V. IT JS INSATIABLE, "His anger endures for ever." The persistence of Edom's hate was matter of contemporary notoriety (Ezek. xxxv. 5), and it WIIS precisely what one might expect. Th~re is an !nfinity that )lelongs t-0 tbe human ~oul, and which imparts itself to all its affections. Love 1s not exhausted by indulgence, but strengthened. It goes on and grows for ever, and so with hate. One who knew well bas said- "Now hatred is by far the longest pl011Sure; Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure." (Byron.) Hate is fed by indulgence as a fire is fed by fuel. Do not ·think your hatred will be appeased when _you have got what you consid_er a just revenge. It will only then begin to bum with normal fierceness. Such feelings grow by what they feed on. The only way to banish the1!1 is to cut.off _the supplies. Starve _a hungry hate, by giving it neither outlet nor audience, and it will soon atrophy and die. VI. IT 1s ALL ON ONE SIDE. Israel's relation to Edom as friendly, considerate, and disinterested, was la.id down in explicit terms (Deut. xxiii. 7; ii. 4, 5), whilst the brotherhood of the two nations was emphasized (Numb. xx. 14; Deut. ii. 8). Cruel things were done in spite of this (1 Sam. xiv. 47; 2 Sam. viii. 14; 1 Kings xi.15, 16), but they were done in defensive wars, and after Edom's enmity had proved itself incurable. It is a robust and thoroughly malignant hate that beats down and burns in spite of others' friendly attitude and feeling. Such hate belongs to a. nature utterly inverted, and no longer human but devilish. And in proportion as it is such it becomes impossible of cure. The fire that burns without fuel, and in spite of water, has the elements of perpetuity in it. It is the beginning of the fire that shall never be quenched. Vers. 13-15.-The woe against Ammon: bmtulity in its element. There is a climax in these woes as we advance. Each seems to outdo in horror the one before. This one in which Ammon figures has circumstances of wanton atrocity and senseless savagery in it unparalleled in any other. l. UNNATURAL CONNECTIONS IIIAY BE EXPECTED TO BREED UNNATURAL IIIONSTEBS, Ammon and Moab were the children of unnatural and shameful lust (Gen. m. 30 -38). Begotten in drunkenness, and conceived in a paroxysm of lewdness, their cha.nee of inheriting a healthy physical, mental, or :moral organization was very sma.ll The almost inevitable moral twist with which they entered the world, their education by dissolute mothers would only strengthen and confirm. And the passionate and sensual nature he inherited, Ammon transmitted to the nation of which he beoa.me the father. An illustration of this inherited coarse corruption in the Ammonites was their gross and indecent treatment of David's servants, sent on a friendly errand (2 Sam. x. 4, 6). The other occasion, recorded in our text, is an example of savage and senseless atrocity unparalleled in the annals of humnn violence. As to the women, it was from their number that Solomon's harem was largely recruited (1 Kings xi. 1, 7), and they took to harlotry as easily as their ancestress herseH (Numb. xxv. 1; xxxi. 16). Our besetting sins are likely to be those of our forefathers, and therefore a.gninst these we should be specially on our guard. They a.re likely also to beset our children after us, and should be all the more vigorously rooted out, lest we transmit to posterity the heritage of our sin and shame. '!'hat the thing can be done, let the virtuous simplicity l)f Ruth the Moabitess prove. Trained and moulded in II godly Hebrew family, she nlsponds to religious influence, and exhibits a character that has been the admiration of all the ages. II. OTHER THillGB BEING EQUAL, THAT 18 THE GREATEST BIN FOR WBIOR THERE 1B THE LEAST OCCASION. "He who has committed injustice for a less advantage has done tt under the impulse or a. less temptation . . . . '!'he more paltry it is in respect of profit, the more profane it may be in respect of principle" (Chalmers). In the case of Ammon there was the extreme of disproportion between tho crime and the incentive to it. '!'he object was to enlarge their border, an object (1) unnecessary, (2) under the circumstan?es unjust, (3) in itself su~plying 1:10 occasjon for th_o horrid outrage, aud (4) to the atlarnment of which the atrocity was in no w1so essential. The act was simply 16 THE BOOK OF AMOS. [011. I, 1-15.
one of stolid barbarism, unsoftened by any extenuating circumstance, and unaccounted for by any consideration of need or fitness. . ill.. MURDER AS AN AOT OF REPRISAL IS STILL MURDBB. David had put the mbab1tants of Rabbah of the sons of Ammon to a death as dreadful as that inflicted on th_e women_ i~ Gilead (2 Sam. xii. 31). The present act of Ammon might look like a Just retaliat10n. But, whatever may be thought of David's conduct, it is clear that sin does not justify more sin. Then David's siege and destruction of Rabbah was a natural and suitable act of defensive warfare against persistent attacks by Ammon in league with Syria. The aggressor in such a case is responsible for the bloodshed on both sides. Man has a natural right to kill in self-defence, and he whose action necessitates such bloodshed is the party on whose head the guilt of it must lie. IV. GoD's JUDGMENTS STRIKE THE DEVISERS OF WICKEDNESS AS WELL AS THE DOERS OF IT. " The king and his princes." These ancient kings were absolute monarchs. ~v:ery nat~onal _act was an expression of their will. _W_ith them, therefore, the responsi- bility for 1t ultrmatelf rested. It ~as done by their d1recti?n and under their superin- tendence, done often m part by their own hand, and so was in every case their own act. And the princes, as the king's advisers, were parties to it. Therefore kings and princes alike must suffer. To strike them was to strike the criminal on the head. Thus far and wide do the consequences of sin reach, devouring from every side. The com.mitter of sin, the suggester of sin, the deviser of sin, the tempter to sin, the procurer of sin, the knowing occasion of sin, the person privy to sin, all are sinners and as such are written down for the sword. Some are nearer the centre than others,'but all are in the vortex, and all must be swallowed up together.