From the Bible we know that whatever events occur in our experience, good or bad, routine or startling, they are all reminders from God to come closer to Him and turn our backs more comprehensively on sin. This principle holds good not only for individuals but also larger communities including nations. Our nation has had a summer of bad weather, with drought in some places meaning a poor harvest, while many domestic and international problems persist whatever efforts are made to tackle them. Our helplessness to do anything about the weather should make us depend more heavily on God, and our inability to solve our own problems should make us apply to Him for wisdom. However, when God sends difficulties and our attempts to improve our situation keep being frustrated, although it should prompt us to repent and turn to God all over again, we often respond in the opposite way. We instead persist in our sinful ways and ignore God’s interest and involvement in our situation. This is not because it is difficult to discern what God wants — just repentance — but because we prefer our sinning to His holiness. As George Hutcheson points out in the following updated extract, until grace intervenes, we commit ourselves to a vicious cycle of a thrawn, obstinate response leading to more trouble and misery, leading to more obstinacy. For ourselves and others, both as individuals and as members of society, we can only appeal to the God of grace to change our hearts so that, on experiencing yet another problem, we take it as an invitation to return to Him to restore us and bless us.

God’s challenge

By the prophet Amos the Lord makes three accusations as against His people. Firstly, they are committing cruel and covetous oppression (Amos 4:1); secondly, they are idolatrous (v.4–5); and here, thirdly, they show incorrigibleness and impenitency (vv.6–11).

For their idolatry and other sins, God had inflicted many judgements to reclaim them, yet they did not return to Him, but persisted obstinately in their wicked courses.

The judgments and corrections which they had thus abused are listed in Amos 4:6–11. And yet to all these, and every one of them, is subjoined the fact that they made no right use of any one of them.

What can we learn from this whole challenge in general?

Persistence in sin is itself sin

When God begins to reckon with a church, He finds her guilty not of one, or a few, but many gross faults. In this process, beside the faults He has already accused her of, He also finds her guilty of being incorrigible.

Believers cannot thrive in sin

A pathway of sin will not turn out to be a way for anyone to thrive in, but this is especially true of the church. The Lord will make His church either a theatre of mercy or a field of blood, and He has many rods to achieve this.

The Lord wants His people to come back

The Lord strikes His church sorest, and with most rods, either together or one after another. Yet in doing so He only calls her to repentance, and drives her to His mercy. His accusation is that, when they were under all these judgements, yet they did not set about turning to Him — the very thing He was aiming at.

Self-affirmed penitence isn’t enough

It must not be people’s own conceits, or their biased self-love, which pass the verdict on the truth and reality of their repentance, but God Himself. Whatever they might claim to offer Him under afflictions, yet He Himself takes charge of discerning its validity.

It isn’t easy to return by way of judgments

Whatever exercise judgements may put sinners to, yet it is not easy to attain to true repentance under them. This is the constant challenge, “Yet ye have not returned to me.” This is not to limit the Lord; of course He both can and does drive people to Him by rods inflicted for sin; yet it is no small difficulty (as sad experience proves) in too many. How so?

Even sad strokes are not soon felt by everyone, or felt in such a way as to stir them up to any spiritual exercise.

When strokes are felt, people quickly and easily feel bitterness, resentment, discouragement, etc. But repentance is a more difficult task, and is often impeded by these distempered reactions.

God’s hand in rods is not soon or easily seen to invite us to repentance as the only remedy, or we see only a little of it because we are too busy looking at instruments and second causes.

When we do in general acknowledge that God is in some way involved in our calamities, yet we may deceive ourselves with a deluded conceit of being delivered in some other way, or by some means other than by turning to Him.

Even when we are convicted of the necessity of repentance, yet it is not easy to attain sincerity and steadfastness in it.

Even when we desire most sincerely to repent under calamities, yet we cannot succeed till first we look back, and mourn for our slighting of the Word which drew down the rod.

In short, no providence can produce repentance, without the grace of God. Instead, troubles of themselves will drive people further from repentance.

Our incorrigibleness

It indicates very sad wrath on God’s part, and much impenitence on our part, when not only the same judgements continue, but new judgements are inflicted, one after another. The variety of rods declared that Israel had not yet returned to God, and that He was still pursuing them. None of the rods formerly inflicted had any effect, but God was still angry, and they were still walking contrary to God. This provokes Him to walk contrary to us, and punish us yet more.

Those who do not repent after one rod are liable to misuse (and harden themselves under) many. Judgements are in themselves stupefying, and only harden sinners, unless grace prevents it. Misuse of one rod draws on more hardness, and makes a sinner fit for misusing more rods.

