And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your city and want 0f bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to fain upon one city, and cawed it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-tree and your olive-trees !lath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

I have sent among you the pestilence alter the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. Amos 4:6–11

All of God’s dealings with his people throughout their history were for the purpose of drawing them closer to him. If his people sin, he calls them to repent. When they repent he forgives. The unrepentant can never enjoy the favor of God.

God uses various means to call his people to repentance. In this section he speaks of calamities that were sent to call the people back to God. The question naturally arises: Were these past calamities or was this a prophecy of future woes? Amos prophesied during prosperous times. Yet, though the times were now prosperous, calamities have come during the lifetime of the people to whom he is speaking, or in the times of their fathers. David, too, ruled in prosperous times but there was also a three-year famine during his reign (II Sam. 21:1). The calamities have come, but now they are past. Prosperity is seen everywhere and they have forgotten the days of calamity.

         

           

God has given the people cleanness of teeth. This was a judgment. They had cleanness of teeth because there was lack of bread. Their teeth remained clean because no food entered their mouth. God did this to them! This fact they may never forget. He often uses means to bring his judgments, but he brings them! A “scientific” explanation for the evils which come can never satisfy God’s people. In this instance too he had used means. He simply withheld the rain. When there were still three months before the harvest the rains ceased. Under such conditions there could be no harvest in Palestine. Notice, he could make it rain at will. He is in control of the forces of nature. This he makes very clear to his people. He caused it to rain on one city, but not on another. One piece of land did receive rain, but not the other. Where the rain did not fall everything withered.

Lack of rain does not only produce famine, it also does more. If nothing grows there may still be a surplus from previous years. But when no rain falls it also produces thirst. The effect of this is immediate. Two or three cities go to another for water. The city to which they go is one where the rain has fallen. Here there may be sufficient water for its own inhabitants, but there is not enough to satisfy the needs of two or three other cities. Even though some cities have not felt the immediate effects of the general famine, they now suffer want because they must share their water with neighbors.

Although the lack of rain would produce famine and untold misery for many people, God has sent more woes on the land. Blasting and mildew, crop diseases had come at various times. Even though crops grew, they could not be used. Palmer worms devoured trees and vines. All these evils had come on Israel at different times during their history. They must always remember that God sent these things.

There have also been times of pestilence. This pestilence may have been on both man and beast. So Egypt had also suffered at the time of the plagues. These pestilences claimed many lives. Those were the days when medical science was not able to stop the onward march of pestilence and disease. Whole cities and districts might be depopulated. God sent these woes!

War has taken its toll. The young men, the best of the nation, were slain by the sword. Their horses fell prey to the enemy. Their camps have been destroyed. These were times of bitter wailing! How God has chastised his people!

Whole cities had been overthrown, had been dashed to the ground, as Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed Here the reference is not to war but rather to earthquakes. These natural calamities were not unknown in Palestine. When these earthquakes came to destroy whole cities, those who escaped were as brands plucked out of the fire. They had suffered, they had been scorched, but their lives had been saved. These people were like Lot. He also escaped the destruction of the cities of the plain, but he did not escape unscathed. God had also brought this calamity on the land.

After the reference to each calamity the prophet adds the refrain: “Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.” That was the purpose of these woes! He was seeking his people! Better that they suffer the physical and temporal evils than that they should live and die separated from their God. How can a people be so hardened that they will not turn to their God when such woes strike? God sought their conversion. That is the word which the prophet uses in this refrain. Conversion is a return to the living God. But Israel has not done so. One blow fell after the other, but they did not return to God. Didn’t they realize that it was his hand which struck these blows? No doubt, the people often spoke of the heavy hand of Cod upon them while one of these calamities lasted. But, that isn’t conversion! They never returned all the way to God. He spoke through the prophets, but he also spoke through his deeds. What else must he do to cause this people to return to him? One marvels that God does not weary of speaking to such a people.

As we said before, the book of Amos could have been written yesterday. Within the span of one human life many calamities have come. World War I, the most severe economic depression in modem times, World War II, and the Korean war, have all come in a short period of time. Besides these, God has also sent great prosperity, whereby he speaks to his people too. What has been the result? Has the man of today learned from the experiences of the people of Amos’ day? Scientific reasons are found for many of the ills which have come. No, God sent them! His hand rules all. Despite all the calamities suffered in recent history, the somber refrain of Amos applies to the people of today as well as to the people 2800 years ago: “Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.” That is tragic!

Questions for Discussion:

1. What is the relationship between “scientific reasons” and the hand of Jehovah?

2. Why must we see the hand of God in all the minor things of life?

3. What is conversion? What is the difference between conversion and regeneration?

4. Is man responsible for his own conversion?

5. Why do the deeds of God usually make a deeper impression than his word?