Thrust Statement:  God issues an announcement of judgment against eight nations for their disregard for proper social behavior and lack of right ethical conduct.

Scripture Reading: Amos 1:3—2:16

            God is not a respecter of nations. Amos 1:3—2:16 contain six oracles against the six nations that surrounded Judah and Israel, but this section of Scripture also contains two oracles against Judah and Israel. Israel had joined the other nations in their rebellion against God. Thus Amos begins his book with God’s judgment against six nations that surrounded Judah and Israel for their sins against humanity.  But Amos does not stop with castigation of the surrounding nations; he goes right to the jugular vein in his condemnation of Israel and Judah. He issues judgments against Israel and Judah for refusing to let God be God. In other words, they reject the precepts of God in their lives. The nations of Israel and Judah do not follow God’s will and thus profaned God’s name, which was a violation of one of the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:7).

            The Third Commandment reads: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD (hwhy, YHWH) will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7).^[1] The nations of Israel and Judah profane the name of God by their ethical conduct. The KJV reads: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (20:7).^[2] One frequently associates taking the name of God in vain as using the name God in cursing, but the misuse of God’s name is much broader. People who shutter at the use of the name God with the word damn never associate lack of respect for parents, murder, adultery, stealing, false witnessing, and coveting as taking the name of God in vain, or misusing His name.

            When one dishonors God by the life that he/she lives, then this unethical behavior is taking the name of the Lord in vain, especially for one who professes to know God. The Book of Amos is a commentary on Exodus 20:7. And because of this flagrant disregard of God’s sacred name, the Lord roars from Zion with His call of impending judgment: “The LORD (hwhy, YHWH) roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem” (Amos 1:2a).  One cannot read this without thinking of a lion and the dire consequences. Amos says, “The LORD roars” (ga*v=y] , y!va*G, “to roar”). He also employs this same type language in 3:8: “The lion has roared— who will not fear?” This symbolism is the symbolism of judgment. As Amos begins his denunciation of the six surrounding nations, one can almost hear the joy that Israel and Judah received. One can associate with the delight that Israel and Judah no doubt experienced when they learned of the impending destruction upon their enemies.

When one reflects upon the downfall of Nazi Germany under the leadership of Hitler, one can understand something of the ecstasy that Israel and Judah experienced.   Many in this country despise the mentality of anti-Semitism.  Christians abhor race discrimination. The people in the United States, as a whole, despise ungodliness and violence in this country. But what if God, instead of condemning Russia, had condemned the United States for its unethical behavior. One wonders how pleased the masses would react if one came from Russia to tell the American people that God is ready to sentence this nation. If God had directly issued judgments against the United States, as He did with the nations surrounding Israel and Judah, through one of His prophets for its many atrocities, the people in American, no doubt, would be ready to ship that prophet back home. As one reads the various judgments in this section of Scripture (1:3—2:16), it is as if Amos is addressing the people in America.

Paul also echoes this sentiment of Amos in his letter to Rome: “For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11). God is the God of the whole world. Each individual is still responsible for his/her behavior. Nevertheless, in all of this negligence, Israel still had the greater responsibility to be a light to the nations because she had received the direct revelation from God through Moses. Today, the Christian community is the “light of the world” (Matthew 6:14).  Christians are to let their light shine before men in order that the world may see their good works and glorify the Father of heaven (6:16). Just as Israel was responsible for violating God’s Law, so, too, Christians are responsible for their violation of God’s Law. God is not a respecter of nations or individuals. It is in this same regard that Peter admonishes the Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1) to devote their lives to holy living. He writes:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (2:9-12).

            Israel, like the other nations, had refused to let God be God.  Amos details God’s judgment upon the surrounding nations as well as the judgments against Israel and Judah for rejection of His Law. All nations are responsible to God for their crimes against humanity. Amos begins his denunciation of the surrounding nations with the following words:

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, ⁴ I will send fire upon the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. ⁵ I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD (1:3-5).

