Matthew Henry Commentary Amos 9
Matthew Henry Commentary
Amos 9
Matthew Henry Commentary
Amos 9
"I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, [is] he that toucheth the land and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the River, and shall sink again, like the River of Egypt; [it is] he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name. Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as [grain] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us." — Amos 9:1-10 (ASV)
The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace will never be cast down; but those who seek to climb there by vain confidence in themselves will be cast down and filled with shame.
What makes escape impossible and ruin sure is that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good.
The Lord would scatter the Jews and visit them with calamities, as grain is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people seems foretold here.
If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves will find that their profession will not protect them.
"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God." — Amos 9:11-15 (ASV)
Christ died to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad, who are here said to be those who were called by His name. The Lord says this—He who does this, who can do it, who has determined to do it, and the power of whose grace is committed to doing it. Acts 15:13–15 may refer to the early times of Christianity. However, these verses will receive a more glorious fulfillment in the events that all the prophets, more or less, foretold. They may also be understood as describing the happy state when the fullness of both the Jews and the Gentiles comes into the church.
Let us continue earnest in prayer for the fulfillment of these prophecies, and for the peace, purity, and beauty of the church. God marvelously preserves His elect amidst the most fearful confusions and miseries. When all seems desperate, He wonderfully revives His church, and blesses her with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.
And great shall be the glory of that period, in which not one good thing promised shall remain unfulfilled.
Jump to: