Deeper Commentary

Amos 2:1 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four- We may well ask why God bothered warning Gentiles of their judgment. Surely the point was that they could repent- as Nineveh did- and the proposed judgment would then not come. This is how open God is. For "three... yes, for four", see on Am. 1:3.

I will not turn away its punishment- The implication is that God states coming purpose or judgment, but is willing to change it in some cases. Nineveh would be the classic example. This is what gives intensity to prayer and repentance- outcomes which God has previously predicted can be changed, such is His sensitivity to human words and behaviour.

Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime- We gasp at the intense knowledge of God, noting the details of how Gentiles treat each other. Edom has been the subject of God's own judgment in Amos 1; but He is saying that others do not have the right to abuse others, even if those others are the subjects of His wrath. When we see misfortune or judgment come upon our enemies or those who abused our own dear ones, we are tempted to shrug. But God isn't like that. His sensitivity to the human condition is too great. He had condemned Edom for abusing His people (Am. 1:11), but He condemns Moab for punishing Edom too cruelly. See on Am. 1:11. Moab had made a covenant with Edom, and to break it with such impunity provoked God's anger. Amos was obviously making the point that breaking covenant with God was therefore going to provoke His even greater wrath. Another reading for "the king of Edom" is "his son", in which case the reference would be to the king of Moab burning his son to Moloch (2 Kings 3:27).

Amos 2:2 But I will send a fire on Moab, and it will destroy the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet- This is similar language to that used about the judgments upon Israel and Judah [death with tumult = Hos. 10:14]. 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 king of Moab had used fire to judge others (:1), and yet his anger and judgment of others with fire was now to be used against him and his people. We have here a classic example of a man being judged as he judged (Mt. 7:1).

Amos 2:3 And I will cut off the judge from their midst, and will kill all their princes with him, says Yahweh- Again, as noted above, this is similar language to that used about the judgments upon Israel and Judah. Their king is also called a judge, whom they would lose (Mic. 5:1); and as Ezekiel and Jeremiah state so often, the princes of Judah went into captivity. Jer. 52:10 uses this language to describe the killing of the princes of Judah. Truly, the judgments upon Israel's neighbours were intended as their warning.

 

Amos 2:4 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four- For "three... yes, for four", see on Am. 1:3. Amos prophesied at the time of Uzziah (Am. 1:1) who was apparently a good king and held meetings where the Law was taught and obedience was encouraged. But the message is that beneath that religious veneer, Judah was seriously sinful. The same rubric ["For three... four"] is used about the Gentiles and also Israel and Judah. The point is that they were not radically different from the Gentiles.

 

I will not turn away its punishment- The great paradox is that God did turn away from the ultimate punishment of Judah (Hos. 11:9) despite their impenitence. Yet their sins were three plus four, seven- complete sin. This highlights God's extreme grace. As often seen in Hosea, God does change His mind about condemnation, even when He says He will not. This is the extent of His grace and passion for human salvation.

Because they have rejected Yahweh’s law, and have not kept His statutes- The word translated "rejected" is also translated "despised" and 'cast away'. The allusion is to where these words are used in Lev. 26:43,44: "They have despised My judgments... yet for all that... I will not cast them away". They rejected / despised / cast away God, but He did not treat them as they treated Him. Despite this grace, judgment still had to come, as Amos explains. But that judgment is not the same as being 'cast away'.

 

And their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked- The reference is to idols. Any lie becomes an idol- that's a penetrating psychological observation being made here. Yet Uzziah supposedly cleansed Judah from idols. That was therefore the kind of surface level repentance which we are all so prone to. We might consider that following the understandings of our fathers, and be led astray by untruths received by tradition... is wrong, but not that terribly wrong. But this is chosen as a reason for Yahweh's wrath. He held them responsible for these things because He expects people to turn away from inherited untruths, not go with the flow, individuate from their fathers, and stand independently before Him. But that might just seem petty stuff to secular man; yet to God it is of critical importance.

 

Amos  2:5 But I will send a fire on Judah, and it will eat up the palaces of Jerusalem- The fortifications of Jerusalem built by Uzziah (Am. 1:1). As noted on Am. 1:10,14; 2:2, the judgment of the palaces of the surrounding nations by the Babylonians was recorded so that Judah might reflect and repent. The "palaces of Jerusalem" could refer to the fortifications which they had trusted in rather than in God (Jer. 17:27; Hos. 8:14); or they could refer to the large houses of the wealthy, which the Babylonians burned with fire (2 Kings 25:9). This would better fit the theme of social justice and condemnation of opulence which we find in Amos.