            As one analyzes the six judgments pronounced against the six pagan nations, one quickly discovers that the one common denominator against all the nations had to do with sins against humanity. Damascus (northeast) is condemned for its cruelty to Gilead. Gaza (southwest) is judged for enslaving and selling individuals to Edom. Tyre (northwest) is censured for breaking a treaty of brotherhood. Edom (southeast) is reprimanded for pursuing her brother with a sword. Ammon (southeast) is denounced for the murder of pregnant women in Gilead. Moab (southeast) is denounced for desecrating the bones of Edom’s king. All of these nations violated the basic code of mercy that is written in the heart of all people. God held all these nations responsible for their merciless behavior. Amos zeros in on just one sin committed by the various pagan nations. The nations had been guilty of multiple sins, and now the various countries were to be judged at last by God who had been more than merciful for their many transgressions. Their cups were running over with iniquity. So, God finally steps in to bring the nations to their knees for rebellion against His laws.

FIRST ORACLE: JUDGMENT AGAINST DAMASCUS

            Thus, God says (hw`hy+ rm^a*, a*m^r y+hw*h, YHWH) through Amos: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath” (Amos 1:3). The idiom—“For three sins of Damascus, even for four”—refers to repeated violations against humanity. The formula, Yahweh says, is a call to take the words of God seriously. The verdict against Damascus is that they had been guilty of one atrocity after another. Thus, judgment is pending. In God’s denunciation of this power, God only mentions one of the many sins that the people were guilty of.  This prophetic formula is very similar to the formula utilized by Christians today, “the Bible says.”  Damascus is condemned for its innumerable crimes against the Gileadites. John H. Hayes calls attention to the formula—“For three sins of Damascus, even for four”—as an idiom of the quality of wrongdoing. In other words, one might paraphrase the formula as: “again and again.” The basic idea is that of stressing the persistence of the wrongdoing.^[3]

Damascus is the capital of Aram (Syria). This denunciation of Damascus, no doubt, was welcomed news for Israel. Hazael (841-806 BCE)^[4] seized the throne of Damascus and waged war against Israel and took much of their territory, which included sections of Gilead.^[5] The author of 2 Kings writes:

In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory ³³ east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan (2 Kings 10:32-33).

Even though the name Hazael refers to a dynasty, the Hazael mentioned by Amos, more than likely, was the king that Elisha anointed as king (1 Kings 19:15-17; 2 Kings 8:7-15). Both Hazael and his son, Ben-Hadad (2 Kings 13:24), were Syrian kings.

            Amos does not reproach Damascus for its struggle to gain Gilead, but rather for its cruelty to wipe out an unfortunate population: “Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth” (Amos 1:3).  God reveals the cruelty of which the Arameans (Syrians) were guilty. Damascus is charged with using excessive force in the time of war. The armies of Damascus treated the inhabitants of northern Gilead much more cruelly than was necessary in the time of war. One must always be conscious of a higher power in dealing with other nations involved in conflict. Divine mercy upon conquered individuals must always be upon the heart of the aggressor. 

In ancient times, threshing was done with a sled-like object that was dragged over the grain by animals. The Arameans did something like this to the people of Gilead. One can only surmise that the armies of the Syrians did something like this in their treatment of the vanquished foe—destroyed whole villages or massacred the people. They showed no mercy to the conquered.  James Montgomery Boice’s comments are to the point: “He says that even in warfare there are certain obligations that mercy imposes, and the victors must not be ruthless either after the victory or on their way to achieving it.”^[6] The Twentieth-century also witnessed atrocities by the victors in war that appalls any right thinking man/woman. God did not then, and will not now, tolerate such behavior; He will condemn now, as He did then, when individuals exceed what is necessary in conquering another people. The Arameans had committed ungodliness in its worst form. 

