The LORD Roars From Zion

 

Amos 1-2

God Announced His Judgement for the Nations

Amos was from Tekoa (1:1). Tekoa was a small town in the countryside of the southern kingdom of Judah. So, Amos was a Judahite, and he was called by God to be a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel.

From Amos’ words, we know that he was heeding sheep and tending sycamore-fig trees (7:14-15). In today’s term, he was an affluent professional in the market place. It was not a particularly “spiritual” job, yet, he became a channel of God’s message to others.

Today, your job may not cause you to feel spiritual, but it is vital work if you are in the place God wants you to be. God can work though you to do extraordinary things, no matter how spectacle or ordinary your occupation.

When Amos arrived in Israel about 755BC, the two kingdoms increased in prosperity, but the greater prosperity merely increased the power of those who already had it. Those who had no power were even more oppressed. The rich were getting richer the poor were getting poorer. 

In response to this situation, Amos called Israel to account for its apostasy and inhumanity. He directed his message to all the Israelites, but especially to the rich, powerful, and self-indulgent. He depicted God as a ferocious lion—roars from Zion, ready to devour those who are evil or unfaithful (1:2).

We can divide the book of Amos into three sections: the first section is from chapter 1 to chapter 2, where the prophet issued his reproaches to the eight nations, telling them their sins and the impending judgment.

The second section is from chapter 3 to chapter 6, and it tells about the coming plagues upon the Israelites.

The last section is from chapter 7 to chapter 9, and it speaks about God’s heart and desire.

This time we will expound the first section: chapter 1-2 which is a series of eight indictments. Amos directs the first seven charges against surrounding nations, with the eighth against Israel itself.

The first nation mentioned was Damascus, the capital of Aram (1:3-5).

Damascus threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth (Gilead is one of the places in Israel). The iron vessel used for threshing grains was fastened on the back of either a horse or a donkey. When the horse or the donkey walked through a grain field, it would squeeze and press the grains and they would fall on the ground.

The people of Damascus oppressed the Israelites with their cruel acts of atrocities. Hence, God wanted to punish them by letting Damascus be conquered and ruined by the enemy.

The second nation mentioned was Philistines (1:6-8). The Philistines resided in the south west of Israel, and the Bible mentioned that Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron were all its big cities.

The Philistines would be destroyed because they took captive the whole communities of Israel and sold them to Edom. They sinned because of human trafficking. They were later conquered by Uzziah and finally the Assyrian invasion ended the distinct identity of the Philistines.

The third nation was Tyre (1:9-10). Tyre and Sidon were major cities in Phoenicia. Like the Philistines, they also sold whole communities of Israel to Edom and inevitably, they would be punished by God. They too would be invaded and destroyed.

The fourth nation was Edom (1:11-12). Edomites were brothers with Israelites, for they were the descendants of Esau, the elder brother of Jacob. They pursued the Israelites with a sword and wanted to wipe them off time and again and disregarded their brotherhood.

The Edomites held grudges against their brothers and showed no mercy to them. This was something not pleasing to God and God would punish them with fury flames of war. Babylon destroyed Edom in 553BC.

The fifth nation was Ammon (1:13-15). The Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. In ancient times, conquering armies commonly ripped open pregnant women; they also raped the women and slaughtered the children of the towns they seized.

Ammonites had committed such atrocities when attacking Gilead to extend their borders. They were inhumane and God wanted to punish such people. Ammon was later crushed by the Assyrians in the 800BC, then attacked the depopulated by the Babylonians in the 700s.

The sixth nation was Moab (2:1-3). The corpses of the dead in the war should be buried, and it was a requirement in the battlefield as well as in the Bible. But the Moabites burned to ashes the bones of Edom’s king, and it was an act of blasphemy and humiliation.

These acts came from an evil heart and God’s punishment shall come upon them. This fate probably came upon them through an invasion by Sargon II of Assyria in 714BC.

The seventh nation was Judah. God punished the pagan nations when they sinned; God also would punish His people who sinned. The prophet rebuked God’s elects too.

The pagan nations listed to this point had committed atrocities that violated a general sense of human decency, but Judah had gone further. Amos reprimanded Judah for abandoning the Law of God, did not keep the ordinances and decrees, and worshipped idols and went astray.

Having discarded God’s true instruction, Judah turned to a substitute found in pagan syncretism and idolatry. Judah’s paganism brought the same punishment as the sins of its pagan neighbors: fire that would destroy Jerusalem. The Babylonians burned Jerusalem when they captured it in 586BC.

Those who sinned would surely be punished by God. The people of God would not be spared. When God’s people behave wrongly in life, it often has to do with their relationship with God. Forsaking God is the source of sinning. We should keep alert and walk closely with God.

