Exposition of Amos 4-9, Part 4 · Section 12 – Section 14
VER. 14, 15.
Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no Prophet, neither was I a Prophets Son, but I was an Herd-man, and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit.
And the Lord took mee as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Goe Prophesie unto my people Israel.
WEE have seen Amaziahs design, by force and fraud to suppress Amos; we are now come to Amos his Answer, which consists of two parts; 1 An Apology for what he did, grounded upon Gods extraordinary calling him to the work. 2. His Prophesie, which is two-fold.
1 Particular, containing those particular Judgements which should befall
Amaziah.
His Wife.
His Children.
2 General, containing the utter destruction of Israel, vers. ult.
In these two Verses we have Amos his answer, wherein he constantly and couragiously maintaines what he had done; and is so farre from desisting or forsaking of his Station, that by an holy Antiperistasis he growes more bold and resolute, confirming what he had spoken against Israel, and adding moreover a dreadful Commination against this Arch-Priest for opposing him in the Work of the Lord. He feared not his imperious Injunctions, and Lordly Prohibition, but boldly asserts his Calling, and goes on in the exercise of it, maugre the malice of all opposition whatsoever.
So that here we have an Implicite reason, why Amos durst not desist from Prophecying to Israel, viz. because he was called extraordinarily by God to Prophesie unto them. He was no intruder, but a truly called qualified Officer; he did nothing rashly or seditiously, but he seriously and soberly discharged the duties of that place to which God had so signally called him.
Now the better to clear his Call (which was the foundation of his comfort and confidence) he first tells us Negatively, what he was not, I was no Prophet, nor Prophets Son, q. d. I was no Prophet either by birth or breeding, either by Original or Succession. Some were chosen to be Prophets before they were bred or born, as Ier. 1.5. others among the Israelites were Prophets by succession; others by preparation, were trained up betimes in the knowledge and study of the Scripture; in Colledges and Seminaries of Learning, to supply the wants of the Church. The Prophets that taught them, were called their Fathers, and the Scholars were called, the Sons of the Prophets, 2 King. 2.3, 7, 15. & 4.38. & 6.1. Mar. 10.24. Amos ingenuously confesseth, that he was none of these; hee was neither Nabi, nor …en Nabi, neither Prophet, nor Prophets Son; he was not brought up at Bethel, 2 King. 2.3. or Iericho, vers. 5. or Gilgal, 2 King. 4.38. nor at the feet of any learned Gamaliel.
2 Positively, he tells us plainly what he was, viz. an illiterate Herdman of the Tribe of Iudah, dwelling at Tekoa, a City in Iudah, but extraordinarily called by God, from his Country-calling, of feeding Cattel, to feed his people Israel with the Bread of Life, Amos 1.1.
This he mentions not to make his Message contemptible, but to procure the more respect and authority to his Prophesie, since he was not called and qualified in an ordinary way, but immediately, and extraordinarily by God himself.
I was an Herdman; Such were useful in their kind, they had many of them in those dayes, because their riches lay much in cattel. Their lesser cattel were tended by Shepherds, and their greater by Herdmen,Boker, bubulcus, quasi Bakar, bos, quia fuit custos boum. Gen. 13.5. & 24.35. & 26.14. Iob 1.3. Saul himself before he was made King, was an Herdman, 1 Sam. 11.5. q. d. Behold the wonderful Works of God, that I who was never bred to this imployment should yet bee able to Prophesie, and to confound such learned Rabbies as you take your selves to be.
And a gatherer of Sycamore Fruit.
Yet more to magnifie Gods Free-grace, he sets forth his mean condition from which the Lord had called him. He lived a solitary, country life, he was not bred up in Cities, or Academies, but amongst Herds and Stalls, contenting himself with such wild dyet as the Sycamores did afford.Sycamorous est arbor media inter ficum & morum, unde nomen ejus, à foreign ficus; & foreign, morus. Minshaw. Amos non victûs caûsâ Prophetabat, nam didicerat vitam Sycamoris & agrestibus aliis rebus tolerare. Iunius. Most take the word Sycamore strictly, for a kind of wild Figgs, called Aegyptian Figgs, or Bastard-mulberries, which the poorer sort of Ru…ticks in those times fed upon.
But it may be taken Synecdochically, and Proverbially for any kind of course dyet or fare. I was a gatherer of Sycamore fruit; that is, I was a poor man, of a low condition, even of the same rank with those that use to feed upon wild Figgs; I did not then turn Prophet for my belly, for I had learned to fare hardly, which thou O Amaziah, and thy Court-Priests can hardly doe, and therefore you sooth up the Rulers in their Idolatry, that you may serve your owne turns, but Sycamore fruit will serve my turn.
