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Amos Capítulo 2
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In this chapter, I. God, by the prophet, proceeds in a like controversy with Moab as before with other nations, Am 2:1-3. II. He shows what quarrel he had with Judah, Am 2:4,5. III. He at length begins his charge against Israel, to which all that goes before is but an introduction. Observe, 1. The sins they are charged with—injustice, oppression, whoredom, Am 2:6-8. 2. The aggravations of those sins—the temporal and spiritual mercies God had bestowed upon them, for which they had made him such ungrateful returns, Am 2:9-12. 3. God's complaint of them for their sins (Am 2:13) and his threatenings of their ruin, and their utter inability to prevent it, Am 2:14-16.
1-8
The Judgment of Moab and of Judah; The Judgment of Israel (790 BC)
简体中文
摩押与犹大的审判；以色列的审判（公元前790年）
¹ 耶和华如此说：摩押三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去她的刑罚；因为她将以东王的骸骨焚烧成灰。
² 我却要降火在摩押，烧灭基列的宫殿；摩押必在哄嚷、呐喊、和角声中死亡。
³ 我要从她中间剪除审判官，将她一切的首领与她一同杀戮。这是耶和华说的。
⁴ 耶和华如此说：犹大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他们的刑罚；因为他们厌弃耶和华的律法，不遵守祂的诫命；他们列祖所随从的虚假偶像使他们走迷了。
⁵ 我却要降火在犹大，烧灭耶路撒冷的宫殿。
⁶ 耶和华如此说：以色列人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他们的刑罚；因他们为银子卖了义人，为一双鞋卖了穷人。
⁷ 他们见穷人头上所蒙的灰尘也就垂涎，阻碍谦卑人的道路；父子同一个女子行淫，亵渎我的圣名。
⁸ 他们在各坛旁铺人所当的衣服，卧在其上；又在他们神的殿中喝受罚之人的酒。
此处可见：I. 摩押的审判，摩押是接壤以色列的又一列国。他们要被算账，并因三番四次的过犯受罚，与前述各国一样。如今：1. 摩押的第四次过犯，正如先前被提到台前的那些国家一样，乃是残忍。所举的例子与神的百姓无关，乃是与他们一样的异教徒：摩押王将以东王的骸骨焚烧成灰。我们读到以东人与摩押人之间曾有过战争，其中摩押王在困窘愤怒之中，将自己的儿子献为燔祭，以求平息他神的怒气，王下3:26-27。似乎后来他或他的某位继承者，为了报复以东人使他陷入那般绝境，便在对以东王占了上风之时，将他生擒活活烧成灰，或将他杀了焚尸，又或挖掘他们已故之王的骸骨——特别是那个曾使他陷入窘境之王的骸骨——出于暴怒狂恨之心，将其烧成灰；或许还把他的骨粉用来粉饰自己宫殿的墙壁和天花板，好叫他目睹那报复的纪念碑而自乐。复仇比生命本身更甘甜。 残害人的身体是野蛮的，因为我们自己也在肉身之中；凌辱死尸乃是愚妄的，更是不敬虔的，因为我们信且盼望他们的复活；而凌辱君王的死尸（其身位与名号理当格外受人敬重尊崇）则是对王权的侮辱；那些践踏死狮的人，若狮子还活着，他们必在它面前战栗——这是心胸卑鄙的明证。2. 摩押因这罪所受的刑罚是：(1.) 死亡的审判。残忍待人的必受残忍的报应（摩2:2）：摩押必死亡；摩押人必在战争的刀剑下被剪除，那是在哄嚷、呐喊、角声中杀人的，这些情形使它更加可怖，正如狮子的咆哮使它的撕裂更加可怕。战士在混战中的一切争战都是如此，赛9:5。(2.) 这审判也临到他们的审判官，就是那曾下令将以东王的骸骨烧成灰的：我必剪除他，神说（摩2:3）；他必知道有一位比他更高的审判者。君王、首席审判官，以及一切下级的审判官和首领，必一同被剪除。百姓有时虽因君王的罪而受苦，但君王自己也断不能逃脱，耶48:47。这是摩押受审判的内容至此。
II. 犹大也是以色列的近邻，因此，如今公义既在巡回审断，犹大便不能被放过；这个国家已使自己与异教徒相似并与他们混杂，所以这里的控告也以与控告其余各国相同的形式发出：犹大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他们的刑罚；他们的罪与列国的罪一样多，我们在耶9:26看到他们被与列国混在一起论及：“至于埃及、和犹大、和以东”，把他们混作一团；“他们都一样”；这里的判决也相同（摩2:5）：“我却要降火在犹大，尽管这是神被人认识的地，它必烧灭耶路撒冷的宫殿，尽管这是圣城，而神从前在其中的宫殿里为人所共知作为避难所”，诗48:3。但此处加在犹大身上的罪与其余各国都不同。其余各国是因向人所行的伤害而被算账，犹大却是因向神所行的亵渎而被算账，摩2:4。1. 他们轻看祂的律例，执意不顺服：他们厌弃耶和华的律法，仿佛它不值一顾，其中没有任何可贵之处；如此行，他们也就轻看了赐律者的智慧、公义、良善，以及祂的权柄与主权；当他们不遵守祂的诫命，对之毫无良心上的顾念、毫不留心时，实际上就是这么作的。2. 他们尊崇祂的对手，就是他们的偶像，此处称为使他们走迷了的虚假偶像；因为雕木偶的不过是教训人虚假，哈2:18。凡被引诱陷入偶像之错谬中的人，也必因此被引诱陷入无数其他的错谬之中，一个荒谬既立，便有千个相随。 神是无限永恒的灵；但当神的真理因拜偶像而变为虚谎时，祂其他一切真理也有同样被改变的危险；这样，他们的偶像就使他们走迷了，神也公义地任凭他们陷入强烈的迷惑；他们犯罪不能以那是他们列祖所随从的虚假为借口，因为他们理当从那些手执这些虚谎而灭亡的人得着警戒，而非效法他们的样式。
