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英文原文
In this chapter we have, I. God contending with Israel, by the judgments, but are reprieved, and the judgments turned away at the prayer of Amos, Am 7:1-6. 2. God's patience is at length worn out by their obstinacy, and they are rejected, and sentenced to utter ruin, Am 7:7-9. II. Israel contending with God, by the opposition given to his prophet. 1. Amaziah informs against Amos (Am 7:10,11) and does what he can to rid the country of him as a public nuisance, Am 7:12,13. 2. Amos justifies himself in what he did as a prophet (Am 7:14,15) and denounces the judgments of God against Amaziah his prosecutor (Am 7:16,17); for, when the contest is between God and man, it is easy to foresee, it is very easy to foretel, who will come off with the worst of it.
1-9
Intercession for Israel; Ruin of Israel Foretold (785 BC)
為以色列代求；預告以色列的滅亡（主前785年）
¹ 主耶和華指示我一件事。看哪，祂在王割菜之後、新的草芽初發之時造了蝗蟲；看哪，那是王割菜之後長出的後草。
² 蝗蟲吃盡那地的草之後，我就說：主耶和華啊，求祢赦免。因為雅各怎能站起來呢？他太微小了。
³ 耶和華就為此後悔。耶和華說：這事必不發生。
⁴ 主耶和華又指示我一件事。看哪，主耶和華招聚火來爭辯；火吞滅了深淵，又吃去了一部份。
⁵ 那時我說：主耶和華啊，求祢止息。因為雅各怎能站起來呢？他太微小了。
⁶ 耶和華就為此後悔。主耶和華說：這事也不發生。
⁷ 祂又指示我一件事。看哪，主站在一道按準繩造的牆上，手中拿著準繩。
⁸ 耶和華對我說：阿摩司啊，你看見甚麼？我說：準繩。主說：看哪，我必在我民以色列中吊起準繩；我必不再寬恕他們。
⁹ 以撒的邱壇必荒涼，以色列的聖所必被廢棄；我必起來用刀攻擊耶羅波安的家。
我們在此看見神對一個惹祂發怒的百姓久有忍耐，卻不永遠容忍——這兩樣神都向先知顯明了：*主耶和華指示我，Am 7:1,4,7。祂把現在的事指示他，把將來的事預先告訴他，使祂所行的和祂所定意的都叫他知道；因為主耶和華若不將奧秘指示祂的僕人眾先知，就必一無所作，*Am 3:7。
I. 此處我們看見神在審判中仍記念的兩個寬容憐憫的例子，這兩個記載彼此十分相似，所以最好放在一起思想；它們都是極具意義的。
1. 神在此首先用一個審判、然後又用另一個審判來攻擊這犯罪的國。（1.）祂以饑荒的審判開始。先知在異象中看見了這事。他看見神造蝗蟲，使牠們上到那地，要吃盡地上的出產，好剝去地的美貌、使居民挨餓，Am 7:1。神造這些蝗蟲，不僅因為牠們是祂的受造之物（在微小動物的受造中，也照樣大大彰顯了神的智慧和權能——螞蟻的構造中所顯的，不亞於大象），更因為牠們是祂怒氣的器皿。聖經說神向犯罪的百姓造災禍，Jer 18:11。這些蝗蟲就是為了吃盡那地的草而被造的；於是為此預備了大批的蝗蟲。牠們在王割菜之後、新的草芽初發之時被差來。請看審判如何被在前以先的憐憫所減輕。神本可差這些蟲子在春天、第一次長草之初——那時草最為需要、最為豐盛、品質也最好——來把草吃盡；但神容許那草生長，也容許他們收割；王的割菜已安全入倉，因為王也從田地得供應（Ec 5:9），王的割菜如同他任何別的稅收一樣不可少。那時作猶大王的烏西雅喜悅農事，2Ch 26:10。但蝗蟲受命只吃盡後草——就是我們鄉間所稱的再生草——就是初次割草之後再長出來的草，與前草相比價值甚小。神所賜給我們、又持續讓我們享用的憐憫，比祂從我們收回的更多、更寶貴；這是我們當感恩而不當發怨言的好理由。記念前草之豐的憐憫，能使我們在後草失望之時順服神的旨意。先知在異象中看見這審判大大蔓延。這些蝗蟲吃盡那地的草——那本該餵養牲畜的草——牲畜的主人自然必受其害。有人從比喻的角度理解這事，指有一支蹂躪毀滅的大軍被差來攻擊他們。在耶羅波安的日子，以色列國開始從先前諸王在位時所受的荒涼中恢復過來（2Ki 14:25）；在敘利亞諸王的割伐之後，後草長了起來——我們在2Ki 13:3讀到過那些割伐。那時神就授命亞述王率領如毛蟲般的大軍來到他們中間、使之荒涼——就是Am 6:14所提到的那國，他們從哈馬口直到曠野的河欺壓以色列人；這似乎與2Ki 14:25有關——那裏說耶羅波安恢復了以色列的境界，從哈馬口直到平原的海。當我們以為一切都已相當修復之時，神卻能使一切歸於毀滅。（2.）祂繼而以火的審判進攻，為要表明祂箭袋中有許多箭，有許多方法使犯罪的國謙卑（Am 7:4）：主耶和華招聚火來爭辯。祂爭辯，因為神對一個百姓的審判就是祂與他們的爭訟；在其中祂向他們提起訴訟；而祂的爭訟既非無故，也非無據。祂招聚來爭辯——祂藉著先知通知他們祂的爭訟，並擬好了一份聲明，闡明其意。或者祂招聚祂的天使，就是那要在此事中效力的公義使者。火在他們中間被點著——這也許指大旱（太陽的熱氣本該溫暖大地，卻把地烤焦，把蝗蟲吃過的嫩芽的根也燒毀了），或指猛烈的熱病，如同在他們骨中的火，吞滅了大批群眾，或指閃電——從天上來的火，燒毀他們的房屋，如同所多瑪、蛾摩拉被燒滅一般（Am 4:11），或指他們的城市被焚——或因意外、或因仇敵之手——因為火與刀往往並行；城邑既被蝗蟲毀壞了鄉間，也就被火所蹂躪。神所招聚的這火行了可怕的事；它吞滅了深淵，如同從天上降在以利亞祭壇上的火舔盡了溝裏的水。為止息這火而預備的水雖如深淵之水那樣多，火仍把它吞滅；因為神怒氣所點的火，誰、甚麼能站立得住呢！它吃去了一部份——就是它被差往之城市的一大部份；或如他備拉的火，燒了營的邊界（Nu 11:1）；有人被傾覆之時，別人如同從火中抽出來的一根柴。眾人都該被吞滅，但它只吃去了一部份，因為神不挑起祂所有的忿怒。
