For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains. The God whom Israel is to "prepare to meet" (Amos 4:12) is here described in sublime terms.
And createth the wind - not as margin, 'spirit.' The God with whom thou hast to do is the Omnipotent Maker of things seen, such as the stupendous "mountains," and of things too subtile to be seen, though of powerful agency, as the "wind."
And declareth unto man what is his thought - (Psalms 139:2). Ye think that your secret thoughts escape my cognizance; but I am the searcher of hearts.
That maketh the morning darkness - (Amos 5:8; Amos 8:9). Both, literally, turning the sunshine into darkness, and, figuratively, turning the prosperity of the ungodly into sudden adversity (Psalms 73:12; Psalms 73:18-19: cf. Jeremiah 13:16).
And treadeth upon the high places of the earth. God treadeth down the proud of the earth. He subjects to Him all things, however high they be (Micah 1:3). Compare Deuteronomy 32:13, wherein He is said to have "made His people ride on the high places of the earth" (Deuteronomy 33:29). Thus the same phrase is used of God's people, elevated by God above every other human height, even as God Himself "treadeth upon the high places of the earth."
Remarks:
(1) God avenges the cause of the poor and needy on their oppressors (Amos 4:1). The demand for luxuries and gratification to the appetite is a fruitful source of misery to the poor. So-called cheap articles of fashion are often dearly bought at the cost of oppression to the ill-paid manufacturers.
(2) The Israelite oppressors of the poor were doomed to be oppressed themselves by the enemy. Suddenly and violently should they be snatched away from their drunken revelries, as the fish is unexpectedly taken with the fish-hook (Amos 4:2). God often repays men in kind. As Israel's nobles had lived in wantonness, so should they, as eunuchs in the Assyrian palaces and harems, minister to the wantonness of their foreign masters (Amos 4:3).
(3) It is the sure forerunner of the transgressor's doom, when he is abandoned to his sin (Amos 4:4). Israel had framed for herself an elaborate system of will-worship. So well did they look upon their standing before God, that there is no mention of a sin offering among their sacrifices. They "proclaimed and published" their own "free offerings," like the hypocrites, whom the Lord Jesus censures (Amos 4:5). For men form a very exaggerated notion of their own liberality; while all the time they withhold that without which all other gifts are vain-the heart. All their doings were accompanied "with the leaven" (Amos 4:5) of pride, self-will, and real disobedience to God, amidst all their parade of obedience. It was what they 'liked' they did, not what God liked. The gratification of their own likings, therefore, was all that they really gained by their religious observances, not the averting of God's displeasure at their sin. It is a most awful, and, at the same time, just sentence which shall at last be passed on all transgressor's, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still" (Revelation 22:11). Then shall the transgressor "multiply transgression" eternally, and his sin itself shall be to him one most terrible punishment.
(4) As Israel worshipped nature under the form of the calves, so God showed them, by withdrawing the gifts of nature, that which they forgat (Hosea 2:8; Hosea 2:12), namely, that He is Author and Sovereign Controller of nature (Amos 4:6). When the gifts of God are made the instruments of dishonour to God, the Almighty Giver, in justice, takes them away. Unclean in all other respects, they should at least have, in spite of themselves, "cleanness of teeth."
(5) Yet such was their obstinacy, that all the plainly-marked (Amos 4:8) chastizements of God failed to bring them to "return" heartily and wholly to God (Amos 4:7). God will not have a partial reformation. As God offers a full forgiveness, so must man seek from Him a full repentance. So long as one darling sin is clung to, it is in vain to repent of all the rest.
(6) The "firebrand plucked out of the burning" (Amos 4:11) is easily re-ignited, if brought near the flame again; so the partially rescued sinner's only safety is in turning wholly away from sin, and returning wholly to the Lord.
(7) Israel would not do th is. Therefore Yahweh's summons to her is, "Prepare to meet thy God." They who will not meet God now as a Father, reconciled to us in Jesus Christ, must hereafter meet Him as a Judge, who will call us to strictest account for every transgression of thought, word, and deed. He is the God that shall "declare unto man His thought," and "make the morning darkness" to transgressors; "treading upon the high places of the earth" as "the God of hosts," having at His disposal all the powers, visible and invisible, He shall tread under foot the proud, and exalt the humble worshippers of God (Amos 4:13). How we should fear this great God! How diligently we ought to prepare to meet Him in His own appointed way, through faith in Christ Jesus, working by love!