Amos 3:8 Comentariu

A stupid, senseless, heedless people, are, in this chapter, called upon to take notice, I. Of the judgments of God denounced against them and the warnings he gave them of those judgments, and to be hereby awakened out of their security (Amo 3:1-8). II. Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy (Amo 3:9-15).

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 3 In this chapter the prophet goes on with his prophecy against Israel, whom God had highly favoured, and yet sinned against him, and therefore must expect to be punished by him; and the rather, since he and they were not agreed; and therefore there could be no communion between them, Amo 3:1; and by various similes are set forth the cause of divine judgments, the certain design of them, and their continuance, till the end is answered; which should be attended to, since every thing of this kind is of God, who giving his prophets notice of it, they are under an absolute necessity of declaring it; nor should they be blamed for it, Amo 3:4; and even the Heathen nations are appealed unto as witnesses of the sins of Israel, that caused such a denunciation of wrath; their tumults, oppression, injustice, violence, and robbery, Amo 3:9; wherefore an adversary is threatened to be sent among them, that should utterly destroy them, so that few should escape, Amo 3:11; particularly their idolatry and luxury seem to have been reigning sins, which had a great hand in bringing on their rum, and for which the Lord would punish them, Amo 3:13.

Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt,.... This is spoken to the prophets, to publish and declare in all the courts of the Philistines and Egyptians, and among all the princes and great men therein, the sins of the people of Israel, and the punishment God threatened them with; and let them, even these very Heathens, judge whether there was not a just proportion between them, and whether their sins did not deserve such calamities to be brought upon them, the Lord by his prophets had denounced; and say, assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; the metropolis of the ten tribes, Isa 7:9; and which was built upon a mountain, and several others were about it, and joined to it; where these princes of Ashdod or Azotus in Palestine, and of Egypt, are called to leave their courts, and meet together, to behold the iniquities committed by Israel, and to sit in judgment upon them, and declare their sense of what was just and fitting to be done to such a people: and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof; the riots of its inhabitants, the noise of the mob committing all manner of outrages and wickedness: and the oppressed in the midst thereof; the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, injured in their persons and properties, plundered of their substance, or defrauded of it.

National calamity is traced to national sin, specially to neglect of the poor.

