The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: "Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. Sermons
The language of the prophet in this passage is severe in its import and graphic in its style. He foresees the approach of the invaders, the powerlessness of Israel to resist their attack, the completeness with which their work is destined to be done. In two directions especially the blow of vengeance is seen to fall I. IDOLATRY IS PUNISHED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF IDOL TEMPLES AND ALTARS. Departure from Jehovah was the radical offence of Israel. Beside the great altar set up at Bethel by Jeroboam, where the golden calves were worshipped, there seem to have been other sacred places, which were polluted by idol service and idol sacrifice. Heathenism was seen to encroach upon the territory consecrated to Jehovah. Altars were reared to deities, imaginary indeed, but endowed by popular superstition with characters altogether opposed to the pure and perfect character of the Eternal who had revealed himself to the ancestors of the Hebrew nation. It was most appropriate that retribution should fall upon the centres and the symbols of a worship so debasing as that which had been substituted for the service of Jehovah. The powerlessness of the so called "gods" to protect their sanctuaries and their altars was made manifest; the defeat of Baal was the triumph of Jehovah. II. PRIDE AND LUXURY ARE PUNISHED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MANSIONS AND PALACES OF THE GREAT. Whether we regard these "summer houses" as simply the upper apartments, or as country villas erected in rural retreats, the prophetic lesson is the same. Their destruction, and the destruction of the sumptuous residences decorated with ornaments of ivory, was a retribution upon those who esteemed the splendour and luxuriousness of their abodes more dear than the practice of virtue, of benevolence, of piety. No lesson is more frequently repeated in Scripture than the lesson that the Judge of all the earth delights to abase the proud, whilst he exalts the lowly. When the princes of Israel beheld their sumptuous dwellings razed to the ground, and when they themselves passed into exile, how could they fail to recognize the hand of a righteous and indignant God? - T. He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind. The mountains made, for the Hebrew, the background of every landscape in which they stand. The foreground of the plain-land rests upon the background of the hills. From them it gains its lights and shadows. The two depend on one another. The background and the foreground together make the complete landscape in the midst of which a human life is set. And this is also true in the world of inner life. There is a foreground and a background to every man's career. There are things that press themselves immediately upon our attention; — the details of life; these are the foreground of our living. And then, beyond them, there are the great truths which we believe, the broad and general consecrations of our life which we have made, the large objects of our desire, the great hopes and impulses which keep us at our work. These are the mountain backgrounds of our life. They are our reservoirs of power; out of them come down our streams of strength. In the perfect picture you cannot leave out the foreground of immediate detail, nor the background of established principle and truth. The danger of our life is not, ordinarily, lest the foreground be forgotten or ignored. The details of life command us and attract us. The backgrounds of life we are most likely to forget. To most men the actual immediate circumstances of life are so pressing that they forget the everlasting truths and forces by which those circumstances must be made dignified and strong. We are troubled by the superficialness and immediateness of living. There is a need of distance and of depth. And the distance and the depth are there, if men would only feel them. 1. Behind every foreground of action lies the background of character, on which the action rests, and from which it gets its life and meaning. It matters not whether it be an age, a nation, a Church, a man; anything which is capable both of being and of acting must feel its being behind its acting, must make its acting the expression of its being, or its existence is very unsatisfactory and thin. What is all your activity without you? How instantly the impression of a character creates itself, springs into shape behind a deed. If this were not so, life would grow very tame and dull. An engine has no background of character. Its deeds are simple deeds. Man, being character, will care for nothing which has not character behind it, finding expression through its life. Here is the value of reality, sincerity, which is nothing but the true relation between action and character. Expressed artistically, it is the harmony between the foreground and background of a life. What will be the rule of life which such a harmony involves? Will it not include both the watchfulness over character and the watchfulness over action, either of which alone is woefully imperfect? When will men learn that to feed the fountain of character, and yet never neglect the guiding of the streams of action, is the law of life? All the perplexing questions about the contemplative and active life, about faith and practice, about self-discipline and service of our fellow-men, have their key and solution hidden somewhere within this truth of the background and foreground. What culture is there by which the human life can be at once trained into character, and at the same time kept true in active duty? Only the culture of personal loyalty, admiration for a nature and obedience to a will opening together into a resemblance to Him whom we ardently desire, and enthusiastically obey. I recall what Jesus said, "You must be born again," — that is His inexorable demand for the background of character. