Amos

Amos was written during the age of Jeroboam II, king of Israel from 786 BC to 746 BC. His reign was marked by great economic prosperity, but only for some, the rich were getting richer and the poor poorer. Social injustice ran rampant in the land. The economically weak could find no justice in the courts and no one to champion their cause. Amos was no professional prophet nor a member of a prophetic guild but God called him to make Israel aware of their sins.

Amos fiercely rebuked corruption and social injustice among Israel’s pagan neighbors, Israel itself, and Judah. Amos asserted God’s absolute sovereignty over man; and he predicted the imminent destruction of Israel and Judah. Amos believed that God’s absolute sovereignty over man compelled social justice for all men, rich and poor alike. Amos also believed in a moral order transcending nationalistic interests, culture, traditions, etc.

Although Yahweh's anger is directed at several nations, it is especially aimed at Israel. The fact that the prophesy against Israel is placed at the end of the sequence of judgment speeches in 1:3-2:16, together with its greater length, must surely indicate that the center of interest is the divine judgment upon Israel. In addition Israel is judged by different standards. The foreign nations named in the text are condemned for acts of cruelty against other nations, but Israel stands accused for crimes against fellow Israelites

The book of Amos is often rightly used by those promoting the social Gospel. A problem can occur when these same people forget that Amos always puts God first. Amos believed that God’s absolute sovereignty over man compelled social justice for all men, rich and poor alike. Amos also believed in a moral order transcending nationalistic interests. A social gospel without putting Christ first widely misses the mark

“After a series of warnings of punishment, Amos proclaimed the coming of the day of Yahweh, which is “darkness, and not light.” His attacks against superficial pretenses to worship have become proverbial: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies’” The prophesies of Amos are for both his time (or close to it) and the end time when the Lord returns. To deny either is to miss the important messages and warnings Amos brings.

The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders 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. ²And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; The pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”

Verse two is meant to capture the attention of the read/listener and communicate how critical and time important is the message to follow. In that time when a lion roared people listened intently to determine distance and direction since the lion posed great danger and possible death. Here God says the danger is imminent and is coming from Jerusalem, God’s Holy City. In-other-words, the danger is coming from God and the place the people thought was safe. The reference to the pastures and Mount Carmel show God’s judgement will affect the entire land, no place, even places considered holy, will remain untouched or untouched. This thought is repeated later when Amos details people may go to hide but they will be discovered. No one can hide from God.

Judgment on the Nations
³Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.⁴But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. ⁵I will also break the gate bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,” Says the Lord.

By stating “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,” God is making it clear that the punishment is coming because of continued sin. This is true for all the nations mentioned, not just Judah. Judah’s sin may be considered greater since they were the nation given the laws of God to teach the other nations. The terms “fruit above . . . roots beneath” are a poetic expression for complete destruction. This is true with the rest of the cities/nations mentioned, especially Israel and Judah.

This may also be a reference to the number seven, the sum of three and four added; with seven expressing the full completion of the measure of their guilt. (Leviticus 26:18, Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:24, Matthew 23:32) Threshed is the term used of the Syrian king Hazael's oppression of Israel under Jehu and Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 10:32 2 Kings 10:33 , 13:7 ). The victims were thrown before the threshing sledges, the teeth of which tore their bodies.
⁶Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. ⁷But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. ⁸I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” Says the Lord God. ⁹Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. ¹⁰But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces.”

Gaza was a Philistine city that was between Israel and Egypt. Gaza was known for forcing people to leave their towns and selling them into slavery to Edom who then sold them other nations. Gaza ceased to be a city when,  in 734 B.C., Tiglath-pileser from Assyria defeated them. Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron were three more Philistine cities that would not continue to be cities. Sargon from Assyria defeated Ashdod in 711 B.C. and Sennacherib, king of Assyria defeated Ashkelon and Ekron in 701 B.C.  God used these kings to destroy the Philistines.