2. 先知出去在神審判的路上迎接祂，藉著禱告求祂轉回祂的怒氣，Am 7:2。當他在異象中看見這些毛蟲行了何等可怕的事——牠們幾乎吃盡了那地所有的草（他預見若任憑牠們繼續，就必如此）——那時他就說：主耶和華啊，求祢赦免（Am 7:2）；求祢止息，Am 7:5。他在對百姓的講道中預告了審判，卻在為他們的代求中懇求免去這審判。他是先知，他必為你禱告。先知的職責就是為他們所預言的人禱告，藉此表明他們雖然宣告災禍之日，卻不願望那可哀的日子。因此，神把將臨的災禍指示祂的先知，為要使他們不但藉著警告、更藉著禱告來幫助百姓——站在破口中挽回神的怒氣，正如那位大先知摩西屢次所行的。如今請留意，
（1.）先知的禱告：主耶和華啊！[1.] 求祢赦免——求除去罪惡，Am 7:2。他看見麻煩的根源是罪，因此斷定拯救的根源必是赦罪，於是首先為此祈求。請注意，無論我們處於個人或公眾的何種災禍之下，我們最當懇切向神求的，就是罪的赦免。[2.] 求祢止息——求收回審判；止息火吧，止息爭訟吧；*求使我們向祢發的怒氣止息。*這是隨著罪得赦免而來的。除掉原因，效果就必止息。請注意，那些被神所爭訟的人，很快就會發現自己何等需要呼求停戰；而且，雖然神已經開始並大大推進了祂的爭訟，卻仍有指望得到停戰。
（2.）先知為加強這禱告所用的理由：因為雅各怎能站起來呢？他太微小了，Am 7:2。這話在Am 7:5重複了，卻不是虛空的重複。基督在 agony中懇切禱告，說同樣的話，一次又一次。[1.] 他所代求的是雅各——就是稱為祂名下、求告祂名的百姓，雅各的後裔，祂所揀選、與祂立約的子民。這禱告把雅各的苦情展開在雅各的神面前。[2.] 雅各太微小了——已經非常微小，被從前的審判削弱降卑了；因此，若這些審判來到，他就必全然滅亡、歸於無有。百姓稀少；從前多得無法數算的雅各的塵土，如今很快就被數盡了。這少數人也軟弱（這是蟲子雅各，Isa 41:14）；他們不能自救，也不能彼此相救。罪很快會使大國變小，使眾多的減少，使豐盛的貧窮，使勇敢的軟弱。[3.] *他怎能站起來呢？*他已經跌倒，自己不能起來，也沒有朋友扶助他、舉起他，除非神的手如此行；那麼，若那本當舉起他的手反而伸出來攻擊他，他會變成怎樣呢？請注意，當神教會的狀態極其低微、極其無助之時，藉著我們的禱告將之交託給神的憐憫，是合宜的。
3. 神恩慈地撤回了祂的爭訟，以回應先知的禱告——一次又一次（Am 7:3）：耶和華就為此後悔。祂並非改變了心意，因祂只有一個心意，誰能使祂轉變呢？但祂改變了祂的方式，另取一途，定意以憐憫而非以烈怒行事。祂說：這事必不發生。又（Am 7:6）：這事也不發生。蝗蟲被撤回、被遣返；火的進展也被遏止；如此就得著了緩刑。請看禱告的能力——懇切的禱告有何等大的功效，能成就何等大事。藉著向審判官懇求而使審判被遏止的，已有許多次。以色列的性命被懇求保全，這不是第一次。請看禱告的人、禱告的先知對一個國家是何等大的祝福，因此他們該被何等高度地看重。若不是他們站在破口中、守住隘口，毀滅早就許多次闖進來了。又請看神是何等樂意、何等迅速地施憐憫，祂等候施恩。阿摩司請求緩刑，就得了准許，因為神有意賜予，正四處觀看有沒有人代求，Isa 59:16。從前的緩刑也不被用來反對進一步施憐憫，反而是鼓勵人去禱告和盼望。這事也不發生，如同那事不發生一樣。神的榮耀在於屢次赦免，在於祂饒恕寬容超過七十個七次。
II. 此處我們看見那些屢次被緩刑卻從未歸正、屢次被逼入困境卻從不歸向他們的神和他們的本分的人，至終被棄絕。這事藉著一個異象（Am 7:7-8）和對徹底滅亡的明確預言，向先知展示出來，Am 7:9。
1. 這異象是準繩的異象——一條繩子末端繫著一個線錘，是石匠和磚瓦匠砌牆時所用的，為要按規矩使牆又直又正。（1.）以色列是一道牆——一道堅固的牆，是神親自豎立的，作為祂在他們中間所設立之聖所的保障和防禦之牆。猶太教會論到自己說（So 8:10）：我是牆，我的兩乳如同樓。這牆是按準繩造的，十分精確堅固。其體制如此美善、結構如此緊密，一切都照模型安排得井井有條；它長久以來如同銅牆鐵壁一般屹立。但是，（2.）神如今站在這牆上——不是為要扶住它，而是為要把它踏平，或者更確切地說，為要考慮如何處置它。祂手拿準繩站在其上，為要量度它，好顯出它是一道傾斜、凸脹的牆。直者為己與曲者之準——這準繩能發現哪裏歪了。如此神要使以色列百姓受試驗，顯明他們的惡，指出他們在何處偏離了；祂也要按公平把審判加在他們身上——祂要在他們中間吊起準繩，標明他們的牆要被拆到何處，正如大衛用繩量摩押人（2Sa 8:2）為要將他們殺死。當神臨到一個百姓的滅亡之時，經上說祂以公平為準繩，以公義為線鉈；因為祂懲罰之時，極其精確。如今已經定了：我必不再寬恕他們；他們不再如從前那樣被饒恕被緩刑；他們的刑罰不再被收回，Am 1:3。請注意，長久被得罪的神的忍耐，至終必被罪所耗盡；那時候必到——那些屢次被饒恕的人將不再被饒恕。*我的靈必不永遠與人相爭。*屢次緩刑之後，執行的日子終必來到。
2. 這預言關乎徹底的滅亡，Am 7:9。（1.）百姓的全體，連同他們一切作為裝飾和防禦的，都必被毀。他們在此不但稱為以色列，也稱為以撒——以撒的家（Am 7:16）；有人認為這是暗指以撒這名字的含義——就是喜笑；他們必成為鄰舍的笑柄；鄰舍必嘲笑他們。荒涼必臨到他們的邱壇和聖所——或作他們的堡壘、或作他們的廟宇，兩者都建在高處。他們以為堡壘安全、廟宇神聖如庇護所。這些必被廢棄——為要刑罰他們的偶像崇拜，也為要使他們為自己的肉體之信靠蒙羞——這兩件事正是神與他們爭訟的原因。當這些被毀荒涼之時，他們可以在刑罰中讀出自己的罪和愚昧。（2.）王室必首先傾覆，作為全國滅亡的憑據：我必起來用刀攻擊耶羅波安的家——就是當時作十支派之王的耶羅波安第二；他的家族在他兒子撒迦利亞身上斷絕——撒迦利亞在百姓面前被刀所殺，被背叛他的沙龍所殺，2Ki 15:10。那些器皿無論何等不義，神卻是公義的，神藉著他們起來攻擊那拜偶像的家族。就是王宮也不能在神怒氣的刀劍前提供庇護。
英文原文
Intercession for Israel; Ruin of Israel Foretold (785 BC)
¹ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
² And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
³ The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
⁴ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
⁵ Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
⁶ The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
⁷ Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.
