He said: "The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers." Sermons
I. OBSERVE WHENCE THE VOICE OF THREATENING PROCEEDS. 1. It is the voice of the Lord - that voice which assumes now the accents of compassion and mercy, and again the tones of wrath, but which is always authoritative. 2. It proceeds from the sacred city, which was the favoured abode of Jehovah. II. AND WHITHER THE VOICE OF THREATENING PENETRATES. From the habitations of the shepherds in the south, to the flowery Carmel in the north, this roar makes itself heard. That is to say, it fills the land. Judah and Israel alike have by disobedience and rebellion incurred Divine displeasure, and against both alike the denunciations of the prophet go forth. III. CONSIDER THE EFFECT WHICH THE VOICE OF THREATENING SHOULD PRODUCE. 1. Reverent attention. 2. Deep humiliation and contrition. 3. Repentance and prayer. 4. Such reformation as the heavenly summons imperatively demands. - T.
The Lord will roar from Zion. The prophet not only shows here, that God was the Author of his doctrine, but at the same time he distinguishes between the true God, and the idols, which the first Jeroboam made, when by this artifice he intended to withdraw the ten tribes from the house of David, and wholly to alienate them from the tribe of Judah: it was then that he set up the calves in Dan and Bethel. The prophet now shows that all these superstitions are condemned by the true God. "Jehovah then will roar from Zion, He will utter His voice from Jerusalem." He, no doubt, wished here to terrify the Israelites, who thought they had peace with God. Since, then, they abused His long-suffering, Amos now says that they would find at length that He was not asleep. "When God, then, shall long bear with your iniquities, He will at last rise up for judgment." By "roaring" is signified the terrible voice of God; but the prophet here speaks of God's voice, rather than of what are called actual judgments really executed, that the Israelites might learn that the examples of punishments which God executes in the world happen not by chance or at random, but proceed from His threatenings; in short, the prophet intimates that all punishments which God inflicts on the ungodly and the despisers of His Word. are only the executions of what the prophets proclaimed, in order that men, should there be any hope of their repentance, might anticipate the destruction which they hear to be nigh. The prophet commends very highly the truth of what God teaches, by saying that it is not what vanishes, but what is accomplished; for when He destroys nations and kingdoms, it comes to pass according to prophecies.( John Calvin.) II. THE PLACE FROM WHICH DANGER SHOULD COME — Zion and Jerusalem. These were the centres of the old national worship — places that God had chosen to put His name there. In the palaces of Zion God had been known for a refuge. Sin turned the sources of peace and prosperity into the seat of their mightiest enemy. III. THE TIME OF THE PROPHECY OF WOE. An era of hope. Prosperity had returned (2 Kings 14:25). The prophecy burst upon them like thunder out of a blue sky, or as if one, in full tide of health, should see his own funeral procession pass. However dazzling the prosperity to which sin may have raised men, its time of most luxuriant growth is often the hour of its blasting. "The Judge standeth at the door." IV. THE VISITATION WAS TO TOUCH THEM ON THE SIDE WHERE THEY WOULD MOST FEEL IT — temporal prosperity. "The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn" — poetic personification of the ruin that should come to that class of which Amos had so recently been a member. "Carmel" — the place of surpassing fertility — abounding in rich pastures, olives, and vines. God takes what men prize most if haply their heart may be softened by His visitation. Application(1) The concurrence of testimony among all Divine messengers to the certainty of vengeance due for wrong. Only false prophets can utter the "smooth things" which sinners would fain hear.(2) The change in God's dealings with men wrought by sin. (J. Telford, B. A.) People Amos, Aram, Ben, Benhadad, Ben-hadad, Hadad, Hazael, Jehoash, Jeroboam, Joash, Teman, UzziahPlaces Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beth-eden, Bozrah, Carmel, Damascus, Edom, Ekron, Gaza, Gilead, Jerusalem, Kir, Rabbah, Syria, Tekoa, Teman, Tyre, Valley of Aven, ZionTopics Carmel, Cry, Dries, Dry, Fields, Forth, Giveth, Grounds, Habitations, Jerusalem, Keepers, Lion's, Mourn, Mourned, Pasture, Pastures, Roar, Roareth, Roars, Sheep, Shepherds, Sounding, Summit, Thunders, Utter, Uttereth, Utters, Voice, Wasted, Wither, Withered, Withereth, Withers, ZionOutline 1. The time when Amos prophesied.3. He shows God's judgment upon Syria, 6. upon the Philistines, 9. upon Tyrus, 11. upon Edom, 13. upon Ammon. Dictionary of Bible Themes Amos 1:2Library The Prophet Joel. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The position which has been assigned to Joel in the collection of the Minor Prophets, furnishes an external argument for the determination of the time at which Joel wrote. There cannot be any doubt that the Collectors were guided by a consideration of the chronology. The circumstance, that they placed the prophecies of Joel just between the two prophets who, according to the inscriptions and contents of their prophecies, belonged to the time of Jeroboam and Uzziah, is … Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon. Whether, in Prophetic Revelation, New Species of Things are Impressed on the Prophet's Mind, or Merely a New Light? Whether a Natural Disposition is Requisite for Prophecy? How the Rude in Sacred Learning, and those who are Learned but not Humble, are to be Admonished. The Twelve Minor Prophets. Formation and History of the Hebrew Canon. A Discourse of Mercifulness Links Amos 1:2 NIVAmos 1:2 NLT Amos 1:2 ESV Amos 1:2 NASB Amos 1:2 KJV Amos 1:2 Bible Apps Amos 1:2 Parallel Amos 1:2 Biblia Paralela Amos 1:2 Chinese Bible Amos 1:2 French Bible Amos 1:2 German Bible Amos 1:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |