The crocodile or shark.

I will perpetually watch over them.

He needs not take great pains therein, a touch of his finger will do this.

As snow before the sun.

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.

Either in judgment to drown, or in mercy to give rain.

A wild, thievish, and servile nation.

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.

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.

Every sinful kingdom.

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

The great, notorious sinners.

Is far off, we shall die first, and be safe in the grave.

In the set time which I have fixt.

Bring back out of captivity, and re - establish in their own land, the house of David, and those that adhere to his family.

By the revolt of the ten tribes.

Which are in it by that long division.

Literally the Jews.

Both the lands of Edom, and some of the posterity of Edom; these as servants, the other as their propriety.

Left by Nebuchadnezzar.

That is, round about.

But this is also a prophecy of setting up the kingdom of the Messiah, and bringing in the Gentiles.

Here is another promise literally of abundant plenty to the returned captives, and mystically of abundant grace poured forth in gospel - days.

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.

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.

The vineyards shall be so fruitful, and new wine so plentiful as if it ran down from the mountains.

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.

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.

Where the forests, and, on the west side, the caves, furnished hiding-places (Amo 1:2; Jdg 6:2; 1Sa 13:6).

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

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

Hoping to save their lives by voluntarily surrendering to the foe.

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 Amo 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."

Literally, "ascents," that is, upper chambers, to which the ascent is by steps [MAURER]; evidently referring to the words in Psa 104:3, Psa 104:13. 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).

Namely, all animate creatures, which are God's troop, or host (Gen 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.

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 Jer 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 Isa 14:29, &c.) from Caphtor (compare Deu 2:23; see on Jer 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 Isa 22:6), so they should be carried back captive into the same land (see on Amo 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 (Gen 10:6, Gen 10:8, Gen 10:10).

That is, I am watching all its sinful course in order to punish it (compare Amo 9:4; Psa 34:15-16).

Though as a "kingdom" the nation is now utterly to perish, a remnant is to be spared for "Jacob," their forefather's sake (compare Jer 30:11); to fulfil the covenant whereby "the seed of Israel" is hereafter to be "a nation for ever" (Jer 31:36).

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), (Rom 11:26; compare Note, see on Jer 3:14). So spiritual Israel's final safety is ensured (Luk 22:32; Joh 10:28; Joh 6:39).

Answering to the chaff in the image in Amo 9:9, which falls on the earth, in opposition "to the grain" that does not "fall."

"come on us from behind" [MAURER].

Quoted by James (Act 15:16-17), "After this," that is, in the dispensation of Messiah (Gen 49:10; Hos 3:4-5; Joe 2:28; Joe 3:1).

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; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:24; Eze 37:24; see on Isa 12:1). The type is taken from architecture (Eph 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 Rev 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).

Literally, "of them," that is, of the whole nation, Israel as well as Judah.

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

"Edom," the bitter foe, though the brother, of Israel; therefore to be punished (Amo 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 (Rom 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 (Amo 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 Isa 54:3, "thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles" (compare Isa 49:8; Rom 4:13). A remnant of Edom became Jews under John Hyrcanus, and the rest amalgamated with the Arabians, who became Christians subsequently.

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, Heb 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," Act 15:17, namely, all these and such like acts of sovereign love).

At the future restoration of the Jews to their own land.

Fulfilling Lev 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 Isa 65:21-23, as to the same period.

Literally, "draweth it forth," namely, from the sack in order to sow it.

An appropriate image, as the vines in Palestine were trained on terraces at the sides of the hills.

(Isa 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).

(Jer 32:41).

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

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 , 1Ki 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, 1Sa 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

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, (Jer 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 Psa 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 —

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 —

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 ⁶² in the heavens, who founds his jointings ⁶³ (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?

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 —

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 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 Isa 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 —

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, (2Co 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,’
(Psa 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,’
(Gen 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,’
(Psa 132:11)

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 —

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.

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 Lev 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 —

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 —

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. ⁶⁶

End of the Commentaries on Amos.

Amos again reminds the people that the God whom they have rejected, Jehovah, is the one who built heaven and populated the earth; furthermore, He later poured all the waters of the sea over all the earth, with the great Flood. It is He who is now judging them, as though they were His enemies, instead of His chosen people."

Although most of the Israelites were slain in the terrible Assyrian invasion and deportation, God has repeatedly promised to spare a remnant."

The survivors of the Assyrian holocaust were so thoroughly sifted "among all nations" that they have been referred to as the ten lost tribes of Israel, yet God knows where each one and his descendants yet remain."

This great prophecy of the ultimate restoration of the Davidic kingdom was still future when Peter and James quoted this verse (Act 15:14-18). It will be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel, who will Himself assume the throne of David (Luk 1:31-33)."

This promise applies, not to the return from Babylon, but to the final restoration from exile, when they will never again "be pulled up out of their land.""

hide : Job 34:22; Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24

hid : Psa 139:9-11; Jer 16:16

the serpent : Isa 27:1

go : Lev 26:33, Lev 26:36-39; Deu 28:64, Deu 28:65; Eze 5:2, Eze 5:12; Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9

set : Lev 17:10; Deu 28:63; 2Ch 16:9; Psa 34:15, Psa 34:16; Jer 24:6, Jer 44:11

toucheth : Psa 46:6, Psa 144:5; Isa 64:1; Mic 1:3; Nah 1:6; Hab 3:10; Rev 20:11

and all : Amo 8:8; Jer 12:4; Hos 4:3

shall rise : Psa 32:6, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4; Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8; Mat 7:27

buildeth : Psa 104:3, Psa 104:13

stories : or, spheres, Heb. ascensions, Maaloth ""upper chambers,""which in eastern houses are the principal apartments. Perhaps there is a reference here to the various systems which God has created in illimitable space, transcending each other as the planets do in our system.

