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"The Pastor's Message"
from the desk of David Stevens (Nov 2003)
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Amos – A Prophet for his Times Series (2)
Judgments Against Tyre, Edom and Ammon
Reading – Amos - 1: 9 - 15
Amos commenced with God’s judgments against Damascus and against Gaza, representing the nation of Philistia in
what is today’s Palestine. His words were set out in a poetic form, but the poetry belied the awful fate that awaited the peoples of those nations.This came about because these nations put
profits before people. Oh, how the world has not changed!
(Motyer). “Those relationships in which helplessness in the one party ought to elicit tenderness and compassion
in the other. This is a characteristically Biblical an specifically OT attitude.” Next, Amos moves on to prophesy against Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, or modern day Lebanon. For
many hundreds of years the port of Tyre had been a major player in Mid-Eastern commerce and shipping. It was from this area that King Solomon had made a deal with Hiram, King of Tyre, to
obtain cedar trees for the building of the first Jerusalem Temple. It was from Phoenicia that Jezebel came, also.But, all was not well in this bustling little kingdom to the north of Israel
and Judah!
9 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Tyre,even for four, I will not turn
back my wrath. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,
10 I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses."
Amos is pointing out the failure of Tyre to honour a covenant agreement with its neighbours, possibly Israel.
When you have a solemn agreement, you expect the other party to honour it, not renege.
You may wish to read Ezekiel’s words about Tyre in chapter 28. At my High school we gave our ‘word of
honour’ when promising to do something. The arrangement was never written down, it was simply not needed as there was an element of complete trust and expectation that whatever had been
agreed would be honoured. But, this was not the case here. Tyre was burned and besieged by most of the conquering nations down some 3000 years.
Because the broken covenant arrangement was about enslaved people, Amos gave God’s clear warning that callous
trafficking in people is completely against His standards of behaviour. Do we perhaps have a clearer picture about what God thinks of modern day people traffickers? How should we deal with
such people today? Amos now turns his attention against Edom, to the south of Judah. Edomites, the descendants of Esau. (Gen.25 & 36). Trouble between Edom and Israel/Judah was
almost a permanent fixture as skirmishes and battles continued for hundreds of years with both kingdoms have varying degrees of success in subduing the other.
The Romans finally destroyed them in AD 70. At that time the kingdom was known as Idumea, and we know that Herod
the Great was from that family line.
11 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not turn
back my wrath. Because he pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked,
12 I will send fire upon Teman that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah."
The anger and hatred of the Edomites against the nation of Israel, over a very long period of time, was the
ultimate cause of their downfall. When the Babylonians had conquered Israel in 587 BC, the Edomites licked their lips and immediately occupied a large part of Israel, apparently doing deals
along the way. This lack of morality between ethnic cousins, especially as one nation was God’s Chosen People, showed that a patient God does not remain so forever. Teman was probably
a city in the northeast of Edom, noted for its wisdom! Man’s wisdom is foolishness before God.Bozrah was the residence of one of Edom’s early kings, and was an important oasis on the
main highway, but is today a little town near Petra, Jordan. But Amos is far from finished in his Judgments. Now he turns and points the finger at Ammon, to the east of Israel and
Judah.
Ammonites were related to the Israelites, but refused to help Israel at various times of need. Indeed, they
seemed to take pleasure in obstructing Israel whenever it suited their purposes. This included the Temple reconstruction in the time of Nehemiah. Their national god was the infamous Molech,
known for the human sacrifices that were made to him. As you can see, a lovely bunch of people to have living right next door! But God seems rather less impressed with them as neighbours.
They disappeared by about 150 BC, thus fulfilling prophecy.
13 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not
turn back my wrath. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders,
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah that will consume her fortresses amid war cries
on the day of battle, amid violent winds on a stormy day.
15 Her king will go into exile, he and his officials together," says the LORD.
We see here a very vicious nation. Rabbah, probably an important city in its day is today the city of Amman,
capital of Jordan. Amos predicted violent winds and fires that would destroy this seat of evil. After treating pregnant women in such an evil way is it any wonder that Amos was told to
prophesy against the whole nation.
In this prophesy we see that God does deal with those who take advantage of their strength as against the
weakness of others. From our study so far we can see that, although God’s timetable may seem very long and drawn out to us, He does take appropriate steps to deal with evil. This means
that evil is an affront to a Holy God, and His solutions, although sometimes they appear to be cruel to us, they do have a real element of justice attached to the end result.
Do we see instances of similar injustices in today’s world? If you were that way inclined you could see many, I
believe. Should we, as God’s people, be taking some sort of stand against these evil goings on? Breaking covenant agreements, trafficking in human slaves, barbaric treatment of
pregnant women.
What modern day examples might we think of? We could look at so-called ‘peace treaties’ that are supposed to
solve the problems of the Middle East. Callously being ripped up, by both sides in the current conflict. Trafficking in human beings is a major problem in several parts of the world,
even as we sit here in comfort and peace. People, especially women and children are still being viciously exploited in parts of Africa and Asia, either as child prostitutes or as economic
slaves for multi-national companies.
And let’s not think that Australia is immune to these things either, as some court cases clearly
demonstrate. Or what about the ripping open of pregnant women that was one of the sins of the Edomites. Is there not some parallel with the freely available abortion clinic? There may
be a little more clinical hygiene and even government funding and supervision, but is there not a similarity? Is there not a similar lack of morality?
David, in Psalms 13, 35, 74, cries out, “How long, O Lord.” Perhaps we can hear the cries of today’s
afflicted people, waiting for help from whom? Isaiah could be called the Prophet of Justice, for many are his words on this subject, and yet, we will soon see a progression from Amos that
will clear up any misunderstandings that we may have. (I have a dream – Martin Luther King).
Next, Amos takes a very bold stand against evil, but not without strong opposition. Slavery was not overcome in a
moment of time, nor without great opposition, but righteousness finally did prevail. Child sex tours to Asia have now been outlawed, and reasonably vigorous attempts are being made to
prosecute offenders. When we turn to abortion and prostitution, however, there we find another story entirely.
But Amos has not yet finished!
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