1 The necessity of God’s judgment against Israel. 9 The publication of it, with the causes thereof.
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
Amo 3:1 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the LORD has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
Hear this word. This phrase occurs at the beginning of chs. 3; 4; 5. These chapters contain three distinct messages, which point out in a definite way the sins of Israel and announce the approach of God’s judgments because of these sins.
In this, the first of the three messages, God arraigns Israel before the bar of divine justice and stresses the estrangement that now exists between Him and His people (see vs. 3, 10). For the keynote of this message see v. 3.
The whole family.
This indicates that the divine call is given to all the twelve tribes, to whom the Lord manifested His great favor by bringing them “from the land of Egypt” (see ch. 2:10). However, the denunciation that follows is specifically directed at the northern kingdom of Israel.
Amo 3:2 “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your sins.”
You only. God’s special relationship to the children of Israel is frequently emphasized in the Scriptures (see Deut. 4:7, 20; 14:2; 2 Sam. 7:23; 1 Chron. 17:21; Rom. 9:4, 5).
When Israel, as a nation, refused to live up to her high privileges and to accept her responsibilities, this favored position was taken from her and given to the spiritual family of God on earth, the Christian church. We are brought into the family of God (see Gal. 3:26, 29) by our spiritual birth through faith in Christ as our Saviour (see John 1:12, 13; 3:3; 2 Peter 1:4).
This makes us “sons of God” (1 John 3:1), and so “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17), and recipients of grace and of all the family privileges (see Gal. 4:6, 7). Punish.
Because of their high privileges and the abundant light that the Lord had permitted to shine upon their pathway, He would particularly punish Israel for their uniquities. The more clearly we know our spiritual kinship with God, the more reprehensible it is to reject God, and the more deserving the consequences for such action.
Great privileges must not be abused, else they will bring upon us great penalties (see Luke 12:47, 48). God’s love for us remains, which impels Him to try another way, albeit a “strange” way, punishment, in the hope of bringing us to moral and spiritual correction (see Isa. 28:21).
All your sins.
The chief sin of the northern kingdom of Israel was apostasy (see chs. 3:14; 4:4; 5:4, 5). However, in this chapter it is to be noticed that the sins that particularly bring forth divine rebuke and threatened punishment are extreme moral corruption, covetousness, and luxury, which in turn produce a shameless disregard of the simple duties we owe our neighbors and a violent oppression of the poor.
This last evil is repeatedly the cause of sharp censure (see chs. 2:6, 7; 4:1; 5:11, 12; 8:5, 6). Amos strongly condemns the great and the rich for the neglect and the misuse of their wealth and influence, those blessings that should have been used to remedy this corruption and poverty.
Amo 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
See on ch. 2:4. This question strikes the keynote of the first of the three messages (see on ch. 3:1).
Have agreed. Literally, “have an appointment.” Just as two people do not walk together unless they have a common purpose in view, so the Lord indicates that the special relationship He held to Israel (v. 2) cannot continue so long as Israel clings to her iniquities.
The LXX expressively renders this verse, “Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one another?”
To “walk together” with God means, not an occasional act, but a continuing habit that issues from an established relation. It means a companionship based upon a mutual harmony of mind and spirit. Two people must go in the same direction if they are to walk “together.”
Amo 3:4 Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing?
Before pronouncing judgment upon his people, the prophet presents some comparisons. Through them he demonstrates the truth that each effect must come from a certain cause, even as each cause produces a certain very definite effect.
As a rule, a lion roars most terribly when he is about to spring upon his prey. Likewise, when God utters His voice through the prophet, the people may be sure it means that God is about to punish His people (cf. chs. 1:2; 3:8).
Amo 3:5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything?
As a bird cannot be caught unless a trap is set for it, so when a sinner sets for himself a trap of iniquity, he cannot escape its punitive results (see Ps. 7:15, 16; 9:15; 40:12; Prov. 5:22).
Amo 3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
Trumpet. Heb. shophar, “a ram’s horn,” used especially for signaling. As a trumpet suddenly sounded in a city causes the citizens to fear, so will Amos’ message cause alarm (see Eze. 33:2–5).