troop : or, bundle, Gen 2:1 Aguddah probably is the same as the Arabic ijad ""an arch, vault,""and may here denote the vault of heaven, or atmosphere, which God ""hath founded, or established, upon, or over, al the earth,""and into which ""he calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth."

calleth : Amo 5:8; Gen 7:11-19; Jer 5:22

The Lord : Amo 4:13; Exo 3:14, Exo 3:15

ye not : Jer 9:25, Jer 9:26, Jer 13:23

Have not : Amo 2:10; Exo 12:51; Hos 12:13

the Philistines : Deu 2:23; Jer 47:4

the Syrians : Amo 1:5; 2Ki 16:9

the eyes : Amo 9:4; Psa 11:4-6; Pro 5:21, Pro 15:3; Jer 44:27

and I : Gen 6:7, Gen 7:4; Deu 6:15; 1Ki 13:34; Hos 1:6, Hos 9:11-17, Hos 13:15, Hos 13:16

saving : Deu 4:31; Isa 27:7, Isa 27:8; Jer 5:10, Jer 30:11, Jer 31:35, Jer 31:36, Jer 33:24-26; Joe 2:32; Oba 1:16, Oba 1:17; Rom 11:1-7, Rom 11:28, Rom 11:29

and I : Lev 26:33; Deu 28:64

sift : Heb. cause to move

grain : Heb. stone

the sinners : Isa 33:14; Eze 20:38, Eze 34:16, Eze 34:17; Zep 3:11-13; Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9; Mal 3:2-5; Mal 4:1; Mat 3:10-12, Mat 13:41, Mat 13:42, Mat 13:49, Mat 13:50

The evil : Amo 6:1, Amo 6:3; Psa 10:11; Ecc 8:11; Isa 5:19, Isa 28:14, Isa 28:15, Isa 56:12; Jer 18:18; Mal 3:15

that day : Act 15:15-17

raise : Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7, Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6, Jer 30:9, Jer 33:14-16, Jer 33:20-26; Eze 17:24; Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24, Eze 37:24, Eze 37:25; Hos 3:5; Mic 5:2; Luk 1:31-33, Luk 1:69, Luk 1:70; Act 2:30-36

the tabernacle : Isa 16:5; Eze 21:25-27

close : Heb. hedge, or wall, Job 1:10; Psa 80:12, Psa 89:40; Isa 5:5

as in : Psa 143:5; Isa 63:11; Jer 46:26; Lam 5:21; Eze 36:11; Mic 7:14

possess : Isa 11:14, Isa 14:1, Isa 14:2; Joe 3:8; Oba 1:18-21

Edom : Gen 27:29, Gen 27:37; Num 24:17; Psa 60:8; Mal 1:4

which are called by my name : Heb. upon whom my name is called, Isa 43:7, Isa 63:19, Isa 65:1; Jer 14:9, Jer 15:16; Dan 9:18, Dan 9:19

plowman : Lev 26:5; Eze 36:35; Hos 2:21-23; Joh 4:35

soweth : Heb. draweth forth

the mountains : Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 55:13; Joe 3:18, Joe 3:20

sweet wine : or, new wine

the hills : Amo 9:5; Jdg 5:5; Psa 97:5

I will bring : Psa 53:6; Jer 30:3, Jer 30:18, Jer 31:23; Eze 16:53, Eze 39:25; Joe 3:1, Joe 3:2

build : Isa 61:4, Isa 65:21; Jer 30:18, Jer 31:38-40; Eze 36:33-36, Eze 37:25-28

plant : Amo 5:11; Isa 62:8, Isa 62:9; Eze 28:26; Zep 1:13

they shall : As the Jews, after their return from Babylon, were driven from their land by the Romans, this can only refer to their future conversion and restoration, and to the security and peace of the church. Isa 60:21; Jer 24:6, Jer 32:41; Eze 34:28, Eze 37:25; Joe 3:20; Mic 4:4

He had contrasted heaven and hell, as places impossible for man to reach; as I David says, "If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there: If l make my bed in hell, behold Thee"Psa 139:8. Now, of places in a manner accessible, he contrasts Mount Carmel, which rises abruptly out of the sea, with depths of that ocean which it overhangs. Carmel was in two ways a hiding place.

1) Through its caves (some say 1,000 , some 2,000) with which it is perforated, whose entrance sometimes scarcely admits a single man; so close to each other, that a pursuer would not discern into which the fugitive had vanished; so serpentine within, that, "10 steps apart,"says a traveler , "we could hear each others’ voices, but could not see each other.": "Carmel is perforated by a hundredfold greater or lesser clefts. Even in the garb of loveliness and richness, the majestic Mount, by its clefts, caves, and rocky battlements, excites in the wanderer who sees them for the first time, a feeling of mingled wonder and fear. A whole army of enemies, as of nature’ s terrors, could hide themselves in these rock-clefts."

2) Its summit, about 1800 feet above the sea , "is covered with pines and oaks, and lower down with olive and laurel trees". These forests furnished hiding places to robberhordes at the time of our Lord. In those caves, Elijah probably at times was hidden from the persecution of Ahab and Jezebel. It seems to be spoken of as his abode 1Ki 18:19, as also one resort of Elishas 2Ki 2:25; 2Ki 4:25. Carmel, as the western extremity of the land, projecting into the sea, was the last place which a fugitive would reach. If he found no safety there, there was none in his whole land. Nor was there by sea;

And though they be hid - (rather, "hide themselves") from My sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent The sea too has its deadly serpents. Their classes are few; the individuals in those classes are much more numerous than those of the land-serpents . Their shoals have furnished to sailors tokens of approaching land . Their chief abode, as traced in modern times, is between the Tropics .

