Amos
“Amos’
prophetic ministry took place during the reigns of Jeroboam II, king of Israel,
and Uzziah, king of Judah. He was
contemporary with Jonah and Hosea who were prophets in the northern kingdom of
Israel with Isaiah and Micah who were prophets in the southern kingdom of
Judah…he was born in Judah, the southern kingdom, but he was a prophet to the
northern kingdom…Amos had a global view of life and of God’s program for the
entire world---not only for the present but also for the future. All this makes this man a most remarkable
prophet…Bethlehem has become famous, but there was another little place that
was another six miles southeast of Bethlehem called Tekoa which is not so well
known…Tekoa is located on a hilly ridge which overlooks a frightful desert
wilderness that continues down to the very edge of the Dead Sea…Tekoa was never
more than a wide place in the road. It
was a whistle-stop, a jumping-off place. The name Tekoa mans “a camping
ground.” It was really only a country
crossroads out on the frontier…Turn to chapter 7 to get a little personal
insight into this man and his ministry in Samaria, the northern kingdom of
Israel. There we read: “Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to
Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst
of the house of Israel: the land is not
able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith,
Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive
out of their own land. Also Amaziah said
unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there
eat bread, and prophesy there: But
prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I
was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a
gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos
7:10-15)…Beth-el was, at first, the capital of the northern kingdom, and it was
the place where Jeroboam I had erected one of his golden calves. It was the center of culture and also of
cults. The people worshipped that golden
calf and had turned their backs upon the Almighty God. Beth-el was where the sophisticated and the
suave folk moved [sort of like Boston and New York City, in the United States];
the jet set lived there. It was a place
that was blasé’ and brazen. It
was also the intellectual center. They
had a School of Prophets there. The
seminaries taught liberalism [Harvard Theological College anyone?]. They would have taught the Graf-Wellhausen
hypothesis which denies the inspiration of the Pentateuch and gone in for all
the latest theories of a theologian like Rudolf Bultmann [a place like Boston,
Mass and Harvard Theological School---now as liberal as they come.]…Then here
comes to town this country preacher, this prophet of God with a message---a
most unusual message, different from any other prophet. Amos’ suit of clothes was not cut to the style
of Bethel and neither was his message. He did not give the type of messages they were used to hearing. In the king’s chapel there was always a
mild-mannered preacher, very sophisticated and well-educated, but a rank
unbeliever who stood in the pulpit giving comforting little words to the
people. He gave them pabulum [a
manufacture baby-food popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but this generation has
never heard of it! My am I getting old];
saccharine sweetness was in his message. But now here’s a different kind of man. When Amos first arrived, people glared at him. But they were very indulgent, of course (they
were broad-minded, you know), so they smiled at him…He had been with the
long-haired sheep out on the desert all of his life; now he was with the
well-groomed “goats” up yonder in Bethel. He had left the place of agriculture and had come to the place of
culture…Amos preached the Word of God. Many of the people were moved, and some turned to God; but he disturbed
the liberal element. Organized religion
in Beth-el, the worship of Baal and of the golden calf, got together. They had the ecumenical movement going there,
so they had the same program. If you
don’t’ believe anything, my friend, there is nothing to keep you apart. If I don’t believe anything and you don’t
believe anything, we can get together. That is the ecumenical movement…They had a mass meeting of all the
religions in Beth-el---it was really the first meeting of the World Council of
Churches---and the motto of this first meeting was, “Away with Amos, away with
Amos.” And the inevitable happened at
this meeting: they appointed a committee
chairman, Amaziah, to go and confront Amos. Amaziah was a priest who had gone into idolatry…Amaziah was the hired
hand of religion. He was polished, he
was educated, he was proud, he was scholarly, he was pious, and he was a
classic example of a pseudosaint. Cleverly, and subtly, Amaziah worked a master stroke. He went to Jeroboam II and poisoned his mind
against Amos. Amaziah got the king to
support him because he believed that the church and state, religion and politics, should be combined [sort of like king James in
1611, which drove the Pilgrim Separatists out of England]. This is what happened: “Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to
Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst
of the house of Israel: the land is not
able to bear all his words. For thus
Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led
away captive out of their own land” (Amos 7:10-11). Let me ask you, friend, is that what Amos
said? No, he had not said that. His actual words were that God had said, “I
will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (Amos 7:9). If you follow the record, you will find out
that Amos’ pronouncement was accurate. It is too bad that Jeroboam II did not believe Amos because his grandson
was later slain with the sword, thus ending his kingly line. It was true that Amos had said something
about the sword and about Jeroboam, but he had not said that Jeroboam
personally would die by the sword. Amaziah was an ecclesiastical politician who was twisting the truth, and
that is the worst kind of lying…Verse 13 [of Amos 7] is the crowning insult of
all: “But prophesy not again any more in
Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel,
and it is the king’s court” (Amos 7:13). That is the height of Amaziah’s insolence and his arrogance. He uses here a satire that is not only biting
but also poisonous. He says in effect,
“Remember, you’ve been speaking in the leading church here in Beth-el, the
king’s chapel. You have been in the
king’s sanctuary, and he’s dissatisfied with you. Your message disturbs him. In fact, there are a lot of people who do not
like you. You don’t use a very diplomatic
method. You don’t pat them on the back
