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THE KING’S BUSINESS
rain upon his side. “The LORD,” “Jeho vah” (as in the Hebrew and A. R. V.) means the self-existent, the eternal, the One who was, is, and ever shall be. This is the name of our God. The name stands for the character and person as revealed, and our God reveals himself as the eternal, self-ex istent Ope, the One' who was, is and ever shall be, the timeless One. v. 9. " That strengthened the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress." The thought }s rather that found in the revised version, viz., “That bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.” Man’s strength is nothing against Jehovah’s. Napoleon said that “God is on the side of the strongest bat talion,” but history has proven over and over again that this is not necessarily true. In many a battle and many a war God has brought utter confusion upon those we would naturally expect to win. If God wills He can bring utter destruction upon the strongest armies in Europe today: for ex ample, by a snow storm, by a flood, by a pestilence. It often is His will to bring sudden destruction upon the strong, and the most triumphant army in Europe may be ut terly annihilated any day (2 Kings 19:35). No one but God can predict how any war will end. It is far more important for a na tion to keep right with God (or for an in dividual) than for a nation to have the strongest armies and the best guns. v. 10. "'They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.” Sinners always hate the man who rebukes their sin (Ch. 7:10-17; 1 Kings 21:20; 22:8; 2 Chron. 24 :20-22 ; 25:16; 35: 16; Prov. 9:7, 8; John 7:7; 15:19, 22-24).. It takes an unusually wise man to love the one who rebukes him. Many preachers are grieved because of the hatred and persecu tion that they receive, but it may be a testi mony to their faithfulness. It is a poor compliment to a preacher to have the praise of the wicked (Luke 6:26). The one who lives uprightly will be abhorred by the one who lives crookedly (cf. John 3:18-20).
v, 11. “ Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built Houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.” Verse 11 describes many of the rich of Amos’ day, and it just as accurately describes many of the rich of our day. They build magnificent houses out of the proceeds of the oppres sion of the poor. They trample the poor down and rob them (by legal means) of their great harvests of wheat, but the mag nificent houses that they build out of the profits of which they have robbed the poor will do them no good, they “shall not dwell in them.” How often this has proven liter ally true. Men start to build magnificent palaces out of their ill-gotten gains and die before they move into their new home. v. 12. "For I know your manifold trans gressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gatq from their right." These words were written to those who grew rich out of the oppression of the poor in Amos’ day; they sound just as if they were written about the Americans and the English in our own day. The first part of the verse should sink deep into the heart of every sinner. There is not a sin we com mit by day or by night but God knows all about i t ; He knows its full extent, and God’s testimony concerning our transgres sions is that they are “manifold,” and con cerning our sins, “mighty.” If we will be honest with ourselves we will know that this testimony is true. Men rebel against the picture of human nature that is given to us in the Bible, but if we will get alone with God and let Him search our hearts and let the light of His Spirit and His truth shine into our hearts, we will know that the Bible teaching of the utter moral ruin of man out of Christ is true There are three counts in Jehovah’s indictment against Israel found in this verse : (!) “Afflict the just” (cf. Acts 7 :52), This is a common practice today and it is one that God notes and that God will punish. (2) “Take a bribe.” This is a
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