(Verse 3 onwards) Will two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has prey? Does a lion's cub give a cry from its den without capturing something? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground without a trapper? Does a trap spring up from the ground before catching something? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, has not the Lord caused it? For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion roars, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy? Amos: If two shall walk together, except they know each other? If the lion shall roar in his den, having no prey? If the lion's cub gives forth its voice from its lair, unless it has taken something? If a bird falls to the ground without a fowler? If a snare is laid upon the ground, unless it has caught something? If the trumpet sounds in the city, and the people do not fear? If there is wickedness in the city that the Lord did not make, because the Lord God will not do anything unless He reveals His teaching to His servant prophets. Will a lion roar, and who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? I read in the commentaries of someone who desired to convince of a difficult matter, about eight crimes, wickednesses, and sins: first, Damascus; second, Gaza, and the other cities of Palestine; third, Tyre; fourth, Edom; fifth, the sons of Ammon; sixth, Moab; seventh, Judah, that is, the two tribes; eighth, which is the last, Israel, that is, the ten tribes, with the same number of judgments, now given, and the first answering the first, that is, Damascus, the second answering the second, that is, Gaza, and the rest answering the rest. The one who wrote it knows whether it is true or not. However, another person thinks that the six examples given, of two people walking together on a road, and a lion roaring while leaping, and a lion cub making its voice when it catches something, and a bird caught by a bird catcher, and a snare set in the ground for catching prey, and a trumpet sounding in the city, and with these examples, a similar argument is given, that just as the previous things have a cause and do not happen unless those things have preceded them: likewise, no evil occurs in the city that has not been done by the Lord's command. There are those who consider the first example to contain doctrine, because two cannot walk together unless they have agreed to do so beforehand. He who made both one, and destroyed the middle wall of partition, and created of the two one new man (Ephesians 2): and made peace between them, and joined them together with the bond of charity, so that when they are together, the two may ask the Father and obtain whatever they have requested. These are the two sticks that are joined together in Ezekiel (Ezek. VII), and the two peoples, the circumcision and the Gentiles, about whom the Lord speaks to Elijah: I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee before Baal (3 Kings XIX, 18). And in another place, God says: I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared to those who did not ask for me (Isaiah LXV, 1). But when the two are brought together, they will cling to the Lord, and they will become one spirit: for he who clings to the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. VI, 17). Therefore, these two who agree with each other and walk together in the way of Christ, cannot fear the attack of any adversaries. But if they are separated by discord, immediately the roaring lion will invade them, about which Peter the Apostle said: Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (I Pet. 5:8). This roaring lion does not roam in cultivated fields, nor among vineyards, nor in olive groves, nor among fruit-bearing trees which praise God; but where there are forests and uncultivated ground, and where wild beasts dwell. And not only will they be exposed to the bites of the lion, but the lion cub will capture them and lead them to its den, fleeing from the light and going towards darkness. For everyone who sins loves darkness and hates the light (John 3), as we read in the psalm: You have set darkness, and it has become night: in it all the beasts of the forest will roam. The lion cubs roaring, to snatch and seek food from God (Psalm 104). For the lion cub seeks not the prey which it possesses and is under its power; but that it may snatch from the Church of Christ, of which it is written in Habakkuk: Its choice food (Hab. 1:16). The third punishment is for those whom discord has separated, that they lose their wings, on which they were previously carried aloft, and fall from heaven to earth, and are caught by the birdcatcher, who is better called the fowler, because he catches birds that are entangled in birdlime, which have descended willingly to earthly things. About which it is written in Proverbs: 'The nets are not unjustly spread for the birds' (Prov. I, 17, and XXIX, 5). For it is a just punishment for sinners, who, having the wings of doves, ought to fly through the air, that they are weighed down by the burden of sins and are brought down to earth, sticking to their vices. Concerning this, we read in the Apostle: 'He who joins himself to a harlot becomes one body with her' (I Cor. VI, 16). The fourth punishment is for those who are in discord, so that they are caught in a snare not set in heaven, but on earth. Regarding this, the holy one rejoices and says: 'Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; the snare has been broken, and we have been set free' (Ps. CXXIII, 7). This is the broken snare, of which the Apostle speaks to believers: God will crush Satan beneath your feet quickly (Rom. XVI, 20). And again in David we read: They have set a stumbling block on my path (Ps. CXXXVI, 6). For they cannot deceive the simple ones of the believers unless they propose the name of Christ, so that while we think we find Christ, we may go on to the Antichrist. The fifth punishment is for those who have forsaken the peace, which surpasses all understanding (Philipp. IV), and which the Lord, going to the Father, left to the Apostles, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John XIV, 27), so that as citizens of the Lord, they are terrified by the sound of the trumpet. For whatever is said in the Holy Scriptures, it is like a threatening trumpet, penetrating the ears of believers with a loud voice. If we are righteous, we are provoked to blessedness through the trumpet of Christ; if we are sinners, we hear what torments we will suffer. However, the evil that the Lord does in a city is not contrary to virtue, but it is affliction and torment, as we read: Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34), that is, tribulation and distress. And in the Prophet, we read: I am God who made light and darkness, who brings peace and creates evil (Isaiah XLV, 6, 7). Just as darkness is contrary to light and day, so war is contrary to peace, which in itself is not evil, but seems evil to those who suffer it. And so we know, from the holy Scriptures, that sometimes wickedness is not opposed to virtue, but is rather affliction, punishment, and distress. Let us take one more example from Jonah: And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways, and he repented of the evil which he had said that he would do unto them (Jonah III, 10). Surely there is the evil overthrow of the Ninevites, which God had threatened through the prophet, and it is not contrary to virtue, which pertains to sin, for which He threatened torment to sinners. It follows: The Lord God will not do a word unless He has revealed His secret, or His correction, to His servant prophets: not that God reveals to the prophets all that He does in heaven, or has already done before; but what He is about to do on earth. Noah revealed to his servant that he would bring a flood. Abraham and Lot revealed to their servants that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim would be destroyed. Joseph revealed the interpretation of a dream of seven years of famine in Egypt. And Jonah revealed the destruction of Nineveh, so that those who heard of the coming punishments would either repent and avoid torment, or those who ignored them would be justly punished. And now the Lord reveals through his servant and prophet Amos what he will do to the ten tribes, that if they are converted to better things and forsake their idols, they may be delivered from the impending danger. And note that the merciful and gracious God always foretells the future so that he is not compelled to inflict punishments. And as for the heretics who slander the Creator as if he were severe and harsh, cruel and only a judge, because there is no evil in the state that he does not do, we refer this to the greatness of his mercy, that he does not inflict punishments unless he has foretold them beforehand. But whoever predicts does not want to punish the sinners. The lion, he says, will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy? Who in this place is not accepted as being for the rare, but not for the impossible. For he who disregards the Lord due to his own stubbornness will not be afraid and will not prophesy. And the meaning is according to the story: if everything trembles at the voice of the lion, and all the nature of animals is frightened, shall we, by God's command to speak and announce to the people the coming punishments, not prophesy? Shall we not speak? I know that someone has written in his Commentaries about a roaring lion to be understood as the devil, and roaring towards those who are about to perish: but God, who speaks through the Prophets, should be referred to the Lord Savior, just as those who hear the roaring of the lion in a bad way and are captured unto death, so the holy ones should hear the Lord commanding in a good way and be saved.

