Ver. 16.-Rear thou the word of the the city is tl\ken (comp. Isa. xiii. 16: Ll\m. Lord. The punishment of him who tried to v. 11). And thy daughter& This would impede God's meoel\ge. Drop not thy be Abnorrue.l cruelly, as the Assyl"inns word. Be not continue.lly pouring forth usually ep!Lrcd the women of conquered pr?pheoJ, The word is used simill\rly in towns. Shall be divided by llne. Amnzillh's Micah 11. 6, 11 and Ezek. xxi. 2. The own lnnd wo.s to be portioned out to idea, though not the term, is taken from strnngers by the meo.euring-Iine (Zooh. Deut. mii. 2. Septuagint, µ.~ oxxa-y"')/4.,..,,s, ii. 2). A polluted la.nd; an unclean land; " raise no tumult.," which rather expresses i.e. a Gentile country. Am1Lzio.h himself A.maziah's fear of the eff'eot of the utter- wA.S to share his countrymen's captivity. anoe than translates the word. St. Jerome's The sins nnd idolatry of the peoplo are explanation is somewhat too subtle, "SWlare often sa.id to defile the land: e.11., Lev. xviii. prophettv idioma &riptvrarom ut, quod non 25; Numb. x.xxv. 33; Jer. 11. 7. Shall l.ot,am Dei Bimtd inferant iram, sed parvaa surely go into oaptivity; or, be led av,ay .tiluu t,Offlminatione denuntient." captive. Amos repeats the very words Ver. 17.-With this denunciation oom- which formed put of his accus1Ltion (ver. pare that of Jeremiah (xx. 3, etc.) against 11), in order to show thnt God's purpose Pashnr. As husband, as father, as citizen, is unch1Lnged, and that he, the prophet, Amaz!Bh shall suffer grievously. Shall be must utter the same denunciation (see the an harlot in the oity. Not play the harlot accomplishment, 2 Kinga xvii. 6). willingly, but suffer open violence when
HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1-3.-The vision of devouring locusts. The prophet is appropriately called a seer. He sees clear and he sees far. Not only has Amos foresight of what is coming; he has insight into what, in certain circumstances, would have come. He is taken as it were behind the scenes, and made a witness of the forging of Heaven's thunderbolts, to be laid up for use a.s occasion may require. In this case he is cognizant by spiritual intuition of the preparation of judicial measures which, as circumstances tum out, are never executed. L .AJ..r.. EIS OD.EATURES ARE MINISTERS OF GoD TO DO ms WILL. The angels .-,re his "hosts "-ministers of his that do his pleasure. The Assyrian was the rod of his anger. He says, "I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.n He m.aketh the winds his messengers, the flaming fire his minister (Ps. civ. 4), All created thin,,,crs, in fact, are but different elements in a vast ministry, by which he executes his purpose. 1. Jwigments are generally brought about by second causes. To this rule there is scarcely an exception. Sometimes it is famine, brought about by drought, or mildew, or locllllts. Sometimes it is desolating war, brought about by jealousy, love of power, and greed. Sometimes it is pestilence, the result of causes all within the natural sphere. We know nothing of afflictive judgments coming apart from the interposition of the causes out of which they would naturally arise. 2. Becmul cauaes are ail in the hands of the First Cause. They do not operate at random. Theirs is action "co-operant to an end." They are acljW1ted and controlled. They are combined in schemes of order and proportion, nicely fitted to the achievement of their ultimate results. The eye is of the blindest that cannot see how- " Behind the dim unknown Btandeth God, within the shadow, keeping watch above his own." (Lowell.) 8. Natural causes are prepared and used for a moral end, Manasseh's captivity lends to his conversion (2 Chron. xx.xiii. 11-13). Israel's desert discipline cultivates a robustness of national character which was wanting at the Exodus (Isa. xliii. 21). So a long captivity in heathen Babylon puts an end to the ever-recurring national idolatry. When all God's measures were executed, he could look on the Hebrews and say, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." .And that is God'a method in all cases. Scripture declares, and experience and observation argue- " All discord, harmony not understood: All pe.rtial evil, universal good." (Pope. OH, VII, 1-17,] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 141