentaries on Amos.

Calvin’s Preface

To

Obadiah

This Prophecy does not consist of many oracles, nor of many sermons, as other prophecies; but it only denounces on the Idumeans a near destruction, and then promises a restoration to the chosen people of God. But it threatens the Idumeans for the sake of administering consolation to the chosen people; for it was a grievous and hard trial for the children of Jacob, an elect people, to see the posterity of Esau, who had been rejected by God, flourishing both in wealth and power.

As then the children of Israel were miserable in comparison with their own kindred, the adoption of God might have appeared worthless; and this was in great measure the reason why the Israelites preferred the lot of other is observed by us, our sorrow is enhanced and our weariness is increased. When therefore the Israelites saw the Idumeans living at ease and beyond the reach of danger, and when they also saw them in the enjoyment of every abundance, while they themselves were exposed as a prey to their enemies, and were continually expecting new calamities, it could not have been, but that their faith must have utterly failed, or at least become much weakened. For this reason the Prophet here shows, that though the Idumeans now lived happily, yet in a short time they would be destroyed, for they were hated by God; and he shows that this would be the case, as we shall see from the contents of this Book, for the sake of the chosen people.

We now then perceive the design of the Prophet: as adversity might have weakened the Israelites, and even utterly broken them down, the Prophet here applies comfort and props up their dejected minds, for the Lord would shortly look on them and take due vengeance on their enemies.

And the reason why this prophecy is levelled against the Idumeans only is this, — that they, as we know, raged more cruelly than any others against the Israelites: for it is not said without a cause in Psalm 137:7,

‘Remember the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Make bare, make bare even to the very foundations.’

Now at what time Obadiah prophesied, it does not appear Newcome supposes that he prophesied between the taking of Jerusalem in 587 before Christ and the destruction of Idumea, a few years later, by Nebuchadnezzar. Usher, as quoted by Newcome, places the destruction of Jerusalem in 588 b.c.; and the siege of Tyre by the Babylonians three years later, that is, in 585; and it was during this siege, which lasted thirteen years, that the Idumeans, as well as the Sidonians, the Moabites, and the Ammonites, were subdued by the Babylonian power: so that the threatenings contained in this prophecy were soon executed. — Ed. except that it is probable that this prophecy was announced, when the Idumeans rose up against the Israelites and distressed them by many annoyances: for they seem to be mistaken who think that Obadiah lived before the time of Isaiah. It appears that Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:7-22) and this Prophet made use of the same thoughts and nearly of the same words, as we shall hereafter see. The Holy Spirit could, no doubt, have expressed the same things in different words; but he was pleased to join together these two testimonies, that they might obtain more credit. Expositors are divided in their opinions as to the priority of the two Prophets, and consequently as to whom of the two was the copyist. As the time cannot be ascertained, our only mode of ascertaining this, are the passages themselves as given by each. It is said that Jeremiah has not presented them in so perfect a form as Obadiah, and that in the latter they appear as the naturally connected parts of his subject, and accordant in style and character with the rest of the prophecy. But the matter is of no great importance, and to discuss it can bring no benefit. — Ed. I know not whether Obadiah and Jeremiah were contemporaries, and on this subject we need not bestow much labor. It is sufficient for us to know, that this prophecy was added to other prophecies, that the Israelites might feel assured, that though their kindred the Idumeans might prosper for a time, yet they could not escape the hand of God, but would shortly be constrained to give an account of their cruelty, inasmuch as they had without cause been all in a flame against the distressed and afflicted people of God.

Now our Prophet shows at the end that God would become the avenger of this cruelty, which the Idumeans had exercised; for though he chastised his own people, he did not yet forget his gratuitous covenant. Let us now come to the words.

Commentaries on

the Prophet Obadiah

Obadiah 1:1

1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; The Septuagint renders the words, “to Edom” — Ταδε λεγει κυριος ὁ Θεὸς τη Ιδουμαία —”Thus saith the Lord God to Idumea;” which is an exact rendering of the original, for it is, לאדום—”to Edom.” It was a message from God to that people. May we not hence conclude that this prophecy was sent to them by Obadiah? They are often personally addressed: and this seems to favor such a supposition. It is indeed true that ל prefixed to a word after the verb, to say or to speak, is often rendered, of, or, concerning; but it is also rendered by, to, meaning that the address is made to the person. — Ed. We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

1. Visio Obadiae. Sic Dominus Jehova contra Edom, Rumorem audivimus a Jehova, et legatus ad gentes missus est, Surgite et surgamus contra eam ad proelium.

CHAPTER 9

Am 9:1-15. Fifth and Last Vision.

None can escape the coming judgment in any hiding-place: for God is omnipresent and irresistible (Am 9:1-6). As a kingdom, Israel shall perish as if it never was in covenant with Him: but as individuals the house of Jacob shall not utterly perish, nay, not one of the least of the righteous shall fall, but only all the sinners (Am 9:7-10). Restoration of the Jews finally to their own land after the re-establishment of the fallen tabernacle of David; consequent conversion of all the heathen (Am 9:11-15).

1. Lord ... upon the altar--namely, in the idolatrous temple at Beth-el; the calves which were spoken of in Am 8:14. Hither they would flee for protection from the Assyrians, and would perish in the ruins, with the vain object of their trust [Henderson]. Jehovah stands here to direct the destruction of it, them, and the idolatrous nation. He demands many victims on the altar, but they are to be human victims. Calvin and Fairbairn, and others, make it in the temple at Jerusalem. Judgment was to descend both on Israel and Judah. As the services of both alike ought to have been offered on the Jerusalem temple-altar, it is there that Jehovah ideally stands, as if the whole people were assembled there, their abominations lying unpardoned there, and crying for vengeance, though in fact committed elsewhere (compare Eze 8:1-18). This view harmonizes with the similarity of the vision in Amos to that in Is 6:1-13, at Jerusalem. Also with the end of this chapter (Am 9:11-15), which applies both to Judah and Israel: "the tabernacle of David," namely, at Jerusalem. His attitude, "standing," implies fixity of purpose.

lintel--rather, the sphere-like capital of the column [Maurer].

posts--rather, "thresholds," as in Is 6:4, Margin. The temple is to be smitten below as well as above, to ensure utter destruction.

cut them in the head--namely, with the broken fragments of the capitals and columns (compare Psa 68:21; Ha 3:13).

slay the last of them--their posterity [Henderson]. The survivors [Maurer]. Jehovah's directions are addressed to His angels, ministers of judgment (compare Eze 9:1-11).

he that fleeth ... shall not flee away--He who fancies himself safe and out of reach of the enemy shall be taken (Am 2:14).

2. Though they dig into hell--though they hide ever so deeply in the earth (Psa 139:8).

though they climb up to heaven--though they ascend the greatest heights (Job 20:6, 7; Jr 51:53; Ob 4).

3. Carmel--where the forests, and, on the west side, the caves, furnished hiding-places (Am 1:2; Jud 6:2; 1Sa 13:6).

the sea--the Mediterranean, which flows at the foot of Mount Carmel; forming a strong antithesis to it.

command the serpent--the sea-serpent, a term used for any great water monster (Is 27:1). The symbol of cruel and oppressive kings (Psa 74:13, 14).

4. though they go into captivity--hoping to save their lives by voluntarily surrendering to the foe.

5. As Amos had threatened that nowhere should the Israelites be safe from the divine judgments, he here shows God's omnipotent ability to execute His threats. So in the case of the threat in Am 8:8, God is here stated to be the first cause of the mourning of "all that dwell" in the land, and of its rising "like a flood, and of its being "drowned, as by the flood of Egypt."

6. stories--literally, "ascents," that is, upper chambers, to which the ascent is by steps [Maurer]; evidently referring to the words in Psa 104:3, 13. Grotius explains it, God's royal throne, expressed in language drawn from Solomon's throne, to which the ascent was by steps (compare 1Ki 10:18, 19).

founded his troop--namely, all animate creatures, which are God's troop, or host (Ge 2:1), doing His will (Psa 103:20, 21; Joe 2:11). Maurer translates, "His vault," that is, the vaulted sky, which seems to rest on the earth supported by the horizon.

7. unto me--however great ye seem to yourselves. Do not rely on past privileges, and on My having delivered you from Egypt, as if therefore I never would remove you from Canaan. I make no more account of you than of "the Ethiopian" (compare Jr 13:23). "Have not I (who) brought you out of Egypt," done as much for other peoples? For instance, did I not bring "the Philistines (see on Is 14:29, &c.) from Caphtor (compare De 2:23; see on Jr 47:4), where they had been bond-servants, and the Syrians from Kir?" It is appropriate, that as the Syrians migrated into Syria from Kir (compare Note, see on Is 22:6), so they should be carried back captive into the same land (see on Am 1:15; 2Ki 16:9), just as elsewhere Israel is threatened with a return to Egypt whence they had been delivered. The "Ethiopians," Hebrew, "Cushites," were originally akin to the race that founded Babylon: the cuneiform inscriptions in this confirming independently the Scripture statement (Ge 10:6, 8, 10).

8. eyes ... upon the sinful kingdom--that is, I am watching all its sinful course in order to punish it (compare Am 9:4; Psa 34:15, 16).

not utterly destroy the house of Jacob--Though as a "kingdom" the nation is now utterly to perish, a remnant is to be spared for "Jacob," their forefather's sake (compare Jr 30:11); to fulfil the covenant whereby "the seed of Israel" is hereafter to be "a nation for ever" (Jr 31:36).

9. sift--I will cause the Israelites to be tossed about through all nations as corn is shaken about in a sieve, in such a way, however, that while the chaff and dust (the wicked) fall through (perish), all the solid grains (the godly elect) remain (are preserved), (Ro 11:26; compare Note, see on Jr 3:14). So spiritual Israel's final safety is ensured (Lu 22:32; Joh 10:28; 6:39).

10. All the sinners--answering to the chaff in the image in Am 9:9, which falls on the earth, in opposition "to the grain" that does not "fall."

overtake ... us--"come on us from behind" [Maurer].

11. In that day--quoted by James (Ac 15:16, 17), "After this," that is, in the dispensation of Messiah (Ge 49:10; Ho 3:4, 5; Joe 2:28; 3:1).

tabernacle of David--not "the house of David," which is used of his affairs when prospering (2Sa 3:1), but the tent or booth, expressing the low condition to which his kingdom and family had fallen in Amos' time, and subsequently at the Babylonian captivity before the restoration; and secondarily, in the last days preceding Israel's restoration under Messiah, the antitype to David (Psa 102:13, 14; Jr 30:9; Eze 34:24; 37:24; see on Is 12:1). The type is taken from architecture (Ep 2:20). The restoration under Zerubbabel can only be a partial, temporary fulfilment; for it did not include Israel, which nation is the main subject of Amos' prophecies, but only Judah; also Zerubbabel's kingdom was not independent and settled; also all the prophets end their prophecies with Messiah, whose advent is the cure of all previous disorders. "Tabernacle" is appropriate to Him, as His human nature is the tabernacle which He assumed in becoming Immanuel, "God with us" (Joh 1:14). "Dwelt," literally, tabernacled "among us" (compare Re 21:3). Some understand "the tabernacle of David" as that which David pitched for the ark in Zion, after bringing it from Obed-edom's house. It remained there all his reign for thirty years, till the temple of Solomon was built, whereas the "tabernacle of the congregation" remained at Gibeon (2Ch 1:3), where the priests ministered in sacrifices (1Ch 16:39). Song and praise was the service of David's attendants before the ark (Asaph, &c.): a type of the gospel separation between the sacrificial service (Messiah's priesthood now in heaven) and the access of believers on earth to the presence of God, apart from the former (compare 2Sa 6:12-17; 1Ch 16:37-39; 2Ch 1:3).

breaches thereof--literally, "of them," that is, of the whole nation, Israel as well as Judah.

as in ... days of old--as it was formerly in the days of David and Solomon, when the kingdom was in its full extent and undivided.

12. That they may possess ... remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen--"Edom," the bitter foe, though the brother, of Israel; therefore to be punished (Am 1:11, 12), Israel shall be lord of the "remnant" of Edom left after the punishment of the latter. James quotes it, "That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles," &c. For "all the heathen" nations stand on the same footing as Edom: Edom is the representative of them all. The residue or remnant in both cases expresses those left after great antecedent calamities (Ro 9:27; Zec 14:16). Here the conversion of "all nations" (of which the earnest was given in James's time) is represented as only to be realized on the re-establishment of the theocracy under Messiah, the Heir of the throne of David (Am 9:11). The possession of the heathen nations by Israel is to be spiritual, the latter being the ministers to the former for their conversion to Messiah, King of the Jews; just as the first conversions of pagans were through the ministry of the apostles, who were Jews. Compare Is 54:3, "thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles" (compare Is 49:8; Ro 4:13). A remnant of Edom became Jews under John Hyrcanus, and the rest amalgamated with the Arabians, who became Christians subsequently.

which are called by my name--that is, who belong to Me, whom I claim as Mine (Psa 2:8); in the purposes of electing grace, God terms them already called by His name. Compare the title, "the children," applied by anticipation, He 2:14. Hence as an act of sovereign grace, fulfilling His promise, it is spoken of God. Proclaim His title as sovereign, "the Lord that doeth this" ("all these things," Ac 15:17, namely, all these and such like acts of sovereign love).

13. the days come--at the future restoration of the Jews to their own land.

ploughman shall overtake ... reaper ... treader of grapes him that soweth--fulfilling Le 26:5. Such shall be the abundance that the harvest and vintage can hardly be gathered before the time for preparing for the next crop shall come. Instead of the greater part of the year being spent in war, the whole shall be spent in sowing and reaping the fruits of earth. Compare Is 65:21-23, as to the same period.

soweth seed--literally, "draweth it forth," namely, from the sack in order to sow it.

mountains ... drop sweet wine--an appropriate image, as the vines in Palestine were trained on terraces at the sides of the hills.

14. build the waste cities--(Is 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).

15. plant them ... no more be pulled up--(Jr 32:41).

thy God--Israel's; this is the ground of their restoration, God's original choice of them as His.

I saw the Lord standing upon the altar - As this is a continuation of the preceding prophecy, the altar here may be one of those either at Dan or Beer-sheba.

Smite the lintel - Either the piece of timber that binds the wall above the door, or the upper part of the door frame, in which the cheeks, or side posts, are inserted, and which corresponds to the threshold, or lower part of the door frame.

And cut them in the head - Let all the lintels of all the doors of all those temples be thus cut, as a sign that the whole shall be thrown down and totally demolished. Or this may refer to their heads - chief men, who were principals in these transgressions. Mark their temples, their priests, their prophets, and their princes, for destruction.

He that fleeth - shall not flee away - He shall be caught before he can get out of the reach of danger.

And he that escapeth (that makes good his flight) shall not be delivered - Captivity, famine, or sword, shall reach him even there.

Though they dig into hell - Though they should get into the deepest caverns; though they climb up to heaven - get to the most inaccessible heights; I will drag them up from the one, and pull them down from the other.

Though they hide themselves - All these are metaphorical expressions, to show the impossibility of escape.

I will set mine eyes upon them for evil - I will use that very providence against them which before worked for their good. Should they look upward, they shall see nothing but the terrible lightning-like eye of a sin-avenging God.

The Lord God of hosts is he - So powerful is he that a touch of his hand shall melt or dissolve the land, and cause all its inhabitants to mourn. Here is still a reference to the earthquake. See the note Amo 8:8, where the same images are used.

Buildeth his stories in the heaven - There is here an allusion to large houses, where there are cellars, or places dug in the ground as repositories for corn; middle apartments, or stories, for the families to live in; and the house-top for persons to take the air upon. There may be here a reference to the various systems which God has formed in illimitable space, transcending each other, as the planets do in our solar system: and thus we find Solomon speaking when addressing the Most High: "The heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, השמים ושמי השמים hashshamayim ushemey hashshamayim, 1Kgs 8:27. Six heavens are necessarily implied in these three words. According to the points, the first and third are in the dual number, and the second is the contracted form of the plural. But how many more spheres may be intended who can tell? There may be millions of millions of stellar systems in unlimited space; and then what are all these to the Vast Immensity of God!

