The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 12

"life and breath and all things," but be glves to his saints the wicked, and all they have (1 Cor. iii. 21, 22; Epb. i. 22). He avenges the ill done even to the sinner, but he a\•enges more sternly, because he personally feels, the ill done to his people (Zech. ii. 8, 9). Their persons are more ~acred than those of others (Matt. x. 30), and their lives more precious in his sight (Ps. lxxii. 14; cxvi. 15). Accordingly, the worst form of murder is martyrdom (Luke xviii. 7, 8), and the worst form of theft is sacrilege (Mal. iii. 8). • IV. JUDGMENT IS PRECIPrrATED BY PER8EVERANOE IN SIN. "For three tran9CTl'CSsions and for four" is the invariable formula. The expression (see Prov. xxx. 15~ 18, 21; Job v. 19; Eccles. xi. 2) means for many transgressions, culminating in a final one. Persistent sin means cumulative guilt. Drop is added to drop till at last the cup is full. The tendency toward sin God warns; the first sin be rebukes; the second he threatens; the third he menaces with uplifted hand; the fourth he smites. God bears long with the wicked, but they may sin once too often. Your past offences have escaped, your next one may endanger the Divine forbearance. " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." V, IN EVERY CASE THE EXTREME OF GUILT INVOLVES THE EXTREME OF PUNISIIIIIENT OR ENTffiE DESTRUCTION. This is inflicted by fire, the most destructive element in each case. God employed fire in many of his most startling miracles (Gen. xix. 24; Exod. ix. 23; Numb. xi. 1; xvi. 35; Lev. x. 2; 2 Kings i. 10, 12). In the language of fi"ure it is the ideal destructive agent (Isa. iv. 4; ix. 5). In prophecy, too, fire is or symbolizes the agent that destroys the beast, the false prophet, and all the wicked (Dan. vii. 11; Rev. xix. 20; xx. 15). 'l'o the impenitent, fire will be a destroying, not a cleansing power. It points onward to the vengeance of eternal fire, which will be the fitting retribution of sin at last. Vers. 3--5,-The woe against Damascus. The kingdom of Syria is here named from its ·capital. The crime charged against it had been foretold by· Elisha to Hazael, and by him indignantly repudiated (2 Kings viii. 12, 13). But a man in one set of circum- stances little knows what he wonld do under an entirely different set; especially a man beginning e. sinful life, the magnitude of the crimes of which he may yet be capable. Accordingly, Hazael fulfilled one prophecy, and supplied· the materials of e.nother, by smiting Israel as the man of God had said (2 Kings x. 32, 33). I. THE CRIMINAL. Damascus stands by metonymy for Syria, judging of whom by her representative we see that : 1. Riches do not prevent rapacity. Damascus we.s noted for wealth, the fertile neighbourhood being irrigated by numerous canals, and the city itself lying in the highway of commerce. Yet greed instigated the barbarous treat- ment described. The wars waged against Israel were wars of rapine and annexation. "The eye that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver." Rather does the lust of gain grow by what it feeds on. Whether it be culture, or power, or pleasure, or wealth, men tend to make a god of the thing they abound in. It was when Israel was richest that her oppression of the poor was most extreme. It was by her richest neighbours that she herself was most rapaciously despoiled. It is thus that the conditions leading men to sin are the guarantee of its punishment in kind. 2. Beautiful surrou11dings do not humanize. Writers Rpeak in glowing terms of the unrivalled beauty of this ancient city. "Its white buildings, embedded in the deep green of its engirdling orc,hards, were like diamonds encircled by emeralds" (Pusey). Yet here, in sceues of ideal h~auty, !!rew up the monsters of barbarity who took the women and children of Gilead, and, "casting them as into a sort of threshing-floor, savagely threshed them out like earl! of corn with saw-armed wheels" (see 2 Kings xiii. 7). Physical scenery and moral character have no necessary connection. The fairest lands have often produced the coarsest and most crnel men. The determining element is the presence or absence of the gospel of Christ. It is not iP.sthetics, but Christianity, we must look to for the moral elevation of men. 3. The possession of strength i! a temp!alion to violence. 'l'h~ beau_ty ~f Damascus was also its strength. The miles on miles of walled orchards m which 1t was set formed an admirable defence against an advancing enemy (see Pusey), and, thus entrenched, the legions of Syria were strong beyond their seeming. Now, just as the subtle choose diplomacy and the rich subsidy in the settlement of disputed matters, so do the strong choose force. It is the readiest and most effective weapon within their OH, I, 1-~15.] THE BOOK OF A.MOS. 11