The record-union., 1898-02-21

he makes an eloquent and earnest plea
for righteousness and patriotism:
The vision of the prophet Amos Is
full of instruction for this century. al
though twenty-six centuries hd'e
flown into the ocean of ETERNITY siiice
his mighty voice rang Wlth louo ana
bitter denunciations for Israel S SINS, yet
is his message distinctlVely moderh.
Therein does he manifest his genius.
He struck a universal note whose
echoes shall reverberate through the
halls of time forever and aye. His cry
for righteousness is ever the same
with all the Hebrew prophets, and TINS
If is which more than all else links US
morally and spiritually with the past
In order TO appreciate this relation,
let us re-read the vision. The eighth
chapter begins: Thus did the Lord
Eternal show unto me; and, behold,
there was a basket of summer fruit
And he said, What dost thou see,
Amos? And l said, A basket of sum-
mer fruit The expression summer
fruit" has given rise to considerable
discussion. Various other translat1ons
have been suggested as, figs, overdrled
fruit oyerripe fruit" Whatever be
the accurate phraseology, is only of
secondary consequence. The interpre-
tation suggests the smile OF fruit, beau
tiful without. but rotten within. The
very word for summer fruit is etymolo-
gically the equivalent of END and de-
cay" We think then of this telling
imagery. Amos sees some fruit. How
fair and rosy is it's exterior. but its core
tl,a 1yin ncy1n 1nyr1O n
Israel soon to be destroyed because of
her iniquities
We are carried back in thought TO the
year I6O b. c., when the Northern
Kingdom OF Ephraim had reached the
zenith of its splendOr under Jeroboam
IL The King was successful in his
wars. Moab had been crushed. Dam
acus. GAIA, Tyre and Edom had been
humbled. AsSyria was still too Tar
away for molestation. Prosperity ana
peace followed success in war Wealth
accumulated on all sides. Gorgeous
altars dotted the land Costly sacri-
fees We're daily offerings. The rich
lived in palaces of hewn stone ana
stretched themselves on couches OF
ivory. They drank their beakers of
wine and anointed themselves with
COSTLY ointments. With all this
wealth. there was a chasm between the
rich and the poor.
How was this wealth obtained? Amos
answers: 'Ye swallow the needy ana
ruin the poor of the land. Ye make
the ephah small. increase the shekel
and cheat with deceitful balances. Ye
buy the poor for silver and the needy
for a. pair of shoes and even sell the
refuse of the corn" Certainly bit
ter arraignment.
With this social and moral rotten
ness came religious degeneracy. Je-
hovah was dethroned from his place.
The COWS of Rashan and the worship
Of Astarte were introduced with all
their vile and lascivious accompani-
ments. The spirit was killed under a
heavy weight of Journalism. Ceremo-
MES We're of supreme Importance and
the sacrifice of fatted bulls superseded
obedience. Such is the sad picture
drawn of a Kingdom splendid on the
surface but corrupt at the heart.
l doubt not that this picture is ex-
aggerated Moral prophets, in theft
utter contempt and horror of immor-
ality and injustice, are apt to over
color the situation. The Greek TRACE
dians made their actors, heroic, TO
strike a deeper impression. Amos
lived in the future and the contrast be-
tween the ideal future and the lamen-
table present tended to warp the ex-
actness of the conditions.
AT any rate, to nation, joyous with
its newly found prosperity and intox-
icated with the wine of success, this
unpretentious ''gatherer of the syca-
more" Games with his thunderstorm
of rebule and denunciation. What
bravery TO fling these cries at the vic
tors in the hight Of their triumph,
Jehovah hates your festivals. What
cares he for your holocausts. Seek me
and We shall live Hate the evil and
love the good and establish justice in
the gate. Let justice gush forth as
water and righteousness as a mighty
stream"
We can we'll imagine the rage which
greeted these words. They were poig-
nant Truth stings and scalds. The
prophets life is threatened. He Is ad-
vised TO preach elsewhere but he an
swers. Il am neither a prophet nor the
son Of the prophet. / am herdsman
but Jehovah took me away from my
flock and said unto me. Go prophesy
unto my people in Israeli.
The distinctive message Of this
prophet is now apparent. It is jus
tice 1t is righteousness, the soul Of
the universe. Amos is the embodi-
ment of the moral law He represents
the conscience of humanity. This con-
ception viii be made clearer in the fol-
lowing formula, so ably stated by the
late James Darmstetter:
That which is not based upon justice
must perish.
Jehovah has revealed justice TO Israel
Israel should realize justice.
Justice will be realized some day.
These are the four axioms of Hebrew
prophecy.
'Tis true the message OF Amos is not
relieved by the softer and gentler spir-
1t of his successor Hosea. With the
former God is justice; WIKI the latter.
He Is love But If instead of this
phrase We speak of righteousness as
understood from its Hebrew word
"Ts'd 'doko," which means just and low
ing. we shall have the best conception
and vet lose nothing of the later de-
velopment. A nation in order to thrive
must have an ideal. That ideal must
be Righteousness. Nothing short of 1t
can lav claim to stability nor merit the
approval of Divinity J,Ssis sounds
like a nineteenth century speech and
Yet It is the impassioned usterance of
an humble shepherd two thousand six
hundred years ago. He rs so many
years in advance OF his day. With all
our advance in philosophy OF
thought and action. we cannot go be-