Disaster. Here used to designate calamity, affliction, and judgment (see on Isa. 45:7; 63:17). Israel’s impending ruin and the capture of its capital city of Samaria are represented as coming from the Lord, with the approaching enemy as His agent (Isa. 10:5).
The Bible characteristically attributes the action and operation of events in such crises directly and immediately to God (see 1 Sam. 18:10; 1 Kings 22:19 23; Job 1:6–12; Isa. 45:7; see on 2 Chron. 18:18).
Amo 3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
All the evils threatened upon Israel will come, but not without the Lord’s first warning the people through the prophets (see John 13:19; 14:29). The mercy of God is shown by the fact that He does not bring His judgments upon men until He first warns them through His prophets.
He predicts the evil to come in the hope that He may not be forced to inflict it. Before the Lord brought the plagues upon Egypt He warned Pharaoh through Moses.
Before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, Jesus foretold the city’s destruction. So, in our day, before the destruction of the world at the second coming of Christ, God has abundantly instructed us through the prophecies of His Word .
Although Israel had “commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not” (Amos 2:12), God proclaims that He will continue to reveal His will to His chosen messengers.
Prophets. The high honor God bestows upon the prophets is shown by the fact that they are not only “his servants,” but His confidants, entrusted with His own counsel.
Amo 3:8 The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken— who can but prophesy?
As the roar of a lion produces the effect of fear upon man and beast, so the divine word produces its effect upon the prophet, and he cannot restrain himself from speaking (see Jer. 1:7; 20:9; Acts 4:19, 20; 1 Cor. 9:16).
Amo 3:9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.”
Amos summons the heathen to observe the iniquities of Israel. The dwellers “in the palaces,” or “strongholds,” of Philistia (represented by Ashdod), and of Egypt, whose help Israel was then courting (see Hosea 7:11, 12:1), are particularly pointed out.
Assemble yourselves.
Because Samaria, the capital of Israel, was built on a hill that stood alone in a valley, or low place, surrounded by mountains, the prophet gives a figurative call to spectators to gather around to observe the “tumults” and the oppressions going on in the city.
Amo 3:10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD, “who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted.”
The people of Samaria, and so of all Israel, had forsaken justice, the very basis of society (see Isa. 59:9, 12–15; Jer. 4:22). It is characteristic of the moral and spiritual blindness caused by sin that the sinner not only does not do good but, at the last, seems unable to perceive it. Compare Hosea 4:6.
Amo 3:11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “An enemy will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.”
Probably either the Assyrian king Shalmaneser, who more than once attacked Israel and besieged Samaria (see 2 Kings 17:3–6; 18:9–12), or his successor, Sargon, who claimed he captured the city and its inhabitants.
Amo 3:12 This is what the LORD says: “As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued, with only the head of a bed and a piece of fabric from a couch.”
As a shepherd.
So thorough will the divine punishment be that all except a pitiful remnant of Israel will be involved in it. To the shepherd Amos (see on chs. 1:1; 7:14) this illustration would be quite natural.
Amo 3:13 “Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.
Probably these words are addressed to the heathen, who had already been charged to witness Israel’s sins (v. 9), bidding them now to behold Israel’s punishment.
The Lord God, the God of hosts. The only example in the OT of this full title (see on Jer. 7:3).
Amo 3:14 “On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
That is, for the purpose of punishing (see Ps. 8:4; 59:5). Altars of Beth-el. These were most likely so called because it was there Jeroboam I first set up an apostate altar, which was followed by others (see 1 Kings 12:26–33).
The horns. These were the projections at the four corners of the altar (see Ex. 27:2; 29:12; Lev. 16:18). The prophet here foretells that these means of idolatry will share in the destruction of the idolaters.
Amo 3:15 I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished,” declares the LORD.
Archaeology has indicated that many of the houses of the rich at that time were panelled or inlaid with ivory (see on 1 Kings 22:39.