and tell them how wonderful they are. You do not patronize the rich and the affluent. And you’re not very reverent. You tell funny stories every now and
then. You’re not dignified. You pound the pulpit, and you lack graceful
gestures. You do not use a basso
profundo voice as if you were thundering out of heaven. And you don’t seem to read the latest books. By the way, have you read the latest, Baal
Goes to Yale?” And of course, poor
Amos hadn’t read the latest book…listen to his answer and notice how gracious
it really is: “Then answered Amos, and
said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an
herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the LORD took me as I followed the
flock, and the LORD said to me, Go, prophesy
unto my people Israel” (Amos 7:14-15). And then Amos continued with his message in which he has some pretty
harsh words to say to this man Amaziah…This man Amos is very naïve. He says, “You say that I’m no preacher. I know it---I’m no preacher. And you say I’m not a prophet. You’re right, I’m no prophet. I’m not even a prophet’s son. I’m a country boy, but God called me.” Listen
to him: “And the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos
7:15), italics mine [and bolded text mine]). Amos says, “You want my credentials? Here they are: God called me.” May I say to you, if you give out the Word of
God today, you are going to be challenged…Amos was God’s man giving God’s
message. Simply because Israel was being
religious on the surface did not guarantee that God would not judge their
sin. Because of their rejection of His
law---their deceit and robbery and violence and oppression of the poor [not to
mention their baby-toddler killing sacrifices to Baal]---God said, “I hate, I
despise your feast days…Take thou away from me the noise of their songs [and
they weren’t even keeping God’s appointed feast days, Jeroboam I had given them
a whole counterfeit set of feast days Israel had been observing since his reign
began several hundred years prior]…But let judgment run down as waters, and
righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24). It was a day of false peace. In the north was Assyria hanging like the
sword of Damocles ready to fall, and in the next half century it would destroy
this little kingdom. Israel was trying
to ignore this, and they kept talking about peace. But Amos said, “Behold, the eyes of the Lord
GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from
off the face of the earth” (Amos 9:8). His message was not a popular message. He warned that it was God’s
intention to punish sin.” [THRU THE
BIBLE, Vol. III, pp. 680-683, selected portions]
Amos 1:1-15
Verses 1-5, “The
words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw
concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: ‘The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the
pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.’
Judgment
of the Nations
Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Damascus, and
for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. But I will send a fire into the house of
Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of
Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,’
says the LORD.” From J. Vernon McGee we get, “Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel---did it also. But the method
of these other prophets was first to speak of God’s judgment of the nation
Israel and then to take up the judgment of the other nations. Amos reverses that method. He spoke first of God’s judgment of the
nations round about and then of Israel’s judgment. When Amos first spoke in Beth-el, saying that
God was going to judge Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, and Moab,
everybody filled the king’s chapel. He
really was drawing a crowd…Amos exercised a great deal of diplomacy, it seems to me, in speaking of the other nations first. He was an eloquent man. Although he was a country preacher from out
yonder in the desert, he used the language of a Shakespeare. He was in my judgment, a great preacher…Amos
was contemporary with Hosea, he was one of the first prophets, and he was a
prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel…”And the habitations of the shepherds
shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.” Apparently, a drought and a famine would come
upon that land, a famine that would extend throughout the entire land.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p.
685]
Judgment
against Syria for cruelty
“The
Word of God, even the Old Testament, shows that God is not only the God of the
nation Israel but He is also the God of the Gentiles…In 2 Kings 10:32-33, we
read: “In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of
Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the
Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even
Gilead and Bashan.” Syria came down
against these tribes first and actually destroyed them. What does Amos mean by “Gilead”? Gilead was on the east bank of the Jordan
River. It was the land which came up as
far as the Sea of Galilee where the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe
of Manasseh remained on the wrong side of the Jordan. Syria is located right to the north and came
down against them…”And the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir”
means that they were to be taken captive by the Assyrians. Kir was a province in the Assyrian empire.” [ibid. p. 686, selected parts]
Judgment Against Philistia
Verses 6-8, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Gaza, and for
four, I will not turn away its punishment,
because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. But I will
send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against
Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,’ says the Lord GOD.” “The
judgment against the Philistines was for making slaves. They took a certain number of Israelites, and
they sold them into slavery to Edom and also to Phoenicia. The Phoenicians were great traders, and they
in turn sold them as prisoners of war into slavery. They would send them all over the
Mediterranean world…In the historical record of the reign of Hezekiah, we
read: “He [Hezekiah] smote the
Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen
to the fenced city” (2 Kings 18:8). The
record goes on to say how Hezekiah destroyed all that particular area. Amos’ prophecy, you see, was literally fulfilled. This example of fulfilled prophecy makes this
section particularly interesting. It
also puts down a pattern for the way in which God will fulfill prophecy in the
future [i.e. literally, not figuratively].” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p. 687, col.1, par.3, 5.]