“Tyre . . .did not  remember the brotherly covenant”--the league of Hiram of Tyre with David and Solomon, the former supplying cedars for the building of the temple and king's house in return for oil and other considerations. Worse, Tyre turned those captured over to Edom, an avowed enemy of Israel. (This will be covered below.)

¹¹Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. ¹²But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.” ¹³Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, That they might enlarge their territory. ¹⁴But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, amid shouting in the day of battle, and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. ¹⁵Their king shall go into captivity, He and his princes together,” says the Lord.

“Edom . . . pursued his brother” The reason for Edom's violence against Israel was that they both came from the same parents, Isaac and Rebekah. “cast off all pity” literally means, "destroy compassion" that is, to suppress all the natural feeling of pity for a brother in distress.  As Esau kept up his grudge against Jacob, for having twice supplanted him, first as to the birthright and second as to the blessing.  Teman and Bozrah were two important cities in Edom that would be destroyed.  Edom never forgot that Esau was supplanted but they also never remembered Esau brought it on himself.  Edom kept “his wrath forever” and continually tried to destroy Israel. It is still happening today.

Ammon was constantly trying to enlarge its borders and did not care who they killed or how. They had no mercy toward women, children, the elderly, etc. As they showed no mercy God would not show them mercy. Again, what they reaped, they sowed. Tempest means with an onset swift, sudden, and resistless. “day of the whirlwind” is the same as "the day of battle"; therefore meaning "the day of the foe's tumultuous assault."

Amos 2
Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. ²But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; Moab shall die with tumult, With shouting and trumpet sound. ³And I will cut off the judge from its midst, and slay all its princes with him,” Says the Lord.
In ancient times people thought that it was necessary to bury someone properly. It was not good to burn their bones. The Moabites were not showing respect to the king, and therefore the people of Edom. Although Edom was an enemy of Israel they were descended from Esau, part of the family of Abraham and God wanted the people in Moab to show respect to the king’s body and the people. It is one thing to defeat a people and quite another to disrespect and brutalize them.

God would punish Moab’s people. He would destroy all their cities. Kerioth was an important place for a false religion, and the Moabites worshipped the fase god Chemosh there. They would be destroyed by war and its leadership and legal system destroyed.

A note on Chemosh and Molech (a false god of the Ammonites): Chemosh enabled the Moabites, and Molech the Ammonites, to engage in adultry, fornication, incest and prostitution and not deal with the consequences (unwanted, deformed, damaged, dying children) by infanticide. This appears to have many parallels with the practice of Abortion today.

Judgment on Judah

⁴Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed. ⁵But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
Now we come to Judah. Judah consisted of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Judah was the tribe of kingship and the tribe through which the Messiah would come. They had a great responsibility and did not fulfill it. Amos makes clear their responsibility and failure. They were to honor the law of God and keep God’s commandments. They did neither. They told themselves lies that all would be ok, god either did not mean what He said, was not watching, did not care or did not exist. They were wrong on all counts. Because they despised God’s Law and did not keep God’s commandments they would be destroyed by God. The destruction would not be limited to the people but would reach the palaces and leadership, including the priesthood. The leadership had a greater responsibility since they were to lead the people in the Lord’s ways and teach them God’s Law and commandments.
Judgment on Israel
⁶Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. ⁷They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, they defile My holy name. ⁸They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

