Amos 2

Judgments upon Moab“ For three transgressions of Moab I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet; and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah” (Amos 2:1-3). Moabites occupied the land east of the Dead Sea and north of Edom. Moab, father of the tribe, was also a son of Lot by his daughter. Though kin to Israel, there was an implacable hatred toward them and hostility that never burned out. Moab is cited for one of her many infamous crimes; the dead body of the king of Edom had been desecrated by burning it to ashes.

By burning them into lime, some supposed that they were then mixed with mortar and used in some building. Such a shocking and diabolic deed revealed an evil aspect of the nation’ s character. Judgment must come. Fires of war will devour her. Kerioth, chief city of Moab, would be destroyed. What nations sow they also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Moab was the subject of other prophets as well. (See Isaiah 15:1 to Isaiah 16:14; Jeremiah 48:1-47; Ezekiel 25:8-11; and Zephaniah 2:8-9). Judgments upon Judah“ For three transgressions of Judah…I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk. But I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem” (Amos 2:4-5). Given the rivalry and hostility of the Northern Kingdom toward the South we can imagine the evident approval on the faces of Amos’ audience; the amens and perhaps even cheers as he lashed Judah for her sins. In a masterful way, he led them as a leader leads his animals to their fold.The charge laid against Judah is not atrocity or violence, it is religious apostasy. They rejected the law of Jehovah. The law or Torah says Keil, “ is the sum and substance of all the instructions and all the commandments which Jehovah had given to His people as the rule of life.” The statutes are the individual precepts.

The lies that caused them to err were their idols and the false religious system they had substituted for Jehovah’ s worship. The writer of Kings tells us that idolatry was wide spread in Judah during Uzziah’ s reign (2 Kings 15:1-4). The judgment of Judah for her transgressions was the same as for her heathen neighbors. Fiery judgments of war would sweep over her. This occurred when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587/586 (See 2 Kings 25:8-12). It is noteworthy that nations that sinned without having God’ s written revelation were no less guilty than Judah who had the Law. (Compare Paul’ s teaching on this subject in Romans 2:11-16).

Having thoroughly disarmed his hearers and having won their attention by his sound thrashing of their neighbors, Amos turns to the business at hand. Judgment Upon Israel“ For three transgressions of Israel…I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes— they that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father go unto the same maiden to profane my holy name and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined” (Amos 2:6-8). The ten northern tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam I, revolted against the house of David and established themselves as the Kingdom of Israel. (Compare 1 Kings 12:1-21). While rebelling against God politically, they also corrupted his worship by embracing the Baal worship of their heathen neighbors. Thus at Bethel Jeroboam I had set up one of his golden calves (1 Kings 12:26-33). That pagan religion soon reflected itself in the moral, ethical life of the nation. From their many transgressions, he chooses a few examples. They abused the poor, by selling them into servitude because of indebtedness. A poor man was allowed to sell himself into slavery in order to work out his debts (Leviticus 25:39), but he was to be treated as a brother. No authorization however was given for the forcible selling of the poor. The guilt of the oppressors is exposed when he notes that for a trifling amount, the price of a pair of sandals, they would enslave a brother! They were guilty of land grabbing. Micah also rebuked this sin; “ they covet fields and seize them” (Micah 2:2). Their greed is painted in hyperbolic strokes. They even demand the dust the poor farmer cast on his head in mourning, when he saw his fate. (Compare Lamenations 2:10). They turned aside the way of the meek. This refers to a corrupt legal system that allowed the wealthy and powerful to get unjust advantage over law-abiding citizens. (See Proverbs 17:23).They were guilty of blatant immorality. “ A son and his father go unto the same maiden” for sexual purposes. Such was considered incestuous under the law. (Compare Leviticus 18:7; Leviticus 18:15). This is an allusion to the ritual fornication of the Baal worship (See Hosea 4:14). Each shrine had its male and female prostitutes. Such immoral practices profaned God’ s holy name because the degenerate worshipers claimed they were doing so in the name of Jehovah.

