The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-05-06
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
MAY 10,
Lesson Text: "Israel:s Overthrow
Foretold." Amos viii, Lid
Golden Text: Luke viii,
1S-Commentary.

PlOPiiCo AiiOo lOLuoS W uohl us WOTuS
lvii, 1913. Now, in a vision, the
nation is shown to the prophei
as a basket Of ripe fruit, ready to be
consumed; they will not be warned and
therefore judgement must come. Observe
the title of God In this verse-it Is not Je-
hovah Elohim (Righteous Creator), but
Adonai Jehovah (the Possessor who is
RighteouS and is used about twenty times
. in this prophecy. Lord or God in capitals
is always Jehovah; but Lord in small letters,
beginning with capital L, Is Adonai he
speaks to them through Amos as their owner
or possessor (see Amos ill.,, p having right
eous possessor. This title is first found in
Gen. XIV, 2.
Q. 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. 8, and in
Eek. vii., g 8. Long and patiently BE
forbears, and loving seeks in every way to
win them back, but there is a point where
mercy stops and Judgment must fall.
8. "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,
go, and In many other places bowling is as
sociated with the Day Of the Lord, and the
OApIoSSl III kudt udJ lOuuU Ill UllS t6ISe
and in verses nine and thirteen also signifies
the Day Of the Lord lisa. H., II, 12). The
great Day Of the Lord is yet future, and Is
everywhere associated with judgments upon
the ungodly and deliverance for the faithful
remnant (see lsa. 1xxiv., 8; 1x1y., 4; l1iii. >,
q. But the approaching judgment in the
days Of Amos was foreshadowing. Of the
Great Day yet future. The silent burial of
the dead indicates the horrors Of the siege
and Of war, or it may be enlightened by such
words as these: "Hold thy peace at the
presence Of the Lord God: for the day Of tho
Lord is at hand for the Lord hath prepared
a sacrifice He hath bid His guests" (zeph.
L. .; ;.Hesr this, O vs that swallow I'D the
needy, even to make the poor Of the land to
fail" They were painting for the goods of
the poor, that they might fail out Of the
land They are described in Irov. XXX, II,
as "a generation whose teeth are as swords,
and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the
poor from off the earth, and the needy from
among men,"
5. Saying, When will the new moon be
gone, that we may sell corn2 and the Sab
bath that we may set forth wheatw They
outwardly kept these days religiously, but
all the time their hearts were longing for the
business of the morrow.
Making the ephah small and the snekel
great, and fasifying, the balances by deceit" ="
Not only were market days better to them
than Sabbaths, but they were full Of deceit
even in business giving their purchasers
short weight and taking from them more
than was due. Not scrupling to cheat God
out Of His appointed worship, they found no
difficulty in cheating their fellow man
G. THAT we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for pair Of shoes, and sell
tho refuse Of the wheat" Compelling the
needy to sell themselves as slav es and eat re-
fuse corn. They sold the righteous for silver
and the poor for pair Of shoes tchap. H., D..
They had no heart for God or His commands
or His poor.
Z. ''The Lord hath sworn by the excellency
of Jacob. Surely will never forget any Of
their works" He will remember their in
iquity and visit their sins THE sin Of
judah Is written with a pen Of iron, and
with tho point Of diamond" (Hos viii, 13;
Jer xvii, y. Itmay be that great portion
of the sufferings Of the lost will be the re-
membrance Of their sins which might have
been forgiven.
8. 'Shall not the land tremble for this,
and everyone mourn that dwelleth therein?
And it shall rise up wholly as food, and it
shall be cast out and drowned by the food
of Egypt" This shaking world would be
great and sore, but nothing when compared
with the great shaking of heaven, earth, sea,
dry land and all nations in the day Of the
Lord (Hag H., 6-7; Heb. xii, 26). The
mourning also would be great but see the
greater mourning of that day which shall
precede Israers national conversion (Zech.
xii, 10, to xiii, !.
9. And it shall come to pass in that day,
saith the Lord God, that will cause the sun
to 20 down at noon, and will darken the
earth in the clear day" Sun, moon and
stars, winds and clouds are all obedient to
Him, and in that day there shall be signs IN
the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
the earth shall quake, the heavens shall trem.
BILE, the sun and the moon shall be dark, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining; the
sun shall be turned into darkness and the
moon into blood before the great and the
terrible day of the Lord come Luke XII, 20
Joel H., 10, 81, Rev. vi, 1g.
10. "And I will turn your feasts into
mourning, and al! your songs into lamenta
tion.' The mourning. lamentation, sach'
cloth, badness and bitterness Of this vers:
all indicate the great judgment that would
overtake them because Of their sins.
II. behold, the days come, saith the Lord
God that win send q famine in the land;
not famine Of bread, nor thirst for water,
but of bearing the words Of the Lord" Null
titudes in our day would not worry much
over that kind of famine. 1t was just SO IN
Israel: They Knocked the messengers OF God
and despised His words, and miSued His
prophets" They despised the law of ths
Lord and have not keep. His commandments
III Chron. xxxvi, 16; Amos IL, a.. Bread fol
the body was all they cared for, although
they had been taught that ''mau doth not
live by bread alone, but by, every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth OF the Lord doth
man live" and that it was their life to set
their hearts unto His words IDeut. WILL. 5;
x5xii., Al, AZ.
u. And they shall wander from sea to sea,
and from the north even to the east; they
shall run to and fro to seek the word OF the
Lord, and shall not find it, Blessings lost
ara apt to be prized when it is too late. Let
US who have the word of God ask ourselves
how much we prize it. If you had no Bible,
and could not get ore in your town, knowing
what it is bow far would You so to get one:
Two-thirds Of the people on earth are sutter'
ing and dying without the word OF God.
What do YOU care! What are you doing to
give them the bread of life, Do you pray
for your pastor that he may give you living;
bread, or are you satisfied with stones instead
Of bread?
ID. s:They that swear by tho sin OF Sa-
maria, and say, Thy God, o Dan i'eth;
and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even
they shall foil and never rise up again.
In Deut. *, q, the golden calf which
Aaron made is called IsraePs sin. The calves
OF Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel were also
Israeps sin, and are here called the sin OF
Samaria. While there is great and
glorious future for Israel as a nation, all
Individuals who sin against God and die
impenitent, whether Jews or Gentiles, shall
surely perish. The only way to have llfe
now, real life consisting Of forgiveness OF SIN
and Fellowship with God, and be able to LOOK
forward with JOY to the future, IS to De 10
Christ by simple faith in Him, and turning
sway avn W from ali idols, abide in Him and in
His love.-Lesson Helper.