Now we come to Israel. Israel consisted of the remaining ten tribes. Since the Temple was in Jerusalem and Jerusalem was in Judah, Israel established their own place of worship in violation of God’s command. They also set up a golden calf as an object of worship instead of worshipping Y__H.
Israel was also known for despising the poor, robbing them and selling them as slaves. God had definite commandments concerning slaves, especially Hebrews and the rich were violating those commandments in order to make money. In addition, father and son were having sexual relations with the same female which God had forbid and clothes taken in pledge were not returned at night as God instructed. Finally, the rich celebrated these things while worshipping false gods.
⁹“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. {The Amorites possessed the land in and around Jerusalem until defeated by the Hebrews. They were a strong people yet God destroyed utterly and completely. All parts were destroyed including the culture.} ¹⁰Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. ¹¹I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord. {God is reminding Israel of all He has done for them. God led them out of Egypt and provided prophets and Nazarites to help them follow His word.} ¹²“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’ {Nazarites did not drink wine nor cut their hair. The leaders were tempting, or perhaps forcing, those who took the Nazarite vow to drink wine. Numbers 6:1-6 In addition the leaders would forbid God’s prophets to prophesy, bring God’s message to the people, if the leaders did not like the message.} ¹³“Behold, I am weighed down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down. {God is letting the Israelites know why His judgement is coming on them. The weight of their sins against God and other Israelites is so great it is like an exceedingly overloaded cart.} ¹⁴Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, the strong shall not strengthen his power, nor shall the mighty deliver himself; ¹⁵He shall not stand who handles the bow, the swift of foot shall not escape, nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself. ¹⁶The most courageous men of might shall flee naked in that day,” says the Lord. {The text emphasizes the totality of defeat by narrating at some length the persons who will not escape: the swift, the strong, the mighty, the handler of the bow, the swift of foot, the rider of the horse. No one will escape regardless of how well prepared they are or think they are, no one will escape God’s judgement.}
Authority of the Prophet’s Message
Amos 3
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: ²“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.” ³Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? ⁴Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? ⁵Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? ⁶If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? ⁷Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. ⁸A lion has roared! Who will not fear? the Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
{Here it is clear that Israel was the people God chose to bring His Word to the world. They are the ONLY nation that was so chosen. With great honor, which this is, comes great responsibility. The Israelites were honored by God to bring His Word to the nations and with that came the responsibility to follow Him, obey His Words and be a witness of God to the nations. In this responsibility they failed. Being Yahweh's chosen means special accountability for sin; Israel is measured by a special standard. Because they chose not to follow God’s Word the punishment of God, relayed to them by Amos, would happen, and soon.
There is another important message to see here, an argument from logic. Amos repeatedly asks question to which the answer is an obvious “no”. Amos then asks the next questions: “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? The answer to this is: Yes the Lord will have done it. Next Amos makes clear God reveals what will happen through the prophets. It is up to the people to listen to God’s messengers. God always lets people know what will happen. Here Amos is using basic logic to make his point. } “⁷Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets”.  {Finally, Amos uses the example of a lion roaring. A lion’s roar gets everyone’s attention. “Just as when a lion roars anyone would be afraid, so also, when Yahweh speaks, no one could fail to prophesy.” The causal relationship that can be observed in daily life can just as readily be applied to the speeches that prophets utter. The obvious point is we listen for the lion’s roar because it can be physical death if we do not so why do we not listen to God’s prophets since it can mean spiritual death if we do not.}
Punishment of Israel’s Sins
⁹“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see great tumults in her  midst and the oppressed within her. ¹⁰For they do not know to do right,’ says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’” ¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An adversary shall be all around the land; He shall sap your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.”
{Ashdod and Egypt, two Gentile nations and enemies of Israel are called to witness God’s judgment on Samaria. Notice two nation both Gentile and enemies are called to witness against God’s people. This is far from God’s intention when He chose His people that they should be a witness of Him to the Gentile nations.
The people have gone so far from God that they no longer even know how to do right. The think the wrong they do is actually right. It is as if their consciences are seared with a hot iron. They no longer recognize what is truly right and God’s will.  They use their position and wealth to rob the people and do violence against them. Because of this God will bring an adversary against them who will rob and do violence against them as they have done to others.}

¹²Thus says the Lord: “As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion Two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria—In the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch! ¹³Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord God, the God of hosts, ¹⁴“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. ¹⁵I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end,” Says the Lord.
{The defeat of Samaria will be so massive that virtually nothing will be left. Just as when a shepherd tries to rescue a sheep from the mouth of a lion, he saves nothing more than two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall those who dwell (or sit) in Samaria be rescued with nothing more than a fragment or edge of the furniture upon which they sit.

