Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
Amos 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
These verses make it clear that this part of the prophet’s message is to the whole of Israel (Northern and Southern Kingdoms), “the whole family” which He brought up from Egypt.
“You only have I known…” – God had chosen the people of Israel out from among all the other peoples on earth for special privilege before Him. The writings of Moses confirm this truth repeatedly.
Deuteronomy 4:20 “But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.”
Deuteronomy 7:6 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 14:2 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.”
The last half of verse two reminds me of the scripture that states, “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).
“Therefore”—Because you have been so blessed and chosen to reject Me in spite of your blessings….” God is righteous, and His righteousness demands that their iniquities and sins be punished.
This is a sobering truth for the Christian to consider. The more God blesses us, the more He expects us to honor Him by blessing others—be it with material wealth or spiritual understanding. God looks at our actions in light of what we possess. Jesus explained this truth when assessing the value of the gift of the poor widow’s mites to the offerings of the wealthy.
Mark 12:41-44 “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Amos 3:4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
Amos 3:5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
The prophet begins to drive his point home by asking some questions to which the obvious answer is, “No.” You obviously can’t walk with someone unless you are going in the same direction. An animal won’t get caught in a trap unless it takes the bait.
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
The blowing of the trumpet was done with specific sounds for specific purposes. The context dictates that this is a reference to a trumpet warning of approaching danger. Suddenly he poses another question with an obvious answer of, “Yes.” Just as the answer to the previous questions are obvious, the answer to the last question should have been just as obvious to the people of Israel. Nothing evil could happen to any of the cities of Israel without the Lord’s involvement.
I think in context the application is to the nation of Israel. Personally, however, I believe this truth is applicable to all events on planet earth. YHWH is Almighty God. Though He has chosen to allow man to exercise his free will and has allowed Satan the privilege of limited authority for a time, it is just that—a privilege He has granted according to His purposes. Nothing happens on planet earth that does not in some way have a part in accomplishing His purposes. I can’t really explain it sufficiently, but I believe it. Many things are allowed to happen that are a natural consequence of man’s choice to reject YHWH as God and LORD. Other things happen according to God’s specific intervention on behalf of His people (both the Jew and the church). The culmination of events in this present creation will result in the acknowledgement of every created being that He is Holy GOD, the One and Only, to His praise and glory.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Now the application of the previous verses becomes clearer. God always warns His people of coming judgment through His prophets. The problem is that the people refused to acknowledge the “trumpet call” of God’s true prophets in preference for the lying messages of the false prophets. The lion is acknowledged as the king of beasts, and I believe represents God as the King of kings. He has roared out His warning through His chosen prophets, such as Amos, who have chosen to obey Him. They are faithfully declaring His message to the people, and the message should rightly cause the people to fear. Only the foolish will choose to ignore His message. Sadly, the people of Israel are predominantly foolish at this time. The prophet Jeremiah declared this truth from God about His people.
Jeremiah 4:22 “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
I think the application to the church of today is sadly obvious.
Ironside: “If God has not spoken, then one man’s guess is as good as another’s; one philosopher’s speculations are as worthy of credence or consideration as those of his fellows. But if God Himself has spoken, as He has in His Word, that at once settles everything for the one who fears Him. His servant has naught to do but proclaim what has been revealed, rejecting ‘oppositions of science, falsely so called,’ and all ‘vain imaginations.’ This is the value of Scripture; and of this Satan would subtly seek to rob us at the present time. God has revealed His will in His Word.”
Amos 3:9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
Amos 3:10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Ashdod = one of the main Philistine cities
In these verses Amos is issuing God’s invitation for Israel’s enemies, the Philistines and Egyptians, to get good seats in the mountains of Samaria. These mountains are designated as “watch tower” mountains in the heart of Israel. In other words, they will offer a good view of the action when God moves against His people in judgment. Their observations will prove that the people are deserving of judgment based on the indictments made, and He is very clear, to make specific indictment.
They know not to do right. They have no discernment between what is right and wrong anymore.
They are accumulating wealth through violence and robbery (which previous verses indicate are at the expense of those who are most vulnerable to them).
These are very sad verses. Heathen nations are invited to come enjoy the spectacle of God’s judgment upon His people. The truth is inescapable that when God’s truth is no longer recognized as the source for determining morality and identifying what is good and what is evil, there is no alternative. All other alternatives fall into the realm of flawed human logic and reasoning. There is no higher authority to determine whose logic or reasoning is correct. Every man will end up doing what is right in his own eyes.
Johnson: “…the Lord God says with reference to them they do not even know how to do what is right. They can no longer distinguish between right and wrong. That’s the last state of a people. And, incidentally, my dear friends sitting in the audience today we are fast seeing in our Western civilization as we know it progressing toward that same state in which we have immorality, injustice, all of the kinds of things that indicate that the peoples of our western world do not really understand now the difference between right and wrong.”
Amos 3:11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
The prophet declares God’s judgment based on the indictment. Since they have gotten their wealth through violence and robbery, they will lose that wealth to a violent enemy who will rob them of their ill-gotten gains.
Amos 3:12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
At this point the message again focuses on the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The point seems to be that the lion is far stronger than the shepherd. When a lion attacks, the likelihood is that the shepherd will only be able to retrieve a piece of the sheep. This will be the result of the enemy’s attack on Israel. Very little will survive the attack. When I checked a couple of commentaries for help on this section, I found that the law required the shepherd to bring in proof that an animal had been killed to exonerate him from an accusation of theft.
Exodus 22:13 “If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.”