⁸ And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
⁹ And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
We here see that God bears long, but that he will not bear always, with a provoking people, both these God here showed the prophet: Thus hath the Lord God showed me, Am 7:1,4,7. He showed him what was present, foreshowed him what was to come, gave him the knowledge both of what he did and of what he designed; for the Lord God reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets, Am 3:7.
I. We have here two instances of God's sparing mercy, remembered in the midst of judgment, the narratives of which are so much like one another that they will be best considered together, and very considerable they are.
1. God is here coming forth against this sinful nation, first by one judgment and then by another. (1.) He begins with the judgment of famine. The prophet saw this in vision. He saw God forming grasshoppers, or locusts, and bringing them up upon the land, to eat up the fruits of it, and so to strip it of its beauty and starve its inhabitants, Am 7:1. God formed these grasshoppers, not only as they were his creatures (and much of the wisdom and power of God appears in the formation of minute animals, as much in the structure of an ant as of an elephant), but as they were instruments of his wrath. God is said to frame evil against a sinful people, Jer 18:11. These grasshoppers were framed on purpose to eat up the grass of the land; and vast numbers of them were prepared accordingly. They were sent in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, after the king's mowings. See here how the judgment was mitigated by the mercy that went before it. God could have sent these insects to eat up the grass at the beginning of the first growth, in the spring, when the grass was most needed, was most plentiful, and was the best in its kind; but God suffered that to grow, and suffered them to gather it in; the king's mowings were safely housed, for the king himself is served from the field (Ec 5:9), and could as ill be without his mowings as without any other branch of his revenues. Uzziah, who was now king of Judah, loved husbandry, 2Ch 26:10. But the grasshoppers were commissioned to eat up only the latter growth (the edgrew we call it in the country), the after-grass, which is of little value in comparison with the former. The mercies which God give us, and continues to us, are more numerous and more valuable than those he removes from us, which is a good reason why we should be thankful and not complain. The remembrance of the mercies of the former growth should make us submissive to the will of God when we meet with disappointments in the latter growth. The prophet, in vision, saw this judgment prevailing far. These grasshoppers ate up the grass of the land, which should have been for the cattle, which the owners must of course suffer by. Some understand this figuratively of a wasting destroying army brought upon them. In the days of Jeroboam the kingdom of Israel began to recover itself from the desolations it had been under in the former reigns (2Ki 14:25); the latter growth shot up, after the mowings of the kings of Syria, which we read of 2Ki 13:3. And then God commissioned the king of Assyria with an army of caterpillars to come upon them and lay them waste, that nation spoken of Am 6:14, which afflicted them from the entering of Hamath to the river of the wilderness, which seems to refer to 2Ki 14:25, where Jeroboam is said to have restored their coast from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain. God can bring all to ruin when we think all is in some good measure repaired. (2.) He proceeds to the judgment of fire, to show that he has many arrows in his quiver, many ways of humbling a sinful nation (Am 7:4): The Lord God called to contend by fire. He contended, for God's judgment upon a people are his controversies with them; in them he prosecutes his action against them; and his controversies are neither causeless nor groundless. He called to contend; he did by his prophets give them notice of his controversy, and drew up a declaration, setting forth the meaning of it. Or he called for his angels, or other ministers of his justice, that were to be employed in it. A fire was kindled among them, by which perhaps is meant a great drought (the heat of the sun, which should have warmed the earth, scorched it, and burnt up the roots of the grass which the locusts had eaten the spires of), or a raging fever, which was as a fire in their bones, which devoured and ate up multitudes, or lightning, fire from heaven, which consumed their houses, as Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed (Am 4:11), or it was the burning of their cities, either by accident or by the hand of the enemy, for fire and sword used to go together; thus were the towns wasted, as the country was by the grasshoppers. This fire, which God called for, did terrible execution; it devoured the great deep, as the fire that fell from heaven on Elijah's altar licked up the water that was in the trench. Though the water designed for the stopping and quenching of this fire was as the water of the great deep, yet it devoured it; for who, or what, can stand before a fire kindled by the wrath of God! It did eat up a part, a great part, of the cities where it was sent; or it was as the fire at Taberah, which consumed the outermost parts of the camp (Nu 11:1); when some were overthrown others were as brands plucked out of the fire. All deserved to be devoured, but it ate up only a part, for God does not stir up all his wrath.
