Amos 4:13

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains,.... These words are a description of the glorious Person, "thy God" and Saviour, to be met; he is the Creator of all things, that formed the mountains, and so

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

To move them to act for their safety, the prophet tells them how great and dreadful God is, the most dreadful and terrible enemy, but the most desirable friend. He that formeth the mountains; when there was not a mountain or hill, or the least dust of either, thy God, O Israel, formed them; and it is wisdom to return to him, for he can remove difficulties and pressures were they as heavy as mountains, and so he can mend all with you quickly; and if your confidences in sinful ways were as strong as mountains, he can overthrow them: return therefore and repent. Createth; giveth being by an almighty will. The wind; which for its instability seems of contrary nature to mountains, which doth shake them and overturn foundations; that wind which we feel and hear, though we see it not, that makes hideous noises, and works dreadful effects. The storms you are threatened with, O Israel, are like the wind, dreadful, irresistible; but, as the wind, raised and ruled by God, who can soon with one word lay them all asleep: return therefore to him. And declareth unto man what is his thought: think not by any counsels to prevent what God determines against an impenitent and sinful nation, as his power is infinite in creating, his wisdom is infinite too and unsearchable, and he can and will take sinners in their incorrigible wickednesses and punish them: be wise, therefore, and return to him by repentance. That maketh the morning darkness; can as easily turn outward prosperity into extreme adversity as he can turn a glorious morning into a dark, dismal, and overclouded day, and so will do against you if you repent not; and can turn a cloudy morning into brightness, and misery into happiness, if you repent. And treadeth upon the high places of the earth; can tread under foot the idols that are worshipped on high places of the earth, and trample on high and mighty potentates, exalted above ordinary men as highest hills are above lowest valleys. The Lord; who alone am the Lord, the eternal and mighty God. The God of hosts is his name; whose sovereign power and command all creatures obey, and act for or against us as he willeth.

Amos 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what [is] his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, [is] his name.Ver. 13. For lo, he that formeth the mountains, &c.] q.d. If my mercy move thee not to a humble submission, let my majesty; and for that end consider and tremble at my Nomen Maiestativum, my transcendent excellencies as they are here displayed, descried, and described, for thy learning, with a great deal of solemnity and state; to the end that thou mayest not expect evils, but prevent them, as Demosthenes counselled his countrymen. He that formeth the mountains] At first, doubtless, with the rest of the universe (though some held they were cast up by Noah’ s flood); see Psalms 90:1-2; by his mere Fiat, without tool or toil, Isaiah 40:28. This the blind heathens saw, and thus hieroglyphically set forth: in Thebes, a town of Egypt, they worshipped a God, whom they acknowledged to be immortal. And how painted they him? In the likeness of a man blowing an egg out of his mouth; to signify that he made the round world by his word. And createth the wind] The world’ s besom (as Rupertus calleth it) wherewith God sweepeth his great house, and whereby he setteth forth his inexpressible power. See for this Psalms 18:11; Psalms 148:8 Job 28:25 Jeremiah 10:12; Senec. lib. v. Nat. Quaest. cap. 18. And although we cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, John 3:8, yet can we with Cruciger contemplate the footsteps of God in this and other creatures; saying with Paul, that God is so near unto us, that he may almost be felt with our hands, ψηλαφησειαν, Acts 17:29. And declareth unto man what is his thought] What language he hath in his heart, what he talketh within himself ( quid sermocinetur, quidve cogitet, Drus.), as the rich fool did, Luke 12:17. Jesus knew the Pharisee’ s thoughts; yea, "thou understandest my thought afar off," saith David, Psalms 139:2, even before I conceive them. Jerome and Theodotion refer the affix to God, and renders it thus, Who declareth unto man his word and will therein revealed, Eloquium suum, τονλογοναυτου. The Seventy read thus, Who declareth unto man his Christ τονχριστοναυτου, sensu pio et egregio, saith Mercer, sed alieno; for Ma-sicho they read Meshicho; perperam. wrongly. That maketh the morning darkness] As he did at Sodom, whereon the sun shone bright in the morning, but ere night there was a dismal change. So in Egypt, Exodus 10:22; so in Jewry at Christ’ s death, Matthew 27:45.

