The Odessa herald. (Odessa, Del.) 1888-1892, 1891-05-02
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FoF
MAY 8.
lesson Text; '1srael Often Reproved,
Amos iv., 4-13,-Golden. Text:
Proverbs xxx, L.
Commentary.

and Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel
And about the same time lived the prophet
Isaiah and Hosea tAmos l., Il; lisa. J., ]; Hos
l., II. Amos was called TO be prophet Will
keeping sheep, and tbs chief place OF hf
prophecy was Bethel (chap. viii, 10-15. Is
raels sin was that because prosperous they
were at ease and Indifferent to the claims o.
God wi, 10; greedy of gain and depressing
tho poor ill.,; e. I; iv., II, 12; viii, 40
needed not the voice Of God in judgment
dv., 6-11), and despised the word of God di..
A: ", 10; viii, 1918. Yet He loved them
and bore patiently with them, and entreated
them, and kept before them the blessings ol
the sure covenants with Abraham and
David. Read very carefully chapter TX,
ILLS.
5."Come to Bethel and transgress; at Gilga
multiply tTansgression." With all their SIN
they were outwardly very religious. AT
Bethel and at Gilgal they had many altars
Hosea says they were as plenty as heaps ol
stones in the field Hos. xiii, IL; Amos ill.,,
ID. And at Bethel there was golden call
which Jerobosm, son of Nebat had set up
faying "Benold thy gods, o Israeli (lSings
xii, 2s 90. But there was only one altarir
all the land where, since the building OF the
temple. God commanded sacrifice to be of
fered Deut. xiii, 10, IL; Ps. cxxxii., 13l, so
that all sacrifices at Bethel or Gilgel was
simply transeression.
5. aAnd offer sacrifice of Thanksgiving
with leaven, for this liketh you, o ye chill
dren of Israel, saith the lord God" Leaven
is everywhere in the Scripture symbol OF
evil. With the meal offering there was to be
neither leaven nor honey, and at the Pass
over there WAS to be no leaven found In their
houses LEV. IL, IL; Bx. xiii, Is, 1g). The
significance ofleaven is seen in Cor. ", O.
s, and in the Saviours teaching in Matt.
xvi, Q, 12; Luke xii, /.
q. And also have given you cleanness oil
teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in
, all your places; yet have ye not returned unto
Me, saith the Lord" Observe in this verse
i and in verses s, 8, 10, II. the five times re
peated sad refrain: 'fYet have ye not re
turned unto Me, saith the Lord" This shows
us the heart of God and His one great long
ing for His erring people, that they in true
penltence return to Him.
z. sand also have withholdel the rain
from you when there were yet three months
to the harvest: and caused it to rain upon
one city, and caused it not to rain upon an.
/ other city" That He would also chasten
! them is recognized by Solomon in his prayer
! at the dedication of the temple Il Kings will,
! 81, 3d). Who among us ever stops to con
slider that when it rains in one place and not
in another God has anything to do with it,
or that when in one place there is a drought
1 and in another muc1 rain, it is the hand OF
the Lord that doeth this? And yet if we be-
I lieve His word we must believe that "the
I VI lub CtOuuS li6 hus WOuuiOus
works of Him who is perfect in knowledge;
| who saith TO the snow Be thou on the earth;
| likewise to the small rain. land the great rain
4 of His strength"
s. $50 two or three cities wandered into
one city to drink water, but they were not
satisfied; yet have ye,- not returped unto Me,
saith the Lord. tt;SSRAsax fcrsook God, ths
out 5p 81 eisreis - ne iposJn crerns sbst could 9i.i
hold no water lJer. H., lA. They turned
their backs upon Him who in the wilderness
gave them water from the rock, who fed
them daily with mamma from heaven, to
I humble them and prove them, and make
them to know that man is to live upon the
Lord, and not upon His gifts Deut viii, 81.
O. ~ have smitten you with blasting and
mildew." This also He had forewarned them
| of when He set before them the blessings and
cursings which would surely follow obedi-
cnce or disobedience Deut. xviii, 20
"When your gardens, and your vineyards,
end your fig trees, and your olive trees in.
creased, the palmer worm devoured them.'
1t appeared as il there might be large har-
| vest of fruit but the worms prevented. ''Ye
looked for much, and 10, it came to little;
and when you brought it home / did blow
| upon it. Why? saith the Loru OF Hosts. Be
cause of Mine house that is waste and ye run
every man into his own house, tHag, l., O.
l1). But does God control worms? In Jonah
| iv., Z, He prepared worm to destroy
Jonah's gourd, and in Joel H., 25, He calls
worms and caterpillars His great army, and
says that He sends them.
10. II have sent among you the pestilence
after the manner of Egypt This. too, He
had threatened (Deut xviii, 27-6W, whllt
Mt the same time He had promised that il
they would diligently harken to His voice
md do right in His sight He would put none
of the diseases upon them which He hai
brought upon the Egyptians tEx. xv., 26
/ xiii, 25; Deut. VIII, 15l.
II. III have overthrown some of you, al
God overthrow Sodom and Gomarrah, and
ye were as q firebrand plucked out of the
burning.n In Zech. ill.,, 2, Jerusalem j,
called a brand plucked out Of the fire, and
in lisa. l., 10, they are called rulers Of
Matt. XII, "a, Jesus says it will be more toll
erable in the day of judgment for Sodon
than for disobedient Israel. BY famine ant
sickness and war md by direct Judgment Ht
pleads with tnem 70 return uuto him, bul
they refuse. $50 all these things workett
God oftentimes with man TO bring back his
soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the
light of the livingn Job xxxiii., 90, 30,. Why
does God chasten His people SO muchf Just
because they are His people (Amos ILL.,, p
and because He loves them too much 10 lei
them stay away from Him and lose His fel
'owship Heb. xii, a.
12 'iTherefore thus will do unto thee
0 Israel, and because will do this unit
thee, prepare to meet thy God, o Israeli
The long account Of love slighted, commando
disobeyed, blessings abused, gifts trans
ferred to other lovers, while all the tim,
keeping up an outward profession of de
yotion, must some day be settled, and how
will Israel meet her God, whose most loving
and persistent entreaties she has spurned
The only preparation is true penitence AM
consequent forgiveness followed by fruit
meet for repentance.
10. "For, 10. He that formeth the mount
aims and createth the wind.n He who love
us and seeks us. and desires us to return Il
Him is the Creator of heaven and earth, ant
the former of our bodies and spirits. 9TH
only proper thing to do is to commit tn
keeping of our souls to Him in well doinI
as unto faithful creator' q Pet. iv., 19j
remembering lisa. xl., 1881.
'The Lord, the God of Hosts, is His name.
God is mentioned over eighty times in thi
prophecy, under seven different titles Thi
one is used just eight times 6iL, 13; iv., Il
", IA, Is, 16, 81; vi, 6, 14.) Jehovah, who
signifies the one who was, is and shall bl
tile righteous one, is found fifty times in TIL
h1ok. He Is righteous in all His ways, hol
in all His works (Ps. cxlv., N. The God Q
Hosts reminds us OF the hosts of angels VIII