The ancients knew of them perhaps in the Persian gulf or perhaps the Red Sea . All are "highly venomous"and "very ferocious.": "The virulence of their venom is equal to that of the "most"pernicious land-serpents."All things, with their will or without it through animal instinct, as the serpent, or their savage passions, as the Assyrian, fulfill the will of God. As, at His command, the fish whom He had prepared, swallowed Jonah, for his preservation, so, at His "command, the serpent"should come forth from the recesses of the sea to the sinner’ s greater suffering.

Captivity - , at least, seemed safe. The horrors of war are over. Men enslave, but do not commonly destroy those whom they have once been at the pains to carry captive. Amos describes them in their misery, as "going"willingly, gladly, "into captivity before their enemies,"like a flock of sheep. Yet "thence"too, out of "the captivity,"God would command the sword, and it should slay them. So God had forewarned them by Moses, that captivity should be an occasion, not an end, of slaughter. "I will scatter you among the pagan, and will draw out a sword after you"Lev 26:33. "And among these nations shalt thou find no ease - and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life"Deu 28:65-66. The book of Esther shows how cheaply the life of a whole nation was held by Eastern conquerors; and the book of Tobit records, how habitually Jews were slain and cast out unburied (Tobit 1:17; 2:3). The account also that Sennacherib (Tobit 1:18) avenged the loss of his army, and "in his wrath killed many,"is altogether in the character of Assyrian conquerors. Unwittingly he fulfilled the command of God, "I will command the sword and it shall slay them."

I will set mine eyes upon them for evil - So David says, "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to root out the remembrance of them from off the earth"Psa 34:15-16. The Eye of God rests on each creature which He hath made, as entirely as if He had created it alone. Every moment is passed in His unvarying sight. But, as man "sets his eye"on man, watching him and with purpose of evil, so God’ s Eye is felt to be on man in displeasure, when sorrow and calamity track him and overtake him, coming he knows not how in unlooked-for ways and strange events. The Eye of God upon us is our whole hope and stay and life. It is on the Confessor in prison, the Martyr on the rack, the poor in their sufferings, the mourner in the chamber of death, for good. What when everywhere that Eye, the Source of all good, rests on His creature only for evil! "and not for good,"he adds; "not,"as is the wont and the Nature of God; "not,"as He had promised, if they were faithful; "not,"as perhaps they thought, "for good."He utterly shuts out all hope of good. It shall be all evil, and no good, such as is hell.

And who is He who should do this? God, at whose command are all creatures. This is the hope of His servants; from where Hezekiah begins his prayer, "Lord of hosts, God of Israel"Isa 37:16. This is the hopelessness of His enemies. "That toucheth the land"or "earth, and it shall melt,"rather, "hath melted."His Will and its fulfillment are one. "He spake, and it was; He commanded and it stood fast"Psa 33:9. His Will is first, as the cause of what is done; in time they co-exist. He hath no need to put forth His strength; a touch, the slightest indication of His Will, sufficeth. If the solid earth, how much more its inhabitants! So the Psalmist says, "The pagan raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted"Psa 46:6. The hearts of men melt when they are afraid of His presence; human armies melt away, dispersed; the great globe itself shall dissolve into its ancient chaos at His Will.

He that buildeth His stories - The word commonly means "steps,"nor is there any reason to alter it. We read of "the third heavens 2Co 12:2, the heavens of heavens Deu 10:14; 1Ki 8:27; Psa 148:4; that is, heavens to which this heaven is as earth. They are different ways of expressing the vast unseen space which God has created, divided, as we know, through the distance of the fixed stars, into countless portions, of which the lower, or further removed, are but as "steps"to the presence of the Great King, where, "above all heavens"Eph 4:10, Christ sitteth at the Right Hand of God. It comes to the same, if we suppose the word to mean "upper chambers."The metaphor would still signify heavens above our heavens.

And hath founded His troop - (literally, band in the earth Probably, "founded His arch upon the earth,"that is, His visible heaven, which seems, like an arch, to span the earth. The whole then describes"all things visible and invisible;"all of this our solar system, and all beyond it, the many gradations to the Throne of God. : "He daily "buildeth His stories in the heavens,"when He raiseth up His saints from things below to heavenly places, presiding over them, ascending in them. In devout wayfarers too, whose "conversation is in heaven Phi 3:20, He ascendeth, sublimely and mercifully indwelling their hearts. In those who have the fruition of Himself in those heavens, He ascendeth by the glory of beatitude and the loftiest contemplation, as He walketh in those who walk, and resteth in those who rest in Him."

To this description of His power, Amos, as before Amo 5:8, adds that signal instance of its exercise on the ungodly, the flood, the pattern and type of judgments which no sinner escapes. God then hath the power to do this. Why should He not?

Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel! - Their boast and confidence was that they were children of the patriarch, to whom God made the promises. But they, not following the faith nor doing the deeds of Israel, who was a "prince with God,"or of Abraham, the father of the faithful, had, for "Bene Israel,"children of Israel, become as "Bene Cushiim, children of the Ethiopians,"descendants of Ham, furthest off from the knowledge and grace of God, the unchangeableness of whose color was an emblem of unchangeableness in evil. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil"Jer 13:23.

Have I not brought up - (Did I not bring up) Israel out of the land of Egypt? Amos blends in one their plea and God’ s answer. God by bringing them up out of Egypt, pledged His truth to them to be their to protect and preserve them. True! so long as they. retained God as their God, and kept His laws. God chose them, that they might choose Him. By casting Him off, as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of God’ s protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in His sight. His act in bringing them up from Egypt had lost its meaning for them. It became no more than any Other event in His Providence, by which He brought up "the Philistines from Caphtor,"who yet were aliens from Him, and "the Syrians from Kir,"who, He had foretold, should be carried back there.

