us_ on 2 Kings
xiv. 28. In the announcement of the carrying away into captivity beyond
Damascus, made in chap. v. 27, there appears nothing more than the
knowledge, that the catastrophe will not be brought about by that
heathen power which had hitherto brought ruin upon the kingdom of
Israel But, everywhere, we may see that the prophet--whom we have no
reason to think an especially ingenious politician--appeared at a time
when no one expected any danger. Amos prophesied at a time when the
morning-dawn had risen upon Israel, iv. 13, v. 8; "in the beginning of
the shooting up of the grass, and behold the grass was standing, after
the King (Jehovah) had caused to be mown," vii. 1; at a time when the
prosperity of the kingdom of the ten tribes was again budding forth. In
chap. viii. 9, the Lord threatens that He will cause the sun to go down
at noon, and bring darkness over the land in the day of _light_. In
chap. vi. 4-6, the prevailing careless luxury and [Pg 356] joy are
graphically described. Chap. v. 18 implies that the people mocked at
the threatening of the coming of the day of the Lord, the coming of
which could, therefore, not have been indicated by any human
probability. In chap. vi. 1, the prophet gives utterance to an
exclamation of woe over them that are secure in Zion, and that trust in
the mountain of Samaria. In chap. vi. 13, he opposes the delusion of
those "who rejoice in a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken to
us horns by our own strength?" The people in the kingdom of the ten
tribes must accordingly have imagined that they were living in the
golden age of the fulfilment of Deut. xxx. 17, and must not have
thought for a moment that the axe was already laid to the root of the
tree.

But we are not at liberty to seek the fulfilment of the prophecy of
Amos, only in the visitation by the Assyrians. That which happens to
the people of the ten tribes is, to the prophet, only a part of a
general visitation, which comes, not only upon all the neighbouring
nations, but upon Judah also, and which brings utter ruin upon the
latter, chap. ii. 4, 5, destroying the temple at Jerusalem, and driving
the house of David from the throne, ix. 1, 11. According to prophecy
and history, however, this catastrophe came upon Judah, not by Asshur,
but, in the first instance, by Babylon.

The prophecy possesses a comprehensive character, such as we should be
led to expect from the close connection of Amos with Joel. It
c