CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amos 3:3. Two] The prophet and the Spirit of God. Israel did not believe that God threatened such denunciations by the prophets (ch. Amos 6:1-3; Amos 1:7-8). Amos spoke because God commanded him.
Amos 3:4. Lion] roars when the prey is before it, before it actually seizes it, and there is no possibility of escape. “After the roar there immediately follows both slaughter and laceration. For as a rule it only roars with that sharp roar when it has the prey in sight, upon which it immediately springs.” A young lion] which goes in pursuit of prey, and is distinguished from the one that lies silent until the old one brings prey near; then the scent rouses him.
Amos 3:5. Bird] God not only has the nation ripe for judgment in his power, but the judgment is deserved. As birds are not taken without the net of the fowler, and he does not take it up until he has secured his prey, so God not only threatens, but is prepared to execute.
Amos 3:6. Trumpet] blown in the city alarms every one; the coming evil should rouse from self-security (Ezekiel 33:1-5).
Amos 3:7. Lord] This explains all the similes. God is the author of these calamities. Prophets] being servants of God, must obey him in setting forth judgments upon Israel (Jeremiah 20:9; Ezekiel 9:11).
Amos 3:8.] As when the lion roars all men fear, so when God speaks I must prophesy (Acts 4:20; Acts 5:29).
DIVINE INTENTIONS AND EXECUTIONS.—Amos 3:3-8
In a few similes drawn from daily life, the prophet answers objections which break the force of his threatenings and establishes his right to prophesy. The words might be taken to describe the nature of the punishment mentioned in Amos 3:1; Amos 2:1. It is from God and not any secondary source.
2. It is deserved.
3. It is prepared.
4. It will certainly be executed.
5. There is no possibility of escape. “As the net does not spring up without catching the bird, that has sent it up by flying upon it, can ye imagine that when the destruction passes by, ye will not be seized by it, but will escape without injury” [Hitzig]? We shall take the words as a solemn warning to rouse careless sinners, and show that word and deed are one with God. He will execute what he threatens.
I. Threatening is identified with execution. Threats are not simply to frighten men. Punishment will not come, unless it has been prepared.
1. Punishment is intended. You have no need to presume on God’s favours and God’s presence with you. You do not agree and walk with God. You forget his law, and dishonour his name. There is a reason for the severity. If you walk contrary to God, he will not walk with you. If we grieve the Holy Spirit and offend God, they will depart from us.
2. Punishment will be executed. God will not warn of calamity unless there be fit objects of his indignation. His threats are not empty sounds. He has said and will do, spoken and will perform. The lion only roars when he is about to spring on his prey, and God only threatens when he is about to punish. He can neither lie nor change; he is faithful and true.
II. Execution must be traced to God himself. The word and the providence of God declare this.
1. God’s servant declares the truth. God has revealed his secrets to the prophet, and he utters the purpose of God and not his own. What right had he to speak? some would say, and the reply is: he was the servant of God, specially called and qualified. He shunned not “to declare the whole counsel of God.” His strength consisted in knowing that he was doing his Master’s will, and speaking his Master’s word. “The Lord hath spoken, who can but prophesy?”
2. God’s providence entrapped the nation. Calamities which befall nations and kingdoms do not happen by chance. God’s hand must be seen in them. If a bird is caught in the snare, the snare was designed for it. So when a people are involved in judgments, God has prepared the peril and misery for them. And as no fowler takes up the net without securing the prey, neither will God withdraw his judgments until he has accomplished his purpose. Men may resist this truth, but it is seen every day. Misfortunes as punishments are not casual, but come from God. They have a real author, a definite cause, and a special aim. God sends them in righteous retribution, determines beforehand who shall suffer, and who escape. “He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know” (Psalms 94:7; Psalms 94:9; Micah 6:9)?
III. Warning is given before the execution of threatening. In the last image the prophet seeks to rouse them to a sense of danger before it be too late. Repentance may break the snare, and men may be delivered in mercy.