When a lion took a sheep from the flock the shepherd would kill the lion and take two of the sheep’s legs or a piece of the ear to prove, testify, that a lion killed the sheep and the shepherd was not responsible.

Bethel was to be a place to worship Y__H. The people turned it into a place to worship false gods and idols. The horns of an altar were the place where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. When God says He will cut off the horns of the altar and they will fall to the ground the clear message to the people is that He will completely stop the pagan sacrifice and will totally destroy the altar and area where they took place.}
Amos 4
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!” {The “cows of Bashan” refers to the wealthy women of Samaria who oppressed the poor and needy. They took without giving back anything. The reference is to the cows that pastured around Bashan, an area known for rich feed for cows with resultant very well fed cattle.} ²The Lord God has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. (The Assyrians frequently led prisoners by ropes attached to rings or hooks in their noses or lips.}  ³You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast into Harmon,” Says the Lord.⁴“Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. ⁵Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; for this you love, You children of Israel!” says the Lord God. {The captive, including the wealthy women will be taken into captivity through the breaches made by the enemy in the walls. “Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression” Literally come to Betel and Gilgal and sin. The sin was worshipping false gods at these places. There was also the problem of those who came to worship Y__H but their hearts and actions were far from Him. This is also sin. These people made a show of worship for others to see and to salve their own conscience but they oppressed their poor, ignored the needy and did not live by the commands of God.  The nation’s disobedience made it apparent that Israel loved their traditions, rituals and idolatry rather than the Lord. Jesus addressed this in Matthew 5:20 and 6:1-18. God gives them up to their self-willed idolatry, that they may see how unable their idols are to save them from their coming calamities.}
Israel Did Not Accept Correction
⁶“Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” {“cleanness of teeth” means nothing to eat, famine.} Says the Lord.⁷“I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. ⁸So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. ⁹“I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
¹⁰“I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. ¹¹“I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. ¹²“Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” ¹³For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth the Lord God of hosts is His name.
{God is making clear that He has tried to get the people to see their errors and return to Him, all to no avail.  He chastised them with famine (empty stomachs and lack of bread). But they refused to return to Y__H. Once again He sent drought, but they would not return. Again and again Y__H chastised them, but never would they make the journey back to Him. Then comes Yahweh's response: “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” This should be a frightening thought to the people. Y__H, who they have ignored and dismissed as not important (so their actions indicated). Regardless of the people’s belief about the existence of Y__H or their perceiving His commandments as unimportant they will be meeting Him. They mock God with worship, while at the same time worshipping idols. Amos is giving God’s warning about what is soon (and also at the end times) to happen. Y__H is reality and refusing to recognize that makes it no less a fact.}
A Lament for Israel
Amos 5
Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
²The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
{Another very clear warning from God through Amos. A lamentation is done for the dead. Here God is saying Israel is dead. The depiction of Israel as a virgin adds gravity to the portrayal of death. For an Israelite woman to die as a virgin meant dying childless, without having fulfilled her purpose in life. God has already told Samaria what will happen to them due to their idolatry. Now God addresses Israel. God starts by letting them a great number of the populous will be killed of captive. This should get their attention.}
A Call to Repentance
⁴For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live; ⁵But do not seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor pass over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing. ⁶Seek the Lord and live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, with no one to quench it in Bethel—⁷you who turn justice to wormwood, and lay righteousness to rest in the earth!” ⁸He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning and makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth; the Lord is His name. ⁹He rains ruin upon the strong, so that fury comes upon the fortress.
{The beginning reminds us of John 3:16-18. Seek God and live. Do not seek God and die. This is speaking of both physical and spiritual life and death. It may seem counterintuitive but God tells the Israelites not to go to Bethel or Gilgal. The message is the places that seem safe because they were considered sanctuaries of Y__H. For the Jews this would be the opposite of what they thought they knew. It is much like hearing God say, “Seek me and live, but don't seek me in the churches!” The reason is made clear, Bethel will come to nothing and Gilgal will go into captivity. Neither place will be safe when God’s judgement comes.}
¹⁰They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. ¹¹Therefore, because you tread down the poor and take grain taxes from him, though you have built houses of hewn stone, yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from them. ¹²For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. ¹³Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time.    {Those who do not follow God’s commands hate those who rebuke them and their practices/lifestyles. They just cannot abide those who speak the truth and have integrity. God now points out the failings of the leaders and wealthy. He also tells them the material things which were important to them, their first priority, that they often obtained by cheating and injustice, they would not enjoy. Verse 13 explains why the prudent will be silent: the times will be so bad, so evil, that the truth will not be tolerated.}                                 
¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. ¹⁵Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
{I believe God is speaking of both physical and spiritual life. Because of their practices and injustice God has said He is bringing retribution to them. Could the phrase “so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken.” be mocking the outwardly pious? What is clear is there is still the chance to repent and seek good and perhaps God will spare those that remain. Something to remember for our time.}
The Day of the Lord
¹⁶Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ they shall call the farmer to mourning, and skillful lamenters to wailing. ¹⁷In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the Lord. ¹⁸Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. ¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him! ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