2. The prophet goes forth to meet him in the way of his judgments, and by prayer seeks to turn away his wrath, Am 7:2. When he saw, in vision, what dreadful work these caterpillars made, that they had eaten up in a manner all the grass of the land (he foresaw they would do so, if suffered to go on), then he said, O Lord God! forgive, I beseech thee (Am 7:2); cease, I beseech thee, Am 7:5. He that foretold the judgment in his preaching to the people, yet deprecated it in his intercessions for them. He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee. It was the business of prophets to pray for those to whom they prophesied, and so to make it appear that though they denounced they did not desire the woeful day. Therefore, God showed his prophets the evils coming, that they might befriend the people, not only by warning them, but by praying for them, and standing in the gap, to turn away God's wrath, as Moses, that great prophet, often did. Now observe here,
(1.) The prophet's prayer: O Lord God! [1.] Forgive, I beseech thee, and take away the sin, Am 7:2. He sees sin at the bottom of the trouble, and therefore concludes that the pardon of sin must be at the bottom of deliverance, and prays for that in the first place. Note, Whatever calamity we are under, personal or public, the forgiveness of sin is that which we should be most earnest with God for. [2.] Cease, I beseech thee, and take away the judgment; cease the fire, cease the controversy; cause they anger towards us to cease. This follows upon the forgiveness of sin. Take away the cause and effect will cease. Note, Those whom God contends with will soon find what need they have to cry for a cessation of arms; and there are hopes that though God has begun, and proceeded far, in his controversy, yet it may be obtained.
(2.) The prophet's plea to enforce this prayer: By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? Am 7:2. And it is repeated (Am 7:5) and yet no vain repetition. Christ, in his agony, prayed earnestly, saying the same words, again and again. [1.] It is Jacob that he is interceding for, the professing people of God, called by his name, calling on his name, the seed of Jacob, his chosen, and in covenant with him. It it Jacob's case that is in this prayer spread before the God of Jacob. [2.] Jacob is small, very small already, weakened and brought low by former judgments; and therefore, if these come, he will be quite ruined and brought to nothing. The people are few; the dust of Jacob, which was once innumerable, is now soon counted. Those few are feeble (it is the worm Jacob, Isa 41:14); they are unable to help themselves or one another. Sin will soon make a great people small, will diminish the numerous, impoverish the plenteous, and weaken the courageous. [3.] By whom shall he arise? He has fallen, and cannot help himself up, and he has no friend to help him, none to raise him, unless the hand of God do it; what will become of him, then, if the hand that should raise him to stretched out against him? Note, When the state of God's church is very low and very helpless it is proper to be recommended by our prayers to God's pity.
3. God graciously lets fall his controversy, in answer to the prophet's prayer, once and again (Am 7:3): The Lord repented for this. He did not change his mind, for he is one mind and who can turn him? But he changed his way, took another course, and determined to deal in mercy and not in wrath. He said, It shall not be. And again (Am 7:6), This also shall not be. The caterpillars were countermanded, were remanded; a stop was put to the progress of the fire, and thus a reprieve was granted. See the power of prayer, of effectual fervent prayer, and how much it avails, what great things it prevails for. A stop has many a time been put to a judgment by making supplication to the Judge. This was not the first time that Israel's life was begged, and so saved. See what a blessing praying people, praying prophets, are to a land, and therefore how highly they ought to be valued. Ruin would many a time have broken in if they had not stood in the breach, and made good the pass. See how ready, how swift, God is to show mercy, how he waits to be gracious. Amos moves for a reprieve, and obtains it, because God inclines to grant it and looks about to see if there be any that will intercede for it, Isa 59:16. Nor are former reprieves objected against further instances of mercy, but are rather encouragements to pray and hope for them. This also shall not be, any more than that. It is the glory of God that he multiplies to pardon, that he spares, and forgives, to more than seventy times seven times.
II. We have here the rejection of those at last who had been often reprieved and yet never reclaimed, reduced to straits and yet never reduced to their God and their duty. This is represented to the prophet by a vision (Am 7:7,8) and an express prediction of utter ruin, Am 7:9.
1. The vision is of a plumb-line, a line with a plummet at the end of it, such as masons and bricklayers use to run up a wall by, that they may work it straight and true, and by rule. (1.) Israel was a wall, a strong wall, which God himself had reared, as a bulwark, or wall of defence, to his sanctuary, which he set up among them. The Jewish church says of herself (So 8:10), I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. This wall was made by a plumb-line, very exact and firm. So happy was its constitution, so well compacted, and every thing so well ordered according to the model; it had long stood fast as a wall of brass. But, (2.) God now stands upon this wall, not to hold it up, but to tread it down, or, rather, to consider what he should do with it. He stands upon it with a plumb-line in his hand, to take measure of it, that it may appear to be a bowing, bulging wall. Recti est index sui et oblique—This plumb-line would discover where it was crooked. Thus God would bring the people of Israel to the trial, would discover their wickedness, and show wherein they erred; and he would likewise bring his judgments upon them according to equity, would set a plumb-line in the midst of them, to mark how far their wall must be pulled down, as David measured the Moabites with a line (2Sa 8:2) to put them to death. And, when God is coming to the ruin of a people, he is said to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet; for when he punishes it is with exactness. It is now determined: "I will not again pass by them any more; they shall not be spared and reprieved as they have been; their punishment shall not be turned away," Am 1:3. Note, God's patience, which has long been sinned against, will at length be sinned away; and the time will come when those that have been spared often shall be no longer spared. My spirit shall not always strive. After frequent reprieves, yet a day of execution will come.
2. The prediction is of utter ruin, Am 7:9. (1.) The body of the people shall be destroyed, with all those things that were their ornament and defence. They are here called Isaac as well as Israel, the house of Isaac (Am 7:16), some think in allusion to the signification of Isaac's name; it is laughter; they shall become a jest among all their neighbours; their neighbours shall laugh at them. The desolation shall fasten upon their high places and their sanctuaries, either their castles or their temples, both built on high places. Their castles they thought safe, and their temples sacred as sanctuaries. These shall be laid waste, to punish them for their idolatry and to make them ashamed of their carnal confidences, which were the two things for which God had a controversy with them. When these were made desolate they might read their sin and folly in their punishment. (2.) The royal family shall sink first, as an earnest of the ruin of the whole kingdom: I will rise against the house of Jeroboam, Jeroboam the second, who was now king of the ten tribes; his family was extirpated in his son Zecharias, who was slain with the sword before the people, by Shallum who conspired against him, 2Ki 15:10. How unrighteous soever the instruments were, God was righteous, and in them God rose up against that idolatrous family. Even king's houses will be no shelter against the sword of God's wrath.