It is important to note that the Hebrews did not renounce Jehovah in their apostasy. They simply embraced Baal practices and said that they were doing those things in service to Jehovah. This common practices is called syncretism which is the blending of two or more things together. Profanation of God’ s name was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 22:32) In their ritual fornication they laid down beside the altar on a poor man’ s cloak taken in pledge. If a man was so poor that all he had for collateral was his large outer cloak, it could be used but had to be returned to him at sundown (Deuteronomy 24:12-13). This was because the cloak was also his blanket under which he slept at night. These wicked people had kept the poor man’ s cloak overnight and used it for a pallet for their sinful indulgence lest their own cloak be soiled. Note that Amos says these things were done “ in the house of their God.” It was not Jehovah’ s house, but the Baal shrines where such took place. Such practices had nothing to do with the righteous God of heaven. Their Baal worship included indulgence in wine. Amos shames them for extracting unjust fines from their neighbors and then using the proceeds in worship. Such was an insult to God. “ Yet destroyed I 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. 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. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah. But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying Prophesy not” (Amos 2:9-12). In this section he stresses their utter ingratitude toward God who had done so much for them and their contempt toward his righteous servants. “ Yet I destroyed the Amorite” ties this paragraph with what had been previously noted. They had turned from Jehovah to embrace the religion of the local population whom he calls Amorites. Yet Jehovah had defeated the Amorites and shown their gods to be nothing but wood and stone. He was clearly superior to the legendary Baal gods. Amorite was technically the name of one group of the Canaanites. They were the mightiest of those tribes.

By metonymy, Amos makes them stand for all the tribes that Jehovah had driven out (Deuteronomy 1:20; Deuteronomy 1:27). To emphasize how strong they were, he likens them to oaks and cedars. Their cedar trees were conifers growing 80-100 feet high. Moses tells us that the Canaanites were of unusually large stature. (Numbers 13:32-33). Their great strength meant nothing to Jehovah who easily destroyed them (Joshua 10:12-21). To destroy their roots and fruits simply meant total destruction.

Their tribe became extinct. It was Jehovah not the Baal gods or Jeroboam’ s calf that had brought their fathers out of Egypt and safely led them through the wilderness to their homeland (Exodus 20:2). They showed their ingratitude and contempt for God by seeking to corrupt his holy servants, Nazirites, and prophets. Nazirites lived plain and simple lives for God. They abstained from all products of the vine including wine (Num. l-12).Their abstinence was a constant reminder of the sins of indulgence of the people, hence they sought to corrupt the Nazirites. Heavy drinking was a problem Amos fared. (See Amos 2:8; Amos 4:1; Amos 6:6). They tried to silence the prophets that God sent to rebuke them. Isaiah rebuked the same sin (30:10). God sent the prophets to warn them lest they perish. They rejected God’ s merciful gift. “ Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves. And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself; neither shall he stand that handleth the bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself; and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah” (2:13-16). As a heavily loaded cart presses down the soft earth beneath its wheels so will God crush Israel. The KJV renders the lines “ Behold, I am pressed under you…” If this be the correct reading, God is saying that he is weary of dealing with the rebellious people. (See Isaiah 43:24).

Israel under Jeroboam was strong militarily (2 Kings 14:23-28). They were confident that their mighty troops could deliver them from any enemy. With words describing their forces of war he predicts that all will perish. Kenneth Taylor captures the meaning of Amos’ prophesies: “ Your swiftest warriors will stumble in flight. The strong will all be weak and the great ones can no longer save themselves. The archers aim will fail the swiftest runners won’ t be fast enough to flee and even the best of horsemen can’ t outrun the danger then. The most courageous of your mighty men will drop their weapons and run for their lives in that day (Living Bible Amos 2:14-16).

Amos Chapter TwoVerse 1 The prophecies against eight nations reach their climax in this chapter where the judgments are pronounced against Moab (Amos 2:1-3), against Judah (Amos 2:4-5), and against Israel (Amos 1:6-15), in which the principal thrust of Amos’ great prophecy reaches its primary object. It will appear in this chapter that Amos’ words were directed against the gross social sins of that era, but also against the sins of apostasy from the true religion of God; and, throughout, the particular sin of fighting God by fighting God’s people is repeatedly condemned. By no stretch of the imagination is it true that this prophecy is the “harbinger of the social gospel!” The pronouncements against sins against the poor, the perversion of justice, etc., as found here, are all based upon prior teachings of the Bible, universally known and understood by God’s people long before the times of Amos. Frequent references to the Pentateuch are found in this chapter. Morgan classified the judgments here as being against (1) injustice; (2) avarice; (3) oppression; (4) immorality; (5) profanity; (6) blasphemy; and (7) sacrilege.[1] These violations are specifically related to the portion of the Mosaic law which is applicable in each case. Amos’ prophecy should be accepted as sufficient proof of the prior existence of written records of God’s law; and the fact that the manifest reference to the Pentateuch, as repeatedly made, along with the evident assumption that the things referred to were well known and universally understood by God’s people, encourages the conclusion that, “The written sources in question go back to a much earlier period."[2]One may only grieve at the gross immorality and irreligion of the northern kingdom: “The depth to which the people had fallen is characterized in their seeming indifference to their position as a delivered and cared-for nation. Repentance and obedience were imperative, the only escape from imminent judgment."[3] THE In this chapter, Amos reached the principal object of his prophecy, the rebuke of Israel and the prophecy of her destruction. This series of judgments (Amos 1:3 to Amos 2:16) is not a “collection” of separate “oracles,” assembled and pieced together by some “editor” or “redactor” from some undetermined period subsequent to the times of Amos; but they constitute a very coherent, logically arranged, and skillfully presented prophecy, the principal import of which was directed against the northern kingdom. In the previous chapter, Amos cried out against the wickedness of Damascus, Philistia, and Tyre (Israel’s pagan neighbors), then against Edom and Ammon (two of Israel’s pagan relatives). In this chapter, Amos continued the prophecy against Israel’s pagan kinsmen, Moab, and then very properly, and of necessity, included the prophetic denunciation of his own nation, Judah, including a specific revelation that Jerusalem too would be destroyed for their sins. If Amos had left out this denunciative prophecy of Jerusalem, it would have compromised his whole message.

