Deeper Commentary

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos- The prophets typically begin with something like "The word of the Lord...". But here we have "the words of Amos", which were God's words. This is a useful insight into the Divine-human cooperation which we now call "inspiration". They were the Lord's words, but through the words of Amos; just like Paul's letters to his friends were just that, and yet more than that, because they were inspired by God.

Who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa- A wilderness (2 Chron. 20:20). We have the impression that Amos was a very isolated individual who likely knew little about the national let alone international scene. And yet exactly such a person is chosen to be an international witness; for the threats of judgment upon the Gentile nations were presumably in order to give them the chance of repentance. This was a fact realized by Amos himself in Am. 7:14. We likewise are often chosen for service on the basis of our inadequacy rather than our secular, apparent qualifications.

Which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel- It seems Amos spoke mostly against the northern kingdom of Israel, perhaps stationing himself near the sanctuary at Bethel and condemning them. He was then expelled from Israel and took his message to Judah. Israel were prosperous in the days of Jeroboam II, hence the repeated criticisms of wealth. Amos, a poor herdmen, was the appropriate one to do this.

 

Two years before the earthquake- This earthquake is alluded to in Am. 8:8 and is stated as actually happening in Am. 9:5. The prophetic word is so certain of fulfilment that it can be spoken of in the present or even past tenses, even though the fulfilment is yet future. And yet as happened with Nineveh, in the gap between pronouncement and fulfilment, there is the possibility of repentance and a change to God's stated purpose (Jer. 18:7-9, and the example of Nineveh and Moses changing God's purpose of judgment about Israel).

 

Amo 1:2 He said: Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem- As the subsequent context makes clear, this will happen when Yahweh emerges to judge both Judah, Israel and her surrounding neighbours. And we have that idea in Joel 3:16 too- for in Joel 3:14 we read of the judgment of the nations, and in Joel 3:15 of the judgment of Israel. The idea of a thunderous roar likens Yahweh to a lion  (as in Rev. 5:5, in the person of the Lord Jesus); but the invader is likened to a lion in Joel 1:6 and often elsewhere. This is a standoff between two lions; just as Yahweh's mighty ones face off against the mighty ones of the Gentiles (Joel 3:9,11). This thunderous roar in its latter day aspect can be associated with the Lord's return being with a great shout (1 Thess. 4:16; Jn. 5:28,29), the 'calling' for the sword of judgment to fall upon the invaders (Ez. 38:21; Is. 11:4). This is the "roar" of Jer. 25:30, which Yahweh will utter as He treads the winepress, which is also the context in Joel 3:13. Joel may have been contemporary with Amos and was giving Judah the same message as him, so the many points of overlap with Amos are to be expected.

And the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither- Am. 3:12 implies that Yahweh is the good shepherd to Israel, whereas they had many bad shepherds, as Ez. 34 also laments. The idea may be that the suffering of the people in their "pastures" was due to their bad shepherds, the spiritual leadership.

Amo 1:3 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four- There are six surrounding nations mentioned, and then Israel and Judah, who could be counted as one. Seven judgments connect with similar series of seven judgments in Revelation, which I would interpret as likewise referring to judgments on the nations around Israel and also including Israel. It could be argued that the gravity of the offending increases, coming to a climax in the sins of Israel and Judah. They would have heard Amos' prophecies and agree heartily that the Gentiles deserved punishment- but then the point is made that they have sinned even worse and will be punished along with the surrounding nations by the cataclysm of judgment which was and is to descend upon the eretz promised to Abraham. The seven nations to be judged connect with their sins of "three, yes for four", making seven- as if God notices and is sensitive to every sin, and all these nations had now filled up their sin to completeness, seven times. And so judgment would fall (Gen. 15:16).

I will not turn away its punishment- As explained on Am. 1:1, there is the possibility of repentance and the averting of Divine judgment. But that turning away of judgment is now not going to be possible because of the complete filling up of transgression to seven times, three plus four. The same Hebrew is used of how God's people and the Gentiles refused to "turn away" from sin (Jer. 44:5); and so He did not turn away from their punishment (Jer. 30:24 s.w.).

 

Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron- LXX "Because they sawed with iron saws the women with child of the Galaadites". The actions of one Gentile nation against another were noted by God. They had cruelly abused those they conquered; and God noticed that extreme abuse of power, the weak over the strong, and condemns them for it. God's sensitivity to sin is huge; and how much more does He watch us, His people, with our far greater responsibility.

Amo 1:4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will eat up the palaces of Ben Hadad- God is sensitive to the opulence of Gentiles and their misuse of resources. Hazael means 'whom God looks on', perhaps the develop this point. How much more then is He to His people. Assyrian obelisks describe their destruction of Hazael's glory with fire.

Amo 1:5 I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, says Yahweh- The way Gentiles trusted in their human strength and defensive military technology is noted by God. And these Gentiles were judged by other Gentiles, under God's hand. He took away their kingdom / rulership because of this. His sensitivity to His people trusting in their human defences is therefore so much the greater.

Amo 1:6 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom- LXX "Because they took prisoners the captivity of Solomon". Being too cruel, even between Gentiles, registers with God and He counts over-reaction and seeking of revenge to be sinful. Did Israel ever go into captivity in Edom because of Gaza? Perhaps not. In this case, the thought of doing so was judged by God so severely. We are judged according to our thoughts and plans, rather than all we actually are in physical terms. "The whole community" may mean that Gaza intended to get all the Jews into captivity when they supported the Babylonian invasion, when God intended only a third of the community to go into captivity (Ez. 5:12). Punishing sinners more harshly than God intends is therefore presented as a serious sin. And this sort of thing often happens in church life; some sins are seen as deserving disproportionate punishment simply because they have offended deeply held human tradition.

