Andrew Jackson, one of our first presidents, was known as a man of few words.
One day, his wife was unable to attend Sunday services and she asked what the minister’s message was about. Jackson said, "Sin." She said, "Well, what did he have to say about it?" He said, "He was against it."
That dialogue could have occurred between Amos and one of his contemporaries for Amos preached about sin and he was against it! The opening prophecy in his book is a diatribe against sin.
Amos began by addressing the nations surrounding God’s chosen people. Each successive indictment probably drew forth a chorus of "amens" from the people of Judah and Israel. People love to hear bad things about people they don’t like. They would have agreed that God had something against Damascus (1:3-5) and Gaza (1:6-8) and Tyre (1:9-10) and Edom (1:11-12) and Ammon (1:13-15) and Moab (2:1-3). And the people that Amos was preaching to would have been a ready audience to hear that God was going to deal harshly with these peoples.
However, the prophet startled his listeners when he applied the message of judgment first to the southern kingdom of Judah (2:4-5) and then to the northern kingdom of Israel (2:6-8). Until then, God had been encircling the kingdoms ... drawing them into His net.
He used a formula to announce each judgment: "for three transgressions .... and for four." This was not meant to be a literal expression. It was a figure of speech in which he said, "You know, three transgressions would have been bad enough but each one of these nations have gone far beyond anything remotely resembling a nation that has my favor." Each nation had rebelled more than enough to justify the Lord’s intervention and judgment. If three weren’t bad enough, they have gone far beyond that and exceeded any limit where my judgment and wrath will be stayed. Three transgressions would have been enough for God to be justified in bringing His judgment on these peoples. But, they have far exceeded that and done vastly more so that there is virtually no hope that God will not bring judgment on these peoples.
The word "transgressions" is the common prophetic word for sin. It means to rebel against God and describes a deliberate attempt to break away from a relationship with God. The focus is not on breaking the rules.
The focus is on breaking a relationship. This is still true today. Sin is not just breaking God’s rules. It is breaking our relationship with Him. Too many people today get caught up in the rules. And they like to point fingers at other people who, in their estimation have broken God’s rules and therefore should incur His wrath. They are just like Amos’ audience when they hear that something has happened to the people whom they dislike or whom they feel superior to because they deem their sin more awful than their own. But the key is the relationship and not the rule.
What they don’t realize is that they also have sinned, they also have broken relationship with God, and they sit so smug and so self-satisfied, having the identical problem of the ones to whom they feel superior.
In each nation there were numerous examples of rebellion against God. Amos was God’s spokesman to deliver a message of judgment.
What does this message of judgment say to us today?
The Control of God (1:3-2:3)
In each of the first six prophecies against the nations, Amos designated a specific sin which called forth judgment of God. For example, the Syrians (Damascus is the capital city) were condemned "because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron" (1:3). Some commentators want to translate this literally. They suggest that the Syrians used the instruments for threshing grain to mangle the flesh of Israelite prisoners of war. Others have suggested that this was used figuratively to depict the savage method of warfare used by the Syrians. The image describes the process of dragging a grinding sledge over the sheaves to separate the grain from the chaff. In Amos’ day, the sledge was made of boards with the underside studded with metal prongs or knives. The image implies not only the crushing of Gilead by Damascus but the cruel treatment of those taken prisoner. In effect, you have done to them what farmers do to grain.
The Philistines (Gaza) were under judgment "because they deported an entire population to deliver it up to Edom" (1:6). The Philistines lived along the Mediterranean Sea, in the area that is called the Gaza Strip today. Philistia consisted of five city states, the largest and southernmost of which was Gaza.
The specific charge God entered against the Philistines was that on some unspecified occasion ... Gaza had carried a complete group of captives to Edom, apparently to sell them as slaves.
The people to whom Amos spoke obviously knew of this ruthless deed, but we do not know when it occurred. We assume that the captives were Israelites and that they included women and children. If that were the case, you can well imagine the people agreeing with Amos when he indicated God’s indictment against these people.
In describing the punishment due the Philistines, Amos told the people that God would completely destroy all of the people and that eventually there would be no existing descendants of the Philistines. That prophecy came true. The Assyrian kings conquered, plundered, and subdued all the Philistine city states.
The Philistine people no longer exist. They have left behind only the name Palestine.
Rather than expanding on all of these specific indictments against the nations,
I want us to understand the implication of what the prophet was saying about God.
The assumption that underlies the prophetic proclamation is that all nations and all peoples are accountable to God. Amos was expanding Israel’s understanding of God. Israel, at times, thought God belonged exclusively to them. Not so, said the prophet. God worked on a canvas larger than Israel had imagined. God was the sovereign God over all creation to whom all the world is responsible.
I also saw a tremendous missionary implication for us in this passage. If God is sovereign over all nations, and if we have been the recipients of God’s grace and the Good News of the Gospel, we not only have a responsibility to share the Gospel with all people, we have a mandate by our Lord Himself that one day we will be held accountable for what we did and did not do to reach these peoples for Christ. Hence, I believe because of that, our Cooperative Program, while not being wholly effective, far surpasses anyone else’s attempts at fulfilling our mission as Christians.
