John Calvin Commentary Amos 8

By these words, or by this vision, the Prophet confirms what we have already observed: that paternal chastisements would no longer be exercised toward the people of Israel. Indeed, as is well known, God had treated that people in such a way that He always spared them, even in their greatest calamities. God always struck that people with a restrained hand until, after many trials, they finally seemed so stubborn as not to be benefited by such remedies. Amos now pursues this subject then; but a vision was shown to him to confirm God’s judgment more fully, or at least to produce a greater impression on the minds of the people.

God showed him a Basket full of summer-fruit. By summer-fruit, I do not doubt, he means a ripe punishment, as if he said that the people's vices had ripened so that vengeance could no longer be deferred. For an explanation of the vision immediately follows, when he says that the end of the people had come, etc.; and this we have already explained in the third vision. But there is a similarity in the Hebrew words that cannot be expressed in either Greek or Latin. קיץ, kits, means summer-fruit; קץ, kots, signifies an end: only one letter is inserted in the word, summer-fruit, which God showed in a basket; and then He adds that קץ, kots, the end, had come. But as to the main point, we see that there is nothing ambiguous. We will now return to the first point.

Thus God showed me. There is no need to repeat what I have already discussed. The Prophet here states first that he presented nothing without authority, but only faithfully related what had been commanded him from above. And this should be carefully observed, for God always employed His Prophets in such a way that He still fully reserved for Himself the right of teaching and never transferred His own office to men—that is, as to the authority.

Then he says, The Lord Jehovah showed me, and behold, a basket of summer-fruit. We may understand summer-fruit to mean cherries and those fruits that lack the solid vigor to last long; but this is too subtle. I take the simple meaning: that punishment had now become ripe. For the people had not repented, though they had been so often warned; it was then as if it were summer. He showed me a basket of summer-fruit.

But as to God asking His Prophet what he saw, we have already explained why it was done: it was necessary for the Prophet to be filled with astonishment at first, so that the people might be made more attentive. For when we hear of a conference between God and the Prophet, our minds are awakened, since it must immediately occur to us that there is something worthy of being remembered. God then rouses the minds of His people in this manner. So we see there is nothing superfluous in this repetition.

Now follows the explanation of the vision: Jehovah said to me, Come has the end on my people Israel. We perceive, then, the Prophet's meaning to be that the people had previously been warned by moderate punishments; but that as they had become hardened, extreme vengeance was near at hand, when God would no longer act as a father or a physician, but would utterly destroy those whom He had long endured.

We indeed know that most severe calamities had happened to the people of Israel, even before this time; but whenever God showed forbearance, He always allured them to true penitence. So that they would not, then, promise themselves such treatment in the future, and by self-flattery prolong matters, as hypocrites are accustomed to do, the Prophet declares here expressly that the end had come; as if he said, “Your iniquity is ripe: now then gather the fruit, for you cannot proceed further, no, not even for one day. Fruit will indeed come to you of itself.”

The end then is come, and I will no more add to pass by them. To pass by, as we have already explained, refers to punishment. For why does God chastise His people, except that He is concerned for their salvation? He says, then, that He would make an end, that He would not spend labor any longer in correcting the people, for He saw that nothing had any effect. Hence, I will not pass by them; that is, I will execute My extreme vengeance: Il n’y faudra plus retourner, as we commonly say.

The Prophet here indirectly rebukes the Israelites for taking such delight in their superstitions as to sing in their prosperity, as if God favored them; for unbelievers are accustomed to misconstrue both the hatred and the favor of God based on the present appearance of things.

When the Turks enjoy prosperity, they boast that God is on their side; we also see that the Papists draw the same conclusion. It is the tendency of people not to look so much at themselves as at external circumstances. When, therefore, God indulges them for a time, though they may be more wicked than usual, they still do not doubt that God is favorable to them.