Judgment Against Tyre
Verses 9-10, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Tyre, and for
four, I will not turn away its punishment,
because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the
covenant of brotherhood. But I will send
a fire upon the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces.’” J. Vernon McGee
has “We come now to the judgment against Phoenicia. The Judgment against them is not only for
selling slaves---the Philistines sold slaves to Phoenicia, and Phoenicia in
turn sold them out to the world---but the judgment is for breaking their treaty
with Israel. Hiram, king of Tyre, had
been a personal friend of David, and they had enjoyed many years of
friendship. No king in Israel or Judah
had ever made war upon Phoenicia. Now Phoenicia had broken the treaty.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p. 687, col.1, par
6, col.2, par. 1] Jeroboam II was the
great-grandson of Jehu, who had killed Jezebel, wife of Ahab, and she was a
Zidonian princess and the priestess of Baal in Zidon, and then in Israel under
Ahab. Jehu had also killed all the Baal
worshippers and priests he could find in all of Israel. This couldn’t have sat well with the capital
cities of the Phoenician Empire, Tyre and Zidon. So we see here (and it probably occurred at
the time of Jehu) this strong treaty and alliance between the Phoenician Empire
and the northern kingdom of Israel was temporarily broken (during the reigns of
Jehu’s line, one king past Jeroboam II). Philistia to the south and on the coast was taking slaves probably both
from Judah and Israel, and selling them to the now ‘unfriendly’
Phoenicians. But Phoenicia was (as we
saw in our series on Kings & Chronicles) in far
deeper trouble with God, for infecting the northern kingdom with Baal
worship. How did God judge the
Phoenicians? J. Vernon McGee says,
“First the Assyrians came against Tyre, and he was not able to take the
city. Then there has been some question
whether the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar took the city or not [he succeeded
in taking the mainland portion of the city, but not the fortified island portion
of Tyre]. However, it is conceded that
Nebuchadnezzar forced the Tyrians (Tyre was the great city of Phoenicians) to
retire to an island that was out to sea about one-half mile. The Tyrians build their city there, and
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the old city that was on the mainland. About 250 years later, Alexander the Great
came along. He saw the very prosperous,
very wealthy city out on the island, and he built a causeway out to it. In doing so, he fulfilled Ezekiel’s prophecy
in which God said that they would absolutely scrape the ground of old Tyre and
throw it into the ocean. Alexander made
a causeway out to the island; he took it and destroyed it, bringing Tyre to an
end. Amos’ prophecy concerning Tyre was
literally fulfilled.” [THRU THE BIBLE,
Vol. III, p. 687, selected parts] During
Alexander’s conquest of Tyre, the Phoenicians were driven out of their homeland
port city-states of Tyre and Zidon [also called Sidon], first to Carthage and
North Africa. From there they dispersed
among their trading colonies along northwestern Europe, England and America,
mixing with and becoming part of the Celtic race, and becoming as distinct
Phoenicians, lost from historic view. It
is thought the last of the Tyrians escaped Alexander by ship and sailed to and
founded the city of Venice, with later became a powerful naval and merchant
marine empire of its own (wonder why?---duh), before they were absorbed into
the Italian race in the late 1800s AD. This could be part of the reason Phoenicia, Tyre, is mentioned as being
an economic part of Babylon the Great in end-time prophecy. Phoenicia is still there, mixed in with the
Italians.
Judgment Against Edom
Verses 11-12, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Edom, and for
four, I will not turn away its punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; his anger
tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. But I will send a fire upon Teman, which
shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.’” Log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/ezek/Ezekiel%20pt3-1.htm and scroll to Ezekiel 35:1-15, Who Are The Palestinians? and read through that historic “smoking gun” trail from the
time of Biblical Edom to now. It will
save duplication of a lot of material, since it is already covered in that
file, which gives a complete explanation of who Edom
is and how he deals with Edom.
