Amos 4:9

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...

Though one kind of punishment may not convince men, they are yet thereby proved with sufficient clearness to be guilty before God. But when in various ways he urges them, and after having tried in vain to correct them in one way, he has recourse to another, and still effects nothing, it hence more fully appears that they, who are thus ever unmoved, and remain stupid whatever means God may adopt to lead them to repentance, are altogether past recovery. This is the drift of what the Prophet now adds: he says that they had _been smitten by the east wind _He shows that want of food does not always proceed from one cause; for men become hardened when they feel only one evil: as the case is when a country labors under a drought, it will be thought to be as it were its fate. But when God chastises men in various ways, they ought then no doubt to be touched and really affected: when, on the cont...

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 4:9. _I HAVE SMITTEN YOU WITH BLASTING AND MILDEW_] He sent _blasting_ and _mildew_ on the _crops_, and the _locust_ on the _gardens, vineyards_, and _fields_; and this in such a way as to show it was a _Divine judgment_. They saw this; "yet they did not return to the Lord!...

I HAVE SMITTEN YOU WITH BLASTING - Literally, “an exceeding scorching,” such as the hot east wind produced, and “an exceeding mildew,” a blight, in which the ears turn untimely a pale yellow, and have no grain. Both words are doubly intensive. They stand together in the prophecy of Moses Deuteronomy 28:22, among the other scourges of disobedience; and the mention of these would awaken, in those who would hear, the memory of a long train of other warnings and other judgments. WHEN YOUR GARDENS ... INCREASED - Better, as English margin. “the multitude of your gardens.” The garden of the east united the orchard Job 8:16; Song of Solomon 4:

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 SMITTEN YOU WITH BLASTING AND MILDEW,.... "Blasting" is what we commonly call "blights", generally occasioned by an east wind; and so Kimchi interprets the word here used; and the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "a burning wind"; which causes the buds and leaves of trees to shrivel up as if they were burnt with fire. "Mildew" is a kind of clammy dew, which falling upon corn, c. corrupts and destroys by its moisture and is a kind of jaundice to the fruits of the earth; and has its name as that, from yellowness, in the Hebrew language: when the Lord is said to smite them with these the sense is, that he sent these upon the fruits of their gardens, fields and vineyards, which consumed them: WHEN YOUR GARDENS AND YOUR VINEYARDS AND YOUR FIG TREES AND YOUR OLIVE TREES INCREASED, THE PALMER WORM DEVOURED [THEM]; just when they were budding and blossoming, and bringing forth fruit; an...

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

I HAVE SMITTEN, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 28:22). App-92. Compare Haggai 2:17. THE PALMERWORM. the gnawer. Hebrew. _gazam._ See note on Joel 1:4....