III. 我们现在终于来到阿摩司论以色列所看见的话。责备与警告既已巡回一周，便在此汇聚、在此落脚。他像对待其余各国一样从他们开始：以色列人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他们的刑罚；若这一切国家都要因他们的罪孽受罚，以色列岂能不受罚呢？此处请观察他们所要被算账的罪是些什么。1. 颠倒公义。这是那些受托执行公义的人所犯的罪——审判官和官长，以及一切相关的人。他们把一个义人，并在他们面前受审时他那义的案件，为一锱银子而卖了毫不顾惜；判决不是根据案情的实情，贿赂总能扭转天平，审判权被公开拍卖给最高出价者。他们肯为一双鞋那点利益出卖一个穷人的性命和生计；只要给他们一双鞋，那不能给他们那么多的穷人的案件就要被出卖，并被交在毫无怜悯之人的怜悯之下。他们宁可赌小注也不肯袖手。为了一点饼，这样的人就会犯罪。 请注意：凡为任何事物出卖良心的人，终必为几乎一文不值的事而出卖它；那些以银子卖公义的人，终必卑鄙到为一双鞋——为旧鞋一双——而出卖它。2. 欺压穷人，并要借加害于他们来得利：他们见穷人头上所蒙的灰尘也就垂涎；他们以极度的贪婪吞噬穷人，把那些头蒙灰尘、悲哀之中的人当作猎物，就是那些为父母居丧的穷孤儿；他们攫取他们，要把他们的产业弄到手；他们总不罢休，直到把穷人的头按在尘土中任人践踏。或者，他们垂涎地上的尘土，即金银——白色和黄色的尘土；他们热切地贪求它，并以不义的勒索加在穷人头上来征收它。请注意：人借使别人贫穷来致富，这是神不会长久免罚的过犯。这就是阻碍谦卑人的道路，蓄意加害那些他们明知温柔忍耐、必忍受伤害的人。他们侵犯他们的权利，破坏他们的打算，并阻挠为他们伸张公义的途径，不容他们继续推进他们义的案件；这就是阻碍他们的道路。请注意：人越忍耐地忍受所受的伤害，那些伤害他们的人罪就越重，他们也就越有理由期望神为他们伸冤、为他们报仇。我如聋子一般不听，那时你必听见。3. 可憎的污秽，甚至是乱伦本身，就是外邦人中也未曾提过的，就是人收了他的继母（林前5:1），他父亲的妾侍：父子同一个女子行淫，这是放纵混杂情欲的明证，与任何别的一样黑暗；而先前欺压勒索的罪在哪里，这罪也在哪里被发现；因为凡已经挣断公义的绳索、从自己身上甩掉它的捆绑的人，少有能持守端庄之律的。这恶行使信仰及其认信大受羞辱，以致凡犯这罪的人都被看作是有意借此亵渎神的圣名，并使这名在异教徒中成为可憎的，仿佛祂纵容那些自称与祂有关的人所放任自己的恶行，并且祂完全与他们一样。4. 他们用欺压勒索所得的来放纵宴乐，却假装以此来敬奉他们的神，摩2:8。他们在不义之外又加上拜偶像，然后想以拜偶像来为他们的不义赎罪。(1.) 他们以从穷人那里不义地榨取来的东西纵情作乐。他们安然铺张地躺卧在人所当的衣服上，按律法他们当夜就该归还，申24:12-13。他们又喝受罚之人的酒，就是他们所科罚、重重罚款之人的酒，把那以不义得来的用在感官之乐上。(2.) 他们想要以在他们的坛旁用欺压所得的肥甘设宴、并在他们神的殿中喝这酒来赎罪，那殿就是他们敬拜牛犊之处，仿佛他们要借使神与他们罪中有分的利润分享者来使祂成为他们罪的同伙——这种事奉倒配假神；但真神不能这样被戏弄；祂已宣告祂厌恶抢夺当作燔祭，并且除了以诚实得来的之外，不能蒙悦纳地事奉祂。
Original em inglês
The Judgment of Moab and of Judah; The Judgment of Israel (790 BC)
¹ Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
² But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
³ And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
⁴ Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
⁵ But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
⁶ Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
⁷ That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
⁸ And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
Here is, I. The judgment of Moab, another of the nations that bordered upon Israel. They are reckoned with and shall be punished for three transgressions and for four, as those before. Now, 1. Moab's fourth transgression, as theirs who were before set to the bar, was cruelty. The instance given refers not to the people of God, but to a heathen like themselves: The king of Moab burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime. We find there was war between the Edomites and the Moabites, in which the king of Moab, in distress and rage, offered his own son for a burnt-offering, to appease his deity, 2Ki 3:26,27. And it should seem that afterwards he, or some of his successors, in revenge upon the Edomites for bringing him to that extremity, having an advantage against the king of Edom, seized him alive and burnt him to ashes, or slew him and burnt his body, or dug up the bones of their dead king, of that particularly who had so straitened him, and, in token of his rage and fury, burnt them to lime. and perhaps made use of the powder of his bones for the white-washing of the walls and ceilings of his palace, that he might please himself with the sight of that monument of his revenge. Est vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa—Revenge is sweeter than life itself. It is barbarous to abuse human bodies, for we ourselves also are in the body; it is senseless to abuse dead bodies, nay, it is impious, for we believe and look for their resurrection; and to abuse the dead bodies of kings (whose persons and names ought to be in a particular manner respected and had in veneration) is an affront to majesty; it is an argument of a base spirit for those to trample upon a dead lion who, were he alive, would tremble before him. 2. Moab's doom for this transgression is, (1.) A judgment of death. Those that deal cruelly shall be cruelly dealt with (Am 2:2): Moab shall die; the Moabites shall be cut off with the sword of war, which kills with tumult, with shouting, and with sound of trumpet, circumstances that make it so much the more terrible, as the lion's roaring aggravates his tearing. Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, Isa 9:5. (2.) It is a judgment upon their judge, who had passed the sentence upon the bones of the king of Edom that they should be burnt to lime: I will cut him off, says God (Am 2:3); he shall know there is a judge that is higher than he. The king, the chief judge, and all the inferior judges and princes, shall be cut off together. If the people sometimes suffer for the sin of their princes, yet the princes themselves shall not escape, Jer 48:47. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
II. Judah also is a near neighbour to Israel, and therefore, now that justice is riding the circuit, that shall not be passed by; that nation has made itself like the heathen and mingled with them, and therefore the indictment here runs against them in the same form in which it had run against all the rest: For these transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; their sins are as many as the sins of other nations, and we find them huddled up with them in the same character, Jer 9:26, "As for Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, jumble them together; they are all alike;" the sentence here also is the same (Am 2:5): "I will send a fire upon Judah, though it is the land where God is known, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, though it is the holy city, and God has formerly been known in its palaces for a refuge," Ps 48:3. But the sin here charged upon Judah is different from all the rest. The other nations were reckoned with for injuries done to men, but Judah is reckoned with for indignities done to God, Am 2:4. 1. They put contempt upon his statutes and persisted in disobedience to them: They have despised the law of the Lord, as if it were not worth taking notice of, nor had any thing in it valuable; and herein they despised the wisdom, justice, and goodness, as well as the authority and sovereignty, of the Lawmaker; this they did, in effect, when they kept not his commandments, made no conscience of them, took no care about them. 2. They put honour upon his rivals, their idols, here called their lies which caused them to err; for an image is a teacher of lies, Hab 2:18. And those that are led away into the error of idolatry are by that led into a multitude of other errors, Uno dato absurdo mille sequuntur—One absurdity draws after it a thousand. God is an infinite eternal Spirit; but, when the truth of God is by idolatry changed into a lie, all his other truths are in danger of being so changed likewise; thus their idols caused them to err, and God justly gave them up to strong delusions; nor was it any excuse for their sin that they were lies after which their father walked, for they should rather have taken warning than taken pattern by those that perished with these lies in their right hand.