So the Sodomites, right up to the time they were overwhelmed by sudden destruction, thought that they had peace with heaven (Genesis 19:14). This is also the reason Isaiah says that the ungodly had made, as it were, a covenant with hell and death (Isaiah 28:15). And we know what Christ says about the time of Noah: that they then heedlessly feasted and built sumptuous houses (Matthew 24:38). Such carnal security has prevailed in almost all ages.

But a special vice is pointed out here by the Prophet: namely, that the people of Israel sang songs in their temples, as if they intentionally meant to mock God. For the voices of the Prophets resounded daily, uttering grievous and terrible threats; but the people, in the meantime, sang in their temples.

In the same way, the Papists act in the present day; while they bellow and chant, they think that God is pacified two or three times over. They also congratulate themselves in their temples when they have everything prosperous. This abuse, then, is what the Prophet refers to when he says, Howlings shall be the songs of the temple. Instead of melody, he mentions howling, as if he were saying, "God will turn your songs into lamentations, though they are now full of joy."

He afterwards adds, For many a carcass shall be cast down in every place. But I prefer to render the word passively: "Cast down everywhere with silence shall be many carcasses." By these words, he intimates that there would be such a slaughter that it would prevent them from burying the dead bodies.

We have said in another place that the right of burial is commonly observed even by enemies, for it is more than hostility to rage against the dead.

All who do not wish to be considered wholly barbarous either bury their dead enemies or permit them to be buried. There is a sort of understanding on this point among enemies, and the right of burial has usually been observed in all ages and held sacred among all nations.

Therefore, when dead bodies are thrown down in silence, it is evidence of a most grievous calamity. We therefore see why the Prophet distinctly states here that many a dead body would be cast down in every place in silence—that is, that there would be no burying of the dead.

But since we see people, though proven guilty a hundred times, still quarreling with God when He executes a rather grievous punishment, the Prophet now contends with the Israelites.

He again repeats what we have noted before: that God did not deal cruelly with them, and that even if He were to consume and obliterate the whole people, it would still be for just reasons, because they had reached the very extremities of wickedness.

And he assails by name the princes of the people: Hear this, he says, ye who tread upon or swallow up the poor. The Prophets, as we have already stated, did not without reason direct their discourses to the chief men, even though the common people were nearly as involved in the same guilt.

It is certain that the state of the people of Israel was then so corrupt that all, from the highest to the lowest, had become degenerate, and none were free from blame.

But as more guilt always belongs to leaders, this is the reason the Prophets treated them with more sharpness and severity. For many of the common people go astray through thoughtlessness or ignorance, or are led on by others; but those who govern pervert what is just and right, and then become the originators of all kinds of licentiousness.

It is no wonder then that the Lord, by His Prophets, inveighed so sharply against them. This is now the Prophet's object in saying, Hear this: for there is an emphasis in the expression when he commands them to hear. It was either because they did not sufficiently perceive their sins and were wholly deaf, or because they contended with God in vain, for hypocrites think that they can escape judgment by evasion.

Hear, he says, ye who devour the miserable, and destroy the poor of the land. We see here some distinction made: the Prophet does not summon the common people and the princes to God’s tribunal generally and indiscriminately, but turns his discourse only to the princes.

The Prophet continues here with the same subject, for this could not apply to the whole people, but only to the plunderers who were able to oppress the miserable and poor among the common people, and who had a great abundance of corn; we see the same today, for a few people in times of scarcity have provisions hoarded up, so that they, as it were, put miserable people to death by reducing them to poverty.

Since, then, the few rich held the whole populace in a state of famine, the Prophet says here, “Do you think that God deals too rigidly or too cruelly with you, inasmuch as you have until now been killing people with misery and want?” If anyone were to object and say that the slaughter which the Prophet has already threatened was to be common to all the people, and that therefore it is now incorrectly stated that the wrongs done to the people were brought upon them by a few individuals, to this I answer: there were other vices among the people that required correction, and this we have already seen and will see again in other parts. However, it was necessary to make a beginning with the proud, who, relying on their own dignity, thought themselves exempt and free from the common fate.

