Exposition of Amos 4-9, Part 3 · Section 1
VERSE I.
Woe to them that are at ease in Sion, and trust in the Mountain of Samaria; which are named chief of the Nations, to whom the house of Israel came.
IN this Chapter the blunt Prophet raiseth his stile, grows Rhetorical,In hoc capite est admirabile quoddam artificium, t…m ad morem, quàm ad ornatum & venustatem orationis. Aug. de Doct. Christ. lib. 4. cap. 7. and is very eloquent; (as St. Austin from this very Chapter hath long since observed) not with a fantastick, frothy, affected eloquence; but with a grave and decent elegancy of speech, suitable to the dignity of the matter which hee treats of. Hee that makes the dumb to speak, and out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hath ordained strength to confound his enemies; can by his Word and Spirit make a stammering Moses, a rustical Amos, and silly fisher-men, fluent of speech. No matter what the Instrument is, if God be but the Teacher.
In this Chapter is contained the Sum of Amos his fifth Sermon, where we have sin and sorrow, security and misery attending each other.
1 Here is a reprehension of Iudah and Israel, for their carnal security, & sensuality. V. 1. to 6th.
2 For their stupidity and sottishness, in taking no warning by the example of their rich and populous neighbour Cities, which God had destroyed for their sins. Vers. 2.
3 For their contempt of Gods Threatnings, which brought forth oppression and tyranny. Vers. 3.
4 For Pride, Luxury, and Riot, especially in their Rulers and rich men. Vers. 4, 5, 6.
5 For Inhumanity, want of sympathy, and brotherly compassion towards such as were in distress. Though the whole Land was depopulated, and all the open Country was exposed to the fury of the merciless enemy, yet because their fenced Cities (whereof Ierusalem and Samaria were the chief) were at present free, they lived at ease, and never regarded the miseries of others. Vers. 6.
6 There was amongst them, perverseness, obstinacy, and rebellion. Vers. 12.
7 Perverting of Justice. Vers. 12.
8 Carnal confidence, and gloriation in that which could not help them. Vers. 13.
The Lord had born long with these their great provocations, and used all means to amend them, but all in vain, and therefore now follows their woe and punishment. As first Captivity, banishment and deportation out of their own Land. Vers. 7.
2 Detestation of them and their priviledges. Vers. 8.
3 Desolation and destruction of their Cities, by the Sword, confirmed by Gods Oath. Vers. 8.
4 Desperation, and sinking under their carnal confidences. They should be so terrified, that they should not once dare to make mention of the name of the Lord. Ve…s. 10.
5 The Pestilence should rage so terribly, that if a numerous family be reduced to ten, those ten shall dye, and for want of others, a mans Uncle shall bury him. Vers. 9, 10.
6 An Epidemical and general destruction of rich and poor, Palaces and Cottages, none shall escape, but as all had sinned, so all should now be punisht for their sins, from one end of the Land to the other. A forein enemy like a violent flood should over-run the whole land from North to South, and from one side to the other.
Woe to them that are at ease in Sion.
In this first Verse, the Prophet thunders against the secure, and sensual Inhabitants of Iudah and Israel and especially against the great ones, Qui ut divitiis, sic vitiis primi fuere; as they abounded in wealth, so in wickedness also; who gave themselves to Pastimes, and Merriment, in despight of the Prophets threatnings, and that in a time when Gods Judgements were round about them. Though Amos were primarily sent to Israel, yet Iudah being partaker with them in Sin, he all along in this Chapter joyns them together in reproof.
In the words we have, 1. A Iudgement denounced, included in the Particle, H…i, Woe, which is used three waies in Scripture.
1 By way of Commiseration, when we are grieved at the calamities which we see are coming upon a people, Ier. 6.4. & 13. ult. Micah 7.1.
2 By way of Imprecation, when we pray for the destruction of the incurable enemies of Gods Church, Psalm 40.14, 15.
3 There is a woe of Prediction, Vae, est interjectio summam & gravissimam calamitatem alicui obventuram significans▪ Ravanel.and denu…tiation, which is the Woe here meant, where the Prophet fore-tells, and denounceth Judgements temporal and eternal, against this obstinate and back-sliding people. Hee threatens them with a Woe of Captivity, and general desolation here, which was but a fore-runner of their eternal destruction hereafter. And this woe of denouncing miseries against an impenitent People, is very frequent in Scripture; as Isa. 3.11. & 5.11, 18. Ezek. 16.23. Mat. 11.21. & 23.23, 25. Luke 6.24. The Prophet had oft fore-told them of evils approaching, but they were no whit awakened thereby, but Princes, and people still lay secure, and sung a requiem to themselves; putting the evil day farre from them; therefore the Prophet falls to denouncing Woes against them, the better to awaken them out of their deep sleep, and security. The Woe prefixt in the front of this Verse, is to bee understood in the rest of the Verses, as vers. 3. Woe to them that put the evil day farre from them. Woe to them that lye upon beds of Ivory, &c. vers. 4. Woe to them that chant to the sound of the Viol, vers. 5. Woe to them that drink Wine in bowls, ver. 6.
