The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 167

Scripture alone reveals Christ (John v. 39), and the way or life through him. (2) n is the vehicle of spiritual power. "The poweT of God unto sa.lvatirm" is Paul'~ synonym for the gospel. Spiritual energy, no doubt, inheres in the Holy Spirit, but he opero.tes only through or with the truth. It carries the power by which life is given (1 Pet. i. 23), by which lire-functions are diRcharged (Rom. x. 17), by which the life- principle is sustained (Jer. xv. 16), by which growth ie promoted (1 Pet. ii. 2). In fiue, the IC engrarted Word," received with meekness, IC is able to eave our souls." The power that begins, that sustains, that develops, that matures religious lire is a power linked inseparably to the Word. That any saving grace is attainable in the absence of It is a thing impossible of proof, and which all Scripture testimony bears against. (3) It is the assurance of spiritual good. "We are saved by hope," a.nd it is through patience and comfort of the Scriptures that this heavenly candle is lighted in the soul (Rom. viii. 24; xv. 4). The Scriptures reveal the heavenly blessings in store, and thus supply the warp and woof out of which the web of comfort is woven. What we shall have, and that we shall have it, is the burden or the Word of promise, which, ma.king the rich future sure, makes thus the present glad and strong. Poor indeed would man be if there were no such word to twine the heart's-ease when his brow is wrung in anguish and distress. To Israel, sinful but penitent, God elsewhere, allotting the bread of adversity, promises, "Thine eyes shall see thy teachers," etc. (Isa. xxx. 20, 21). This is calamity, but with compensation. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God;" and with God, their Gui,le and Counsellor, no scarcity of bread could make them altogether wretched. But, vice versa, the proposition will not hold. l<'or the loss of the Word there is no offset possible. The impoverishment is central and radical, and all hedging is out of the question. 3. This loss at a time when it would be most keenly felt. IC The Word of the Lord wa.s precious in those days; there was no open vision." The mere fact of the sudden with- drawal of the Word would create an immediate demand for it. In this case the demand would rest on a practical necessity. "Crushed by oppressors, hearing only of gods more cruel than those who make them, how will they hunger and thirst for any tidings of One who cares for the weary and heavy laden?" (Maurice). JI. THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT PROVOKE IT. The unique rigour of the penalty suggests some special circumstauces in the provoking crime. One of these would be: 1. Extreme heinousness. "'!'here is a sin unto death." It will never be forsaken. It precludes the idea of penitence. It involves the perversion, or rather inversion, of character, which "calls evil good, and good evil." There is nothing for it but the extreme penalty of being let alone. And even that will be inflicted. Saul had -provoked it when "God answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." Israel had provoked it when God said to his servant, "Thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a. reprover" (Ezek. iii. 26; vii. 26). When a man sins on principle, he is not far off "a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." 2. Failure of other judgments to turn. "Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more." Other judgments had been for reformation and had failed; this would be for destruction-the only alternative left. When "cure" is out of the question, what else is to be done but "kill"? 3. Chafing under and rejecting the Word itself. Israel had heard more of the "JOrds of the Lord than they wished. '!'hey had made an effort to got rid of them, or some of them, by forbidding his prophets to speak his message. More of the Word to men in that mind would have been thrown away, a.nu God never wastes his gifts. If we shut our eyes, he will take away the light. If w~ close our ears," the voice of the charmer" will soon be silent. The men who will uo\. have the words of the Lord shall be treated to a dispensation of silence. III. THE PERSONS IT ASSAILS, When judgment falls upon a nation, the righteous often suffer with the wicked. Yet here there are persons against whom the shock is specially directed. 'J'hey are: 1. Those who put their trust in idols. The idolater would naturally feel the extreme of dislike to the Word of God, and adopt the strongest measures against his prophets. He was thcrofore in that moral condition which needed, and that opposing attitude which provoked, the heaviest stroke. God will not give his "praise to graven images," and ho will give the man who trusts in them an oarly opportunity of discovering whether they will suffice for his need. The more unreservedly he has chosen them, the more entirely will he be left to them. 2. 'the  1GB 'l'H:il: BOOK OF AMOS. [on. vm. 1-14. --------------------------- ynung and buoyant among these. (Ver. 13.) Youth and hope nre hardest to overcome, 'fhere is a buoyancy in t.hem, and a recuperative energy, that rieee above calamit,y to which the old and broken would succumb. Yet even these would not avail. Physical suffering, breaking down even youth And vigour, mental suffering, ovel'whelming tho most buoyant hopefulness, were among the enginery of the wrath of God. IV. THE EFFECTM IT PRODUCES. Those are distressing as the calamity producing them is stern (ver. 12). 1. They seek the Word in vain. It is sought as a last resource. In the extremity of trouble, and the failure of other help, men turn perforce to God, And then the quest is vain. It is made too late, and from a motive to which there is no promise given (Prov. i. 24-28). It is sought in an extremity, as tho lesser evil of two; and in abject fear, in which there is no element of loyalty or love; and, thus sought, cannot in the nature of things be found. The time for God to give it has passed, because the time hns passed in which men might have received it to any effect of spiritual good. 2. They faint in the search. "'l'hey shall reel from sea to sea." •• The word [reel] is used of the reeling of drunkards, of the swaying to and fro of trees in the wind, of the quivering of the lips of one agit.ated, and then of the unsteady seeking of persons bewildered, looking for what they know not where to find" (Pusey), It is characteristic that search is made everywhere but in the South, where alone the true worship of God was, and where, if anywhere, his Word might have .been found, Wrong seeking is wrong all rounu, and so is of necessity in vain. It is a loss of effort, which is "a grievous labour won." It wearies itself out in aimless blind exertion, made out of season, and vitiated by the very ills that drive men to make it. 3. They f al.l and never rise. God will "make an end." The time for it had come. Sin had reached a climax. Evil character had reached a final fixity, Calamity had ceased to improve. The tardy anxiety for a Divine communication meant simply that every other resource was exhausted. "Cut it down" is the one process of husbandry for which the tree is fitted. (1) There is a/amine of the Word on Israel still. "Blindness in part has happened" to them, in that, "when Moses is read, the veil is on their heart." This practically amounts to the removal of the Word. It is a sealed book to them-sealed by their blindness to its spiritual sense. Not heathen ignorance is more effectually cut off from the knowledge of the truth than Jewish prejudice and hate. (2) It rests on them for the umtJ reason for which it came. Persistently, blindly, bitterly, they rejected the truth of the gospel. They made it evident that they would not have it (.Acts xiii 46). .And so sadly, reluct:Lntly, but sternly, it was taken from them. "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles." When that Word was spoken, Israel was left to the darkness. it loved. In that chosen darkness they still grope, and will till the latter-day glory dawna. (3) It will give place one day to a period of plenty. "God hath not cast off his people which he foreknew." 'l'here is a remnant to which the promise belongs, and with which if will be kept (Rom. ix. 27; xi. 5). "When it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away." The period, extent, and occasion of this turning are not revealed, but it will be the crowning triumph of the "glorious grace " of God.