JUDGMENT ON MOAB JUDA AND ISRAEL

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS

 “Prepare to Meet thy God, O Israel”

1. Upon the Surrounding Nations, Amo_1:1-15

2. Upon Israel, Amo_ 2:6-16

JUDGMENT ON MOAB JUDA AND ISRAEL

Amos 2:1-16

  Thus says the LORD, “For three transgressions of Moab and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom [Esau’s descendant] into lime [and used it to plaster a Moabite house]. 

“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon Moab And it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth; And Moab shall die amid tumult and uproar, With war cries and shouts of alarm and the sound of the trumpet. 

  “I will also cut off and destroy the ruler from its midst And slay all the princes with him,” says the LORD. 

JUDGMENT ON JUDAH

Thus says the LORD, “For three transgressions of Judah and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they have rejected the law of the LORD [the sum of God’s instruction to His people] And have not kept His commandments; But their lies [and their idols], after which their fathers walked, Caused them to go astray. 

“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction by the Babylonians] upon Judah And it will devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.” 

JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL

Thus says the LORD, “For three transgressions of Israel and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they sell the righteous and innocent for silver And the needy for the price of a pair of sandals. 

  “These who pant after (long to see) the dust of the earth on the head of the helpless [as sign of their grief and distress] Also turn aside the way of the humble; And a man and his father will go to the same girl So that My holy name is profaned. 

“They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God’s command], And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined. [Exo_22:26; Deu_24:12-13

  “Yet it was I [not the false gods] who destroyed the Amorite before them, Though his height was like the height of the cedars, And he was as strong as the oaks; I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below. 

“Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, And I led you forty years through the wilderness That you might possess the land of the Amorite. 

Amo 2:11  “Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation], And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones). Is this not true, O you children of Israel?” says the LORD. [Num_6:1-8

Amo 2:12  “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink [despite their vows] And commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’ 

Amo 2:13  “Behold, I am weighted down beneath you As a cart that is weighted down when it is full of sheaves. 

“Flight will be lost to the swift [so they will be unable to escape], And the strong shall not strengthen nor maintain his power, Nor shall the mighty man save his own life. 

“He who handles the bow will not stand his ground, The one who is swift of foot will not escape, Nor will he who rides the horse save his life [from the invading army]. 

“Even the bravest among the warriors shall flee naked on that day,” says the LORD. 

F. B.Meyer
on
Amos 2:4-16

JUDAH AND ISRAEL SHALL BE JUDGED ALSO

Edom was Esau; that is, the people were closely akin to Israel; perhaps for that very reason the hatred on either side became more and more inveterate from the days of the Exodus to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, Psa_137:7-8. Teman and Bozrah were principal cities, the first being named after Esau’s grandson, Gen_36:11. Isaiah, in after years, saw the warrior Angel of Jehovah coming up from Edom to the foothills of Palestine, his garments stained with the blood of the foe whom he had overthrown, Isa_63:1. Thus Jesus Christ has overcome our foes, and now stands sentry between us and them.

Rabbah was the capital city of Ammon. The strife between the citizens and the Chosen People smoldered from the days of Saul, flaming out from time to time in terrible intensity. Moab-the terrible act referred to here was probably associated with 2Ki_3:27. Alas that, in the divine vengeance, Judah should be associated with these heathen peoples! The indictment is not for sins against man, but for those committed against God. We are judged by the greater light and the higher standards that we possess. The fire here threatened was the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans, who have their modern counterparts. Man is often used by the Almighty for the chastening and purifying of his fellows.

By Philippus Schutte

New Covenant Israelite! "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."  Rom 11:17 -18

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