Judgment Against Ammon
Verses 13-15, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of the people of
Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in
Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of
Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, amid shouting in the day of battle,
and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,’ says
the LORD.” J. Vernon McGee has
this to say about verses 13-15, “The Ammonites were located over on the east
bank of the Jordan, and they joined with the Syrians in fighting against the
two and one-half tribes of Israel which were in the land of Gilead. They did it “that they might enlarge their
border.” “But I will kindle a fire in
the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.” This is God’s judgment against the
Ammonites. Rabbah was a great city and
the capital city of the Ammonites. Later
it was called Philadelphia by the Greeks. It was named after Ptolemy Philadephus of Egypt. We know it today as Amman, the capital of the
nation of Jordan. You can see the ruins
there of the great civilization of the past which was totally destroyed. Modern Jordan has been built upon the ruins
of the nation of the Ammonites.” [THRU
THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p. 688, col.1, par. 8, col.2, par.1, 4.] Modern day Jordan is mainly composed of the
descendants of Lot’s two children, Ammon and Moab. They still figure in some modern-day end-time
prophecies. That is why we know they
weren’t completely wiped out or destroyed. Jordan has always been friendlier to the modern Israeli nation than most
Arabic nations descended from Ishmael.
Amos 2:1-16
Judgment Against Moab
Verses 1-3, “For
three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones
of the king of Edom to lime. But
I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; Moab
shall die with tumult, with shouting and trumpet sound. And I will cut off the
judge from its midst, and slay all its princes with him,’ says the LORD.” The
Moabites had gained a victory against the Edomites in battle, killed the king
of Edom, and out of revenge burned his body and bones down to lime. This angered God. Don’t forget, both the Moabites and Edomites
have the seed of Abraham and his family in them. Esau was Abraham’s grandson, who became
Edom. And the Moabites came from Lot,
Abraham’s nephew. God destroyed the
Moabite leadership and army and a lot of their people through Nebuchadnezzar II
right after he conquered Judah in 586BC. Moab is around today, because she is mentioned in end-time prophecy, in
Daniel 11:41.
Judgment Against Judah
Verses 4-5, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Judah, and for
four, I will not turn away its punishment,
because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it
shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.’” Amos next turns to Judah, from
where he came. He doesn’t leave them
out. But he’s preaching in Bethel, in
the king’s chapel, Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel. So his Israelite (10-tribed) audience is
probably still sitting there saying ‘Yeah,
give it to them, Amos! Those nasty Jews
south of the border, let ‘em have it!’ The
Jews, of all people, had the Law of God, residing in the very Temple of God,
along with the Aaronic priesthood of God (to say nothing of Yahweh himself
dwelling in the Temple until sometime in Ezekiel’s and Jeremiah’s ministry). But they were hypocrites. They had the Law, but they weren’t practicing
it, they weren’t living by it. God
through Amos here in these short two verses promises to burn and destroy the
palaces (and ultimately the Temple itself) in Jerusalem. This ultimately did occur under
Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 586BC. Finally
we come to God’s judgment against the northern 10-tribed House of Israel, as he
communicated it through his prophet Amos. Amos has his audience’s attention, and they probably were cheering him
on as he delivered God’s scathing corrections onto their enemies around them
(and even to Judah to their south). Now
it’s their turn.
God’s
Judgment Against Israel---for their mistreatment of
the poor
Verses 6-8, “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Israel, and for
four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of
sandals. They pant after the dust of the
earth which is on the head of the
poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile my holy name. They lie
down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, and drink the wine of the
condemned in the house of their god…” Now that Amos has
the attention of his audience, a lot of it leadership and royalty (he’s in the
king’s chapel, don’t forget), he gets personal, and really starts to lay into
the sins of the northern 10-tribed House of Israel. In his correction of Judah he addressed their
commandment breaking, i.e. the Ten Commandments. But with the House of Israel he aims at their
breaking of the Mosaic Law, the judgments and statutes---which deal with
everyday life. The first thing Amos
condemns northern Israel of is the way they were treating the poor. The Mosaic Law of God has a lot to say about
how one was supposed to treat the poor. Amos 4:1 says, “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the
needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring wine,
let us drink!’” And 5:11 says, “Therefore, because you tread down the poor and take grain taxes from
him, though you have built houses of hewn stone, yet you shall not dwell in
them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from
them.” As J. Vernon McGee says “the
poor will not be treated fairly until Jesus Christ returns.” We have the
same problem, sin, in America which Amos was condemning the House of Israel of
back then. The middle class is rapidly
disappearing in America, most are now becoming the
poor and the working poor, and the few rich ones. The politicians are all made up of the
rich. They make laws that tax us to
death and regulations that kill the small businesses which employ many of us,
now that our manufacturing base has moved to Communist China. And these rich politicians don’t suffer a
bit. “A man and his father will go into a maid.” Now there’s a good
one. Temple prostitution in the Baal
worship which had infected the northern House of Israel was rampant. Sexual rites were rampant in this form of