Hath founded his troop in the earth - אגדיו aguddatho, from אגד agad, to bind or gather together, possibly meaning the seas and other collections of waters which he has gathered together and bound by his perpetual decree, that they cannot pass; yet when he calleth for these very waters, as in the general deluge, he "poureth them out upon the face of the earth."

The Lord is his name - This points out his infinite essence. But what is that essence? and what is his nature? and what his immensity and eternity? What archangel can tell?

Children of the Ethiopians - Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Gen 10:6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Felix. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart.

The Philistines from Caphtor - The island of Crete, the people of which were the Cherethim. See, 1Sam 30:14; Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5.

The Syrians from Kir? - Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isa 22:6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Gen 10:22. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, "Syria of the two rivers," viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates.

The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbors, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.

The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom - The kingdom of Israel, peculiarly sinful; and therefore to be signally destroyed by the Assyrians.

I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob - The race shall not become extinct: I will reserve them as monuments of my justice, and finally of my mercy.

I will sift the house of Israel among all nations - I will disperse them over the face of the earth; and yet I will so order it that the good shall not be lost; for though they shall be mixed among distant nations, yet there shall be a general restoration of them to their own land.

The least grain - צרור tseror, little stone, pebble, or gravel. Not one of them, howsoever little or contemptible, when the time comes, shall be left behind. All shall be collected in Christ, and brought into their own land.

All the sinners of my people - Those who are the boldest and most incredulous; especially they who despise my warnings, and say the evil day shall not overtake nor prevent us; they shall die by the sword. It is no evidence of a man's safety that he is presumptuously fearless. There is a blessing to him who trembles at God's word.

Will I raise up the tabernacle of David - It is well known that the kingdom of Israel, the most profane and idolatrous, fell first, and that the kingdom of Judah continued long after, and enjoyed considerable prosperity under Hezekiah and Josiah. The remnant of the Israelites that were left by the Assyrians became united to the kingdom of Judah; and of the others, many afterwards joined them: but this comparatively short prosperity and respite, previously to the Babylonish captivity, could not be that, as Calmet justly observes, which is mentioned here. This could not be called closing up the breaches, raising up the ruins, and building it as in the days of old; nor has any state of this kind taken place since; and, consequently, the prophecy remains to be fulfilled. It must therefore refer to their restoration under the Gospel, when they shall receive the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and be by him restored to their own land. See these words quoted by James, Act 15:17. Then indeed it is likely that they shall possess the remnant of Edom, and have the whole length and breadth of Immanuel's land, Amo 9:12. Nor can it be supposed that the victories gained by the Asmoneans could be that intended by the prophet and which he describes in such lofty terms. These victories procured only a short respite, and a very imperfect re-establishment of the tabernacle of David; and could not warrant the terms of the prediction in these verses.

That they may possess the remnant of Edom - Bp. Newcome translates this clause as follows: "That the residue of men may seek Jehovah, and all the heathen who are called by my name." Here, instead of אדום Edom, he reads אדם Adam, men or mankind, which is the reading of the Arabic, and some MSS. of the Syriac, and of Act 15:17.

The Pachomian MS. of the Septuagint adds here, ὁπως εκζητησωσι με, that they may seek me. And the Arabic has the Lord; and in stead of יירשו yireshu, "they shall possess," the learned bishop seems to have read ידרשו yidreshu, "they may seek;" and thus the text resembles the quotation by St. James, Act 15:17, "That the residue of men might seek after the Lord." It is strange that not one of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi, nor any of my own, favors or countenances any of these alterations. I am of opinion, therefore, that we must dismiss all these conjectural emendations, and take the Hebrew text as we find it. That it speaks of the conversion of the Jews in Gospel times, we have the authority of the New Testament as above to prove; and it we cannot make the words, as they stand there, entirely to agree with the words here, the subject is not affected by it. The Jews shall be converted and restored, and this text in both covenants is a proof of it.

The ploughman shall overtake the reaper - All the seasons shall succeed in due and natural order: but the crops shall be so copious in the fields and in the vineyards, that a long time shall be employed in gathering and disposing of them; so that the seasons of ploughing, sowing, gathering the grapes, treading the wine-press, etc., shall press on the heels of each other; so vast will be the abundance, and so long the time necessary to gather and cure the grain and fruits. We are informed by travelers in the Holy Land, Barbary, etc., that the vintage at Aleppo lasts from the fifteenth of September to the middle of November; and that the sowing season begins at the close of October, and lasts through all November. Here, then, the ploughman, sower, grape-gatherer, and operator at the wine-press, not only succeed each other, but have parts of these operations going on at the same time. But great fertility in the land, abundance in the crops, and regularity of the seasons, seem to be the things which the prophet especially predicts. These are all poetical and prophetical images, by which happy times are pointed out.

They shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine - When threatened with great evils, Amo 5:11, it is said, "They shall plant pleasant vineyards but shall not drink the wine of them." Previously to their restoration, they shall labor for others; after their restoration, they shall labor for themselves.

I will plant them upon their land - They shall receive a permanent establishment there.

And they shall no more be pulled up - Most certainly this prophecy has never yet been fulfilled. They were pulled out by the Assyrian captivity, and by that of Babylon. Many were planted in again, and again pulled out by the Roman conquest and captivity, and were never since planted in, but are now scattered among all the nations of the earth. I conclude, as the word of God cannot fail, and this has not yet been fulfilled, it therefore follows that it will and must be fulfilled to the fullness of its spirit and intention. And this is established by the conclusion: "Saith the Lord thy God." He is Jehovah, and cannot fail; he is Thy God, and will do it. He can do it, because he is Jehovah; and he will do it, because he is Thy God. Amen.

The altar - Of burnt - offering before the temple at Jerusalem, this altar and temple Israel had forsaken, and set up others against it; and here God in his jealousy appears prepared to take vengeance. Possibly it may intimate his future departure from Judah too. There Ezekiel, Eze 9:2, saw the slaughter - men stand. The door - The door of the gate that led into the priests court. And cut them - Wound deep, the people who were visionally represented as standing in the court of the temple.

Hell - The center of the earth, or the depth of hell.

The serpent - The crocodile or shark.

Set my eyes - I will perpetually watch over them.

Toucheth - He needs not take great pains therein, a touch of his finger will do this. Shall melt - As snow before the sun.

His stories - The celestial orbs one over another, as so many stories in an high and stately palace. And he hath founded his troop in the earth: all the creatures, which are one army, one body; so closely are they connected, and so harmoniously do they all act for the accomplishing of their creator's purposes. Calleth for the waters - Either in judgment to drown, or in mercy to give rain.

The Arabians - A wild, thievish, and servile nation. Have not I brought - And whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude, God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for this aggravates your sin. From Kir - Conquered by some potent enemies, and sent away to Kir, a country of Media, yet at last delivered. Should these nations, argue themselves to be out of danger of divine justice, because I had done this for them.

The sinful kingdom - Every sinful kingdom.

The least grain - Though tumbled and tossed with the great violence, yet the smallest, good grain, shall not be lost or destroyed.

All the sinners - The great, notorious sinners. The evil - Is far off, we shall die first, and be safe in the grave.

In that day - In the set time which I have fixt. Raise up - Bring back out of captivity, and re - establish in their own land, the house of David, and those that adhere to his family. Fallen - By the revolt of the ten tribes. The breaches - Which are in it by that long division.

They - Literally the Jews. Possess - Both the lands of Edom, and some of the posterity of Edom; these as servants, the other as their propriety. The remnant - Left by Nebuchadnezzar. All the heathen - That is, round about. That doth this - But this is also a prophecy of setting up the kingdom of the Messiah, and bringing in the Gentiles.

Behold the days come - Here is another promise literally of abundant plenty to the returned captives, and mystically of abundant grace poured forth in gospel - days. The plowman - Who breaks up the ground, and prepares it for sowing, shall be ready to tread on the heels of the reaper who shall have a harvest so large, that before he can gather it all in, it shall be time to plow the ground again. The treader of grapes - So great shall their vintage be that e'er the treaders of grapes can have finished their work, the seeds - man shall be sowing his seed against the next season. Shall drop - The vineyards shall be so fruitful, and new wine so plentiful as if it ran down from the mountains. Shall melt - Or, as if whole hills were melted into such liquors. If any object, it never was so: I answer, the sins of the returned captives prevented these blessings, which are promised under a tacit condition.

Pulled up - On condition that they seek the Lord. This was on God's part with admirable constancy performed through six hundred years, perhaps the longest time of freedom from captivity they ever knew.

1 I Saw the LORD standing upon the altar , and he said , Smite the lintel of the door , that the posts may shake : and cut them in the head all of them: and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away , and he that escapeth of them, shall not be delivered .

As before chap. 7.1, 4, 7. and cap. 8.1. so here the Prophet hath a fifth vision,

The great, glorious, just and holy God in some visible tokens of his Majesty;

either ready to execute sentence, or ready to depart, Ezek. 9.3. and 10.1, 4. indeed here he will do both, execute his own sentence, and depart from this people.

Of Burnt-Offering before the Temple at Ierusalem; here the scene is laid, this Altar and Temple Israel had forsaken, and set up others against it; and here God in his jealousie appears prepared to take vengeance; possibly it may intimate his future departure from Iudah too. There Ezekiel chap. 9. ver. 2. saw the slaughter-men stand.

Commanded.

Or the chapiter, knop, ornament, that was upon the lintel of the door, which is supposed to be of the Gate of the Temple or possibly door of the Gate that led into the Priests Courts, and though the Party that smites be not named, 'tis likely 'twas an Angel, or possibly the Prophet seemed to do it, for this is to do in vision.

Which were the strength and beauty of the Gate.

Wound deep.

The people which were visionally represented as standing in the Court of the Temple,

That it may more fully signifie the destroying of the chief of the heads of this sinful people.

Spare not one of these.

God will slay by the Enemies Sword, the meanest of them, or the last, i. e. the posterity of them.

Or get out of danger

for present out of Battel or besieged City,

shall yet at last fall into the Enemies hand, or by his Sword.

Marginal references: Or, chapiter, [illegible: 1 word].; Or, wound, them.; chap. 2.14.

2 Though they dig into hell , thence shall mine hand take them : though they climb up to heaven , thence will I bring them down .

The deepest recesses, the heart and center of the Earth or the Grave, or literally, for so we may lay the supposition, were it possible to be done to hide in the center of the Earth, or the depth of Hell

For Hell is naked to God, and the Grave did not hide some of these sinners, when dead and buried, the rage of Famine, or of the Enemy might dig some out of their Graves.

Could they fly up to Heaven, they would be out of the reach of men:

But there they would meet an offended God, and he would cast them down.

When David would describe the omnipresence of God, Psal. 139.7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. he doth it most elegantly in almost the same manner as our inspired Herdman here doth, wherever these seek to hide themselves from the pursuing vengeance they shall be found, he is with them, from whom they hide.

Marginal references: Job 20.6. Jer. 51.53. Obad. 4.

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel , I will search and take them out thence ; and though they be hid from my sight , in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent , and he shall bite them.

One high woody Mountain, shelter and hiding place for wild Beasts, by a figure put for all the rest, if they think to be safe where wild Beasts find a refuge, they are deceived.

I will saith God hunt them out, and take them.

This an Ironie, like brutish Atheist they think to hide themselves in the bottom of the Sea.

Crocodile or Shark, some Sea Monster,

devour them. Miserable Israel to whom nor Sea, nor Mountains, nor Heaven nor Hell will afford an hiding place.

4 And though they go into captivity before their Enemies , thence will I command the sword and it shall slay them : and I will set my eyes upon them for evil , and not for good .

Those excluded from safety every where else, may perhaps hope that yet the Enemy may spare.

Captives are the slaves, the possession of their conquering Enemies, these make profit of them by selling them to others, or imploying them in labour and service.

This seems to intimate some voluntariness in these people going before the Conquerour, whom they hope hereby to mollifie and sweeten that he may use them well; yet this hope shall fail them too.

The Enemy should either out of cruel humour, and hatred against them, or on any slight occasion and disgust slay them as if they had commission from me so to do, neither propriety in them, nor service by them, nor profit in the Sale of these poor and miserable Captives should be safety to them, they should be accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

I will perpetually watch over them, and then be sure no opportunity will be let slip.

To afflict and punish them,

for their benefit. Thus was the course of God's providence against them from the dayes Amos aimeth at unto this very day, and God hitherto hath, and still doth make good his threat against this idolatrous, cruel, oppressing people.

Marginal references: Deut. 28.65.; Lev. 17.10. Jer. 44.11.

5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land , and it shall melt , and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt.

Adonai the Soveraign Lord,

Iehovah who speaks and doth, and need no more than will to work and accomplish; so he made, sustaineth, and disposeth of all.

All the Cre[illegible: 1 letter]tures are his Army, and do what he commands them to do against his Enemies

a light touch of his hand, he needs not as man to take great pains to break and dissolve hard mettals▪ a touch of his finger will do this.

Either the Inhabitants, or rather the Land it self in which they dwelt, the Land of Canaan, or more likely the whole Earth how firm, and hard soever it seem to be.

As snow before the Sun in its hottest influences, or as wax before a mighty fire, who can do this, can do all that I have denounced against you oh Israel. The rest of the ver. vid. cap. 8. ver. 8. let. r. s. t. u. x.

The Prophet having foretold such sad, universal desolations, miseries beyond what this secure people could think possible, and such as the Atheists among them censur'd, and derided as impossibilities, as ver. 10. now in this and the following verses to the 10th, the Prophet confirms his word, and the certainty of these future judgments.

6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth, he that calleth for the waters of the sea , and poureth them out upon the face of the earth : the LORD is his Name .

He that threatens and will execute his just severities on you is that mighty, glorious King,

whose Palace inconceivably surpasseth all the Royal Palaces of the mightiest Monarchs on Earth; his Chambers as Psal. 104.3. are in the Heavens; he by a word of his mouth prepared, and garnisht those Rooms of State, where is Glory that ravisheth the mighty Angels, how easily can he demolish and ruine your Cells, and with the breath of his nostrils by one command, blow away and scatter your little dust heaps, which you call Cities, fortresses, and impregnable munitions?

He laid the foundations of this lower world, and can as easily shake, or overturn as at first he laid them.

All that is below the Royal pavilions of God are but as a little bundle which he can soon unty and scatter about, nor are the things tied up of such worth and value that he should lose by doing it, how much more easie is it for him to destroy (as he hath spoken) your land and Cities which are a very small thing compared with the whole World, and this as a point, compared with the unmeasurable greatness of the Heavens. You set a value on your selves, and are proud, and think that God will not lose such Jewels, as if a king in his Royalty should fear to lose a pins head, or one atome of dust that lyeth on his Foot-stool.

The easiest way a man can take to get any thing done, nothing so easie for man to do, as 'tis easie for God to drown a sinful Nation or World; possibly God by this may mind them what seeming impossibility he did when he called for the Waters of the Sea to drown the old World, and would hereby make them see that he can now do the like:

Either by wholesale in judgment to drown, or by retale by vapours in mercy to give rain.

In storms and violence, or in gentler showers to punish or refresh.

Either particular Nation, or the whole World.

Eternal, Unchangeable, Almighty and Just. Vid. chap. 5. ver. 8. let. r. s. t.

Marginal references: Or, sphears.; Heb. ascensions.; Or, bundle.

7 Are ye not as children of the Aethiopians unto me O children of Israel, saith the LORD? Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt ? and the Philistins from Caphtor d, and the Assyrians from Kir ?

Who glory in your descent from Abraham, and are in truth the Natural descendants of Israel, and think very highly of your selves on this account, slighting all other Nations, and presuming that God neither will, nor can, because of his Covenant destroy you, whatever Prophets say.

Not that remote Nation beyond Egypt, but those of Arabia Petrea, a wild, theevish, and Servile Nation, such as now inhabit those parts base, bloody, and theevish Alarbes, hated and despised of all their Neighbours, and so by the Israelites their Neighbours accounted at that day.

