Exposition of Amos 4-9, Part 2 · Section 8
VERSE 8.
Seek him that maketh the seven Starres and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, that calleth for the waters of the Seas, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name.
THis rustick plain Prophet begins here to raise his stile. The better to awaken these sensual and secure sinners, he sets before them the dreadful & glorious Majesty of that God with whom they had to doe, q. d. you have not to doe with a dead and impotent Idol, that will be pleased with dead and dull services, and pacified with childish toyes and trifles; but you have to doe with the living and Omnipotent God, who is the Creator and Governour of all things, who appoints the vicissitudes of Day and Night, of Summer and Winter; who numbers the Starres of Heaven, and calls them all by their names; who waters the earth with rain, and strengthens the weak against the strong, and makes the spoyled victorious over the spoyler. It was the great study of the Prophets, and specially of this our Prophet, to set forth the Lord in his Majesty and Glory, that they might the better work upon their Hearers. See Amos 4.13. & 6.14. & 9.6.
In this Verse we have a magnificent description of Gods Omnipotency, he is,
The Creator of the Starres,
The Disposer of the Times,
The Former of the Clouds, and
The Orderer of VVarres;
And therefore the Prophet calls upon them yet once more, to seek this Great, Almighty one. This oft pressing of this duty notes the necessity, Excellency, and difficulty of it. It is not so easie a matter to repent as many imagine, the heart of man is exceeding hard, and his eares are stopt against Gods counfels, so that the Lord is forced to call again, and again, for audience and admittance.
See yee him.
These words are not in the Original, but are necessarily understood, and to be supplied from Vers. 4, 6.
Who maketh the seven Starres, and Orion.
The Prophet begins first with the Stars, because the Majesty, Power, and VVisdome of God is wonderfully seen in their motion, order, multitude, and magnitude. Under these two Constellations all the rest of the Starres are comprehended, by a Synecdoche of the part for the whole, for he that made one made all, and the least are ordered by him as wel as the greatest. But because these two were most eminent and obvious, and commonly known, therefore he chiefly instanceth in these two; they are mentioned only three times in Scripture, viz. Iob 9.9. & 38.31. and in the Text.
The Pleiades o… seven Starres, and Orion, are opposite one to another.
1 They have contrary situations, Orion dwells in the East, and Pleiades in the West.
2 They appear in contrary seasons, Pleiades ariseth about March, and brings in the Spring, but Orion appears about November, and brings in Winter; so that when hee saith, Seek the Lord who made Pleiades and Orion, it is as if hee had said in plain English, Seek him who makes Summer and Winter.
3 They have different Influences:
1 Pleiades is a Constellation usually called the seven Stars; They arise in our Hemisphere about the Spring, and are therefore called Vergiliae, quasi ver is vigiles. Hence wee read in Iob 38.31. of Pleiadum deliciae, the sweet influences of the Pleiades, because they bring in the sweet and pleasant Spring with them; when they appear, the trees and plants begin to flourish.foreign à navigando. These Pleiades have their name from sayling, because after the cold and stormy Winter is past, Saylers begin to put to Sea. These Chimah or seven Stars appear in a cluster about the midst of heaven, they are commonly known by Shepherds and Rusticks. Amos being an Herdsman had taken notice of them.
Orion is a Con…tellation of Stars that produceth cold,Orion ci…ca Novembrem exoriens, coelum & terram variè tempestatibus turbat, Mercer. when it appears then Winter comes. It ariseth in our Hemisphere about November. As the Pleiades do loose the earth and set it at liberty that it may bring forth delightful fruit; so Orion by his frosty bands is said to binde up the earth, Iob 38.31. and bring in variety and change of weather, with many storms and tempests: Hence the word Chesil, as it signifies a fool, and one who is unconstant, now of one minde, and anon of another; so this Star is called by this name by reason of the unconstancy and mutability of weather which it brings with it.
Seek yee him who turns the shadow of death into the morning.
These words are taken by some literally, and by others metaphorically, I shall take in both, though the literal bee most genuine; q. d. It is this great and mighty Lord who makes great changes in the Air, and wonderful alterations in States and Kingdomes.See more in Amos 8.9. It is hee that turns the grossest darkness into the brighrest day, and the lowest adversity into the highest prosperity; and on the contrary, hee can (when pleaseth him) turn our day into night, ourlight into darkness, and our mirth into mourning.
