The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 57

MINDS OF ms BERV AN"Ts THE PROPHETS. The mode of this communication is concealed from us; it may have been but partially understood even by the prophets themselves. There is nothing unreasonable in the fellowship of mind between the Creator and created spirit.a. The human consci0usness is above 1111 vehicles surely the fittest medium for the intercourse between the Divine and the finite. God has his own servants employed in his household, his husbandry; and he chooses his own ageuts for the several works he has for them to do. Among his servants are the prophets-men selected and qualified t-0 speak forth his mind and will to their fellow-men. Perhaps we are too restricted in the view we commonly take of the prophetic olllce. We know thnt there were schools of prophets among the Hebrews, and that there was an order of prophets in the primitive Church. Tbere were cases in which by the agency of prophets new truth was revealed, but there were a\Ro cases in which prophets were inspired to apprehend and republish truth already familiar. Prophets in this second sense there certainly are among us to this day. III. THE COUNSELS A1''D PURPOSES OF Goo OOMllUNI0ATED BY THE PROPHETS DEMAND OUR REVERENTIAL ATTENTION AND CHEERFUL OBEDIENCE. When the Omniscient declares his mind, when the Omnipotent unfolds his purpose, by the agency he has chosen, the revelation is first made by the Spirit to the human minister, and then by the human minister to his fellow-men. The holiness of the Divine character and the righteousness of the Divine government are thus brought effectively before the minds of the intelligent and responsible sons of men. The secret is revealed, not simply to excite wonder, but to guide conduct. The appropriate attitude of those privileged with a revelation so precious is that expressed in the resolution," All the words which the Lord bath spoken will we do."-T. Ver. 10.-The corruption of conscience. The conception of Amos is remarkable for grandeur. He sees in prophetic vision thll approaching siege of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, and poetically summons the Egyptians and Philistines to gather themselves together upon the surrounding hills, and to witness the tumults within the city, the assaults from without, and the impending rHin. But the moral significance of history, in the prophet's mind, transcends the pictorial interest; and in this verse be gives utterance to a profound and awful truth with regard to human nature. Wrong- doing corrupts the conscience and interferes with a correct perception of right and goodness. l. !T IS A LAW OF HUllAN NATURE THAT 0ONDUOT BEAOTB UPON OHARACTEB. No doubt actions are the expression of the moral nature, the moral habits, of men. But, on the other hand, those who persevere in a certain course of conduct are by that very fact moulded and fashioned and even transformed. Thus it is that those who submit to circumstances and who yield to influences are affected even in their inmost moral nature by the experience they pass through. II. PASSION A1''1> INTEREST WABP "THE MORAL JUDGMENT. Nations which, like Israel. are guilty ofluxury and of idolatry, which pillage their neighbours' goods, and wage unlawful war, involving widespread calamity, thereby blunt their sensibilities to right and wrong. They habituate themselves to regard all questions in the light of their own ambition, or their own aggrandizement and enrichment. As a consequence they are tempted to call evil good, and good evil. Especially are they liable to form a false judgment upon their own conduct. III. THUS WBONG-DOING HA8 A TENDENOY TO PERPETUATE ITSELF. They who by reason of abandoning themselves to evil oourses have silenced the voice of conscience, lose the moral power to do better. Because they "know not to do right," they con- tinue to do wrong. They reap as they have sown. 'l'hey advance upon the road of Bin by the momentum derived from past iniquity.-T. Vers. 13-15.-Retribution upon the altar and the palace. The language of the prophet in this passage is severe in its import and graphic in its style. He foresees the approach of the invaders, the powerlessness of Israel to resist their attack, the oompleteness with which their work is destined to be done. In two directions espe- cially the blow of vengeance is seen to fa!L J. WOLATBY 18 PVlUSIIED BY THE DESTBUOTION OF IDOL TEMPLES AND ALTABB,  llH. m. 1--15.] THE BOOK OF A.MOS. 67