Introduction
‘This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom’s king, I will send fire on Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet. I will destroy her ruler and kill all her officials with him,” says the LORD.’ Amos 2:1-3
Judgment On Moab
Moab, Genesis 19:30-38, was another nation who were continually against Israel, Numbers 20:14-25:5 / 2 Kings 1-6. The sin of Moab was that they ‘burned, to ashes the bones of Edom’s king’. There’s no mention of this anywhere else in Scripture but it used to described the cruelty of the Moabites.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Burning the bones of a dead person dishonoured that individual since there was then nothing substantial left of him. Burning the king’s bones indicated a desire to completely destroy the peace and even the soul of Edom’s king, in this case King Mesha, for eternity. This was a despicable crime in the ancient Near East where a peaceful burial was the hope of every person. This treatment of a dead corpse reflected a lack of respect for human life, life made in the image of God.’
We read in 2 Kings 3:26-27, how the king of Moab sacrificed firstborn son because he was losing the battle against the Edomites. Moab was being condemned for their excessive cruelty, Genesis 9:5-7.
Jerome, in his commentary, says the following.
‘That after this war, the Moabites, in revenge for the assistance which the king of Edom had given to Israel, dug up and dishonoured his bones.’
Kerioth is represented as one of the main cities of Moab, Isaiah 15-16 / Jeremiah 48:24. The Moab nation comes to an end, Ezekiel 25:8-11. Even Moab’s ruler and officials will be destroyed, Jeremiah 48:7.
Josephus, says the folowing.
‘Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab shortly after 598 B.C., which opened the way for Arab tribes to occupy its land.’
Judgement On Judah
‘This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. 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, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.” Amos 2:4-5
Amos is now getting close to home as even Judah, in the Southern Kingdom doesn’t escape judgment.
But the sin of Judah is not an act of inhumanity as with the other nations, it is a rejection of the law of God, 2 Kings 19:17 / Isaiah 5:24 / Isaiah 6:9-10 / Isaiah 29:13 / Jeremiah 5:18-21 / Jeremiah 5:23 / Jeremiah 5:31 / Jeremiah 23:25-28 / Jeremiah 23:32 / Jeremiah 29:8-9 / Jeremiah 29:22-32 / Hosea 4:6 / Hosea 12:2 / Mark 7:1-9 / Romans 2:12-15.
They have followed the lives of their forefathers, they have followed false gods, the Baalim, and Ashteroth, Deuteronomy 6:14 / Deuteronomy 7:16 / Deuteronomy 8:19 / Deuteronomy 11:16 / Deuteronomy 11:28.
Old habits die hard as the saying goes and when people depart from God and His ways, they will go back to their old habits. Israel were used to idol worship in Egypt, it would have been practiced everywhere.
It’s not surprising that the first thing they did at Sinai was build a golden calf, Exodus 32:2-10, and it’s not surprising that they are being condemned for it here. There forgot they were serving the living God, Exodus 20:3 / Joshua 3:10 / Jeremiah 10:10 / Daniel 6:26 / Matthew 22:32.
So God’s judgment is coming upon Judah, Hosea 8:14 / Micah 3:12. This was finally carried out by Nebuchadnezzar when he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, 2 Kings 25:1-12.
Judgment On Israel
‘This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. 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 and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.’ Amos 2:6-8
Amos turns his attention to Israel. The sins of Israel are specified in more detail than the others. They were guilty of injustice, oppression, immorality and contempt for God.
We read of the unjust treatment of the innocent, 2 Kings 4:1-7, they sell the righteous for silver, Micah 3:11, and the needy for a pair of sandals, Amos 8:6. Perhaps this is the poor man who owes a pair of shoes and is sold into slavery because he cannot pay.
We also read of the oppression of the poor, they trample their heads into the ground, Exodus 23:4 / Deuteronomy 16:19 / Hebrews 10:29. It appears the poor are being pushed around by the rich, Deuteronomy 15:7-11 / James 2:6.
We also read of immorality, the father and son with the same girl, Exodus 20:14 / Hosea 4:14. A son and father would have intercourse with the same young woman, Leviticus 18:6-18 / Leviticus 20:11 / Leviticus 20:17-21 / Deuteronomy 23:17.
