Amos 4:13

13 For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, reveals his thoughts to mortals, makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Amos 4:13 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 4:13

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains
These words are a description of the glorious Person, "thy God" and Saviour, to be met; he is the Creator of all things, that formed the mountains, and so was before them, as in ( Proverbs 8:25 Proverbs 8:26 ) ; and able to surmount and remove all mountains of difficulties that lay in his way of working out salvation for his people: and createth the wind;
or "spirit"; not the Holy Spirit, which is uncreated; but either angels, whom he makes spirits; or the spirit and soul of man he is the Creator of; or rather the natural wind is meant, which is his creature, he holds in his fists, restrains and commands, at his pleasure, ( Matthew 8:26 Matthew 8:27 ) ; and declareth unto man what [is] his thought;
not what is man's thought, though he knows what is in man without any information, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and can reveal them to men, and convince them that he knows them, ( Matthew 9:4 ) ; but rather the thought of God, the meditation of his heart, concerning the salvation of men; his thoughts of peace, which are the deep things of God, and which Christ, lying in the bosom of his Father, was privy to, and has declared, ( John 1:18 ) . The Septuagint and Arabic versions, reading the words wrong, render them, "declaring to men his Christ"; which, though true of God, is not the sense of this clause. The Targum is,

``what are his works ^F24?''

his works of creation, providence, redemption, and grace: that maketh the morning darkness;
or "darkness morning", or "the morning [out of] darkness" ^F25; being the dayspring from on high, the morning star, the sun of righteousness, that, rising, made the Gospel day, after a long night of Jewish and Gentile darkness; and who made the same dispensation a morning to one, and darkness to another, ( John 9:39 ) . The Septuagint version is, "making the morning and the cloud"; the Vulgate Latin version, "making the morning cloud"; his coming was as the morning, ( Hosea 6:3 ) ; and treadeth upon the high places of the earth;
the land of Israel, which is Immanuel's land, is said by the Jews to be higher than other lands; Jerusalem higher than any part of Judea, and the mountain the temple was built on higher than Jerusalem: here Christ trod in the days of his flesh, and from the mount of Olives ascended to heaven, after he had trampled upon and spoiled principalities and powers, spiritual wickednesses in high places, and when he led captivity captive. Jarchi interprets it of humbling the mighty and proud, who are compared to the high places of the earth. The Targum is,

``to declared to men what are his works, to prepare light for the righteous as the morning light, who goes and prepares darkness for earth;''

the Lord, the God of hosts, [is] his name;
he is the Jehovah, the Lord our righteousness, the God and Governor of the armies of heaven the hosts of angels, and to whom all creatures on earth are subject; all power in heaven and earth belongs unto him; this is Israel's God, his Redeemer and Saviour he is called upon to prepare to meet.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 So Kimchi and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 4. 5.
F25 (hpye rxv hvwe) "faciens obscuritatem auroram", Drusius.

Amos 4:13 In-Context

11 I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the fire; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.

12 Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

13 For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, reveals his thoughts to mortals, makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!