I did make them, as you, they are my Creatures as you, wherein soever you excel them, you owe it to me, who made you both as Creatures, and have distinguisht you by my free Mercy▪ and rich Grace, giving most to you, of which you boast, and giving less to them for which you despise them:

And whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude, God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for these things aggravate your sin, and render you less capable of hoping or obtain[illegible: 1 letter]ng mercy since you abuse such Grace; remember Amos 3.2. You think I cannot, must not now root you out of your Land, because I brought you out of Egypt, as if you were the only people that ever were brought out of Bondage;

but Moses tells you the Philistines were captivated by the Caphtorims, who dwelt in their land, yet the Philistins were restored, and you found them in the land when you came to possess it; their expulsion you read Deut. 2.23. though I remember no particular mention of their deliverance in any History, yet this hint is enough to assure us of the matter of Fact.

An Antient people, inhabiting a large Country, and known by several distinct names.

Conquered by some potent Enemies, probably the Antient Assyrians, and sent away to Kir a City or Country of Media, yet delivered at last, should these Nations, as you do, argue themselves to be out of danger of Divine Justice▪ and severe punishments, because I had done this for them? Certainly you would not allow such argument in them, nor will I allow it in you.

Marginal references: Jer. 47.4.

8 Behold the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom , and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth : saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob , saith the LORD n.

Consider things better, and argue more like men of Reason.

God of infinite purity and knowledge whose Nature hateth all sin, and whose Office 'tis to punish sinners, his eyes behold all the children of men, they run to and fro, as 2 Chron. 16.9.

Every sinful Kingdom, and on the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes as notoriously the sinning Kingdom, as Heb.

And I will ruin any such Kingdom for their sins, that it shall cease to be a Kingdom on earth.

And so would I do with the Kingdom of Israel, but that I have by Covenant with their Fathers engaged to be their God for ever, which promise I will keep to a remnant of their seed for ever.

The seed of Iacob which God will not utterly extirpate, though he do extirpate other Nations, Ier. 30.11.

This is added to confirm the gracious word concerning the remnant which shall be spared.

9 For lo I will command , and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations , like as corn is sifted in a sieve ; yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth .

As this confirms what the 8th verse promiseth, so it requireth a very diligent and full attention of us.

Or give a charge to all Nations whether these exiled persons shall come, and they shall observe the charge, it shall as surely be done, as 'tis spoke.

Though Assyrians and other Nations be the means and instruments, yet Gods hand is principal, whilest they would toss, and scatter Israel with violence, yet God will hold the sieve, and guide their hands, and set bounds to their violence,

by a skilful and careful Husbandman who designs to separate the Chaff from the Corn; to preserve this, to tread the other under Foot,

Though covered under much Chaff, though tumbled and tossed with the greatest violence, and without any regard to it, yet the smallest, and least regarded good grain, shall not be lost or destroyed with that fire which consumeth the Chaff.

i. e. perish, or be lost, so the phrase 1 Sam. 26.20. and 2 Sam. 14.11. and 1 Kings 1.52. here is a promise of Preservation as great and wonderful, and as hardly comprehended as was the threatned punishment.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span]; Heb. [illegible: 1 span]

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword , which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

The great, notorious sinners, Idolaters, Oppressors, Perverters of Law and Equity, cruel and inhumane Judges and others,

either at home in the Wars, or abroad by barbarous men that Captivate them; as ver. 4. let. d.

In their hearts thinking or hoping, or in their words discoursing the Impossibility of what Amos did foretel.

The sad, miserable, and desolating end;

As a pursuing Enemy, we will flee from it, vid. ver. 1. let. n.

It is far off, we shall die first, and be safe in the Grave, a Kingdom in its prosperity, and well settled as this Kingdom was in Ieroboam's time, cannot soon be brought to such confusion, we shall never see it. This savour'd rank of their Atheisme, and these shall certainly fall and perish, and never rise.

Marginal references: chap. [illegible: 1 letter].

11 ¶ In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David , that is fallen , and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruines , and I will build it as in the dayes of old .

A very usual phrase in Scripture, whereby a time fixt and certain, yet unknown to us, is intended in the set time which God hath prefixt.

Lay the Foundation, and build up, reduce out of Captivity, and re-establish in their own L[illegible: 1 letter]nd.

The House of David, and those that did adhere to David's Family, which are here called a Tabernacle, partly for that it never did after the Captivity rise to a free, and independent Kingdom, and partly because he would distinguish the Iews from the Apostate Israelites, who did wholly forsake David's house.

By a revolt of Ten Tribes in Twelve, whereby their State is low, and as fallen to the ground.

Which are in it by that long Division, since Ieroboam the First's time, which breaches shall upon the return out of Captivity, be made up by the voluntary union of the remnant of the Ten Tribes which shall return with the Two Tribes out of the Babyloni[illegible: 1 letter] Captivity.

Disposing the minds of the Kings of Persia to advance David's Line to the Government of the restor'd Captives, and continuing it in the supream Power till Me[illegible: 2 letters]iahs coming▪ and by rebuilding Ierusalem, and the Temple, and [illegible: 2 letters]tling true Religion amongst them.

Much what 'twas before the sack of the City, and Temple, and the carrying the People Captive. All which, as far as they are Temporal concerns, do suppose and did require a sound turning to God; as did the like promises made by other prophets. And how far so ever they f[illegible: 1 letter]ll short of these Promises 'twas through unbelief, and other sins as Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi complain in their Prophecies. Now as it refers to Messiahs Kingdom, 'tis a Prophesie of the Conversion of the Gentiles as appears Acts 15.16, 17. of which no more here, because that our work is to give the literal sense of the Text; Who would see more may consult larger Commentators on this place, and on Acts 15.16, 17.

This promise I nothing doubt hath a double aspect both to the return out of Captivity, and to the Messiah his Kingdom, and each part is to be considered by us, if we would duly explain this and the following verse, let us look first to the letter and historical reference, and next to the mystical and spiritual sense of the words.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] or, [illegible: 1 letter]el.

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom , and of all the heathen , which are called by my name , saith the LORD , that doth this .

Literally and Historically the Iews, or they of the Two Tribes, and with them, such as of the Ten Tribes did unite to them, and return'd to Ierusalem.

Both the lands of Edom, and some of the Posterity of Edom, these as Servants the other as their Propriety.

Left by Nebuchadnezzar, or that fled out of his reach and lived privately where they could find a hiding place till Israel's return.

The Posterity of Esau wasted by Nebuchadnezzar, and ruin'd so that they never did recover to be a Kingdom, but who remained of them did shelter themselves as retainers to other Nations, and among these some did betake themselves to the Iews, and lived under them. Though formerly they had been desperate Enemies to the Iews, Edomites ▪ who cry'd rase, rase, Psal. 137.7. shall now assist as Servants in laying the Foundations, and building Ierusalem.

i. e. Round about as Moabites, Ammonites, &c. by usual phrase called All the Heathen.

These words either must refer to Heathen, and Edomites proselyted, or they are by a Trajection laid here, but in Construction are to be joined with the foregoing words thus, That they which are called by my name may possess, &c.

This immutably confirms the Promise.

Who saith and doth, who willeth and effecteth, whose Command is Almighty. That this is a prophecy of setting up the Kingdom of the Messiah, and bringing in the Gentiles is very certain, but appertains to the Mystic sense not to the Literal, which is our work.

Marginal references: Obad. 19.; Num 24.18.; Heb. upon [illegible: 1 word] my name [illegible: 1 word] called.

13 Behold , the dayes come , saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper , and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed , and the mountains shall drop sweet wine , and all the hills shall melt .

Mark well ye poor captiv'd Iews,

The time will certainly come, nay it hasteth, and who so lives to return shall see this word performed.

Who breaks up the ground; and prepares it for sowing.

Shall be ready to tread on the heels of the Reaper who shall have a harvest so large that before he can gather it all, in, it shall be time to plow the ground and prepare it for the seed for next years Crop. So God will take away the reproach of Famin (in Ezekiels phrase) from the mountains of Israel.

So great shall their Vintage be that e[illegible: 2 letters]e the Treaders of Grapes can have finish'd their work, the Seeds-man shall be sowing his seed against next harvest Season.

The Iews did plant the Mountains and Hills of Canaan with Vines, Isa. 5.1. there were their Vineyards.

The Vineyards shall be so fruitful, and new wine so plentiful as if it did like trickling streams run down from the Mountains.

Or as if whole Hills were melted into such Liquors. Vid. Ioel 3.18. It is a lofty strain▪ and very elegantly expresseth the abundance of outward blessings promis'd to this People here spoken of. If any will object it appears not that ever it was so. I answer it is certain the sins of the returned Captives did in very great degrees prevent these blessings which are here promised under a tacit condition which they never did fulfil.

Here is another promise made literally for assurance of abundant plenty to the returned Captives, and mystically of abundant Grace poured forth in Gospel dayes. But of the Letter and History.

Marginal references: Lev. 26.5.; [illegible: 1 letter]eb. draweth [illegible: 1 word].; [illegible: 1 word], new wine.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel , and they shall build the waste cities , and inhabit them , and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof ; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them .

Cyrus was the person who proclaimed liberty of return to captive Israel, but God stir'd up his Spirit to do this, and it was Gods eminent work; he was seen in it, as Psal. 126.3, 4.

Of those Salmaneser carried captive and those Nebuchadnezzar carried captive, both falling under the disposal of Cyrus by his conquest over Babylon; by which means Israel, the remnant of the Ten Tribes, as well as the Two Tribes had leave to return.

Of Iudah and of Israel too, as well as Ierusalem, many of which we meet with in the latter Histories of the Iews and their wars.

So they did from the time of their return till the Roman captivity, and were not by the space of 600 years pull'd out of their habitation.

Be blest in the increase of them and enjoy it, freed from that Curse, Deut. 28.39.

These planted for delight should be blessed too, both Vineyards and Gardens should be fruitful, and they that planted them should dwell in their houses safely, and eat the fruit of them.

What is contained in this Verse is an express promise of a Return to Captive Israel, and it is an implicit stating of the time when those former promises ver. 11, 12, 13. should be fulfilled.

Marginal references: Isa. 65.22.

15 And I will plant them upon their land , and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land, which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

Or plant, settle them as Trees that are well rooted.

By antient Gift, and by late Restitution to it by the Lord.

By the violence of their Enemies which promise is an implicit condition that they seek, and not forsake the Lord, and was on Gods part with admirable constancy and Patience to that sinful Nation performed through 600 years, perhaps the longest time of freedom from captivity they ever knew.

Of free gift without their merit.

God▪ thy God and thy Lord will do it for his Covenant sake, therefore surely and fully will he do it.

Amo 9:1 “I saw the Lord standing by the altar; and He said, Smite the top, that the thresholds may tremble, and smash them upon the head of all of them; and I will slay their remnant with the sword: a fugitive of them shall not flee; and an escaped one of them shall not escape.” The correct and full interpretation not only of this verse, but of the whole chapter, depends upon the answer to be given to the question, what altar we are to understand by hammizbēăch. Ewald, Hitzig, Hofmann, and Baur follow Cyril in thinking of the temple at Bethel, because, as Hitzig says, this vision attaches itself in an explanatory manner to the close of Amo 8:14, and because, according to Hofmann, “if the word of the prophet in general was directed against the kingdom, the royal house and the sanctuary of the ten tribes, the article before hammizbēăch points to the altar of the sanctuary in the kingdom of Israel, to the altar at Bethel, against which he has already prophesied in a perfectly similar manner in Amo 3:14.” But there is no ground whatever for the assertion that our vision contains simply an explanation of Amo 8:14. The connection with Amo 8:1-14 is altogether not so close, that the object of the prophecy in the one chapter must of necessity cover that of the other. And it is quite incorrect to say that the word of the prophet throughout is directed simply against the kingdom of the ten tribes, or that, although Amos does indeed reprove the sins of Judah as well as those of Israel, he proclaims destruction to the kingdom of Jeroboam alone. As early as Amo 2:5 he announces desolation to Judah by fire, and the burning of the palaces of Jerusalem; and in Amo 6:1, again, he gives utterance to a woe upon the self-secure in Zion, as well as upon the careless ones in Samaria. And lastly, it is evident from Amo 9:8-10 of the present chapter, that the sinful kingdom which is to be destroyed from the face of the earth is not merely the kingdom of the ten tribes, but the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, which are embraced in one. For although it is stated immediately afterwards that the Lord will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, but will shake the house of Israel among all nations, the house of Jacob cannot mean the kingdom of Judah, and the house of Israel the kingdom of the ten tribes, because such a contrast between Judah and Israel makes the thought too lame, and the antithesis between the destruction of the sinful kingdom and the utter destruction of the nation is quite obliterated. Amos does not generally draw such a distinction between the house of Jacob and the house of Israel, as that the first represents Judah, and the second the ten tribes; but he uses the two epithets as synonymous, as we may see from a comparison of Amo 6:8 with Amo 6:14, where the rejection of the pride of Israel and the hating of its palaces (Amo 9:8) are practically interpreted by the raising up of a nation which oppresses the house of Israel in all its borders (Amo 9:14). And so also in the chapter before us, the “house of Israel” (Amo 9:9) is identical with “Israel” and the “children of Israel” (Amo 9:7), whom God brought up out of Egypt. But God brought up out of Egypt not the ten tribes, but the twelve. And consequently it is decidedly incorrect to restrict the contents of Amo 9:1-10 to the kingdom of the ten tribes. And if this be the case, we cannot possibly understand by hammizbēăch in Amo 9:1 the altar of Bethel, especially seeing that not only does Amos foretel the visitation or destruction of the altars of Bethel in Amo 3:14, and therefore recognises not one altar only in Bethel, but a plurality of altars, but that he also speaks in Amo 7:9 of the desolation of the high places and sanctuaries in Israel, and in Amo 8:14 places the sanctuary at Daniel on a par with that at Bethel; so that there was not any one altar in the kingdom of the ten tribes, which could be called hammizbēăch, the altar par excellence, inasmuch as it possessed from the very beginning two sanctuaries of equal dignity (viz., at Bethel and Dan). Hammizbēăch, therefore, both here and at Eze 9:2, is the altar of burnt-offering in the temple, at Jerusalem, the sanctuary of the whole of the covenant nation, to which even the ten bribes still belonged, in spite of their having fallen away from the house of David. So long as the Lord still continued to send prophets to the ten tribes, so long did they pass as still forming part of the people of God, and so long also was the temple at Jerusalem the divinely appointed sanctuary and the throne of Jehovah, from which both blessings and punishment issued from the. The Lord roars from Zion, and from Zion He utters His voice (Amo 1:2), not only upon the nations who have shown hostility to Judah or Israel, but also upon Judah and Israel, on account of their departure from His law (Amo 2:4 and Amo 2:6.).