{Amos now returns to his familiar idea of tears. God’s punishment will affect everyone. People will cry in the cities and in the country. There will not be enough people to cry so even farmers, who are often busy, will need to cry. God has decided that everywhere people will die, even in the fields. Nobody will escape His judgement. In the past, the ‘day of the Lord’ meant a special time. This time was when God helped the Israelites to defeat their enemies. However, Amos has a surprise for the people. The ‘day of the Lord’ will mean the opposite of what the Israelites expected. They will not like it. Amos was the first of the Hebraic Scriptures prophets to write about this ‘day’. It points to a time in the future. The Lord alone decides when this time will be.

Amos now uses two pictures. These pictures say that there will be no escape. There will be no defense. The Israelites cannot avoid the judgement of God. People often use darkness as a picture. In the Hebraic Scriptures it is often a picture of trouble, unhappy people, danger, and even death (1 Samuel 2:9; Job 5:14; Psalm 91:6; Isaiah 5:30). Job described the place where dead people are as a land of darkness (Job 10:21-22). So, when he said this, God was being very clear.}

²¹“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. ²²Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. ²³Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. ²⁴But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. ²⁵“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? ²⁶You also carried Sikkuth your king and Chiun, your idols, the star of your gods, which you made for yourselves. ²⁷Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

{Amos now mentions the people’s sacrifices. The ‘things that you burn’ were sacrifices that were burnt completely. The smoke went up to God (Leviticus 1:3-17). In addition, God did not accept their songs. Music was an important part of the worship of the Israelites (Psalm 150; Ezra 2:65; Isaiah 5:12). But to God it was only a noise. It did not come from the heart and God did not want to listen. Amos now tells the Israelites what was wrong. People were not living by following the true way of God. They separated their worship from their private lives. We must love our neighbor. This is a very pagan way of living. Jesus warned us about this (Matthew 7:21-23).

Verse 26 is a very difficult verse to understand. The Hebrew is not clear. We do not know which period-of-time this verse refers to. God did not like the way that the Israelites made sacrifices. He hated their worship of idols. When the Israelites travelled, they carried the false gods Sakkuth and Chiun with them. These idols were false gods from Assyria, usually thought to represent or be Saturn. The Israelites made these idols themselves. These idols could not do anything. The Israelites offered sacrifices to these idols as well as to God. God had no more patience. He had decided to punish them. This punishment would be final. He would take them from their home and they would have to live far away.