 

Amos 2:6 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment- Significantly, seven (3+4) specific sins are now mentioned here for Israel; but the number of individual sins listed for the other nations doesn't come to seven. I would suggest that seven is the number of completion, and the idea is that the sins of these nations had built up to a point where judgment had to come. The sins listed here seem nothing compared to the sins of the Gentile nations which have been enumerated previously. But the point is that sin is serious, and that things like opportunistic abuse of individuals is as huge in God's sight as the most extreme murder and perversions of idol worship.

Because they have sold the righteous for silver- Justice was perverted for the sake of bribes. Or the reference could be to selling debtors into slavery, forbidden by the law and also criticized in Am. 8:6. We note that "the righteous" can still get into debt to the point that all they have to give is their bodies. Poverty, whether from unwise decisions or acts of God, still befalls "the righteous". This is another major problem for the prosperity Gospel's claim that the righteous will always get wealthy.

And the needy for a pair of shoes- As noted above, this could refer to bribery, or to selling into slavery. But the point is, that is was done for very small gain, a pair of shoes (LXX "sandals"). And we see this principle today; for very small gain, in whatever way, those in power will cause long term hardship for the weak.

Amos 2:7 They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed- The denial of justice would lead us to read :6 as referring to judging or accepting bribes in order to gain just a very small personal gain- a "pair of shoes" (:6). Not giving people justice is trampling on their heads. Only mourners have dust on their heads, so the idea may be that denying justice resulted in real pain, loss and mourning for the poor; but the feelings of others were despised as 'the strong' pursued their agenda, with no thought for the collateral damage of their actions or how others would feel emotionally. These principles are not merely relevant to judges or those in authority. We are all called upon to make decisions, to show justice- especially in our family and church communities. In some contexts we are all 'the strong' who must consider how we act toward 'the weak'. We are placed in these communities really for our testing. So often the denial of justice to another is for the sake of personal gain to us, in some way. And the gain is often petty. So often, believers judge one person one way and another differently, fellowshipping this brother but not that sister, even if they are morally and theologically identical; simply because they fear they might lose some kudos in the eyes of others. See on :13 and Am. 4:1.

And a man and his father use the same girl, to profane My holy name- The connection may be with their laying down on clothes beside the Baal altars (:8); for this was where men slept with the cult prostitutes. This is indeed in view here, but the context is about the abuse of the poor and injustice. As noted earlier on this verse, the strong were abusing the weak in that they cared nothing about the emotional or collateral damage down, just for the sake of very small gain- be it materially, or as in this case, the temporary 'pleasure' of such illicit sex. They didn't care for the girl's feelings or humiliation- that was the point. This point is being made along with the obvious criticism of Israel's idolatry. The abuse of the weak, the lack of justice which was part of using cult prostitutes, was every bit as bad as the idolatry itself.

 

Amos 2:8 And they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge- As noted on :7, the condemnation of idolatry and sleeping with cult prostitutes has incorporated within it the injustice which was just as wrong. The clothes upon which they slept with the prostitutes were actually not theirs; they had taken them in pledge for debts overnight, which was specifically condemned in the law (Ex. 22:26; Dt. 24:12). It was lack of basic sensitivity to the needs of a poor person to keep their pledge overnight; for the person would have nothing warm to sleep in. And this was just as bad as sleeping with cult prostitutes.

And in the house of their God they drink the wine of the condemned- Paul alludes to this in 1 Cor. 11. The Christians of Corinth were drinking condemnation to themselves; and the cup we take is likewise either of blessing or condemnation. This is part of the condemnation of Israel, the ten tribe kingdom. They didn't worship at the temple, but rather at shrines. Their worship of Yahweh was performed as worship of the idols. Their sin was the worse, because they were justifying their idol worship as Yahweh worship. By so doing they were condemning themselves. But "the condemned" is literally 'the punished / fined'. The idea may be that they had demanded fines from the poor for insignificant violations, and were drinking the wine they had bought with this money. But they were drinking it as a drink offering to Yahweh, albeit performed as idol worship. As noted in earlier verses, the grossness of their sin was because their idolatry incorporated the abuse of the poor and injustice.