Famine

Famine is a rod which could have brought them back to God’s ways — “I have given you cleanness of teeth (famine, no food to foul their teeth) and lack of bread” (v.6). Sinners may think little of their daily bread, but famine is a sad stroke.

When people will not be led even by the principles of reason to acknowledge God, or accept their duty, or to take notice of any evidences of God’s displeasure against them, it shows they have become like the brute creatures. Then it is only just that God treats them like animals, pinching them in their belly, as a stroke which they would feel.

Sin is for the most part so deeply rooted in people’s hearts, and they take so little notice of God in calamities, that it is no wonder to see people starved out of the world before they will famish their idols, and relinquish sin.

It is righteous with God to let people smart from want when they have abused prosperity. These people abused their plenty to serve their lusts and make themselves drunk (v. 1). They left God’s temple and priests without sacrifices and maintenance, instead spending what they had on their idols, and on maintaining unlawful priests (vv. 4–5).

It adds to the affliction, that it was “in all your cities,” and “in all your places” (v.6). It is a sad lot, and indicates much displeasure from the Lord, when He makes strokes universal, so that no one can help anyone else.

Drought

The longer sinners are warned of judgements before they are inflicted, the more it heightens their impenitence before the Lord. It adds to the people’s sin that they had three months’ drought before the harvest came (the time when rain was most needed) to warn them of the ensuing famine, and yet it had no effect. “Ye have not returned to me” (vv.7–8).

As God’s providence is supreme in ordering all natural causes and effects, even in dispensing rain, so it aggravates the impenitence of sinners when God’s hand is eminently seen, and yet they do not seek Him.

The Lord, when He pleases, can make as small a matter as a drink of water prove a great trial to a people. “Two or three cities wandered to one city (likely where it had rained) to drink water” (v.8). It cannot but add to a people’s sin, when they are made to feel a stroke, and it gives them toil, and yet they don’t use it to recognise God’s point of view, or turn to Him.

Notwithstanding their wandering from city to city, “they were not satisfied” (v.8). Whatever sinners do to get rid of troubles, yet when they neglect repentance, it is fitting and just that they will be disappointed in their efforts.

It is our great sin that when we are disappointed in all our expectations, and thwarted in all our efforts to get rid of troubles, yet we will not, among our other attempts, try to turn to God. “Yet have ye not returned to me, saith the Lord” (v.8).

Blight and locusts

God can arm all His creatures to cut off provision, one after another. Beside the drought, He sends blight and mildew to cut off their corn, and the palmerworm (locust) to spoil their gardens, vineyards and other fruit-trees (v.9).

Under affliction, people look mainly at the present particular means of their trouble; yet even if that is removed, it will not avail them so long as God is angry. Rather, whatever change there may be in providence, the impenitent may expect to meet with trouble. The blight came by withering winds, but when that was removed, and they got rain, it was no use to them — cold rain followed by the heat of the sun bred mildew.

It is a great aggravation of impenitency, when the Lord makes all kinds of creatures prove enemies, and yet people will not be driven to make God their friend. “Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord” (v.9)

Plague and violence

When famine did not prevail, God had pestilence and the sword to use against them. It is very sad and humbling that the Lord, who previously appeared gloriously for His people by plaguing their enemies, is now provoked to make His own people feel the same plagues. “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt” (v.10a). And it is even sadder when this does not drive them to God.

Where God has a controversy, the endeavours of a nation against their enemies will have little effect, and will only contribute to heaping miseries on themselves. They ought to see God’s hand in this. “Your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses, and I have made the stink of your camp to come up into your nostrils” (v.10b).

Yet they would not be induced to turn to God! He not only made the endeavours of enemies successful, but smote them with pestilence. Their low condition, with a broken military force, and their camp stinking, was a warning to them, “yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord” (v.10).

Overthrow

The visible church may transgress so far as to deserve to be afflicted as severely as the worst of people, and God may in justice inflict what she deserves. “I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (v.11).

Nevertheless, the Lord is still gracious to His church and people. He preserves a remnant of them in the midst of utter desolation, and notwithstanding great provocations. He may still see it fit that those who are preserved will bear the marks of these calamities, so that they will be stirred up to make good use of what they have experienced. He says to the remnant preserved, “Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning” (v.11), pointing out both His goodness in plucking them out, and the prints of the fire that were left on them.

It is an undeniable proof of a people’s incorrigibleness, when neither the extremity of judgements, nor the extremity of God’s displeasure, nor His immediate hand in them; nor the fact that in wrath He has remembered mercy, will prevail with them to make them turn to God. “Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord” (v.11).

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