Warnings to Zion and Samaria
Amos 6

Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes! ²Go over to Calneh and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? ³Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near; ⁴Who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; ⁵who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; ⁶who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. ⁷Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
{God now brings a reality check the Israelites and Samaritans. The Israelites considered themselves better than the surrounding Gentile nations. God lets them know they are not better than other nations. Judgement is pronounced on Israelite leaders for pushing far away the bad day of judgment while bringing near the seat of violence. God gets specific about the people He is addressing…the wealthy who obtain their wealth on the backs of the poor. Those who take from society but do not give back. They are judged for celebrating their magnificence with abandon while not becoming at all concerned about the breaking down of society. Because of their lack of concern and self-centeredness the leaders and wealthy will be the first to go into exile. They will be the first to lose their material possessions.}
⁸The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore, I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” ⁹Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?” then someone will say, “None.” and he will say, “Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the Lord.” ¹¹For behold, the Lord gives a command: He will break the great house into bits, and the little house into pieces.
{Again, God is making clear why He is angry and displeased with Israel, Judah and Samaria. He abhors, hates, is totally disgusted with Israel’s pride in themselves and their self-centeredness. Now the complete destruction is made very clear. If ten men are left alive they two will be killed. There is one person left to burn the bodies (to prevent contagion). After receiving the reply, that none is left besides the one addressed, when the man outside thinks the man still surviving to be on the point, as was customary, of expressing devout gratitude to God who spared him, the man outside interrupts him, "Hold your tongue! for there is not now cause for mentioning with praise the name of Jehovah.” Earlier in Amos God went into detail concerning the sins of Samaria. Now God refers to the “great house” and the “little house”, these are Israel (10 tribes) and Judah (2 tribes) and makes it clear both will be destroyed.}
¹²Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, ¹³You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?” ¹⁴“But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” Says the Lord God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the Valley of the Arabah.”
{As horses and oxen are useless on a rock, so the leaders are incapable of fulfilling justice. They impede the course of God's benefits, because their hearts are like a hard rock on which His favor cannot run. "Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks" [Calvin].

The Israelites congratulated themselves on their military prowess. They took pride in their successes and forgot God gave them the success. Since that is the case God will bring a conquering army to defeat them and take them into exile. “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the Valley of the Arabah.” That is, the length and breadth of the country. None shall escape.}

Vision of the Locusts

Amos 7
Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. ²And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” ³So the Lord relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord.
{The patience of God is over. He will send his *locusts as a judgement. The time of this picture is late spring. There was an earlier crop. The king took a share from this crop. The harvest from the second crop was for the farmers. If the locusts ate this second crop, there would be no food left. Very few people or animals would live. Amos therefore prayed for Israel. He prayed that God would not send this punishment. But he did not remind God about his covenant with Israel although he had done this before. This was because Israel had too many sins. God has plans. But it is always possible that he can change his plans. This can happen when people pray to him (Genesis 18:22-32; Joshua 7:6-13; Jonah 3:10). Neither God nor Amos wanted the people to die.}

Vision of the Fire

⁴Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. ⁵Then I said: “O Lord God, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, for he is small!” ⁶So the Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

{Amos now has another picture from God. God is going to send fire. But it is not a natural fire. It can even burn water. The great deep is deep water. Fire can often be a sign of judgement in the Bible (Joel 1:19-20; 2:3, 5, 30). Amos cries out ‘Stop!’ and uses the same reasoning as he used before. The fire will destroy everything and, as before, God listens. He changes his mind. The fire will not happen.}

Vision of the Plumb Line

⁷Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. ⁸And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” and I said, “A plumb line.” then the Lord said: “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. ⁹The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”
{God compares Israel to a wall. A plumb-line is a builder’s tool. It is a piece of string with a weight on the end. A plumb-line shows if a wall is straight or not. God himself ‘built’ Israel. He led Israel in the beginning. He made standards for his people. These were the laws he gave to Moses. Therefore there was no reason for the Israelites to fail.

