Read Amos
1-3 & Revelation
5
To discover:
As you read note the
particular sins Amos condemns.
To ponder:
In
being a shepherd Amos’ call demonstrates how God often uses ordinary people for
great purposes. His ministry is dated by a famous earthquake that took place
during Uzziah’s reign (1v1, see Zech 14v5). He speaks of God roaring with wrath
sufficient to cause the land to shrivel up (1v2). In what follows, the repeated
phrase “for three sins…even for four” stresses how fitting judgement would be
for three sins, let alone four. The point is that the nations have persistently
done wrong. The description of judgement in terms of “fire” is a figurative
description of destruction under God’s burning anger.
First, God promises destruction on Damascus
and its king, with its people being exiled, and all for their attacking Gilead
with sledges usually used for cutting down crops. Total destruction is then
pronounced against the Philistines in Gaza
for enslaving whole communities (probably from Judah )
and selling them to Edom .
We are also told Tyre did the same,
breaking a treaty, and so will receive the same punishment. Edom
are to be consumed for pursuing their brother nation Israel
(Edom stemmed
from Esau, Jacob’s brother) without compassion. The same is declared for Ammon
in the context of a battle, in which their king and officials will be exiled.
Their sin was to do violence even to pregnant women in Gilead .
Moab is
condemned not for action against Judah ,
but for the evil if doing violence to the corpse of Edom ’s
king. She will be consumed in war and her king and officials killed (1v3-2v3).
These sins have a contemporary ring. So we can be certain of God’s outrage
today at violence committed against his people, forced slavery and people
trafficking, and evil done to the dead.
The shock to God’s people hearing
Amos is that God now turns to speak against Judah
(the south) and Israel
(the north). The point is that they will be treated no differently from the
nations. Judah
is charged with rejecting God’s law in following false gods (2v4-5), but the
major portion refers to Israel .
It seems judges were condemning the righteous for material gain, and denying
justice to the poor and oppressed. And not only did the people break God’s law
by keeping other people’s garments taken in pledge for debt (against Ex
22v26f), but they lay on them by their so called altars. Perhaps it was there
that fathers and sons had sex with the same girl (probably a prostitute of the
Canaanite religion). At their pagan temples they also get drunk on wine taken
as fines, which were probably unjustified. The picture is of a nation seeped in
injustice, immorality, greed, drunkenness and idolatry (2v6-8). And these can
still be found in God’s church and even amongst his ministers.
To this God rehearses his kindness
in redeeming Israel
from Egypt and
leading her for 40 years through the desert to inherit her land. He also speaks
of the prophets and Nazirites he raised up to serve him, but who the people
have corrupted by forcing the Nazarites to drink and commanding the prophets to
be silent. God therefore says he will crush the kingdom, with none able to
escape no matter how capable or brave (2v10-16). This demonstrates how serious
it is for those who have experienced God’s mercy to turn from him into such
sin, or to cause those who serve him not to. There will be no escape from his
judgement.
The “whole family” of Israel
brought from Egypt
is now addressed – north and south. It is because they alone were chosen by God
that they will be punished for all their sins – implying a greater judgement
than that on the other nations. The sense of 3v3-6 seems understood from 3v7.
God only acts when he has first revealed his plan to his prophets. So the two
agreeing to walk together are God and his prophet, the roar and growl, God’s
word of judgement through him, the snare and trap, what is coming on the
people, and the trembling and disaster, what he will cause for the city. The
logic is that what God says through Amos is certainly going to occur – just as
all he as spoken throughout scripture and in Christ is. So God declares he has
roared and all should fear, and he has spoken, so prophets can only pass on
what he has said (3v8).
Here we see from where God’s
judgement will come. He speaks as if to send emissaries to Ashdod
(in Assyria ) and Egypt ,
to assemble in Samaria (the north
of Israel ) and
witness her unrest, oppression and plunder as those who do not know how to do
right. God therefore states that the land will be overrun and strongholds
pulled down and plundered. He adds that just as a shepherd might save barely
anything of a devoured sheep from a lion’s mouth, so barely anything from the
wealthy in Samaria and Damascus
who have beds and couches will be saved (3v9-12). Again, God tells Amos to
testify against Jacob (ie. Israel )
that on the day he punishes them for their sins, he will destroy their
idolatrous altars, and the wealth gained through oppression – whether it is two
homes or a mansion that are richly adorned (3v9-15). This urges us to ensure
our wealth is not gained at through the oppression of others, and resonates
with Jesus’ and James’ challenge to those who seek money but are not rich
towards God.
Praying
it home:
Praise God for his
concern for justice and standing up for the oppressed. Pray that people would
turn from the sins Amos highlights in your country and church.
Thinking
further:
To read the NIV Study Bible introduction to Amos, click
here.
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