Amos 2

Judgment against Moab (vs. 1-3)—The formula of chapter one is again used here, “For three transgression of Moab, and for four…” (v. 1). They did something to the king of Edom which we have no record of: “he [Moab] burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime” (v. 1). But the Lord knew and that’s all that mattered. Fire would come again and devour the palaces of Kerioth—a major city of Moab, “and I will cut off the judge from its midst, and slay all its princes with him, says the LORD” (v. 3). What all that entails we don’t know, nor whom the Lord used to accomplish it, but it happened, we can be sure of that.

Judgment upon Judah (vs. 4-5)—The main target of Amos’s prophecy, as noted, is the northern kingdom of Israel, but he does take a few swipes at Judah, such as these two verses. The same formula is used, “For three transgressions…and for four…,” and the crime is a rather generic one, but bad enough: “They have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept His commandments. their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed” (v. 4). Later prophets would get more specific. The punishment was also the usual—fire upon the palaces of the major city, in this case, Jerusalem (v. 5). Amos won’t ignore the south, but Ephraim is in more desperate shape, spiritually, at the moment.

Judgment upon Israel, the northern kingdom (vs. 6-8)—The sins here are more specific. “They sell the righteous for silver;” in other words, bribery was very common (v. 6). “They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor” (v. 7). This phrase is obscure, but obviously the poor were being abused in some manner. They “pervert the way of the humble,” oppressing and obstructing the efforts of the godly (v. 7). “A man and his father go in to the same girl” (v. 7). That’s pretty clear and very disgusting. “They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge” (v. 8). This refers to a passage in Exodus 22:26: “If you ever take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down.” Especially if the “neighbor” was poor, the garment should be returned—not used as a pillow next to a heathen idol. And they “drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god” (v. 8). Again, the thought is a little vague, but Clarke suggests, “They punished the people by unjust and oppressive fines, and served their tables with wine bought by such fines.” That’s as good an explanation as any. So Israel was guilty of many offenses before the Lord. And He’s just starting…

Ingratitude (vs. 9-12)—The Lord had led them into the land of Canaan and “it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them” (v. 9). And before that, “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” (v. 10). He gave them prophets to teach them and Nazirites to show them holiness in religion (v. 11). This is just a small sampling of what Jehovah had done for them. Was Israel grateful? No. “You gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, 'Do not prophesy!'” (v. 12). And the Lord had had enough.

No escape (vs. 13-15)—Verse 13 sounds almost like the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” analogy: “Behold, I am weighed down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down”—and about to collapse. You can flee, the Lord tells them in verse, 14, but you won’t get away. And even the most courageous will be shamed (v. 15). As Amos will tell them more than once in this prophecy, when the Lord comes in judgment, there’s no escape.