When God compared this straight wall with Israel and He is not pleased with what he saw. The Israelites were not following his standards. They were not ‘straight’ any more. God had no more patience with them so he would punish them. The Hebrew says that God will not ‘pass by them’. Instead, he will see their sin, there would be no escape. God would even destroy the holy places. In reality they were important places for false religion. People worshipped Baal and other gods. God is clear that He will destroy these places where false gods are worshipped. He is also clear that He will bring violence to the house of Jeroboam. As leader of the nation Jeroboam is responsible for the people. When they go astray he is to lead back to the right road. This he did not do, in fact, he led them away from God.}

Amaziah’s Complaint

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. the land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive from their own land.’” ¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. there eat bread, and there prophesy. ¹³But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.” ¹⁴Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: “I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. ¹⁵Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ¹⁶Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord: You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not spout against the house of Isaac.’ ¹⁷“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city; Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by survey line; You shall die in a defiled land; and Israel shall surely be led away captive From his own land.’”
{Amaziah was probably the chief priest at Bethel. He would have been appointed to that position by the king, at-this-time Jeroboam was king. Amaziah did not want Amos to prophesy in Israel and wanted him to go back to Judah. To assure this happens Amaziah send a letter to Jeroboam claiming Amos was inciting rebellion and said that Jeroboam would be killed. Neither of these were true. Amos was not inciting rebellion, he was bringing God’s warning to the people. Amos did not say Jeroboam would die by the sword but rather would bring violence, the sword, against his house.
Amaziah tell Amos to flee, run away, to Judah and there earn his living as a prophet. Amaziah forbids Amos to prophesy in the land of Israel and especially not in Bethel “for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.” Amos lets Amaziah know he was called by God to be a prophet, not by man. His priority is to do God’s Word and bring God’s message to the people. Amos then prophesies what will happen to Amaziah and his family. His children will  be killed, his land will be taken and given to others, his wife will become a harlot and he will die in a foreign land. Because Amos has been sent by God, the true conflict is not between Amaziah and Amos but between Amaziah and Y__H.}
Vision of the Summer Fruit

Amos 8

Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. ²And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” then the Lord said to me: “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. ³And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day,” Says the Lord God “Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence.” ⁴Hear this, you who swallow up^] the needy, and make the poor of the land fail, ⁵saying: “When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? and the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the scales by deceit, ⁶That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—even sell the bad wheat?”
{A “basket of summer fruit” workers put the fruit in baskets like this at harvest time. Summer has ended, the time of plenty and good living is done. Now comes the harsh winter. God is declaring His patience with Israel has ended. The songs of the temple will not be of joy and praise but will be wailings and crying. The temple referred to her could be either the Temple in Jerusalem or one of the places where the people worshipped false Gods. Since in this section God has been referring to Israel and not Judah it is more likely the temple here is the place false gods were worshipped, specifically, a golden calf.
God again makes clear His displeasure at the leaders and wealthy cheating and robbing the poor. They are waiting impatiently for the require Holy Days to be past so they can again sell their goods and cheat the people. The sandals referred to are the vey cheapest kind made of wood showing nothing is beyond their desire to cheat and rob the people, even down to taking the cheapest sandals.}

⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their works. ⁸Shall the land not tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? All of it shall swell like the river, heave and subside Like the river of Egypt. ⁹“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight; ¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
{Pride of Jacob’ means that the Israelites are proud of their God. God also says that he is the Glory of Israel (1 Samuel 15:29). In Psalm 47:5, ‘pride of Jacob’ refers to the land of Israel. God is using this phrase to make a promise in a way that will get the attention of everyone. Even the land will be affected with earthquakes. Everything the people think is good will be turned upside down. The day will be turned into night, their joyful feasts will become times of mourning, mourning the dead and what is happening to the land and people. The beautiful clothing and coiffed hair will be turned around into sackcloth, mourning garb and baldness.}
¹¹“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. ¹²They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. ¹³“In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst. ¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan!’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’ they shall fall and never rise again.”
{God pronounces one more woe on the people, His Word will no longer be heard in Israel. No matter where the go the people will not hear His Word. They have ignored God’s commands and instruction for so long that God will give them what they have wanted, His Word will no longer be with them. The strong young men and women will faint from thirst, not just physical thirst but spiritual thirst. Christ referred to this in John 4:10-15. Finally those who worship false gods, specifically the golden calf, will fall, die, and rise no more, Not be part of those risen to be with the Lord in eternity.}
The Destruction of Israel
Amos 9