Amo 2:9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath- They had worshipped the cults of the Amorites, and were to share their judgment. The Baal cult has been in view in :6-8. So far in this chapter I have alluded to the idea of the weak and the strong, and God's condemnation of those who were 'strong' for abusing the weak. This thought is made explicit here, where the pride, strength and human advantage of the Amorites is mentioned. The height and strength of the Amorites was what had caused a faithless Israel to want to return to Egypt (Num. 13:22,32,33). But now, Israel were acting like the Amorites, when they should have overthrown them in faith.

 

Amo 2:10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite- All in :9-11 was specifically done by an Angel (cp. Zech. 1:1-8). Angels would then have been the mechanism through which God gave motivation to some young people to become prophets and Nazirites. God makes His Angels spirits, and it is the Spirit which does the same today. This is all cited as a reason for Israel's condemnation. They had been led out of the world, baptized in the Red Sea, led of the Spirit- and yet they rebelled against it.

Amo 2:11 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel? says Yahweh- Apparently freewill decisions such as being a Nazirite are still influenced by God. For the Nazirites were "raised up" by God. Our freewill decisions for Him are confirmed by Him; such is the work of the holy Spirit on human hearts. This could refer to a specific raising up of Nazirites and prophets during the wilderness wanderings. God's willingness to work upon human hearts must not be despised. The fact He so worked with Israel but they refused is being cited as the ground of their condemnation. We note that it was "young men", "your sons", who were moved by God to offer themselves from the freewill devotions of being Nazirites or prophets. Youth is the time when temptation to use human strength and indulge pleasure is perhaps the most acute; and it is to youth that there is a special appeal by God, to give their best years to His service.

Amo 2:12 But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’- Their sin was in that they disabled others from achieving the spiritual future for them which God had enabled. Out of all the things God could have condemned His people for, causing others to stumble was paramount to Him. We need to give this due weight in all our decisions and attitudes and responses to others. Amos was one of those forbidden to prophesy (Am. 7:12-14), so we can assume that he was a young man when he began his ministry (:11). He gave his best years to the Lord's service, in a thankless ministry of condemning the cult worship, materialism and injustice of his elders.

Amo 2:13 See, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that is full of grain- As they had crushed beneath their feet the poor and the feelings of those they dealt with unjustly; see on :7 and Am. 4:1. Grain must be stamped upon; the idea is of a cart on the way to the threshing floor, full of judgment imagery. By stamping on the poor (:7), they were condemning themselves; they too would be crushed at the threshing floor, as the chaff and not the grain. The grain perhaps speaks of the poor whom they had stamped upon; through condemning them, and the poor correctly responding to the abuse, they had been the vehicle which brought about the salvation of the poor in spiritual terms. And so it has been so often; the experience of abuse and condemnation by the strong leads to the weak's salvation, through their correct response to it.

But another reading is as AV: "I am pressed [crushed] under you"; as if God identified with the oppressed poor of :7. What we do to others we do to God. And so again, we find minor prophets with major messages: God can be crushed in that He identifies with the crushed. This is the extreme sin of all abusive, crushing behaviour towards others. We note that Amos as a young (:12) country man is full of rural allusions.

Amo 2:14 Flight will flee from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself- Again the analogy of the weak and the strong continues; the strong would be unable to flee from their condemnation at the hands of the invaders. They would have no place to run, although they would seek to do so; "flight" may stand for 'place of flight / to flee'. This is the awful picture of condemnation. Human might will then be revealed as weakness, and the weak saved. Only God's deliverance through His Son will save; human might will not enable self deliverance.

Amo 2:15 Neither shall he stand who handles the bow; and he who is swift of foot won’t escape; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself- As noted on :14, self deliverance is impossible when faced with Divine judgment; the strong in this life who used that strength to abuse others shall not be saved. The fulfilment initially was in Israel fleeing before their enemies as predicted for disobedience, and it will be the same for all who meet God's wrath at the last day.

Amo 2:16 And he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked in that day, says Yahweh- Again and again, the theme continues- the human strong and mighty will not be saved by their strength. Nakedness is associated with condemnation; they will flee, but have nowhere to run to (:14). The primary fulfilment was clearly in the flight of Zedekiah and his mighty men, and being overtaken by the Babylonians on the Jericho road.