The city named Kir was the place where the Arameans originally lived (Amos 9:7), although its precise location is unknown. Like the other names connected with Aram in the Old Testament, it is, in conformity with the common descent from Aram, Aramaic. So in other places, where the like form of words occurs, the added number is one beyond, and mostly relates to something greater than all the rest. Nor will they say, Look, here it is! or There! for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.. Certainly Hadadezer stands cut conspicuously; the Damascenes are mentioned only subordinately. Hazael probably became the instrument of God in chastening Israel, while he was avenging Jehus submission to a power whom he dreaded and from whom he had suffered. 4 So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. For the prophet had no mission to them; he only declares to Israel the ground of the visitation which was to come upon them. The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Gaza sent whole communities into exile to Edom. The course of the prophecy convicted them, as the things written in Holy Scripture for our ensamples convict Christians. The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. The LORD pronounces judgment on the inhabitants of Damascus because they slaughtered the people of Gilead. Gods mercy holds back the punishment long, allowing only some slight tokens of His displeasure to show themselves, that the sinful soul or people may not be unwarned. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.Isaiah 17:10-11 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain., 2 Timothy 2:6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.James 5:7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Specially shod animals walked around on the stalks until the grain separated from the hulls. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of theLordyour God. He condemns forcibly removing populations from their homeland. The cities will be razed to the ground by an invading force. They reach nearly to Anti-libanus westward, and extend on both sides of the Barada some miles eastward. Why Did God Use Adams Rib to Create Eve? 4 So I will send fire against Hazael's house and it will consume the citadel fortresses of Ben-Hadad. It begins with their most oppressive enemy, Syria; then Philistia, the old and ceaseless, although less powerful, enemy; then Tyre, not an oppressor, as these, yet violating a relation which they had not, the bonds of a former friendship and covenant; malicious also and hardhearted through covetousness. The smart farmer knows when the moment is ready. And its never done for us. In unserem Vergleich haben wir die unterschiedlichsten 70413 lego am Markt unter die Lupe genommen und die wichtigsten Eigenschaften, die Kostenstruktur und die Bewertungen der Kunden abgewogen. Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! Where the water of one is diffusing life and verdure over the surface, another branch is collecting a new supply. In former days these extended over the whole plain to the lakes, thus irrigating the fields and gardens in every part of it., Damascus then was, of old, famed for its beauty. What then shall we say to these things? Its whole plain was intersected with canals, and tunneled below. Genesis 2:15 says, The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it., Agriculture is highly encouraged throughout the Scriptures. What is the meaning of the symbolism in Amos? Why Did Jesus Talk So Much About Agriculture? Amos 1:3-5 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. The expression one who holds the scepter is a figurative way of talking about someone who occupies a royal position. Throughout that whole beautiful tract, including 2 12 degrees of latitude, Hazael had carried on his war of extermination into every peaceful village and home, sparing neither the living nor the unborn. f tribe of Manasseh returned to go into the country of Gilead, to the land of their possessions Joshua 22:9. If Amoss preaching bears witness to his insistence that nations need to acknowledge their sin, should not our preaching do the same? If you go into your neighbors standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbors standing grain., Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of theLord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.Amos 1:3 Thus says theLord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.Leviticus 19:9-10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai. Damascus and Samaria (Israel) fought over this area for a hundred years or more. OpenBible.info summed up by the word. The name Damascus probably betokened the strenuous, energetic character of its founder. Joel 2:24 speaks of that abundance as a sign of God's blessing if the people repent: "The threshing floors will be filled with grain. V N Theodoret supposes the horrible aggravation, that it was thus that the women with child were destroyed with their children, casting the aforesaid women, as into a sort of threshing-floor, they savagely threshed them out like ears of grain with saw-armed wheels.. S Genesis 8:22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.Isaiah 9:3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.Deuteronomy 11:14 He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.Zechariah 10:1 Ask rain from theLordin the season of the spring rain, from theLordwho makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.2 Samuel 24:22 Then Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. So Seneca in Hippolyt., Act. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. English Standard Version. No art or labor was thought too great. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-. "Thrice happy Greeks! And you shall remember the whole way that theLordyour God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Frequently threshing sledges (28:27) made of wood (2 Sam. Judging, probably, of Davids defensive conquests by its own policy, it joined the other Syrians who attacked David, was subdued, garrisoned, and became tributary 2 Samuel 8:5-6. In ancient Israel, gates and doors were usually locked with a bar made of wood or metal that slid into openings in the posts. Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. 1:1). A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. Randall. This historical account is followed by a description of Gods pronouncement of judgment on five pagan nationsSyria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, and Ammon. Any crime committed against human beings is ultimately against the LORD because He is the sole creator. because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Amos 1:3 . They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges. Without the Barada, says Porter, the city could not exist, and the plain would be a parched desert; but now aqueducts intersect every quarter, and fountains sparkle in almost every dwelling, while innumerable canals extend their ramifications over the vast plain, clothing it with verdure and beauty. L The LORD was the one who gave His words to His prophet. Although Israel and Judah were the primary audience of Gods message delivered through Amos, six other cities and nations Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab were also indicted. Damascus, Gaza and Tyrethree important cities in the region of Israel and Judahare called to account for their actions by a shepherd from Judah. It is still the capital of modern Syria today. Amos 1:3 - Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron." Leviticus 19:9-10 - " When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the . , Deuteronomy 11:1-32 You shall therefore love theLordyour God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. So the Targum. Change but the name, the tale is told of thee, was a pagan saying which has almost passed into a proverb. " (Cf. So does the wisest of us in living. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. God authorized human government in Genesis, where He said, Whoever sheds mans blood, by man his blood shall be shed, forin the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6). 24:22) with stone or metal teeth embedded in the bottom side were dragged over the grain by these animals. Success in life requires hard work. And thrice, and four times happy those, he cried, That under Ilion's walls before their parents died.". : The whole plain is filled with these singular aqueducts, some of them running for 2 or 3 miles underground. For a long time, these stories worked without much thought or explanation. Future Assyrian campaigns will do just that in the 740s-720s BCE. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. But there will be no poor among you; for theLordwill bless you in the land that theLordyour God is giving you for an inheritance to possess if only you will strictly obey the voice of theLordyour God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. , ' <-144 , . Such a pronouncement of judgment continues throughout the second chapter, which begins with Moab and culminates with Gods chosen people, namely, Judah and Israel. , Deuteronomy 28:8 TheLordwill command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. E David had had, for some cause unexplained by Holy Scripture, to inflict it on the Ammonites 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3. It was at that time probably a subordinate power, whether on the ground of the personal eminence of Hadadezer king of Zobah, or any other. Hazael extended his conquests to Gath 2 Kings 12:17, intending probably to open a connecting line with Egypt. This was usually done by spreading the stalks of grain several inches deep on a smooth flat area that was on a high piece of ground open to the wind. All time was measured by seven. : the drag (or board), under the same name rtz (properly something sharpened) which it has in Amos 1:3, in Isaiah 28:27, "For not with a sharp threshing-board is Nigella-seed [Tristram, N. H. B. p. 444] trodden out; nor is the wheel of a (threshing-) wagon turned about upon cummin," Job 41: . 5 I will p break the gate-bar of l Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of q Aven, 4. and him who holds the scepter from r Beth-eden; The city of Gilead was an Israelite region located on the eastern side of the Jordan River, just south of Damascus. The oracles against the nations are intricately structured. This rhetorical pattern stresses the sin and the consequence. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am theLordyour God., Genesis 26:12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am theLord. The bar would secure the gate or the door to prevent outsiders from entering to hurt the residents of the city. Its native historian admits that the Damascenes were, in the time of David, and continued to be, the aggressors, while he veils over their repeated defeats, and represents their kings, as having reigned successively from father to son, for ten generations, a thing unknown probably in any monarchy. The other things cannot be satisfied; the fourth, fire, grows fiercer by being fed. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four. Hazael, like others gradually steeped in sin, thought it impossible, but did it. Many people were farmers or at least very familiar with farming. , Leviticus 19:19 You shall keep my statutes. It was not tempted to set itself against believing them. R God also said He will cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven. at least and that is a COMPARED TO WHAT In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good., Isaiah 32:20 Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron - The instrument, Jerome relates here, was "a sort of wain, rolling on iron wheels beneath, set with teeth; so that it both threshed out the grain and bruised the straw and cut it in pieces, as food for the cattle, for lack of hay." A similar instrument, called by nearly . 