Elder Jonathan McCartney reflects on a sermon by C. H. Spurgeon based on Amos 3 v1-12, which was originally preached amidst a devastating cholera outbreak in Victorian-era London.

Amos 3:1–12

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3:1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2   “You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
  therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.
3   “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
4   Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
  Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
5   Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
  Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
6   Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
  Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the LORD has done it?
7   “For the Lord GOD does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
8   The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
  The Lord GOD has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”
9   Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
  and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and the oppressed in her midst.”
10   “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
    “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

  “An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down¹ your defenses from you,
    and your strongholds shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part² of a bed.

Footnotes

[1] 3:11 Hebrew An adversary, one who surrounds the land—he shall bring down
[2] 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

(ESV)