CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amos 5:25. Have] Lit. Did ye, equivalent to denial, some; others, not entire suspension of sacrifice, but mixed with idolatry. From of old they had been recreant to God. Their present offensive worship was only a continuation of the idolatry in the wilderness. Their sins were the very sins of their forefathers (Ezekiel 20:39).
Amos 5:26. Borne] aloft in pomp, the portable shrine or model tabernacle. The idolatry censured is of Egyptian origin. A literal god of stars cannot be proved [Lange].
Amos 5:27.] Banishment of the people far beyond the borders of their own land. Beyond] the capital of Syria, in which you trust for help instead of me (Acts 7:43): combines into one the several passages from prophecy. A most unlikely event then; but Thus saith the Lord indicates its certainty.
HEREDITARY SINS AND GRIEVOUS PUNISHMENT.—Amos 5:25-27
Hereditary sin was the second reason why the day of the Lord would be to them a day of distress. From the earliest period their hearts had been alienated. As heirs to the guilt and imitators of the ways of their fathers, they must be carried into a far country. Continued provocation will bring greater punishment than ever.
I. The same system of idolatry was practised. If we carefully compare the text with Deuteronomy 32:17; Joshua 24:14, and Ezekiel 20:26, we find that Israel were guilty of idolatry in the wilderness.
1. They misrepresented the true God. They made images for themselves in direct opposition to God’s command. In the very tabernacle of Jehovah they bore the shrines of Moloch and Remphan. Amos declared the men of his day to be addicted to the same sins and identified with the same disgrace. Some men inherit the lusts as well as the lands of their ancestors. The idolatry of the fathers is seen in the worship of the sons. Thus we forfeit the distinction which God gives and entail one of our own. “I will cause you to go into captivity.”
2. They worshipped false gods. “Have ye offered unto me?” Here lies the emphasis. Notwithstanding all their pretensions and sacrifices they offered not to God. “They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods, whom your fathers feared not.” We are not safe because we have a Protestant Bible and orthodox creeds, abundant churches, and religious privileges. The same tendency is in our hearts to forget the revealed character and despise the claims of God—to create and honour other gods, and amid constraining reasons for cleaving to God, make images of things in heaven above or in earth beneath. “Their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.”
II. The same perverse spirit was cherished. Stephen quotes this charge against the people, as a signal proof of perverseness of heart which had always been shown by the nation. Even in days of wonderful deliverance and multiplied acts of Divine favour they cherished a rebellious heart. Men are found now resisting the Holy Spirit as their fathers from generations before them have done. They partake of the sins of their progenitors.
1. In copying their example;
2. In commending their errors; and
3. In cherishing their spirit. Thus we may identify ourselves with sins which we do not really commit. “Neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”
III. The same kind of punishment was inflicted. If we partake of other men’s guilt we are liable to the same punishment. Israel suffered in a similar way to those in ancient days.
1. They fell under severe displeasure. Murmuring and rebellion brought upon a former race the judgments of God. Their carcases fell in the wilderness, a warning to all generations of idolatry and unbelief.
2. They were excluded from the land of promise. One race did not enter Canaan; the other was driven out of it into exile. Instead of warding off the curse, they secured its reversion. The day came when they presumptuously desired and brought darkness, not light; judgment, not deliverance. They were carried “beyond Damascus,” beyond all hope of return (2 Kings 17:6). Learn—
1. That God gives a record and warning from the punishment of men’s sins.
2. That he who commits and cherishes a sin, puts himself in the company of those who have been guilty of it from the beginning of the world.
3. That it is a principle with God to punish more severely, if less judgment do not work the end for which they are sent.
4. If men would seriously meditate upon God’s greatness and power, they would not sleep securely under his awful threatenings. Thus “saith the Lord, whose name is the God of Hosts.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 5
Amos 5:25-27. The fact that physical, mental, and moral qualities are hereditary, is proved in the persistent characteristics of races and nations. Jewish and negro types, Chinese and Japanese, have had the same characteristics for centuries. So features of morality are stamped upon descendants. By walking in the steps of their fathers, nations and families reap the same harvest. We have hereditary transmission of sins and punishment.