This immigration of the Philistines from Caphtor must have taken place before the return of Israel from Egypt. For Moses says, "The Caphtorim, who came forth from Caphtor"had at this time "destroyed the Avvim who dwelt in villages unto Gazah, and dwelt in their stead"Deu 2:23 An entire change in their affairs had also taken place in the four centuries and a half since the days of Isaac. In the time of Abraham and Isaac, Philistia was a kingdom; its capital, Gerar. Its king had a standing army, Phichol being "the captain of the host"Gen 21:22; Gen 26:26 : he had also a privy councillor, Ahuzzath Gen 26:26. From the time after the Exodus, Philistia had ceased to be a kingdom, Gerar disappears from history; the power of Philistia is concentrated in five new towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron, with five heads, who consult and act as one (see above, the note at Amo 1:6-8).

The Caphtorim are in some sense also distinct from the old Philistines. They occupy a district not co-extensive with either the old or the new land of the Philistines. In the time of Saul, another Philistine clan is mentioned, the Cherethite. The Amalekites made a marauding inroad into the south country of the Cherethites; 1Sa 30:14; which immediately afterward is called "the land of the Philistines"1Sa 30:16. Probably then, there were different immigrations of the same tribe into Palestine, as there were different immigrations of Danes or Saxons into England, or as there have been and are from the old world into the new, America and Australia. They, were then all merged in one common name, as English, Scotch, Irish, are in the United States. The first immigration may have been that from the Casluhim, "out of whom came Philistim"Gen 10:14; a second, from the Caphtorim, a kindred people, since they are named next to the Casluhim Gen 10:14, as descendants of Mizraim. Yet a third were doubtless the Cherethim. But all were united under the one name of Philistines, as Britons, Danes, Saxons, Normans, are united under the one name of English. Of these immigrations, that from Caphtor, even if (as seems probable) second in time, was the chief; which agrees with the great accession of strength, which the Philistines had received at the time of the Exodus; from where the Mediterranean had come to be called by their name, "the sea of the Philistines"Exo 23:31 : and, in Moses’ song of thanksgiving, "the inhabitants of Philistia"are named on a level with "all the inhabitants of Canaan"Exo 15:14-15; and God led His people by the way of Mount Sinai, in order not to expose them at once to so powerful an enemy Exo 13:17.

A third immigration of Cherethim, in the latter part of the period of the Judges, would account for the sudden increase of strength, which they seem then to have received. For whereas heretofore those whom God employed to chasten Israel in their idolatries, were Kings of Mesopotamia, Moab, Hazor, Midian, Amalek, and the children of the East Judg. 3\endash 10:5, and Philistia had, at the beginning of the period, lost Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron Jdg 1:18, to Israel, and was repulsed by Shamgar, thenceforth, to the time of David, they became the great scourge of Israel on the west of Jordan, as Ammon was on the east.

The Jewish traditions in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and three Targums, agree that Caphtor was Cappadocia, which, in that it extended to the Black Sea, might be callad "I, seacoast,"literally, "habitable land, as contrasted with the sea which washed it, whether it surrounded it or no. The Cherethites may have come from Crete, as an intermediate resting place in their migrations.

Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom - The sinful kingdom may mean each "sinful kingdom,"as Paul says, God "will render unto every man according to his deeds - unto them who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile"Rom 2:6-9. His "Eyes"are "on the sinful kingdom,"whatsoever or wheresoever it be, and so on Israel also: "and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth."In this case, the emphasis would be on the, "I will not "utterly"destroy."God would destroy sinful kingdoms, yet Israel, although sinful, He would not "utterly"destroy, but would leave a remnant, as He had so often promised. Yet perhaps, and more probably, the contrast is between "the kingdom"and "the house of Israel. The kingdom,"being founded in sin, bound up inseparably with sin, God says, "I will destroy from off the face of the earth,"and it ceased forever. Only, with the kingdom, He says, "I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,"to whom were the promises, and to whose seed, whosoever were the true Israel, those promises should be kept. So He explains;

For lo! I will command! - Literally, "lo! see, I am commanding."He draws their attention to it, as something which shall shortly be; and inculcates that He is the secret disposer of all which shall befall them. "And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations."Amos enlarges the prophecy of Hosea, "they shall be wanderers among the nations."He adds two thoughts; the violence with which they shall be shaken, and that this their unsettled life, to and fro, shall be not "among the nations"only, but "in all"nations. In every quarter of the world, and in well-nigh every nation in every quarter, Jews have been found. The whole earth is, as it were, one vast sieve in the Hands of God, in which Israel is shaken from one end to the other. There has been one ceaseless tossing to and fro, as the grain in the sieve is tossed from side to side, and rests nowhere, until all is sifted.

Each nation in whom they have been found has been an instrument of their being shaken, sifted, severed, the grain from the dirt and chaff; And yet in their whole compass, "not the least grain,"no solid grain, not one grain, should "fall to the earth."The chaff and dust would be blown away by the air; the dirt which clave to it would fall through; but "no one grain."God, in all these centuries, has had an eye on each soul of His people in their dispersion throughout all lands. The righteous too have been shaken up and down, through and through; yet not one soul has been lost, which, by the help of God’ s Holy Spirit, willed truly and earnestly to be saved. Before Christ came, they who were His, believed in Him who should come; when He came, they who were His were converted to Him; as Paul saith, "Hath God cast away His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin - God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew - At this present time also there is a remnant, according to the election of grace"Rom 11:1-2, Rom 11:5.

