Amos 4:11

And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I ALSO HAVE GIVEN YOU. Yahweh details His several chastisements inflicted with a view to reclaiming them; but adds to each the same sad result, "yet have ye not returned unto me." Literally, 'ye have not returned quite unto me' [ `aaday (H5704)]. Their repentance was but a half repentance, which is no true and full returning unto (Isaiah 9:13, "The people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts;" Jeremiah 5:3, "O Lord ... thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; time hast consumed them: but they h...

Amos proceeds further, and says, that God had used a severity towards his chosen people similar to that which formerly he showed towards Sodom and Gomorrah. That, we know, was a memorable evidence of God’s wrath, which ought to have filled all ages with dread, as it ought also at this day: and Scripture, whenever it graphically paints the wrath of God, sets Sodom and Gomorrah before our eyes. It was indeed a dreadful judgment, when God destroyed those cities with fire from heaven, when they were consumed, and when the earth, cleaving asunder, swallowed up the five cities. But he says that nearly the same ruin had taken place among the people of Israel, only that a few escaped, as when any one snatches a brand from the burning; for the second clause of the verse ought no doubt to be taken as a modification; for had Amos only said, that they had been overthrown as Sodom and Gomorrah, he wo...

6-13 See the folly of carnal hearts; they wander from one creature to another, seeking for something to satisfy, and labour for that which satisfies not; yet, after all, they will not incline their ear to Him in whom they might find all they can want. Preaching the gospel is as rain, and every thing withers where this rain is wanting. It were well if people were as wise for their souls as they are for their bodies; and, when they have not this rain near, would go and seek it where it is to be had. As the Israelites persisted in rebellion and idolatry, the Lord was coming against them as an adversary. Ere long, we must meet our God in judgment; but we shall not be able to stand before him, if he tries us according to our doings. If we would prepare to meet our God with comfort, at the awful period of his coming, we must now meet him in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, who came...

Verse Amos 4:11. _I HAVE OVERTHROWN SOME OF YOU_] In the destruction of your cities I have shown my judgments as signally as I did in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and those of you that did escape were as "brands plucked out of the fire;" if not _consumed_, yet _much scorched_. And as the judgment was evidently from my hand, so was the deliverance; "and yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord....

I HAVE OVERTHROWN SOME OF YOU - The earthquake is probably reserved to the last, as being the rarest, and so the most special, visitation. Frequent as earthquakes have been on the borders of Palestine, the greater part of Palestine was not on the line, which was especially shaken by them. The line, chiefly visited by earthquakes, was along the coast of the Mediterranean or parallel to it, chiefly from Tyre to Antioch and Aleppo. Here were the great historical earthquakes, which were the scourges of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Botrys, Tripolis, Laodicea on the sea; which shattered Litho-prosopon, prostrated Baalbek and Hamath, and so often afflicted Antioch and Aleppo , while Damascus was mostly spared . Eastward it may have reached to Safed, Tiberias, and the Hauran. Ar-Moab perished by an earthquake in the childhood of Jerome . But, at least, the evidence of earthquakes, except perhaps in the...

EXPOSITION AMOS 4:1 _§ 2. Second address. The prophet reproves the voluptuous women of Samaria, and fortells their captivity _(Amos 4:1);_ with bitter irony he describes the people's devotion to idolatry _(Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5):_ he shows how incorrigible they have proved themselves under God's chastisements _(Amos 4:6);_ therefore they must expect further punishment, if so be that they will learn to fear the Lord _(Amos 4:12,...

I HAVE OVERTHROWN [SOME] OF YOU, AS GOD OVERTHREW SODOM AND GOMORRAH,.... Either their houses were burnt, or their bodies consumed by fire from heaven, with lightning; not whole cities, but the habitations of some particular persons, or they themselves: AND YE WERE AS A FIREBRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE BURNING; some escaped such an awful calamity, their houses were not consumed, while others were; and their persons were safe, while others, just by them, were struck dead at once: YET HAVE YE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD; neither the judgments of God on themselves and others had any effect upon them to humble and reclaim them: such dispensations, without the grace of God is exerted, rather harden than soften; and, instead of bringing men to repentance, cause them to blaspheme; see Revelation 16:8; nor will the mercy and goodness of God, which sh

CHAPTER 4 The Second Discourse _ 1. Divine threatening and irony (Amos 4:1) _ 2. Yet have ye not returned unto Me (Amos 4:6) 3. Prepare to meet thy God (Amos 4:12) Amos 4:1. The prophet addresses them as “kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria.” The cows of Bashan were noted for their sleek and well-fed condition, feeding on the choicest of pasture. The term is descriptive of Israel's prosperous condition as well as their beastly character. They were selfish and cruel, for they oppressed the poor and crushed the needy. It seems that women are mostly here in view, which explains the fact that the comparison is with

ISRAEL'S DENSENESS. What is the real cause of conduct that merits such punishment? At the root of all the evil is a sham religion, a religion which in its mere formality and gross corruption has degenerated into a blasphemous hypocrisy. Come to Bethel! says the prophet (Amos 4:4). And do what? Why, simply rebel (against Yahweh)! It is useless to multiply religious observances and to invent new rites, to sacrifice every morning instead of once a year, to pay tithes every three days instead of every three years, and to invent new rites such as that of burning cakes of leavened bread (Amos 4:5) as a thank-offering. The futility of such sins has been demonstrated again and again (Amos 4:6). By way of warning and punishment, Yahweh had sent various calam

AS GOD OVERTHREW, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 19:24; Genesis 19:25.Deuteronomy 29:23; Deuteronomy 29:23). App-92. Compare Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 49:18. God. Hebrew Elobim. App-4. YE WERE AS. FIREBRAND, &c. Compare Zechariah 3:2 _.Jude 1:23_....