2 Here are the Persons against whom this Judgement is denounced, and those are,
Hass…aanannim i. e. quetis, insolentibus & securis; tranquillilas …n…m homines …uros & insolentes reddit. Radix Shaan videtur constata ex sheen, i. e. q…i nihil tiin…nt, currant, ag…nr; sed in summa pace & rerum affluentia, securam, otiosam, tranquillam, & delicatam agunt vitam, à Lapide. The Septuagint mistaking the root Shaat, for Shaan, doe render it corruptly, Vae spernentibus Sion.1 Secure wealthy sinners, who lived quietly, and carelesly, at ease, in pomp and pleasure, without any fear of Gods judgements, or any sense of his displeasure. This more especially concerned the great ones of those times, who took no notice of Gods hand on their inferiours; though the Regions round about lay wast, yet they lay snorting, and secure, in their fenced Cities, making their guts their God, and sleighted all his threatnings; they were full themselves, and they little regarded who else wanted.
2 He thunders against Carnal confident-ones, who trusted in the Mountaine of Samaria; that is, they trusted in the strength and riches of Samaria, their chief City, as if it were invincible; and by reason of its situation impregnable. They trusted not in God, but in their wealth and walls.
3 Ungrateful men; God had made them the Head of the Nations, and brought them into Canaan, a Land flowing with Milk and Honey; and by his owne Almighty Power he planted them there, and drove out the Canaanites before them, (Psal. 44.3. & 78.55.) but they forgot the God of their Mercies,Nekube, i. e. famofi, celebres. R…scit, significat, pr…mit…as, & principium gentium inter quas eminebat Israel, tanquam populus à Deo ele…tus, Deique primo genit…s. à Lapide. and fell to Luxury and Riot. He made them the chiefest, most famous, and renowned of all the Nations, he had separated those twelve Tribes from all the rest of the World, to be his owne peculiar people (Exod. 19.5. Ier 2.3.) they were to him as the flower and first fruits of the Nations, whom he prized and preferred before them all.
To whom the House of Israel came.
This is another Priviledge; these two Cities, Ierusalem, and Samaria were the chief Seats, and residence of their Kings, and therefore here was a great confluence of people, both for Civil and Ecclesiastical affairs, Iudah and Benjamin went to Ierusalem, and the ten Tribes to Samaria,
3 Here are the Places where those Sinners dwelt, and that is in Ierusalem, of which Mount Sion was an eminent part, and therefore is oft put for Ierusalem it self (à parte praestantiori fit denominatio) this was the Metropolis of Iudah, as Samaria was of the Ten Tribes▪ Samaria is principally threatned, yet because the other two Tribes were their brethren in sin, therefore he threatens them with parity of punishment.
The inhabitants of these two chief Cities were more secure and sensual in the midst of Gods Judgements than other parts of the Land, and therefore the Prophet deals more sharply and roundly with them, and by a Prolepsis prevents a cavil, whereas they might object, that they were the chief of the Nations, and all the people resorted to their Cities for Justice, and for the Worship of God, and therefore they concluded, that God would not destroy them, Yea, therefore saith the Prophet, God will destroy you, because you sin against such Mercies and Priviledges.
OBSERVATIONS.
1 The Scripture is full of Divine Rhetorick and Eloquence.
Carnal-worldly-wise-men look upon the Bible (as St. Austin did before his conversion) as a book of a low,Aug. Confes. l. 3. c. 5. incompt, unlearned stile. This very sixth of Amos will in part confute such.V. Perkins on Heb. 11.12. p. 93. & Rivet Isagoge ad Scripturas, cap. 28. p. 1026. fol. Vol. 2. The Prophecie of Esay abounds with such a fluent, divine, grave, and lofty stile, that all the eloquence of Cicero, and all the flowers of Demosthenes, with the rest of those admired Heathens, is but as Chaff to Wheat, and Dross to refined Gold. Hence the Scripture is compared to a pleasant Garden bedeckt with Flowers, and a rich Garment beset with Pearls; when the depth of learning that there lyes hid is uncovered, then the glory of the Word doth affect us, and leaves a deep impression of its excellency upon our spirits. VVee should not therefore barely read the VVord, but search the Scriptures, and dig those Mines, that wee may the better finde out the Golden Oare, Iohn 5.39. VVee should also bless God,V. Mr. Ant. Burgess on 1 Cor. 3.5. p. 74. who hath given such variety of gifts unto men, for the good of his Church. Some are Eloquent Orators, Isa. 3.3. Others are Acute Disputants, and mighty in convincing, as Apollos, Act. 18.24, 28. Some are milde and gentle, as Barnabas, others more fierce and fervent, as Peter and Paul. Naim, i. e. pulcher, speciosus, suavis, tales enim sunt Psalmi quos David composuit, & cani jussit, à Lapide.Some excel in Prose, others in Poetry, as David, who is stiled, the sweet singer of Israel, many spiritual songs are scattered up and down the Scripture, but none excelled in that gift, like David, who was more especially inspired by the Holy Ghost, and singularly qualified for that purpose All these hath God gifted for the good of his Church, 1 Cor. 3.22.
