The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-06-25

gcthcr in the ncighborhood Of ancient sane
tuaries. such az Gilgal and Bethel and in all
likelihood closely connected with the priests. AZ
was certainly the case in Judah down TO the
extinction Of the State. Tho very name and
idea Of tho prophet were common TO Israel
with It's heather neighbors. and tho prophets
and priests of Jehovah wore presumably asso
ciated much as were the prophets and priests
OF BaaL
The first appearance. indeed, Of companies
OF prophets In in the histories OF Samuel
and Saul where they are found engaged In tho
worship Of Jehovah under circumstances Of
physical excitement closely resembling what
Is still seen among tho dervishes OF
the East, and occasionally among ourselves in
times OF strong religious feeling. Among these
prophet corporations. scattered oil over the
land. the religious and political reaction, OF
which Elijah was the prime mover, found large
support; yet here, rs in other cases physical
enthusiasm proved in the end a dangerous
ally to spiritual faith. Tho revolution of Jehu
which Elisha set on foot, with the aid Of the
prophetic guilds. used means that wcro far re-
moved from the loitiness Of Elijah's teaching.
and. under the protection of Jehu's dynasty.
tho corporations Of prophets soon sank to
depths Of hypocrisy and Journalism. with which
Amos disclaimed all fellowship. II is. in
-
ever we hear OF prophets. or sons Of prophets.
that is, members OF prophetic guilds. we to
think OF men raised as far above their conten,-
poraries MS were Elijah. Amos. or Isaiah. The
great authors Of written prophecy were in con-
slant feud with tho common prophets OF their
day. whose profession they stigmatized as q
trade. and whose oraclcs they condemned as
mere hcathenish divinations implying no true
knowledge OF Jehovah.
In order to understand the remarkable
change in the conception OF Jehovah put forth
by the Prophet Amos DIR. Smith examines ut
some length the religious situation Of tho ten
tribes after the revolution iAstigated by Elijah
and Elisha. This movement being essentially
an appeal to the conservatism of the nation, was
followed by no attempt to remodel the tradl-
tional forms Of Jehovah worship. which contin-
ucd as they had been since the time OF the
Judges. The golden calves remained unds-
turbed. though they We're out Of place in the
worship OF a deity who had so markedly sepa-
rated himself from the gods OF other nations
and with them there remained also many other
religious institutions and symbos-such us the
Ashera, or sacred pole at Samaria-which were
common to Israel with the Canaanites and in
their influence on the popular imagination
could only tend to effacc true conceptions of the
God of Elijah. and drag Him down to tho level
of a heather deity. Yet the sanctuaries which
contained so many elements unfavorable to a
spiritual faith were still accounted the indispen-
sable centres Of national religion. and no one
had yet asserted that Zion was the only place
where the sons Of Israel ought to worship.
Thus, although Amos was himself member
OF the tribe of Judah. he never speaks OF the
golden calves as the sin Of the northern sane
tuary. and he has only ono or two illusions to
idolatrous symbols The Guilt OF Samaria
which he speaks Of in chapter viii. verse a. Is
apparently the Ashera or polo. which had n
connection with the moral impurities of
Canaanite worship. But such points are
merely touched in passing, tho whole ritual
service being thing without importance in
itself. He does not deny that since the over
throw Of the Omri dynasty. and the expulsion
OF Baal. the faith Of Jehovah has never been
assailed from without. but has remained the
exclusive religion OF the land.
The novelty in the position taken by Amos lies
in the direction of his complaints against the
internal corruption of tho Hebrew faith. When
he represents the national worship OF Israel as
positively sinful, he does this on the ground
that it was SO conducted as to afford
apositve encouragement to the injustice. the
sensuality. the barbarouJ treatment OF the
poor, to which he recurs again and again as
tho cardinal sins of the nation. The sin
ners OF Israel thought they had special
immunity from chastisement in their ma
tional relation to Jehovah In the fact that
since the accession Of Jchu. he alone had
been worshipped in their sanctuary. But Amos
taught that Jehovah's wrath had fallen on
heather nations. not because they were heath
en- and had not worshipped him. but because
they had broken the universal laws Of fidelity,
kinship and humanity. and it was now. for
. Al
judged by the same laws. in spite of its assidu-
Gus Jehovah worship. From Amos came the
revelation that what Jehovah asked was right
eousness and not sacrifice. and it is moreover
in the utterancos Of this prophet that tho con-
ception Of Jehovah first distinctly transcends
its tribal bounds. Heretofore jehovah had not
been looked upon as first the Creator OF
the world, and secondly the God OF Israel but
on the contrary. his specific relation to Israel
was the historical! foundation Of the religion of
the Hebrews, and continued to be the central
idea in all practical developments OF their faith
1t seemed to Amos, on the other hand that the
Supreme God could not DO thought of az having
no interest or purpose beyond Israel 1t WIS
He that brought Israel out OF Egypt but it was
He, too, who brought tho Philistines from
Caphtor and the Arampans from Kir Tx, n.
Every movement of history is Jehovah's work
IL 10 hpI Ns'Llul, Dul otIDNbn, WHO utlS created
tho Assyrian empire. and lie has a purpose Of
His own in raising up its overwhelming
strength and suspendins it rs threat of immi-
ncnt destruction over Israel and the surround
ing nations. 1t is plain, however. that tho sins
for which Damascus, Ammon. Moab, and the
rest are TO be punished cannot be offences
against Jehovah rs the national God Of Israel
Amos announces that heather nations are to be
Judged, not because they do not worship Israors
God, but because they have broken the laws Of
universal morality. 1t IL, in short in Amos
that We first encounter the germs of tho two
ideas characteristic OF Christianity, viz, that
Jehovah is not tribal, but II universal Deity.
and that his acceptable service is not sacrifice
but righteous conduct.
The prophetic work Of Amos fell entirely
within the prosperous reign Of Jeroboam III.
yet within a few months after Jcroboam's
death his dynasty was eXtinguished and the
Assyrian empire, whose approach Amos fore
saw. had laid its hand on Israel, never again
10 relax its grasp. According to the amended
chronology accepted by DIR. Smith, only thirty
years elapsed between the prosperity of the
days Of Jeroboam ii. and the utter ruin Of Sa-