The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 98

1triving wUh them. This he does with all men during a longer or shorter period. In the case of the antediluvians the striving was for a hundred and twenty years (Gen. vi. 3). In the case of Jerusalem it was three years (Matt. xxiii. 39). In the case of. Saul, King of Israel, it was till within about seven years of his death (1 Sam. xviiL 12). In the case of many it is during the entire life (Matt. x.x. 6-9), Thus each man has his day of grace, during which God strives with him to bring him to repentance. In the nature of the case the day of grace for the apostate must be far advanced. He haa been more and longer striven with than other men, and so is presumably nearer the limit beyond which the process does not go. II. A THREAT TBE OBVERSE OJI' A CONDITIONAL PBOMIBE, "For I will pass through the midst of thee;" i.e. as elsewhere (Exod. xii. 12) in judgment. The language is a threat, God, so far from dwelling with them, as under other circumstances he was ready to do (ver, 14), would pass through them in wrath and destroying power. Underlying the announcement of this alternative is the fact: 1. That ccmpromise ia impossibk with God. He will save or he will destroy. There is no half-way house between the-good of his promise and the evil of his threat. He can yield nothing and abate nothing of either. He will come as a Friend to abide and bless unspeakably, or he will pass through as an invading Foe, making desolation in his track. 2. Tltat the incentive to repentance must be dw.ble-edged, There are people who must be led, and others who must be driven. "The mercies of God" are the strongest motive power with some minds, whilst " the terrors of the Lord" are most potent with others. The Divine machinery of impulsion, to be perfect in itself and for its purpose, must include both. Hence men are plied with each in turn and often with both together (John iii. 36) in connection with the salvation which they ultimately embrace. Israel's case would not be abandoned as hopeless until both menace and promise had made their contribution to the work of its persuasion. ill. CREATION LANGUISHING WBEN TBE CREATOR ll'BOWNB. The connection between man and the creation is very close. The judgment on Israel would mean evil : 1. I11, the fields. They would not be fertile as heretofore. Their crops would fail to grow, or be blighted before they could be gathered (eh. iv. 7). Enemies would devastate the country and destroy the fruit of the ground. Rapacious officials would confiscate the earnings of honest industry. In each calamity, much more in all together, was enough to quench the joy of harvest, and cause the husbandman to mourn. 2. In the vine- yards. The whole food of the people, the corn, the wine together, would be swept away. The grape,'.-gathering was a proverbial occasion of joy (Isa. xvi. 10). But with no vintage to gather, or no chance to gather it for the lawful owner, the "vintage shouting" would cease, and for the usual singing in the vineyards would be substituted a universal wail. 3. In the streets. "God made the country, and man made the town." And the human depends on the Divine. Trade and commerce draw from agriculture their chief materials, and so when it fails they fail with it. When the husband.man has cause to weep there can be no dry eye in the community. The wail that begins in the fields, and spreads through the vineyards, will rise to a mighty roar when it reaches the streets, where the sufferers herd and lament together. IV. THE LAMENTATION BYMPTOMATIO OF A GREAT DISASTER, 1. Tltia is universal. In all "streets and vineyards," etc. 'fhe judgment affecting all classes in the com- munity, all should mourn. 2, It is in concert. Men would call their fellows to lamen- tation. Not as individuals merely, but as a community, they sinned Blld suffer, and so as a community they should wail. 3. It is worked up. "And lamentation to those skilled in lamenting." The mourning would not be left to take any form that hap- pened. It would be appointed and organized, and then observed according to pro- gramme. All this implies an intelligent and vivid idea of the significance of the occasion. God's judgments, however long despised, will make themselves to be under- stood and respected at last. In hell there is no misappreciation of the nature and strength of Divine retribution; and on earth appreciation comes infallibly with experience. Vere, 18-20.-The day of the Lord the night of the impenitent, Divine judgments will be as sharp as they are sure, Sent in wratb, proportioned to guilt, falling on the vulnerable points, they are the least desirable of all imaginable things, 'l'he very AMOS. B !18 THE BOOK OF AMOS. [err. v. 1-27.