idol worship, which had then mixed with Jeroboam I’s golden calf worship. This created a lot of unwanted babies, which
they then sacrificed to Baal as burnt offerings. Are we any
different? Since the sexual revolution
of the 1960s took over and the passing of Roe vs. Wade, 45 million babies have
been killed through abortion, with one million more being added to this
gruesome list with every passing year. Deuteronomy
24:12-13, “And if a man is poor, you
shall not keep his pledge overnight. You
shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that
he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to
you before the LORD your God.” This is another law to protect the poor which
they were breaking. I like what J. Vernon McGee says here about how we in America
are breaking the spirit of this law big-time. “We talk about how just our laws are today, but how sad it is that we
will permit an entire family to be moved from their home when they cannot pay
the rent [or mortgage] because of poverty.” Right now America is going through a collapse in its housing market,
with countless defaults on mortgages taking place as I write, all due to greedy
unsound banking processes coming home to roost. The sins of America are coming upon her fast. Albert Einstein was not only a genius in his
chosen profession as a physicist, but also was very gifted in the area of
social science. I think he hit the nail
squarely on the head in defining our problem, our sins, against the poor. This is taken from a book about the various
writings of Albert Einstein. He
wrote: “The economic anarchy of capitalist
society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of
producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other
of the fruits of their collective labor---not by force, but on the whole in
faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize
that the means of production---that is to say, the entire productive capacity
that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital
goods---may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of
individuals. For the sake of simplicity,
in the discussion that follows I shall call “workers” all those who do not
share in the ownership of the means of production---although this does not
quite correspond to the customary use of the term. The owner of the means of production is in a
position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker
produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the
relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in
terms of real value. In so far as the
labor contract is “free,” what the worker receives is determined not by the
real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the
capitalists’ requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers
competing for jobs. It is important to
understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by
the value of his product. Private
capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of
competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development
and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of
production at the expense of the smaller ones. [i.e. big business trumps small business,
directly, and through lobbying for harsher regulations against small
businesses. This is taking place so
badly in the U.S. right now, that small businesses are
dying by the thousands every month as I write!] The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the
enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically
organized political society. This is
true since the members of the legislative bodies are selected by political
parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who,
for all practical purposes, [through lobbyists especially] separate the
electorate from the legislature. The
consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact
sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the
population. Moreover, under the existing
conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the
main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in
most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective
conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.” [“On Politics, Government, and Pacifism”, pp.
156-157] That article was written some
time in the 1950s under the title “Why Socialism” by Albert Einstein, what a forward
thinker. It basically explains the
modern mechanics of how the wealthy maintain control over the poor, keeping
them poor, and concentrating the wealth at the top echelons of society---as
well as how the capitalists have influenced our state and federal laws,
regulations, on small businesses, to crush them, keeping “free enterprise” in
the hands of an elite group of wealthy businessmen. This evil has been progressing steadily since
Albert Einstein wrote this, and has rapidly accelerated in recent years. And this includes big farming companies,
agribusinesses as they’re called, putting laws like
S510 on the books which are designed to cripple small farmers (“eliminating the
competition”). Major amounts of money
must have flowed into politicians’ hands from major farming chemical
manufacturers and agribusinesses to guarantee that one passed in both our
Federal House and Senate so that it is now a Federal law. That’s just one tiny example. Amos would have been pounding the pulpit in
Washington, D.C. over that one, let me tell you. As for Einstein, you can’t blame him for
looking to Socialism to solve these sins. But Socialism wouldn’t work either, as it destroys incentive, and will ultimately
fail, just as Communism did. The real solution is following God’s laws of outgoing
concern for our neighbors. When Jesus
Christ returns he will institute over all mankind both the 10 Commandments and
the Mosaic laws, the Judgments and Statutes, written to guarantee the rights
and freedoms of all men to pursue life, liberty and the genuine pursuit of
happiness. Free enterprise in the hands
of caring Christians is the governmental system which will ultimately win out,
under the loving control of Jesus Christ and his government over mankind. Sadly, for the
House of Israel and Judah, they had that system of government over them. They just refused to follow it. They allowed similar sins to occur, crushing
the poor. They were judged by God for that. As we
have seen throughout these Minor Prophets, these prophecies are dual, and apply
to then and
now for whomever Israel is.