Rib.: "What is here said of all, God doth daily in each of the elect. For they are ‘ the wheat"of God, which, in order to be "laid up in"the heavenly "garner,"must be pure from chaff and dust. To this end He sifts them by afflictions and troubles, in youth, manhood, old age, wheresoever they are, in whatsoever occupied, and proves them again and again. At one time the elect enjoyeth tranquility of mind, is bedewed by heavenly refreshments, prayeth as he wills, loveth, gloweth, hath no taste for ought except God. Then again he is dry, experienceth the heaven to be as brass, his prayer is hindered by distracting thoughts, his feet are as lead to deeds of virtue, his "hands bang down,"his "knees"are "feeble"Heb 12:12, he dreads death; he sticks fast, languishes. He is shaken in a sieve, that he may mistrust self, place his hope in God, and the dust of vain-glory may be shaken off. He is proved, that it may appear whether he cleave to God for the reward of present enjoyment, or for the hope of future, for longing for the glory of God and for love of Himself. God suffereth him also to be sifted by the devil through various temptations to sin, as he said to the Apostle, "Simon, lo! Satan hath desired you, to sift you as wheat"Luk 22:31. But this is the power of God, this His grace to the elect, this the devil attaineth by his sifting, that the dust of immoderate self love, of vain confidence, of love of the world, should fall off: this Satan effecteth not, that the least deed which pertaineth to the inward house and the dwelling which they prepare in their souls for God, should perish. Rather, as we see in holy Job, virtues will increase, grow, be strengthened."

All the sinners of My people shall perish - At the last, when the longsuffering of God has been despised to the uttermost, His Providence is exact in His justice, as in His love. As not "one grain should fall to the earth,"so not one sinner should escape. Jerome: "Not because they sinned aforetime, but because they persevered in sin until death. The Aethiopians are changed into sons of God, if they repent; and the sons of God pass away into Aethiopians, if they fall into the depth of sin."

Which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us - Their security was the cause of their destruction. They perished the more miserably, being buoyed up by the false confidence that they should not perish. So it was in both destructions of Jerusalem. Of the first, Jeremiah says to the false prophet Hananiah, "Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron"Jer 28:13; and to Zedekiah, "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; so shall it be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth - thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and thou shalt burn this city with fire"(Jer 38:20, Jer 38:23; add Jer 27:9-10, Jer 27:19). At the second, while thee Christians (mindful of our Lord’ s words) fled to Pella, the Jews were, to the last, encouraged by their false prophets to resist. "The cause of this destruction,"at the burning of the temple, says their own historian , "was a false prophet, who on that day proclaimed to those in the city, ‘ God commands to go up to the temple, to receive the signs of deliverance.’ There were too, at that time, among the people many prophets suborned by the tyrants, bidding them await the help from God, that they might not desert, and that hope might prevail with those, who were above fear and restraint. Man is soon persuaded in calamity. And when the deceiver promises release from the evils which are upon him, the sufferer gives himself wholly up to hope. These dcceivers then and liars against God at this time mispersuaded the wretched people, so that they neither regarded, nor believed, the plain evident prodigies, which foretokened the coming desolation, but, like men stupefied, who had neither eyes nor mind, disobeyed the warnings of God."Then, having related some of the prodigies which occurred, he adds ; "But of these signs’ some they interpreted after their own will, some they despised, until they were convicted of folly by the capture of their country and their own destruction."

So too now, none are so likely to perish forever, as they "who say, The evil shall not overtake us.""I will repent hereafter.""I will make my peace with God before I die.""There is time enough yet.""Youth is for pleasure, age for repentance.""God will forgive the errors of youth, and the heat of our passions.""Any time will do for repentance; health and strength promise long life;""I cannot do without this or that now.""I will turn to God, only not yet.""God is merciful and full of compassion."Because Satan thus deludes thousands upon thousands to their destruction, God cuts away all such vain hopes with His word, "All the sinners of My people shall die which say, the evil shall not overtake nor come upon us."

In that day I will raise up - Amos, as the prophets were taught to do, sums up his prophecy of woe with this one full promise of overflowing good. For the ten tribes, in their separate condition, there was no hope, no future. He had pronounced the entire destruction of "the kingdom"of Israel. The ten tribes were, thenceforth, only an aggregate of individuals, good or bad. They had no separate corporate existence. In their spiritual existence, they still belonged to the one family of Israel; and, belonging to it, were heirs of the promises made to it. When no longer separate, individuals out of its tribes were to become Apostles to their whole people and to the Gentiles. Of individuals in it, God had declared His judgment, anticipating the complete exactness of the Judgment of the Great Day. "All the sinners of"His "people"should "die"an untimely death "by the sword;"not one of those who were the true grain should perish with the chaff.

He now foretells, how that salvation, of those indeed His own, should be effected through the house of David, in whose line Christ was to come. He speaks of the house of David, not in any terms of royal greatness; he tells, not of its palaces, but of its ruins. Under the word "tabernacle,"he probably blends the ideas, that it should be in a poor condition, and yet that it should be the means whereby God should protect His people. The "succah, tabernacle"(translated "booth"in Jonah) Jon 4:5; Gen 33:17, was originally a rude hut, formed of "intertwined"branches. It is used of the cattle-shed Gen 33:17, and of the rough tents used by soldiers in war 2Sa 11:11, or by the watchman in the vineyard Isa 1:8; Job 27:18, and of those wherein God "made the children of Israel to dwell, when"He "brought them out of the land of Egypt Lev 23:43. The name of the feast of "tabernacles, Succoth,"as well as the rude temporary huts in which they were commanded to dwell, associated the name with a state of outward poverty under God’ s protection.