The people would have said, “Ah, we see that this so-called prophet is blind to the spectacular sins of his nation at the very moment he is crying out against everyone else!” In the light of this truth which is clearly visible to anyone, how utterly unfounded, unprovable, illogical and arbitrary are the postulations of the malignant critics who would credit Amos 2:4-5 to some nameless “redactor.” Further attention to this will be given in the notes on those verses; but let it be said here that the “redactor” of critical fancy is an imaginary person created subjectively by Biblical enemies, having no genuine reality whatever. This ephemeral, shadowy “character” is impossible of any objective identification.

He belongs to all races, all centuries, all religions, and all conditions of society. Every conceivable motive is freely ascribed to him, but no one has ever named him! We unhesitatingly declare him to be a fraud and a deceit perpetrated in the interest of destructive criticism. He is the “Piltdown Man” of Old Testament exegesis! If the student is unfamiliar with this universally-known hoax, called the “Piltdown Man”, let him consult an encyclopedia. Amos 2:1“Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.The New English Bible translation of this place, while being no translation whatever, nevertheless gives the true sense of this passage thus: (See the note at the end of Amos 2.) For crime after crime of Moab I will grant them no reprieve, because they burnt the bones of the king of Edom to ash. “To pursue the dead, even to the point of violating the corpse, is a mark of peculiar hatred and particularly offensive to the common conscience of mankind.[4] Unrestrained hatred will not stop with death. Wycliffe’s bones were dug up and burned 44 years after he died."[5]History reveals nothing whatever regarding this particular crime of Moab, although a Jewish tradition quoted by Jerome says: “That after this war, the Moabites, in revenge for the assistance which the king of Edom had given to Israel, dug up and dishonored his bones."[6]Verse 2 “But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Keiloth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.This pronouncement prophesied the overthrow of Moab by military conquest, a forecast actually fulfilled by the Assyrian monarchs Shalmanezer and Sargon. “From then on, a succession of world conquerors subdued, and in the process, annihilated Moab as a nation”[7] Moab is identified with the high plateau, some 3,000 feet high, that lies south of Arnon, north of Edom, and between the Dead Sea on the west and the desert on the east. “The palaces of Keiloth …” Fosbroke identified this place thus: “Keiloth is perhaps to be identified with Ar, elsewhere named as a chief city of Moab (Isaiah 15:1). On the Moabite stone, it is named as the site of a sanctuary of the Moabite god, Chemosh."[8]Fosbroke declared that, “This oracle against Moab is beyond doubt an authentic utterance of Amos,"[9]which, of course, is the truth; but we deny the right of Biblical critics to decide which portions of God’s Word are authentic and which are not. Such an admission by the Old Testament critics of the undeniable truth of this oracle, however, actually frustrates their assertions that the so-called “oracle” against Judah is not an authentic part of Amos. As pointed out in the introduction, Amos, by thus concluding the prophetic denunciations against surrounding nations, including both the pagan neighbors and the pagan relatives of Israel, it would have been absolutely impossible for Amos, in any logical sense, to have proceeded to announce the destruction of Israel, without, at the same time, denouncing the apostasy of his own country, Judah. The critics, however, intent on affirming just such a proposition, like to make it out that Amos considered Judah and Israel as a single family! “Therefore, he would not have uttered a special oracle against Judah!"[10] What is an argument like that? It is a denial based upon what someone in the 20th century imagines that Amos thought!