III. We now at length come to the words which Amos saw concerning Israel. The reproofs and threatenings having walked the round, here they centre, here they settle. He begins with them as with the rest: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; if all these nations must be punished for their iniquities, shall Israel go unpunished? Observe here what their sins were, for which God would reckon with them. 1. Perverting justice. This was the sin of those who were entrusted with the administration of justice, the judges and magistrates, and all parties concerned. They made nothing of selling a righteous man, and his righteous cause when it came to be tried before them, for a piece of silver; sentence was passed, not according to the merits of the cause, but the bribe always turned the scale, and judgment was set to sale by auction to the highest bidder. They would sell the life and livelihood of a poor man for a pair of shoes, for the least advantage to themselves that could be proposed to them; give them but a pair of shoes, and the cause of a poor man, who could not give them as much as that, should be betrayed, and left at the mercy of those that will have no mercy. They will rather play at small game that sit out. For a piece of bread such a man will transgress. Note, Those who will wrong their consciences for any thing will come at length to do it for next to nothing; those who begin to sell justice for silver will in time be so sordid as to see it for a pair of shoes, for a pair of old shoes. 2. Oppressing the poor, and seeking to benefit themselves by doing them a mischief: They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; they swallow up the poor with the utmost greediness, and make a prey of those that are in sorrow with dust on their heads, poor orphans that are in mourning for their parents; they catch at them to get their estates into their hands; they never rest till they have got the heads of the poor in the dust, to be trodden on. Or, They pant after the dust of the earth, that is, silver and gold, white and yellow dust; they covet it earnestly, and levy it upon the head of the poor by their unjust exactions. Note, Men's seeking to enrich themselves by the impoverishing of others is a transgression which God will not long turn away the punishment of. This is turning aside the way of the meek, contriving to do injury to those who, they know, are mild and patient and will bear injury. They invade their rights, break their measures, and obstruct the course of justice in favour of them, not suffering them to go on with their righteous cause; this is turning aside their way. Note, The more patiently men bear injuries that are done them the greater is the sin of those that injure them, and the more occasion they have to expect that God will give them redress, and take vengeance for them. I, as a deaf man, heard not, and then thou wilt hear. 3. Abominable uncleanness, even incest itself, such as it not named among the Gentiles, that a man should have his father's wife (1Co 5:1), his father's concubine: A man and his father will go in unto the same young woman, as black an instance as any other of an unbounded promiscuous lust; and yet where the former iniquities of