Amos 3:1-4:5--Israel's Guilt and Punishment

Amos 3:1-4:5
English Standard Version

Israel's Guilt and Punishment
3 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2 “You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.

3 “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the LORD has done it?

7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
    “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

“An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down your defenses from you,
    and your strongholds shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.

13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
    declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
    I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
    and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall come to an end,”
declares the LORD.

4 “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, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness
    that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
    each one straight ahead;
    and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the LORD.

4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
    and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
    for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord GOD.

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The LORD proclaims the indictment against His people--the ones that He brought up out of the land of Egypt.  He has remained faithful while they have continually cheated on the one whose name is Jealous, so He will punish them accordingly.  The LORD says there are certain things in nature that we know are preceded by something else like there must be a trap that was set for the bird to be snared in it.  There must be prey present when you hear the lion roar or the young lion has taken prey for itself when you hear it roar from its den to warn others that would try to come and steal what belongs to it.  In the same way, the true prophets must speak when the LORD has given them a message, and the people can infer that the LORD has spoken when one of His true prophets proclaims His Word, even if the people never heard the LORD give the message to the prophets.

The LORD has prophesied against all of Israel's enemies, but then His Word prophesied against them.  Does that make His prophesy less true?  The LORD will bring the destruction of the Philistines and the Egyptians, and will use Israel to do it, but this does not mean that Israel will be safe--their judgment will come from another people and another place.  Only a small remnant will survive, like a shepherd that is only able to save two legs or a piece of an ear of one his flock that has been taken by a lion.

On the day judgment comes, the altars to their idols (the golden calves that they say are images of the LORD) will be destroyed.  The false priests, false prophets, rich, and poor will all suffer the same fate.  The king and his princes will not be spared.

The people will all be taken into exile and neither their sacrifices nor their tithes will cause the LORD to change His mind.  There is no sacrifice or freewill offering that will stay the LORD's hand of judgment at this point.  His mind is made up and He will do what He has determined to do.  For the sake of the remnant that is righteous, He will destroy the majority that are wicked.