The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 77

language of Jehovah addressed to Israel. The repetition of the reproe.ch adds to it1 effectiveness and solemnity. As one calamity arter another is described, and as all are represented as chastisements inflicted by Divine righteousness, the touching words are added, "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saitb the Lord." L THE WANDERINGS IMPLIED. In order that there may be a return to God, there must first have been a departure from God. Such had certainly been the case with Israel The people and their rulers had alike done wickedly in departing from their ,covenant God. They had mingled with the worship of Jehovah practices superstitious and idolatrous. They had broken the Divine laws of morality, and that in a flagrant &nd shameful manner. JI. THE SUMMONS Al."11 Th"'VITATION TO RETURN WRICH HAD BEEN ADDRESSED BY ·Goo TO IsRAEL. Dealing with sinful men, a benevolent God has not been content aimply to reveal truth and to inculcate holiness. He has ever addressed the children of men as those who have disregarded the truth and disobeyed the Law. Revelation is full of declarations of Divine mercy and promises of Divine forgiveness. III. THE CHASTISEME!l"TS WHICH WERE INTENDED TO PRODUCE REPENTANCE AND REFORMATION. Words proving insufficient, they were followed by acts. It is dan- gerous for us confidently to interpret the plans of Divine providence. Yet God most high is the supreme Ruler of the nations, and in his own Word his" dealings" with the nations are interpreted with unerring justice and truth. The several disasters recounted in this pal!sage as having befallen Israel are declared to have been of the nature of chastisements designed to awaken reflection and to call to penitence and to ne\Tiless of life. "The voice of the rod" is a voice sometimes effectual, and always morally authoritative. IV. THE INATTID-"'TION OF IBRAEL TO THE SUMMONS AND TO THE CHASTISEMENTS. It is amazing to learn that not only the messages of prophets and authorized heralds, but even the "judgments" of the righteous Ruler, failed to produce the intended effect. Yet so it was, and those who had been often reproved hardened their neck. In this Israel was an example of that obduracy which may be discovered in all ages and in all communities. The power of man to resist the appeals and the entreaties, the commands and the chastisements, of a righteous God, is one of the most surprising and awful facts of the moral universe. V. THE PATHETIC REPROACH. He whose power could smite and destroy the rebel- lious speaks as if himself wounded and distressed by the perseverance in rebellion or those be governs. It seems as if Omniscience were astonished and appalled at human obstinacy and obduracy. Hence the expostulation, the reproach addressed to the impenitent and rebellious, "Yet have ye not returned unto me."-T. Ver, 1L-.171e brand snatched from the burning. Amongst the methods employed by the Divine Ruler to bring Israel to repentance was some calamity, some "judg- ment," which overtook certain of the cities of the land. It may be doubtful whether we are to understand that those cities were, like Sodom, struck by lightning and partially consumed by fire from heaven; or were attacked and given to the flames by an invading, hostile force; or were overtaken by some disaster figuratively described in this pictorial language. In any case, the circ1!1°8tances are n~turally suggestive of reflections upon the methods and purposes of Gods treatment of smful men. I. A STBIXING PICTURE OF PUNISHXENT FOB SIN. Like a city given to the flames, like a brand flung upon the blazing fire, is the man, the community, that, on account of disobedience and rebelliousness, is abandoned for a time and for a purpose to the ravages of affliction and calamity. How often bas a sinful, proud, luxurious, oppres- sive nation been consigned to this baptism offire I How often bas the wilful and obdurate nature been made to endure the keen and purifying flames I 'l'he connection between sin and suffering does indeed abound in mysteries ; yet it is a reality not to be der,,ied. II. A STRIJUNG PIO'l'UBE OF THE DANGER OF DESTRUCTION TO WBIOH THE UlPENI• 'l'ENT ABD IIIJIFUL A.BE EXPOSED. Fire may purify the gold from dross, but it may consume and utterly destroy the chaff. Some nations exposed to the flames of war and calamity have perished and disappeared. Some individual lives seem, at all events, to have vanished in the flames of Divine judgment. The peril ia imminen~ -&11d undeniable. CIB, IV, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 77