oppression and extortion are this also is found; for laws of modesty seldom hold those that have broken the bands of justice and cast away its cords from them. This wickedness is such a scandal to religion, and the profession of it, that those who are guilty of it are looked upon as designing thereby to profane God's holy name, and to render it odious among the heathen, as if he countenanced the villainies which those who pretend relation to him allow themselves in, and were altogether such a one as they. 4. Regaling themselves and yet pretending to honour their God with that which they had got by oppression and extortion, Am 2:8. They add idolatry to their injustice, and then think to atone for their injustice with their idolatry. (1.) They make merry with that which they have unjustly squeezed from the poor. They lay themselves down at ease, and in state, and stretch themselves upon clothes laid to pledge, which they ought to have restored the same night, according to the law, De 24:12,13. And they drink the wine of the condemned, of such as they have fined and laid heavy mulcts upon, spending that in sensuality which they have got by injustice. (2.) They think to make atonement for this by feasting on the gains of oppression before their altars, and drinking this wine in the house of their God, in the temples where they worshipped their calves, as if they would make God a partner in their crimes by making him a partner of the profits of them—service good enough for false gods; but the true God will not thus be mocked; he has declared that he hates robbery for burnt-offerings, and cannot be served acceptably but with that which is got honestly.
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God's Remonstrance with Israel (790 BC)
简体中文
神对以色列的责备（主前790年）\n\n> ⁹ 然而从以色列人面前除灭亚摩利人，他虽高大如香柏树，坚固如橡树，我却毁尽他的果子，从上灭绝他的根本。\n> ¹⁰ 我也将你们从埃及地领上来，在旷野引导你们四十年，使你们得亚摩利人之地为业。\n> ¹¹ 我从你们子弟中兴起先知，又从你们少年人中拿出拿细耳人。以色列人哪，不是这样吗？这是耶和华说的。\n> ¹² 你们却给拿细耳人酒喝，嘱咐先知说：不要说预言。\n> ¹³ 看哪，在你们所住之地，我必压你们，如同装满禾捆的车压人一样。\n> ¹⁴ 快跑的不能逃脱，有力的不能用力，刚勇的也不能自救。\n> ¹⁵ 拿弓的不能站立，腿快的不能逃脱，骑马的也不能自救。\n> ¹⁶ 到那日，勇士中最有胆量的，必赤身逃跑。这是耶和华说的。\n\n在此，I. 神使他的百姓以色列记起他为他们所行的大事——使他们得以承受迦南地为业，而此地现今其中绝大部分正为这十个支派所享用（摩2:9-10）。当知，我们屡屡需要被提醒所领受的恩惠，因为那些恩惠正是我们所犯之罪最重的加重因素。神慷慨赐予，并不以我们的卑微不配、并不以他的恩赐与我们功绩之间的悬殊来责备我们；但他理当以我们的忘恩负义、以我们对他的恩惠的恶报来责备我们，他将他所为我们行的告诉了我们，要叫我们因未照他所施的恩还报而羞愧。儿子啊，回想； 以色列啊，当回想：1. 神曾将你从为奴之家领出来，将你从 埃及地 救拔出来——若不如此，你必在那里因奴役而灭亡。2. 他 引导你四十年 经过荒芜之地，在 旷野 之中供养你——若不如此，你必在那里因饥渴而灭亡。赐给我们列祖的恩惠也是赐给我们的恩惠，因为若他们当年被剪除，我们便不会存在。3. 他在迦南为他们开辟道路，借着一系列仅稍逊于救赎他们出埃及的神迹将当地居民除灭：我从他们面前除灭亚摩利人——此处以此代指一切当灭之族。请留意那些挡在他们路上的仇敌是何等的威武，这一点被特意指出，为要使神在制伏他们的事上更得荣耀。他们身量高大（其高如香柏树之高），以色列民与他们相比不过如灌木；他们又力大无穷，不但身材高大，且体格健壮：他坚固如橡树。 他们的国在列国中出众，凌驾于一切邻邦之上。其国的根基与防御似乎牢不可破；它如挺拔的香柏树华美，如粗壮的橡树坚固；然而当神要在那里栽植一棵葡萄树之时（诗80:8-9），这亚摩利人不但被砍倒，更被连根拔起：我毁尽他的果子，从上灭绝他的根本，于是亚摩利人不再成国，此后也再无记载。神如此看重以色列。他 使人代替他们，使万民代替他们的性命（赛43:4）。那么，那些如此藐视他的人，是何等忘恩负义！4. 他使他们 得亚摩利人之地为业——不只是将那地交在他们手中，使他们借着 战争的权柄 成为它的主人，更是赐给他们一个更好的名分，使那地因应许而归他们所有。\n\nII. 他同样以他们作为圣洁之民所享有的属灵特权与福分来责备他们（摩2:11）。他们有造就灵魂的帮助，这些帮助教导他们如何善用今世的享受，因此更为宝贵。诚然，这十个支派 没有神的圣殿、祭坛和祭司体系，那是他们自己的过犯使他们弃绝了这些，他们本可因此而被撇在完全的黑暗中；然而神 未尝不为自己留下见证，也未尝不给他们留下指引道路的人。1. 他们有先知，是敬虔方面的有力教师，受神默感、奉差遣向他们宣告神的心意，向他们指明何事讨神喜悦、何事惹神不悦，责备他们的过犯，警告他们的危险，在他们的困境中引导，在他们的患难中安慰。神为他们兴起先知，赐他们力量承担那工，并使用他们。他 从他们的子弟中兴起 他们——从他们中间，正如摩西和基督也是 从他们的弟兄中 兴起的（申18:15）。