Tsalmavet umbrae mortis, i. e. maximae & densissimae tenebrae, quae timorem mortis incutere possunt.By the shadow of death, here is meant great, gross, horrible, and terrible darkness, such as is the very image of death. Any darkness is sad, but darkness, and the shadow of death is the height of sadness. Such deadly darkness Iob wisheth to the day of his birth, Iob 3.4, 5. and David put the worst of his case, and the best of his faith, when hee said, Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear none evil, Psal. 23.4. that is, in the greatest of evils, I will fear none evil. In the very danger of dangers, in exceeding great dangers, hee would comfort himself in his God. It may also signifie symbolically and metaphorically great dangers, and deep distress.
And maketh the day-dark with night.
The vicissitudes of day and night are not casual, but providential. It is the Lord who is the great disposer and dispenser of time, that by his Almighty power hath appointed the day to succeed the night, and the night the day, which no gods nor Idols can do.
Who calleth for the waters of the Sea [by vapours and clouds] and powreth them out upon the face of the earth [by showers of rain.]
Hee calls for the waters of the Sea viz. beyond its ordinary bounds, that it may overflow the earth with inundations, so some.
But more genuinely thus, It is the Lord that appoints and orders the waters (as by express command) to rise up from the Seas, and turn into rain, which afterwards hee powres forth upon the earth. The Sun draws up vapours out of the Sea, which are condensed in the middle region of the air into rain and then fall down upon the earth.See more on Amos 9.6. These waters which come salt and bitter from the Sea, and so in all probability should make things barren, yet are so strained and purified by the Almighty hand of God, that they become sweet and fruitful.Est ipsum esse, tum suum formale, tum causale, rerum omnium, qui est Oceanus essendi, & immensum pelagus existendi, à Lapide.
Quest. But who is it that doth all these wonderful things?
Answ. Why it is Jehovah, The Lord is his name, bee is no dead Idol, as Baalim the god of the Sidonians, or Moloch the god of the Ammonites; but hee is Jehovah who hath his being in himself, and who gives life and breath and being to all creatures; from him, by him, and in him are all things, and therefore hee will not bee deluded with your superstitious fopperies.
The summe of all is this, Seek yee him who hath formed and framed the heavens, and all the Stars therein, who turneth the blackest night into a clear morning, and causeth the brightest day to end in a dark night, who waters the earth with rain, the Lord is his name who doth this.
OBSERVATIONS.
1 It is lawful for a Minister to press the same truths again and again upon his people. Thrice in this Chapter doth the Prophet call on Israel to seek the Lord. Thrice in one Psalm is Gods Almighty power repeated, that the Church might triumph in it, Psal. 46.1, 7, 11. Christ presseth that Precept, Hee that hath an ear to hear let him hear, again and again, Rev. 2.11. Paul oft put his hearers in minde of what hee had delivered to them, Rom. 15.14, 15. So Peter put his hearers in remembrance of the same things, 2 Pet. 1.12, 13. Yea so long as I live I will put you alwayes in remembrance. See Mr. Robinson on Ephes. 6.12. p. 3, 4.This is profitable and safe for our people, Phil. 3.1. To write the same things to me is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Abundans cautela non nocet. This is a means to help the memory, wee are naturally forgetful of the best things, and therefore had need to have line upon line, and precept upon precept, Isa. 28.10, 13. especially fundamental, practical precepts, such as Faith, Repentance, Obedience, Death, Judgement, &c. should oft bee prest. When the Gentiles heard Paul preach Christ, they desired to hear the same things again the next Sabbath day, Act. 13.42.
This helps to strengthen our graces, to quicken us to our duties; as the sounding of the Trumpet quickens the spirit of a valiant Souldier, and it confirms us in the truth of the things delivered; as the doubling of Pharaohs dreams assured him of the certainty of the thing.
Caut. Yet a Minister must not preach the same things out of idleness, spending all the week in an Alehouse, or in some secular affairs, and then come with a crambe recocta, some crude, idle, addle, undigested stuffe, Cursed are such as do this work of the Lord negligently. An idle Minister is the worst man in a Parish, for whereas an idle Artificer hurts but his Family, an idle Minister hurts a whole Congregation.
But when wee repeat and inculcate things out of conscience, and for the good of our people, this is commendable. Besides, there is no Minister that is studious, but if hee do come to press the same point again, hee hath some new arguments or enlargements; for Divinity is such a depth, that wee are alwayes learning, and may finde out somewhat which wee knew not before.