“Lord, you have been our refuge.” Therefore we have recourse to you. Our healing shall be from you, for our evil is from ourselves. Because we have abandoned you, you have abandoned us to ourselves. May we therefore be found in you, for in ourselves we had been lost. “Lord, you have been our refuge.” Why, my brethren, should we doubt that the Lord will make us gentle if we submit ourselves to be tamed by him? You have tamed the lion, which you did not create. Will your Creator be unable to tame you? What is the source of your power to tame such savage beasts? Are you their equal in bodily strength? By what power then have you been able to tame such huge beasts? The so-called beasts of burden are wild by nature, for if untamed they could not be endured. But because you are not accustomed to see them except when handled by men and under the curb and control of men, you might think that they were born tame. At any rate, consider the savage beasts. The lion roars; who does not fear? And yet, whence your knowledge of the fact that you are more powerful? Not in bodily strength but in the inner reason of the mind. You are more powerful than a lion, because you have been made to the image of God. The image of God tames a wild beast. Is God unable to tame his own image?

"A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?" It is not the prophets, he says, who bring on the things that come from wrath; how could they? For they are also human in nature, just like you, but they have been honored by God by learning all the things that He might wish to fulfill, and to bring upon cities and lands either good things, perhaps, or things that are accustomed to cause pain. But perhaps you say to this: Let them learn, if you wish; let them be enriched by you with the knowledge of future events; let all the mysteries be made clear to them; but let them speak to no one, nor let them sound anything in the ears of those who reject them. What then is the reply to this from God? A lion will roar and who will not be afraid? For if, he says, when the lion roars, the most powerful of beasts, there would not be anyone so hard-hearted and arrogant as not to receive fear, how, when God, who is above all, speaks and commands them to announce what they learn, would they not fear the one who has commanded them? For they are not, like you, scornful and unyielding, holding in no account the things that seem good to the Lord of all.

This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in general, Amo 3:1, Amo 3:2; and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was Samaria. Thee prophet assures them that, while they were at variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect his presence or favor, Amo 3:3-8. Other neighboring nations are then called upon to take warning from the judgments about to be inflicted upon the house of Israel, which would be so general that only a small remnant should escape them, Amo 3:9-15. The image used by the prophet on this occasion, (see Amo 3:12), and borrowed from his former calling, is very natural and significant, and not a little dignified by the inspired writer's lofty air and manner.

The lion hath roared - God hath sent forth a terrible alarm, Who will not fear? Can any hear such denunciations of Divine wrath and not tremble? The Lord God hath spoken - And those only who are in communion with him have heard the speech. Who can but prophesy? Who can help proclaiming at large the judgment threatened against the nation? But I think נבא naba, here, is to be taken in its natural and ideal signification, to pray, supplicate, or deprecate vengeance. The Lord hath spoken of punishment - who can help supplicating his mercy, that his judgments may be averted?

GOD'S EXTRAORDINARY LOVE, BEING REPAID BY ISRAEL WITH INGRATITUDE, OF NECESSITY CALLS FOR JUDGMENTS, WHICH THE PROPHETS ANNOUNCE, NOT AT RANDOM, BUT BY GOD'S COMMISSION, WHICH THEY CANNOT BUT FULFIL. THE OPPRESSION PREVALENT IN ISRAEL WILL BRING DOWN RUIN ON ALL SAVE A SMALL REMNANT. (Amo 3:1-15) children of Israel--not merely the ten tribes, but "the whole family brought up from Egypt"; all the descendants of Jacob, including Judah and Benjamin. Compare Jer 8:3, and Mic 2:3, on "family" for the nation However, as the prophecy following refers to the ten tribes, they must be chiefly, if not solely, meant: they were the majority of the nation; and so Amos concedes what they so often boasted, that they were the elect people of God [CALVIN], but implies that this only heightens their sins.

As when "the lion roars" (compare Amo 1:2; Amo 3:4), none can help but "fear," so when Jehovah communicates His awful message, the prophet cannot but prophesy. Find not fault with me for prophesying; I must obey God. In a wider sense true of all believers (Act 4:20; Act 5:29).

II. Prophecies Concerning Israel - Amos 3-6 Although the expression "Hear this word," which is repeated at the commencement of Amo 3:1-15, Amo 4:1-13 and 5, suggests the idea of three addresses, the contents of these chapters show that they do not contain three separate addresses delivered to the people by Amos at different times, but that they group together the leading thoughts of appeals delivered by word of mouth, so as to form one long admonition to repentance. Commencing with the proofs of his right to predict judgment to the nation on account of its sins (Amo 3:1-8), the prophet exposes the wickedness of Israel in general (ch. 3:9-4:3), and then shows the worthlessness of the nation's trust in idolatry (Amo 4:4-13), and lastly announces the destruction of the kingdom as the inevitable consequence of the prevailing injustice and ungodliness (ch. 5 and Amo 6:1-14). Announcement of the Judgment - Hos 3:1-5 Because the Lord has chosen Israel to be His people, He must visit all its sins (Amo 3:2), and has commissioned the prophet to announce this punishment (Amo 3:3-8). As Israel has heaped up oppression, violence, and wickedness, an enemy will come upon the land and plunder Samaria, and cause its inhabitants to perish, and demolish the altars of Bethel, and destroy the capital (Amo 3:9-15).