3 Thus says the Lord,For three transgressions of Damascus and for fourI will not revoke its punishment,Because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron.4So I will send fire upon the house of HazaelAnd it will consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.5 I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,And cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven,And him who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden;So the people of Aram will go exiled to Kir,Says the LORD. His mothers name was Zibiah of Beersheba. For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four - These expressions of three and four, so often repeated in this chapter, mean repetition, abundance, and any thing that goes towards excess. "They have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron." Gilead was a part of Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan river. Amos 1:6,9-2:16 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: . As such, patience is a required virtue for a farmer. The stream thus collected is led off to a lower level, where it comes to the surface. For we are Gods fellow workers. of Will you? , Matthew 13:1-10 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 3 Thus says Yahweh, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke the punishment, because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron! 5 I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Avenand the . So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. It was no part of the territory assigned to Israel, nor was it molested by them. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.Leviticus 11:1-47 And theLordspoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. In this section, the divine message concerns Damascus. Whom hate devoured, and fraud, hard pressing on, And so the ancient oracle quoted by Pausanias Achaic., lib. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to theLord. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. On some days, the only thing the farmer can do is sit, wait, and hope for the best. 2 Kings 13:7 for an example). From the standpoint of the synergistic point of view of Sanders,Dunn,and Wright. Yahweh says, according to Amos, the he will not revoke the punishment such sins deserve. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler. Before this, Scripture speaks of the people only of Damascus, not of their kings. And he told them many things in parables, saying: A sower went out to sow. So each individual sinner, who dies impenitent, will be punished for all which, in his whole life, he did or became, contrary to the law of God. All rights reserved. The consequences, however, are essentially the samefire will burn destroy the cities/citadels (1:7, 10, 12). The area has been calculated at 236 square geographical miles. Elisha had foretold to Hazael his cruelty to Israel; Their strong holds thou wilt set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child 2 Kings 8:12. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. U Publisher: OpenBible.info. Not only would the kingdom of Aram fall, and its rulers have their authority crushed, its people would be conquered and taken into exile by its conquerors. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. A threshing sledge was made of wooden boards embedded with sharp stones or iron teeth. Cows, like people, reproduce in about nine (9) months. <-144 , . See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all., Isaiah 3:15 What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? declares the LordGodof hosts.Proverbs 21:1 The kings heart is a stream of water in the hand of theLord; he turns it wherever he will.Isaiah 17:13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.Psalm 126:1-6 A Song of Ascents. Let the nations who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit through Amos says to the nations. Benhadad and Hazael encouraged only marauding expeditions against Israel during the 14 years of Ahaziah and Jehoram. Very, very exceedingly; and so it was used among the ancient Greek and Latin poets. It was on the route by which Abraham himself came at Gods command from Haran (Charrae of the Greeks) whether over Tiphsaeh (the passage, Thapsacus) or anymore northern passage over the Euphrates. This was apparently a common practice in that region (cf. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. The animals have to be cared for. 3 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. C The Barada (the cold) having joined the Fijeh, (the traditional Pharpar, a name which well designates its tumultuous course ), runs on the north of, and through the city, and then chiefly into the central of the three lakes, the Bahret-el-kibliyeh, (the south lake;) thence, it is supposed, but in part also directly, into the Bahret-esh-Shurkiyeh (the east lake ). - Iron teeth (1:3): "Iron teeth" were part of a threshing sledge, a farming implement drawn over grain to thresh it and cut the stalks. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. Visit the Bible online to search for words if you dont know the specific passage yourre looking for. Chelub, the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir, who fathered Eshton. At this time, Damascus was probably, like ourselves, a rich, commercial, as well as warlike, but not as yet a manufacturing (see the note at Amos 3:12) nation. Such atrocities would not be unknown in the ancient world. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, Genesis 1:12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. The day-to-day chores, tasks, and attention required to the smallest details made agriculture an unforgettably rich metaphor for Jesus and His teachings. Again, There be three things which go well; yea, four are comely in going Proverbs 30:29-31. The Arameans have crushed [the people of] Gilead with iron-spiked threshing sledges. Jehoash recovered from Benhadad III the cities this side Jordan 2 Kings 13:25; Jeroboam II, all their lost territories and even Damascus and Hamath 2 Kings 14:28. Damascus (Syria, also called Aram) threshed Gilead. Thus the Church and members of the community of the Father sotra kinda Dont relate to the Process of the Hardened Hart and the compounded consequences of the deceitfulness of being habitually unfaithful in the little ways which bring about the cruelty of Amoss day. This handy resource allows the reader to quickly summarize or review all the pertinent details about any Old Testament book. These are the men of Recah. Almeida Atualizada (Portuguese) for Ams 1:3, La Biblia de las Amricas (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Common English Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Holman Christian Standard Bible for Amos 1:3, Giovanni Diodati 1649 (Italian) for Amos 1:3, Good News Translation w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, King James Version w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, New International Reader's Version for Amos 1:3, New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Revised Standard Version w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, La Biblia Reina-Valera (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Sagradas Escrituras (1569) (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Third Millennium Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, The Latin Vulgate w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). 5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from . All is vanity. Corn takes anywhere from 90 to 100 days to be ready to be harvested. It lay in the midst of its plain, a high table-land of rich cultivation, whose breadth, from Anti-libanus eastward, was about half a degree. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.1 Kings 5:11 While Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Tagged: Amos, Amos 1:3-5, Amos 1:6-8, Amos 1:9-10, Ethics, Nations, Violence. I will break the gate bars of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter . And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly. But the Levites did not act quickly. Its white buildings, embedded in the deep green of its engirdling orchards, were like diamonds encircled by emeralds. Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? . nothing big cus i Still hate to write. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Many things in life take time just as farming takes time. Adam, the first human in the Bible, is also the first farmer. The brief notice, that through Naaman the Lord gave deliverance to Syria 2 Kings 5:1, probably refers to some signal check which Assyria received through him. On the schism of the ten tribes, the hostility of Damascus was concentrated against Israel who lay next to them. 306: -. Amos 1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: : Strong's LIT Online Bible Project A threshing board, also known as threshing sledge, is an obsolete agricultural implement used to separate cereals from their straw; that is, to thresh.It is a thick board, made with a variety of slats, with a shape between rectangular and trapezoidal, with the frontal part somewhat narrower and curved upward (like a sled or sledge) and whose bottom is covered with lithic flakes or razor-like . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. It is possible that Syrians ran over peoplemen, women, and childrenwith these boards. Other poets use the same form of expression. The reign of this lineage would be destroyed for their wrongdoings. D Every day, just like the farmer, we must show up and do the work. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. instead of the traditional point of view because of our westernization of the good news. (LogOut/ Seven is used as a symbol of a whole, since on the seventh day God rested from all which He had made, and therefore the number seven entered so largely into the whole Jewish ritual. Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. Weeds grow everywhere and all of the time. Not naming it, he leaves it the rather to be conceived of by the mind, as something which had been of old coming upon them to overwhelm them, which God had long stayed back, but which, since He would now stay it no longer, would burst in, with the more terrific and overwhelming might, because it had been restrained before. with threshing sledges of iron. with threshing sledges of iron. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.Jeremiah 5:24 They do not say in their hearts, Let us fear theLordour God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest., Ezekiel 27:17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm.Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;Isaiah 30:24 And the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.Isaiah 28:24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Kimchi thinks that this respects four particular seasons, in which Damascus, or the Syrians, evilly treated and distressed the people of Israel; first in the times of Baasha; then in the times of Ahab; a third time in the days of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu; and the fourth in the times of Ahaz; and then they were punished for them all: because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron; that is. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. The three transgressions stand for a whole sum of sin, which had not yet brought down extreme punishment; the fourth was the crowning sin, after which God would no longer spare.