The vision in this verse is founded upon the idea that the whole nation is assembled before the Lord at the threshold of the temple, so that it is buried under the ruins of the falling building, in consequence of the blow upon the top, which shatters the temple to its very foundations. The Lord appears at the altar, because here at the sacrificial place of the nation the sins of Israel are heaped up, that He may execute judgment upon the nation there. נצּב על, standing at (not upon) the altar, as in 1Ki 13:1. He gives commandment to smite the top. The person who is to do this is not mentioned; but it was no doubt an angel, probably the המּלאך המּשׁחית, who brought the pestilence as a punishment at the numbering of the people in the time of David (2Sa 24:15-16), who smote the army of the Assyrian king Sennacherib before Jerusalem (2Ki 19:35), and who also slew the first-born of Egypt (Exo 12:13, Exo 12:23); whereas in Eze 9:2, Eze 9:7, He is represented as accomplishing the judgment of destruction by means of six angels. Hakkaphtōr, the knob or top; in Exo 25:31, Exo 25:33, ff., an ornament upon the shaft and branches of the golden candlestick. Here it is an ornament at the top of the columns, and not “the lintel of the door,” or “the pinnacle of the temple with its ornaments.” For the latter explanation of kaphtōr, which cannot be philologically sustained, by no means follows from the fact that the antithesis to the kaphtōr is formed by the sippı̄m, or thresholds of the door. The knob and threshold simply express the contrast between the loftiest summit and the lowest base, without at all warranting the conclusion that the saph denotes the base of the pillar which culminated in a knob, or kaphtōr, the top of the door which rested upon a threshold. The description is not architectural, but rhetorical, the separate portions of the whole being individualized, for the purpose of expressing the thought that the building was to be shattered to pieces in summo usque ad imum, a capite ad calcem. Would we bring out more clearly the idea which lies at the foundation of the rhetorical mode of expression, we have only to think of the capital of the pillars Jachin and Boaz, and that with special reference to their significance, as symbolizing the stability of the temple. The smiting of these pillars, so that they fall to the ground, individualizes the destruction of the temple, without there being any necessity in consequence to think of these pillars as supporting the roof of the temple hall. The rhetorical character of the expression comes out clearly again in what follows, “and smash them to pieces, i.e., lay them in ruins upon the head of all,”Luther’s rendering, “for their avarice shall come upon the head of all of them,” in which he follows the Vulgate, arose from בּצעם being confounded with בּצעם. where the plural suffix attached to בּצעם (with the toneless suffix for בּצעם; see Ewald, §253, a) cannot possibly be taken as referring to the singular hakkaphtōr, nor even to hassippı̄m alone, but must refer to the two nouns hakkaphtōr and hassippı̄m. the reference to hassippı̄m could no doubt be grammatically sustained; but so far as the sense is concerned, it is inadmissible, inasmuch as when a building falls to the ground in consequence of its having been laid in ruins by a blow from above, the thresholds of the entrance could not possibly fall upon the heads of the men who were standing in front of it. The command has throughout a symbolical meaning, ad has no literal reference to the destruction of the temple. The temple symbolizes the kingdom of God, which the Lord had founded in Israel; and as being the centre of that kingdom, it stands here for the kingdom itself. In the temple, as the dwelling-place of the name of Jehovah, i.e., of the gracious presence of God, the idolatrous nation beheld an indestructible pledge of the lasting continuance of the kingdom. But this support to their false trust is taken away from it by the announcement that the Lord will lay the temple in ruins. The destruction of the temple represents the destruction of the kingdom of God embodied in the temple, with which indeed the earthly temple would of necessity fall to the ground. No one will escape this judgment. This is affirmed in the words which follow: And their last, their remnant ('achărı̄th, as in Amo 4:2), I will slay with the sword; as to the meaning of which Cocceius has correctly observed, that the magnitude of the slaughter is increased exclusione fugientium et eorum, qui videbantur effugisse. The apparent discrepancy in the statement, that they will all be crushed to pieces by the ruins, and yet there will be fugitives and persons who have escaped, is removed at once if we bear in mind that the intention of the prophet is to cut off every loophole for carnal security, and that the meaning of the words is simply this: “And even if any should succeed in fleeing and escaping, God will pursue them with the sword, and slay them” (see Hengstenberg, Christology, on this passage).

Amo 9:2-4

The thought is still further expanded in Amo 9:2-6. Amo 9:2. “If they break through into hell, my hand will take them thence; and if they climb up to heaven, thence will I fetch them down. Amo 9:3. And if they hide themselves upon the top of Carmel, I will trace them, and fetch them thence; and if they conceal themselves from before mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, thence do I command the serpent, and it biteth them. Amo 9:4. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, I will command the sword thence, and it slayeth them; and I direct my eye upon them for evil, and not for good.” The imperfects, with אם, are to be taken as futures. They do not assume what is impossible as merely hypothetical, in the sense of “if they should hide themselves;” but set forth what was no doubt in actual fact an impossible case, as though it were possible, in order to cut off every escape. For the cases mentioned in Amo 9:3 and Amo 9:4 might really occur. Hiding upon Carmel and going into captivity belong to the sphere of possibility and of actual occurrence. In order to individualize the thought, that escape from the punishing arm of the Almighty is impossible, the prophet opposes the most extreme spaces of the world to one another, starting from heaven and hell, as the loftiest height and deepest depth of the universe, in doing which he has in all probability Psa 139:7-8 floating before his mind. He commences with the height, which a man cannot possibly climb, and the depth, to which he cannot descend, to show that escape is impossible. חתר, to break through, with ב, to make a hole into anything (Eze 8:8; Eze 12:5, Eze 12:7). According to the Hebrew view, Sheol was deep in the interior of the earth. The head of Carmel is mentioned (see at Jos 19:26). The reference is not to the many caves in this promontory, which afford shelter to fugitives; for they are not found upon the head of Carmel, but for the most part on the western side (see v. Raumer, Pal. p. 44). The emphasis lies rather upon the head, as a height overgrown with trees, which, even if not very high (about 1800 feet; see at 1Ki 18:19), yet, in comparison with the sea over which it rises, might appear to be of a very considerable height; in addition to which, the situation of Carmel, on the extreme western border of the kingdom of Israel, might also be taken into consideration. “Whoever hides himself there, must assuredly know of no other place of security in the whole of the land besides. And if there is no longer any security there, there is nothing left but the sea.” But even the deep sea-bottom will not shelter from the vengeance of God. God commands the serpent, or summons the serpent to bite him. Nâchâsh, here the water-serpent, called elsewhere livyāthān or tannı̄n (Isa 27:1), a sea-monster, which was popularly supposed to be extremely dangerous, but which cannot be more exactly defined. Even by going into captivity, they will not be protected from the sword. בּשּׁבי, not into captivity, but in statu captivitatis: even if they should be among those who were wandering into captivity, where men are generally sure of their lives (see Lam 1:5). For God has fixed His eye upon them, i.e., has taken them under His special superintendence (cf. Jer 39:12); not, however, to shelter, to protect, and to bless, but לרעה, for evil, i.e., to punish them. “The people of the Lord remain, under all circumstances, the object of special attention. They are more richly blessed than the world, but they are also more severely punished” (Hengstenberg).

Amo 9:5-6

To strengthen this threat, Amos proceeds, in Amo 9:5, Amo 9:6, to describe Jehovah as the Lord of heaven and earth, who sends judgments upon the earth with omnipotent power. Amo 9:5. “And the Lord Jehovah of hosts, who toucheth the earth, and it melteth, and all the inhabitants of thereupon mourn; and the whole of it riseth like the Nile, and sinketh like the Nile of Egypt. Amo 9:6. Who buildeth His stories in heaven, and His vault, over the earth hath He founded it; who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the earth: Jehovah is His name.” This description of God, who rules with omnipotence, is appended, as in Amo 4:13 and Amo 5:8, without any link of connection whatever. We must not render it, “The Lord Jehovah of hosts is He who toucheth the earth;” but we must supply the connecting thought, “And He who thus directeth His eye upon you is the Lord Jehovah of hosts, who toucheth the earth, and it melteth.” The melting or dissolving of the earth is, according to Psa 46:7, an effect produced by the Lord, who makes His voice heard in judgments, or “the destructive effect of the judgments of God, whose instruments the conquerors are” (Hengstenberg), when nations reel and kingdoms totter. The Lord therefore touches the earth, so that it melts, when He dissolves the stability of the earth by great judgments (cf. Psa 75:4). “Israel could not fail to test the truth of these words by painful experience, when the wild hordes of Assyria poured themselves over the western parts of Asia” (Hengstenberg). The following words, depicting the dissolution of the earth, are repeated, with very inconsiderable alterations, from Amo 8:8; we have merely the omission of ונגרשׁה, and the kal שׁקעה substituted for the niphal נשׁקה. In Amo 9:6 there is evidently an allusion to the flood. God, who is enthroned in heaven, in the cloud-towers built above the circle of the earth, possesses the power to pour the waves of the sea over the earth by His simple word. Ma‛ălōth is synonymous with עליּות in Psa 104:3 : upper rooms, lit., places to which one has to ascend. 'Aguddâh, an arch or vault: that which is called râqı̄ă‛, the firmament, in other places. The heaven, in which God builds His stories, is the heaven of clouds; and the vault, according to Gen 1:7, is the firmament of heaven, which divided the water above the firmament from the water beneath it. Consequently the upper rooms of God are the waters above the firmament, in or out of which God builds His stories (Psa 104:3), i.e., the cloud-tower above the horizon of the earth, which is raised above it like a vault. Out of this cloud-castle the rain pours down (Psa 104:13); and out of its open windows the waters of the flood poured down, and overflowed the earth (Gen 7:11). When God calls to the waters of the sea, they pour themselves over the surface of the earth. The waves of the sea are a figurative representation of the agitated multitude of nations, or of the powers of the world, which pour their waves over the kingdom of God (see at Amo 7:4).

Amo 9:7

The Lord will pour out these floods upon sinful Israel, because it stands nearer to Him than the heathen do. Amo 9:7. “Are ye not like the sons of the Cushites to me, ye sons of Israel? is the saying of Jehovah. Have I not brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of Caphtor, and Aram out of Kir?” With these words the prophet tears away from the sinful nation the last support of its carnal security, namely, reliance upon its election as the nation of God, which the Lord has practically confirmed by leading Israel up out of Egypt. Their election as the people of Jehovah was unquestionably a pledge that the Lord would not cast off His people, or suffer them to be destroyed by the heathen. But what the apostle says of circumcision in Rom 2:25 applied to this election also, namely, that it was of benefit to none but those who kept the law. It afforded a certainty of divine protection simply to those who proved themselves to be the children of Israel by their walk and conduct, and who faithfully adhered to the Lord. To the rebellious it was of no avail. Idolaters had become like the heathen. The Cushites are mentioned, not so much as being descendants of the accursed Ham, as on account of the blackness of their skin, which was regarded as a symbol of spiritual blackness (cf. Jer 13:23). The expression “sons (children) of the Cushites” is used with reference to the title “sons (children) of Israel,” the honourable name of the covenant nation. For degenerate Israel, the leading up out of Egypt had no higher signification than the leading up of the Philistines and Syrians out of their former dwelling-places into the lands which they at present inhabited. These two peoples are mentioned by way of example: the Philistines, because they were despised by the Israelites, as being uncircumcised; the Syrians, with an allusion to the threat in Amo 1:5, that they should wander into exile to Kir. On the fact that the Philistines sprang from Caphtor, see the comm. on Gen 10:14.

Amo 9:8-10

Election, therefore, will not save sinful Israel from destruction. After Amos has thus cut off all hope of deliverance from the ungodly, he repeats, in his own words in Amo 9:8., the threat already exhibited symbolically in Amo 9:1. Amo 9:8. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are against the sinful kingdom, and I destroy it from off the face of the earth; except that I shall not utterly destroy the house of Jacob: is the saying of Jehovah. Amo 9:9. For, behold, I command, and shake the house of Israel among all nations, as (corn) is shaken in a sieve, and not even a little grain falls to the ground. Amo 9:10. All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, The evil will not overtake or come to us.” The sinful kingdom is Israel; not merely the kingdom of the ten tribes however, but all Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes along with Judah, the house of Jacob or Israel, which is identical with the sons of Israel, who had become like the Cushites, although Amos had chiefly the people and kingdom of the ten tribes in his mind. Bammamlâkhâh, not upon the kingdom, but against the kingdom. The directing of the eye upon an object is expressed by  על  (Amo 9:4) or  אל  (cf. Psa 34:16); whereas  ב  is used in relation to the object upon which anger rests (Psa 34:17). Because the Lord had turned His eye towards the sinful kingdom, He must exterminate it, - a fate with which Moses had already threatened the nation in Deu 6:15. Nevertheless (אפס כּי, “only that,” introducing the limitation, as in Num 13:28; Deu 15:4) the house of Jacob, the covenant nation, shall not be utterly destroyed. The “house of Jacob” is opposed to the “sinful nation;” not, however, so that the antithesis simply lies in the kingdom and people (regnum delebo, non populum), or that the “house of Jacob” signifies the kingdom of Judah as distinguished from the kingdom of the ten tribes, for the “house of Jacob” is perfectly equivalent to the “house of Israel” (Amo 9:9). The house of Jacob is not to be utterly destroyed, but simply to be shaken, as it were, in a sieve. The antithesis lies in the predicate החטּא, the sinful kingdom. So far as Israel, as a kingdom and people, is sinful, it is to be destroyed from off the face of the earth. But there is always a divine kernel in the nation, by virtue of its divine election, a holy seed out of which the Lord will form a new and holy people and kingdom of God. Consequently the destruction will not be a total one, a השׁמיד אשׁמיד. The reason for this is introduced by kı̄ (for) in Amo 9:9. The Lord will shake Israel among the nations, as corn is shaken in a sieve; so that the chaff flies away, and the dust and dirt fall to the ground, and only the good grains are left in the sieve. Such a sieve are the nations of the world, through which Israel is purified from its chaff, i.e., from its ungodly members. Tserōr, generally a bundle; here, according to its etymology, that which is compact or firm, i.e., solid grain as distinguished from loose chaff. In 2Sa 17:13 it is used in a similar sense to denote a hard piece of clay or a stone in a building. Not a single grain fill fall to the ground, that is to say, not a good man will be lost (cf. 1Sa 26:20). The self-secure sinners, however, who rely upon their outward connection with the nation of God (compare Amo 9:7 and Amo 3:2), or upon their zeal in the outward forms of worship (Amo 5:21.), and fancy that the judgment cannot touch them (הקדּים בּעד, to come to meet a person round about him, i.e., to come upon him from every side), will all perish by the sword. This threat is repeated at the close, without any formal link of connection with Amo 9:9, not only to prevent any abuse of the foregoing modification of the judgment, but also to remove this apparent discrepancy, that whereas in Amo 9:1-4 it is stated that not one will escape the judgment, according to Amo 9:8, the nation of Israel is not to be utterly destroyed. In order to anticipate the frivolity of the ungodly, who always flatter themselves with the hope of escaping when there is a threatening of any general calamity, the prophet first of all cuts off all possibilities whatever in Amo 9:1-4, without mentioning the exceptions; and it is not till afterwards that the promise is introduced that the house of Israel shall not be utterly annihilated, whereby the general threat is limited to sinners, and the prospect of deliverance and preservation through the mercy of God is opened to the righteous. The historical realization or fulfilment of this threat took place, so far as Israel of the ten tribes was concerned, when their kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians, and in the case of Judah, at the overthrow of the kingdom and temple by the Chaldeans; and the shaking of Israel in the sieve is still being fulfilled upon the Jews who are dispersed among all nations.

