And two, three, cities wandered unto one city, to drink water, and were not satisfied yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
Drought had emptied the wells, and whole towns walked to a neighbouring city for water they never found. Every blow in Amos 4 ends the same way — still no turning back to God — so why did God send them at all?
The rain did not just fail. It fell on one field and not the next — a pattern too pointed to blame on the weather.
There had been famines and drought. Yes, it had rained here and there. Some plots of ground received rain while others stayed parched, so that they might recognise in it the hand of God. He struck them with mildew and blight. The locusts came and devoured the crops. There were terrible plagues and other judgments, but they did not return to Him.
Kelly sees one purpose running through the whole series of blows:
This was the state of ruin Israel now lay in. The Lord shows how He had struck them with one affliction after another. He did it to rouse them from their self-will and make them feel His dishonour.
A land that lived on rainfall could not mistake a dry sky for bad luck.
We know well that God does not want His people to suffer. He is not stingy, and if the rain is withheld, the fault lies with His people and not with Him. He had made this clear to them, so that they well understood that when heaven was "shut up" it was chastening.
Two or three towns walked to the one city that still had water, and there was not enough to go round. Why would God let that happen?
God never withholds from His people except to draw out their sense of need, and to teach them that He alone is the source that can supply their need.
Pain does not produce repentance by itself. Much depends on the heart it lands on.
Afflictions on the godly make them better, but afflictions on the wicked make them worse. The godly pray more. The wicked blaspheme more... Afflictions on the wicked make them more unrepentant. Every plague on Egypt increased the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. Affliction of the godly is like bruising spices, which are sweetest and most fragrant. Affliction on the wicked is like pounding weeds with a pestle, which only makes them more foul.
Grant names the limit of judgment itself:
Such is the hardening character of sin; and such is the powerlessness of judgment in itself to break the heart and subdue the soul to God.
Notice what the refrain does not say. It is not "you have not reformed" or "you have not prospered again." It is to Me.
"Return to Me," He said over and over again to Israel. He remembered them — the devotion of their youth, their love as a bride, when they followed Him. And when they were far from Him, He chastened them in His faithfulness to bring them back. Five times in one chapter He says, "Yet you did not return to Me." Everything He did had that one aim. "Seek Me and live," said the Lord, "but do not seek Bethel" (the house of God) — seek HIM who made the Pleiades and Orion; the Lord is His Name.
Verse 8 is the second of five identical verdicts. After the fifth, God stops warning and announces Himself.
God had indeed already acted, yet they had not returned to Him. He had repeated His chastisements in the most telling way, but in vain. Therefore He calls on Israel to prepare to meet Himself.
Kelly warns against softening that summons:
Some have the strange habit of applying this text to a soul under the Lord's hand who is coming to believe the gospel. But it is plainly a threat of final judgment... We should not confuse grace and judgment, or the day of the Lord with the gospel call to the sinner.
- Rod — The uneven rainfall was no accident. God sent rain on one field and not the next so they would see His hand.
- Reason — God withholds only to draw out a sense of need and teach that He alone can supply it. The fault lay with the people, not with Him.
- Refrain — Five times in one chapter the verdict is the same: not "you did not improve," but "you did not return to Me."
- Resistance — Trouble does not convert anyone by itself. It sweetens a bruised heart and sours a hard one, as every plague on Egypt hardened Pharaoh further.
- Reckoning — When repeated correction fails, the warnings stop and God Himself steps forward: prepare to meet Him. Kelly warns this is a threat of judgment, not a gospel invitation.
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; the palmer-worm hath devoured the multitude of your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees and your olive-trees yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
Amos speaks to a nation at the height of its prosperity, and lists the blows God had already sent to wake it up. Blighted crops and stripped orchards were God's hand, not bad luck — and still they did not come back to Him.
This verse is the third of five blows listed in Amos 4. Each names a disaster, and each ends with the same finding. One writer gives the purpose behind them:
This was the ruined state Israel was now in. The Lord shows how He had struck them with one affliction after another, to rouse them from their self-will and make them feel His dishonour.
Leviticus 26 had already set out God's chastening in steps, and one writer counts them:
These steps, as set out here, are five in number. How they tell of the longing of Jehovah's heart over His rebellious people! He chastised them only as much as was needed to lead them to repentance.
Older translations call the insect in this verse the palmer-worm. Its Hebrew name says what it does:
The word is gazam, from a root meaning 'to cut off.' It is thought to refer to some species of caterpillar, though which one is unknown. The damage it causes is mentioned in Joel 1:4; Joel 2:25; Amos 4:9.
