Amo 5 | Wesley | STEP | Declareth - Knows the thoughts of all men. The God of hosts - Whose sovereign power all creatures obey, and acts for or against us as he willeth. Let us humble ourselves before this God, and give all diligence to make him our God. For happy are the people whose God he is, and who have all this power engaged for them.

Amos 5

Declareth - Knows the thoughts of all men. The God of hosts - Whose sovereign power all creatures obey, and acts for or against us as he willeth. Let us humble ourselves before this God, and give all diligence to make him our God. For happy are the people whose God he is, and who have all this power engaged for them. The virgin - So she was, when first espoused to God. Upon her land - Broken to pieces upon her own land, and so left as a broken vessel. By a thousand - That sent out one thousand soldiers. An hundred - Shall lose nine parts of them. Ye shall live - It shall be well with you. Seek not - Consult not, worship not the idol at Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. The house of Joseph - The kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim, the son of Joseph. In Beth - el - If once this fire breaks out, all your idols in Beth - el shall not be able to quench it. The seven stars - A constellation, whose rising about September was usually accompanied with sweet showers. Orion - Which arising about November brings usually cold, rains and frosts intermixt very seasonable for the earth. The shadow of the earth - The greatest adversity into as great prosperity. Dark with might - Changes prosperity into adversity. That calleth - Commands the vapour to ascend, which he turns into rain; and then pours from the clouds to make the earth fruitful. The strong - The mighty, victorious and insolent. Shall come - Shall rally and form a siege against their besiegers. They - The judges and people. In the gate - Where judges sat, and where the prophets many times delivered their message. Your treading - You utterly oppress the helpless. Ye take - Ye extort from the poor great quantities of wheat, on which he should live. In the gate - In their courts of justice. Shall keep silence - Be forced to it. Evil - Both for the sinfulness of it, and for the troubles, wars, and captivity now at hand. With you - To bless and save you yet. The evil - All evil among the people, and yourselves. Love - Commend, encourage, defend: let your heart be toward good things, and good men. Remnant - What the invasions of enemies, or the civil wars have spared, and left in Samaria and Israel. Therefore - The prophet foreseeing their obstinacy, proceeds to denounce judgment against them. The husbandman - This sort of men are little used to such ceremonies of mourning, but now such also shall be called upon; leave your toil, betake yourselves to publick mourning. Vineyards - In these places were usually the greatest joy. Pass through - To punish all every where. That desire - Scoffingly, not believing any such day would come. To what end - What do you think to get by it? Is darkness - All adversity, black and doleful. Not light - No joy, or comfort an it. And a bear - You may escape one, but shall fall in another calamity. Into the house - At home you may hope for safety, but there other kind of mischief shall meet you. I hate - Impure and unholy as they are. Will not smell - A savour, of rest or delight, I will not accept and be pleased with. Thy songs - Used in their sacrifices, and solemn feasts; herein they imitated the temple - worship, but all was unpleasing to the Lord. Will not hear - Not with delight and acceptance. Thy viols - This one kind of musical instrument is put for all the rest. Let judgment - Let justice be administered constantly. Righteousness - Equity. Stream - Bearing down all that opposes it. Have ye - Their fathers and they, tho' at so great a distance of time, are one people, and so the prophet considers them. Unto me - Was it to me, or to your idols, that you offered, even in the wilderness? Ye have borne - Ye carried along with you in the wilderness; the shrine, or canopy in which the image was placed. Moloch - The great idol of the Ammonites. Chiun - Another idol. Therefore - For all your idolatry and other sins, in which you have obstinately continued.