UNSEAL THE INDICTMENT!

JANUARY 13, 2013

·        Amos presented God as the ruler of this world, and declared that all nations were responsible to Him. The measure of responsibility is created by the light which a nation has.

·        Character of Amos: 

o       He was humble, (Not being ashamed of his work as a Sheepherder) 

o       He was wise, (Not speaking words that the people could not understand) 

o       He was clever, (by speaking first of the peoples enemies and then of their own sin.) 

o       He was fearless, (not afraid to tell the truth)  

o       He was faithful, (proclaiming God's message, ("Thus saith the Lord")

·        Amos was a contemporary with Jonah and Hosea who were prophets in the northern kingdom of Israel and with Isaiah and Micah who were prophets in the southern kingdom of Judah.

·        The date of this book is from Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C.) and Uzziah (783-742 B.C.), probably around 752 B.C. to not later than 738 B.C.

·        Archaeology has revealed a stratum at Hazor in northern Galilee, dating from the period of Jeroboam II, which was destroyed by an earthquake.

1.     HEAR YE! HEAR YE! (AMOS 1:1-2)

1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

·        The name Tekoa means "a camping ground."

·        It was really only a country crossroads out on the frontier.

2 And he said, "The LORD roars from Zion, And from Jerusalem He utters His voice; And the shepherds' pasture grounds mourn, And the summit of Carmel dries up."

NASB

·        All nature and all people is moved by the Word of the Lord, and would fell the effects of its mighty declarations.

…his voice being compared to the roaring of a lion, denotes his wrath and vengeance; and is expressive of some terrible threatening prophecy he would send from hence,

John Gill’s Commentary

The lion roars before he tears; God gives warning before he strikes.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

2.     SINFUL ACTIONS ARE EVIDENT (AMOS 2:6-8)

6 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for money And the needy for a pair of sandals.

…as by one or two we mean a few, so by three or four we mean many,

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

·        For bribes as small as a piece of silver, or a pair of sandals, which even the poor could not match, the judges brought judgments against the poor.

·        God will judge a nation for its mistreatment of the poor.

…the sin of persecution: it is some mischief or other done to the people of God that is particularly charged upon every one of them, for persecution is the measure-filling sin of any people, and it is this sin that will be particularly reckoned for - I was hungry, and you gave me no meat; much more if it may be said, I was hungry, and you took my meat from me.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

7 "These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the helpless Also turn aside the way of the humble;

·        This could mean that these selfish, greedy, rich judges even resented that the poor had enough dust left to throw upon their heads in mourning. 

·        Another interpretation is that the influential and rich took advantage of the poor, and they actually took delight in seeing the poor reduced to such distress.

·        Justice was being turned aside in disfavor to the meek.

·        By any standard, old or new, to do this is always considered to profane the name of God.

Men's seeking to enrich themselves by the impoverishing of others is a transgression which God will not long turn away the punishment of.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

And a man and his father resort to the same girl In order to profane My holy name.

This wickedness is such a scandal to religion, and the profession of it, that those who are guilty of it are looked upon as designing thereby to profane God's holy name, and to render it odious among the heathen, as if he countenanced the villainies which those who pretend relation to him allow themselves in, and were altogether such a one as they.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

8 "And on garments taken as pledges they stretch out beside every altar, And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

NASB

·        This was a time marked by peace and prosperity. 

·        One consequence of this peace and prosperity was an unprecedented degree of social corruption. 

·        This saw the rise of a rich mercantile class which shared the wealth of the nation with the nobility.

·        This social corruption influenced to a large degree by the demoralizing influence of Canaanite Baal worship.

·        The rich lived in willful and luxurious living, and manifested no sense of responsibility toward the poor. 

·        Instead of relieving the economic distress of the poor, the rich seemed bent on relieving the poor of whatever property they had left.

3.     YOU’VE BEEN WARNED (AMOS 3:6-8)

6 If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?

Either immediately by his own hand, or by the hands of those he employs.

Wesley’s Commentary

7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?

NASB

It would have put honour enough upon prophets if it had been only said that sometimes God is pleased to reveal to his prophets what he designs to do, but it speaks something very great to say that he does nothing but what he reveals to them, as if they were the men of his counsel.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

4.     ACCOUNTABILITY COMES KNOCKING (AMOS 3:13-15)

13 "Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, "Declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts.

The prophets and priests, whose business it was to speak to the people from the Lord, and declare his will to them, and to admonish them of their sin and danger, are here called upon to hearken to what the Lord was about to say, and to testify and publish it to the people of Israel

John Gill’s Commentary

 14 "For on the day that I punish Israel's transgressions, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; The horns of the altar will be cut off, And they will fall to the ground.

…with four horns at the four corners of it; and which were reckoned the more principal parts of it, and the more sacred, where the blood of the sacrifices was poured,…

John Gill’s Commentary

·        God is saying that He intends to remove this gross idolatry from His land.

15 "I will also smite the winter house together with the summer house; The houses of ivory will also perish And the great houses will come to an end,"

Declares the LORD.

NASB

·        This prophecy of doom is directed primarily against the rich people who were the chief sinners - profiteers. 

·        They used their wealth for self-indulgence and to gratify their desire for luxurious living.

…kings and great personages had houses in the city in the winter season, in which they lived for warmth; and others in the country in the summertime, to which they retired for the benefit of the air; or they had, in one and the same house, a summer and a winter parlour; see Jdg_3:20; it signifies that the destruction should reach city and country, and deprive them of what was for their comfort and pleasure:

John Gill’s Commentary