nations. Fashions of life, unlike those native to Israel, rapidly developed. There came a separation between rich and poor. New avenues for trade and commerce drew people from their older and established occupations. The administration of justice was marked by the corruption, the graft and favoritism which are peculiarly Oriental.

III. Religion and Morals. "The outwardly flourishing state of religion was a circumstance which only embittered the evils of the time. It is true that the worship of the Syrian Baal had been practically extirpated in both kingdoms, but gross abuses and corruptions were still rife, which defied the spirit of reform. Meanwhile the nation was proud of its devotion to Jehovah the God of Israel, and hailed the prosperous issue of the Syrian wars as a sure pledge of the divine favor and protection." Religious worship seemed prosperous in the extreme: Bethel and Gilgal were the most popular shrines. They were thronged on festival days with crowds of worshippers. They were enriched with splendid gifts. The "metal bulls" of Jeroboam still held their place, other emblems, borrowed from Canaanitish worship, were also used; the new moons and Sabbaths were observed by careful ritual; but licentious rites were practiced in the groves and on the hill-tops. The people made free use of images in their worship, necromancy and magic were everywhere practiced, and while the old and simple truth of Jehovah still held in theory its place of supreme authority, it had become contaminated by the persistent invasion of Phoenician ideas, and the standards of a degenerate age. Drunkenness grew up among the people. Isaiah and Hosea dwelt upon this in vivid words. "The gross intoxication of the Israelite nobles and priests almost resembles that which unhappily

prevailed amongst the English aristocracy and clergy in the eighteenth century. It even extended to the most sacred functionaries. "They have erred through wine, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through strong drink: they err in vision, they stumble in judgment." This evil always goes with others, as licentiousness in all its forms, wantonness and hardness of heart, the oppression of the poor, luxury, robbing, and murder. (See Stanley's Jewish Church, Lecture XXXIV, and Isaiah 28:7, 8).

IV. It was into an age like this that Amos the prophet of Judah brought his message. He was born in the hamlet of Tekoa, on the ridge of the hill country, some twelve miles south of Jerusalem. "It was a high and desolate region from which the broken cliffs of Judea descended precipitously to the Dead Sea." We do not ordinarily realize the ruggedness and desolate nature of this section of Palestine. Tekoa lies nearly four thousand feet above the level of the sea, which is only some twelve miles distant. The Collotype map of the Palestinian Exploration Fund shows this region very satisfactorily, and the reader will probably get the best conception of the region from this or the Underwood Stereoscopic Map.

"Although his message was to the Northern Kingdom, he was a native of Judah. The town of Tekoa, perched on a high hill about six miles south of Bethlehem, was his home (Amos 1:1). Immediately on the east begins the wilderness of Tekoa, which extends toward the Dead Sea, twelve miles distant. The life of the town, therefore, retained the pastoral simplicity of the earlier days. Amos himself was one of the herdsmen of Tekoa. The Hebrew word indicates that he watched small animals, such as

sheep and goats. The prophet also adds that he was a "dresser of sycamore trees" (7: 14), probably at the proper season piercing their fruit that it might ripen so as to be utilized as food by the poor, who could secure nothing more palatable. Hence his occupation was the humblest. His surroundings were all pastoral and agricultural. His prophecy also abounds in figures drawn from the simple life of the country. At the same time he betrays a familiarity with lands outside Judah which must have been the result of personal observation. The peculiar location of Samaria and the conditions within Israel's capital were well known to him (3: 9, 10). His references to the surrounding nations reveal an intimate acquaintance with them (1:2). The graphic allusion to the rising and falling of Egypt's river suggests that this shepherd-prophet had some time made a journey to that wonderland.". KENT.

V. The Spirit of Jeroboam's Policy. So far as Jeroboam himself was concerned, he does not seem to have been identified with this corruption either by his own practice or through specific encouragement. His attitude may have been largely negative. He found calf-worship fully established, and simply let it go on. He was supremely concerned with the enlargement of his kingdom and the restoration of its prestige. Whatever therefore added to its material splendor and wealth was welcome, as evidence of the success of his administration. It is very difficult for rulers, often, to separate an apparent prosperity from a real prosperity. Jeroboam was a general and a king, he was not a prophet, nor was he of the higher order of statesman. Again and again in the history of nations this same distinction is seen, as we shall point out later on. Jero

boam is thus described in II Kings 14: 24: "He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin." The sanctuary at Bethel was known as the King's Chapel-a part of the royal court. Amos made Bethel especially the object of his sternest condemnation. He comforted Amaziah, the high priest in the chapel there, and openly denounced the shame of Israel, declaring that the high places of Isaac should be desolate, and the Sanctuaries of Israel laid waste, and that God should rise against the House of Jeroboam with the sword (Amos 7:9). Amaziah thought that the prophet was uttering a threat against the king himself, and accused him of conspiracy. Whether the king gave the order or not, Amos was banished from Israel. The high priest reported to the king, and declared that the land of Israel could bear the denunciations of the prophet. But before he left, he launched a terrible judgment against Amaziah and his family, and foretold the utter ruin of the Kingdom of the North.

VI. The Book of Amos. It will materially assist in understanding the work of Amos as the mighty preacher of righteousness if we note the outline of his message. 1. The Title Page. 1: 1-2.

2. General Statement of the relation of God to Israel shown or illustrated by his judgments on other nations. This takes up the first two chapters, and is divided into eight stanzas of very striking literary form, each with the same kind of opening refrain.

Damascus 1:3-5.

Gaza 1: 6-8.

Tyre 1: 9-10.

Edom 1: 11-12.

Ammon 1: 13-15.

Moab 2:1-3.

Judah 2:4-5.

Israel 2: 6-16.

3. General Indictment of Israel contained in three Orations or Prophetic Addresses.

First Address Chapter 3.

This address calls to mind the honor God had put upon the Jewish race, and how they had fortified the honor and laid themselves open to judgment. Nothing is hid from him, and He reveals all this to His servants the prophets. The rich and splendid shall fall, who store up wisdom and greed in their palaces: and the Altars of Bethel shall crumble.

Second Address: Chapter 4.

An intense arraignment of the coarse and overbearing life of Samaria, the cruelty and greed, and summons to repentance before the coming of God in judgment."

Third Address: Chapters 5-6.

An indictment of the worship of Bethel and Gilgal, and an appeal for restoration of the pure faith of Jehovah. The condemnation of injustice and unrighteousness and the contempt of God for all false elaborateness of worship, of splendor of music and art, and an appeal for sincere religion. The prophecy of a nation out of the Assyrian country, that will be raised up to afflict them.

4. Visions of Destruction.

(1) Locusts 7:1-3.

(2) Fire 7:4-6.

(3 Plumbline 7: 7-9.

Historical digression or parenthesis, telling of Ama