For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Amos 2:1-16
1 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,
2 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.
3 I will destroy her ruler
and kill all her officials with him,”
says the Lord.
4 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,
5 I will send fire on Judah
that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”
6 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.
7 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.
8 They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
9 “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.
10 I brought you up out of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness
to give you the land of the Amorites.
11 “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.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
13 “Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
14 The swift will not escape,
the strong will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horseman will not save his life.
16 Even the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.
A. Find Out
- What had Moab done? v.1
- So what will the Lord do? v.2,3
- What had Judah done? v.4
- So what will the Lord do? v.5
- What had Israel done? v.6-8
- Despite the Lord having done what for them? v.9-12
- So what will the Lord do? v.13-16
B. Think:
- How does this chapter seem to flow on from the previous one.
- Yet how does it seem to develop from the previous one.
- Who are the peoples covered here?
C. Comment:
The challenge continues to flow to the east of the Jordan, now to Moab (v.1) who had attacked Edom, so now the Lord will send fire destroying cities (v.2) and her ruler (v.3).
But then the Lord turns, not on another neighbour, but to Judah (v.4a), the southern two tribes, who have left the Law of Moses for idolatry (v4b) and so fire will come also to Jerusalem (v.5).
Perhaps not surprisingly the focus next turns to Israel (the norther ten tribes) where injustice is seen in a big way, people being sold off as slaves (v.6), the poor being ground down and oppressed (v.7a.b) with highly dubious relationships occurring (v.7c), but the major issue is their idolatry (v.8).
The Lord reminds them how He had cared for them in the past (v.9,10) but when He blessed them with Nazarites, they abused even that (v.11,12), so now judgment will fall of them, they will be crushed (v.13) so the strong will be made weak (v.14) and their soldiers will fall (v.15), even the strongest of them (v.16).
So five peoples in chapter 1 and three in chapter 2 but now it is not merely the godless neighbours coming under His judgment, but the so-called people of God themselves. Their failure is all to do with their relationship (or its absence) with God and its outworking. Wow!
D. Application:
- No one escapes the watchful eyes of God.
- God holds to account all forms of sin in this fallen world