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More Amos commentaries
Amos 1:1-15
Announcement of Judgment
Amos 2:1-16
Judgment on Judah and Israel
Amos 3:1-15
Authority of the Prophet’s Message
Amos 4:1-13
Israel Did Not Accept Correction
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Judgment on Judah and Israel
Amos 2:1–16
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
As philosopher and author Ralph Waldo Emerson aged, his memory declined to the point where he often could not remember the names of friends. At the funeral of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, he said, “That gentleman has a sweet, beautiful soul, but I have entirely forgotten his … More
Today’s passage reveals that God’s people also suffered from memory loss but of a far more serious kind. They had forgotten God’s redemptive work on their behalf and His Law. Moab was situated east of the Dead Sea between Ammon and Edom (vv. 1-3). They had descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his oldest daughter. Balak, king of Moab tried to hire the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites so they could be defeated. Instead, Balaam spoke the Lord’s word of blessing, but some of the Moabites succeeded in getting Israel to worship Baal.
The specific transgressions that Amos mentioned fell into three main categories. The first was the sin of enriching themselves at the expense of the poor. Amos criticized Israel of selling “the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals” (vv. 4-6). This probably alludes to the practice of selling debtors into slavery when they couldn’t pay off their loans. The second major area of transgression mentioned by Amos was the sin of sexual immorality (v. 7). Such immoral behavior often occurred in the context of pagan worship, which is the third area of sin mentioned in this passage (v. 8). Interestingly, it is mentioned in combination with oppression of the poor. The custom of taking a poor man’s garment as collateral for a loan was strictly forbidden in God’s Law (Ex. 22:26-27).
After indicting many of Israel’s enemies, including the nation of Judah, Amos turned his attention to Israel itself. Using the same formula of condemnation that he had employed for Israel’s enemies, he warned that the nation of Israel would not escape punishment for its behavior. The Lord rehearsed his mighty acts (vv. 9-12). He raised up prophets to instruct his people in righteousness. The Lord’s judgment was inevitable and inescapable (vv. 13-16).
Application
It is good to remember what God has done in my life. It is a good thing to go back and remind myself how God has worked in the past when I begin to feel unhappy with the present. Most of all, keep a record of the meaningful lessons I have learned from God’s Word. The psalmist declared, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee” (Ps. 119:11).
Amos 2:1-16 (English Standard Version)
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet; I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill all its princes with him," says the LORD. Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem." Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals-- those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined. "Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also 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. And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?" declares the LORD. "But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.' "Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life; he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day," declares the LORD.
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