"The Pastor's Message"

Amos, the prophet from Judah, sent to prophesy in Israel, has already prophesied against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Ammon. The noose is tightening, but they have not yet realised what is happening. Moab is immediately East of Judah, beyond the Dead Sea. Moab had been a fickle neighbour to Israel for many years, and the prophet Isaiah spoke of their ‘overweening pride and insolence.’

2:1 This is what the LORD says: 

"For three sins of Moab, 

even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. 

Because he burned, as if to lime, the bones of Edom's king, 

Even in the barbaric times in which Amos lived there was still a civilised convention about the treatment of royal persons, whether in life or in death. Moab had deliberately, proudly, arrogantly, incinerated the King of Edom. For this barbarous act, along with their insolent pride, they would soon be punished. 

2 I will send fire upon Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. 

Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet. 

3 I will destroy her ruler and kill all her officials with him," says the LORD. 

Kerioth is presumed to have been the ancient capital of Moab, and so would receive the full punishment that God promised through almost all the OT prophets. The ‘great tumult’ implies a sudden attack resulting in the war trumpets being sounded amid general confusion. And so it came about when Syria came and destroyed the nation in 722 BC. 

4 This is what the LORD says: 

"For three sins of Judah, 

even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. 

Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, 

because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, 

5 I will send fire upon Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem." 

In 597 BC by Nebuchadnezzar 

By this time Amos’s Israelite audience must have been a bit worried about what was coming next! They did not have long to wait, although they may still have entertained some hope as Amos now prophesies against their southern brothers in Judah, in fact the home state of Amos himself! Judah had provoked this attention because they had initiated attacks against Israel. 

The pattern of Amos’s attack is the same as the preceding national roll call. 

But the problem is no longer the barbaric treatment of others. It’s all about Apostasy and Justice and the breaking of God’s Covenant with them. 

Amos says, “They have rejected the law of the Lord. They have been led astray by false gods.” The southern nation of Judah came about in 930 BC when Rehoboam (Israel – 10 tribes) and Jeroboam I (Judah – 2 tribes) respectively became kings at the fall of King Solomon’s United Monarchy. From that time a state of uneasy truce between Judah and Israel existed for many years, until Israel/Samaria was overrun by Assyria in 722 BC. 

6 This is what the LORD says: 

"For three sins of Israel, 

even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. 

They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. 

7 They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground 

and deny justice to the oppressed. 

Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. 

Observe that Amos has worked his way through all the surrounding nations, (except Egypt) and now has completely encircled Israel. Indeed, he saves his most detailed prophecies proclaiming judgement, against God’s chosen people, Israel! 

Israelite Law provided for almost every contingency in communal relations, and so, when Amos speaks out on the subject of mistreating the poor, (V 7) there was very little in the way of defence that Israel could put forward. Deliberately bankrupting their fellow-citizens on very slim evidence was a denial of true justice, and when these crimes against fellow Israelites were added to their crime of pagan temple prostitution, there was no escape clause available to them. 

There is very reliable evidence that Israel worshiped local pagan gods as well as Yahweh, the God of Israel. 

8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. 

In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines. 

9 "I destroyed the Amorite before them, though he was tall as the cedars 

and strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. 

Whether it was mistreatment of the poor, whether their prostitution was physical or spiritual, Israel was being judged, because both actions were abhorrent to God. 

The Amorites usually means the Canaanites, whom Israel was told to completely conquer when they entered the land under Joshua hundreds of years before. They failed to do what God had commanded, and eventually paid a very high penalty for their disobedience. 

10 "I brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the desert 

to give you the land of the Amorites. 

11 I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel?" declares the LORD. 

When God reminds Israel, yet again, that He had brought them up from slavery in Egypt, you would think that the people would be filled with remorse and repent before God. When God reminded them about keeping sacred vows, you might believe that that is what they would do. But no! In this passage God speaks of ‘you’ and ‘your’ rather than ‘they’ and ‘them’, as previously. God has been betrayed. Remember Hosea? 

This has now become a very personal matter between God and His disobedient people, Israel. 

“Is this not true?” (V 11). God asks. What defence did the people have? Absolutely none. 

God had specifically raised up prophets and Nazirites to lead them spiritually, but to no avail, as Israel, including Judah, wilfully went their own way. 

12 "But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy. 

A Nazirite (e g Samson) was someone who had vowed a life of obedience to God’s Laws, as outlined in Numbers 6. Their three vows were simple. No grapes or grape produce, especially including wine; no shaving; no contact with dead bodies. But Israel induced the Nazirites to drink wine and also commanded them not to prophesy. Preventing otherwise Godly men from performing their sacred vows was clearly viewed very seriously by God. As a result, there were detailed penalties put in place to punish the nation. 

13 "Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. 

14 The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, 

and the warrior will not save his life. 

15 The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, 

and the horseman will not save his life. 

16 Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD. 

“Now then,” (V 13) implies a major announcement from God. 

Where could they hide in the face of God’s wrath? A national catastrophe was imminent and nothing would save the land from God’s planned and proclaimed destruction. Trying to flee from God would not succeed and everyone, no matter how fit and fast, would be destroyed in a graphic depiction of God’s patience finally running out.

The nation was found guilty of crimes against the person, and also of crimes against God’s Laws. Both failures were immoral and unholy acts in God’s eyes that must be punished.

Can we apply the message, contained in these verses, to the way that we live today?

I believe that not only can we apply these messages to our lives today, but that we must apply them. You see if God is a Holy God, and He has given us outlines or patterns on which to base our daily living, then those are the patterns to follow.

Failure to do so puts our relationship in mortal peril. 

NB: References to ‘destruction’ are the same as those telling us about what happens to those who go to hell!

For three sins of NSW, or Australia etc!