Therefore, it was necessary to silence them; and furthermore, the Prophet did not spare others in their turn. But we see to what extent of mad folly haughty people, and those who possess worldly riches and power, would run if the Lord did not restrain and check them. This is the reason why the Prophet now especially addresses them.

You therefore say, When will pass the month, that we may sell corn? Some take חדש, chedash, month, for the new moon, and it is sometimes understood this way; this interpretation is probable, for the word Sabbath immediately follows. When then will pass the month, and when will pass Sabbath, that we may be able to sell our corn? Since it was not lawful to conduct business on either the Sabbath or the new moon, whenever they rested for even one day, they thought that much time was lost to them. For we see that the avaricious grow weary, as their cupidity constantly excites them, for they are like an oven; and since they are so hot, if an hour is lost, they think that a whole year has passed. They calculate every moment of time.

“Why,” they say, “is no merchant coming? I have now rested one day, and I have not gained a farthing.” Since, then, the avaricious are so extremely anxious, it is probable that the Prophet here refers to this sickness of the mind, as if he said, “You have no rest, no relaxation.”

God has commanded His people to rest on every new moon, and His will also is that you should abstain from all work on the seventh day. Yet you think this time is lost, because you get no gain.”

But another interpretation is equally probable: that they expected corn to become more expensive each month. Like robbers in our day who eagerly seek profit, they gather corn from every quarter and thus reduce us to poverty. They look forward, month after month, thinking that some calamity might happen to increase the price of corn. Frost or rain might come, some disaster might take place; when spring passes, some hail or mildew might appear. In short, they are, so to speak, lying in wait for some misfortune.

This meaning fits this passage well. At the same time, some commentators refer it to the intercalary month, which, being an addition, prolongs time, so that the year becomes longer. What follows regarding the Sabbath also corresponds well with this view, as the word is to be understood in a sense other than the seventh day. For we know that in every seventh year there was no plowing, no cultivation of the land, among the Jews; and the corn was then more expensive when there was no crop. Thus, then, prey was, as it were, provided for the avaricious and the extortioners.

When then will pass the Sabbath, that we may open our storehouses? They closed their storehouses until the whole year—without cultivation, produce, or harvest—had passed. Then they opened their storehouses, or at least it was the time when they largely opened them. Since, then, they dealt so cruelly with the people, the Prophet justly rebukes them and shows that God did not treat them too rigidly but recompensed them with the reward they deserved. We will defer other matters to the next lecture.

Grant, Almighty God, that as You do not cease daily to warn us in time to repent and anticipate Your judgment, O grant that we may not be so deaf and slow as to delay until our vices are ripened, lest no remedy remain for us; but, on the contrary, that being tamed and subdued by Your threatening, we may flee to Your mercy, and so consider Your judgments while they are still at a distance, that we may not provoke Your wrath by our perverseness, but rather dispose You to pardon by striving to be reconciled to You in the name of Christ Your Son, and by doing this not only with our mouths and tongues, or by any other outward means, but also with a true feeling of heart and a life corresponding to it, so that we may present ourselves in uprightness and sincerity as Your children, and that You may also show Yourself as a Father to us in the same Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

In my last lecture, I was under the necessity of interrupting the subject: the sixth verse, with the two preceding ones, must be connected. The Prophet says

Here he still speaks of the avarice of the rich, who in times of scarcity kept the poor in subjection to themselves and reduced them to slavery. He had spoken before of the Sabbaths and of deceitful balances; he now adds another kind of fraud: that by selling the refuse of wheat, they bought the poor for themselves.

Indeed, we know the influence of poverty and pressing need when men are oppressed by famine. They would a hundred times rather sell their lives than fail to rescue themselves, even by means of an invaluable price. For what else is food but the support of life? Therefore, men will always value their lives more than all other things.

Hence, the Prophet condemns this iniquity: that the rich eagerly awaited such an opportunity. They saw that grain was high in price; "Now is the time," they reasoned, "for the poor to come into our possession, for we hold them as though they were ensnared; so then we can buy them for a pair of shoes."

