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Selected Verse: Amos 9:9 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Am 9:9 |
King James |
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| sift--I will cause the Israelites to be tossed about through all nations as corn is shaken about in a sieve, in such a way, however, that while the chaff and dust (the wicked) fall through (perish), all the solid grains (the godly elect) remain (are preserved), (Rom 11:26; compare Note, see on Jer 3:14). So spiritual Israel's final safety is ensured (Luk 22:32; Joh 10:28; Joh 6:39). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
For lo! I will command! - Literally, "lo! see, I am commanding." He draws their attention to it, as something which shall shortly be; and inculcates that He is the secret disposer of all which shall befall them. "And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations." Amos enlarges the prophecy of Hosea, "they shall be wanderers among the nations." He adds two thoughts; the violence with which they shall be shaken, and that this their unsettled life, to and fro, shall be not "among the nations" only, but "in all" nations. In every quarter of the world, and in well-nigh every nation in every quarter, Jews have been found. The whole earth is, as it were, one vast sieve in the Hands of God, in which Israel is shaken from one end to the other. There has been one ceaseless tossing to and fro, as the grain in the sieve is tossed from side to side, and rests nowhere, until all is sifted.
Each nation in whom they have been found has been an instrument of their being shaken, sifted, severed, the grain from the dirt and chaff; And yet in their whole compass, "not the least grain," no solid grain, not one grain, should "fall to the earth." The chaff and dust would be blown away by the air; the dirt which clave to it would fall through; but "no one grain." God, in all these centuries, has had an eye on each soul of His people in their dispersion throughout all lands. The righteous too have been shaken up and down, through and through; yet not one soul has been lost, which, by the help of God's Holy Spirit, willed truly and earnestly to be saved. Before Christ came, they who were His, believed in Him who should come; when He came, they who were His were converted to Him; as Paul saith, "Hath God cast away His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin - God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew - At this present time also there is a remnant, according to the election of grace" Rom 11:1-2, Rom 11:5.
Rib.: "What is here said of all, God doth daily in each of the elect. For they are 'the wheat" of God, which, in order to be "laid up in" the heavenly "garner," must be pure from chaff and dust. To this end He sifts them by afflictions and troubles, in youth, manhood, old age, wheresoever they are, in whatsoever occupied, and proves them again and again. At one time the elect enjoyeth tranquility of mind, is bedewed by heavenly refreshments, prayeth as he wills, loveth, gloweth, hath no taste for ought except God. Then again he is dry, experienceth the heaven to be as brass, his prayer is hindered by distracting thoughts, his feet are as lead to deeds of virtue, his "hands bang down," his "knees" are "feeble" Heb 12:12, he dreads death; he sticks fast, languishes. He is shaken in a sieve, that he may mistrust self, place his hope in God, and the dust of vain-glory may be shaken off. He is proved, that it may appear whether he cleave to God for the reward of present enjoyment, or for the hope of future, for longing for the glory of God and for love of Himself. God suffereth him also to be sifted by the devil through various temptations to sin, as he said to the Apostle, "Simon, lo! Satan hath desired you, to sift you as wheat" Luk 22:31. But this is the power of God, this His grace to the elect, this the devil attaineth by his sifting, that the dust of immoderate self love, of vain confidence, of love of the world, should fall off: this Satan effecteth not, that the least deed which pertaineth to the inward house and the dwelling which they prepare in their souls for God, should perish. Rather, as we see in holy Job, virtues will increase, grow, be strengthened." |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
sift
(See Scofield) - (Psa 72:1).
|
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| The least grain - Though tumbled and tossed with the great violence, yet the smallest, good grain, shall not be lost or destroyed. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
I will sift the house of Israel among all nations - I will disperse them over the face of the earth; and yet I will so order it that the good shall not be lost; for though they shall be mixed among distant nations, yet there shall be a general restoration of them to their own land.
The least grain - צרור tseror, little stone, pebble, or gravel. Not one of them, howsoever little or contemptible, when the time comes, shall be left behind. All shall be collected in Christ, and brought into their own land. |
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
1 A Psalm for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.