This sin was so great that God informed Damascus that He would not turn back His wrath (Amos 3:c). The crime is so immense that God says, WNb#yv!a& aO (l) a&v!‚b#nnW, “I will not reverse it”). The threshing of the Gileadites with iron threshing machines is highlighted as the principal transgression of the Arameans (Syrians), which is here named after the capital Damascus. The context seems to indicate a literal crushing of the prisoners to pieces with iron threshing machines. This machine was a cart with iron wheels underneath, and it was designed to crush straw in the threshing floors after the grain had been beaten out.^[7] God reveals the appalling meanness of which the Arameans were guilty.

Judgment is coming! God’s response is total devastation for the Arameans. The royal palaces are to be committed to the flames: “I will send fire upon the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad” (Amos 1:4). This destruction took place in 732 BCE when Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BCE, “Pul,” as he is known in the Bible) exterminated the inhabitants in the area.^[8] Judgment by fire refers to military action (see 2 Kings 8:12). The people of Damascus, no doubt, considered themselves secure with their strong gate. But Amos warns the inhabitants that not even their fortified gate will protect them from God’s judgment. Amos describes the overthrow this way:

⁵ I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD (1:5).

            According to verse 5, Amos speaks of other kings within the realm of Aram (Syria) that God will destroy. The “Valley of Aven” (/w\a* tu^q=B! , B!q+u^t a*w#/, valley of wickedness) and “Beth Eden” (house of pleasure) are depicted as falling. After Damascus collapses, God issues judgments against the other rulers. In other words, none of the Arameans will escape God’s judgment. God will cut off the inhabitants  (bv@oy , yov@b ), especially the kings or rulers who sit upon their thrones.^[9] God thinks not just in terms of Damascus, but also in terms of a region. The judgment of God is a reversal of their history. Amos not only predicts a military defeat against the Arameans, but he also predicts their return to Kir, a site in Mesopotamia near Elamite territory from which YHWH had brought them (see Amos 9:7; Isaiah 22:6). God will return them to their original homeland. Once again, God is revealing that international relations are subject to His will, not the whims of human beings.^[10]  As Douglas Stuart has written:

Kir was Aram’s country of origin (Amos 9:7) in eastern Mesopotamia just as Egypt was for Israel. And just as Egypt stands symbolically for captivity to Israel (Deut 28:68; Hos 7:16 et al.) so Kir would, in a sort of reversal of history, be Aram’s place of reentry into oppression. Their accomplishments as a people will be undone; they will revert to their obscure, subjugated origins as a punishment for their crimes against Gilead.^[11]

Amos begins this pericope with “Yahweh says” (hw`hy+ rm^a*, a*m^r y+hw*h) and ends this pericope with “Yahweh says” (hw`hy+ rm^a*, a*m^r y+hw*h). Amos reinforces the judgment against the reigning king of Damascus, the kings of the Valley of Aven and Beth Eden, and the exiling of the people of Aram (Syria) back to their place of origin (Kir, hr`yq! q!‚r*h) with the words “Yahweh says.”  According to the author of Second Kings, the Assyrians carried out the threatened fate against Aram (Syria): “The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death” (2 Kings 16:9). God also identifies the origin of the Arameans:

⁷ “Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir (Amos 9:7)?

SECOND ORACLE: JUDGMENT AGAINST GAZA

            This second pericope signals out Gaza as ripe for destruction. Just as Damascus was put in the forefront among the Arameans, so God puts Gaza in the front position among the Philistines. Apparently Gaza (three miles from the Mediterranean coast) was considered foremost among the Philistine cities. Again, Amos calls attention to the solemnity of the occasion by beginning and ending the denunciation of the people of Gaza with “The Lord says” (hw`hy+ rm^a*, a*m^r y+hw*h):

   ⁶ This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, ⁷ I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses. ⁸ I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines is dead,” says the Sovereign LORD  (Amos 1:6-8).