Hence, perhaps, the word is employed also of the secret place of the presence of God Psa 18:11; Job 36:29. Isaiah, as well as Amos, seems, in the use of the same word Isa 4:6, to hint that what is poor and mean in man’ s sight would be, in the Hands of God, an effectual protection. This "hut of David"was also at that time to be "fallen."When Amos prophesied, it had been weakened by the schism of the ten tribes, but Azariah, its king, was mighty 2Ch 26:6-15. Amos had already foretold the destruction of the "palaces of Jerusalem by fire"Amo 2:5. Now he adds, that the abiding condition of the house of David should be a state of decay and weakness, and that from that state, not human strength, but God Himself should "raise"it. "I will raise up the hut of David, the fallen."He does not say, of "that"time, "the hut that is fallen,"as if it were already fallen, but "the hut, the fallen,"that is, the hut of which the character should then be its falling, its caducity.

So, under a different figure, Isaiah prophesied, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stump Isa 11:1 of Jesse, and a Branch shall put forth from its roots."When the trunk was hewn down even with the ground, and the rank grass had covered the "stump,"that "rod"and "Branch"should come forth which should rule the earth, and "to"which "the Gentiles should seek"Isa 11:10. From these words of Amos, "the Son of the fallen,"became, among the Jews, one of the titles of the Christ. Both in the legal and mystical schools the words of Amos are alleged, in proof of the fallen condition of the house of David, when the Christ should come. "Who would expect,"asks one , "that God would raise up the fallen tabernacle of David? and yet it is said, "I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen down."And who would hope that the whole world should become one band? as it is written, "Then I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one shoulder"Zep 3:9. This is no other than the king Messiah."And in the Talmud ; "R. Nachman said to R. Isaac; Hast thou heard when ‘ the Son of the fallen’ shall come? He answered, Who is he? R. Nachman; The Messiah. R. Isaac; Is the Messiah so called? R. Nachman; Yes; ‘ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen down. ‘ "

And close up - Literally, "wall up, the breaches thereof."The house of David had at this time sustained breaches. It had yet more serious breaches to sustain thereafter. The first great breach was the rending off of the ten tribes. It sustained breaches, through the Assyrians; and yet more when itself was carried away captive to Babylon, and so many of its residue fled into Egypt. Breaches are repaired by new stones; the losses of the house of David were to be filled up by accessions from the Gentiles. God Himself should "close up the breaches;"so should they remain closed; and "the gates of hell should not prevail against"the Church which He builded. Amos heaps upon one another the words implying destruction. A "hut"and that "falling; breaches; ruins;"(literally, "his ruinated, his destructions"). But he also speaks of it in a way which excludes the idea of "the hut of David,"being "the royal Dynasty"or "the kingdom of Judah."For he speaks of it, not as an abstract thing, such as a kingdom is, but as a whole, consisting of individuals.

He speaks not only of "the hut of David,"but of "‘ their (fem.)’ breaches,""‘ his’ ruins,"that God would "build ‘ her’ up,""that ‘ they’ (masc.) may inherit;"using apparently this variety of numbers and genders , in order to show that he is speaking of one living whole, the Jewish Church, now rent in two by the great schism of Jeroboam, but which should be reunited into one body, members of which should win the pagan to the true faith in God. "I will raise up,"he says, "the tabernacle of David, the fallen, and will wall up ‘ their’ breaches,"(the breaches of the two portions into which it had been rent) and I will raise up "his"ruins (the "ruinated places"of David) and I will build "her"(as one whole) as in the days of old, (before the rent of the ten tribes, when all worshiped as one), that "they,"(masculine) that is, individuals who should go forth out of her, "may inherit, etc."

That they may possess - rather, "inherit

The remnant of Edom - The restoration was not to be for themselves alone. No gifts of God end in the immediate object of His bounty and love. They were restored, in order that they, the first objects of God’ s mercies, might win others to God; not Edom only, "but all nations, upon whom,"God says, "My Name is called."Plainly then, it is no temporal subjugation, nor any earthly kingdom. The words, "upon whom the name is called,"involve, in any case, belonging to, and being owned by, him whose name is called upon them. It is said of the wife bearing the name of the husband and becoming his, "let thy name be called upon us Isa 4:1. When Jacob especially adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his he says, "let my name be named upon them, and the name of My fathers, Abraham and Isaac"Gen 48:16. In relation to God, the words are used of persons and of places especially appropriated to God; as the whole Jewish Church and people, His Temple 1Ki 8:43; Jer 7:10-11, Jer 7:14, Jer 7:30; Jer 34:15, His prophets Jer 15:16, the city of Jerusalem Dan 9:18-19 by virtue of the temple built there. Contrariwise, Isaiah pleads to God, that the pagan "were never called by Thy Name"Isa 63:19. This relation of being "called"by the "Name"of God, was not outward only, nor was it ineffective. Its characteristics were holiness imparted by God to man, and protection by God. Thus Moses, in his blessing on Israel if obedient, says, "The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn to thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways; and all the people of the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord thy God is called upon thee, and they shall fear thee"Deu 28:9-10. And Jeremiah says to God , "Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for Thy name was called upon me, O Lord God of Hosts."