1. The alarm is given. “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?” They heed the sound which warns of approaching danger, tremble in fear, and seek to escape. Or when the punishment has actually come, they ascribe it to the right source, and humble themselves before God. “Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?”
2. The danger is made known. “The lion hath roared, who will not fear?” &c. God speaks through his servants, who reveal his hatred to sin, and his justice in punishing it. He has always warned of the danger before it actually comes. “Thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” The living ministry and the written scripture are a perpetual warning to men of a judgment to come. Be not found unprepared. We may repent now, but if we obstinately continue in sin God will be just in the punishment of it. “I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my law, but rejected it.”
WALKING IN AGREEMENT WITH GOD.—Amos 3:3
Taking these words generally we learn—
I. Agreement with God is necessary to walking with God. “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” God and the sinner are not in agreement. They are at variance in heart and life. There is nothing common between them. They are opposite, as two travellers walking in different directions. Those who justify self and disobey God, must recognize their guilt, and avail themselves of the blood of Jesus. They must agree with God—
1. In disposition.
2. In character.
3. In conduct. There is a basis for friendship in Christ, and men may live at peace with God. “Be ye reconciled to God.”
II. Agreement with God will show itself in walking with God. Friendship naturally develops itself in unity of mind and pursuit, in acts of gratitude and love. David and Jonathan were real friends, and walked together. Abraham was the friend of God because he obeyed God and had perfect confidence in him. If we are agreed with God, we shall seek to please and obey him. Our life will be like that of Enoch, a constent, habitual, daily walk with God. Walking together is a common act of human fellowship, indicating “evenness and similarity of gait,” interchange of thought and opinion, and anxious desire to “keep step.” Walking implies action and progress. Our life should be devoted to God, and our deeds performed through and for God. If we are God’s people, his will will be the rule and his glory the end of our life in all things. “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever things I command you.”
III. Disagreement with God will interrupt walking with God. “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” When companions disagree they never walk together. Sin is disagreement with God, separates from him, and puts us in opposition to his will and word. It is a breach of the agreement, and a step in a crooked direction; “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Outward profession, without love and conformity to God, will prevent us walking with God. Insincerity of any kind will grieve the Holy Spirit and offend God. God will never walk with us unless we walk with him. God is ready to walk with us, “But if ye walk contrary unto me” (margin, “at adventures with me,” or another reading, “at hap-hazard with me,” in jerking, spasmodic fashion), “then will I also walk contrary unto you” (Leviticus 26).
“My business now is with my God to walk,
And guided by his holy eye to go;
Sweet fellowship with him to cultivate,
And his unclouded countenance to know” [J. F. Elwin].
PREPARATION FOR REVIVAL.—Amos 3:3
The believer is agreed with God concerning the Divine law; that it is “holy, and just, and good”—that a breach of the law should be visited with penalty; agreed with God in the atonement for sin which God has provided in Christ; and at one with God in his love of holiness. This agreement gives us power to walk with God. As a Church our hearts are set upon a revival of religion in our midst. We need as the first and most essential thing that God should walk with us. If we desire his presence we must perfectly agree with him both in the design of the work and the method of it.
I. Let us avow our desire that in our present efforts we may walk with God, otherwise our strivings after revival will be wearisome, and always end in disappointment. If we are not favoured by God’s presence in our attempts at revival, prayer will be greatly dishonoured and the Church left in a worse condition than it was before. Consider the blessings which flow from God’s presence upon the ministry, the Church, and the congregation, and let this confirm your desire.
II. If we would have the presence of God, it is necessary that we should be agreed with him. We must be agreed with him as to the end of our Christian existence; as to real desirableness and necessity of the conversion of souls; as to the means to be used in revival, and as to our utter helplessness in this work. If any good should be done all the glory must be given to him.