Verses 9-16, “‘Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and
he was as strong as the oaks; yet I
destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it
was I who brought you up from the
land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the
land of the Amorite. I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your
young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of
Israel?’ says the LORD. But you gave the
Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’ Behold, I am weighed
down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down. Therefore flight shall perish from the swift,
the strong shall not strengthen his power, nor shall the mighty deliver
himself; he shall not stand who handles the bow, the swift of foot shall not
escape, nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself. The most courageous men of might shall flee
naked in that day,’ says the LORD.” This applied to the northern 10-tribed House of Israel as
a nation back then, but I love how J. Vernon
McGee shows it applies to us in the English-speaking nations now, particularly
we in the United States of America. “We
as a nation today ought to do a little thinking about what has happened in our
land. In two world wars we were able to
cross the sea and to bring an end to the conflict. In that we became a great nation, and we were
very proud. We felt we didn’t need God
at all---we had the atom bomb. Then a
little country called North Vietnam came along, and we thought that we would
subdue them overnight. I am not
attempting to fix blame on anyone [our soldiers fought courageously and were
improperly treated by the American public], but I do say that America should
have learned a lesson from that. We did
not win a victory. We were never able to
subdue the little enemy and we were divided at home. It is true that we did not want to bring the
full force of our military power to bear, but this reveals the fact that we are
becoming weak as a nation. We ought to
wake up instead of shutting our eyes to the condition of our land. We ought to begin to call attention to the
fact that God is already beginning to bring us down as He brought down his own
people down. God said to Israel, ‘You are becoming weak, and you do not
seem to realize that I have already begun to judge you.’ That was Amos’ message, and it is no wonder
that the people wanted to run him out of town. It is no wonder they didn’t want to hear the message he had for
them. And he is not through yet!” [THRU THE
BIBLE, Vol. III, pp. 693-694]
Amos 3:1-15
‘Light
Creates Responsibility’
Verses 1-3, “Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against
you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the
land of Egypt, saying: ‘You only have I
known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all
your iniquities. Can two walk together,
unless they are agreed?...” J. Vernon McGee
has this to say about verses 1-3, “God chose Abraham from among the nations,
out of Abraham He brought forth the nation of Israel [all 12 tribes, one
nation, before it divided into two], and to the nation He gave His Word. His purpose was that this nation would give
His Word to the world. And this is God’s
purpose for us, my friend…‘Therefore I will punish you for all your
iniquities.’ God is saying, ‘I intend to
judge you.’ The nation of Israel
occupied a unique relationship to God. God had given to them His commandments. And the reason He would judge
Israel so severely is because they had broken so many of His commandments. You see, light creates responsibility. An enlightened nation has a greater
responsibility than a nation which is in darkness. This is a great principle God puts down
here. He intends to judge in harsher
manner those who have received light than those who are in darkness. The Lord Jesus also mentioned the fact that
some would receive fewer stripes and others would receive more stripes. Many times I have made the statement that I
would rather be a heathen Hottentot in the darkest corner of this earth, bowing
down before an ugly, hideous idol of stone, than to be the so-called civilized
man in this country, sitting in church on Sunday [or Saturday] morning while he
hears the gospel preached and does nothing about it. The man who hears the Word of God has a
greater responsibility than the man who doesn’t. Therefore, there are different degrees of
punishment… “Can two walk together,
except they be agreed?” Here is a cause and an effect. The cause: there must be agreement if you are to walk together with God. The effect: you will walk with Him when you are in agreement. This doesn’t mean that God will come over and
agree with you. You and I have to go
over to His side and agree with Him. As
someone has said, ‘God rides triumphantly in His own chariot. And if you don’t want to get under the wheels
of that chariot, you had better get aboard and ride. After all, God is carrying
through His purpose in the world.’…My
friend, God is running His universe His way, and is not asking advice from little man. If you and I are going to walk with God, we will have to go His
way. Amos has stated a great principle
in his first question: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, pp. 694-695, selected parts.]