Israel then, or the Jewish Church, was to inherit, or take into itself, not Edom only, but all nations, and that, by their belonging to God. Edom, as the brother of Israel and yet his implacable enemy, stands as a symbol of all who were alien from God, over against His people. He says, the "residue of Edom,"because he had foretold the destruction which was first to come upon Edom; and Holy Scripture everywhere speaks of those who should be converted, as a "remnant"only. The Jews themselves are the keepers and witnesses of these words. Was it not foretold? It stands written. Is it not fulfilled? The whole world from this country to China, and from China round again to us, as far as it is Christian, and as, year by year, more are gathered into the fold of Christ, are the inheritance of those who were the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

James quoted these words in the Council of Jerusalem, to show how the words of the prophet were in harmony with what Peter had related, how "God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His Name"Act 15:14. He quotes the words as they stood in the version which was understood by the Gentiles who came from Antioch. In it the words are paraphrased, but the meaning remains the same. The Greek translators took away the metaphor, in order, probably, to make the meaning more intelligible to Greeks, and paraphrased the Hebrew words, imagining other words, as like as might be to the Hebrew. They render, "that the residue of men may seek, and all the nations upon whom My name is called."The force of the prophecy lies in these last words, that "the Name of God should be called upon all nations."James, then, quoted the words as they were familiar to his hearers, not correcting those which did not impair the meaning. The so doing, he shows us incidentally, that even imperfection of translation does not empty the fullness of God’ s word. The words, "shall seek the Lord,"although not representing anything expressed here in the original, occur in the corresponding prophecy of Isaiah as to the root of Jesse, "In that day there shall be a root"(that is, a sucker from the root) "of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people, and to it shall the Gentiles seek"Isa 11:10. It may be, that James purposely uses the plural, "the words of the prophets,"in order to include, together with the prophet Amos, other prophets who had foretold the same thing. The statements, that the Jewish Church should inherit the Gentiles, that the Name of God should be called upon the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles should seek the Lord, are parts of one whole; that they should be called, that they should obey the call, and, obeying, he enrolled in the one family of God.

Behold the days are coming - The Day of the Lord is ever coming on: every act, good or bad, is drawing it on: everything which fills up the measure of iniquity or which "hastens the accomplishment of the number of the elect;"all time hastens it by. "The plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed."The image is taken from God’ s promise in the law; "Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time"Lev 26:5; which is the order of agriculture. The harvest should be so copious that it should not be threshed out until the vintage: the vintage so large, that, instead of ending, as usual, in the middle of the 7th month, it should continue on to the seed-time in November. Amos appears purposely to have altered this. He describes what is wholly beyond nature, in order that it might the more appear that he was speaking of no mere gifts of nature, but, under natural emblems, of the abundance of gifts of grace. "The plowman,"who breaks up the fallow ground, "shall overtake,"or "throng, the reaper. The "plowman"might "throng,"or "join on to the reaper,"either following upon him, or being followed by him; either preparing the soil for the harvest which the reaper gathers in, or breaking it up anew for fresh harvest after the in-gathering.

But the vintage falls between the harvest and the seed-time. If then by the "plowmen thronging on the reaper,"we understand that the harvest should, for its abundance, not be over before the fresh seed-time, then, since the vintage is much nearer to the seed-time than the harvest had been, the words, "he that treadeth out the grapes, him that soweth the seed,"would only say the same less forcibly. In the other way, it is one continuous whole. So vast would be the soil to be cultivated, so beyond all the powers of the cultivator, and yet so rapid and unceasing the growth, that seed-time and harvest would be but one. So our Lord says, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest"Joh 4:35. "Four months"ordinarily intervened between seed-time and harvest. Among these Samaritans, seed-time and harvest were one.

They had not, like the Jews, had teachers from God; yet, as soon as our Lord taught them, they believed. But, as seed time and harvest should be one, so should the vintage be continuous with the following seed-time. "The treader of grapes,"the last crowning act of the year of cultivation, should join on to "him that soweth"(literally, "draweth"forth, soweth broadcast, scattereth far and wide the) "seed."All this is beyond nature, and so, the more in harmony with what went before, the establishment of a kingdom of grace, in which "the pagan"should have "the Name of God called upon"them. He had foretold to them, how God would "send famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord"Amo 8:11. Now, under the same image, he declares the repeal of that sentence. He foretells, not the fullness only of God’ s gifts, but their unbroken continuance.

Jerome: "All shall succeed one another, so that no day should be void of grain, wine, and gladness."And they shall not follow only on one another, but shall all go on together in one perpetual round of toil and fruitfulness. There shall be one unceasing inpouring of riches; no break in the heavenly husbandry; labor shall at once yield fruit; the harvest shall but encourage fresh labor. The end shall come swiftly on the beginning; the end shall not close the past only, but issue forth anew. Such is the character of the toils of the Gospel. All the works of grace go on in harmony together; each helps on the other; in one, the fallow-ground of the heart is broken up; in another, seed is sown, the beginning of a holy conversation; in another, is the full richness of the ripened fruit, in advanced holiness or the blood of martyrs. And so, also, of the ministers of Christ, some are adapted especially to one office, some to another; yet all together carry on His one work. All, too, patriarchs, prophets, Apostles, shall meet together in one; they who, before Christ’ s coming , "sowed the seed, the promises of the Blessed Seed to come,"and they who "entered into their labors,"not to displace, but to complete them; all shall rejoice together in that Seed which is Christ.

And the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt - Amos takes the words of Joel, in order to identify their prophecies, yet strengthens the image. For instead of saying, "the hills shall flow with milk,"he says, "they shall melt, dissolve themselves. Such shall be the abundance and super-abundance of blessing, that it shall be as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down. The mountains and hills may be symbols, in regard either to their height, or their natural barrenness or their difficulty of cultivation. In past times they were scenes of idolatry. In the time of the Gospel, all should be changed; all should be above nature. All should be obedient to God: all, full of the graces and gifts of God. What was exalted, like the Apostles should be exalted not for itself, but in order to pour out the streams of life-giving doctrine and truth, which would refresh and gladden the faithful. And the lesser heights, "the hills,"should, in their degree, pour out the same streams. Everything, heretofore barren and unfruitful, should overflow with spiritual blessing. The mountains and hills of Judaea, with their terraced sides clad with the vine were a natural symbol fruitfulness to the Jews, but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature; but what, in naturl things, is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and rich delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.

