Amos 9:6

It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. IT IS HE THAT BUILDETH HIS STORIES IN THE HEAVEN - "stories," literally, ascents, i:e., upper chambers, to which the ascent is by steps (Maurer); evidently referring to the words, ; . Grotius explains it, God's royal throne, expressed in language drawn from Solomon's throne, to which the ascent was by steps (cf. ). AND HATH FOUNDED HIS TROOP IN THE EARTH - namely, all animate creatures which are God's troop, or host ...

The Prophet describes now in general terms the power of God, that he might the more impress his hearers, and that they might not heedlessly reject what he had previously threatened respecting their approaching ruin; for he had said, ‘Lo, God will smite the land, and it shall tremble.’ This was special. Now as men received with deaf ears those threatening, and thought that God in a manner trifled with them, the Prophet added, by way of confirmation, a striking description of the power of God; as though he said, “Ye do hear what God denounces: now, as he has clothed me with his own authority, and commanded me to terrify you by setting before you your punishment, know ye that you have to do with God himself, whose majesty ought to make you all, and all that you are, to tremble: for what sort of Being is this God, whose word is regarded by you with contempt? God is he _who builds for himself...

1-10 The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profess...

Verse Amos 9:6. _BUILDETH HIS STORIES IN THE HEAVEN_] There is here an allusion to large houses, where there are _cellars_, or places dug in the ground as _repositories_ for corn; _middle apartments_, or stories, for the families to live in; and the _house-top_ for persons to take the air upon. There may be here a reference to the _various systems_ which God has formed in illimitable space, _transcending each other_, as the _planets_ do in our solar system: and thus we find Solomon speaking when addressing the Most High: "The heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, השמים ושמי השמים _hashshamayim ushemey hashshamayim_, 1 Kings 8:27. SIX _heavens_ are necessarily implied in these _three_ words. According to the _points_, the _first_ and...

HE THAT BUILDETH HIS STORIES - The word commonly means “steps,” nor is there any reason to alter it. We read of “the third heavens 2 Corinthians 12:2, the heavens of heavens Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalms 148:4; that is, heavens to which this heaven is as earth. They are different ways of expressing the vast unseen space which God has created, divided, as we know, through the distance of the fixed stars, into countless portions, of which the lower, or further removed, are but as “steps” to the presence of the Great King, where, “above all heavens”...

EXPOSITION AMOS 9:1 § 6_. The fifth vision displays the Lord standing by the altar and _commanding the destruction of the temple (Amos 9:1). No one shall escape this judgment, flee whither he will (Amos 9:2); for God is Almighty (Amos 9:5, Amos 9:6). Their election shall not save the guilty Israelites; still they shall not be utterly destroyed (Amos 9:7). AMOS 9:1...

[IT IS] HE THAT BUILDETH HIS STORIES IN THE HEAVEN,.... The three elements, according to Aben Ezra, fire, air, and water; the orbs, as Kimchi, one above another; a word near akin to this is rendered "his chambers", which are the clouds, Psalms 104:3; perhaps the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, which are three stories high, may be meant; we read of the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2; and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the "ascents" y to it, as it may be rendered. The Targum is, "who causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shechinah of his glory:'' AND HATH FOUNDED HIS TROOP IN THE EARTH; this Kimchi interprets of the three above elements. So the words are translated in the Bishops' Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time, "he

CHAPTER 9 The Passing of a Kingdom and the Coming of the Kingdom _ 1. The fifth vision: The passing of a kingdom (Amos 9:1) _ 2. The coming of the kingdom (Amos 9:11) Amos 9:1. In his fifth vision the prophet saw the Lord standing by the altar. He utters His word. The description of what is to take place is very vivid. He stands by the altar and the people are assembled before Him. He smites the lintel of the door, so that everything trembles and the building falls upon them, cutting all of them in the head and none can escape. Even if they break into sheol (not hell, but the world of spirits in the unknown regions), from thence His hand will take them; if they climb into heaven, He would bring them down. If t

THE VISION OF AN AVENGING GOD. The last vision impresses upon Amos the anger and omnipotence of the supreme ruler and judge. Yahweh is seen (Amos 9:1) stationed by or over the altar (_i.e._ of Bethel) or over an altar. The agents of His vengeance are bidden by the prophet to smite the Temple. The command goes forth to cut them (the pillars) off at the top of all of them. Those who escape the shattering of the Temple (the last of them) will fall by the sword. There will be no escape for them either in the superhuman heights and depths (Amos 9:2) or in the terrestrial thickets and caves of the almost inaccessible heights of Carmel (Amos 9:3), or in the bottom of the sea. The serpent, that terrible monster which was supposed to have its home in the s

STORIES. chambers above. Compare Psalms 104:3; Psalms 104:13, TROOP. band: i.e. the blue vault. IN. over. CALLETH. Compare Amos 5:8. The LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. It. IS HIS NAME. Ref: to Pentateuch (Exodus 15:3). App-92....