10-17
Amaziah's Charge against Amos; Amaziah's Doom (785 BC)
亞瑪謝控告阿摩司；亞瑪謝的結局（主前785年）
¹⁰ 那時伯特利的祭司亞瑪謝打發人到以色列王耶羅波安那裏，說：阿摩司在以色列家中圖謀背叛你。這國容不下他的一切話。
¹¹ 因為阿摩司如此說：耶羅波安必被刀殺，以色列必被擄離開本地。
¹² 亞瑪謝又對阿摩司說：你這先見啊，逃到猶大地去吧，在那裏吃飯，在那裏說預言。
¹³ 卻不要在伯特利再說預言，因為這裏是王的聖所，是王的宮廷。
¹⁴ 阿摩司回答亞瑪謝說：我原不是先知，也不是先知的門徒；我原是牧人，又是修理桑樹的。
¹⁵ 耶和華選召我，使我不再跟從羊群，對我說：你去向我民以色列說預言。
¹⁶ 現在你要聽耶和華的話。你說：不要向以色列說預言，也不要向以撒家滴下你的話。
¹⁷ 所以耶和華如此說：你的妻子必在城中作妓女，你的兒女必倒在刀下，你的地必被瓜分；你自己必死在污穢之地，以色列民必被擄離開本地。
人本以為：1. 我們在本章前半部所看見的，會喚醒百姓悔改——當他們看見自己被緩刑是為要給他們悔改的空間，而且除非悔改就不能得赦免。2. 那會使先知阿摩司在他們眼中寶貴——他不但藉著禱告抵擋那入侵他們的審判來表明他對他們的善意，更成功使那些審判轉回；他們若有一點感恩之心，這足以使他贏得他們的感情。但結果卻恰恰相反；他們仍不悔改，我們所聽到關於阿摩司的下一個消息，就是他受逼迫。請注意，正如大聖徒為那些與他們為敵的人禱告乃是可稱讚的，照樣許多大罪人與那些為他們禱告的人為敵，也是他們的羞辱，Ps 35:13，109:4。此處我們看到，
I. 有人向王惡意控告先知阿摩司，Am 7:10-11。控告者是伯特利的祭司亞瑪謝——就是在那裏事奉金牛犢的眾祭司之首，或如有人所讀的——伯特利的首長，在當地的民事上也執掌大權。他控告阿摩司，不但因為他未經自己許可就說預言，更因為他預言攻擊他的祭壇——阿摩司的講道若能取信於人，那些祭壇不久就會被廢棄、被拆毀。正如以弗所製造神龕的匠人恨惡保羅，因為他的講道會破壞他們的生意。請注意，極力假冒聖潔的人，往往是真正成聖之人最惡毒的仇敵。祭司曾是最苦毒的逼迫者。亞瑪謝向耶羅波安控告阿摩司。請留意：1. 加在他身上的罪名，不亞於叛國：「阿摩司圖謀背叛你，為要廢黨和謀殺你；他圖謀接替你的王位，所以正以最有效的方法削弱你。他在王忠誠百姓的心中撒下叛亂的種子，使他們對王和王政不滿，好逐步把他們從效忠中拉走；因此這國容不下他的一切話。」這是暗中向王暗示全國都對他憤慨，又當作眾人的意見說，他的講道令人無法忍受、無人能與之和好、這時代決不容忍——就是這時代的人決不容忍。他所謂的叛國之厚顏無恥，以及其對國家的惡劣影響，都在那句控詞中暗指了——就是他在以色列家中圖謀背叛王。請注意，那些控告弟兄的人，把他們歪曲成王和國的仇敵、君主的叛徒、攪亂國土的人，這並非新鮮事——其實他們是兩者最好的朋友。善於謀劃的人也常把並非如此的話當作全國的輿論來宣稱。然而恐怕此處所說也離事實不遠——百姓不能忍受坦率的責備，正如祭司不能一樣。2. 為支持這控告而列入起訴書的話語（Am 7:11）：阿摩司說（他們有見證人可以證明），耶羅波安必被刀殺，以色列必被擄去；他們由此推論他是王和國家的仇敵，不能容忍。請看亞瑪謝的惡毒；他沒有告訴王，阿摩司如何為以色列代求，又藉著代求先後使一個又一個審判轉回，並且直到看見判決已經發出才停止代求；他也沒有告訴王，這些威嚇是有條件的，阿摩司曾多次向他們保證，只要他們悔改歸正，毀滅就可避免。不，他說耶羅波安必被刀殺，這話並不真實——耶羅波安也並非如此而死（2Ki 14:28），阿摩司所說的是神必用刀攻擊耶羅波安的家，Am 7:9。神的先知和僕人常常不得不發出大衛的抱怨（Ps 56:5）：*他們終日顛倒我的話。*然而守望者看見刀劍臨到而警告百姓、使他們得以保全，這難道是守望者的罪嗎？醫生告訴病人他的病的危險、使他設法得醫治，這難道是醫生的罪嗎？愚昧人對自己、對自己的平安、對自己最好的朋友，是何等的仇敵啊！看不出耶羅波安理會了這控告；也許他敬畏先知，比他的祭司亞瑪謝更畏懼神的權威。
II. 他用來勸服阿摩司退去、離開這國的方法（Am 7:12-13）；當他不能從王那裏使阿摩司被囚、被放逐、或被處死，或至少不能嚇得他閉口或逃走之時，他就試圖用好言好語來擺脫他；他裝作與他相熟的樣子，用盡一切哄誘之術，勸他去猶大地說預言，而不要在伯特利。他承認他是先見，也假意不命令他閉口，只是向他暗示：
1. 伯特利不是他行使職事的合適之處，因為那是王的聖所——就是王安置偶像及其祭壇和祭司之處；又是王的宮廷——王國之殿——王室所居之處、審判寶座設立之處；因此不要在這裏再說預言。為甚麼不可呢？（1.）因為阿摩司對宮廷和王的聖所而言，是太直率、太生硬的傳道人。那些穿細軟衣服、說柔滑如絲之言的人，才適合王宮。（2.）因為王聖所中的敬拜對阿摩司而言將是持續的煩惱和困擾；所以他當離得遠遠的——眼不見，心不煩。（3.）因為阿摩司奉耶和華的名不斷用責備和威嚇煩擾王和他全家，讓他們在自己的宮廷和聖所中被冒犯，是不合宜的；彷彿君王和貴族的特權就是——當他們正向懸崖直衝之時，也沒有人告訴他們其危險。（4.）因為他在那裏不能指望任何支持或鼓勵，反而會被一些人嘲弄譏笑，被另一些人威脅欺壓；無論如何，他別想在那裏使任何人歸正，或勸服任何人放棄那有王的權威和榜樣撐腰的偶像崇拜。在那裏傳他的道理，不過是（如我們所說的）以頭撞柱；所以不要再在那裏說預言。但是，
2. 他勸他相信猶大地是他最能立足之處：快逃到那裏去，在那裏吃飯，在那裏說預言。在那裏你會安全；在那裏你會受歡迎；那裏的王宮和聖所都站在你這邊；那裏的先知會支持你；那裏的祭司和首領會賞識你，給你一份體面的供給。請看：（1.）惡人何等樂意擺脫他們忠心的責備者，何等隨時準備對先見說：不要看，或不要為我們看；那兩個見證人對住在地上的人是折磨（Re 11:10），人在時候未到以前受折磨固然可惜，但那是為了防止永遠的折磨。（2.）屬肉體的人何等容易以己度人。亞瑪謝作為祭司，所求的不過是其職位的利益，他以為阿摩司作為先知也有同樣的目的，因此勸他在能吃飯之處、在他能確定有充足供應之處說預言；然而阿摩司要照神所派定之處、在最需要他之處說預言，而非在他能獲利最多之處。請注意，那些以敬虔為得利的門路、自己受財富和升遷的盼望所支配的人，很容易以為這些也是對別人最有力的誘因。
III. 阿摩司對亞瑪謝這些建議的回答。他沒有與血肉之人商量，也不以致富為念，而是要充分證明他的職事，在履行職責上被發現為忠心——不求全身而退，但求良心無虧；因此他決心堅守崗位，在回答亞瑪謝時：
1. 他為自己始終堅守工作和崗位辯護（Am 7:14-15）；而他確信不但能為他撐腰、更能約束他的，乃是他有神的授權和差遣：「我原不是先知，也不是先知的門徒——既非生於此職、也非長於此職，原先並非如撒母耳和耶利米那樣被指定為先知，也不像許多人那樣在先知學校中受過教育；我原是牧人，是放牲畜的，又是修理桑樹的。」我們這裏的桑樹不結果子，但顯然他們的那種是結果子的；阿摩司修理桑樹，或為牲畜、或為自己和家人、或為出售。他是個樸實的鄉下人，在鄉下活計中長大、受僱，習慣鄉下飲食。他既跟牛群、也跟羊群。神從那裏選召他，吩咐他去向我民以色列說預言——把他從主所領受的信息傳給他們。神使他成為先知，而且是向他們作先知，指派了他的工作和崗位。因此他不該被噤聲，因為：（1.）他能出示神的委任狀來證明他所行的。他不是未蒙差遣就擅自奔跑的；他如保羅一樣聲稱自己是奉召作使徒的；人若抵擋反對任何奉神名而來的，若對祂的先見說：不要看，或使祂所吩咐說話的人閉口，就必發現自己是抵擋神。對使者的冒犯就是對差遣他的君王的冒犯。從神領有授權的人，不當懼怕人的面色。（2.）他在領受那委任之前所處的卑微身分，不但不削弱、反而加強了他的憑據。[1.] 他從未想過要作先知，因此他的說預言不能歸因於被挑起的期望或狂熱的想像，而純粹出於神的感動。[2.] 他未受過說預言之技藝或奧秘的教育和訓練，因此他這方面的能力必是直接從神而來的，這是他使命來自神不可辯駁的證據。使徒們本是無學問的小民，卻證明了他們的知識歸功於曾跟隨耶穌，Act 4:13。當寶貝放在這樣的瓦器裏，就因此顯明莫大的能力是出於神、不是出於我們，2Co 4:7。[3.] 他有一份正當的職業，可以舒適地維持自己和家人的生活；因此不需要如亞瑪謝所暗示的那樣為餅而說預言（Am 7:12）；他不是把它當作謀生的行業，而是當作榮耀神、行善的託付。[4.] 他一生習慣了在貧窮農夫中的簡樸生活，從來不愛慕華麗或珍饈；若非神所召他作的工把他召到那裏，他決不會硬擠到王宮和聖所的近旁。[5.] 以他如此卑微的出身，若非被比自己更大的靈所激勵，他決不敢對君王和大人說話，更不敢對他們說如此大膽、如此令人震怒的話。若非差遣他的神堅固他，他決不能如此硬著臉面好像堅石，Isa 50:7。請注意，神常揀選世上軟弱的、愚拙的，為要使智慧人和有權能的羞愧；一個提哥亞的牧人，當他從神領受權柄和能力為神行事之時，就使伯特利的祭司蒙羞。
2. 他因亞瑪謝的反對而定他的罪，並宣告神對他的審判——不是出於私人的憤恨或報復，而是奉耶和華的名、憑祂所賜的權柄，Am 7:16-17。亞瑪謝不准阿摩司講道，因此他特別受命向他講道：現在你們要聽耶和華的話——聽了就戰兢。不能忍受普遍性災禍的人，可以預期自己專屬的災禍。他所被控的罪，是禁止阿摩司說預言；我們沒有看見他打他、或把他枷鎖，只是命令他閉口：不要向以色列說預言，也不要向以撒家滴下你的話——他不僅不可向他們如雷轟，連一句話也不可向他們滴下；他連那雨——那細雨——都受不了。所以讓他聽他的判決吧。
（1.）因他反對阿摩司，神必使災禍臨到他自己和他的家。這就是使他罪惡滿盈的罪。[1.] 他在一切親屬關係中都得不到安慰，反而在最親近的人身上受苦：你的妻子必作妓女——或被士兵強暴，如基比亞人對利未人的妾所行的（他們玷污錫安的女子，La 5:11）；或她自己邪惡地行淫——這雖是她的罪、她的大罪，卻是他的痛苦、他的大痛苦和羞辱，也是他推動屬靈淫亂所當受的公正刑罰。有時我們親屬的罪當被看作神加在我們身上的審判。他的兒女雖然為人誠實，卻不能保全性命：你的兒女必倒在刀下——戰爭的刀下，而他自己要活著看見這事。他在罪惡中教養他們，因此神必在罪惡中剪除他們。[2.] 他必被剝奪一切產業；產業必落入仇敵手中，被瓜分——在兵丁中間拈鬮分佔。不義之財不能長久保有。[3.] 他自己必死在異鄉——不在曾歸耶和華為聖的以色列地，而在污穢之地——外邦之地；這樣一個恨惡並禁制神先知、又大力促成自己國家被偶像崇拜所污染的外邦人，正是在那裏結束自己的日子最合適之處。