Observ. 2. Those that are highest in Priviledges may bee nearest to miseries.
Woe to Sion first, and then to Samaria; So Rom. 2.9. Wrath falls upon the Iew first,See more in my Com. on Hos. 13.15. p. 48, 49. and then upon the Gentile. To be secure in other places was sinful, but to be dead and carelesse in Ierusalem the City of the Living God, where his Temple and Worship was, this doubled their sin, and therefore the Prophet Emphatically sets a Woe upon their heads. Woe to them that are at ease in Sion.
3. Gods Ministers must denounce Woes against the wicked.
As they must proclaim promises to the penitent, so they must denounce judgements against the obstinate. They must make a difference, to some they must shew lenity, and to others severity, Iude 22, 23. What dreadful woes do all the Prophets denounce against impenitent sinners. Christ, who was love it self, and in whom there was no gall, nor guile, yet how many dreadful woes did he denounce against the hypocritical Pharisees, even eight woes together, Mat. 23.13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29. If men will be so bold as to proclaim their wickednesse, Ministers must be so bold, as to proclaim their woes.
4. Woe and sorrow is the portion of secure sinners.
Both Legal woes, and Evangelical woes; temporal, spiritual, and eternal woes. The Law cryes, Woe to such sinners, and so doth the Gospel; but Gospel-woes are the sadder of the two; for if the Law say, woe to us, yet the Gospel may say mercy to us; but if the Gospel say, woe to us, where shall we finde mercy? 'Tis true, sinners may laugh and be merry in the acting of sin,See my Com. on Hos. 13.13. p. 14. but woe and weeping is in the conclusion, Luk. 6.25. The end is death, Rom. 6.21. As all the promises of Grace and Mercy hang over the heads of the godly, and drop blessings upon them which way soever they go; so clouds of wrath hang over the heads of the wicked, dropping judgements upon them even in their highest prosperity, when they think themselves most free from misery. The mirth of every secure sinner that goes singing to hell, is no better than madnesse; for where security goes before, destruction ever follows; When men cry Peace, Peace, then comes sudden and swift destruction, Luk. 12.19, 20. 1 Thes. 5.3. Secure Laish became a booty to its enemies, Iudg. 18.27. Carelesse Ethiopians shall be made afraid, Ezek. 30.9. And carelesse Daughters shall be troubled, Isa. 32.9, 10, 11. God is much displeased with a people, when the fire of his wrath shall beset them round about, and yet they remain unhumbled and insensible, Isa. 22.12, 13. and 42. ult.
5. God usually fore-warns us of woe, before hee sends woe.
Hee first cuts men down with the sword of his mouth, before he cuts them off with the sword of his hand. Hee delights not to take sinners at an advantage, but loves to exercise his patience towards them, that they might repent, as wee see in both the destructions of Ierusalem, the one by the Caldeans, which was fore-told by the Prophets, and the other by the Romans, In my Com. on Hos. 13.16. p. 64, &c.which was fore-told by Christ. But of this at large elsewhere.
6. Carnal Confidence ruines a Land.
When men forsake God, and trust in men and mountains, in Kings and Kingdomes, in Guards and Garrisons, both they and their creature-confidences shall perish; for, as there is no policy, so there is no power or fortifications that can defend us against God, Prov. 21.30, 31. Use means wee may, but we must not Idolize them; prepare armies, and strongholds, but not trust in them. They are branded that trust in Riches, Psal. 52.7, 9. and cursed that trust in men, Jer. 17.5, 6.
7. Ingratitude is a God-provoking, and a Land-destroying sin.
God had made this people the head of the Nations, and chose them for himself from amongst the Nations,See my Com. on Hos. 13.16. p. 101, 102. but they fought against God with his own blessings, and as they were increased, so they sinned against him, abusing the good Land which hee had given them, to Idolatry, riot, and excess, till at last the Land spewed them out.