The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 160

11in. "My lord dele.yeth his ooming." Let eeoe.pe be out of the question, :, et even the cha.nee of respite will turn the see.le in favour of doing the forbidden thing. lsre.el, 118ntenced e.nd to be destroyed some time, sinned with e. high hand. Isre.el, sentenced to be destroyed soon, yet sinned still. Porhe.ps Israel, sentenced to be destroyed at once, may be brought to be.y. Here God tries the experiment. I. THERE IS A TIME WREN THE VINE OF SODOM RIPENS ITS FRUIT, Sin he.s its day. lt disturbs the harmony of things, and when derangement reaches a climax a catastrophe comes, and arrests the process with a" thus far and no further." Israel's wicked course had reached this critical point. 1. Idolatry, the archetypal ain against the.first table, had practically superseded the worship of God. It was the religion of the king and court and people. It was established and endowed by the state. Its rites were observed at Bethel and elsewhere, in profane mimicry of the Levitical worship at Jerusalem. The substitution of it for the worship of Jehovah was part of the royal policy. Short of this the national apostasy could go no further. Interference, if it would be in time to save anything, must take place at once. 2. Oppression, the arche- typal sin against the second table, had reduced society to dissolution. The safeguards of property, liberty, and life were alike removed (eh. iii. 9, 10; v. 7, 12; vi. 3). The order of society had been converted into chaos. Incapable of using liberty without perverting it into licence, it was high time to deprive Israel of the grossly abused trust. As slaves they would be under a regime of the strong arm, which was the only one that suited them in present circumstances. There are chains forging somewhere for the man who can neither consider others nor rule himself. II. Suen RIPE1'"IKG FOREBODES AN EARLY GATHERING. (Ver. 2, "The end is come upon my people of JsraeL") The sickle is put in as soon as the harvest is ripe. No practical husbandry could delay the operation longer. I. The crop has then reached. the limits of its growth. Like the corn ripe unto harvest, or the grape purple and mellow, the natnral life of Israel had fully developed itself. Tastes were matured, habits acquired, and characters settled into crystalline form. Things generally had put on an aspect of finality, and the sickle of judgment that follows the ripening of character need no longer wait. Let the ripe sinner beware the scythe. The fruits of unrighteous- ness full grown are suggestive of the harvesters on their way. 2. It is then ready to serve its natural, purpose. Green grapes a.re useless in the vat, and green faggots would only put out the fire. It is in the harvest, when both are mature, that the wheat and the tares alike are sent to their ultimate destination. One purpose, a high and noble one, Israel had at last proved their unfitness to serve; their exclusive fitness for another purpose had only now by the same events become apparent. Reward and punishment alike take typical form only when they have reference to lives and characters which have assumed an aspect of finality. The hard grain and the dry faggot are waiting respectively for the mill and for the fire. 3. .After this it will be in the way of the mzt crop. When the reaper goes the ploughman comes. If the harvesting were neglected the ploughing must be postponed. Israel bad failed utterly to accomplish its Divine mission, and, left longer alone, would only prevent its accomplishment by other agency. " Take the talent from him, and give it to him that bath ten talents." The unfruitful become in a little while cumberers of the ground, and a necessary measure of practical husbandry is then to cut them off. 4. .A.t this stage it will begin natwrally to decay. Overripe fruit will "go bad" at once. If not used or preserved when ripe, it will be lost altogether. National decline waits on the development of national corruption. Israel become utterly dissolute would go to pieces according to a natural law, even if the Assyrian never came. Indeed, it was in the degeneracy already apparent that th• invader saw his opportunity and found the occasion of bis coming. '!'he disease that stops the career of the seD.Bualist means God's judgment on one side, and the natural break-down of his constitution on the other. III. THE DUNGHILL 18 THE DESTINATION OF ALL TAINTED PBODU0E. (Ver. 3.) The incorrigible wrong-doer is involved at last in overwhelming calamity. God's judgments must fall, his mercy notwithstanding. Indeed, they are an aspect of it. "A God all mercy is a God unjust." He is leaving the lion to prey on the lamb. The most merciful course is that which offers most effective opposition to the wicked doings of wicked men. Israel's manners are past reforming, and past enduring. By their iutulerable 11,buse of freeqom they showed their fit~ess only to he slaves. A!ld accord• ou. vm, 1-14.] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 161