Cause
and Effect of Sin---God Will Warn Through His Prophets
Verses 4-8, “Will a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey? Will a young lion
cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for
it? Will a snare spring up from the
earth, if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the
LORD have done it? Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets. A lion has
roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who
can but prophesy?” “Amos asks seven questions which illustrate that for every
effect there is a cause and that the judgment of God which is coming is not
accidental but is a result caused by the sin of the people… [First:] Amos is
saying that God will not move in judgment until He gives His message to the
prophets. He will let them known what He
intends to do.” [ibid. p. 696] Verses
9-12, “Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of
Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the
mountains of Samaria; see great tumults in her midst, and the oppressed within
her. For they do not
know to do right,’ says the LORD, ‘who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘An adversary shall be all around the land; he shall sap your strength from you,
and your palaces shall be plundered.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘As a shepherd
takes from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children
of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria---in the corner of a bed and on the
edge of a couch!’” “After God’s judgment has fallen on Samaria,
the remaining remnant is likened to a piece of an ear and two legs which are
all that are left of a lamb after a lion has devoured it. You see, God’s judgment was severe because
Samaria had light from heaven which made their responsibility great.” [ibid. p. 698] Assyria’s three year siege of the fortress
city of Samaria was brutal. Anyone
captured trying to escape the city during the siege had their lifeless bodies
impaled on stakes facing the city walls. I imagine they were alive as they were being impaled. The Assyrians were brutal, but you have to
understand, lest you want to condemn them for their brutality, it is God who
brought the Assyrians against the northern kingdom of Israel for her sins. And it is mainly the leadership God was
judging, within the capital city of Samaria. All those who feared God and listened to God’s prophets had fled between
740BC and 724BC (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/3.html). So it was the guilty, the dregs in God’s
eyes, who weren’t spared. God’s judgment
is tempered by mercy upon repentance.
Altars
of Bethel Judged---the king’s chapel
Verses 13-15, “‘Hear and testify against the
house of Jacob,’ says the Lord GOD of hosts, ‘that in the day I punish Israel for their
transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the alters of Bethel; and the horns of the altar
shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; the houses
of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end,’ says the LORD.” J.
Vernon McGee describes this set of verses pretty well, “‘The houses of ivory shall perish.’ Ahab and Jezebel had built on the top of
the hill of Samaria. Their tremendous
palace was in a most beautiful location. I particularly noticed that on my last trip there. That palace covers the very brow of the hill,
the tip-top of the hill. From their
palace they could look in every direction. To the west they could see the
Mediterranean Sea on a clear day. To the
east they could see the Jordan valley. To the north they could see the Valley
of Esdraelon with Mount Hermon in the distance. To the south they could see
Jerusalem. What a view! There they built a palace of ivory. Of course, the enemy in days gone by has carted away that beautiful
ivory, but excavations have been going on there recently. In fact, Israel is excavating there now. Our guide told us that they have found
several very delicate vessels of ivory. Apparently one of them was for perfume. The other vessels were probably for
wine. Ivory was the color scheme of the
palace, if you please. Everything was
done in ivory. Apparently, Ahab and
Jezebel had the best interior decorator of the period come up and decorate for
them. It was a palace of luxury. God said He would destroy it and bring it to
an end. I do not know of a more desolate
spot today than the ruins of Samaria on top of that hill. I have many pictures that I took of it. God has certainly fulfilled that prophecy. Although we do not see prophecy which is being fulfilled in that land today, we
can see that many prophecies have been fulfilled in the past. However, I repeat, that certainly the stage currently is
being set for the fulfillment of future prophecies
in the land of Palestine.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p. 698, col.2, par. 3-5]
Amos 4:1-13
Verse 1, “Hear this word, you cows of
Bashan, who are on the mountain of
Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands,
‘Bring wine, let us drink!’” “Kine
of Bashan,” Bashan was the territory occupying the section of northern Israel
east of the Jordan River between the mountains of Gilead in the south and Mount
Hermon on the north. The tribes of Gad,
Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh settled there. It was very fertile, noted for its fine breed
of cattle---strong and sleek. It is
thought Amos, as a scrub farmer and shepherd was making a sarcastic reference to the leadership at Samaria, the capital city of
the northern House of Israel. These
rulers were responsible for “crushing the needy” and “oppressing the poor.” Verses
2-3, “The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness: ‘Behold, the days shall come upon you when he
will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast into Hermon,’ says the LORD.” This
speaks clearly about the way the conquering Assyrians would drag the remaining
Israelites out of their rich palaces in Samaria. Very interestingly, the wealthy farmland
territory of Bashan was conquered and led into captivity by Assyria between 745
and 740BC. Then about six and one half
tribes of Israel evaded the coming
conquest and captivity Samaria would go through by marching north beyond
Armenia sometime between 726-724BC. Then
Assyria marched southwest, laying siege to the city of Samaria in 724BC. Samaria fell in 721BC and a mere 27,900
inhabitants were recorded in Assyrian annuls as having been taken captive (the
northern kingdom of Israel was reputed to have been at least several million
strong in population).
‘Come and sin in church’
Verses 4-5, “‘Come to Bethel and transgress,
at Gilgal multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your
tithes every three years [cf. Deuteronomy 14:28]. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,
proclaim and announce the freewill
offerings; for this you love, you children
of Israel!’ says the Lord GOD.” Amos is using bitter sarcasm here where he’s essentially
saying ‘Come and sin in church’ because that’s essentially what you’re
doing. J.