Amo 9:11-12

The Kingdom of God Set Up. - Since God, as the unchangeable One, cannot utterly destroy His chosen people, and abolish or reverse His purpose of salvation, after destroying the sinful kingdom, He will set up the new and genuine kingdom of God. Amo 9:11. “On that day will I set up the fallen hut of David, and wall up their rents; and what is destroyed thereof I will set up, and build it as in the days of eternity. Amo 9:12. That they may taken possession of the remnant of Edom, and all the nations upon which my name shall be called, is the saying of Jehovah, who doeth such things.” “In that day,” i.e., when the judgment has fallen upon the sinful kingdom, and all the sinners of the people of Jehovah are destroyed. Sukkâh, a hut, indicates, by way of contrast to bayith, the house or palace which David built for himself upon Zion (2Sa 5:11), a degenerate condition of the royal house of David. This is placed beyond all doubt by the predicate nōpheleth, fallen down. As the stately palace supplies a figurative representation of the greatness and might of the kingdom, so does the fallen hut, which is full of rents and near to destruction, symbolize the utter ruin of the kingdom. If the family of David no longer dwells in a palace, but in a miserable fallen hut, its regal sway must have come to an end. The figure of the stem of Jesse that is hewn down, in Isa 11:1, is related to this; except that the former denotes the decline of the Davidic dynasty, whereas the fallen hut represents the fall of the kingdom. There is no need to prove, however, that this does not apply to the decay of the Davidic house by the side of the great power of Jeroboam (Hitzig, Hofmann), least of all under Uzziah, in whose reign the kingdom of Judah reached the summit of its earthly power and glory. The kingdom of David first became a hut when the kingdom of Judah was overcome by the Chaldeans, - an event which is included in the prediction contained in Amo 9:1., and hinted at even in Amo 2:5. But this hut the Lord will raise up again from its fallen condition. This raising up is still further defined in the three following clauses: “I wall up their rents” (pirtsēhen). The plural suffix can only be explained from the fact that sukkâh actually refers to the kingdom of God, which was divided into two kingdoms (“these kingdoms,” Amo 6:2), and that the house of Israel, which was not to be utterly destroyed (Amo 9:8), consisted of the remnant of the people of the two kingdoms, or the ἐκλογή of the twelve tribes; so that in the expression גדרתי פרציהן there is an allusion to the fact that the now divided nation would one day be united again under the one king David, as Hosea (Hos 2:2; Hos 3:5) and Ezekiel (ch. Eze 37:22) distinctly prophesy. The correctness of this explanation of the plural suffix is confirmed by הרסתיו in the second clause, the suffix of which refers to David, under whom the destroyed kingdom would rise into new power. And whilst these two clauses depict the restoration of the kingdom from its fallen condition, in the third clause its further preservation is foretold. בּנה does not mean to “build” here, but to finish building, to carry on, enlarge, and beautify the building. The words כּימי עולם (an abbreviated comparison for “as it was in the days of the olden time”) point back to the promise in 2Sa 7:11-12, 2Sa 7:16, that God would build a house for David, would raise up his seed after him, and firmly establish his throne for ever, that his house and his kingdom should endure for ever before Him, upon which the whole of the promise before us is founded. The days of the rule of David and of his son Solomon are called “days of eternity,” i.e., of the remotest past (compare Mic 7:14), to show that a long period would intervene between that time and the predicted restoration. The rule of David had already received a considerable blow through the falling away of the ten tribes. And it would fall still deeper in the future; but, according tot he promise in 2 Samuel 7, it would not utterly perish, but would be raised up again from its fallen condition. It is not expressly stated that this will take place through a shoot from its own stem; but that is implied in the fact itself. The kingdom of David could only be raised up again through an offshoot from David’s family. And that this can be no other than the Messiah, was unanimously acknowledged by the earlier Jews, who even formed a name for the Messiah out of this passage, viz., בר נפלין, filius cadentium, He who had sprung from a fallen hut (see the proofs in Hengstenberg’s Christology, vol. i. p. 386 transl.). The kingdom of David is set up in order that they (the sons of Israel, who have been proved to be corn by the sifting, Amo 9:9) may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations, etc. The Edomites had been brought into subjection by David, who had taken possession of their land. At a late period, when the hut of David was beginning to fall, they had recovered their freedom again. This does not suffice, however, to explain the allusion to Edom here; for David had also brought the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Aramaeans into subjection to his sceptre, - all of them nations who had afterwards recovered their freedom, and to whom Amos foretels the coming judgment in Amo 1:1-15. The reason why Edom alone is mentioned by name must be sought for, therefore, in the peculiar attitude which Edom assumed towards the people of God, namely, in the fact “that whilst they were related to the Judaeans, they were of all nations the most hostile to them” (Rosenmüller). On this very ground Obadiah predicted that judgment would come upon the Edomites, and that the remnant of Esau would be captured by the house of Jacob. Amos speaks here of the “remnant of Edom,” not because Amaziah recovered only a portion of Edom to the kingdom (2Ki 14:7), as Hitzig supposes, but with an allusion to the threat in Amo 1:12, that Edom would be destroyed with the exception of a remnant. The “remnant of Edom” consists of those who are saved in the judgments that fall upon Edom. This also applies to כּל־הגּוים. Even of these nations, only those are taken by Israel, i.e., incorporated into the restored kingdom of David, the Messianic kingdom, upon whom the name of Jehovah is called; that is to say, not those who were first brought under the dominion of the nation in the time of David (Hitzig, Baur, and Hofmann), but those to whom He shall have revealed His divine nature, and manifested Himself as a God and Saviour (compare Isa 63:19; Jer 14:9, and the remarks on Deu 28:10), so that this expression is practically the same as אשׁר יהוה קרא (whom Jehovah shall call) in Joe 3:5. The perfect נקרא acquires the sense of the futurum exactum from the leading sentence, as in Deu 28:10 (see Ewald, §346, c). יירשׁוּ, to take possession of, is chosen with reference to the prophecy of Balaam (Num 24:18), that Edom should be the possession of Israel (see the comm. on this passage). Consequently the taking possession referred to here will be of a very different character from the subjugation of Edom and other nations to David. It will make the nations into citizens of the kingdom of God, to whom the Lord manifests Himself as their God, pouring upon them all the blessings of His covenant of grace (see Isa 56:6-8). To strengthen this promise, נאם יי וגו (“saith Jehovah, that doeth this”) is appended. He who says this is the Lord, who will also accomplish it (see Jer 33:2).

The explanation given above is also in harmony with the use made by James of our prophecy in Act 15:16-17, where he derives from Amo 9:11 and Amo 9:12 a prophetic testimony to the fact that Gentiles who became believers were to be received into the kingdom of God without circumcision. It is true that at first sight James appears to quote the words of the prophet simply as a prophetic declaration in support of the fact related by Peter, namely, that by giving His Holy Spirit to believers from among the Gentiles as well as to believers from among the Jews, without making any distinction between Jews and Gentiles, God had taken out of the Gentiles a people ἐπὶ τῶ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, “upon His name” (compare Act 15:14 with Act 15:8-9). But as both James and Peter recognise in this fact a practical declaration on the part of God that circumcision was not a necessary prerequisite to the reception of the Gentiles into the kingdom of Christ, while James follows up the allusion to this fact with the prophecy of Amos, introducing it with the words, “and to this agree the words of the prophets,” there can be no doubt that James also quotes the words of the prophet with the intention of adducing evidence out of the Old Testament in support of the reception of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God without circumcision. But this proof is not furnished by the statement of the prophet, “through its silence as to the condition required by those who were pharisaically disposed” (Hengstenberg); and still less by the fact that it declares in the most striking way “what significance there was in the typical kingdom of David, as a prophecy of the relation in which the human race, outside the limits of Israel, would stand to the kingdom of Christ” (Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, ii. 2, pp. 84, 85). For the passage would contain nothing extraordinary concerning the typical significance possessed by the kingdom of David in relation to the kingdom of Christ, if, as Hofmann says (p. 84), the prophet, instead of enumerating all the nations which once belonged to the kingdom of David, simply mentions Edom by name, and describes all the others as the nations which have been subject like Edom to the name of Jehovah. The demonstrative force of the prophet’s statement is to be found, no doubt, as Hofmann admits, in the words כּל־הגּוים אשׁר נקרא שׁמי עליהם. But if these words affirmed nothing more than what Hofmann finds in them - namely, that all the nations subdued by David were subjected to the name of Jehovah; or, as he says at p. 83, “made up, in connection with Israel, the kingdom of Jehovah and His anointed, without being circumcised, or being obliged to obey the law of Israel” - their demonstrative force would simply lie in what they do not affirm, - namely, in the fact that they say nothing whatever about circumcision being a condition of the reception of the Gentiles. The circumstance that the heathen nations which David brought into subjection to his kingdom were made tributary to himself and subject to the name of Jehovah, might indeed by typical of the fact that the kingdom of the second David would also spread over the Gentiles; but, according to this explanation, it would affirm nothing at all as to the internal relation of the Gentiles to Israel in the new kingdom of God. The Apostle James, however, quotes the words of Amos as decisive on the point in dispute, which the apostles were considering, because in the words, “all the nations upon whom my name is called,” he finds a prediction of what Peter has just related, - namely, that the Lord has taken out of the heathen a people “upon His name,” that is to say, because he understands by the calling of the name of the Lord upon the Gentiles the communication of the Holy Ghost to the Gentiles.Moreover, James (or Luke) quotes the words of Amos according to the lxx, even in their deviations from the Hebrew text, in the words ὅπως ἂν ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων με (for which Luke has τὸν κύριον, according to Cod. Al.), which rest upon an interchange of למען יירשׁוּ את־שׁארית אדום with למען ידרשׁוּ שׁארית אדם; because the thought upon which it turned was not thereby altered, inasmuch as the possession of the Gentiles, of which the prophet is speaking, is the spiritual sway of the people of the Lord, which can only extend over those who seek the Lord and His kingdom. The other deviations from the original text and from the lxx (compare Act 15:16 with Amo 9:11) may be explained on the ground that the apostle is quoting from memory, and that he alters ἐν τῆ ἡμερᾶ ἐκείνη ἀναστήσω into μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναστρέψω καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω, to give greater clearness to the allusion contained in the prnophecy to the Messianic times.

Amo 9:13-15

To the setting up of the kingdom and its outward extension the prophet appends its inward glorification, foretelling the richest blessing of the land (Amo 9:13) and of the nation (Amo 9:14), and lastly, the eternal duration of the kingdom (Amo 9:15). Amo 9:13. “Behold, days come, is the saying of Jehovah, that the ploughman reaches to the reaper, and the treader of grapes to the sower of seed; and the mountains drip new wine, and all the hills melt away. Amo 9:14. And I reverse the captivity of my people Israel, and they build the waste cities, and dwell, and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and make gardens, and eat the fruit thereof. Amo 9:15. And I plant them in their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.” In the new kingdom of God the people of the Lord will enjoy the blessing, which Moses promised to Israel when faithful to the covenant. This blessing will be poured upon the land in which the kingdom is set up. Amo 9:13 is formed after the promise in Lev 26:5, “Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time;” but Amos transfers the action to the persons employed, and says, “The ploughman will reach to the reaper.” Even while the one is engaged in ploughing the land for the sowing, the other will already be able to cut ripe corn; so quickly will the corn grow and ripen. And the treading of the grapes will last to the sowing-time, so abundant will the vintage be. The second half of the verse is taken from Joe 3:18; and according to this passage, the melting of the hills is to be understood as dissolving into streams of milk, new wine, and honey, in which the prophet had the description of the promised land as a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 3:8, etc.) floating before his mind. In the land so blessed will Israel enjoy unbroken peace, and delight itself in the fruits of its inheritance. On שׁוּב את־שׁבוּת, see the exposition of Hos 6:11. That this phrase is not used here to denote the return of the people from captivity, but the turning of misfortune and misery into prosperity and salvation, is evident from the context; for Israel cannot be brought back out of captivity after it has already taken possession of the Gentiles (Amo 9:12). The thought of Amo 9:14, as attached to Amo 9:13, is the following: As the land of Israel, i.e., the territory of the re-erected kingdom of David, will no more be smitten with the curse of drought and failing crops with which the rebellious are threatened, but will receive the blessing of the greatest fertility, so will the people, i.e., the citizens of this kingdom, be no more visited with calamity and judgment, but enjoy the rich beneficent fruits of their labour in blessed and unbroken peace. This thought is individualized with a retrospective glance at the punishment with which the sinners are threatened in Amo 5:11, - namely, as building waste cities, and dwelling therein, and as drinking the wine of the vineyards that have been planted; not building houses for others any more, as was threatened in Amo 5:11, after Deu 28:30, Deu 28:39; and lastly, as laying out gardens, and eating the fruit thereof, without its being consumed by strangers (Deu 28:33). This blessing will endure for ever (Amo 9:15). Their being planted in their land denotes, not the settling of the people in their land once more, but their firm and lasting establishment and fortification therein. The Lord will make Israel, i.e., His rescued people, into a plantation that will never be torn up again, but strikes firm roots, sends forth blossom, and produces fruit. The words point back to 2Sa 7:10, and declare that the firm planting of Israel which was begun by David will be completed with the raising up of the fallen hut of David, inasmuch as no further driving away of the nation into captivity will occur, but the people of the Lord will dwell for ever in the land which their God has given them. Compare Jer 24:6. This promise is sealed by אמר יי אל.

We have not to seek for the realization of this promise in the return of Israel from its captivity to Palestine under Zerubbabel and Ezra; for this was no planting of Israel to dwell for ever in the land, nor was it a setting up of the fallen hut of David. Nor have we to transfer the fulfilment to the future, and think of a time when the Jews, who have been converted to their God and Saviour Jesus Christ, will one day be led back to Palestine. For, as we have already observed at Joe 3:18, Canaan and Israel are types of the kingdom of God and of the church of the Lord. The raising up of the fallen hut of David commenced with the coming of Christ and the founding of the Christian church by the apostles; and the possession of Edom and all the other nations upon whom the Lord reveals His name, took its rise in the reception of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven set up by Christ. The founding and building of this kingdom continue through all the ages of the Christian church, and will be completed when the fulness of the Gentiles shall one day enter into the kingdom of God, and the still unbelieving Israel shall have been converted to Christ. The land which will flow with streams of divine blessing is not Palestine, but the domain of the Christian church, or the earth, so far as it has received the blessings of Christianity. The people which cultivates this land is the Christian church, so far as it stands in living faith, and produces fruits of the Holy Ghost. The blessing foretold by the prophet is indeed visible at present in only a very small measure, because Christendom is not yet so pervaded by the Spirit of the Lord, as that it forms a holy people of God. In many respects it still resembles Israel, which the Lord will have to sift by means of judgments. This sifting will be first brought to an end through the judgment upon all nations, which will attend the second coming of Christ. Then will the earth become a Canaan, where the Lord will dwell in His glorified kingdom in the midst of His sanctified people.

The Certainty of the Sinner's Doom. (b. c. 784.)

1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: 4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. 5 And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. 6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name. 7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord . Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord . 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

We have here the justice of God passing sentence upon a provoking people; and observe,

I. With what solemnity the sentence is passed. The prophet saw in vision the Lord standing upon the altar (v. 1), the altar of burnt-offerings; for the Lord has a sacrifice, and multitudes must fall as victims to his justice. He is removed from the mercy-seat between the cherubim, and stands upon the altar, the judgment-seat, on which the fire of God used to fall, to devour the sacrifices. He stands upon the altar, to show that the ground of his controversy with this people was their profanation of his holy things; here he stands to avenge the quarrel of his altar, as also to signify that the sin of the house of Israel, like that of the house of Eli, shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever, 1 Sam. iii. 14. He stands on the altar, to prohibit sacrifice. Now the order given is, Smite the lintel of the door of the temple, the chapiter, smite it with such a blow that the posts may shake, and cut them, wound them in the head, all of them; break down the doors of God's house, or of the courts of his house, in token of this, that he is going out from it, and forsaking it, and then all judgments are breaking in upon it. Or it signifies the destruction of those in the first place that should be as the door-posts to the nation for its defence, so that, they being broken down, it becomes as a city without gates and bars. "Smite the king, who is as the lintel of the door, that the princes, who are as the posts, may shake; cut them in the head, cleave them down, all of them, as wood for the fire; and I will slay the last of them, the posterity of them, them and their families, or the least of them, them and all that are employed under them; or, I will slay them all, them and all that remain of them, till it comes to the last man; the slaughter shall be general." There is no living for those on whom God has said, I will slay them, no standing before his sword.

II. What effectual care is taken that none shall escape the execution of this sentence. This is enlarged upon here, and is intended for warning to all that provoke the Lord to jealousy. Let sinners read it, and tremble; as there is no fighting it out with God, so there is no fleeing from him. His judgments, when they come with commission, as they will overpower the strongest that think to outface them, so they will overtake the swiftest that think to out-run them, v. 2. Those of them that flee, and take to their heels, shall soon be out of breath, and shall not flee away out of the reach of danger; for, as sometimes the wicked flee when none pursues, so he cannot flee away when God pursues, though he would fain flee out of his hand. Nay, he that escapes of them, that thinks he has gained his point, shall not be delivered. Evil pursues sinners, and will arrest them. This is here enlarged upon by showing that wherever sinners flee for shelter from God's justice, it will overtake them, and the shelter will prove but a refuge of lies. What David says of the ubiquity of God's presence ( Ps. cxxxix. 7-10) is here said of the extent of God's power and justice. (1.) Hell itself, though it has its name in English from its being hilled, or covered over, or hidden, cannot hide them (v. 2): "Though they dig into hell, into the centre of the earth, or the darkest recesses of it, yet thence shall my hand take them, and bring them forth to be made public monuments of divine justice." The grave is a hiding-place to the righteous from the malice of the world (Job iii. 17), but it shall be no hiding-place to the righteous from the justice of God; thence God's hands shall take them, when they shall rise in the great day to everlasting shame and contempt. (2.) Heaven, though it has its name from being heaved, or lifted up, shall not put them out of reach of God's judgments; as hell cannot hide them, so heaven will not. Though they climb up to heaven in their conceit, yet thence will I bring them down. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace shall never be brought down; but those who climb thither themselves, by their own presumption, and confidence in themselves, will be brought down and filled with shame. (3.) The top of Carmel, one of the highest parts of the dust of the world in that country, shall not protect them: "Though they hide themselves there, where they imagine nobody will look for them, I will search, and take them out thence; neither the thickest bushes, nor the darkest caves, in the top of Carmel, will serve to hide them." (4.) The bottom of the sea shall not serve to conceal them; though they think to hide themselves there, even there the judgments of God shall find them out, and lay hold on them: Thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them, the crooked serpent, even the dragon that is in the sea, Isa. xxvii. 1. They shall find their plague and death where they hope to find shelter and protection; diving will stand them in no more stead than climbing. (5.) Remote countries will not befriend them, nor shall less judgments excuse them from greater (v. 4): Thought they go into captivity before their enemies, who carry them to places at a great distance, and mingle them with their own people, among whom they seem to be lost, yet that shall not serve their turn: Thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them, the sword of the enemy, or one another's sword. When God judges he will overcome. That which binds on all this, makes their escape impossible and their ruin inevitable, is that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. His eyes are in every place, are upon all men and upon all the ways of men, upon some for good, to show himself strong on their behalf, but upon others for evil, to take notice of their sins (Job xiii. 27) and take all opportunities of punishing them for their sins. Their case is truly miserable who have the providence of God: and all the dispensations of it, against them, working for their hurt.

