FRAMEWORKS:
Amos 2: An Accounting for Moab, Judah and then Israel
[Preliminary
Comment: The shorts denunciations of seven
people groups continue up to verse five, but from verse 6 on we
find a much larger prophecy challenging the northern kingdom of
Israel under the rule of Jeroboam
II [782/81-753] that continues
for the next four chapters.]
v.1-3
[6] MOAB , south and west of the Jordon
v.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, [this
judgment is about justice]
v.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.
v.3
I will
destroy her ruler
and kill all her officials with him,'
says the Lord.
v.4,5
[7] JUDAH is also included for her unrighteous
acts towards the Lord
v.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,
v.5
I will
send fire on Judah
that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.'
v.6
From now on the focus is on ISRAEL
v.6
This
is what the Lord says:
‘For
three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will
not relent.
v.6b
[i] they sell off people as slaves
They
sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
v.7
[ii] They oppress the poor
v.7
They
trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
[iii]
they don't rescue the oppressed from injustice
and
deny justice to the oppressed.
[iv]
they ignore the law of relationships
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
v.8
[v] They indulge in idolatry
v.8
They
lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
v.9,10
[vi] They forgot God's deliverance
v.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.
v.10
I brought you up out of Egypt
and led you for forty years in the wilderness
to give you the land of the Amorites.
v.11.12
[vii] They despised the oaths of the Nazirite
v.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.
v.12
‘But you made the Nazirites drink
wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
v.13-16
Thus judgment will fall on them and their warriors will flee
v.13
‘Now
then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
v.14
The
swift will not escape,
the strong will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.
v.15
The
archer will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get
away,
and the horseman will not save his life.
v.16
Even
the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,'
declares the Lord.
[Note:
Amos concludes his
seven-fold mini-denunciations of cities and people surrounding
Israel [v.1-5] and turn to Israel itself [v.6a], rebuking them
[i] for their oppression of the weak [v.6b,7], and [ii] for their
idolatry [v.8] and [iii] for forgetting they were God's covenant
people [v.9-12]. As a result, judgment will fall on them [v.13-16].
God's judgments always come with reasons!]
Continue
to Chapter 3