V. A Lapide in locum, ubi plura.Of Sycamore-trees there were great abundance in the Land of Canaan, as appears, 1 King. 10.27. Isa. 9.10. Luk. 19.4. and in Aegypt, Psal. 78.47. they were very fruitful, they bare fruit three or four times in the year, saith Dioscorides, lib. 1. c. 143. This fruit Amos might gather for himself, or for his family, or for to sell.
OBSERVATIONS.
1 As the Devil hath his Amaziahs to oppose the truth, so God his Amoses to defend it.
The same day that Pelagius was born in Britain, the same day was Saint Austine born in Affrica to oppose him,In my Com. on 2 Tim. 3.8. Obs. 2. p. 155. as I have shewed elsewhere.
2 God often chuseth the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and the things that are not (of any esteeme in the world) to confound the things that are of great esteeme amongst them, 1 Cor. 1.27, 28.
He usually hangs the greatest weights upon the weakest wyres, that so his name may have all the praise; if the Lord should alwayes work by excellent Instruments, we should Idolize the Instruments and forget God. Hence the Lord often passeth by the eloquent Orator, and the learned Scribe, and chuseth an illiterate Amos, sending him from the Crib to the Court, to witness against the Idolatry of Princes, Priests, and People.
Thus in the Civil State he oft chuseth persons of low degree to rule his people, as Moses, Saul, David, all three called from their Flocks and Herds to rule his people, Exo. 3.1. 1 Sam. 9.21. & 2 Sam. 7.8. Psal. 113.7.8. Thus in the Ecclesiastical estate he called Elisha from the Plow, 1 King. 19.19. Matthew from the receit of Custom; all the Apostles were illiterate men till Christ gifted them extraordinarily; and fitted them for their work,See more in my Com. on 2 Tim. 4.21. Obs. 3.1.479. Acts 4.13. God loves to shew his power in weakness that the glory may be his, 2 Cor. 12.9. Psal. 8.3. we have this Treasure in earthen Vessels, that the excellency of the power may bee of God, and not of us, 2 Cor. 4.7.
Obj. From hence the Anabaptists would cry down Vniversities, and Schools of Learnings, the Lord took Amos from the Stall, and Elisha from the Plow, and qualified them without study, what need then this studying and Schooling? &c.
Ans. These were called extraordinarily, as appears by their extraordinary gifts; now extraordinary Cases cannot make an ordinary rule; because the Lord fed the Israelites with Mannah, it doth not therefore follow that we must sit still, and think to be so fed.
It is true, the Anabaptists, and fanatick frantick Quakers, doe all pretend to an extraordinary and immediate Call; when upon trial they are found not to have ordinary gifts, they can hardly write or read.
2 Examples in Scripture are not alwayes Argumentative, neither are we bound to follow them unless there bee a like call,In my Pulpit-Guard p. 55, 59. causes, and other concurrent circumstances, as I have shewed elsewhere.
3 Grace makes men constant and couragious.
How roundly and undauntedly doth Amos here deal with Amaziah, notwithstanding all his threats and flatteries, yet he stands like a Rock, justifies his Calling, and denounceth Judgements against the false Prophet himself, and confirmes what he had spoken before against Israel. Thus the righteous are an everlasting foundation, Prov. 10.25. The wicked fear where there is no ground of fear, and fly when none pursues them, but the righteous are bold as Lions, Prov. 28.1. Mark 6.18. Acts 23.1.
VERSE 15.
And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Goe, Prophesie unto my people Israel.
AMaziah counselled Amos to goe back to Iudah from whence he came; to this Amos replies, I cannot, I dare not; for as I care from thence by Divine command, so till I have the like command from him that sent me, I dare not return.
Amos comforts himself much with the sweet resent of that Call which he had from God, and therefore he tells us, how the Lord took him as hee was feeding and following the Flocks,Because Amos speaks of a flock here, therefore some would gather that Amos was a Shepherd, but the word Hatson is general, and relates to a flock of great Cattel, as well as small. and the Lord said to him (when he little thought of any such imployment) Goe, prophesie to my people Israel. I did not thrust my self into the work, but it pleased the Lord to take me from that homely imployment, and to injoyn me this task of Prophesying.
OBSERVATIONS.
1 We must obey God rather than men. Acts 4.19. & 5.29.
Si aliud jube… imperator, aliud Deus, quid judicatur? Major potestas Deus. Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. 6.Amaziah bids Amos be gone, but Amos sayes, the Lord sent him to Israel and he will not stirre. Thus he opposeth Gods Commandement to Amaziahs prohibition. We may obey no man but in and for the Lord, Ephes. 6.1. Hence the Midwives are commended for disobeying the wicked commands of Pharaoh, who would have had all the male Children killed, Exod. 1.17.
2 God loves to appear to us when we are in our Callings.
Thus God appeared to Moses when he was keeping Sheep, Exod. 3.1. to David, when he was following the Ewes; to Saul, when he was seeking Asses; to Amos here, when he was following the Herd; and to the Woman of Samaria, when she was drawing water, Ioh. 4.7.
