A City Aroused
Frederick Hastings. Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD has not done it? Men are always ready to overestimate the importance of the times in which they live. The ordinary appears wonderful. Our fathers felt and said about their times just as we say and feel about ours. These are not the most stirring times ever seen in our land. We need not think that all social order is going to be destroyed because sometimes our city is aroused, by sounds that are somewhat alarming, from its complacent quest of wealth, comfort, and amusement. 1. It is a very natural thing to fear approaching danger. The trumpet blown in the city is intended to cause alarm. It may tell of an approaching army. Or the danger may be from within; the trumpet-blast of some conspiracy. 2. Fear is a great preservative power. The certain consequences of any evil cause are a great preventive force. God intended they should have this effect. His Word often appeals to this faculty of fear. And we too may tell of the judgment that must be faced by individuals as by nations. We may tell of the retributions that must follow. The trumpet of warning must give no uncertain sound. It must ring in the centre of a man's soul. 3. The Divine purpose in permitted evil. It is to the same end as the trumpet-blast. Calamity calls for consideration. The cause must be found out and the evil removed. Things that are evil in some way God wills. It is for the devout student to consider calamities and inquire into the cause of moral evil. When a city has to suffer, the inhabitants should consider. Illustrate from time when the Romans attacked Jerusalem. London may not be more wicked in proportion than Paris, or Vienna, or Berlin, or Rome, or New York, or Melbourne. It is, however, the largest city in the world. Men will be compelled to inquire as to whether much physical evil is not the result of a debased moral state, arising from a neglect of God's Word, God's laws, God's worship, God's day, and God's love. For this the Church itself may be answerable. Her pride and laziness, wealth, and sectarian bitterness may have fostered the evils, It is for God's Church to be aroused to a lively interest in all that concerns the temporal and spiritual welfare of people around. She has something to say on social questions. Christians should be foremost in all movements for elevating men, or extending the sway of liberty and justice. They must not fold their hands and say, "All will be well." They must do something to make things better. As individuals, have we listened to the warning trumpet? Have we sought to understand God's dealing with us in the difficulties, the disappointments, the losses, the sorrows, the afflictions, the bereavements of life? (Frederick Hastings.) Parallel Verses KJV: Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? WEB: Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn't done it?