There is no evidence whatever that Amos believed Israel and Judah to be a single family; and, in fact there was not any more basis for such a thought than for believing that Israel and Edom were a single family, for both had a common ancestor. We receive the following prophecy against Judah, therefore, as indeed a genuine and dependable portion of the true Word of God. Verse 3 “And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah.“The judge …” This does not mean that Moab was without a king at the time of this prophecy. “It implies the chief magistrate, like the Carthaginian “sufes”, which is the same word."[11] The prophecies of doom for the surrounding nations, “Were fulfilled by the Chaldeans, who conquered all these kingdoms, and carried the people themselves into captivity."[12]Verse 4 “Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have cause them to err, after which their fathers did walk. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.This is that famous “oracle” against the southern kingdom. (See additional comments on this in the Introduction and under Amos 2.) The frantic efforts of critics to get this out of the Bible is based altogether upon a prior bias to the effect that Amos was not all concerned about violations of the Pentateuch (the law of Jehovah), but that he was a prophet like the modern liberals interested only in social reform! In fact some have hailed him as the “father of the social gospel!” To be sure, this pronouncement against Judah categorically refutes such prejudices. “For three transgressions, yea, for four …” This first great strophe is couched in exactly the same language as all the others, being part of a single address, delivered upon a definite occasion, and later written down by the prophet himself. Furthermore, as we have observed, it was the absolutely necessary prelude to pointing the prophetic barrage against Israel herself. “Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah …” Amos could not have formulated a more perfect reference to the Pentateuch, the prior corpus of the divine Law of God, known and received by all the Israelites for generations prior to Amos’ times. As Dummelow said, “These offenses are against a law set forth by positive commandments."[13] The word, “Law, here refers to the Torah, the general name for the whole body of precepts and commandments."[14] Thus, Judah is not judged for the wild excesses of the heathen, but for their rejection of the Lord’s word. “Judah is not immune to God’s judgment because they are God’s elect; indeed their judgments are greater because they are his, and being his, they chose to rebel against him."[15] Jamieson was correct in his discernment that this prophecy against Judah was included here, “Lest it should be said that Amos was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation."[16] He also positively identified “the law of Jehovah,” in this place as, “The Mosaic Code in general."[17] It is difficult to be patient with the type of false definition of “law of Jehovah,” as used here, which occurs in so many commentaries of the various liberal persuasions, such as: “Here it must mean religious and moral teaching given in Jehovah’s name by priest and prophet."[18] Such a definition, of course, presupposes that there actually was no “law of Jehovah” in any definite sense at that time. “Have not kept his statutes …” This is a definite and technical reference to the various ordinances and prohibitions of the law of Moses, as given by God on Mount Sinai. “And their lies have caused them to err …” This refers to: “The unreal and imaginary deities, the Baalim, and Ashteroth, who have no existence save in the mind of the worshipper, and are therefore sure to disappoint his hopes."[19]“After which their fathers did walk …““Their sin is deeply ingrained in them by inheritance from their fathers, a truth which the Old Testament uses, never to excuse the sinner, but always to indicate that he is in the place of mounting guilt."[20]Judah continued to go after the old idol gods of the Canaanites, despite all that God had done for them; and they were never cured of this shameful idolatry until after the Babylonian captivity, following which, they never again tolerated among them any semblance of idol-worship. “But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem …” The military judgments here prophesied with reference to Judah and Jerusalem were fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar, and finally a second time in the destruction by Vespasian and Titus in A.D. 70. It is a pleasure to mention here one of the truly great scholars, Hammershaimb, who has well defended “the genuineness of this passage."[21]Barnes made a practical application of this passage to the church and the Christians of all ages. God’s judgment against sin is certain to be executed: “It will not the less come, because it is not regarded. Rather, the very condition of all God’s judgments is, to be disregarded and to come, and then most to come, when they are most disregarded."[22]Verse 6 “Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes.“The righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes …” This expression simply means that, “For mere trifles, they had given debtors over to their creditors as slaves."[23] It appears that efforts to make some big land deal out of the second half of this denunciation are incorrect. Rather than being, as Mays thought, “an idiom for the legal transfer of land,"[24] it is far more probably a statement that the judges in Israel “could be influenced for paltry bribes."[25] “The verb used here is used of selling people into slavery."