Amos 5:19

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him,.... That is, should the day of the Lord come as they desired, they would not be the better for it; it would be only going from one trouble to

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him: here proverbially is expressed the continuance and succession of evils one after another; it will be a long calamity, when your civil dissensions waste you first, next God’ s armies of locusts and palmer-worms, and the Assyrians too, until all ends in final captivity; you may escape one, but shall fall into another calamity, and worse than that you escaped; abroad your miseries shall be like a lion or bear. Or went into the house; at home you may hope for safety from such open dangers, but there other kind of mischief shall meet you. And leaned his hand on the wall; weary and faint, shall think to ease and support himself. And a serpent bit him; whose biting infuseth a deadly poison, which suddenly corrupts the whole mass of blood, and kills the man. If conspirators at home be lions, the Assyrians will be as bears to you.

Amos 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.Ver. 19. As if a man did fly from a lion] And so by running from his death should run to it; by seeking to shun the shelves should split against a rock, Incidit in Scyllam, &c., as Nicodemus Frischline (that famous poet, orator, and philosopher), endeavouring to escape out of close prison, by casting himself out at a window, the rope broke, and he perished by falling headlong upon a rock: so fareth it with those that fear not God. Aliud ex alio malum, one mischief treadeth on the heels of another, as Job’ s messengers. The clouds return after the rain, Ecclesiastes 12:2, as in April weather one shower is unburdened, another is brewed: "and deep calleth upon deep at the noise of the waterspouts," Psalms 42:7. "Evil shall hunt the violent man to destroy him," Psalms 140:11, your sins shall find you out as a bloodhound, Numbers 32:23, as it did that Popish priest in London, who, having escaped the fall of Blackfriars, A.D. 1623 (where Drury had his brains knocked out of his head, together with his sermon), and taking water, with a purpose to sail into Flanders, was cast away (together with some others) under London bridge; the boat being overturned. And as Philip II, King of Spain, who, going from the Low Countries into Spain by sea, fell into a storm in which almost all the fleet was wrecked, his household stuff of very great value lost, and himself hardly escaped. He said he was delivered by the singular providence of God to root out Lutheranism, which he presently began to do. But the hand of God was upon him in an extraordinary manner; for beside the invincible Armada here defeated, to his great heartbreak (for his pretended patience was but as the fever called Epialis, wherein men are cold without but as hot as fire within), he fell into that most loathsome lousy disease, called Phthiriasis, whereof at length he died. And a bear met him] A bear robbed of her whelps (which she licketh into form, and loveth above measure) is a very fierce and fell creature. To meet her in such a rage is to meet death in the very face; and yet that danger may be sooner shifted and shunned than the heavy wrath of God avoided or averted without true and timely repentance: there is no way to run from him but by running penitently to him; as in a tempest at sea it is very dangerous to strike to the shore; the safest way is to have sea room, and to keep in to keep in the open main still. Or went into the house] To shelter himself from the bear; as every creature in danger runneth to its harbour, Proverbs 30:26 Psalms 104:18.

(19) Your escape will be impossible. You will avoid one calamity, only to fall into a worse.

Verse 19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him] They shall go from one evil to another. He who escapes from the lion's mouth shall fall into the bear's paws: - Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim. The Israelites, under their king Menahem, wishing to avoid a civil war, called in Pul, king of Assyria, to help them. This led to a series of evils inflicted by the Syrian and Assyrian kings, till at last Israel was ravaged by Shalmaneser, and carried into captivity. Thus, in avoiding one evil they fell into another still more grievous. Leaned his hand on a wall, and a serpent bit him.] Snakes and venomous animals are fond of taking up their lodging in walls of houses, where they can either find or make holes; and it is dangerous to sit near them or lean against them. In the East Indies they keep the faithful mongose, a species of ichneumon, in their houses, for the purpose of destroying the snakes that infest them.

19. Examples of a condition beset by perils, in which men escape from one danger, only to fall into another, perhaps worse. a bear] Bears are now found only in the far north of Palestine, about Mount Hermon, but they were once common in all parts of the country, and were dangerous both to human beings (2 Kings 2:24; Lamentations 3:10) and to sheep (1 Samuel 17:34): the bear is coupled with the lion, also, in Lamentations 3:10. and entered into the house &c.] taking refuge from the bear, and encountered there an unsuspected danger, being bitten by a serpent which had concealed itself in a crevice of the wall.

As if a man, did flee from a lion - The Day of the Lord is a day of terror on every side. Before and behind, without and within, abroad under the roof of heaven, or under the shelter of his own, everywhere is terror and death.

18-20. The day of Jehovah a day of calamity and ruin. Woe — Introduces frequently announcements of judgment (Isaiah 5:8 ff; Isaiah 10:1, etc.).