（2.）儘管他反對阿摩司，神必使災禍臨到這地和這國。他因說以色列必被擄去（Am 7:11）而被控告，他卻堅持這話，並重複一遍；因為人的不信不能使神的話失效。耶和華話語的默示可以與之相爭，卻不能被甩脫。任憑亞瑪謝發怒、焦躁、說甚麼反對的話，以色列民必被擄離開本地。請注意，與神的審判相爭是徒然的；因為神審判之時必獲勝。堵住神僕人的口，不能阻止神話語的進展，因為它不會徒然返回。
英文原文
Amaziah's Charge against Amos; Amaziah's Doom (785 BC)
¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
¹¹ For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
¹² Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
¹³ But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
¹⁴ Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit:
¹⁵ And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
¹⁶ Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
¹⁷ Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
One would have expected, 1. That what we met with in the former part of the chapter would awaken the people to repentance, when they saw that they were reprieved in order that they might have space to repent and that they could not obtain a pardon unless they did repent. 2. That it would endear the prophet Amos to them, who had not only shown his good-will to them in praying against the judgments that invaded them, but had prevailed to turn away those judgments, which, if they had had any sense of gratitude, would have gained him an interest in their affections. But it fell out quite contrary; they continue impenitent, and the next news we hear of Amos is that he is persecuted. Note, As it is the praise of great saints that they pray for those that are enemies to them, so it is the shame of many great sinners that they are enemies to those who pray for them, Ps 35:13,109:4. We have here,
I. The malicious information brought to the king against the prophet Amos, Am 7:10,11. The informer was Amaziah the priest of Bethel, the chief of the priests that ministered to the golden calf there, the president of Bethel (so some read it), that had the principal hand in civil affairs there. He complained against Amos, not only because he prophesied without license from him, but because he prophesied against his altars, which would soon be deserted and demolished if Amos's preaching could but gain credit. Thus the shrine-makers at Ephesus hated Paul, because his preaching tended to spoil their trade. Note, Great pretenders to sanctity are commonly the worst enemies to those who are really sanctified. Priests have been the most bitter persecutors. Amaziah brings an information to Jeroboam against Amos. Observe, 1. The crime he is charged with is no less than treason: "Amos has conspired against thee, to depose and murder thee; he aims at succeeding thee, and therefore is taking the most effectual way to weaken thee. He sows the seeds of sedition in the hearts of the good subjects of the king, and makes them disaffected to him and his government, that he may draw them by degrees from their allegiance; upon this account the land is not able to bear his words." It is slyly insinuated to the king that the country was exasperated against him, and it is given in as their sense that his preaching was intolerable, and such as nobody could be reconciled to, such as the times would by no means bear, that is, the men of the times would not. Both the impudence of his supposed treason, and the bad influence it would have upon the country, are intimated in that part of the charge, that he conspired against the king in the midst of the house of Israel. Note, It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince and troublers of the land, when really they are the best friends to both. And it is common for designing men to assert that as the sense of the country which is far from being so. And yet here, I doubt, it was too true, that the people could not bear plain dealing any more than the priests. 