Amos 3:13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
Amos 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
Amos 3:15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
Bethel was one of the centers of idol worship in Israel. The Lord is stating His intent to destroy idol worship among His people. Verse 15 appears to make reference to the destruction of the buildings that reflected the wealth and affluence that probably contributed to their moral downfall.
Constable: “The horns of an altar were also places of asylum in the ancient Near East, so their cutting off pictures no asylum for the Israelites when God"s judgment came.”
Amos 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
The Hebrew for the word kine is specific to the female gender, the heifer, the female cow. This is obviously a reference to the wealthy, self-absorbed women of Israel. They have absolutely no compassion for the poor and needy; in fact, they take advantage of them to their own benefit. They evidently have great influence over their husbands as well. It seems obvious that their homes are not examples of God’s established order for the family.
Wiersbe: “Why did Amos, the farmer, use this image? Not because these women were overweight and looked like cows, but because by their sins they were fattening themselves up for the coming slaughter. Both they and their husbands were wallowing in wealth, while the poor of the land were suffering because theses same people had exploited them and robbed them of money and land.”
Amos 4:2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
Amos 4:3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
These are strong verses. YHWH is swearing by His holiness—a sure guarantee—that their future is one of painful captivity in other lands.
Constable: “Carved reliefs that archaeologists have found show Assyrians leading people by a rope attached to a ring in the jaw or lip of their captives.”
Amos 4:4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
Amos 4:5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Bethel and Gilgal were places where the children of Israel went through the rituals of seeming compliance with God’s law even as they worshipped idols. Bethel had been specifically established by Jeroboam as the worship center in the Northern Kingdom to keep the people from going to Jerusalem in accordance with God’s command. The people were very proud and boastful of their religious activities.
I’m afraid that the picture of America today is quite similar. We like to brag about our “Christian” acts of compassion and charity before God when we are actually gratifying self in the process with no heart toward glorifying God at all.
Guzik: “It’s always wrong to measure worship by how it pleases us, because it is possible for corrupt and disobedient worship to be “wonderfully” pleasing….we don’t first measure worship by how it makes us feel, we measure it by how it honors God.
Amos 4:6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
This next section of verses is quite thought-provoking. The Lord lists many actions He took in an effort to get the people to repent of their wicked ways and turn back to serving Him as LORD. These are all things that we would normally attribute to “mother nature” or natural disasters. When you consider these types of events during our time, you can’t help but wonder how many are specifically initiated by God in an effort to get people of today to repent of their sinful, wicked ways and turn to Him in faith and obedience.
The first action God mentions is causing a shortage of food, as referenced by the idiom “cleanness of teeth.”
Guzik: “Because Israel seems to have enjoyed financial prosperity when Amos preached, this was probably set in the ‘prophetic present’ – future events spoken of in the present tense.”
Amos 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Amos 4:8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
The next action God mentions is withholding rain during the crucial three months before harvest. This would obviously go hand-in-hand with a shortage of food. He evidently was very specific in determining the cities in which rain would fall and those from whom it would be withheld. This also produced a shortage in drinking water.
I think it is important to note that with every action, the LORD is careful to note the refusal of the people to repent and return to Him.
Amos 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
The third action the Lord took was to cause blasting and mildew accompanied by a palmerworm infestation. The Hebrew for blasting is a reference to blight, any influence that destroys or causes failure. Mildew is a reference to a fungus found on decaying things. The palmerworm is a kind of locust that destroys crops.
Still the sad refrain—“yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”
Amos 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
The Lord continues His list of actions. He had sent pestilence or plague to afflict them similar to those with which He afflicted Egypt in accomplishing their deliverance. He had also caused events that had resulted in the deaths of their soldiers and horses to such an extent that you could smell the stink of death in the air.
Still the sad refrain—“yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”
Amos 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Evidently, God had supernaturally destroyed some cities by fire similar to His actions against Sodom and Gomorrah.
Still the sad refrain—“yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”
These are all actions that we would tend to classify as evil and unloving. As God carefully notes each time, His motive is one of love. He is trying to get His people to repent of their rebellious ways and return to Him. I think that is the point that people miss today. Whenever any religious leader speaks out to identify disastrous events as possible judgments from God, the public response is one of ridicule and rejection. God states unequivocally in scripture that He is always the same; His character never changes.
Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not….”
James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
In consideration of His dealings with Israel, I think there is validity to that assertion. God’s ways are not like our ways.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The most obvious proof of that is His decision to send His only Son, Jesus, to provide for the redemption of mankind through His sacrificial death on the cross. If He chose to act so radically to save us, why would He not act radically to encourage as many as possible to avail themselves of that salvation? I’m trying to learn to see things from God’s perspective. It’s almost impossible, but sometimes I feel I get a glimpse and a connection to His heart. More often than not my first response now to the terrible events that cross our newswires is one of prayer that there will be those that come to know the Lord as Savior and those who repent of their ways to serve Him once again. I also pray for those in the body of Christ to take advantage of the opportunity those times afford them to share God’s love and glorify Him as they serve others.
Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Amos 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
As the prophet continues to declare God’s message, He states that because they have refused to repent in response to His actions in the past, they now face destruction and captivity. Verse 13 emphasizes the truth that these aren’t the words of an impotent, lifeless idol. They are the words of YHWH, the Creator, the One who formed the mountains and created the winds. The One who declares His truth to man through His prophets. (Some commentators think this is a reference to God knowing the thoughts of man. As far as I’m concerned, both understandings are true.) The One who established day and night and is sovereign over the whole earth. These are the words of God, the one and only, who has the power to do what He says He will do.
“prepare to meet thy God” – These should be words to thrill the soul with excitement and anticipation. Sadly, the context is one that should provoke fear.