Amos 2

Judgment on Moab, Judah, and Israel

¹This is what Yahweh says:

“For three transgressions of Moab, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because he burned to lime

the bones of Edom’s king.

• AMOS 2:1[PROPHECY]For three transgressions of Moab... I will send a fire upon Moab → HISTORY: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Moab about 582 BC. Recorded by Josephus, Antiquities 10.9.7.
• AMOS 2:1[NOTE]MOAB. They burned a king's bones to powder, an insult to the dead. God judged a sin done to Edom, not to Israel. He cares how all nations treat each other.

²So I will send fire against Moab

to consume the citadels of Kerioth.

Moab will die in tumult,

amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn.

³I will cut off the ruler of Moab

and kill all the officials with him,”

says Yahweh.

⁴This is what Yahweh says:

“For three transgressions of Judah, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they reject the Law of Yahweh

and fail to keep His statutes;

they are led astray by the lies

in which their fathers walked.

• AMOS 2:4[DEMONIC]Judah is led astray by the lies their fathers followed
• AMOS 2:4[NOTE]JUDAH TOO. Amos's own country. Judah's sin was rejecting God's law.

⁵So I will send fire upon Judah

to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

• AMOS 2:5[PROPHECY]God would send fire on Judah to burn the strongholds of Jerusalem → 2KI 25:9; 2CH 36:19

⁶This is what Yahweh says:

“For three transgressions of Israel, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they sell the righteous for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

• AMOS 2:6[NOTE]THE TRAP CLOSES. Seven nations, and now the eighth is Israel itself. Its sin: selling poor people for silver, or for a pair of sandals.

⁷They trample on the heads of the poor

as on the dust of the earth;

they push the needy out of their way.

A man and his father

have relations with the same girl

and so profane My holy name.

⁸They lie down beside every altar

on garments taken in pledge.

And in the house of their God,

they drink wine obtained through fines.

• AMOS 2:8[NOTE]GARMENTS TAKEN IN PLEDGE. The law said a poor man's cloak must be given back by sunset, Exodus 22:26 to 27. They slept on them at the altar instead.

⁹Yet it was I who destroyed

the Amorite before them,

though his height was like that of the cedars,

and he was as strong as the oaks.

Yet I destroyed his fruit above

and his roots below.

• AMOS 2:9[DEMONIC]The Amorite whose height was like cedars and strength like oaks

¹⁰And I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and led you forty years in the wilderness,

that you might take possession

of the land of the Amorite.

¹¹I raised up prophets from your sons

and Nazirites from your young men.

Is this not true,

O children of Israel?”

declares Yahweh.

¹²“But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

• AMOS 2:12[NOTE]NAZIRITES. People who made a vow to God and drank no wine, Numbers 6. Israel pushed wine on them and told the prophets to be quiet.

¹³Behold, I am about to crush you in your place

as with a cart full of grain.

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift,

the strong will not prevail by his strength,

and the mighty will not save his life.

¹⁵The archer will not stand his ground,

the fleet of foot will not escape,

and the horseman will not save his life.

¹⁶Even the most stout of heart among the mighty men

will flee naked on that day,”

declares Yahweh.

• AMOS 2:16[HEART]Even the bravest, the strong of heart, will run when God judges. Courage is no shelter from God.
• AMOS 2:16[TEXT]STOUT OF HEART. The Hebrew says the strong of heart among the mighty, like the KJV courageous among the mighty.