3. What a great and mighty God he is that passes this sentence upon them, and will take the executing of it into his own hands. Threatenings are more or less formidable according to the power of him that threatens. We laugh at impotent wrath; but the wrath of God is not so; it is omnipotent wrath. Who knows the power of it? What he had before said he would do (ch. viii. 8) is here repeated, that he would make the land melt and tremble, and all that dwell therein mourn, that the judgment should rise up wholly like a flood, and the country should be drowned, and laid under water, as by the flood of Egypt, v. 5. But is he able to make his words good? Yes, certainly he is; he does but touch the land and it melts, touch the mountains and they smoke; he can do it with the greatest ease, for, (1.) He is the Lord God of hosts, who undertakes to do it, the God who has all the power in his hand, and all creatures at his beck and call, who having made them all, and given them their several capacities, makes what use he pleases of them and all their powers. Very miserable is the case of those who have the Lord of hosts against them, for they have hosts against them, the whole creation at war with them. (2.) He is the Creator and governor of the upper world: It is he that builds his stories in the heavens, the celestial orbs, or spheres, one over another, as so many stories in a high and stately palace. They are his, for he built them at first, when he said, Let there be a firmament, and he made the firmament; and he builds them still, is continually building them, not that they need repair, but by his providence he still upholds them; his power is the pillars of heaven, by which it is borne up. Now he that has the command of those stories is certainly to be feared, for thence, as from a castle, he can fire upon his enemies, or cast upon them great hailstones, as on the Canaanites, or make the stars in their courses, the furniture of those stories, to fight against them, as against Sisera. (3.) He has the management and command of this lower world too, in which we dwell, the terraqueous globe, both earth and sea, so that, which way soever his enemies think to make their escape, he will meet them, or to make opposition, he will match them. Do they think to make a land-fight of it? He has founded his troop in the earth, his troop of guards, which he has at command, and makes use of for the protection of his subjects and the punishment of his enemies. All the creatures on earth make one bundle (as the margin reads it), one bundle of arrows, out of which he takes what he pleases to discharge against the persecutors, Ps. vii. 13. They are all one army, one body, so closely are they connected, and so harmoniously and so much in concert do they act for the accomplishing of their Creator's purposes. Do they think to make a sea-fight of it? He will be too hard for them there, for he has the waters of the sea at command; even its waves, the most tumultuous rebellious waters, do obey him. He calls for the waters of the sea in the course of his common providence, causes vapours to ascend out of it, and pours them out in showers, the small rain and the great rain of his strength, upon the face of the earth; this was mentioned before as a reason why we should seek the Lord (ch. v. 8) and make him our friend, as it is here made a reason why we should fear him and dread having him for our enemy.

4. How justly God passes this sentence upon the people of Israel. He does not destroy them by an act of sovereignty, but by an act of righteousness; for (v. 8), it is a sinful kingdom, and the eyes of the Lord are upon it, discovering it to be so; he sees the great sinfulness of it, and therefore he will destroy it from off the face of the earth. Note, When those kingdoms that in name and profession were holy kingdoms, and kingdoms of priests, as Israel was, become sinful kingdoms, no other can be expected than that they should be cut off and abandoned. Let sinful kingdoms, and sinful families, and sinful persons too, see the eyes of the Lord upon them, observing all their wickedness, and reserving the notice of it for the day of reckoning and recompence. This being a sinful kingdom, see how light God makes of it, v. 7.

(1.) Of the relation wherein he stood to it: Are you not as children of Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? A sad change! Children of Israel become as children of the Ethiopians! [1.] They were so in themselves; that was their sin. It is a thing to be greatly lamented that the children of Israel often become as children of the Ethiopians; this children of godly parents degenerate, and become the reverse of those that went before them. Those that were well-educated, and trained up in the knowledge and fear of God, and set out well, and promised fair, throw off their profession and become as bad as the worst. How has the gold become dim! [2.] They were so in God's account, and that was their punishment. He valued them no more, though they were children of Israel, than if they had been children of the Ethiopians. We read of one in the title of Ps. vii. that was Cush (an Ethiopian, as some understand it) and yet a Benjamite. Those that by birth and profession are children of Israel, if they degenerate, and become wicked and vile, are to God no more than children of the Ethiopians. This is an intimation of the rejection of the unbelieving Jews in the days of the Messiah; because they embraced not the doctrine of Christ, the kingdom of God was taken from them, they were unchurched, and cast out of covenant, became as children of the Ethiopians, and are so to this day. And it is true of those that are called Christians, but do not live up to their name and profession, that rest in the form of piety, but live under the power of reigning iniquity, that they are to God as children of the Ethiopians; he rejects them, and their services.

(2.) See how light he makes of the favours he had conferred upon them; they thought he would not, he could not, cast them off, and put them upon a level with other nations, because he had done that for them which he had not done for other nations, whereby they thought he was bound to them, so as never to leave them. "No," says he, "The favours shown to you are not so distinguishing as you think they are: Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt?" It is true I have; but I have also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, or Cappadocia, where they were natives, or captives, or both; they are called the remnant of the country of Caphtor (Jer. xlvii. 4), and the Philistim are joined with the Caphtorim, Gen. x. 14. In like manner the Syrians were brought up from Kir when they had been carried away thither, 2 Kings xvi. 9. Note, If God's Israel lose the peculiarity of their holiness, they lose the peculiarity of their privileges; and what was designed as a favour of special grace shall be set in another light, shall have its property altered, and shall become an act of common providence; if professors liken themselves to the world, God will level them with the world. And, if we live not up to the obligation of God's mercies, we forfeit the honour and comfort of them.

5. How graciously God will separate between the precious and the vile in the day of retribution. Though the wicked Israelites shall be as the wicked Ethiopians, and their being called Israelites shall stand them in no stead, yet the pious Israelites shall not be as the wicked ones; no, the Judge of all the earth will do right, more right than to slay the righteous with the wicked, Gen. xviii. 25. His eyes are upon the sinful kingdom, to spy out those in it who preserve their integrity and swim against the stream, who sigh and cry for the abominations of their land, and they shall be marked for preservation, so that the destruction shall not be total: I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, not ruin them by wholesale and in the gross, good and bad together, but I will distinguish, as becomes a righteous judge. The house of Israel shall be sifted as corn is sifted; they shall be greatly hurried, and shaken, and tossed, but still in the hands of God, in both his hands, as the sieve in the hands of him that sifts (v. 9): I will sift the house of Israel among all nations. Wherever they are shaken and scattered, God will have his eye upon them, and will take care to separate between the corn and chaff, which was the thing he designed in sifting them. (1.) The righteous ones among them, that are as the solid wheat, shall none of them perish; they shall be delivered either from or through the common calamities of the kingdom; not the least grain shall fall on the earth, so as to be lost and forgotten—not the least stone (so the word is), for the good corn is weighty as a stone in comparison with that which we call light corn. Note, Whatever shakings there may be in the world, God does and will effectually provide that none who are truly his shall be truly miserable. (2.) The wicked ones among them who are hardened in their sins shall all of them perish, v. 10. See what a height of impiety they have come to: They say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. They think they are innocent, and do not deserve punishment, or that the profession they make of relation to God will be their exemption and security from punishment, or that they shall be able to make their part good against the judgments of God, that they shall flee so swiftly from them that they shall not overtake them, or guard so carefully against them that they shall not prevent or surprise them. Note, Hope of impunity is the deceitful refuge of the impenitent. But see what it will come to at last: All the sinners that thus flatter themselves, and affront God, shall die by the sword, the sword of war, which to them shall be the sword of divine vengeance; yea, though they be the sinners of my people, for their profession shall not be their protection. Note, Evil is often nearest those that put it at the greatest distance from them.

Promises of Mercy. (b. c. 784.)

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord , that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

To him to whom all the prophets bear witness this prophet, here in the close, bears his testimony, and speaks of that day, those days that shall come, in which God will do great things for his church, by the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah, for the rejecting of which the rejection of the Jews was foretold in the foregoing verses. The promise here is said to agree to the planting of the Christian church, and in that to be fulfilled, Acts xv. 15-17. It is promised,

I. That in the Messiah the kingdom of David shall be restored (v. 11); the tabernacle of David it is called, that is, his house and family, which, though great and fixed, yet, in comparison with the kingdom of heaven, was mean and movable as a tabernacle. The church militant, in its present state, dwelling as in shepherds' tents to feed, as in soldiers' tents to fight, is the tabernacle of David. God's tabernacle is called the tabernacle of David because David desired and chose to dwell in God's tabernacle for ever, Ps. lxi. 4. Now, 1. These tabernacles had fallen and gone to decay, the royal family was so impoverished, its power abridged, its honour stained, and laid in the dust; for many of that race degenerated, and in the captivity it lost the imperial dignity. Sore breaches were made upon it, and at length it was laid in ruins. So it was with the church of the Jews; in the latter days of it its glory departed; it was like a tabernacle broken down and brought to ruin, in respect both of purity and of prosperity. 2. By Jesus Christ these tabernacles were raised and rebuilt. In him God's covenant with David had its accomplishment; and the glory of that house, which was not only sullied, but quite sunk, revived again; the breaches of it were closed and its ruins raised up, as in the days of old; nay, the spiritual glory of the family of Christ far exceeded the temporal glory of the family of David when it was at its height. In him also God's covenant with Israel had its accomplishment, and in the gospel-church the tabernacle of God was set up among men again, and raised up out of the ruins of the Jewish state. This is quoted in the first council at Jerusalem as referring to the calling in of the Gentiles and God's taking out of them a people for his name. Note, While the world stands God will have a church in it, and, if it be fallen down in one place and among one people, it shall be raised up elsewhere.

II. That that kingdom shall be enlarged, and the territories of it shall extend far, by the accession of many countries to it (v. 12), that the house of David may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, that is, that Christ may have them given him for his inheritance, even the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Ps. ii. 8. Those that had been strangers and enemies shall become willing faithful subjects to the Son of David, shall be added to the church, or those of them that are called by my name, saith the Lord, that is, that belong to the election of grace and are ordained to eternal life (Acts xiii. 48), for it is true of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews that the election hath obtained and the rest were blinded, Rom. xi. 7. Christ died to gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad, here said to be those that were called by his name. The promise is to all that are afar off, even as many of them as the Lord our God shall call, Acts ii. 39. St. James expounds this as a promise that the residue of men should seek after the Lord, even all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called. But may the promise be depended upon? Yes, the Lord says this, who does this, who can do it, who has determined to do it, the power of whose grace is engaged for the doing of it, and with whom saying and doing are not two things, as they are with us.

III. That in the kingdom of the Messiah there shall be great plenty, an abundance of all good things that the country produces (v. 13): The ploughman shall overtake the reaper, that is, there shall be such a plentiful harvest every year, and so much corn to be gathered in, that it shall last all summer, even till autumn, when it is time to begin to plough again; and in like manner the vintage shall continue till seed-time, and there shall be such abundance of grapes that even the mountains shall drop new wine into the vessels of the grape-gatherers, and the hills that were dry and barren shall be moistened and shall melt with the fatness or mellowness (as we call it) of the soil. Compare this with Joel ii. 24, and iii. 18. This must certainly be understood of the abundance of spiritual blessings in heavenly things, which all those are, and shall be, blessed with, who are in sincerity added to Christ and his church; they shall be abundantly replenished with the goodness of God's house, with the graces and comforts of his Spirit; they shall have bread, the bread of life, to strengthen their hearts, and the wine of divine consolations to make them glad-meat indeed and drink indeed—all the benefit that comes to the souls of men from the word and Spirit of God. These had been long confined to the vineyard of the Jewish church; divine revelation, and the power that attended it, were to be found only within that enclosure; but in gospel-times the mountains and hills of the Gentile world shall be enriched with these privileges by the gospel of Christ preached, and professed, and received in the power of it. When great multitudes were converted to the faith of Christ, and nations were born at once, when the preachers of the gospel were always caused to triumph in the success of their preaching, then the ploughman overtook the reaper; and when, the Gentile churches were enriched in all utterance, and in all knowledge, and all manner of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. i. 5), then the mountains dropped sweet wine.

IV. That the kingdom of the Messiah shall be well peopled; as the country shall be replenished, so shall the cities be; there shall be mouths for this meat, v. 14. Those that were carried captives shall be brought back out of their captivity; their enemies shall not be able to detain them in the land of their captivity, nor shall they themselves incline to settle in it, but the remnant shall return, and shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, shall form themselves into Christian churches and set up pure doctrine, worship, and discipline among them, according to the gospel charter, by which Christ's cities are incorporated; and they shall enjoy the benefit and comfort thereof; they shall plant vineyards, and make gardens. Though the mountains and hills drop wine, and the privileges of the gospel-church are laid in common, yet they shall enclose for themselves, not to monopolize these privileges, to the exclusion of others, but to appropriate and improve these privileges, in communion with others, and they shall drink the wine, and eat the fruit, of their own vineyards and gardens; for those that take pains in religion, as men must do about their vineyards and gardens, shall have both the pleasure and profit of it. The bringing again of the captivity of God's Israel, which is here promised, may refer to the cancelling of the ceremonial law, which had been long to God's Israel as a yoke of bondage, and the investing of them in the liberty wherewith Christ came to make his church free, Gal. v. 1.

V. That the kingdom of the Messiah shall take such deep rooting in the world as never to be rooted out of it (v. 15): I will plant them upon their land. God's spiritual Israel shall be planted by the right hand of God himself upon the land assigned them, and they shall no more be pulled up out of it, as the old Jewish church was. God will preserve them from throwing themselves out of it by a total apostasy, and will preserve them from being thrown out of it by malice of their enemies; the church may be corrupted, but shall not quite forsake God, may be persecuted, but shall not quite be forsaken of God, so that the gates of hell, neither with their temptations nor with their terrors, shall prevail against it. Two things secure the perpetuity of the church:—1. God's grants to it: It is the land which I have given them; and God will confirm and maintain his own grants. The part he has given to his people is that good part which shall never be taken from them; he will not revoke his grant, and all the powers of earth and hell shall not invalidate it. 2. Its interest in him: He is the Lord thy God, who has said it, and will make it good, thine, O Israel! who shall reign for ever as thine unto all generations. And because he lives the church shall live also.

CHAP. IX.

Verſe 1. I ſaw the Lord] This Seer, Chap. 7.12. ſaw the Lord in a viſion; for otherwiſe God is too ſubtile for ſinew or ſight to ſeize upon him. We cannot look upon the body of the Sun, neither can we ſee at all without the beams of it: ſo here,

ſtanding upon the Altar] Or, firmly ſet ſc: to do execution upon that Altar, ſc: that idolatrous Altar at Bethel fore-mentioned, and formerly threatned by another Prophet, 1 Kin. 13.1.2. The Rabbines ſay, God was ſeen ſtanding upon that Altar, as ready to ſacrifice and ſlay the men of that age, whoſe idolatries and other impieties he could no longer bear with. And hence it is haply, that he is brought in ſtanding; like as Act. 7.55. Jeſus at Stevens death was ſeen ſtanding at the right hand of God, where he is uſually ſaid to ſit. Stat ut vindex, ſedet ut judex.

And he ſaid] ſc: to the Angel that ſtood by, Zeck. 3.7. or to the enemy commiſſionated by him, or to ſome other creature, for they are all his ſervants, Pſal. 119.91. neither can he want a weapon to tame his rebels with.