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments," — that is His absolute insistence on the foreground of action. And the power of both of them — the power by which they both unite into one life — lies in the personal love and service of Himself. Closely related to the background of character, yet distinguishable from it is what I may call the background of the greater purpose. A man's purpose in life lies behind, and gives dignity and meaning to everything that the man does or says. The greater purpose may be bad or good, horrible or splendid. In the smaller world, it is a man's profession which makes the most palpable background of his life. But the great purpose is ruled by the man, as well as the man by the great purpose, and it is the complicated result of the mutual ruling that makes the life. Both the great purpose, and its immediate activities, are provided with their safeguards, that they may not be lost. A closing word upon another of the backgrounds of life. Prayer. The foreground of prayer is the intense, immediate desire for a certain blessing; the background of prayer is the quiet, earnest desire that the will of God, whatever it may be, should be done. What Christ's prayer was, all true prayer must be. Remember that it is only in personal love and loyalty that life completes itself. Only when man loves and enthusiastically obeys God does the background of the universal and the eternal rise around the special and temporary, and the scenery of life become complete. Therefore it is that Christ, who brings God to us, and brings us to God, is the great background-builder. () He declareth unto man what is his thought : — Our first inference from these words naturally is, "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man." How little do we realise this truth, and, in consequence, how little restraint do we exercise over our thoughts! We may be careful in our doings, we may even try, by God's help, to watch over our words, but our thoughts, the action of the highest part of man, the workings of the immortal soul, how often do we suffer them to wander ungoverned, to indulge in vanity, to exercise themselves in sin! What would our neighbours think of us could they read our thoughts, all our thoughts? All our thoughts are known to God. Many of us are earnestly trying, by the grace of God, to rule and govern our thoughts. The Christian may dare to lay open his thoughts before God, to call God's attention to them, to sanctify them. The text reminds us that He who knows the thoughts of man also declares to man what they are. He teaches him to discern between good and evil thoughts, between those that are the fruits of the Spirit and such as proceed from the corrupt fountain of the human heart. And this He is pleased to do in different ways and for different purposes. God declares unto man his thought by His Holy Word, to produce conviction of sin, or to speak peace and comfort, according to his need. And God will declare unto man what are his thoughts at the last day. () People Amos, Israelites, MalachiPlaces Bashan, Bethel, Egypt, Gilgal, Gomorrah, Harmon, Samaria, SodomTopics Behold, Fish, Fishhooks, Fish-hooks, Holiness, Holy, Hooks, Meat, Oath, Posterity, Residue, Rest, Surely, SwornOutline 1. He reproves Israel for oppression,
4. for idolatry,
6. and for their incorrigibleness.
Dictionary of Bible Themes Amos 4:2 5171 nose Amos 4:1-2 5449 poverty, remedies
8821 self-indulgence Amos 4:1-3 8783 neglect Amos 4:2-13 8807 profanity Library Preparation for Advent
Westminster Abbey. November 15, 1874. Amos iv. 12. "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." We read to-day, for the first lesson, parts of the prophecy of Amos. They are somewhat difficult, here and there, to understand; but nevertheless Amos is perhaps the grandest of the Hebrew prophets, next to Isaiah. Rough and homely as his words are, there is a strength, a majesty, and a terrible earnestness in them, which it is good to listen to; and specially good now that Advent draws near, and we have …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsApril 3 Evening
Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.--AMOS 4:11. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?--We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.--The wages of sin is death; but the gift …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path Smitten in Vain
'Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: 5. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings; for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. 6. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. 7. And also I have withholden the rain …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture God's Controversy with Man. Rev. Charles Prest.
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."--AMOS iv. 12. This chapter refers to the condition of Israel at the time of this prophecy, and to the expostulation and threatened procedure of God concerning the nation. God's people had revolted from Him; they had sunk into idolatry; they had been often reproved, but had hardened their necks, and therefore the Lord, after recapitulating the calamities which had befallen them, …
Knowles King—The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern The Helpless State of the Sinner under Condemnation.
1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from this impending ruin.--3. Not by any thing he can offer.--4. Nor by any thing he can endure.--5. Nor by any thing hr can do in the course of future duty.--6-8. Nor by any alliance with fellow-sinners on earth or in hell.--9. Nor by any interposition or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint of the only method to be afterwards more largely explained. The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition. 1. SINNER, thou hast …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is Required on the Part of Man
Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is required on the part of man We proceed to the second article thus: 1. It seems that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on the part of man. For the apostle says (Rom. 4:4): "Now to him that worketh [40] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." But a man could not of his own free will prepare himself for grace, unless by an operation. The meaning of grace would then be taken away. 2. Again, a man who walks in sin does not …
Aquinas—Nature and Grace Whether the Notional Acts Proceed from Something?
Objection 1: It would seem that the notional acts do not proceed from anything. For if the Father begets the Son from something, this will be either from Himself or from something else. If from something else, since that whence a thing is generated exists in what is generated, it follows that something different from the Father exists in the Son, and this contradicts what is laid down by Hilary (De Trin. vii) that, "In them nothing diverse or different exists." If the Father begets the Son from Himself, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether by Penance one Sin Can be Pardoned Without Another?
