Amos 3:13

Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, HEAR YE, AND TESTIFY IN THE HOUSE OF JACOB - i:e., unto the house of Jacob - i:e., against the house of Jacob. God calls on the same persons as in - namely, the pagan Philistines and the Egyptians-to witness with their own eyes Samaria's corruptions above described, so as that none may be able to deny the justice of Samaria's punishment (Maurer). THE GOD OF HOSTS - having therefore all the powers of heaven and earth at command, and so being One calculated to strike terror into the hearts of the guilty, whom He threatens....

9-15 That power which is an instrument of unrighteousness, will justly be brought down and broken. What is got and kept wrongfully, will not be kept long. Some are at ease, but there will come a day of visitation, and in that day, all they are proud of, and put confidence in, shall fail them. God will inquire into the sins of which they have been guilty in their houses, the robbery they have stored up, and the luxury in which they lived. The pomp and pleasantness of men's houses, do not fortify against God's judgments, but make sufferings the more grievous and vexatious. Yet a remnant, according to the election of grace, will be secured by our great and good Shepherd, as from the jaws of destruction, in the worst times....

Verse Amos 3:13. _HEAR YE_] This is an address to the prophet....

HEAR YE AND TESTIFY YE IN - (Rather unto or against ) the house of Israel; first “hear” yourselves, then “testify,” that is, solemnly “protest,” in the Name of God; and “bear witness unto” and “against” them, so that the solemn words may sink into them. It is of little avail to “testfy,” unless we first “hear;” nor can man “bear witness” to what he doth not know; nor will words make an “impression,” that is, leave a trace of themselves, be stamped in or on people’s souls, unless the soul which utters them have first hearkened unto them. SAITH THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS - “So thundereth, as it were, the authority of the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of the shepherd. Foretelling and protesting the destruction of the altar of Bethel, he sets his God against the god whom Israel had chosen as theirs and worshiped there, “the Lord God of hosts,” against “the similitude of a calf that eateth hay”...

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-CH. 6:14 Part II. THREE ADDRESSES PARTICULARIZING THE SINS OF ISRAEL AND ANNOUNCING IMMINENT JUDGMENT. AMOS 3:1 _§ 1. First address: the prophet begins by showing Israel's ingratitude for past mercies _(Amos 3:1, Amos 3:2)_, and his own commission to announce the coming judgment _(Amos 3:3). They have drawn this upon themselves by iniquities which astonish even heathen

HEAR YE, AND TESTIFY IN THE HOUSE OF JACOB,.... The prophets and priests, whose business it was to speak to the people from the Lord, and declare his will to them, and to admonish them of their sin and danger, are here called upon to hearken to what the Lord was about to say, and to testify and publish it to the people of Israel, the posterity of Jacob, though sadly degenerated: SAITH THE LORD GOD, THE GOD OF HOSTS; the eternal Jehovah, the Being of beings, the God of the whole earth, the God of the armies above and below; and, being so great, ought to be heard with the greatest attention and reverence in what follows....

II. THE PROPHETIC MESSAGES UNCOVERING THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE CHAPTER 3 The First Discourse _ 1. There is cause for judgment (Amos 3:1) _ 2. The coming judgment visitation (Amos 3:9) Amos 3:1. “Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You have I only known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.” This is the solemn beginning of the special messages addressed to the nation by the humble herdman of Tekoa. The Lord had singled them out from the other nations. He had separated them unto Himself. With His mighty power and outstretched arm He had del

GUILT AND DOOM OF SAMARIA. The prophet proceeds to apply the lesson. The peoples are summoned to proclaim the fate that has befallen (Amos 3:9 *) the castles of Ashdod and those in the land of Egypt, and then to assemble and witness the sins of Samaria. From the mountains of Samaria, the city presents a spectacle of great turmoil and deep-rooted oppression. And the reason is (Amos 3:10) that the ruling classes have no proper sense of what is right or straightforward. Wrong thought brings wrong doing, and wrong doing inevitably brings punishment. Therefore an adversary will succeed in encompassing the land and will be the means of bringing low the proud and rich potentates. Amos knew by experience that when the lion attacks the sheep, often all that can be saved is two legs or the piece of an ear ...

THE HOUSE OF JACOB: i.e. the whole of the natural seed. See note on Amos 3:1. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim_. App-4. SAITH THE LORD GOD, THE GOD OF HOSTS. [is] the oracle of Adonai, the Elohim of Zebaioth....

The sentence. _An adversary_ or _Distress_, a rendering which most moderns prefer. there shall be _even round about_ The Hebrew is harsh: a very slight change, supported by Pesh. (יְסֹבֵב for וּסְבִב), yields _shall surround_(or _encircle_), which is to be preferred. _he shall bring down thy strength_ or, _thy strength shall be brought down_, as the same Hebrew may be rendered (Ges.-Kautzsch, § 144. 3 a), though Wellh. would read _hûrad_for _hôrîd_. The foe will encircle the land; the strong -crown" of Samaria will be -brought down" to the ground (cf. Deuteronomy 28:52; Ezekiel 30:6; Isaiah 28:2 _b_); and its palaces ...