[26]Verse 7 “They that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name.“Dust of the earth on the head of the poor …” “Dust on the head” in ancient Israel was a sign of mourning; and the desire of the oppressors in this passage would appear to be their wish to exploit to the uttermost, and hence, bring them to mourning, the poor of the land. This whole clause appears to be merely a figurative expression, “for treading under foot the rights of the poor."[27]“A man and his father unto the same maiden …” Motyer accurately described the sin here as an open defiance of the law of God against adultery (Exodus 20:14), and fornication in the name of religion in particular (Deuteronomy 23:17). The widely supported efforts to eliminate from Amos’ writings all except his “social concerns’, has led to all kinds of bizarre interpretations of this place, some going so far as to make an “oppressed domestic servant” out of this girl which Amos mentioned, and then denominating the whole passage as “another expression of the oppression of the poor!"[28] This interpretation of the passage is endlessly parroted, as in, “All the items (here) can be placed under the general rubric of the oppression of the poor."[29] No. Adultery and the frequenting of the sacred prostitutes in such temples as those of Astarte do not come under the classification of oppressing the poor! There can hardly be any doubt that “same maiden” in this place is a reference to idol worship, a conclusion required by the clause immediately following which connects the action with profaning God’s name. Jamieson wrote: The “damsel” meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol of Astarte’s temple: the prostitution being part of her filthy worship.[30] The Canaanite religion thought that the performance of the human actions of procreation could be used to remind the god to fertilize the earth. It is this practice which Amos sees and denounces in Israel. The holy Yahweh is being worshipped as a Canaanite Baal.[31]Some have attempted to deny the obvious connection with idol-worship which surfaces in this verse, basing the denial solely upon Amos’ use of an unusual word for “maiden,” instead of the word ordinarily used to describe the temple prostitutes; but Keil explained the reason for this thus: “The meaning is, to one and the same girl, but [~‘achath] is omitted, to preclude all possible misunderstanding, as though going to different prostitutes was allowed. This sin was tantamount to incest, which, according to the law, was to be punished with death (Leviticus 18:7; Leviticus 18:15 and Leviticus 20:11)."[32]“To profane my holy name …” “The crux of the matter seems to lie in this expression … the next lines refer to every altar, and the house of their God, which would indicate that some type of worship is related to these sins."[33]Verse 8 “And they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God, they drink the wine of such as have been fined.“Clothes taken in pledge …” Jamieson has this: “Clothes refers to the outer garment, which Exodus 25:22-27 ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as being his only covering. It aggravated their crime that they lay on these clothes in an idol temple."[34]Keil strongly disagreed with the position of Jamieson that these perversions took place in idol temples, affirming that they were being committed in the house of the true God.[35] However, we are compelled to believe that Jamieson is right. God’s true house, in the mind of the Jews, was at Jerusalem; and although it was true enough that the apostate Israelites pretended to be worshipping their God, they were nevertheless not doing so, but worshipping idols instead. It is our conviction, then, that it would be better not to capitalize the word God in this verse. “They drink the wine of such as have been fined …” Drinking liquor, however procured, and lying down on clothes taken in pledge (in order to commit fornication) in connection with worship are sufficient clues to determine who was being worshipped by such actions; and we do not think it was the God of heaven. It was, of course, an aggravation of guilt that the pledged garments were illegally retained; and there would also seem to be something reprehensible in their possession of the wine mentioned here. This, of course, is speculative; but Fosbroke supposed that this may have reference to, “wine pawned and forfeited to creditors who lost no time in foreclosing."[36] However, since Amos certainly did not mention anything illegal about their possessing wine, it appears that it is the desecration of worship that is primarily condemned. Certainly, we cannot find any way to agree with the opinion that, “Amos had only one standard by which a society is judged … by the way it treats the poor."[37] Such a view is sternly rebuked by this very passage where, adultery, incest, fornication, and getting drunk in the worship are the sins primarily in focus, although oppression of the poor is also cited, but not as the one and only mistake of that society. Verse 9 “Yet destroyed I 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.In this through Amos 2:12, Amos turned his attention to the great redemptive acts of God’s love for Israel wherein he had delivered them from bondage, dispossessed the nations of Canaan, and done many other marvelous works upon their behalf. The remarkable nation of the Amorites was one of the dispossessed peoples, being noted particularly for their remarkable physical prowess and their great size (Numbers 13:32). He had been wiped out of existence by the divine decree, due to their idolatries and gross sins. This singular mention of the Amorites does not mean that they alone were displaced to make way for Israel; but here “The Amorite, the most powerful of all the Canaanite nations is put for them all."