The blows came in many forms. The response never changed:
The Lord had sent different chastisements on them at different times. There had been famines and drought. It had even rained here and there. Some plots of ground got rain while others stayed parched, so that they might recognise the hand of God in it. He struck them with mildew and blasting. The locusts came and devoured the vegetation. There were terrible plagues and other judgments. But they did not return to Him. Five times in this paragraph we find the same statement, "Yet you have not returned to Me."
The refrain does not say "yet you have not improved." It names a destination — God Himself:
"Return to ME," He said over and over again to Israel. He remembered them, the kindness of their youth, the love of their engagement, when they went after Him (Jer. 2:2); and when they were far from Him, He chastened them in His faithfulness to bring them back. "Yet," five times He says in one chapter, "you have not returned to ME" (see Amos 4:6, 8-11). All of it had that one aim, and He said so again and again.
If God sent all this, why did none of it work? Commentators answer that hardship by itself has never changed a heart:
At no time do we find that God's dealings in judgment produce reformation. In Egypt God dealt with Pharaoh, increasing the severity of His strokes. Was his heart softened? No, it was hardened. Later, God dealt in the same way with His apostate people Israel, as He said He would in Leviticus 26. Were they reformed? No.
Something else moves a heart:
Knowing the evil we have brought on ourselves is not really what brings repentance. In its full character, it is the wonder of the Lord's grace that does so. As the apostle says, "The goodness of God leads you to repentance."
When the blows run out, something heavier follows:
God also would act as He saw fit. He had indeed already done so; and yet they had not returned to Him. He had repeated His chastisements in the most telling way, but in vain. Therefore He calls on Israel to prepare to meet Himself.
- The blow. Blasting, mildew and the caterpillar that "cuts off" were God's hand. He sent them to rouse a self-willed people to feel how they had dishonoured Him.
- The restraint. God chastised in measured stages, only as much as was needed to lead His people to repentance.
- The aim. The refrain is not "you have not improved" but "you have not returned to ME." God wanted the people back, not just better behaviour.
- The failure. Hardship alone never reforms anyone. Pharaoh hardened under increasing strokes, and Israel did the same. What leads to repentance is the goodness of God.
- The end. When repeated chastisement fails, what comes next is not another crop failure. It is God Himself, calling Israel to prepare to meet Him.
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the sword, taking away captive your horses; and I made the stench of your camps to come up, even into your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
God lists the disasters He sent on Israel — plague, war, defeat. Each one ends with the same verdict: they still did not come back to Him. That raises a hard question. If God sends suffering to turn people around, why did it not work?
These disasters were not bad luck. One writer reads the whole list — hunger, drought, blight, plague, sword — as one long effort by God to get Israel's attention:
This was the ruin Israel now lay in. The Lord shows how He had struck them with one affliction after another, to rouse them from their self-will and make them feel His dishonour.
The closing line is not unique to this verse. It repeats through the chapter, and the repetition is the point:
There had been famines and drought. Yes, it had rained here and there: some patches of ground received rain and others stayed parched, so that they might recognise the hand of God in it. He struck them with mildew and blight. The locusts came and devoured the crops. There were terrible plagues and other judgments, but they did not return to Him. Five times in this paragraph we find the same statement, "Yet you have not returned to Me." They were an unrepentant nation and hardened their hearts as Pharaoh did.
What God asked for was not better behaviour, and not better sacrifices. He wanted them back:
"Return to ME," He said over and over again to Israel. He remembered them — the kindness of their youth, the love of their engagement, when they went after Him. When they were far from Him, He disciplined them in His faithfulness to bring them back. "Yet," five times He says in one chapter, "you have not returned to ME." All of it was in view of that, as He said it again and again. "Seek ME, and you shall live," said the Lord; "but do not seek Bethel" — the house of God. Seek HIM who made the seven stars and Orion. The Lord is His Name.
This chapter is one case of a wider rule. The same pattern shows up in Pharaoh, and in the judgments still to come:
Not only do we answer, No, but we go further and assert that at no time do we find reformation produced by God's dealings in judgment. In Egypt God dealt with Pharaoh, increasing the severity of His strokes. Was his heart softened? No, it was hardened. … About future judgment, we read in Revelation 16:11 how men will blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and will not repent of their deeds.
There was noise under the blows, but no heart in it:
They cried out when punished, but they never cried to God from their heart when they wailed on their beds. Judgment had no more moral effect upon them than mercy.
The warnings run out, and God changes His approach. The chapter moves from blows sent at a distance to an appointment with the One who sent them:
Amos 4 presents the oppression of the poor. It also presents the worship which the people of Israel offered as they pleased, in the places they had chosen. God also would act as He saw fit. He had indeed already done so; yet they had not returned to Him. He had repeated His chastisements in the most significant way, but in vain. Therefore He calls on Israel to prepare to meet Himself.