And I will bring again the captivity of My people - Where all around is spiritual, there is no reason to take this alone as earthly. An earthly restoration to Canaan had no value, except as introductory to the spiritual. The two tribes were, in a great measure, restored to their own land, when Zachariah, being "filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied,"as then about to accomplished, that "God hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation to us in the house of His servant David, as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets - that we, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him"Luk 1:68-70, Luk 1:74-75. So our Lord said; "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed"Joh 8:32, Joh 8:34, Joh 8:36. And Paul, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death"Rom 8:2.

And they shall build the waste - (Rather "shall build waste") "cities.""As they who are freed from captivity and are no longer in fear of the enemy, "build cities and plant vineyards"and gardens,"so shall these unto God. "This,"says one of old , "needs no exposition, since, throughout the world, amid the desert of pagandom, which was before deserted by God, Churches of Christ have arisen, which, for the firmness of faith may be called "cities,"and, for the gladness of "hope which maketh not ashamed, vineyards,"and for the sweetness of charity, gardens; wherein they dwell, who have builded them through the word; whence they drink the wine of gladness, who formed them by precepts; whence they eat fruits, who advanced them by counsels, because, as "he who reapeth,"so he too who "buildeth"such "cities,"and he who "planteth"such "vineyards,"and he who "maketh"such "gardens, receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal"Joh 4:36.

And I will plant them upon their own land - The promises and threatenings of God are, to individuals, conditional upon their continuing to be of that character, to which God annexes those promises or threats. Theodoret: "The God of all often promises, when those who receive the promises, by joying in iniquity hinder those promises from taking effect. At times also he threatens heavy things, and they who for their offences were the objects of those threats, being, through fear of them, converted, do not in act experience them."The two tribes received some little shadow of fulfillment of these promises on the return from Babylon. "They were planted in their own land."The non-fulfillment of the rest, as well as the evident symbolic character of part of it, must have shown them that such fulfillment was the beginning, not the end. Their land was "the Lord’ s land;"banishment from it was banishment from the special presence of God, from the place where He manifested Himself, where alone the typical sacrifices, the appointed means of reconciliation, could be offered.

Restoration to their own land was the outward symbol of restoration to God’ s favor, of which it was the fruit. it was a condition of the fulfillment of those other promises, the coming of Him in whom the promises were laid up, the Christ. He was not simply to be of David’ s seed, according to the flesh. Prophecy, as time went on, declared His birth at Bethlehem, His revelation in Galilee, His coming to His Temple, His sending forth His law from Jerusalem. Without some restoration to their own land, these things could not be. Israel was restored in the flesh, that, after the flesh, the Christ might be born of them, where God foretold that He should be born. But the temporal fulfillment ended with that event in time in which they were to issue, for whose sake they were; His coming. They were but the vestibule to the spiritual. As shadows, they ceased when the Sun arose. As means, they ended, when the end, whereto they served, came.

There was no need of a temporal Zion, when He who was to send forth His law thence, had come and sent it forth. No need of a temple when He who was to be its glory, had come, illumined it, and was gone. No need of one of royal birth in Bethlehem, when "the Virgin"had "conceived and borne a Son,"and "God"had been "with us."And so as to other prophecies. All which were bound to the land of Judah, were accomplished. As the true Israel expanded and embraced all nations, the whole earth became "the land"of God’ s people. Palestine had had its prerogatives, because God manifested Himself there, was worshiped there. When God’ s people was enlarged, so as "to inherit the pagan,"and God was worshiped everywhere, His land too was everywhere. His promises accompanied His people, and these were in all lands. His words then, "I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them,"expanded with their expansion. It is a promise of perpetuity, like that of our Lord; "Lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world. The gates of hell shall not prevail against"the Church, the people of God. The world may gnash its teeth; kings may oppress; persecutors may harass; popular rage may trample on her; philosophy may scoff at her; unbelief may deny the promises made to her; the powers of darkness may rage around her; her own children may turn against her. In vain! Jerome: "She may be shaken by persecutions, she cannot be uprooted; she may be tempted, she cannot be overcome. For the Lord God Almighty, the Lord her God, hath promised that He will do it, whose promise is the law to nature."

Saith the Lord thy God - Rib.: "O Israel of God, O Catholic Church, to be gathered out of Jews and Gentiles, doubt not, he would say, thy promised happiness. For thy God who loveth thee and who from eternity hath chosen thee, hath commanded me to say this to thee in His Name."Rup.: "He turneth too to the ear of each of us, giving us joy, in His word, ‘ saith the Lord thy God.’ ""They too who are plants which God hath planted, and who have so profited, that through them many daily profit, "shall be planted upon their own ground,"that is, each, in his order and in that kind of life which he has chosen, shall strike deep roots in true piety, and they shall be so preserved by God, that by no force of temptations shall they be uprooted, but each shall say with the holy prophet, "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever"Psa 52:9. Not that every tree, planted in the ground of the Church militant, is so firm that it cannot be plucked up, but many there are, which are not plucked up, being protected by the Hand of Almighty God. O blessed that land, where no tree is plucked up, none is injured by any worm, or decays through any age. How many great, fruit-bearing, trees do we see plucked up in this land of calamity and misery! Blessed day, when we shall be there, where we need fear no storm!"Yet this too abideth true; "none shall be plucked up."Without our own will, neither passions within, nor temptations without, nor the malice or wiles of Satan, can "pluck"us "up."None can "be plucked up,"who doth not himself loose his hold, whose root is twisted round the Rock, which is Thou, O Blessed Jesus. For Thou hast said, "they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My Hand"Joh 10:28.

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