[38]Verse 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.“Why does Amos list the conquest of Canaan before the exodus from Egypt?"[39] Some commentators seem quite troubled by that question since chronologically the exodus came first; but it appears to be a climactic arrangement of God’s wonders, reserving the greatest act of his mercy to the last. “From the many allusions in this section, we see how familiar Amos and his hearers were with the history and the law of the Pentateuch."[40]Verse 11 “And I raised up of your sons prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites, is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah.The next verse will recount the shameful manner in which Israel had responded to the wealth of spiritual leaders which God had raised up from among them to teach them and to lead them in the right way. Some of the prophets God had raised up out of Israel were: Ahijah of Shiloh, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Hosea and Jonah! The Nazarites were a class of spiritual leaders who used neither wine nor strong drink and never allowed the use of a razor. There were two classes of these: (1) the Nazarite of days, whose vows were for a stated season only, and (2) the Nazarite for life, of whom there are three mentioned in the Bible: Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. Verse 12 “But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.This indicates that God’s Word and the spiritual leaders who taught it and advocated it were alike hated by the Israelites. They despised the Nazarites and tempted them to drink, in violation of their sacred vows. The prophets also were silenced, if not by one device, then by another; and even the Saviour referred to the dishonorable and even fatal treatment of God’s prophets that was heaped upon them by Israel and by Judah (Matthew 23:29-36). Much of the Old Testament is a history of the brutal and inhumane treatment of the prophets by God’s chosen people. It will be noted that this section pertains almost exclusively to those matters which are strictly religious. Verse 13 “Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves.The overthrow of Israel is given in different words from that of the other nations, but the meaning is the same, military defeat and destruction. This verse is as if he had said: Behold, I will run over you with a loaded wagon! Scholars tell us that the translation of the Hebrew here is uncertain; and the sense of the English version is that the load of Israel’s sin and guilt is a burden that presses God down; but the figure of being run over by a wagon (or wain) “is very natural in the mouth of the shepherd Amos."[41] “Whatever meaning is given to the verb, it is clear that the ultimate action of God would be catastrophic upon the nation.[42] The divine judgment against Israel in these four verses (Amos 2:13-16) will be such that, “Neither natural ability (Amos 2:14), military equipment (Amos 2:15), nor outstanding courage (Amos 2:16) will avail."[43]Verse 14 “And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself; neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself; and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah."(See under Amos 2:13 above for further comment on these verses.) The complete and irreversible overthrow of Israel is solemnly prophesied in this climactic denunciation. “Naked …” This word, “upon which the description ends, sums up effectively the pitiful helplessness of a man stripped of all the resources on which he had counted to maintain himself when he faces the final catastrophe."[44]“In that day …” The day of the Lord refers to that day when, “God’s judgment would fail upon Israel."[45]Although the immediate application of these words is thus accurately indicated, there is a more extended and ultimate sense in which they refer to the Great and Final Day of Judgment, when the entire human race shall confront the judgment of God upon human rebellion and wickedness. All of the predictions here made against Israel, as is also the case in all the other judgments cited in these two chapters, were most accurately and circumstantially fulfilled. We conclude this chapter with the following discerning paragraph from McKeating: (The predictions of Amos) were fulfilled to the letter, and within the prophet’s own lifetime or shortly afterward. They were fulfilled while there were still plenty of people around who could remember what they said. Their words were therefore treated with respect and eventually written down.[46]We regret accepting in an unguarded moment the critical nonsense that the repeated expressions in Amos regarding: “for three transgressions … yea, for four,” to the effect that these are merely a stereotyped formula. This cannot be true; and we are delighted to correct the error in this Revised Edition. We have the words repeated eight times that, “Thus saith Jehovah,” making God Himself the author of these words, not Amos. Furthermore, there is no known recurrence of this formula anywhere else in the literature of all nations. It is therefore not a stereotype. We believe that there is an eternal message in this eight-fold warning. The three and four pattern holds good for the whole world of Adam’s race. Adam’s race has already been judicially hardened THREE TIMES; and the FOURTH AND FINAL TIME (perhaps even now beginning) will usher in the SECOND ADVENT AND FINAL OF ADAM’S RACE!