III. Let us put away all those things which offend our God. Before God appeared at Sinai Israel had to cleanse themselves for three days. So here. Is there pride in me? Am I slothful? Am I guilty of worldliness? Am I covetous? Am I of an angry spirit? Is there any lust in me? If so God will not walk with me. If the Master’s spirit is in you, and you long to see brighter and better days, lift up your heads with confidence in him who will walk with us if we be agreed with him [Spurgeon].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Amos 3:3-7. In these verses are Five Parables all showing God’s moral government in the affairs of the world and of his Church; and that nothing in the history of either happens by chance, but is ordered by him, using the natural elements and the greatest nations of the world as instruments for the punishment of sins committed after deliberate warning, and for the manifestation of his power and glory [Wordsworth].
Amos 3:3. Walking with God.
1. As individuals we must be reconciled with him.
2. As churches, co-operate with him.
3. As a nation, promote his glory.
Amos 3:6. The voice of God in the city. No chance, fate, nor second cause has sent the evil. It must all be traced to God. His voice must be heard—
1. In the consciences of its people. They have a presentiment of danger at the sound of the trumpet, hasten together and devise means of escape. However stupid and blind in sin, God has a witness within men, that sin brings sorrow, and is the cause of their misery. Hence the appeal, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?”
2. In judgments upon its sins. Drunkenness, debauchery, neglect of God’s house, and contempt of his word. “Evil is of two sorts, evil of sin and evil of punishment. There is no other; for evil of nature, or evil of fortune, are evils, by God’s providence, punishing the evil of sin. Evil which is sin the Lord hath not done; evil which is punishment for sin the Lord bringeth. The providence of God governing and controlling all things, man doth ill which he wills, so as to suffer ills which he wills not” [Pusey].
Amos 3:7. In this verse a high honour is vindicated to the prophetical office. The holy men of God were, by inspiration, entrusted with a knowledge of the Divine purposes, in so far as it was necessary for them to divulge them to the world [A. Elzas].
God’s secrets with his servants.
1. In the spiritual insight into his word. Our darkness does not comprehend the light. God imparts understanding, the threatenings become more solemn, and the promises more precious.
2. In the revelation of his will to man. God has spoken to men through patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. He speaks to us by the ministry now, and does nothing without disclosing it to his servants. This has ever been the law of the Divine procedure. Nothing is coming upon men which has not been revealed. “The grand outlines of the plan of Divine providence, and the events of history, to this day and to the end of the world, were made known to the prophets of Israel and Judah, and a very large proportion of them, many ages before they took place; so that a general history of mankind, as to the most important facts, might be composed from their writings” [Scott in loco].
Amos 3:8. Who can but. The intensity of feeling expressed in these words indicates—
1. An inward struggle. Shall I keep back or proclaim the unwelcome truth? Shall I alienate some, harden others, and render myself unpopular (Jeremiah 20:9; Ezekiel 33:7)? Here under depressing influence. To such inquiries the answer is, “The Lord God hath spoken.”
2. The declaration of a necessity. Every true servant must utter the word given to him. Moses, though slow of tongue; Isaiah, of polluted lips; and Jeremiah, though a child, were not excused. The apostles were influenced by this spirit (Acts 4:20); and Paul exclaimed, “Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.”
3. The assertion of a law. God calls and commands his prophets, their own spirits prompt them: hence they cannot hesitate or refuse; they must speak, whether men will hear or forbear. “Who can but prophesy?”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Amos 3:3. When God walks with a nation that nation prospers, but if that nation falls to words with God, quarrels with him about his will and law, and rushes perversely into sinful courses;—nay, if there be some in it who have no God at all, who do their best to extirpate his very name from the earth which he himself has made, then we cannot expect that God should continue to walk with such offenders. Consider whether there has not been enough in England, and especially in this great city, to make God angry with us? Has there not been grievous disagreement between the dwellers in this city and God [Spurgeon]?
Amos 3:3-6. The first question was taken from travellers, the second from wild beasts, the third from fowlers; the fourth question implies that inasmuch as God had a purpose in sending tribulation, he will not remove it until that design is answered; and the fifth, that an awakening should be the result [Ibid.].