Bee not then offended when you hear necessary truths oft prest, this is …afe for us, and good for you. Many have itching ears, they must have novum, aut nihil, they are all for novelty, they cannot endure wholesome, plain preaching; whereas wee have but two things to preach, credenda & agenda, faith and good works.
2 Obs. The names which are commonly given to Stars may bee used by us.
Chimah, and Kesil, Pleiades and Orion were names given to those Stars by men, and yet the Holy Ghost useth them here, and speaks with the vulgar in their own language. So it useth Heathenish names in the New Testament, Act. 28.11. wee read of a Ship in which Paul sayled, called Castor and Pollux, two Pagan-sea-gods. So for dayes and months wee may call them by such names as are best known to the people with whom wee live. If wee live amongst a people that usually say the first, second, third month or day, wee must say so too. But if wee live in a land where they say Ianuary, February, March, &c. Munday, Tuesday, &c. wee must say so too, else how shall wee understand one another? Thus the Iews called their months sometimes by Caldean names, as Nisan, Adar, Cisleu, and Tammuz, from the Idolatrous feasts of Tammuz, which they celebrated yearly in the fourth month, Ezek. 8.14. wee may as well say Lammas, as the Iews say Tammuz.
It is true, David sayes, hee will not once make mention of Idol gods, Psal. 16.4. but that was by way of adoration and reverence, or to swear by them, but in a civil respect to distinguish dayes, and to make known our mindes to those that wee speak to; thus the Prophets themselves have used them.
3 Obs. The Lord is the maker of the Stars.
Hee that made these two Constellations, made all the rest, for under these two the rest are comprehended, Iob 9.9. It is hee, and hee onelyonly that hath garnisht the heavens with Sun,Stellae sunt Lunae famulae, noctis oculi, militiae coeli. Moon, and Stars, Iob 26.13. Much of Gods Power and Wisdome is seen in the Stars of heaven, every flower of the field sets forth his praise, but these declare his glory in a more eminent manner, Psal. 19.1. and therefore the Lord calls upon his people in the Text to seek and serve him, why so? for it is hee that made Pleiades and Orion, i. e. hee made all the glittering Stars; and if the floor of heaven bee so admirable, what is the inside?
Wee should therefore dayly admire and praise him, who hath made the Sun to rule the day, and the Moon and Stars to rule the night, for his mercy endures for ever, Psal. 136.7, 8, 9.
Much of God is seen in the
Multitude, of the Stars.
Magnitude, of the Stars.
Motion, and Influence of the Stars.
1 For Multitude, they are for number numberless, none but God that made them can number them, Psa. 147.4. He tells the number of the Stars, and calls them all by their names, hee knows them as exactly and particularly as we know those men, whom wee can presently upon sight call by their names. Men can reckon some, and count to about a thousand three hundred, but hee calls them all by their names.
2 Their Magnitude, such great bodies shew the greatness of that God which made them. Most men look upon the Stars as some small lights, like the blaze of a candle, but when it shall bee made appear by reason that one Star is bigger than the whole earth, it may well move admiration in us.
3 Their swift and regular motion. That these mighty bodies should bee carried about the world every day, and more exactly in order, not one of them out of course, though they have shone above five thousand years, yet still they continue their former vigour and brightness. The fixed Stars keep their own Orbs constantly; so should wee bee constant in Gods duplicate page duplicate page way, and not bee like Planets or wandring Stars, carried to and fro with every wind of doctrine, Iude 13.
4 They have great Influence upon the creature, though not so great as judicial Astrologers would make the world beleeve.
5 Obs. Rain is the gift of God.
It is hee that calls for the waters of the Sea (by whose vapours the clouds and rain are made) and poureth them out upon the earth, Iob 5.10. But of this at large on Amos 4.7. and 9.6.
5 Obs. That second causes must lead us to the first cause of all.
The Prophet here describing the Physical original of the rain, and shewing that the waters of the Sea were the material cause of it, and the Sun the instrumental cause to draw up those vapours, yet hee tells us that God is the efficient cause of all, it is hee that calls for the waters of the Sea, and unless hee move, the other can do nothing, Nil si prima vetat, causa secunda valet. Many talk of nature, and study nature so long till they forget the God of nature, and pore so much upon the creature, that they forget their Creator.
6 The consideration of Gods Omnipotency should humble us.
This is the reason why the Prophet so much insists on this point, Amos 4. ult. and 9.6.