Judah Condemned (Amos 2:4-5)Now the judgment turns to the people of God. God pronounces judgment on Judah, but for different reasons that what we read in the previous judgments. Judah is condemned because they refused to follow God’ s stipulations and instructions. They rejected the law of the Lord. Judah had been given a covenant which they violated. Instead of obeying God, they turned to lies, false gods who led them astray just as their ancestors followed before them.

Israel Condemned (Amos 2:6-16)The condemnation finally arrives on Israel. One can feel the weight of the prophecy. Israel is acting like the nations. They are committing the same sins as these nations who do not have a covenant relationship with God.

They oppressed the weak and poor. Amos 2:6 describes the merciless selling of destitute people who could likely have paid their debt if given a bit more time. They unnecessarily foreclosed on small loan amounts (like a pair of sandals). They abused the helpless and weak. Amos 2:7 says that they “ turn aside the way of the afflicted.” Powerful people were manipulating the weak and afflicted, using their power against them. They forced people to do things that they did not want to do and made life miserable for them. Amos 2:7 describes the sexual abuse of a servant woman by both the father and son. God condemns the mistreatment of a hard working household employee.

We can commit the same sin when we take the power or authority we have and use it to force others to do what we want. We see this abuse in marriage and friends, where through our words or actions we will punish each other until we make them do what we want them to do. We will ignore them, be rude to them, be angry with them, or act in some other sinful way to force the other to do something. We do not have the right to force anyone to do anything. Not even our Lord forces us to do anything. Husbands, you do not force your wives to do things by being loud or threatening.

Wives, you do not force your husbands to do things by being a nag or withholding affection. Friends, you are not to force one another to do what you want through manipulation. Neither are we do use our power to compel people we do not know to do what we want.

Notice how God describes these actions in Amos 2:7. He says that his holy name is profaned. This is God’ s view of our sins. We must not see our sins as nothing or merely small indiscretions. We are disrespecting, corrupting, and defiling the holy name of the Lord when as the supposed people of God we force people to obey our wishes.

In Amos 2:9-11 God gives the reason why we cannot use force and oppression on others. God graciously cared for his people when they were oppressed. God reminds the people how he took care of his people when they were oppressed in Egyptian slavery. God does not abuse the oppressed. God does not take advantage of the weak. God cares for them. This is most clearly seen in sending his Son for our sins. God calls us weak and helpless in our sins. God came for our deliverance.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6 ESV) We cannot forget the grace of God toward us. We are to be thankful to God and obey his covenant because of his grace. The purpose of God’ s past actions of grace are to generate grace toward others and obedience toward God. Grace is not given to be wasted but is provided to encourage a positive response of thankfulness and service.

God’ s grace is also seen in sending messengers to warn his people of impending judgment. Restoration is possible only if people are open to God’ s gracious attempts to convict them of sin and his gentle prodding to discipline those who need correction. If people are not affected by God’ s grace, they will one day stand accountable before his face. We cannot rebel against God’ s grace and plunge ourselves into sin. Further, we will not encourage others to sin. But this is what these people did. They forgot God’ s grace and encouraged sinful behavior.

Amos 2:12-16 reveals how they made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded to the prophets not to speak to the words of the Lord. The Nazirites were outstanding examples of lives consecrated to the Lord, providing a visible testimony of the humility of heart and purity of life that the Lord expects. They encouraged people to break that holiness and purity and commit sin. Therefore, Israel and her army will be defeated. They will not survive the coming day of the Lord.

ConclusionRebellion against God’ s design for healthy human relationships erodes God’ s holy reputation. We are to have a concern for God’ s holy name just as Moses had on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:12). When we act like the world, how can the world learn about the holy God? We have a covenant relationship with God and we know what God expects from our lives. We must not defile the holy name of God. We must see God’ s grace as the means for us to show grace to everyone we know and meet.

Amos 2:1

Amos 2:1. The Moabites had the same origin as the Ammonites (Genesis 19:37), The historians and commentaries offer various suggestions about this strange act of the king of Moab. It is questioned whether he actually burned the bones of the reigning king of Edom, or that he dug up the bones of the son who (had he lived) would have reigned over Edom. But the main point in the passage is not affected either way it may be understood. God wouid not endorse such an inhuman performance that could have been prompted only by the spirit of wicked vengeance.

Amos 2:2

Amos 2:2. Kirioth was an important city of the Moabites and it was destined to be destroyed by Are from an attacking army. The success of the invader was to be accompanied with shouts and the Instruments commonly used in warfare.

Amos 2:3

Amos 2:3. Judge and princes means any of the leading men of the nation. In all military operations it is regarded as of special importance to remove the most outstanding men of the city or nation attacked.

Amos 2:4

Amos 2:4, While the Iawd was giving these threatening messages through the prophet, He did not overlook his own people in their misconduct. To despise the law means to belittle it and hence treat it as if it had very little or no Important purpose with them. Their lies refers to the false predictions of peace that the unfaithful prophets were Issuing to the nation, The effect of these false messages was to cause them to err in following in the steps of their unfaithful ancestors.

Amos 2:5

Amos 2:5. This verse was literally fulfilled as recorded in 2 Kings 25:9,

Amos 2:6

Amos 2:6. Judah was named in verse 4, therefore we should understand Israel to be the 10tribe kingdom. This agrees with Amos 1:1 that states that Amos “ saw” some things concerning Israel. Both the kingdoms of the Jews were yet in power when he began his writing. Sold the righteous for silver, poor for a pair of shoes. No proper money value can be placed upon a human being, but to sell one for such a paltry price denotes a most contemptible estimate of him.

