Israel Faced Her Transgressions
– Amos Two –
Moab was Judah's neighbor to the south. Their
transgression was that they were especially cruel to Edom and her king. They desecrated the
nation of Edom by burning the remains of their
king into lime.
God applied the same formula of
judgment to His people that He applied to the other nations. "For three
transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn
away its punishment." Amos point out that God's people had also just gone
on committing sin after sin. The sin of Judah was that they despised and
disobeyed the law of God. They had God's Law and He expected and required them
to obey! Religious lies led them astray from the Almighty. The wickedness of Judah would also cause them to face God
punishment of fire.
Israel's sins are also pointed out
following the same pattern as before, "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four." They
continued to commit sin upon sin. They sold the righteous for silver and the
poor for a pair of shoes. The rich were cruel in their actions toward the poor.
The people were immoral. "A man and his father will go in unto the same
maid." Their idolatrous worship caused them to disregard God's commands
concerning pledges from the poor. (Exodus 22:26-27) How could Israel reject a God that had been so
good to them? Gratitude to God always leads to faithfulness to Him.
Israel had rejected God's prophets and
had given the Nazirites wine to drink. The
disobedience of Israel leads to God placing a heavy
burden upon them. Israel would have no strength to defend
herself against her enemies without blessing from God. Let us be weak enough to
cry out, "We need God!"
The transgressions of Moab -- Amos 2:1-3: The fact that Moab had gone on committing one sin
after another caused God to pronounce judgment upon that nation. The Moabites
were also descendants of Lot. (Genesis 19:37) They had disrespected the king of
Edom by burning his bones. The Edomites were Esau's descendants. God promised His fire
upon Moab to devour the strongholds of Kerioth. He said, "Moab shall die amid uproar, amid
shouting and the sound of the trumpet."
The picture is that the city would be taken by storm,
and that would be followed by a total slaughter of its inhabitants, especially
a slaughter of the leaders. God promised that the
rulers and the princes of
Moab would be cut off.
Military people understand the importance of removing the leaders of the nation
that you attack. This destruction of all government would surely happen to
Moab.
The
transgressions
of Judah -- Amos 2:4-5: Judah, the
people of God had despised and rejected His word so they heard the same
statement, "For three transgressions of
Judah, and for four, I will not revoke
the punishment thereof." The Law of the Lord and
His commandments were clear, but
Judah rejected them for
religious lies. This caused them to go astray just as their fathers had done.
What a sad commentary spoken against the people of God: (1) They
rejected the Law of the Lord. (2) They did not keep His statutes, and (3) They followed all kinds of religious lies.
The punishment for Judah was the same as for other
nations. God said, I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the
strongholds of Jerusalem." Read 2 Kings 25:9 and see
that these words were literally fulfilled. "And he burnt the house of the
LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house
burnt he with fire."
The
transgressions
of Israel -- Amos 2:6-10:
Next God said, "For three
transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke
the punishment." The 10-tribe
Northern Kingdom was guilty of many
sins: (1) They sold the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of
sandals. How much would a human being, especially a
righteous person, be worth to you? (2) They defrauded the poor and the
weak that were unable to defend themselves. (3)
A man and his father had sexual relations with the same girl. (4)
They bowed down at pagan altars to worship. (5) They made
personal use of the garments that were taken as pledge that should not have
been kept over night. (Deuteronomy 24:12) and, (7) They
levied fine upon the poor without cause and then spent that money for wine
that they drank in the idols' house.
God
reminded
Israel that He had destroyed
the
Amorites. They had been a very strong nation but God said, "I
destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath."
God utterly destroyed the Amorites, root and branch. Nothing remains of him even till this day.
God also reminded Israel of His goodness toward them.
God
said, "It was I who brought you up out of the
land of Egypt and led you forty years in the
wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite."
In
Egypt the children of
Israel were afflicted and in
deep slavery.
The
Lord brought them out with a great deliverance. He
led them for forty years through the wilderness. He used a pillar of
cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. He protected and preserved them.
Sadly
Israel's disobedience shows
much ingratitude to the Almighty.
More about
Israel's transgressions --
Amos 2:11-16: God raised up some of the sons of the children of
Israel to be prophets. Some
of the young men dedicated themselves to be Nazirites. Prophets stood
between God and the people and delivered inspired messages of instruction and
correction. The Nazarites were a special class of
servants for God. Sadly God said, "But you made the Nazirites
drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy." "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 6:2-4) They
told the prophets to keep quiet because they did not like the warnings they
gave and nor the exhortations to duty that they proclaimed. Their sins were so
numerous that they could not deny them.
In Amos 2:13 the King James Version says,
"Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of
sheaves." The English Standard and the American Standard Versions say,
"Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves
presses down." This seems to be more in keeping with the thought of the
text. God would bear down upon the nation of Israel with a heavy burden because of
their disobedience. They would have no speed, strength nor might to deliver themselves.
When the Assyrians invaded
Israel they fell because God was no
longer with them. The battle would be so strong against Israel that "he who is stout of
heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day." Without God and
His blessing the battle is certainly lost.
It is time to get serious about your
salvation. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Acts 8:37), and be baptized to be saved. (1
Peter 3:21). After baptism follow Jesus in faithfulness as He leads you home
to heaven. (Revelation 2:10)