But Amos was trying to show the people of Judah and Israel that God was sovereign over all peoples.
In 1961, J. B. Phillips wrote a popular book entitled Your God is Too Small.
Phillips’ claim is especially true today. We need to recognize that God’s work is not limited to our lives or to our church or to our denomination to our nation. God is sovereign over all creation. Everything belongs to Him and everyone is accountable to Him. And this also means that God is not limited to our resources to accomplish His great work. If we are faithful in attempting great things for God, the resources will be provided. God never calls us to a great task without providing vast resources to accomplish what He has called us to do.
The Concern of God (2:4-5)
Following the prophecy against the six nations surrounding Israel and Judah, Amos turned his attention to Judah. In the prophecy against Judah, we see that God is concerned with two things.
First, God is concerned with OBEDIENCE.
The people of Judah were condemned because "they rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept His statues" (2:4).
General Montgomery was named commander of forces in North Africa during World War II at a critical time. The allied forces were in disarray. Strong leadership was required. The new commander met with his subordinates and presented a simple strategy. He said, "Orders no longer form the basis for discussion but for action." General Montgomery recognized that obedience was essential to victory.
The same thing is true spiritually.
The one thing God desires most is obedience.
Samuel told King Saul, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
The word which Amos delivered to his contemporaries needs to be sounded in our churches today. Going to church and giving our gifts and offering our worship is not enough. God wants us to obey His word.
Second, God is concerned with LOYALTY.
Amos pronounced his indictment against Judah because "their lies also have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked" (2:4). These "lies" which "led them astray" were apparently idols.
My cousin said, “We spend the first half of our lives trying to set the world on fire…and the last half trying to keep from getting burned.” Bob Buford was a successful businessman who came to what he called "half time" in his life. He had experienced success. Now he wondered if there was something more. He decided that this something more he wanted to experience was signigicance. The second half of his life was a time when he could move from success to significance.
The turning point came in his life when he asked the question: "What’s in the box?" In other words, what was the single most important thing in his life. Bob put Jesus Christ in the box. That singular commitment to Christ has become the foundation for the second half of his life.
If you drew a box and put in that box the one thing that is most important in your life, what would you put in the box? Some people would say their jobs.
But Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." Some people would say their families. But the Psalmist said, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they who labor, labor in vain."
That was the point of Amos’ condemnation of Judah. To be God’s chosen people, Judah had to put God in the box. He had to be the central organizing force in their lives. He had to be the One thing to which they gave priority. God still commands, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." This lack of loyalty to God, led to disobedience. Consequently, Judah came under God’s judgment.
God still demands the loyalty of an exclusive commitment. To give God second place is to give Him no place at all. And God still demands obedience. To offer God the praise of our lips but not the obedience of our lives is worth nothing at all.
The Condemnation of God (2:6-8)
The pronouncement of judgment against the surrounding nations and against Judah set the stage for the central thrust of Amos’ prophecy. God’s judgment would also be experienced by Israel. What brought the condemnation of God on Israel?
In each of the preceding prophecies, the formula "for three transgressions, and for four" was followed by one specific indictment, probably the worst of the transgressions. However, in the prophecy against Israel, the prophet cited four specific transgressions:
1) selling the poor into slavery (2:6b)
2) perverting the justice of the oppressed (2:7a)
3) engaging in sexual immorality
4) taking advantage of the underprivileged (2:8).
In all of these, the common denominator was the abuse of power.
The Bible demands a proper use of power. A person in a position of strength is to use his power to encourage and to build up those who are weak. A person who instead uses his power to manipulate and to destroy those who are weak is abusing his power.
Amos condemned the people of Judah because they failed to respond to God with loyalty. He condemned the people of Israel because they failed to respond to others with love.
The Charity of God (2:9-16)
What made all of this so bad was that it came in response to the generosity of God. God had given to His people so much. In return, they gave God so little.
In 2:10, the prophet gave a succinct summary of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua.
God had chosen Israel, delivered Israel, guided Israel, protected Israel, and established Israel in the promised land.
In verse 11, the prophet provided a one sentence synopsis of their experience in the promised land. At appropriate times, God had raised up from among them individuals through whom He communicated His word and revealed His will. Yet, Judah refused to be loyal to God, and Israel neglected to demonstrate love toward other people. Their disloyalty and indifference was magnified by their ingratitude.
The words of Jesus need to ring through our churches today: "And from everyone who has been given much ... shall much be required" (Luke 12:48). As a matter of fact it would be a good idea to read from verse 41 to verse 48 of Luke 12.
Our generation of churches has been more bountifully blessed by God than in any other generation. Along with the blessings comes responsibility. We are to use our resources and our power to honor God and to help His people. When we don’t, we too will come under judgment of God.