Amos 2:7

Amos 2:7. All the terms of any passage should be interpreted in view of the general thought of the whole writing in the connection. We know the prophet Is writing about the mistreatment the leaders of Israel were imposing upon the poor and otherwise dependent common people. They had very little regard for even the humble customs and religious practices of their brethren. It was a custom in ancient times to put dust upon the head in times of grief and anxiety, or at such occasions when devout servants of the Lord wished to emphasize their feeling of reverence for God, These wicked leaders were so bitter against the common poor people that they panted or selfishly sought to cast this dust of devotion from the heads and dash it to the ground. They were also very loose in their conduct of the intimate affairs of life. Ali the laws or decency forbade a man and his son being intimate with the same woman, but these corrupt men did not stop short of that kind of iniquity.

Amos 2:8

Amos 2:8. The law of Moses permitted a man to take a garment aa security for a financial obligation, but he was not allowed to keep it overnight (Exodus 22; Exodus 26; Deuteronomy 24:12), But these evil men made personal use of garments that had been taken temporarily, and intensified their guilt by lounging around in them in the temples of idolatrous worship. Condensed is from anash, which Strong defines, “ A primitive root; properly to urge; by implication to inflict a penalty, specifically to fine.” The law authorized fines to be levied on certain conditions (Deuteronomy 22; 39), but it must not be done unjustly. These men abused their authority by fining the poor without cause, then spending that money for wine which they drank in the idolaters’ house.

Amos 2:9

Amos 2:9. There was a distinct tribe of early inhabitants in Palestine that went by the name of Amorlte. They were so outstanding in Iniquity that the name came to be used sometimes as a designation for all the heathen. (See Genesis 15:16.)

Amos 2:10

Amos 2:10. Ingratitude is a very bad principle and is condemned in both sacred and profane literature. The Lord had done so much for Israel that it made their evil conduct all the more to be condemned, and they are being reminded of the subject In a number of verses. The one event of rescuing them from the Egyptians after four centuries of bondage should have bound them to God in a firm spirit of unmixed devotion. And their release from that country put them in a situation that would have been distressing from the unsettled state of the wilderness, yet the Lord took care of them miraculously for the entire journey of 40 years, so that they could come into possession of the land being held by these Amorites.

Amos 2:11

Amos 2:11. After settling the people of Israel In the land promised to the fathers, the Lord honored them with national distinction and gave their children an honorable part in the conduct of public affairs. Prophets were given the important work of standing between God and the people in delivering inspired messages of instruction and consolation, and the Nazarites were permitted to form a special class of servants for God, with the provision that they would have distinctive favors from Him.

Amos 2:12

Amos 2:12. One of the conditions of a Nazarite’ s vow was that he abstain from the use of wine or any other part of the grape during the term of his vow (Numbers 6:24). Gave the Nazarites wine to drink. Two wrongs never make one right, and no one is justified in doing evil just because some one places the temptation before him. But it is also true that if one furnishes the occasion that causes another to go wrong, he will be held accountable for that wrong (Romans 14:15-16; 1 Corinthians 8:11-12). There were devout persons in the congregation who look upon themselves the obligations of the Nazarite vow in order to obtain some special favor, and to satisfy their desire for a distinctive service to the Lord.

And there are people in the world who are so selfish that they do not want anyone else to have some blessing that they do not have. They seem to be acting under the idea that says, “if I eannot have certain favors, I do not want others to have them either.” These persons did not want to make the sacrifice required to obtain the blessings coming upon a Naza rite, hence they induced them to drink wine so they would not receive them either, having violated their vow. They also obstructed the work of the prophets because they did not like the warnings and exhortations to duty that were spoken by them.

Amos 2:13

Amos 2:13. We cannot think of God as being pressed in ihe sense of being burdened by a load that would feel heavy to Him. The marginal reading is, “I will press your place as a cart full of sheaves presseth,” and also the American Standard Version words the passage in ihe same way. Such a rendering also is in keeping with the general thought, tor the Lord is threatening to hear down upon these leaders of Israel so heavily that they will not be able to travel.

Amos 2:14

Amos 2:14, The reasoning in this verse justifies the conclusion expressed as to the proper rendering of the preceding one. Because of the pressure the Lord was to put on the shoulders of the unfaithful men of Israel, they would not be able to make any progress In traveling. Being unable to travel as satisfactorily as desired, they would not be able to deliver themselves from the condition that He had in mind to bring upon Israel, namely, the Assyrian captivity.

Amos 2:15

Amos 2:15, The bow and the horse were used in warfare, either offensive or defensive. Hence when the Assyrians make their invasion into the realm of Israel they will overcome them because of their insufficient ability either for fighting or fleeing.

Amos 2:16

Amos 2:16. Naked is defined by Strong as “ Naked, either partially or totally.” The idea is that they would strip themselves of part of their wearing articles so that they might be the more able to flee.