2. The words laid in the indictment for the support of this charge (Am 7:11): Amos says (and they have witnesses ready to prove it) Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive; and hence they infer that he is an enemy to his king and country, and not to be tolerated. See the malice of Amaziah; he does not tell the king how Amos had interceded for Israel, and by his intercession had turned away first one judgment and then another, and did not let fall his intercession till he saw the decree had gone forth; he does not tell him that these threatenings were conditional, and that he had often assured them that if they would repent and reform the ruin should be prevented. Nay, it was not true that he said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, nor did he so die (2Ki 14:28), but that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword, Am 7:9. God's prophets and ministers have often had occasion to make David's complaint (Ps 56:5), Every day they wrest my words. But shall it be made the watchman's crime, when he sees the sword coming, to give warning to the people, that they may get themselves secured? or the physician's crime to tell his patient of the danger of his disease, that he may use means for the cure of it? What enemies are foolish men to themselves, to their own peace, to their best friends! It does not appear that Jeroboam took any notice of this information; perhaps he reverenced a prophet, and stood more in awe of the divine authority than Amaziah his priest did.
II. The method he used to persuade Amos to withdraw and quit the country (Am 7:12,13); when he could not gain his point with the king to have Amos imprisoned, banished, or put to death, or at least to have him frightened into silence or flight, he tried what he could do by fair means to get rid of him; he insinuated himself into his acquaintance, and with all the arts of wheedling endeavored to persuade him to go and prophesy in the land of Judah, and not at Bethel. He owns him to be a seer, and does not pretend to enjoin him silence, but suggests to him,
1. That Bethel was not a proper place for him to exercise his ministry in, for it was the king's chapel, or sanctuary, where he had his idols and their altars and priests; and it was the king's court, or the house of the kingdom, where the royal family resided and where were set the thrones of judgment; and therefore prophesy not any more here. And why not? (1.) Because Amos is too plain and blunt a preacher for the court and the king's chapel. Those that wear silk and fine clothing, and speak silken soft words, are fit for king's palaces. (2.) Because the worship that is in the king's chapel will be a continual vexation and trouble to Amos; let him therefore get far enough from it, and what the eye sees not the heart grieves not for. (3.) Because it was not fit that the king and his house should be affronted in their own court and chapel by the reproofs and threatenings which Amos was continually teazing them with in the name of the Lord; as if it were the prerogative of the prince, and the privilege of the peers, when they are running headlong upon a precipice, not to be told of their danger. (4.) Because he could not expect any countenance or encouragement there, but, on the contrary, to be bantered and ridiculed by some and to be threatened and brow-beaten by others; however, he could not think to make any converts there, or to persuade any from that idolatry which was supported by the authority and example of the king. To preach his doctrine there was but (as we say) to run his head against a post; and therefore prophesy no more there. But,
2. He persuades him that the land of Judah was the fittest place for him to set up in: Flee thee away thither with all speed, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. There thou wilt be safe; there thou wilt be welcome; the king's court and chapel there are on thy side; the prophets there will second thee; the priests and princes there will take notice of thee, and allow thee an honourable maintenance. See here, (1.) How willing wicked men are to get clear of their faithful reprovers, and how ready to say to the seers, See not, or See not for us; the two witnesses were a torment to those that dwelt on the earth (Re 11:10), and it were indeed a pity that men should be tormented before the time, but that it is in order to the preventing of eternal torment. (2.) How apt worldly men are to measure others by themselves. Amaziah, as a priest, aimed at nothing but the profits of his place, and he thought Amos, as a prophet, had the same views, and therefore advised him to prophesy were he might eat bread, where he might be sure to have as much as he chose; whereas Amos was to prophesy where God appointed him, and where there was most need of him, not where he would get most money. Note, Those that make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment themselves, are ready to think these the most powerful inducements with others also.
