Amos 5:18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 5:16-20

Here is, I. A very terrible threatening of destruction approaching, Amos 5:16, 17. Since they would not take the right course to obtain the favour of God, God would take an effectual course to make them feel the weight of his displeasure. The threatening is introduced with more than ordinary solemnity, to strike an awe upon them; it is not the word of the prophet only (if so, it might be made light of) but it is the Lord Jehovah, who has an infinite eternal being; it is the God of hosts, who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 5:18

Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord ,.... Either the day of Christ's coming in the flesh, as Cocceius interprets it; and which was desired by the people of Israel, not on account of spiritual and eternal salvation, but that they might be delivered by him from outward troubles and enemies, and enjoy temporal felicity; they had a notion of him as a temporal Saviour and Redeemer, in whose days they should possess much outward happiness, and therefore desired his coming; see Malachi... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 5:18

Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord - The prophet had often denounced the coming of God's day, that is, of a time of judgment; and the unbelievers had said, "Let his day come, that we may see it." Now the prophet tells them that that day would be to them darkness - calamity, and not light - not prosperity. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 5:18

Verse 18 The Prophet expresses here more fully what he briefly and obscurely touched upon as to the passing of God through the land; for he shows that the Israelites acted strangely in setting up the name of God as their shield, as though they were under his protection, and in still entertaining a hope, though oppressed with many evils, because God had promised that they should be the objects of his care: he says that this was an extremely vain pretense. He yet more sharply reproves their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 5:18

The day of the Lord. Anycrisis in the nation's history is so called, when God interposes to punish and correct. To our minds it looks forward to the final judgment. It is often mentioned by the prophets ( e.g. Isaiah 2:12 ; Isaiah 13:6 , Isaiah 13:9 ; Joel 2:1 , Joel 2:11 ; Joel 3:18 ; Zephaniah 1:7 , Zephaniah 1:14 ) as a time when the heathen should be judged, all the enemies of Israel defeated, and when Israel herself was exalted to the highest pitch of prosperity and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 5:18-20

The day of the Lord the night of the impenitent. Divine judgments will be as sharp as they are sure. Sent in wrath, proportioned to guilt, falling on the vulnerable points, they are the least desirable of all imaginable things. The very thought of them should be sobering, and the sure prospect of them overwhelming. Now, the scoffer is the worst type of sinner, and will, in the nature of the case, be the greatest sufferer when judgment comes. He is at the same time the most utterly blinded... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 5:18-27

The prophet enforces the threat by denouncing woe on those that trust to their covenant relation to God, expecting the day when he would punish the heathen for their sakes, and thinking that external, heartless worship was acceptable to him. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 5:18

Woe unto you that desire - for yourselves.The Day of the Lord - There were “mockers in those days” 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 1:18, as there are now, and as there shall be in the last. And as the “scoffers in the last days” 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 1:18 shall say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” so these said, “let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we way see it, and let the council of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it” Isaiah 5:19. Jeremiah complained; “they say... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Amos 5:18-20

Amos 5:18-20. Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord Scoffingly, not believing any such day will come: for this seems to be spoken of some among them, who, in mockery, expressed a desire of seeing those things which the prophet predicted brought to pass. Or, it may respect those who, notwithstanding all the prophet had said, still expected God would appear in their favour, not to their destruction: see Isaiah 5:19. To what end is it for you? To what purpose should you desire to see... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Amos 5:16-27

The day of the Lord (5:16-27)God’s terrible judgment will result in grief and mourning throughout the nation, in city and country areas alike (16-17). This intervention of God in judgment is commonly called the day of the Lord. Israelites thought that this day would be one of victory and rejoicing for them because their enemies would be destroyed. Amos tells them that when God acts in judgment, he will act against all the wicked, and Israel will be the first to suffer. There will be no way of... read more

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