An exposition by way of supplement, on the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of the prophecy of Amos where you have the text fully explained ... : together with a confutation of Dr. Holmes, and Sir Henry Vane, in the end of the commentary / by Tho. Hall ...

VERSE 3.

And the Songs of the Temples shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God, there shall be many dead bodies in every place, they shall cast them forth with silence.

THe Prophet goes on to amplifie the greatness of the ap∣proaching Judgements, the better to awaken them; to this end he tells them, 1. That the Songs of the Temples used at their sacred Solemnities, and Divine Service should cease, and be turned to howling and lamentation for the miseries that should come upon them. This Howling notes the greatness of the grief, and the height of horrour which should surprize them; they should not only weep for the calamities which should come upon them, but they should weep till they howl

again for anguish of spirit. Hence when sore Judgements light upon a people, we read of howling, wayling, and weeping joyned together, Isa. 15.3. Ier. 4.8. Ezek. 21.12. Hos. 7.14. Micah. 2.8.

Q. But what is meant by the Temple here?

A. The word signifies both a Palace, and a Temple; and therefore some render it, The Songs of the Palace shall be howlings, q. d. those Palaces and great Houses of the great ones, which have been hitherto filled with Mirth and Musick, shall be now filled with weeping and howling. The Septua∣gint and the Vulgar mistaking the word Scirot, cantica, render it, Cardines & laquearia Templi stridebunt, but the word signifies a Temple, as well as a Palace; and by it here is meant not so much the Temple at Ierusalem, (which was not de∣stroyed till a considerable time after) but the Idolatrous Tem∣ple of Bethel, where the golden Calves were, and other high places where they had set up Idols; for though this Prophet doth sometimes glance at Iudah and Ierusalem, yet the pri∣mary bent of his Prophecy is against Samaria, and the ten Tribes, as appears, vers. 14. I will punish those that swear by the sin of Samaria, which was not farre from Bethel, against whose Idolatry Amos so much inveighed, Amos 7.13.

2 There should be so great a Mortality of all sorts and Sexes, that many should dye by the Sword, Plague, Famine, Captivity, and other Judgements every word hath its weight. There shall be dead Bodies, many dead Bodies, many dead Bodies in all places, and these shall be cast out with silence, i. e. they shall cast them into common pits, and bury them without la∣mentation, or any funeral solemnity. The word Has, Tace, Sile, is the same with Amos 6.10. Be silent. Some give the same sense of the word as they do, Amos 6.10. he that buries the dead shall say to him that helps him, Be silent, not a word, for God is just in all that he hath brought upon us for our Apostasie and Idolatry. So the word is used, Amos 5.13. & 6.10. Hab. 2.20▪ Zeph. 1.7. Zach. 2.13. or else thus, Throw these dead bodies into pits and say nothing, lest we be sequestred as unclean by the Law.

3. Here is the time when all this misery should fall up∣on them, viz. In that day, i. e. in the day of Israels final over∣throw.

4 Here is the certainty of all this, Dixit Dominus, The Lord, who cannot lye, hath spoken it.

OBSERVATIONS.

1 The joy of Idolatrous worshippers shall end in sorrow.

They may feast, and fiddle, and sing for a time, and walk in the light of those sparks w^ch themselves have kindled, but this they shall have at Gods hands, they shall lye down in sorrow, Isa. 50. ult. God hates both them and their singing, and will turn their songs into howling, Amos 5.23. Superstitious persons are apt to think that God is delighted as they are, with Musick, Sing∣ing, and a little formal sacrificing in the Temple, but the Pro∣phet tells them, such carnal joy shall end in howling. The Lord had given them a little success, and they conceited pre∣sently that they were highly in Gods favour (for wicked men are apt to measure Gods favour to them by present enjoy∣ments and outward prosperity) and therefore they goe to sing∣ing (as Papists now use to doe) in their Temples, yet with self-respects; hence the Prophet thunders out wrath and Judgement against them; for those that will not sincerely sing to God in a time of grace, shall be forced to howl in a time of wrath. Those that will not serve God with gladness of heart in the abundance of all things, shall serve him in sadness of heart in the want of all things, Deut. 28.47, 48. In Nehe∣miahs time neither Princes, Priests, nor people would serve: God in that fat Land which he had given them, therefore they were made Slaves to their enemies, Neh. 9.34, 35, 36, 37. So Psal. 106.39, 40, 41, 42. when they fell from God to I∣dols, he sold them into their enemies hands for a prey. When the Gospel comes with tenders of grace to a people, and they re••ect them, such shall be slain, Luke 19.14, 27.

2 Sin brings Gods sore Iudgements upon a people.

It brings Sword Plague, Famine, Ezek. 14.21. which lay heaps upon heaps, and sweep away thousands in a short space; so that there are many dead bodies in all places. Sin makes men fall and fly before Gods Judgements, as leaves before a

mighty wind, Isa. 64.6. See more before on Amos 4.10. & 6.9.

3. Want of decent burial is reckoned as a temporal Iudgement upon the wicked.

They shall cast them out with silence, and none shall make lamentation for them, as they usually did in those daies. But of this at large, on Amos 6.10.

Notes

• In my Com. on Hos. 13.4. Obs. 3. & 4.
• Ululabunt cantica Palatii. Vatabl. & Montan.
• Rab happeger, multiplex, cada∣ver, i. e. multa erunt cadave∣ra, multi occidentur. It is a kind of Aposiopesis, when men are angry and troubled, so that they curtail their words: many dead bodies in every place, i. e. there shall be many dead bodies in every place. See my Schools-Guard on that figure.
• See more in my Com. on Hos. 13.12. Obs. 1. & 13.13. Obs. 8. & 13.16. Obs. 6.