"Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. (9) For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. (10) All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us."
I have often thought that this part of Amos's prophecy is peculiarly ours, and it is indeed enough to arrest our most serious attention, as a nation and a people. Surely the eyes of the Lord are upon us! Our land hath been for many generations like Judea of old, with the gracious eyes of the Lord upon us, from one end of the year even to the other end of the year. Deuteronomy 11:12. But what hath been our provocations from father to son? What the Lord said by the Prophet Malachi is our character, Malachi 3:7. Let the Reader observe the awful sifting time here spoken of;. and though there is indeed, that sweet and precious promise, that in this strict search, not a grain of the pure wheat shall perish or fall to the earth; yet in national calamities, who but must take part? When the Lord for the wickedness of a land maketh it barren, these form awful times. In the days of Lot, though sent out of the overthrow, his city was destroyed. Genesis 19:29. In the days of Jeremiah, the good figs as well as the had were carried away. Jeremiah 24:5. And the Lord by Ezekiel declared, that in respect to temporal things, he would cut off the righteous with the wicked. Ezekiel 21:3. Oh! who could but mourn to lose even but our ordinances, our sabbaths; and to have the golden candlestick of the blessed gospel removed out of its place! Revelation 2:5.