Amos 1-3

Amos 1

Amos 1 uses a construction of three/four that seems to try to convey something. Perhaps it is a signal that Amos is not the first to warn the hearers of the consequences of their actions. They were warned, they repeated their offenses a fourth time, and judgment would be executed. Perhaps if they had repented after three offenses and were warned less severely, they might have been saved. But now they will experience God’s justice, which will be fair but severe. We don’t know what the earlier warnings were, but since that is how God dealt with people through other prophets, that is how He works.

We will each individually face a final judgment from God. Nations are judged in this world, but the great white throne of judgment is reserved for determining our personal judgment for eternity - redeemed or receive justice.

Amos 1:1-2 Perhaps the earthquake was one of the warnings that God gave Israel and Jeroboam, to confirm Amos’ warnings. Or perhaps it was just a notable event in Israel’s history. Zion and Jerusalem were Jeroboam’s enemies. When the Lord roars, do we hear His voice and respond? Or is it perceived as the sound of an animal? It is believed to have happened in the 760-750 BC timeframe, and been approximately 8.0 magnitude. It was so notable that Zechariah mentioned it 250 years later.  (Zechariah 14:5)  

Amos 1:3-5 Damascus represents modern Syria geographically. With great power comes responsibility for how it is used. Only one  type of sin is identified, so it is a bit unclear whether this was the fourth sin, or if this sin was repeated four times. God judges the threshing of nations by destruction of both the political leaders and the people.  Hazael had an interesting but ambiguous history. The Lord told Elijah that Hazael would kill many of the followers of Baal, (1 Kings 19:15-17). When Hazael later brought an offering to Elisha, the Lord had Elisha prophesy that he would kill many, including women and children, as king of Aram (2 Kings 8:9-13), which was then recorded in the following chapters of 2 Kings. Hazael was God’s instrument, but his descendants and followers were judged for their barbaric cruelty. It is clear that even when God calls us to act as His instruments of judgment, we are responsible to Him for how our actions match what He commands, and not our own agendas.

Amos 1:6-8 Gaza represents the Philistines, and it is interesting that 3,000 years later we are in the same tension. Slavery is rare in the modern world, but mass kidnapping and murder continue. Chattel slavery was widespread until the 19th century, when it took William Wilberforce twenty years to persuade the British Empire to abolish it, and the American Civil War fifty-plus years later, to end it in the English-speaking world.  But Palestinian/Philistine hatred towards Israel persists, as does God’s judgment. It is not just bombing campaigns that destroy cities, but lifestyles that perpetuate grinding poverty. It does not appear that the last of the Philistines’ spiritual descendants have yet died.

Amos 1:9-10 In Solomon’s day, Hiram king of Tyre and Solomon had been on good terms, doing business and giving gifts to each other, and Tyre was involved in building Solomon’s temple. (1 Kings 5 & 9) Things went downhill after that. Their sale of Israelites to Edom as slaves parallels that of Aram’s. God’s judgment on Tyre was initially carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in 586-573 BC, when they surrendered but the city remained intact.  It was ultimately consummated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Everything on the island was completely destroyed and the people were killed and imprisoned.  

Amos 1:11-12 Amos lists four specific sins of Edom. Esau was Jacob’s brother, and his anger and jealousy over God’s choice and blessing of Jacob was carried by Esau’s descendants, the Edomites (Genesis 36), until Israel was destroyed. This lasted from approximately 1930 BC to 586 BC (Northern and Southern Kingdoms’ destruction). Edom’s  major cities (in the wilderness), Teman and Bozrah,  would be destroyed. This is believed to have happened in the 580-550 BC time frame, at the hands of the Babylonians. It is perhaps ironic that the same forces that destroyed Judah, doubtless seen as justice by the Edomites, also destroyed them.

Amos 1:13-15 The descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:38), Abraham’s nephew, also expanded their land holdings by violence. David and his army had fought against the Ammonites, but Rabbah remained a significant stronghold throughout Biblical history. Modern day Amman is Jordan’s capital, about fifty miles north of Rabbah. The exact battle that Amos prophesies is hard to pin down, since there have been multiple conquests, although it is believed that the Babylonians conquered it about 582-581 BC.