Vernon McGee brings out a very interesting point about sinning in church, it’s
a warning we need to take very seriously. “Do you know that sometimes it can actually
be dangerous to go to church? The Devil
goes to church, you know. I think he
gets up bright and early on a Sunday [or Saturday] morning, and wherever there
is the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, he is there trying to wreck
their [the genuine pastor’s] work in any way he can. That is the reason we ought to pray for Bible-preaching
and Bible-teaching pastors. The Devil
doesn’t need to be busy in cults or in liberal churches which deny the Word of
God. Those places are already in his
domain. He must concentrate his efforts
in those places where there is spiritual life and the Word of God is being
given out. When Jesus Christ was about
to die and His enemies were plotting the details of His execution, He spent
time in the Upper Room with His twelve disciples. You would think that was the most sacred spot
in all the world at that moment. You might expect that the Devil was busy with
those who were plotting the death of Jesus. But do you know where the Devil was that evening? He was in the Upper Room! He hadn’t been invited, but he was
there. Satan had entered into the heart
of Judas Iscariot to betray Him, and he walked into the Upper Room on the legs
of Judas. That’s how he got there. And, my friend, sometimes he walks into our
so-called conservative, fundamental churches on the legs of a deacon or a
Sunday [or Sabbath] school teacher or another church member. It is tragic today to fail to recognize our
enemy and to be ignorant of his devices.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol.III, p. 700, col.1, par. 2-3] And that Sunday or Sabbath-school teacher or
deacon or local member he’s referring to would be one who does not have the
indwelling Holy Spirit (as Satan or a demon cannot inhabit a person in whom the
Holy Spirit dwells). But this person
could be perceived as one who does have the Holy Spirit indwelling him or her. Satan and the demons know the Bible inside and
out, they can put on a pretty good act through this ‘host’, and really look the
part. “Wolves in sheep’s clothing” do
exist and must be watched for in all our congregations, large and small, right
down to house-church size where you ‘think’ you know everyone. One key trait is that they tend to be divisive, they like to try to divide the part of the Body of
Christ where they attend into factions, bringing in alternate teachings on the
sly.
Coming
Drought and Famine on the Land
Verses 6-10, “‘Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; yet
have you not returned to me,’ say the LORD. ‘I also withheld
rain from you, when there were still
three months to the harvest. I made it
rain on one city, I withheld rain from another
city. One part was rained upon, and
where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water. But they were not satisfied; yet you have not
returned to me,’ says the LORD. ‘I blasted you
with blight and mildew. When your
gardens were increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees,
the locust devoured them; yet you
have not returned to me,’ says the LORD. I sent among you
a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword, along
with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your
nostrils; yet you have not returned to me,’ says the LORD.” God through Amos
is essentially showing this northern 10-tribed House of Israel that he’s
brought them into the opening phases of the National Curses pronounced on
Israel in the Torah Law, should they disobey God’s Law. This is found in Leviticus 26:14-22, “But if you do not obey me, and do not observe all
these commandments, and if you despise my statutes, or if your soul abhors my
judgments, so that you do not perform all my commandments, but break my covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting
disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your
enemies shall eat it. I will set my face
against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and
you shall flee when no one pursues you. And after all this, if you do not obey me, then I will punish you seven
times more for your sins. I will
break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and
your earth like bronze. And your
strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor
shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. Then, if you walk contrary to me, and are not willing to obey me, I will
bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which
shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in
number; and your highways shall be desolate.” This section of Leviticus 26 is describing the first phase of
National punishment outlined by God in this chapter. The first stage lists incurable diseases
sweeping the country, loss of national pride (military), and heavens of iron
and earth of bronze, causing widespread drought and loss of food supply,
ultimately causing famine. It also shows
loss of food in the woods and farmland causes a loss of wildlife, so that big
cats, wolves, etc., start going after human prey. This happens during severe drought. Phase 2 of the curses in Leviticus 26 is
shown in verses 23-43 and lists military defeat and national captivity and
enslavement of the surviving population. Verses 44-45 promise some of the survivors will find grace in the land
of their captivity, and ultimately God brings them out of it. This is what Amos 4:11-13 describes, “‘I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like
a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to me,’ says
the LORD. Therefore thus
will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your
God, O Israel! For behold, he who forms
the mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who
treads the high places of the earth---the LORD God of hosts is his name.” But at this point the judgment and captivity haven’t taken
place yet for Samaria, and maybe even for the two and one half tribes. But then
again, it may have for the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan River, they may have already been conquered and taken
captive into Assyria. It’s hard to tell
exactly when this was written, although the timing is pretty clear, it’s close
to these events.
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