(13) God of hosts.—The Lord whom they have to meet is no mere national deity, but the supreme Creator. Createth the wind.—Not “spirit” (as margin). But the two ideas “wind” and “spirit” were closely associated in Heb. (as in Greek), being designated by the same word ruach (in Greek ðíåῦ ?ìá, comp. John 3:8). Hence the transition in thought to the next clause is natural. This is curiously rendered in LXX. “and declareth to man his Christ” through a misunderstanding of the original.

Verse 13. He that formeth the mountains] Here is a powerful description of the majesty of God. He formed the earth; he created the wind; he knows the inmost thoughts of the heart; he is the Creator of darkness and light; he steps from mountain to mountain, and has all things under his feet! Who is he who hath done and can do all these things? JEHOVAH ELOHIM TSEBAOTH, that is his name. 1. The self-existing, eternal, and independent Being. 2. The God who is in covenant with mankind. 3. The universal Commander of all the hosts of earth and heaven. This name is farther illustrated in the following chapter. These words are full of instruction, and may be a subject of profitable meditation to every serious mind.

13. A verse describing the majesty and omnipotence of the Judge, and suggesting consequently a motive why His will should be obeyed, and His anger averted. He is the Maker both of the solid mountains, and of the invisible yet sometimes formidable and destructive wind: He knows the secrets of man’s heart, and can, if He pleases, declare them to him; He can darken with the storm the brightness of heaven, and march in the thunder-cloud over the high places of the earth: Yahweh of Hosts is His name! formeth the mountains] or fashioneth, the word used (yâẓ ?ar) denoting properly the work of the potter. It is often used figuratively of the Divine operation; e.g. Genesis 2:7-8; Genesis 2:19 (animals and man); Isaiah 45:18 (the earth); Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 43:21; Isaiah 44:2; Isaiah 44:21; Isaiah 44:24 (the people of Israel); Isaiah 43:7, Jeremiah 1:5 (an individual man); Jeremiah 10:16 (the universe): and even of framing or planning in the Divine purpose, Isaiah 22:21; Isaiah 37:26; Isaiah 46:11; Jeremiah 18:11; Jeremiah 33:2. createth] bârâ means properly to cut (see Joshua 17:15; Joshua 17:18), and hence to fashion by cutting, to shape; but, in the conjugation here used, it is employed exclusively of God, to denote, viz., the production, in virtue of powers possessed by God alone, of something fundamentally new. The verb does not in itself express the idea of creatio ex nihilo (though it was probably in usage often felt to denote this); but it implies the possession of a sovereign transforming, or productive, energy, altogether transcending what is at the disposal of man. It is used chiefly of the formation of the material cosmos (or of parts of it), as Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 45:12; Isaiah 45:18, and here; but it may also be applied to a nation, as Israel (Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 43:15), or to an individual man (Isaiah 54:16), and figuratively to new conditions or circumstances, &c. beyond the power of man to bring about (Exodus 34:10; Numbers 16:30; Jeremiah 31:22; Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 48:7; Isaiah 65:17). The idea expressed by the word was more frequently dwelt upon in the later stages of Israel’s religion; it is accordingly particularly frequent (in various applications) in Deutero-Isaiah. See further Schultz, O. T. Theol. ii. 180 ff. It is parallel, as here, to yâẓ ?ar, to form, in Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 43:7; Isaiah 45:18. and declareth unto man what is his thought] his musing, meditation. The word occurs only here: but one hardly different is found 1 Samuel 1:16 (“complaint,” lit. musing), 1 Kings 18:27, Psalms 104:34 al. The agency employed may be the prophet, declaring to man his secret purposes (cf. Acts 5:3 f., 9), or conscience, suddenly revealing to him the true gist and nature of his designs. The pron. his might in the abstract refer to God (cf. Amos 3:7); but the word rendered musing does not seem one that would be used very naturally of the Divine purpose. that maketh the morning darkness] viz.

For lo, He that formeth the mountains - Their God whom they worshiped was but nature. Amos tells them, who “their God” is, whom they were to prepare to meet.

12, 13. The sentence. The corrupt nation must bear a heavier blow. Therefore — Because previous judgments have failed. Thus — How?