CHAPTER III _This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in_ _general_, 1, 2; _and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was_ _Samaria. Thee prophet assures them that, while they were at_ _variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect_ _his presence or... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:2. _YOU ONLY HAVE I KNOWN_] I have taken no other people to be my own people. I have _approved_ of you, loved you, fed, sustained, and defended you; but because you have forsaken me, have become idolatrous and polluted, therefore _will I punish you_. And the punishment shall be in propo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:3. _CAN TWO WALK TOGETHER_] While ye loved and served me, I dwelt in you and walked among you. Now ye are become alienated from me, your nature and mine are totally opposite. I am holy, ye are unholy. We are no longer _agreed_, and can no longer _walk_ _together_. I can no longer hold c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:4. _WILL A LION ROAR_] Should I threaten such a judgment without cause?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:5. _CAN A BIRD FALL IN A SNARE_] Can ye, as a sinful people, fall into calamities which I have not appointed? _SHALL_ ONE _TAKE UP A SNARE - AND HAVE TAKEN NOTHING_] Will the _snare_ _be removed before it has caught the expected prey_? - shall I remove my judgments till they are fully... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:6. _SHALL A TRUMPET BE BLOWN_] The sign of alarm and invasion. _AND THE PEOPLE NOT BE AFRAID?_] Not take the alarm, and provide for their defence and safety? _SHALL THERE BE EVIL IN A CITY_] Shall there be any public calamity on the wicked, that is not an effect of my displeasure? The... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:7. _SURELY THE LORD GOD WILL DO NOTHING_] In reference to the punishment, correction, or blessing of his people- _BUT HE REVEALETH HIS SECRET UNTO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS._] They are in strict correspondence with him, and he shows them _things to come_. Such secrets of God are reveal... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:8. _THE LION HATH ROARED,_] God hath sent forth a terrible alarm, _Who will not fear_? Can any hear such denunciations of Divine wrath and not tremble? _THE LORD GOD HATH SPOKEN_] And those only who are in communion with him have heard the speech. _Who can but prophesy_? Who can help p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:9. _PUBLISH IN THE PALACES_] The housetops or flat roofs were the places from which public declarations were made. See on Isaiah 21:1, and on Matthew 10:27. See whether in those places there be not _tumults, oppressions_, and _rapine_ sufficient to excite my wrath against them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:10. _FOR THEY KNOW NOT TO DO RIGHT_] So we may naturally say that they who are doing _wrong_, and to their own prejudice and ruin, must certainly be ignorant of what is _right_, and what is their own interest. But we say again, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." _Their... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:11. _AN ADVERSARY, ROUND ABOUT THE LAND_] Ye shall not be able to escape, wherever ye turn, ye shall meet a foe.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:12. _AS THE SHEPHERD TAKETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE LION_] Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than _two_ of its _legs_, or a piece of its _ear_, just en... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:13. _HEAR YE_] This is an address to the prophet.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:14. _IN THE DAY THAT I SHALL VISIT_] When Josiah made a reformation in the land he destroyed _idolatry_, pulled down the temples and altars that had been consecrated to idol worship, and even burnt the bones of the priests of Baal and the golden calves upon their own altars. See 2 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 3:15. _I WILL SMITE THE WINTER HOUSE WITH THE SUMMER HOUSE_] I will not only destroy the _poor habitations_ and _villages_ in the country, but I will destroy those of the _nobility_ and _gentry_ as well as the _lofty palaces_ in the fortified cities in which they dwell in the _winter sea... [ Continue Reading ]