Jamieson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The ‘damsel’ meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol of Astarte’s temple, the prostitution being part of her filthy worship. The Canaanite religion thought that the performance of the human actions of procreation could be used to remind the god to fertilize the earth. It is this practice which Amos sees and denounces in Israel. The holy Yahweh is being worshipped as a Canaanite Baal.’
Notice they ‘lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge’, Exodus 25:25-27 / Deuteronomy 24:17. If a poor man had to pawn his upper garment, they had to be returned by nightfall, Exodus 22:7-26 / Deuteronomy 24:10-13 /Deuteronomy 24:6 / Job 22:6.
But they were laying down beside the altars on the ‘garments taken in pledge’, they are also using their places of meeting, their house of God, as a drinking place. They purchased wine with the fines that they had taken from the condemned. There was no justice because judgments were made for gain, Amos 5:12.
‘Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites. “I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the LORD. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.’ Amos 2:9-12
Despite their strength, God had completely destroyed the Amorites before them, Amos 2:9 / Numbers 13:28-33 / Deuteronomy 1:26-28 / Joshua 10:10-11 / Psalm 18:17.
Constable, in his commentary says the following.
‘Here the Amorites, the most formidable of the native inhabitants, represent all of them, by metonymy, cf. Genesis 15:16. The defeat of these giants demonstrated Yahweh’s superior power as well as His love for His people. By implication, if God drove the Amorites out of the land, He might also drive the Israelites out.’
He had brought them out of Egypt, Amos 2:10 / Exodus 12:31-42 / Exodus 13:17-22. He led them through the wilderness for forty years, Amos 2:10 / Exodus 13:17-14:31.
God also gave them the land of the Amorites, Amos 2:10 / Joshua 21:43-24:15. God gave them prophets and also gave some of the young men to be Nazarites, Amos 2:10.
God asks Israel if these events were true, did God really do all of these things, Amos 2:11. The obvious answer if yes, God did these things and a lot more for Israel.
Nazarites must not drink wine or anything that comes from the grapevine, they must not shave their heads and must not go near a dead body, Numbers 6:1-21.
But here, we see that the Israelites made the Nazarites break their vows by drinking wine, Amos 2:12. In addition, they didn’t want to hear the word of the God of Israel from the prophets, they commanded the ‘prophets not to prophesy’, Amos 2:12 / Isaiah 30:9-11 / Matthew 23:29-36 / 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
Ellison, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Even today we are sadly familiar with the preacher who preaches the whole Bible most faithfully but yet so that none of his hearers are ever shaken out of their sins. I myself have been told by a sincere Christian man, who was motivated, as he thought, purely by concern for my well-being, ’You mustn’t say that kind of thing here, or you will not be invited again.’ How many a man of God has been passed over when a minister has been wanted: ’He is not the man for us.’ There are many ways of saying to the prophet Prophesy not, and one and all they are an abomination to God and bring judgment on God’s people.’
So they showed their contempt with regard to what God had commanded them, Proverbs 28:10 / Habakkuk 2:15. In other words, they condemned themselves to the judgment of God.
‘Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life. Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.’ Amos 2:13-16
The people are right for judgment. God says, He will crush them as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. In other words, they won’t be able to escape.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Amos 2:13.
‘Another interpretation understands Amos picturing Israel being crushed like an object under the wheels of a heavily loaded cart.’
The swift won’t be able to run, the strong will lose their strength, the warrior will not save his life, the archer won’t be able to stand his ground, the soldier will not escape and the bravest warrior will flee naked, Isaiah 31:3 / Jeremiah 48:41. In other words, they would fall beneath the judgments of God.
Constable, in his commentary, says the folowing.
‘The fulfilment of this threatened judgment came when the Assyrians besieged and destroyed Samaria, Israel’s capital, in 722 B.C. and carried many of the people of that land into captivity.’ 2 Kings 17:5-23.
McKeating, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The predictions of Amos were fulfilled to the letter, and within the prophet’s own lifetime or shortly afterwards. They were fulfilled while there were still plenty of people around who could remember what they said. Their words were therefore treated with respect and eventually written down.’
