The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 146

2. It is tho element used and to be used by God in bringing ab01Jt the greatest catas- trophes. It w11s in the fire-shower from heaven that Sodom was overwhelmed (Gen. xix. 24). Fire "very grievous'' wae mingled with the plague of hail which smote the land of Egypt (Exod. ix. 24). It was the fire of the Lord that burnt up complaining Israel at 'l'o.berab, o.nd o.leo Korah and his company in their gainsaying (Numb. xi. l; xxvi. 10). By fire from heaven were Abaziah's two captains and their fifties consumed before Elijah (2 Kings i. 10-12). It wae by bringing down fire that James and John proposed to destroy the inhospitable Samaritans (Luke ix. 54). And it is in a lake burning with fire that the beast, the false prophet, and all the finally impenitent shall be overwhelmed at last. 3. It is ln Scripture a frequent embkm of active power. God the Father in wrath (Deut. iv. 24; ix. 3), God the Son in judgment (2 These. i. 8), God the Holy Ghost in grace, are each so figured (Luke iii. 16). Indwelling sin is fire (1 Cor. vii. 9 ; 2 Cor. xi. 29); the buey mischief-making tongue is fire (Jae. iii. 6); God's Word is e. fire (Jer. xxiii. 29); his ministers are "burning ones" (seraphim); spiritual life is fire (Luke xii. 49); affliction is fire (1 Cor. iii. 13; 1 Pet. iv. 12); and the misery of the finally lost is fire (Mark ix. 44). A God contending by fire is a God putting forth the extreme of destructive energy. II. JtJDGMENT DRINKING tJP THE &BEAT DEEP. As the fire is figurative, so probably is the "deep." It is the heathen world. God's judgment which includes this is: 1. Discriminating. "'fhe deep." The sweltering, restless sea is a fit symbol of the wicked in their unrest of heart and rebellion against God (Isa. lvii. 20: Ps. xlvi. 3). These are the natural prey of the eagles of judgment. 'l'hey deserve it, provoke it, and a.re its characteristic objects. The righteous may suffer sometimes with the wicked. but the ungodly cannot escape. 2. &tensive. "The great deep." Not merely "wells," which are individuals (2 Pet. ii. 7), nor" rivers," which are nations (Isa. viii. 7; Jer. xlvi. 7, 8), nor "seas," which are races (Ps. I.xv. 7; Isa. xvii. 12), but " the great deep," or rebellious humanity in its entire extent, shall be contended with and destroyed. When the last word has been spoken God's argument against sin will be overwhelming; and all th~ ground covered by sin will have been covered also by judgment. 111 J tJDGMENT EATING tJP "THE PORTION'' DOOMED. "Probably the definite portion foree.ppointed by God to captivity and desolation" (Pusey). 1. God's acts are coea;tenaive with his decrees. His plan has referenee to all events, and these in turn exactly embody his plan. He had devoted beforehand a definite number to judgment; and all these, and these only, would it eat up in the day of its falling. No tares escape, nor is any wheat burned. " The Lord knoweth them that are his." 2. To be nominally God's people establishes no special relation to him. Outward relations, if they have not inward relations to which they correspond, are nothing. Mere names and semblances leave unchanged the underlying realities which God regards, and to which his dealings are adjusted. A hollow profession is simply unbelief plus hypocrisy. 3. God's judgments on his professing peopk are not for annihilati<Jn, but for weeding out. 'l'he "portion " was not all Israel (Isa. x. 20-22; xxxvii. 31, 32). After it had been devoured, a remnant would remain. Judgments are the gardener's knife; they prune out the worthless branches, but leave the tree. Exposure to the wind is not for destruction of the wheat, but for the scattering of the chaff. In the track of the fire is to be found a.II that is fire-proof. IV. 'l'HE LEGITIMATE MEASURE OF ASKING IN PBAYEB. (Ver. 6.) It seems a forlom hope to offer such prayer. Yet here it is done by a man under the guidance of God's Spirit. _In imitation of him: 1. We may ask anything that is innocent. It may not he promised. No one else may have received it. It may be a thing utterly unlikely to be done. It may be what God is threatening not to do. Yet it is legitimate matter of prayer, and we need not despair of it. God cannot do less than he promises, but he lllay do more; and, as e. matter of fact, he does much for which no explicit promise is to be found. 2. We may ask any amount that can be enjoyed. God's is no niggard heart or hand. He has exhaustless store. He loves to see us filled and thoroughly furnished. Henco he giveth liberally, satisfies with his mercy, gives a.II we can receive, and more than we can ask or think. Economy in asking where there is infinity to draw on is modesty run mad. 3. We may ask it up till the last moment. While, in t)le nature of t4ings, al\swer is possible, request may be ma.lie, Who knows whether AMOS, ~ HO THE BOOK OF AMOR. [oH. VII, 1-]7,