Amos 2

Amos 2:1-3 Moabites were descended from Lot, like the Ammonites. (Genesis 19:16) in fact the name Moab means ‘from my father’, since Lot’s daughter conceived him through incest with him. The Moabites were the tribe who hired Balaam to curse Israel. (Numbers 22) Subsequently, when God did not allow Balaam to curse Israel, but instead bless them, they conspired to get God’s  blessing removed by seducing them to sexual immorality. (Numbers 25) Despite this, God would not allow Israel to take Moab’s territory because of ancestry traced back to Lot. (Deuteronomy 2:9) But now, enough! 650 years later (more or less), God has Amos pronounce His judgment on them. The final straw was burning the bones of Edom’s king. Esau and Lot weren’t exactly close relatives (Abraham’s nephew and grandson), but God had blessed both of them with land; Moab did not respect Edom. 

Amos 2:4-5 Judah had certainly gone astray - rejecting the Mosaic law, worshipping false gods -  and they will be punished, although it would be later. Curiously, the enumerated sins of Judah do not call out mistreating the poor or people of other nations. Jeremiah would be much more specific 120 years later.

Amos 2:6-8 Amos now turns to Israel, the Northern kingdom. More than four sins are enumerated. Perhaps it started with selling Joseph for silver (Genesis 37:28), although Ephraim and Manasseh, the two tribes descended from Joseph, were part of Israel. But that was only a start. Selling the needy for a pair of shoes indicates total lack of respect - not only were the poor enslaved, they were despised.  Having sex with your father’s wife was prohibited, so when father and son “use” the same woman, not only is at least one of them committing adultery, the son is violating this principle. (Leviticus 18:8) Keeping a garment taken in pledge shows total disregard for the poor. (Exodus 22:26-27) Drinking wine in the house of other gods was essentially full participation in pagan worship, making pagan gods their god, in place of the one true God. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Amos 2:9-12 Israel should remember the Exodus, when God protected them and fed them for forty years in the wilderness. He destroyed the Amorites when they refused to let Israel have safe passage through their land, and He gave Israel their land. (Numbers 21:21-26) He raised up prophets and Nazirites, but the Israelites told the prophets to shut up (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), and made the Nazirites violate their vow of abstinence. (Numbers 6:1-6) 

Amos 2:13-16 Israel’s punishment will be to be crushed in a way that the athletic, the strong, and the soldier will not be able to escape or resist. 

Amos 3

Amos 3:1-3 The Lord sees Israel as His family, that He chose and rescued from Egypt. He wants them to walk with Him. He uniquely called Israel by revelation, beyond His call to other nations by conscience and intuition. They had the Truth in writing, and knew better. What about us? We have the full Bible, Old and New Testaments - do we take them seriously?

Amos 3:4-8 The warning of a lion’s roar should be heeded by potential prey. Other warning mechanisms are natural - a trumpet sounds an announcement or alert. So the Israelites should heed the prophet’s warning as the roar of the Lion of Judah, and pay heed. Jesus is a meek and gentle shepherd, so when He roars, it is cause for alarm.

Amos 3:9-11 Forts are physical strongholds in which people trust, but their actions of oppression and looting others have acquired ill-gotten wealth, stored therein. The sovereign Lord speaks through the prophet - spiritual wrongs will lead to worldly judgment and disaster in the end. Physical forts cannot save in the end.

Amos 3:12 Think of the disappointment of a shepherd who goes to rescue a lamb from a lion, and only manages to get a few body parts, not a living animal. This is how sad the Lord feels when we go astray and put ourselves in harms way. He grieves when we make ourselves the devil’s pray. 

Amos 3:13-15 Total destruction of the worship of false gods and false religion is coming, and along with it the lifestyle, economy, and wealth of the Northern Kingdom. This will get Israel’s attention and end their rebellious lifestyle. The golden bull at Bethel (house of God!), erected about 930 BC by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-30), will be destroyed. This happened about 722 BC. 

At first it seems odd that both Aaron and Jeroboam made golden bulls for worship. Most likely this was because that was common in the pagan religions of the time. Gold represented wealth, and bulls symbolize strength and virility. We have bull markets on Wall Street. Let us pray that we will not be seduced into worshipping them, but sadly it is an uphill battle. True spiritual prosperity comes from God. Even tithing can become a false god if we do so solely in order to receive the promise of Malachi 3:10.  God honors His word, but He knows our heart.