ſmite the lintel of the door, that the poſts may ſhake] Smite with a courage, as Ezeck. 9. Angels give no light blowes. Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hoſts ſhall lop the bough with terrour: and the high ones of ſtature ſhall be hewen down, and the haughty ſhall be humbled: Eſa. 10.33, 34. And he ſhal cut down the thickeſt of the forreſts with iron, and Lebanon ſhal fal by a Mighty one: that is, by an Angel ſhall he ſmite to the ground that mighty army which was like a thick wood, ſee Eſai. 37.36. Pſal. 78.25. and 89.6. So at our Saviours Reſurrection, an Angel, in deſpite of the ſouldiers ſet to watch, rolled away the grave-ſtone, and ſat upon it. And as a mighty man, when he ſitteth down, ſhaketh the bench under him, ſo did He ſhake the earth: and for fear of him the Keepers did ſhake, and became as dead men, Mat. 28.2, 4. Down with this Idol-Temple, down with it, ſaith God here, even to the ground.

and cut them in the head, al of them] cleave them down the middle, ſo that every poſt may be ſure to fall, being divided from the top to the bottom: and let this act be a ſigne to them all of what I intend to do to their perſons; as many of them as by this gate have entred into this Idol-Temple and Altar. A deep cut in the head is dangerous and deadly, Gen. 3.15. Pſal. 68.22.

and I wil ſlay the laſt of them] I, by mine agents and inſtruments, as afore: for it is but one hand and many executioners, that God ſlayes men with. Job could diſcern Gods arrowes in Satans hand, and Gods hand on the armes of the Sabaean robbers. The ſword is bathed in heaven, before it is embrewed in mens blood, Iſai. 34.5. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, ſaith holy Hannah, 1 Sam. 2.6.

He that fleeth of them ſhall not flee away.] See chap. 2.14. with the Note, and ſay, Behold the ſeverity of God. Rom. 11.12.

Verſe 2. Though they dig into hell, &c.] No ſtarting-hole ſhall ſecure them from the wrath of God, and rage of the creature, ſet a work by him. Hell and deſtruction are before the Lord, Prov, 15.11. yea hell is naked before him, and deſtruction hath no covering, Job 25.6. He hath a ſharp eye, and a long hand, to pull men out of their lurking-holes; as he did Adam out of the thicket,2 Chro. 33.11 Manaſſeh from among the thornes, Jonah from the ſides of the ſhip, the Duke of Buckingham in Rich. the thirds time, &c. Be ſure, ſaith Moſes, your ſinne will finde you out, Speed. Num. 32.23. and Gods hand will hale you to puniſhment.

Though they climb up to heaven,] That is, (by an hyperbole) to high and ſtrong places: as the Babel-builders, the Benjamites that fled to the Rock Rimmon, and there abode four moneths, Judg. 20 47. the gibing Jebuſites, that were ſo confident of their ſtrong-hold of Zion, that they flouted David and his forces, 2 Sam. 5.8. the proud Prince of Tyre, and others.

thence will I bring them down] From their loftieſt tops of Pride and creature-confidence which God loves to confute and defeat: as I might inſtance in Nebuchadnezzars, Xerxes, Haman, Sejanus, Bajaezet, that terrour of the world, and (as he thought) ſuperior to fortune, yet in an inſtant, with his ſtate, in one battle overthrown into the bottome of miſery and deſpaire:Turk. hiſt. 287. and that in the middeſt of his great ſtrength. The ſame end awaits the Pope and his hierarchy-ruet alto à culmine Roma, that Jupiter Capitolinus ſhall be one day unrooſted by him, who caſteth the wicked down to the ground Pſal. 147.6.

Verſe 3. And though they hide themſelves in the top of Carmel] In denſis ſylvis, inter ſpelaea ferarum, Lawfull enough it is in ſome caſes to hides David did oft, and Elias, and Chriſt, and Paul, 2 Cor. 11.32. and Athanaſius, and diverſe other Saints. Tertullian was too rigid in condemning all kind of hiding in evill times.Lib. de ſuga on perſecution. But to hide from God, who ſearcheth Jeruſalem with lights, and to whom the darkneſſe and the light are both alike, Pſal. 139.12. to whom obſcura clarent, muta reſpondent, ſilentium confitetur, this is baſe, and bootleſſe. Carmel ſhall not cover them, nor any other ſtarting-hole ſecure them from divine juſtice. The poore Jewes were pulled by the Romanes out of privyes and other under-ground places, where they had hid themſelvss, as Joſephus writeth: and ſo were thoſe Samaritans ſerved by the Aſſyrians, who ferreted them out, and ſlaughtered them.

and though they be hid from my ſight,] as they think; but that cannot be: for He (like the Optick vertue in the eye) ſees all, and is ſeen of none.

in the bottome of the ſea,] which, how deep and troubleſome ſoever, is to God a Sea of glaſſe like unto Chryſtal: corpus diaphanum, a pervious, clear,Rev. 4. tranſparent body, ſuch as he ſees thorow, and hath the ſole command of.

thence will I command the ſerpent. For there is that crooked ſerpent Leviathan, there are alſo creeping things innumerable, Eſay 27.1. Pſal. 104.26. to arreſt wicked men as rebels and traitors to the higheſt Majeſtie, and to drag them down to the bottom of hell. All elements, and creatures, ſhall draw upon them, as ſervants will do upon ſuch as aſſault their Lord. Rebelliſque facta eſt, quia homo numini, creatura homini, as Auſtin truely and trimly avoucheth.

Verſe 4 And though they goe into captivity, &c.] And ſo may hope the worſt is over, (Surely the bitterneſſe of death is paſt) yet it ſhall prove otherwiſe: The hypocrites hope is as the giving up the ghoſt, ſaith Iob, and that's but cold comfort:1 Sam. 15.32. Or, as the ſpiders web, ſpun out of her own bowels; and, when the beeſome comes, ſwept to the muck-hill.

before their enemies,] whoſe cuſtome was to drrive their captives before them, Lam. 1.5. young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, Eſay 20.4. Or, before their enemies, that is, before they are taken captive by the enemies, by a voluntary yeeldance, in hope of quarter for their lives. The Jewes indeed had a promiſe from the Prophet Jeremy, chap. 21.9. That if they went out and fell to the Chaldeans that beſieged them, they ſhould have their lives for a prey, but the ten tribes had no ſuch promiſe made them: They were ſtrangers from the covenants, Epheſ. 2.12. and therefore could look for no mercy. Loammi, and therefore Lo-ruhamah, Hoſ. 1. the Ark and the Mercy-ſeat were never ſundred.

thence will I command the ſword] See Eſay 13.15, 16. Jer. 9.10. and 43.11. Ezek. 14.17.

and I will ſet mine eyes upon them,]Emphaticote [illegible: 1 letter]on eſt q[illegible: 1 letter]am ſi dixi[illegible: 1 letter]ſet Oculos pluraliter. Mercer. Heb. eye, viz. the eye of my providence, that oculus irretortus, whereby I will look them to death, and take courſe that nothing ſhall go well with them: ſee a little below, verſ. 8. Jer. 21.10. Pſal. 34.16. In Tamerlanes eyes ſat ſuch a Majeſty, as a man could hardly endure to behold: and many in talking with him became dumb. He held the Eaſt in ſuch awe, as that he was commonly called,Turk. hiſt. 211.236. The wrath of God, and terrour of the world. Auguſtus Ceſar frowned to death, Cornelius Gallus: and ſo did Queen Elizabeth, Sir Chriſtopher Hatton, Lord Chancellour. Gods enemies are ſure to periſh at the rebuke of his countenance, Pſal. 80.16. and, if he but ſet his eyes upon them for evil, and not for good, all occurrences ſhall certainly work together for the worſt unto them.

Verſe 5. And the Lord God of Hoſts is he, &c.] Here the Prophet proveth what he had ſaid in the foregoing verſes, by an argument drawn from the wonderfull power of God, which profane perſons are apt to queſtion, that they may harden their hearts againſt his fear. Conſider ſaith He, firſt, that He is the Lord God of Hoſts, and (as the Rabbines well obſerve) he hath the upper and lower troops ready preſt, as his horſe and foot, to march againſt his enemies. Next, that he toucheth the land, as it were with his little finger, and it ſhall melt, like the fat of lambs before the fire: it ſhall crumble to crattle, moulder away, and be moved, becauſe he is wroth, Pſal. 18.7. and ſhall men be unmoved? ſhall they bee more inſenſible then the ſenſeleſſe earth? The people of Antioch, though many of them gave their hands for Chryſoſtoms baniſhment, yet terrified by an earthquake (which wrought in them an heart-quake, as it had done in the Gaoler, Acts 16.) they immediately ſent for him again. But thirdly, the tremend power of God appears in this, that

The land ſhall riſe up wholly like a flood, and it ſhall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt,] God can flote it, and flood it at his pleaſure. See chap. 8.8. Water is naturally above the earth, as the garment above the body ſaith David: and would (but for the power and providence of God) prove as the ſhirt made for the murdering of Agamemnon, where the head had no iſſue out. Let God be ſeen herein, and mens hearts poſſeſſed with his holy fear: who can ſo eaſily pull up the ſluces, let in the Sea upon them, and bury them all in one univerſall grave of waters. Fear ye not me, Jer. 5.22. ſaith the Lord? will ye not tremble at my preſence, which have placed the ſand for the bound of the Sea, by a perpetuall decree, that it cannot paſſe it: and though the waves thereof toſſe themſelves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, Lib. de mirabil. yet can they not paſſe over it? This Ariſtotle admires, and David celebrates in his Phyſicks, (as One calleth that 104 Pſalm) verſe 6.9. and all men ſhould improve, to affright their conſciences from provoking to anger ſo great a God.

Verſe 6. It is he that buildeth his ſtories (or ſpheres) in the heaven,] Surgit hic oratio. The Prophet here riſeth in his diſcourſe: and as Chryſoſtom ſaid of St. Paul, Tricubitalis eſt, & coelos tranſcendit; Low, though he were, and little, yet he gat up into the third heaven: ſo may we of Amos, though but a plain-ſpoken and illiterate heardſman, yet in ſetting forth the power of God, hee mounts from earth to heaven, and ſhews himſelf to bee Virum bonum, dicendi peritum, an exquiſite Oratour, according to Quintilians character. God this Great Architect, and publike-workman, (as the Apoſtle after Plato, whom he ſeemeth to have read, calleth Him, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Heb. 11.10) hath without tool or toil, Eſay 40.28. builded his ſtories in the heaven (which is three ſtories high, 2 Cor. 12.2.) wherein (as in a theatre, or molten looking-glaſſe, Job 37.18.) his Majeſty moſt clearly ſhineth, chap. 4.13. and 5.8. See Pſal. 104.3. every ſphere and ſtarre twinckling at us, and as it were, beekning to us, to remember his omnipotency (whereof that rare Fabrick is a notable work and witneſſe) and not to think to eſcape his judgements, if we go on in ſinne. For although he be higher then the heavens, Job. 8.11. yet his eyes behold, his eye-lids try the children of men, Pſal. 11.4. and verſe 6. Upon the wicked He ſhall rain down ſnares, fire and brimſtone, &c.

and hath founded his troop (or bundle) in the earth,] that is, the other three elements ſay ſome: the Sea, which together with the earth maketh one Globe, ſay others: the Ʋniverſe (ſaith Mr. Diodate) which is like the fabrick of a building: of which the earth being the lower part, and onely unmoveable, hath ſome reſemblance of a foundation.

He that calleth for the waters of the Sea, and poureth them out, &c.] See the Note on chap. 5.8.

Verſe 7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me,] The emphaſis lieth in this laſt word, Ʋnto me, who am no reſpecter of perſons, but in every nation, Act. 10.3.4. he that feareth God, and worketh righteouſneſſe, is accepted with him.) Unto your ſelves indeed you ſeem ſome great buſineſſe, becauſe Iſraelites; to whom pertaineth the Adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, &c. Rom, 9.4. To others alſo you ſeem a great nation, yea a wiſe and underſtanding people, as having God ſo nigh unto you, and ſo ſet for you, Deut. 4.6, 7. and 33.29. But tell me, Quis te diſcrevit? Who made you to differ? and what have ye more then others, that ye have not me to thank for? You look upon the Ethiopians with ſcorn, as an ignoble and ſervile people: as likewiſe upon the uncircumciſed Philiſtines, and unhallowed Syrians. But wherein are you beyond them, if you look back to your Original, and conſider my dealings with them and you? It is nothing elſe but ſelf-love that maketh you thus inſolent; and teacheth you to turn the glaſſe to ſee your ſelves bigger, Others leſſer then they are. You fooliſhly ſet up your Counter for a thouſand pound; and are in ſome ſence like thoſe Ethiopians, or Negroes, Heyl. Geogr. ſo much ſlighted by you; of whom it is ſaid that they paint the devill white, as being a colour contrary to their own. But much more to blame are you, that being Gods peculiar people, and partakers of ſo great priviledges, you do no more change your evill manners, then the Ethiopians do their black-hue Jer. 13.23. you are no where white but in your teeth, as they: good a little from the teeth outward. I am neer in your mouthes, but farr from your reines, Jer. 12.2. Such an one was that ſtigmaticall Cuſh the ſon of Iemini mentioned in the title of the ſeventh Pſalme, (perhaps Saul the ſon of Kiſh the Beniamite is intended) non tam cute quàm corde Aethiopicus, of black and ill conditions: and therefore to God no better then an Ethiopian, or any other Pagan people.

have not I brought up Iſrael out of the land of Egypt] q. d. I grant I have; and you glory very much in it: whereas you ſhould rather glorify me much for it, and walk worthy of ſuch a deliverance; for every bleſſing is a binder, and every new deliverance a new tie to obedience. But what ſingular thing have I herein done for you more then for Philiſtines and Syrians, whom yet you look upon as dogs and outcaſts?

have not I alſo brought up the Philiſtines from Caphtor,] i. e. from Cappadocia (called an Iſland Ier. 47. becauſe it bordered upon the ſea) or,Turk. hiſt. 843. as ſome will have it from Cyprus, a rich Iſland, called therefore Macariah, that is, Bleſſed.

and the Syrians from Kir] Syros è Kiro, from Cyrene a countrey of Aſia, as Beroaldus thinketh. It is mentioned Eſa. 22.6.Chron. lib. 4. cap. 6. as ſubject to the king of Aſſyria: and thither the Syrians were tranſlated by Tiglath-Pileſer 2 King. 16.9. but when either theſe or the Philiſtines were brought back againe to their own countreys, we read not in ſcripture, or elſewhere at this day.1 Chron 4.22. Theſe are ancient things, (as it is ſaid in another caſe) and are here alledged as well known to the Iſraelites, who are nipt on the crown as they ſay, and pulled from that perilous pinacle of ſelf-exaltation, whereupon they had unhappily peirked themſelves.

Verſe 8. Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the ſinfull kingdome] Be it Ethiopia, Paleſtina, Syria, or Iſrael, but eſpecially Iſrael Amos 3.2. not his eye only his [non-Latin text not transcribed] his jealous eye (as ver. 4. for evill, and not for good: but both his eyes, yea his ſeven eyes, for he is [non-Latin text not transcribed] All eye, to look through and through the ſinfull kingdome, to judge and puniſh, to inflict tribulation and anguiſh upon every ſoul of man that doth evill, of the Jew firſt, becauſe of his priviledges, and alſo of the Gentile Rom. 2.9. The ſin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond Jer. 17.1. and Iſrael is therefore worſe then others becauſe he ought to have been better. His whole kingdome is a kingdome of ſin, a merum ſcelus, a very Poneropolis, as that place in Thracia was called,Theopomp. whither Philip had aſſembled all the infamous perſons and men of evill demeanour. What is the tranſgreſſion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? Mic. 1.5. their capitall ſins were moſt in their capitall cities; and thence overflowed the whole kingdome: called therefore here a ſinfull kingdome, wholly given to Idolatry (as Athens was Act. 17.16.) which is that ſin with an accent, that wickedneſſe with a witneſſe, Exod. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 32.21. 1 King. 12.30. and 15, 3, 30. that land-deſolating ſin. Jer. 22.7, 8, 9. Pſal. 78.58, 59, 62.

and I will deſtroy it] See here the venomous nature of ſin, and ſhun it, elſe we ſhall prove traytours to the ſtate, and have our hands if not upon the great cartropes, yet upon the leſſer cords, that draw down vengance upon the land. And here ſome one ſinner may deſtroy much good Eccle. 9.17. how much more a rabble of rebbels, conſpiring to provoke the eyes of Gods glory?