Just a cursory glance of this section of Scripture (1:6-8), reveals the gravity of their sins. God employs the same idiom in his condemnation of Gaza that He made use of in His disapproval of Damascus. As stated above, the idiom—“For three sins of Damascus, even for four”—refers to repeated violations against humanity.  God denounces the Gathites for their insensitivities toward humanity: “Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom” (1:6). God is very much concerned with freedom and dignity of persons. In other words, God aims at equality of elevating the slave to the status of brother to the free man.^[12]  As one reflects upon this inequality perpertrated by the Philistines against whole communities, one cannot help but recall the words of Paul over seven hundred years later to the churches located in the province of Galatian churches: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29).  Approximately fourteen hundred years before Amos (760 BCE) wrote his prophetic book, Job (ca 2100 BCE) also addresses the treatment to be accorded to individuals:

¹³ “If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, ¹⁴ what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? ¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?  (Job 31:13-15).

God has always been concerned about relationships. He is concerned about husband and wife relationships. He is concerned about parents and children relationships. Listen to Peter as he addresses how husbands and wives should treat one another:

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.  ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  ⁴ Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. ⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers (1 Peter 3:1-7).

Do you have this kind of bond with your spouse? Do you treat one another with dignity? Do you berate one another? Are you kind to one another? Are you considerate of one another? Do you treat your spouse as an equal? Today, spousal mistreatment is rampant among the nations. Spousal violence takes two forms—physical abuse and verbal abuse. Neither physical nor mental mistreatment is pleasing to God. Are you ruthless in your relationship with your spouse?  Are you oppressive to your spouse? Again, listen to God as he speaks: “ He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31).  Every man must always keep this Scripture in mind in his relationship with his wife. If God were to address you as He did the eight nations, one cannot help but wonder what God would say to you today.

What did God have against the eight nations that He issued judgments against in the Book of Amos? Was it not about human relationships? This principle—He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker—is still as relevant today as it was at the time Solomon wrote these words. One can apply this passage in one’s everyday walk with God. Yes, this wisdom saying is also valid to relationships between husbands and wives, and between children and parents, and between slaves and masters. If the husband oppresses his wife, then he is showing contempt for his Maker. If the wife oppresses her husband, then she is showing contempt for her Maker. One cannot treat people with contempt and expect to please God. One’s way of life must be a life of worship—twenty-four hours daily.  One must never forget that his/her body is the temple of God. If you show disrespect toward other believers, then you are showing disrespect for the body of Christ. Every believer should remember the words of James:

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:26-27).

God has never changed; He is still concerned about relationships. God is not only concerned about husband and wife relationships, but He is also concerned about relationships between parents and children. He is concerned about Christians getting along with one another. God wants His people to be one. God wants a good relationship between fathers and their children.  Once more, Paul, as God’s chosen ambassador to the Gentiles, writes to the Christians at Ephesus concerning children’s obedience to parents and parents’ relationships to their children:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  ² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—³ “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” ⁴ Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4).

Children are to be treated with respect. Children are to treat their parents with admiration. If you think that you can be disrespectful to your children, you need to reread Ephesians 6:1-4.  God weighs your motives. Once more listen to Solomon:

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. ³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  ⁴ The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster.  ⁵ The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished (Proverbs 16:2-5).

 

Where do you stand in your relationship to God? Husband where do you stand in your relationship to your wife? Wives where do you stand in your relationship to your husband? Fathers and mothers where do you stand in your relationship to your children? Children where do you stand in your relationship to your parents? Husbands are you treating your wives as mere objects? Wives are you treating your husbands as mere objects? If so, this kind of behavior is sinful.

The people of Gaza had treated people as mere objects, which only served the interest of the powerful. This clandestine operation of slavery revolved around economics—not just the deportation of people captured in war. Had God previously addressed this issue? Solomon goes to the very heart of the matter when he writes: “He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty (22:16). As one reflects upon so many Old Testament Scriptures, perhaps the words of Paul to the Romans come to mind:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (Romans 15:4-7).