Objection 1: It would seem that by Penance one sin can be pardoned without another. For it is written (Amos 4:7): "I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon: and the piece whereupon I rained not, withered." These words are expounded by Gregory, who says (Hom. x super Ezech.): "When a man who hates his neighbor, breaks himself of other vices, rain falls on one part of the city, leaving the other part withered, for there are some men who, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether any Preparation and Disposition for Grace is Required on Man's Part?
Objection 1: It would seem that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on man's part, since, as the Apostle says (Rom. 4:4), "To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt." Now a man's preparation by free-will can only be through some operation. Hence it would do away with the notion of grace. Objection 2: Further, whoever is going on sinning, is not preparing himself to have grace. But to some who are going on sinning grace is given, as is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The World, Created by God, Still Cherished and Protected by Him. Each and all of Its Parts Governed by his Providence.
1. Even the wicked, under the guidance of carnal sense, acknowledge that God is the Creator. The godly acknowledge not this only, but that he is a most wise and powerful governor and preserver of all created objects. In so doing, they lean on the Word of God, some passages from which are produced. 2. Refutation of the Epicureans, who oppose fortune and fortuitous causes to Divine Providence, as taught in Scripture. The sun, a bright manifestation of Divine Providence. 3. Figment of the Sophists as …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Standing with the People
We have found two simple and axiomatic social principles in the fundamental convictions of Jesus: The sacredness of life and personality, and the spiritual solidarity of men. Now confront a mind mastered by these convictions with the actual conditions of society, with the contempt for life and the denial of social obligation existing, and how will he react? How will he see the duty of the strong, and his own duty? DAILY READINGS First Day: The Social Platform of Jesus And he came to Nazareth, where …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus The Wisdom of God
The next attribute is God's wisdom, which is one of the brightest beams of the Godhead. He is wise in heart.' Job 9:9. The heart is the seat of wisdom. Cor in Hebraeo sumitur pro judicio. Pineda. Among the Hebrews, the heart is put for wisdom.' Let men of understanding tell me:' Job 34:44: in the Hebrew, Let men of heart tell me.' God is wise in heart, that is, he is most wise. God only is wise; he solely and wholly possesses all wisdom; therefore he is called, the only wise God.' I Tim 1:17. All …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity False Profession.
As there are trees and herbs that are wholly right and noble, fit indeed for the vineyard, so there are also their semblance, but wild; not right, but ignoble. There is the grape, and the wild grape; the vine, and the wild vine; the rose, and the canker-rose; flowers, and wild flowers; the apple, and the wild apple, which we call the crab. Now, fruit from these wild things, however they may please the children to play with, yet the prudent and grave count them of little or no value. There are also …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan The Sinner Sentenced.
1, 2.The sinner called upon to hear his sentence.--3. God's law does now in general pronounce a curse.--4. It pronounces death.--5. And being turned into hell.--6. The judgement day shall come.--7, 8. The solemnity of that grand process described according to scriptural representations of it.--9. With a particular illustration of the sentence, "Depart, accursed," &c.--10. The execution wilt certainly and immediately follow.--11. The sinner warned to prepare for enduring it. The reflection of a sinner …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Careless Sinner Awakened.
1, 2. It is too supposable a case that this Treatise may come into such hands.--3, 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fail under that character.--5, 6. A more particular illustration of this case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his own.--7 to 9. Expostulation with such.--10 to 12. More particularly--From acknowledged principles relating to the Nature of Got, his universal presence, agency, and perfection.--13. From a view of personal obligations to him.--14. From the danger Of this …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament This Doctrine Confirmed by Proofs from Scripture.
1. Some imagine that God elects or reprobates according to a foreknowledge of merit. Others make it a charge against God that he elects some and passes by others. Both refuted, 1. By invincible arguments; 2. By the testimony of Augustine. 2. Who are elected, when, in whom, to what, for what reason. 3. The reason is the good pleasure of God, which so reigns in election that no works, either past or future, are taken into consideration. This proved by notable declarations of one Savior and passages …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, an Exhortation to Christians to be Holy. By John Bunyan.
Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.'--[Psalm 93:5] London, by B. W., for Benj. Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, in the Poultrey. 1684. THE EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This is the most searching treatise that has ever fallen under our notice. It is an invaluable guide to those sincere Christians, who, under a sense of the infinite importance of the salvation of an immortal soul, and of the deceitfulness of their hearts, sigh and cry, "O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Salvation Published from the Mountains
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! I t would be improper to propose an alteration, though a slight one, in the reading of a text, without bearing my testimony to the great value of our English version, which I believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and fidelity, is not likely to be excelled by a new translation …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Links Amos 4:2 NIV
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