Amos moved quickly through a litany of sins committed by Israel’s neighbors. His listeners—the Israelites must have enjoyed hearing those words! Suddenly, however, Amos turned to them, the eighth nation, and pronounced God’s judgment on them.  Amos used the longest passage to talk about Israel. The Israelites had committed five sins:

First, they oppressed the poor. “They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground.” (2:6-7)

The righteous were those who obeyed the Word of God. When righteous men were unable to pay off their borrowings, the Israelites sold them to slavery. God gave wealth and prosperity to the Israelites, but they did not use it to help the poor. Instead, they oppressed the poor with the very wealth they had.

The helpless and oppressed were exploited by a socio-economic system that denied them the justice guaranteed by law (Exodus 23:6-8). This act was not pleasing to God.

Second, they were adulterous and shameless. “Father and son sleep with the same woman,” （2:7）. This is the moral destitution of the Israelites; the law of Moses prohibited this practice.

Third, they showed no mercy. “At their religious festivals, they lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.” (2:8)

According to the law of Moses, if someone was in need and he borrowed money from others, he would have to use his garment as a pledge. The money lender had to return the garment first to his borrower before the sunset if the latter was unable to pay off his debts. This was because the borrower needed his garment to keep himself warm, and this was mercy.

However, the Israelites did not return their borrowers their garments, and they even laid down on the garments and concerned themselves only in their own welfares. They paid no attention to others’ needs and were merciless. They did not please God.

Fourth, they were ungrateful (2:9-10).

The prophet reinstated the history of Israelites. God once led them out of the land of Egypt, and led them for forty years in the wilderness. He made them possess their land and build their nation. By then, they were abundant and rich, but they forgot about the God who blessed them before. This was a kind of ungratefulness.

We are amazed at Israel’s forgetfulness, but what would the prophets say about us? We should repay kindness with the kindness we receive. Ungratefulness and not repaying kindness with kindness is something displeasing to God. What God has done for us should remind us to live for him.

Fifth, they despised the prophets (2:11-12). God raised up prophets and Nazirites among them, but they forbade these prophets from prophesizing, and caused the Nazirites to sin. If God’s servants were corrupted, there would remain little influence for good among the Israelites.

The Israelites were corrupted morally, backslidden spiritually, and they oppressed the poor. They lived adulterously and shamelessly, showed no mercy and were ungrateful. They despised God’s servants and God’s words.

The other nations were ignorant of God’s law, But Judah and Israel, God’s people, knew what God wanted. Still they ignored him and joined pagan’s way of life. If we know God’s Word and refuse to obey it, like Israel, our guilt is greater than those who are ignorant of it.  

The accusation “The people…have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished” echoes through these verses as God evaluates nation after nation. Each nation had persistently refused to follow God’s commands.

A sinful practice can become a way of life. Ignoring or denying the problem will not help us. We must begin the process of correction by confession our sins to God and asking him to forgive us. Otherwise we have no hope for better but to continue our pattern of sin.

This Chapter Two concludes with a description of the battle ‘on that day’, in which Israel would be defeated (2:13-16). This military defeat came only a few decades after this pronouncement, when the Assyrians conquered and destroyed Israel in 722BC.

Conclusion

Many of the conditions in Israel during Amos’s time are evident in todays’ society. When the society prospers, everyone is optimistic, business is booming, and people are happy, except for the poor and oppressed. With all the comfort and luxury come self-sufficiency and a false sense of security. But prosperity brought corruption, injustice and destruction.

People of God pretend to be pious outwardly when inwardly they have abandoned their trust in God. Though they join religious ceremonies, they do not have integrity nor submit to God wholeheartedly.

Amos speaks with brutal frankness in denouncing the above sins. Amos’ message needs to be heard today by individuals and nations. Let’ s reflects by asking ourselves these questions:

Are we living in the prosperous situation like the ancient Israelites? Have we grown complacent? Have other concerns taken God’s place in our life? Do we ignore those in need or oppress the poor? Does our worship of the true God yield ethical behavior toward others?  

What God desires is a pure trust in Him, and not boasting in outward behaviors. Do not be contented with outward rituals, as God demands our full commitment and submission.

Faith is more than a personal thing. God expects us to live out our faith on societal level. We are to extend their hands to those who are in need. Proper worship of the true God yields ethical behavior toward others.

God requires truth and goodness, justice and righteousness, from all people and nations today as well. We need Amos’s courage to ignore danger and stand against sin fearlessly. Imagine you are Amos yourself; carry out whatever God has entrusted to you faithfully. By doing so, you can become godly man and woman, following the clear call of God and doing whatever He has asked you to do at all cost.