这是赐给他们国家和他们家族的尊荣，使他们有自己的儿女作神向他们差派的使者，与他们同说一种语言，并非从别国差来的外人——他们或许会怀疑那些外人对他们和他们的地怀有偏见——而是他们明知向他们怀善意的人。当知，忠心的传道人是任何百姓的大福气，是神使他们成为这样的人，因此他们理当被视为所属家族的荣耀。2. 他们有拿细耳人，是敬虔的明灯榜样：我从你们少年人中兴起拿细耳人——这些人借誓愿将自己献与神和他的事奉，并为履行此愿，舍弃了许多感官上合法的快乐，如饮酒和吃葡萄。他们当中有些少年人正值享受今生各样乐趣的盛年，却自愿限制自己；神以他恩典的大能兴起他们，作他 恩典的记念，归于他的荣耀，并作他的见证人，抵挡那个败坏时代的种种不敬虔。当知，一处地方若有卓越的基督徒，与有卓越的传道人一样，都是大福气；因为这样他们便有了与法则相配的榜样。我们必须承认，当神在一处百姓中兴起许多大有盼望的年轻人，当他使他们中的少年人作拿细耳人——虔诚、敬虔、对感官之乐向己死——这便是美事；而这样的拿细耳人 比雪纯净，比奶洁白；他们实在是文雅的少年人，因他们的 润饰如蓝宝石（哀4:7）。一处若有这样的人，有这样的少年人，便在其中得了何等大的优势——无论在引导上还是鼓励上向神而活——他们若不加以善用，他日必被追讨。以色列在此受清算，不但是因先知，更是因在他们中间所兴起的拿细耳人。论到这事的真实性，他向他们自己提出上诉：以色列人哪，不是这样吗？ 你们能否认吗？你们自己岂不察觉你们因你们中间所兴起的先知和拿细耳人而得的益处吗？当知，罪人自己的良心将为神作见证，见证他在恩典的途径上未曾亏待他们，因此他们若灭亡，乃因他们自己没有善用那些途径而亏负了自己。犹大人必亲自 在神和他的葡萄园之间审断——他本可以为那葡萄园行的，岂不更多吗（赛5:3-4）？\n\nIII. 他控告他们滥用了所享有的恩典途径，并阻挡了神赐下那些途径的心意（摩2:12）。他们非但未行在光中，反倒悖逆那光，并竭力要将其熄灭，免得它照亮他们的面目，使他们知罪。1. 他们竭力败坏敬虔之人，引诱他们偏离虔诚的认真和为人的严谨：你们给拿细耳人酒喝，违背他们的誓愿，好使他们既在那一点上破坏了誓愿，便不再指望在其他任何方面遵守。有些人他们用诡计诱骗，或用言语劝诱，使他们 用许多圆滑的话使之屈从；另一些人他们则用强力和恐吓，若有人比邻舍更严谨便加以毁谤和威吓；借着引诱他们饮酒，便毁掉了他们作拿细耳人的资格。当知，撒但和他的差役极忙碌地要败坏那些仰望天的少年的心；许多我们原以为会成为拿细耳人的人，他们借着给他们酒喝而加以胜过——借着引诱他们爱上嬉笑宴乐和酒肉之交。无数少年人本有指望成为杰出的宗教信仰者，却 因酒犯错，永远沉沦。地狱的代理人败坏了一个拿细耳人是何等的欢呼！2. 他们竭力要使忠心的传道人噤声，封住他们的口：你们吩咐先知说，不要说预言，并威吓他们若说预言必受祸（摩7:12）——仿佛神的使者理当遵守你们的命令，若没有你们的许可就不能传达所托的信息；这样你们不仅 徒然领受了神的恩惠（就是那兴起先知的恩惠），而且对那托先知说话的神加了难以想象的极大侮辱。当知，那些不能容忍忠心讲道的人要受重重的追讨，那些压制讲道的人更要受重重的追讨。\n\nIV. 他控诉他们的罪对他所造成的伤害（摩2:13）：我必压在你们身上——我被你们 挤压，再也不能容忍，因此 我要向我仇敌报仇（赛1:24）。我被压在你们身上，被你们罪孽的重担所压，如同装满禾捆的车压人一样——在 收获的欢乐 之中，一辆满载谷物的车，只要还有东西可堆便不住地堆。当知，大而可畏的神把罪——尤其他百姓口中所认信之人的罪——视为重担负在身上而加以控诉。他 因这世代厌烦（诗95:10），因他们淫乱的心而伤痛（结6:9）——这一念若不能使罪人深自悔改，必使他的灭亡更为惨重。撑托万有的大神，从不抱怨受其重担所压（他 不疲乏，也不困倦），却控诉以色列的罪孽，是的，甚至控诉他们假冒为善的敬拜，说 他担得厌烦了（赛1:14）。受造之物 既是如此负重而 叹息（罗8:22），也就不足为奇——因为造物主说：我压在他们之下。\n\nV. 他以无可避免的毁灭威吓他们。有人如此读摩2:13：看哪，我必压 或挤压 你们之地，如同装满禾捆的车压人一样——他们必被审判的重担所压，直到在其中沉陷，发出声响，如同超载的车所发的。那些不肯顺服圣道之光照的人——既不能被那光所感化，也不能因周围之人的品行而归正——必在神审判的重压下沉沦。神若日日以恩惠使我们满载，我们却仍以罪孽使神负重，我们怎能指望他不以审判使我们负重呢？而摩2:14-16在此宣告：当神出来与这惹他发怒的百姓争辩之时，他们必不能在他面前站立，不能从他面前逃脱，也不能与他对抗；因为神审判之时必得胜。他的忍耐虽已耗尽，他的大能却未耗尽——罪人必将发现这一点，且要付上代价。当亚述大军前来以刀剑和掳掠使那地荒凉之时，无人能逃脱，每人都必在那普遍的毁灭中有份。1. 想要从那奉命使一切荒凉的仇敌面前逃跑，是徒然的：快跑的不能逃脱——那些素来以巧于脱身、善于退避闻名的人，如今必发现自己的本事失效；他们既无时间逃，又找不到路可走，也无力量和勇气去尝试；他们智穷计尽，于是便逃到尽头。他们是否如亚撒黑，脚快如野鹿（撒下2:18）？然而必如他一样，跑得越快，奔向自己的灭亡越急：腿快的不能逃脱（摩2:15）。他们是否如那些人所说（赛30:16）：我们要骑马奔逃，我们要骑快马？然而他们必被追上：骑马的也不能自救 脱离追赶的人。马不能靠它得救，是枉然的。 2. 想要硬撑着作战，也是徒然的。神与他们为敌；他们岂能比他更强？ 有什么军事力量敢自称与全能者匹敌？没有：有力的不能用力。 那素来力大的人，当需要之时却不能施展。刚勇的——本应保护别人、拯救别人的人——却不能 自救，不能救 自己的性命（原文如此），不能保住自己的性命。那么 勇士 不可 夸耀他的勇力，也不可倚靠它，当 以耶和华他的神为坚固，因为在他里面有着 永远的力量。 正如身体的力量将要失效，战争的兵器也必如此。膀臂既衰，兵器也随之不足：拿弓的不能站立——虽然他立于远处，却要转身奔逃，不能倚靠自己的弓来救命。膀臂无论多强，兵器无论装配得多稳，当心灵失去勇气之时，二者都无济于事（摩2:16）：勇士中最有胆量的——素来敢于直面危险而不惊惶的——到那日必赤身逃跑，不但被解除武装，丢弃了进攻和防御的兵器，更被夺去财物——他原想随身带走的——他甚至以为 以性命为掠物 已是所能指望的最大幸事。这样，当神喜悦之时，他便 夺去地上众民的领袖的心，使那些素来夸耀自己的胆量、在战场上敢于冒险的人，漂流、躲藏 在荒野无路之地（伯12:24）。\n
Original em inglês
God's Remonstrance with Israel (790 BC)
⁹ Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
¹⁰ Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
¹² But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
¹³ Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
¹⁴ Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
¹⁵ Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
¹⁶ And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.
