Amos 2:1-8

Amos 2:1

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

 

Now the Lord’s attention turns to Moab which was a descendant of Lot who also had incestuous relationship with his older daughter.  And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.  (Genesis 19:37)  The Bible does not record which king and when this happened but suffice it to say the act itself showed a contempt and hatred the Moabites had toward Edom which was descendants of Esau who was a son of Isaac.  Even though Edom was a pagan nation, nevertheless God will judge the hearts of all the wicked people who commit atrocities and will deal with them.  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  (Romans 12:19)

 

Amos 2:2

But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

 

Here God now pronounces the judgment of fire upon Moab.  Fire, if not controlled, will get out of control and destroy everything in its path and that is what is in view here as the city of Kerioth will be devoured.  Kerioth was the chief city of the Moabites and it was believed there was a great sanctuary for Chemosh located there.  Moab will not be devoured while they are in a state of peace but will be destroyed in battle and there will  be much shouting which would indicate that many of their soldiers will be wounded and will cry in pain.  The sound of the trumpet will be those of the invading armies.  The invasion of the Babylonians under Tiglath-Pileser in 581 B.C. had fulfilled this prophecy and brought an end to the Moabite kingdom.

 

Amos 2:3

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.

 

Not only will the citizens be killed or taken as slaves but those rulers of Kerioth will not escape or buy their way out.  The Babylonians will kill them to make sure there is no chance of a resurgence of the Moabites.  Their ending will be a final doom where they will never again be a power to reckon with.

 

Amos 2:4

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:

 

God not only deals with the pagan nations only but he also deals with his own people.  Here God pronounces judgment upon Judah that they can expect to face punishment for their offenses against God.  Judah and Israel had the law of God given to them at Mt. Sinai and they knew what God expected of them.  Instead of them keeping to the law of God, they both decided to forsake the LORD and go after strange gods and false religions which were against God and his law.  Judah did not learn from the judgment which happened to the ten northern tribes instead adopted their ways.  They despise the law of God which means they forsook it and went their own way.  They rejected the commandments of God and created lies in its place as the church does today by rejecting the teachings of Scripture and replace them with their own created doctrines. God reminds them that Abraham, before he was saved, had walked in the ways of idolatry in Mesopotamia and no doubt idolatry was steeped in the hearts of Israel when she came out of Egypt when they so quickly made a golden calf of the Egyptian god Api and wanted to go back to Egypt.  God reminds them that these things caused their fathers to err and has caused them to err also.

 

Amos 2:5

But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

 

God is telling Judah that they are not exempt from his judgment and that their coming judgment is sure because they have gone the way of the surrounding pagan nations.  Their judgment is going to come on them as a swift fire and that will result in the destruction of Jerusalem and all the palaces which represent the government of Judah.  King Zedekiah was the last king of Judah.  {10} And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. {11} Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.  (Jeremiah 52:10-11)  Then the city of Jerusalem was completely sacked with fire as was prophesied.   {12} Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,  {13} And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:  (Jeremiah 52:12-13)

 

Amos 2:6

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

 

Here God announces the judgment which is to come upon the northern kingdom which was the primary target of the prophecy of Amos.  He did not focus on the sins of the other countries as much as he did here since Israel should have known better having the law of God.   The righteous would suffer at the hands of the wealthy who would bribe a judge with a piece of silver and that would cause the corrupt judge to find in favor of the rich man.  Then concerning the price of shoes, a person might have been so poor that he could not even pay back a debt which was equal to the lowest cost of a pair of sandals and therefore was sold into slavery for that little amount.  In India today a similar method is used.  If a person wishes to insult another person over the cost of an article, they may say “I will give you my sandals for it.”

 

Amos 2:7

That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:

 

The poor of the land of Israel were exploited and the rich people in Israel were not satisfied unless they had the little bit of land that the poor people owned.  They were oppressed to the point that they were totally trampled on as if they meant nothing.  However, the law of God made sure that the poor were not exploited and since the Israelites had forsaken the law of God, they would have rejected what was written.  {7} If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:  {8} But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.  (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)  The cruel way the poor were treated caused them to throw dust on their heads. 

 

The meek person, that is, those who are modest and honest were rejected and also taken advantage of by the corrupt leaders.  They required the true justice be meted out but the rich people would corrupt the leaders and there would be no justice for the honest person in Israel.  Then another abomination was taking place and that was both father and son would have sex with the same woman that lived under their roof.  This kind of behavior would have profaned God’s holy name simply because the people of the other lands would think that God was just another deity like the Canaanite gods who endorsed that kind of sexual behavior.  The Canaanite gods endorsed sex with religion but the law of God forbids it outside of marriage.  The influence of the Canaanite morals were affecting Israel to the point that their actions were all depraved.  The same situation exists today that the actions of Christians cause people to judge what kind of God we serve.  Christians cannot go out to the bars or the casinos and then tell everyone they are a Christian because then a wrong message is sent to the world and God will be blasphemed because of wicked behavior.

 

Amos 2:8

And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

 

They further dishonored God by another practice done by the backslidden Israelites.  They took money from the imposition of fines and no doubt the fines were set higher than normal and with it they purchased wine which was called the “wine of the condemned.”  They would also take a pledge of garments from the poorer folks which were supposed to be returned at sundown as the law required.  And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:  (Deuteronomy 24:12)  They would then lay these pledges of clothing next to the altar of whatever god they were worshipping.  The Temple was in Jerusalem and since they were way north, they would have made shrines and groves to the false gods they were worshipping and there lay these pledges down to keep themselves warm while the poor people were cold.  The house of their god which is mentioned here was the temple built by Jeroboam I which was set at Beth-el.  Notice it was God who stated that they were worshipping “their god.” He is not claiming them as his people because they have become totally idolatrous as the surrounding nations.

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