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, and break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, and he who escapes from them shall not be delivered. ²“Though they dig into hell, from there My hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; ³and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them; though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them; ⁴though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

{“Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, and break them on the heads of them all.” Takes us back to the Passover. At the Passover in Egypt the people struck the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the sacrificed lamb and when God’s angel saw the blood he would pass over the house and not kill the firstborn. Here God instructs His angels to strike the doorposts so the occupants will be killed. (It sounds like an earthquake.) The parallel would not be lost on those hearing Amos. In Egypt God passed over the Israelites keeping them safe by His hand. Here God uses what kept the Israelites safe in Egypt to kill them. They left God so God will (finally) leave them, at least for a time.
There is no place the people can hide. God controls everything everywhere. It is impossible to hide from Him. Even the grave is not safe. God’s anger is like a fire. It will even burn the ‘grave below’ (Deuteronomy 32:22). Even if people could escape to heaven God will bring them back. Those in exile will also be killed.}
⁵The Lord God of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell there mourn; All of it shall swell like the River, and subside like the River of Egypt. ⁶He who builds His layers in the sky, and has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth—The Lord is His name. ⁷“Are you not like the people of Ethiopia to Me, O children of Israel?” says the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? ⁸“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord. ⁹“For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, a grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. ¹⁰All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
{God created and controls everything. He can also destroy everything. When God’s judgement comes on a land and people even the earth is affected. Verse 6 gives an excellent description of the atmosphere and land. Both have layers put there by God. The Israelites considered themselves above the rest of the people on Earth, God tells them they are not. Although they are His chosen people their sin has become like that of the other nations and God is bringing punishment. But, even though God will destroy Israel He will save a remnant, the righteous. The sinners shall die, including those who say God’s Word through His prophets will not ever happen.}
Israel Will Be Restored
¹¹“On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; ¹²That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this thing. ¹³“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. ¹⁴I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. ¹⁵I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
{In the final verses of Amos, there is hope. Jerusalem is going to fall. The Babylonians will take Jerusalem but God will save a remnant of the people and will restore Israel. God will raise up the tabernacle of David, that is, He will restore the line of David and bring the Messiah from David’s lineage as He had promised. This also refers to the physical tabernacle as well as the spiritual tabernacle.

God’s plan to restore Israel using a small group of the people is very consistent with God’s actions throughout history. God took a small family, Abraham’s, and grew them to become a nation. He used this small group to bring His Word to the world. God took the least brother, David, of a small family to be king of Israel. God took an unknown young girl to be the mother of Jesus our Savior. Amos was a shepherd and dresser of sycamore trees. He was not a prophet or part of a great or powerful family yet God chose him to bring His message to Israel. God always uses the smallest to bring His message and show His plan and power.

Israel will possess the land of their old enemy Edom. Edom is descended from Ishmael and since the time of Isaac has been an implacable enemy of Israel. God will vanquish Ismael’s descendants (Edom) and Israel shall take over their land. God also tells Amos when He does this there will be great prosperity in the land and those in exile will return and rebuild the country. The people will not be exiled in the future.}

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-first-six-minor-prophets#ref597779
http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/amos/

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/asbury-bible-commentary/AMOS
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/reformation-study-bible/Amos
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amos

J. Anthony Smith 12/17/2016