Here, I. God puts his people Israel in mind of the great things he has done for them, in putting them into possession of the land of Canaan, the greatest part of which these ten tribes now enjoyed, Am 2:9,10. Note, We need often to be reminded of the mercies we have received, which are the heaviest aggravations of the sins we have committed. God gives liberally, and upbraids us not with our meanness and unworthiness, and the disproportion between his gifts and our merits; but he justly upbraids us with our ingratitude, and ill requital of his favours, and tells us what he has done for us, to shame us for not rendering again according to the benefit done to us. "Son, remember; Israel, remember, 1. That God brought thee out of a house of bondage, rescued thee out of the land of Egypt, where thou wouldst otherwise have perished in slavery." 2. That he led thee forty years through a desert land, and fed thee in a wilderness, where thou wouldst otherwise have perished with hunger. Mercies to our ancestors were mercies to us, for, if they had been cut off, we should not have been. 3. That he made room for them in Canaan, by extirpating the natives by a series of wonders little inferior to those by which they were redeemed out of Egypt: I destroyed the Amorite before them, here put for all the devoted nations. Observe the magnificence of the enemies that stood in their way, which is taken notice of, that God may be the more magnified in the subduing of them. They were of great stature (whose height was like the height of the cedars) and the people of Israel were as shrubs to them; and they were also of great strength, not only tall, but well-set: He was strong as the oaks. Their kingdom was eminent among the nations, and over-topped all its neighbours. The supports and defences of it seemed impregnable; it was as fine as the stately cedar; it was as firm as the sturdy oak; yet, when God had a vine to plant there (Ps 80:8,9), this Amorite was not only cut down, but plucked up: I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath, so that the Amorites were no more a nation, nor ever read of any more. Thus highly did God value Israel. He gave men for them and people for their life, Isa 43:4. How ungrateful then were those who put such contempt upon him! 4. That he made them possess the land of the Amorite, not only put it into their hands, so that they became masters of it jure belli—by right of conquest, but gave them a better title to it, so that it became theirs by promise.
II. He likewise upbraids them with the spiritual privileges and advantages they enjoyed as a holy nation, Am 2:11. They had helps for their souls, which taught them how to make good use of their temporal enjoyments and were therefore more valuable. It is true the ten tribes had not God's temple, altar, and priesthood, and it was their own fault that they deserted them, and for that they might justly have been left in utter darkness; but God left not himself without witness, nor them without guides to show them the way. 1. They had prophets that were powerful instructors in piety, divinely inspired, and commissioned to make known the mind of God to them, to show them what is pleasing to God and what displeasing, to reprove them for their faults and warn them of their dangers, to direct them in their difficulties and comfort them in their troubles. God raised them up prophets, animated them for that work and employed them in it. He raised them up of their sons, from among themselves, as Moses and Christ were raised up from among their brethren, De 18:15. It was an honour put upon their nation, and upon their families, that they had children of their own to be God's messengers to them, of their own language, not strangers sent from another country, whom they might suspect to be prejudiced against them and their land, but those who, they knew, wished well to them. Note, Faithful ministers are great blessings to any people, and it is God that raises them up to be so, that they may justly be reckoned an honour to the families they are of. 2. They had Nazarites that were bright examples of piety: I raised up of your young men for Nazarites, men that bound themselves by a vow to God and his service, and, in pursuance of that, denied themselves many of the lawful delights of sense, as drinking wine and eating grapes. There were some of their young men that were in their prime for the enjoyment of the pleasures of this life and yet voluntarily abridged themselves of them; these God raised up by the power of his grace, to be monuments of his grace, to his glory, and to be his witnesses against the impieties of that degenerate age. Note, It is as great a blessing to any place to have eminent good Christians in it as to have eminent good ministers in it; for so they have examples to their rules. We must acknowledge that it bodes well to any people when God raises up numbers of hopeful young people among them, when he makes their young men Nazarites, devout, and conscientious, and mortified to the pleasures of sense; and those that are such Nazarites are purer than snow, whiter than milk; they are indeed the polite young men, for their polishing is of sapphires, Lam 4:7. Those that have such men, such young men, among them, have therein such an advantage, both for direction and encouragement, to be religious, as they will be called to an account for another day if they do not improve. Israel is here reckoned with, not only for the prophets, but for the Nazarites, raised up among them. Concerning the truth of this, he appeals to themselves: "Is it not even thus, O you children of Israel? Can you deny it? Have not you yourselves been sensible of the advantage you had by the prophets and Nazarites raised up among you?" Note, Sinners' own consciences will be witnesses for God that he has not been wanting to them in the means of grace, so that, if they perish, it is because they have been wanting to themselves in not improving those means. The men of Judah shall themselves judge between God and his vineyard, whether he could have done more for it, Isa 5:3,4.
III. He charges them with the abuse of the means of grace they enjoyed, and the opposition they gave to God's designs in affording them those means, Am 2:12. They were so far from walking in the light that they rebelled against it, and did what they could to extinguish it, that it might not shine in their faces, to their conviction. 1. They did what they could to debauch good people, to draw them off from their seriousness in devotion and their strictness in conversation: You gave the Nazarites wine to drink, contrary to their vow, that, having broken it in that instance, they might not pretend to keep it in any other. Some they surprised, or allured into it, and with their much fair speech caused them to yield; others they forced and frightened into it, reproached and threatened them if they were more precise than their neighbours; and, by drawing them in to drink wine, they spoiled them for Nazarites. Note, Satan and his agents are very busy to corrupt the minds of young people that look heavenward; and many that we thought would have been Nazarites they have overcome by giving them wine to drink, by drawing them in to the love of mirth and pleasure, and drinking company. Multitudes of young men that bade fair for eminent professors of religion have erred through wine, and been undone for ever. And how do the factors for hell triumph in the debauching of a Nazarite! 2. They did what they could to silence good ministers, and to stop their mouths: "You commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not, and threatened them if they did prophesy (Am 7:12), as if God's messengers were bound to observe your orders, and might not deliver their errand unless you gave them leave, and so you not only received the grace of God, in raising up those prophets, in vain, but put the highest affront imaginable upon that God in whose name the prophets spoke." Note, Those have a great deal to answer for that cannot bear faithful preaching, and those much more that suppress it.