Tyre is condemned for not honouring her covenant with Edom (Amos 1:9); Moab for being too harsh in judging Edom (Am. 2:1); Gaza likewise for being too cruel (Amos 1:6). Even amongst the Gentiles, God sees some as sinning more than others (Ez. 7:24). And even amongst God’s people, some sins are “greater abomination” than others (Ez. 8:13). This doesn’t mean that the ‘smaller’ ones don’t count. But it reflects God’s great sensitivity to human sin. The varying scale of sacrifices for various sins reflects this too. And of course our Lord Himself spoke of the man with “greater sin”, and of other men who owed varying amounts to the Father. The penal structure of the law of Moses itself reflects differing degrees of sin.

Amo 1:7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces- Destruction of the wall and palaces by Divinely sent fire was exactly the judgment to come upon Samaria and Jerusalem. The judgments upon the surrounding Gentile nations were intended as a warning to Israel; and we too encounter others in life suffering judgments for sins which we too commit in essence. And we are intended to learn from those encounters.

Amo 1:8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord Yahweh- All Bible prophecy comes to its ultimate moment in the situation of the last days, just prior to the Lord's return. Here in Amos 1 and 2 we read of judgments upon Israel's neighbours and upon them too. This is to happen in the last days, possibly in the same sequence. And so we note the focus upon Lebanon (:9), the Gaza strip (:7) and now upon the Philistines / Palestinians. That these very areas are today the centre of strong anti-Jewish sentiment and jihadist extremism must surely be highly significant. At no other time in history has the stage been set like this. But as noted on :7, Israel were and are intended to learn from the judgments on their neighbours, described as they are in identical terms to those used about judgments to come upon Israel- the sceptre removed, Yahweh's hand turned against, their remnant perishing.

Amo 1:9 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not relent on its punishment; because they delivered up the whole community to Edom- "The whole community" may mean that Tyre like Gaza intended to get all the Jews into captivity when they supported the Babylonian invasion, when God intended only a third of the community to go into captivity (Ez. 5:12). Punishing sinners more harshly than God intends is therefore presented as a serious sin. And this sort of thing often happens in church life; some sins are seen as deserving disproportionate punishment simply because they have offended deeply held human tradition.

And didn’t remember the brotherly covenant- This could refer to the effective covenant between Tyre and Israel first made in the times of David and Solomon (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Kings 5:2-6; 9:11-14). Typically such covenants included a clause to the effect that it was binding upon their descendants. But it is typically human to shrug off the binding nature of an ancient covenant. But God takes covenant relationship seriously. And we learn from this that God's wrath is upon those who despise their brotherly covenant with their brethren.

Amo 1:10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it will destroy its palaces- As noted on :7, destruction of the wall and palaces by Divinely sent fire was exactly the judgment to come upon Samaria and Jerusalem. The judgments upon the surrounding Gentile nations were intended as a warning to Israel; and we too encounter others in life suffering judgments for sins which we too commit in essence. And we are intended to learn from those encounters. The wall of Tyre was perceived as an invincible human defence. But all such human strength will be progressively be revealed as useless before God's judgments.

Amo 1:11 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword- Perhaps the focus is upon the word "pursued". Esau was indeed to live by the sword (Gen. 27:40), and to break the yoke of Jacob from off his neck. But to pursue Jacob with the sword over the generations was going beyond. Again we see God's particular wrath against those who punish sinners over severely; this is so against His own principles and way.

And cast off all pity- God understood that Esau / Edom's anger with Jacob was understandable and legitimate. But what was wrong was to cast off all sense of compassion when Jacob was now under judgment. To be heartless is for God an awful sin.

And his anger raged continually, and he kept his anger forever- God was willing to understand the gut reaction of anger [in Esau / Edom's case, over Jacob's deception]; but He does expect us to work through the stages of it, not to be caught up on the 'anger' stage of our reactions to loss and grief. This perhaps explains God's ready overlooking of Job's fist shaking against God. Again we see God condemning men not for being human and having human reactions, but for going too far in them. This is why Moab in turn is condemned not for attacking Edom, but for being sadistic against him (Am. 2:1).

Amo 1:12 But I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah- As noted on :10, this was to give Israel and Judah an example of the kinds of judgment to come upon them at the hands of the Babylonians and Assyrians.

Amo 1:13 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border- Ammon would only have achieved a very small territorial advantage by attacking Gilead. They used disproportionate behaviour; abusing pregnant women was not proportionate even to a campaign motivated simply by greed. A noted on :11, God shows here that although He recognizes human weakness, He does see a gradation in sin, and there are things which are bound to call forth His definite judgment even in this life.

Amo 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces- As noted on :10, this was to give Israel and Judah an example of the kinds of judgment to come upon them at the hands of the Babylonians and Assyrians.

With shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind- "The whirlwind" was a common figure for the Babylonian and Assyrian judgment to come upon God's people. For sowing the wind, living in a vapid, empty way... they would reap the whirlwind (see on Hos. 8:7). But that same whirlwind of the Babylonian invasion was to shatter the Gentile nations too, and God's people were intended to learn from this (Is. 17:13).

Amo 1:15 And their king will go into captivity, he and his princes together, says Yahweh- This is precisely what happened to Judah; king and princes together went into captivity at the hands of Babylon. They were intended to have learnt the lesson from seeing the nations judged by Babylon; just as we are supposed to learn from the historical judgment of the nations, and the judgments of people who are brought into our lives for our observation and learning.