But the other circumstance increases this iniquity: they sold the refuse of the wheat. And when they reduced the poor to bondage, they did not feed them; they mixed filth and waste with the wheat, as is customarily done.

For we know that such robbers usually do this when need presses upon the common people: they sell barley for wheat, and for barley, they sell chaff and refuse. This kind of wrongdoing is not new or unusual, as we learn from this passage. Now follows a denunciation of punishment:

God, having made known the vices of the rich, now shows that He would be their judge and avenger. For if they were only reproved, they would not have cared much, like the usurer mentioned by Horace, who said, “The people may hiss me, but I congratulate myself.” So also these robbers were accustomed to do when they were satisfied: though all the people cried out against them, though God thundered from heaven, they laughed everything to scorn.

They were utterly lacking in all shame, and they had also become hardened. Insatiable cupidity had so blinded and demented them that they had cast aside every care for what was right and proper.

Since this was the case, God now declares that they could not escape punishment. So that this threat might more effectively penetrate their hearts, the Prophet uses an oath in the name of God: Jehovah, he says, has sworn by the excellency of Jacob.

An old interpreter has translated the words as, “He has sworn against the pride of Jacob,” but he did not sufficiently consider the Prophet's intention. For the Prophet is not speaking here of vice, but of that dignity which the Lord had bestowed upon the descendants of Abraham. We have seen this expression before: I abhor the excellency of Jacob. Some offer this translation: “I abhor the pride of Jacob,” as though God were speaking there of perverse arrogance.

But the Prophet, on the contrary, means that the Israelites were deceived, for they thought themselves safe and secure because they had been brought into great favor by a unique privilege. “This,” the Lord says, “will profit them nothing. I have until now been kind and bountiful to the children of Abraham, but I now abhor this whole dignity.” So also he now says in this place, Jehovah has sworn by the excellency of Jacob. They were proud of their dignity, which was nevertheless the free gift of God; therefore, God introduces a form of oath, the most fitting to rebuke their presumption.

Some at the same time offer this translation (or at least they give this explanation): “By myself I have sworn,” for God was the glory of Jacob. Others think that by this word, גאון, gaun, the sanctuary is designated, for this was the excellency of Jacob because God had chosen it as a dwelling place for Himself in the midst of His people. Therefore, He is also often said to dwell between the cherubim—not that He was enclosed in the sanctuary, but because the people perceived His presence, His favor, and His power there.

But I rather understand the term “excellency” in this place to mean the adoption by which God had separated that people for Himself from the rest of the world. Sworn then has Jehovah. How? By the excellency of Jacob. And thus He alludes severely to the people's ingratitude, as they did not acknowledge themselves to be in every respect bound to God. For they had been specially chosen, even though other nations excelled them in many things.

It was undoubtedly an invaluable favor for that humble people to have been chosen as God’s special possession and heritage. Therefore, the Prophet now rightly introduces God as being angry, and the form of the oath is suited to expose the people’s ingratitude: “What! Do you now rise up against Me and lift up your horns? By what right? Under what pretext? Who are you? I chose you, and you truly repay Me with this reward—that though you owe Me all things, you seek to defraud Me of My right. I therefore swear by the excellency of Jacob—I swear by the benefits which I bestowed on you—that I will not allow that which is justly precious in My sight to be disgracefully profaned. Whatever then I have until now bestowed on you, I will bring down on your own heads, and, as you deserve, you shall miserably perish.” This is the meaning.

We therefore see that the oath which the Prophet uses should be applied to the present case. He says, I shall never forget all your works, that is, none of your works shall go unpunished. For though conscience sometimes disturbs hypocrites, yet they think that many things may be concealed. If the hundredth part, or at most the tenth, must be accounted for, they think this is quite enough: “Why! God may perhaps observe this or that, but many faults will escape Him.” Since hypocrites, then, thus heedlessly deceive themselves, the Prophet says, “Nothing can ever be hidden from My sight. Indeed, as I now know all their works, I will show that all their sins are recorded in My books, in My memory, so that all things shall at last be brought to account.”