IV. He complains of the wrong they did him by their sins (Am 2:13): "I am pressed under you, I am straitened by you, and can no longer bear it, and therefore I will ease myself of my adversaries, Isa 1:24. I am pressed under you and the load of your sins as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves, is loaded with corn, in the midst of the joy of harvest, as long as any will lie on." Note, The great God complains of sin, especially the sins of his professing people, as a burden to him. He is grieved with this generation (Ps 95:10), is broken with their whorish heart (Eze 6:9), a consideration which, if it make not the sinner's repentance very deep, will make his ruin very great. The great God that upholds the world, and never complains that his is pressed under the weight of it (he fainteth not, neither is weary), yet complains of the sins of Israel, yea, and of their hypocritical services too, that he is weary of bearing them, Isa 1:14. No wonder the creature groans being burdened (Ro 8:22), when the Creator says, I am pressed under them.
V. He threatens them with unavoidable ruin. And so some read, Am 2:13, "Behold I will press, or straiten, your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses; they shall be loaded with judgments till they shall sink under them, and shall make a noise, as a cart overloaded does." Those that will not submit to the convictions of the word, that will neither be won by that nor by the conversation of those about them, shall be made to sink under the weight of God's judgments. If God load us daily with his benefits, and we, notwithstanding that, load him with our sins, how can we expect any other than that he should load us with his judgments? And it is here threatened in the Am 2:14-16 that, when God comes forth to contend with this provoking people, they shall not be able to stand before him, to flee from him, nor to make their part good with him; for when God judges he will overcome. Though his patience be tired out, his power is not, and so the sinner shall find, to his cost. When the Assyrian army comes to lay the country waste by sword and captivity none shall escape, but every one shall have his share in the common desolation. 1. It will be in vain to think of fleeing from the enemy that comes armed with a commission to make all desolate: The flight shall perish from the swift; those that have been famed for happy escapes and happy retreats shall now find their arts fail them; they shall have no time to flee, or shall find no way to take, or they shall have no strength or spirit to attempt it; they shall be at their wits' end, and then they are soon at their flight's end. Are they, as Asahel, as swift of foot as a wild roe? (2Sa 2:18), yet, like him, they shall run the faster upon their own destruction: He that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, Am 2:15. Or do they say (as those, Isa 30:16), We will flee upon horses, and we will ride upon the swift? Yet they shall be overtaken: Neither shall he that rides the horse deliver himself from his pursuers. A horse is a vain thing for safety. 2. It will be in vain to think of fighting it out. God is at war with them; and are they stronger than he? Is there any military force that can pretend to be a match for Omnipotence? No: The strong shall not strengthen his force. He that has a habit of strength shall not be able to exert it when he has occasion for it. And the mighty, whose should protect and deliver others, shall not be able to deliver himself, to deliver his soul (so the word is), shall not save his life. Let not the strong man then glory in his strength, nor trust in it, but strengthen himself in the Lord his God, for in him is everlasting strength. And, as the bodily strength shall fail, so shall the weapons of war. The armour as well as the arm shall become insufficient: Neither shall he stand that handles the bow, though he stand at a distance, but shall betake himself to flight, and not trust to his own bow to save him. Though the arm be ever so strong, and the armour ever so well fixed, neither will avail when the spirit fails (Am 2:16): He that is courageous among the mighty, that used to look danger in the face, and not be dismayed at it, shall flee away naked in that day, not only disarmed, having thrown away his weapons both offensive and defensive, but plundered of his treasure, which he thought to carry away with him, and he shall think it as much as he could expect that he has his life for a prey. Thus when God pleases he takes away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causes those who used to boast of their courage, and their daring enterprises in the field, to wander and sneak in a wilderness where there is no way, Job 12:24.
在本章中：I. 神借着先知，继续像先前对待列国一样，与摩押展开争讼，摩2:1-3。II. 祂指出祂对犹大所怀的争端，摩2:4-5。III. 祂终于开始对以色列的控诉，而在此之前的一切不过是引言。请注意：1. 祂所控告他们的罪——不公、欺压、淫乱，摩2:6-8。2. 这些罪的可加重情节——神所赐给他们属世与属灵的恩惠，他们却以如此忘恩负义的回报相报，摩2:9-12。3. 神因他们的罪而对他们的控告（摩2:13），以及祂对他们灭亡的警告，和他们全然无力阻止此事，摩2:14-16。