Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-05-08

Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission of IL S Hoffman. publisher, Philadel
phia.
|. "Thus hath the Lord God showed unto
me, and behold a basket Of summer fruit"
In our last lesson we heard Jehovah re-
minding Israel of the many ways in which
He had sought to win them back to Him
self. In chapter v, A. 8, II, Is, they are re-
peatedly entreated to seek Him and live.
Then they are warned of the day of the
Lord and its terrors, yet they conspire
against the prophet Amos and refuse to
hear his words wi, 1913. Now, in a
vision, the nation is shown to the prophet
as a basket of ripe fruit, ready to be
consumed; they will not be warned and
therefore Judgment must come.
p "Then said the Lord unto me, The
end is come upon my people of Israel; !
will not again pass by them any more.
Similar words are found in chapter vii, s.
and in Eek. vii, 2, 3. Long and patiently
| He forbears, and lovingly seeks in every
way to win them back but there is a point
where mercy stops and judgment must
/ fall
g. And the songs of the temple shall be
bowling in that day, saith the Lord God,
many dead bodies in every place; they shall
cast them forth with silence"
In Isa xiii, 60 and in many other places
bowling is associated with the Day of the
Lord, and the expression ''in that day
| found in this verse and in verses 8 and 10
also signifies the Day of the Lord lisa. ii, II,
l2). The Great Day of the Lord is yet future,
and is everywhere associated with judg.
ments upon the ungodly and delverance
for the faithful remnant (see lisa. xXxiv,
s; XXxv, 4: xiii, a. But the approaching
judgment in the days of Amos was fore
sha1owing of the Great Day yet future.
/. Hear this, O We that swallow up the
needy, even to make the poor of the land
to fail
They We're painting for the goods of the
poor, that they might fail out of the land.
They are described in Prov XXX, II, as "a
generation whose teeth are rs swords, and
their jaw teeth a. knives. 10 devour the
poor from OFF the earth, and the needy
from among men"
D. Saying. When will the new moon he
gone, IT, i we may sell corn? and the Sab
oath that we may set forth wheat"
They outwardly kept these days re-
ligiously, but all the time their hearts
were longing for the business of the NOR
row.
Making the ephah small, and the sheke
great, and classifying the balances by de
ceit'
Not only were market days better to
taem than Sabbaths, but they were full OF
deceit even in business, giving their pur'
cha<ers short weight and taking from
them more than was due. Not scruplng
to cheat God out of His appointed worship,
they found no difficulty in cheating theiI
fellow man.
g. THAT we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for pair of Shoes and sci
the refuse of the wheat"
Compelling the needy to sell themselve,
as slaves and eat refuse corn. They sole
the righteous for silver and the poor for
pair of shoes (chap. ii, g. They had NJ
heart for God or His commands or Hi.
poor
:. "The Lord hath sworn by the excel
lency of Jacob, Surely | will never forge
any of their works"
He will remember their lniqUity an,
visit their sins. THE sin of Judah /
written with pen of iron, and with til,
point of a diamond" (Hos viii 49, Jer
xvii, n.
s. shall not the land trembe for thi-
and every one mourn that dwelleth there
in? And it shall rise up wholly as a flood
and it shall he cast out and drowned, rs b
the flood Of Egypt"
This shaking world would be great an
sore, but nothing when compared with I'll
great shaking of heaven, earth, sea, dr.
land and all nations in the day of the Lor
Hag. ii, o.; Heb. xii, 26)
. And it shall come to pass in tina
day, saith the Lord God, that will caus
the sun to 90 down at noon, and | vii
darken the earth in the clear day
The physical signs shall happen as accom-
paniments and intensificati Ions of the aw
full state of things which the desccptio
typiies
10 And will turn your feasts int
mourning, and all your songs into amentf
: ton"
The mourning lamentation, sackclott
badness and bitterness of this verse a
indicate the great Judgment that woul
overtake them because of their sins.
H. Behold, the days come, saith til
Lord God, that will send famine in tn
land; not famine of bread, nor thir.
for water but of hearing the words of I'll
Lord"
Mutitudes in our day would not worr
much over that kind of famine. 1t ws
just so in Israel!
II. And they shall wander from sea
sea, and from the north even to the cas-
they shall run to and fro to seek the Won
of the Lord, and shall not find it.
Blessings lost are apt to be priced whe
it is too late
10. In that day shall the fair virgin
and young men faint for thirst
This is the third reference in our lesso
TO that day" In chapter tx, lib obserN
how it is associated with the nations
restoration, never again to be broken "a
but before that there will be the gre;
tribulation of Jer. Xxx, I; Dan. xii, |. III
sufferings OF the captivity were foreshaC
owings of the time here spoken of as ''ths
day" The fainting for thirst will lie b
cause of continued impeutence, for in Is
xii, II, it is written, when the poor an
needy seek water, and there is none, az
their tongue faileth for thirst, |, the Lor,
viii hear them; |, the God of Israel, wi
not forsake them"
In Lam. i, Is; H. Fl, He speaks of II
people as young men and virgins.
IA. They that swear by the sin of
I maria, and say, Thy God, o Dan, livet
NJ and, The manner Of Beersheba livet
- even they shall fall. and never rise l
again"
In Deut. tx, 81, the golden calf whie