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 3:1-8
1 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
2 “You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your sins.”
3 Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the thicket
when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
6 When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has not the Lord caused it?
7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
who can but prophesy?
A. Find Out
- To whom does the Lord continue to speak? v.1
- So what will the Lord do? v.2
- What natural ‘follow-ons’ does he cite? v.3-6
- What principle does he declare? v.7
- So what has now happened? v.8
B. Think:
- How is relationship mentioned here?
- What point is the talk about consequences making?
- What point is He making about revelation?
C. Comment:
The Lord continues to speak against His people Israel (v.1), reminding them of the fact that they have a relationship with Him because He saved them from slavery in Egypt and created a nation our of them (v.2).
But then he is about to bring judgment on them but He wants them to realise that what is happening is not pure chance, things don’t happen by pure chance. They are consequences of actions and to show how this works, He gives them a whole series of things, two people walking because they have agreed to do so (v.3), a lion that only roars when it has caught its prey (v.4), a trap that will only catch a bird if there is bait in it (v.5), a warning trumpet that only sounds to warn of a coming crisis,. So it is that when large scale judgments occur they don’t just happen, they happen because the Lord ordains them (v.6). Each of these happen by purpose – including the coming judgement!
But then there is a different sort of wakeup call, the realisation that before God acts in such ways, He reveals it to His prophets (v.7) and so they should realise that now people like Amos are speaking out (the prophets) it is because the Lord is energising them to do so (v.8).
The point behind the first part of this chapter is to say to the people they should wake up and take note of all the warnings that Amos is giving to Israel’s neighbours as we as Judah and Israel themselves, because this is not just the whim of man, but God speaking.
D. Application:
- Are we alert to the ways of God in His world?
- Do we understand the law of consequences?
Amos 3:9-15
9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“who store up in their fortresses
what they have plundered and looted.”
11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabric from a couch.”
13 “Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
14 “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house
along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the Lord.
A. Find Out
- Who does the Lord now challenge to gather? v.9a
- Where are they to gather? v.9b
- What failure does He expose? v.10
- So what will happen? v.11
- What will happen to the Samaritan Israelites? v.12
- How does the Lord extend this prophecy? v.13-15
B. Think:
- Who actually come under the spotlight in this passage?
- Who are challenged to come and witness their depravity?
- How is the coming destruction described?
C. Comment:
The focus is clarified as on Samaria (v.9b,12b,14a) or Israel (the northern kingdom). There is some uncertainty in respect of the text and some versions refer to Ashdod (Philistia) and some to Assyria (v.9) and they together with Egypt (who have both come under the spotlight in earlier verse of this prophet) are called to come and watch what is going on in Samaria (v.9), perhaps as a warning of the realities of the Lord’s judgments after He has spoken through His prophet.
Then comes the condemnation of Israel: they don’t do what is right, they plunder others (possibly the rich over the poor) taking their goods and simply hoarding them (v.10).
Then comes the declaration of the judgment that will befall them – they in turn will be plundered by an enemy (v.11) and of course in due time Assyria came and took them all into exile in 722BC.
And then the prophet gives an analogy with which he would be familiar, perhaps having seen the remains of one or more of his sheep partially eaten by a marauding lion – so there will only be scattered remains of Israel (v.12). Rehoboam had set up an altar at Bethel (and another at Dan) each with a golden calf to be worshipped, to deter his people going back to worship in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-30). This alter will be swept away in this judgment (v.14), together with all the fine houses of the ungodly rich on the land (v.15). The judgment will be complete.
D. Application:
- Observe the clarity of God’s warnings to His people.
- Observe the fulfilment of the warnings. God does not lie.