III. The reply which Amos made to these suggestions of Amaziah's. He did not consult with flesh and blood, nor was it his care to enrich himself, but to make full proof of his ministry, and to be found faithful in the discharge of it, not to sleep in a whole skin, but to keep a good conscience; and therefore he resolved to abide by his post, and, in answer to Amaziah,
1. He justified himself in his constant adherence to his work and to his place (Am 7:14,15); and that which he was sure would not only bear him out, but bind him to it, was that he had a divine warrant and commission for it: "I was no prophet, nor prophet's son, neither born nor bred to the office, not originally designed for a prophet, as Samuel and Jeremiah, not educated in the schools of the prophets, as many others were; but I was a herdsman, a keeper of cattle, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit." Our sycamores bear no fruit, but, it seems, theirs did, which Amos gathered either for his cattle or for himself and his family, or to sell. He was a plain country-man, bred up and employed in country work and used to country fare. He followed the flocks as well as the herds, and thence God took him, and bade him go and prophesy to his people Israel, deliver to them such messages as he should from time to time receive from the Lord. God made him a prophet, and a prophet to them, appointed him his work and appointed him his post. Therefore he ought not to be silenced, for, (1.) He could produce a divine commission for what he did. He did not run before he was sent, but pleads, as Paul, that he was called to be an apostle; and men will find it is at their peril if they contradict and oppose any that come in God's name, if they say to his seers, See not, or silence those whom he has bidden to speak; such fight against God. An affront done to an ambassador is an affront to the prince that sends him. Those that have a warrant from God ought not to fear the face of man. (2.) The mean character he wore before he received that commission strengthened his warrant, so far was it from weakening it. [1.] He had no thoughts at all of ever being a prophet, and therefore his prophesying could not be imputed to a raised expectation or a heated imagination, but purely to a divine impulse. [2.] He was not educated nor instructed in the art or mystery of prophesying, and therefore he must have his abilities for it immediately from God, which is an undeniable proof that he had his mission from him. The apostles, being originally unlearned and ignorant men, evidenced that they owed their knowledge to their having been with Jesus, Act 4:13. When the treasure is put into such earthen vessels, it is thereby made to appear that the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man, 2Co 4:7. [3.] He had an honest calling, by which he could comfortably maintain himself and his family; and therefore did not need to prophesy for bread, as Amaziah suggested (Am 7:12), did not take it up as a trade to live by, but as a trust to honour God and do good with. [4.] He had all his days been accustomed to a plain homely way of living among poor husbandmen, and never affected either gaieties or dainties, and therefore would not have thrust himself so near the king's court and chapel if the business God had called him to had not called him thither. [5.] Having been so meanly bred, he could not have the courage to speak to kings and great men, especially to speak such bold and provoking things to them, if he had not been animated by a greater spirit than his own. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint, Isa 50:7. Note, God often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and a herdman of Tekoa puts to shame a priest of Bethel, when he receives from God authority and ability to act for him.
2. He condemns Amaziah for the opposition he gave them, and denounces the judgments of God against him, not from any private resentment or revenge, but in the name of the Lord and by authority from him, Am 7:16,17. Amaziah would not suffer Amos to preach at all, and therefore he is particularly ordered to preach against him: Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, hear it and tremble. Those that cannot bear general woes may expect woes of their own. The sin he is charged with is forbidding Amos to prophesy; we do not find that he beat him, or put him in the stocks, only he enjoined him silence: Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; he must not only thunder against them, but he must not so much as drop a word against them; he cannot bear, no, not the most gentle distilling of that rain, that small rain. Let him therefore hear his doom.
(1.) For the opposition he gave to Amos God will bring ruin upon himself and his family. This was the sin that filled the measure of his iniquity. [1.] He shall have no comfort in any of his relations, but be afflicted in those that were nearest to him: His wife shall be a harlot; either she shall be forcibly abused by the soldiers, as the Levite's concubine by the men of Gibeah (they ravish the women of Zion, La 5:11), or she shall herself wickedly play the harlot, which, though her sin, her great sin, would be his affliction, his great affliction and reproach, and a just punishment upon him for promoting spiritual whoredom. Sometimes the sins of our relations are to be looked upon as judgments of God upon us. His children, though they keep honest, yet shall not keep alive: His sons and his daughters shall fall by the sword of war, and he himself shall live to see it. He has trained them up in iniquity, and therefore God will cut them off in it. [2.] He shall be stripped of all his estate; it shall fall into the hand of the enemy, and be divided by line, by lot, among the soldiers. What is ill begotten will not be long kept. [3.] He shall himself perish in a strange country, not in the land of Israel, which had been holiness to the Lord, but in a polluted land, in a heathen country, the fittest place for such a heathen to end his days in, that hated and silenced God's prophets and contributed so much to the polluting of his own land with idolatry.
(2.) Notwithstanding the opposition he gave to Amos, God will bring ruin upon the land and nation. He was accused for saying, Israel shall be led away captive (Am 7:11), but he stands to it, and repeats it; for the unbelief of man shall not make the word of God of no effect. The burden of the word of the Lord may be striven with, but it cannot be shaken off. Let Amaziah rage, and fret, and say what he will to the contrary, Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Note, it is to no purpose to contend with the judgments of God; for when God judges he will overcome. Stopping the mouths of God's ministers will not stop the progress of God's word, for it shall not return void.
本章我們看到：I. 神藉著審判與以色列相爭，卻因阿摩司的禱告而得著緩刑、審判被收回，Am 7:1-6。2. 神的忍耐終因他們的頑梗而耗盡，他們被棄絕、被判以徹底的滅亡，Am 7:7-9。II. 以色列藉著反對祂的先知而與神相爭。1. 亞瑪謝控告阿摩司（Am 7:10-11），並盡其所能把這個國家的公害從中除掉，Am 7:12-13。2. 阿摩司為自己作先知所行的辯護（Am 7:14-15），並宣告神對控告他的亞瑪謝的審判（Am 7:16-17）；因為當爭訟是在神與人之間時，誰會敗得最慘，是很容易預見的，也是很容易預言的。