ſaying that I will not utterly deſtroy the houſe of Jacob] A remnant ſhall be left for royall uſe,See Jer. 30.11. reliquas faciam reliquias, and ſo make a manifeſt difference, remembring my promiſe Lev. 26.40. which is a ſpeciall text touching the rejection and converſion of the Jewes, as is alſo this in ſome mens judgments. For here (ſay they) is a threatening of extream deſolation with ſome comfort enterlaced of a remnant to be reſerved: amongſt whom it is further promiſed 1. that the kingdome of David thorough Chriſt ſhall be ſet up as glorious as ever it was before, in the moſt flouriſhing times of David or Solomon ver. 11.2. Next, other nations ſhall joyne with them and be made partakers of one common inheritance ver. 12. So doth James Act. 15.16, 17. expound it. 3. Thirdly there is promiſed the fruitfulneſſe of their land ver. 13. the inhabiting in their own countrey, ver. 14. and the perpetuity of their abode there, ver. 15. But all this others think to be, optabile magis quàm opinabile, little better then a golden dreame.

Verſe 9. For lo I will command, and I will ſift the houſe of Iſrael] It is not without Gods command and good leave that evill ſpirits and men can ſift the ſaints, as Satan deſired to have done Peter. He deſired it, as a challenger deſireth one of the other ſide to combate with: ſo he beg'd leave to ſift Iob, and ſo he tempted David to number the people, but it was by Gods permiſſion. Up therefore and pray that ye enter not into temptation Luk. 22.31, 46. or that ye may come cleer out of it,Rom. 16.20. and more then conquerours, even Triumphers: the enemy is ſtinted: yea Chriſt will tread him under your feet ſhortly.

and I will ſift the houſe of Iſrael among all nations] The ten tribes among the Aſſyrians (who were Emperours of the whole Eaſt) and whither ſince they are ſcattered, whether into Shina, Tartary, Weſt-Indies, or other countries, is not known. The whole twelve-tribes (thoſe alſo that once inſtantly ſerved God day and night Act. 26.7.) are now wofully diſjected and diſſipated: being caſt out of the world,Aug. in Pſal. 58. as it were, by a common conſent of Nations, and generally ſlighted and hated. The Romanes permitted other nations to call themſelves Romanes, after they had conquered them: but ſo they would not ſuffer the Iewes upon any termes to do: leſt there ſhould be ſome blot ſtick to the glory of the Romanes by that odious and ſordid people. The Pope uſeth them as ſpunges, the Turk as ſlaves, &c.

like as corne is ſifted in a ſieve] Or, by a fann; to the ſame ſenſe as that Zach. 13.9. for as here a ſieve, ſo there fire ſerveth to denote Affliction with the uſe of it: ſc. to purge Gods people, ſpecially of thoſe two troubleſome choke-weeds, High-mindedneſſe and Earthly mindedneſſe, Cribratione Dei non perditur ſed purgatur frumentum, ſaith Zanchy, Gods good corne is not loſt, but made cleane by the ſifting they ſuffer.Jer. 23.28.

yet ſhall not the leaſt grain (Heb: ſtone) fall upon the earth] As the chaf and duſt ſhall: Auguſtin. Mat. 3.12. for what is the chaf to the wheate? ſaith the lord, Improbi nobiſcum eſſe poſſunt in horreo, ſed non in area. Chriſt hath his fan in his hand, and will ſurely diſcriminate: he will take out the pretious from the vile, he will drive the chaffe one way and the wheat another: and take care that not the leaſt grain of weighty wheat, that had good tack in it, (as a ſtone hath, though but a little ſtone) ſhall be loſt. He will turn his hand upon the little ones, and ſecure them Zech. 13.7.

Verſe 10. All the ſinners of my people ſhall die by the ſword] The flagitious, preſumptuous perſons,Deut. 29.19. that bleſſe themſelues when I curſe them, ſaying, We ſhall have peace though we walk every man in the imagination of his heart, and take his full ſwinge in ſin. Such ſinners in Zion Eſa. 33.14. ſuch ſacrificing Sodomites Eſa. 1.10. ſuch profligate Profeſſours ſhall die by the ſword: either by the hand of the enemy, or which is worſe, gladio ſpiritali ſaith Mercer, by the ſpiritual ſword, being blinded and rejected by God; ſo that their preſervation is but a reſervation to a greater miſchief. Whereas, on the other ſide, ſome of Gods elect might in a common calamity periſh by the ſword, but then (Joſiah-like) they died in peace, though they fell in battle: their death was right pretious in the ſight of the Lord, and a plentifull amends made them in heaven.

which ſay, the evil ſhall not overtake nor prevent us] Or, for our ſakes, by our default. If affliction do find us out, yet we have not deſerved it:Begnaden[illegible: 1 letter] propter nos. common occurrences we cannot be againſt. Thus the wicked man flattereth himſelf in his own eyes, untill his iniquity be found to be hatefull Pſa. 36.2. In all my labours they ſhal find none iniquity in me: that were ſin Hoſ. 12.8. Yet thou ſayſt, Becauſe I am innocent, ſurely his anger ſhal turn from me: behold I wil plead with thee, becauſe thou ſayeſt, I have not ſinned Jer. 2.35.

Ver. 11. In that day wil I raiſe up the Tabernacle of David] A moſt ſweet concluſion of the Propheſie by ſundry Evangelicall promiſes after ſo many very ſevere and ſharp menaces: the Sun of righteouſneſſe liketh not to ſet in a cloud. In that day, that happy day whenſoever it ſhall dawn, that Chriſt ſhall come: for the Prophets knew not the certaine time when, but made diligent enquiry as far as they might with ſobriety 1 Pet. 1.11. and well knew that the Law, which they preached and explained, was an introduction to a better hope Heb. 7.19. which they ſaw afar off and ſaluted Heb. 11.13.

wil I raiſe up the Tabernacle of David] that is, the kingdome of the houſe of David ſaith the Chaldee Paraphraſt: meaning, of the Meſſiah, whom the ſounder ſort of Rabbines from this text call Ben Niphlei, the repairer of the breach,Galatin. the reſtorer of pathes to dwell in: Now the Church is here called the Tabernacle of David, becauſe that once ſtately Palace of David was by many deſolations reduced to a tent, as it were, and that ready to drop too. The Branch grew out of the root of Jeſſe, when that goodly family was ſunk ſo low, as from David the king to Joſeph the carpenter. Beſides, all was out of order both in Church and State, when Chriſt came.

and cloſe up the breaches thereof] Heb. wall up: by unwalling (as the Hebrew hath it Num. 24.17.) all the children of Seth: by ſubduing the ſons of men, the godly ſeed to the obedience of faith: by bringing into captivity every haughty thought &c. 2 Cor. 10.4, 5. (that at the name of Jeſus every knee may bow Philip. 2.10.) and getting a full conqueſt by the preaching of the goſpell, which ſhall quickly cloſe up all ruptures, and raiſe up all ruines, by chaſing away terrours and falſe-worſhips, doctrines of devils, and traditions of men, whereby the Scribes and Phariſees had made the commandement of God of none effect.

and I will build it as in the dayes of old] in thoſe purer times of David and the other holy Patriarches, who made up but one and the ſame Church with us, and were ſaved by the ſame faith in Chriſt Jeſus, that Lamb of God ſlain from the foundation of the world, Rev, 13.8. Mine antiquity is Jeſus Christ ſaid Ignatius the Martyr. As we preferr the neweſt Philoſophy, ſo the ancient'ſt Divinity, ſaith Another.

Verſe 12. That they may poſſeſſe the remnant of Edom,] That they which are called by my name, which are called Chriſtians, viz. the Apoſtles and their ſucceſſours to the end of the world, may poſſeſſe together with Chriſt (to whom the Father hath given the Heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermoſt parts of the earth for his poſſeſſion) the remnant of Edom; thoſe few of them that receive the faith, who are but as a remnant to the whole peece, an handful to a houſeful.Pſal. 2.[illegible: 1 letter]. And not of the Edomites onely, thoſe inveterate and hereditary enemies to the Iſrael of God; but of all the heathen which are called by name, who beſeech and are baptized into Chriſts name, being content to receive his mark, and to profeſſe his Religion, which formerly they were perfect ſtrangers to. Theſe and thoſe firſt Preachers of the Goſpel, and Planters of Churches (being Iſraelites by birth) are ſaid to poſſeſſe by inheritance, becauſe Chriſt was pleaſed to make uſe of their miniſtery; and upon theſe his white horſes to ride abroad the world, conquering, and to conquer, Rev. 6.1, 2. In a like ſenſe it is promiſed, Eſa. 14.2. that the houſe of Iſrael ſhall poſſeſſe their proſelytes in the land of the Lord for ſervants and for handmaids, and take them captives whoſe captives they were, and rule over their oppreſſours. Such a change ſhall the Goſpel make.

ſaith the Lord that doth this] For indeed none elſe could have done it. Effectual converſion is his work alone, God perſwade Japhet, &c. Noah may ſpeak perſwaſively, but God onely can perſwade. Rebecca may cook the veniſon, but Iſaac onely can give the bleſſing. Paul may plant, &c. Deus poteſt facere, nec ſolet fallere.

Verſe 13. Behold, the dayes come, ſaith the Lord, that the plowman, &c.] The Goſpel of peace brings with it the peace of the Goſpel, and with peace, plenty, with the horn of ſalvation the horn of plenty, a confluence of outward comforts and contentments,Bo[illegible: 1 letter]us Deus Conſt[illegible: 1 letter]n[illegible: 1 letter] tantis terren[illegible: 1 letter] implevit mu[illegible: 3 letters]bus q[illegible: 1 letter]anta [illegible: 1 letter]p[illegible: 2 letters]re nullus [illegible: 1 letter]uderet D[illegible: 1 letter] C D. l. 5.25 Elizabetha glori[illegible: 1 letter]ſiſſima & foeliciſſ ſoemina Thuan. Hiſt. lib. 124. as in Solomons dayes, and Conſtantines, (whom God proſpered and bleſſed beyond all that he could have wiſhed, ſaith Auſtin) and Q. Elizabeths, whom, for her care to propagate the Goſpel, He made to be the happieſt woman that ever ſwayed ſcepter, as her very enemies were forced to acknowledge: ſo liberal a paymaſter is the Lord, that all his retributions are more then bountiful; and this his ſervants have not ex largitate, ſed ex promiſſo, out of his generall providences, but by vertue of a promiſe, which is farre ſweeter. The Maſorites have obſerved, that in this verſe are found all the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (as alſo in 26 more verſes of the Old Teſtament) to note, ſay the Calviniſts, that in the kingdome of the Meſſiah, there ſhall be great abundance of all things, & plenum copiae cornu: or, if that ſhould fail, yet plenty of all ſpiritual benedictions in heavenly things,In inſtauratione caſulae Davidicae co[illegible: 1 letter]apſae Merc. Amama. Eph. 1.3. and contented godlineſſe, 1 Tim. 6.6. which hath an autarkie, a ſelf-ſufficiency; ſo that having nothing a man poſſeſſeth all things, 2 Cor. 6.10. This the Prophet expreſſeth in the following words by many excellent hyperbole's though (to ſay ſooth) Chriſtus & regnum ejus non patiuntur hyperbolen. All words are too weak to ſet forth the worth of Chriſt and his kingdom.

the plowman ſhall overtake the reaper] In ſignis hyperbole, ſaith Mercer: no ſooner ſhall harveſt be ended, but ſeeding ſhall ſucceed, and that promiſe fulfilled, Levit. 26.5. all buſineſſes belonging to the tillage of the ground, and the inning of the fruit, ſhall have their fit and ſutable ſeaſons; where, under the name of corporal bleſſings ſpiritual alſo are to be underſtood: and indeed thoſe bleſſings out of Zion are farre beyond any other that come out of heaven and earth, Pſ. 134.3.

and the treader of grapes, him that ſoweth ſeed] precious ſeed, Pſ. 126.5. ſowing-ſeed (as one engliſheth it) drawn out of the ſeed basket, and caſt all along upon the land: the meaning is, that the vintage ſhall laſt ſo long, that the ſeeds-man ſhall ſcarce have time to do his buſineſſe, for waiting upon the wine-preſſe.

and the mountains ſhall drop ſweet wine] Or juice of pomegranates, more delicious liquor then that which the Italians profanely call Lachrymae Chriſti, or that which at Paris and Lovaine is called Vinum Theologicum, or Vinum Cos, that is, [illegible: 1 letter]oloris, odoris, ſaporis optimi, the beſt in the countrey for colour, ſavour and taſte, to pleaſe the palate.

and al the hils ſhal melt] ſc. with milk, honey, oyl, as Joel. 3.18. the ſame almoſt with this. And the heathen Poet hath the like, —Subitis meſſor gaudebit ariſtis:Claudian. lib. 1. in Ruffin. Rorabunt querceta favis ſtagnantia paſſim Vina fluent oleique laeus.—

Ver. 14. And I will bring againe the captivity of my people] There is an elegancy in the original that cannot be engliſhed, and God ſeemes delighted with ſuch Agnominations, as hath been before obſerved: to ſhew the lawfull uſe of Rhetorike in divine diſcourſes,Act. 26.18. ſo it be not affected, abuſed, Idolized. This promiſe is fulfilled when beleevers are by the goſpel brought from darkneſſe to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveneſſe of ſins, and be ſet free from the tyranny of corruption, and terrour of death Heb. 2.14.15. Coloſ. 1.13. Luk. 1.74. Zach. 9.11. Pſa. 68.19.

and they ſhall build the waſt cities] Reſtore the ſincere ſervice of God, as thoſe noble Reformers did in all ages; fetching the Church, as it were, out of the wilderneſſe, where ſhe had long laine hid Rev. 12.6. and whence ſhe is ſaid at length to come leaning upon her Beloved Cant. 8.5.

and they ſhall plant vineyards] That is, particular churches.

and drink the wine thereof] Have the fruit and comfort of their labours in the Lord, which they ſhall ſee not to be in vaine 1 Cor. 15.

they ſhal alſo make gardens, and eat of the fruit] while they ſhall ſee their people to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt, 2 Pet. 1.8. but far off flouriſhing, Pſal. 92.13. actuoſi & fructuoſi Eſa. 51.3. The Popiſh Commentatours (as it is the manner of many of them to marre and bemire the text with their abſurd gloſſes) by cities here would have men to underſtand the ſtate of married people, by vineyards their Prelates, and by gardens Monkes. Is not this to wreſt the ſcriptures, and ſo to ſet them on the rack, as to make them ſpeak more then ever they intended? Is it not to compel them to go two miles when they are willing to go but one? Is it not to taw them, and gnaw them, as Tertullian ſaith that Marcion the heretick (that Mus Ponticus as he therefore cals him) did, to make them ſerviceable to his vile purpoſes?

Verſ. 15. And I wil plant them upon their land] as trees of righteouſneſſe, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified, Eſay. 61.3, 11. being well rooted and no worſe fruited, Philip. 1.6.

and they ſhal no more be pulled up] None ſhall pull them out of Chriſts hand; for he and the Father are one. None ſhall ſeparate them from the love of God in Chriſt Jeſus, Rom. 8. they ſhall be ſure of continual ſupplies of ſap and ſafety,Joh. 10.29, 30. being kept by the power of God thorow faith unto ſalvation, 2 Pet. 1.3. The paradiſe of God was ſo planted, that it was watered on all ſides with moſt noble rivers, to keep it flouriſhing: how much more will the Lord do this in his heavenly garden the Church? See Pſal. 92.13, 14. when it comes to be tranſplanted eſpecially.

ſaith the Lord thy God] Thy God, O Prophet, who will ratifie and verifie what promiſes ſoever thou haſt uttered in his name. Or thy God, O people, now reconciled unto thee in Chriſt, Ioh. 26.17. and therefore ready to heap upon thee all things needful for life and godlineſſe.