The same principle runs through ordinary Christian life. Broken plans and lost comforts have a purpose behind them:
God deals with that in us which hinders communion, and prevents our seeking rest in Him alone. His discipline is the continual and tireless exercise of love. It does not rest now, so that we may enter into His rest. If He destroys our rest here, if He turns our food into poison, it is only that He may bring us into His own rest.
- Aim. The plague, the sword and the losses were not God discarding Israel. He struck to rouse them out of self-will and make them feel His dishonour.
- Ask. What God wanted was not reform but return: "Seek ME, and you shall live." Every blow pointed to that one word.
- Refusal. Five times the same verdict closes the paragraph. They hardened themselves as Pharaoh did, and judgment moved them no more than mercy had.
- Limit. Suffering alone has never produced repentance. Not in Pharaoh. Not in Israel. Not in the people of Revelation who curse God over their pain.
- Appointment. Repeated discipline failed, so God calls Israel to prepare to meet Him. Better to return while the call is still "Return to Me."
I have overthrown among you, like God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
God compares a past disaster in Israel to His overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the survivors to a stick pulled from a fire. So why did that rescue leave the nation unmoved, and what does God do when mercy on this scale fails?
This verse closes a series. God lists famine, drought, blight, locusts and plague, and after each one He records the same result.
The Lord had sent different chastisements upon them at different times. There had been famines and drought. Yes, it had rained here and there. Some plots of ground received rain while others stayed parched, so that they might recognise in it the hand of God. He struck them with mildew and blight. The locusts came and devoured the plants. There were dreadful plagues and other judgments, but they did not return to Him. Five times in this section we find the same statement, "Yet you have not returned to Me." They were an unrepentant nation and hardened their hearts as Pharaoh did. They were beyond correction, though they knew that through His mercy they were "as a firebrand plucked out of the burning."
Every stroke had one purpose: to bring them back to Himself.
"Return to ME," He said over and over again to Israel. He remembered them — the kindness of their youth, the love of their engagement, when they went after Him. When they were far from Him, He chastened them in His faithfulness to bring them back. "Yet," five times He says in one chapter, "have you not returned to ME." All was in view of that, as He said it again and again.
The comparison with Sodom has a limit. God overturned part of the nation, and some got out alive.
They were overthrown as Sodom and Gomorrah, some being saved, as firebrands out of the burning.
Sparing a few is a settled principle in God's dealings. One writer traces it back to something in human nature.
Man may smart and cry out under the rod, but he returns to his bad ways again and again. The Book of Judges illustrates this. And Isaiah 1 shows us that the idea of a Remnant arises from this. For the prophet there tells us that those brought up as loved children had rebelled. Then, disciplined as disobedient children, they refused to repent. They were beyond correction. So the Lord has only to act in the sovereignty of grace, or on the principle of a Remnant. As the prophet further says, "If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah."
Israel's case was not unique. Does punishment by itself ever change a heart?
Not only do we answer, No, but we go further and assert that at no time do we find reformation produced by God's dealings in judgment. In Egypt God dealt with Pharaoh, increasing the severity of His strokes. Was his heart softened? No, it was hardened. Later, God dealt in the same way with His unfaithful people Israel as He said He would in Leviticus 26. After foretelling some of the dreadful calamities to come He says in verse 23, "If by this discipline you are not turned to me… then I also will strike you sevenfold for your sins." Were they reformed? No; the most extreme punishments named came upon them as a nation. About future judgment, turn to Revelation 16:11. There men will blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and will not repent of their deeds.
One writer turns God's desire here into a rule for how believers treat those who have gone wrong.
Even when evil rages, Christians are to try every remedy to recover those who have gone astray. Each case presents a different challenge… We must seek to help the recovery of those caught in the trap. If possible, we must make every effort to win them back. This has been God's desire for His erring earthly people Israel too, compare Amos 4:11 or Zechariah 3:2. Should it not also mark the saints in this day?
The list of blows ends here. What comes next is not another stroke.
So far they had been beyond correction, even though, as they are reminded, He had overthrown some of them as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah… Now He takes a new method, more ominous than any blow. They must meet Himself.
- Five blows. Famine, drought, blight, plague and this overthrow all end with the same line. God did not stay silent. Israel refused to come back.
- One aim. Each stroke was faithfulness working toward recovery: "Return to ME" was the point of them all.
- One mercy. Some were pulled out of the fire alive, and a spared remnant is what stands between a nation and Sodom's end.
- One limit. Judgment by itself reforms nobody. Pharaoh hardened. Israel hardened. Revelation shows people cursing God under His hand.
- One outcome. When the blows end, God stops striking and calls the nation to meet Him. That summons is heavier than every stroke before it.