3 When God calls us to forsake all we must readily doe it. God commands Amos to leave his Herds, the Apostles to forsake their Nets, Abraham to forsake his owne Country and Kindred, Zacheus to come down and follow Christ, and they immediately did so, Mat. 4.19, 26. Luke 19.6. Gen. 12.1, 4. True grace makes men willing to doe or suffer whatever God commands.
4 None may take upon them the Ministery without a Call.
Amos stirres not till God sayes, Goe; no man may assume this Office till he be called, Heb. 5.4. should an Angel from Heaven come and preach, he must shew his Call, he may not violate the order which God hath set in his Church, Gal. 1.8. Hence the Lord so oft complaines of false Prophets, that they ran and he sent them not, Ier. 14.14. many run from their Callings without a Call, Zach. 13.5. let such never look either for protection, or success; let them preach never so loud, or so long, they shall never profit people because God is against them, Ier. 23.32. I am against them that Prophesie false Dreams, and cause my people to erre by their Lyes and lightness, yet I sent them not, mark what follows, therefore they shall not profit this people; that is, they shall doe them much hurt and mischief, it is a Meiosis.
Be sure then to have a Call for what you doe, this will support you under your burdens, and comfort you in the midst of all tentations and trials, Dan. 3.16, 17, 18. Acts 4.19, 20. if the Lord have called us he will keep us, Isa. 42.6. this is as a brazen wall to secure us; this made Amos so resolute and confident against Amaziah, and Nathan so free with David, Elijah with Ahab, See more in my Pulpit-Guard. Arg. 2. p. 11, 12, 17.Iohn Baptist with Herod, and the Apostles with the world; it was the warrant of their Calling, that they had it from God, and not from man.
This will make our Ministery successful, one Elijah sent by God, shall be too hard for two hundred and fifty false Prophets, though King Ahab and Queen Iezabel joyn with them, and ovvne them.
VER. 16.
Now therefore hear the Word of the Lord, thou sayest, Prophesie not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
AMos comes now to direct his speech to Amaziah, who had forbidden him to Prophesie, Thou sayest, Prophesie not against Israel. To this Prohibition Amos opposeth Gods Injunction, and is so farre from desisting, that he denounceth Gods Judgements against him, and bids him attend to what he had to say from the Lord against him. q. d. Who art thou O vaine and vile man, that darest thus affront and contradict the Almighty; So that when he saith, Goe, Prophesie to Israel, yet thou sayest, Goe not to Israel, neither Prophesie there, but goe to Judah, and prophesie there. Hear therefore what the Lord hath determined against thee, Thy Wife shall be an Harlot in the City, thy Children shall fall by the sword, &c.
In these two last Verses we have a four-fold Judgement denounced against this Persecuting Priest, vers. 17.
2 Here is the Procatarctical cause of these Judgements, and that was his opposing Amos in the Work of the Lord, using all means to silence him.
3 Here is a confirmation of the former Commination against Israel, ver. 11. Hear the Word of the Lord. We have heard thee speak, now doe thou hear God speak, for his Word is not like thine, a vaine, empty, ineffectual word; but a mighty, powerful, efficacious word, bringing down dreadful things upon the heads of malicious Persecutors, 2 Cor. 10.6. God is ready to revenge the disobedience done to his commands. Gods Word layes hold on wicked men, Zach. 1.6. and that which they accounted wind, becomes like fire to devour them, Ier. 5.13, 14.
Thou sayest, Prophesie not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; that is, Prophesie not of Gods Judgements against the ten Tribes, who were descended from Abraham by Isaac the Son of the Promise, Gen. 21.12. see before vers. 9.
This dropping here is Metaphorical, and denotes those dreadful Judgements which should fall upon the heads of wicked men like a storme of raine, Ezek. 20.46. & 21.2, 3.
2 Dropping in Scripture is frequently taken in the sweetest sense, for gentle and sweet speaking, Deut. 32.2. Iob 29.22. My doctrine shall drop as the raine, and distill as the dew; that is, it shall bee as useful and refreshing to men, as the dew and raine is to the grass; as these soften the ground, and so make the fruites to grow up sweetly and abundantly; so the Word of God falling into an honest and good heart becomes effectual, making it more soft and fruitful in every good work, Isa. 55.10. Luke 8.15.
OBSERVATIONS.
1 Wicked …e… are Antipodes to God.
They goe directly contrary to his commands. God bids Amos Prophesie against Israel, Amaziah forbids him. God bids Amos drop and denounce Judgements against Israel, no saith Amaziah, if thou wilt drop, goe drop at Iudah, for we will none of thy dropping here. So true is that of Luther, Homo est inversus decalogus, Man is a cross grained-peece, directly opposite to all Gods commands. There is in our Nature a deadly enmity to God, his Wayes, his Worship, his Word, his Ordinance, his Prophets, his People, and to all that is good, Rom. 8.7. Col. 1.21.