Again, Paul addresses the relevance of the Old Testament to every believer with the following endorsement: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The offense mentioned by God is just one of the many sins against God and humanity. Because of the insensitivity of the Philistines, God says that He will not turn away His wrath. As stated above, God details their crime: “Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom” (Amos 1:6). The Philistines used their superior power to enslave entire communities for commercial profit. The helpless were not to be misused and badly treated as material objects to increase the earnings of the strong. Twenty years after Amos issued this judgment of God’s wrath against the Philistines, Isaiah (739 BCE) also addresses a similar scenario with the leaders of Israel and the poor:

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, ² to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. ³ What will you do on the day of reckoning,  when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? ⁴ Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain (Isaiah 10:1-4). 

            One observes in this unit (pericope^[13]) of Scripture (Amos1: 6-8) that God addresses other city-states within the country of Philistia. Just as God addresses Damascus, He also speaks to other city-states within the country of Aram. The Philistines, from whom the name Palestine is derived, was the principle city within the territory.^[14] Approximately ten miles to the north was Ashkelon (lay on the coast [three miles inland], halfway between Gaza and Ashdod), then Ashdod (located some twenty-one miles north-northeast of Gaza and three miles from the coast), then Gath, and finally Ekron (twelve miles northeast of Ashdod) located in the northernmost settlement of Philistia.  God’s denunciation covers four of the five cities in the Philistine territory. In addition to Gaza, located on the southwest of the Mediterranean Sea and on the International Coastal Highway, Amos adds Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron in verse 8:

⁸ I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines is dead,” says the Sovereign LORD (Amos 1:8).

            Amos moves from the northeast (Aram) to the southeast (Philistia), another region, to specify the sins of the Philistines.^[15] Again, the sins of the Philistines were sins against humanity. They engaged in border raids to capture whole communities and sell them to Edom, possibly to be used in their mining endeavors.^[16] Also, it is possible that the Edomites acted as middlemen in their maritime (sea) contacts with other countries. Kidnapping is a crime. God legislated to the children of Israel through Moses the following comments about the stealing of human beings: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Again, Stuart sharpens the focus:

The Edomites, to whom the impressed slaves were sold in this instance, may have used them for their own commerce, which included mining, shipping, and of course farming, but may also have simply resold them elsewhere (see N. K. Gottwald, All the Kingdoms of the Earth [New York: Harper and Row, 1964] 94–114). But these slaves, sold to foreigners, were still human beings, in God’s image (cf. Exod 23:9). The technique of the transaction is unimportant in the oracle; what is unforgivable is such misuse and abuse of helpless people for the profit of the mighty. This theme is reflected in one way or another in all eight oracles in the present passage, and in Amos as a whole.^[17]

            The territory raided is not said, but the proximity of Israel and Judah were, no doubt, the targets for the capture of slaves. Raids, such as recounted here by God, could have been carried out, possibly, only with the defenseless condition of Israel during the time that Jehoahaz (815-802 BCE), king of Israel reigned. Jehoahaz was preoccupied with Aram (Syria), a nation condemned earlier by Amos (1:3-5). What the Philistines engaged in is similar to Joel’s (835 BCE) condemnation of slavery by the Philistines seventy-five years earlier:

Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.  ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.  ⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland (Joel 3:4-6).

Jeffery Niehaus advances the idea that the atrocities committed by the Philistines occurred during the reign of Jehoram (849-842 BCE).^[18] During Jehoram’s reign, the Philistines and the Arabs penetrated Judah and plundered the palace, carried off the royal household, plundered the temple, and sold the people into slavery. Niehaus cites the following Scriptures to give credibility to his hypothesis: 2 Chronicles 21:16-17; Joel 3:5; Joel 3:3-6. The following chart contains the Scriptures cited for ease of reference:

Carried off the Royal Household	Plundered the Temple	Sold the People into Slavery
2 Chronicles 21:16-17	Joel 3:4-5	Joel 3:3-6
16 The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites.  17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest.	Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.  5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.	3 They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine that they might drink. 4 ‘Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.  5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.  6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

 

There is no way to pinpoint with any degree of accuracy as to when the atrocities actually occurred. Did the raids occur during the reign of Jehoram (849-842 BCE) or Jehoahaz (815-802 BCE)? No one knows for sure since Amos did not give the information. But from the internal evidence from Chronicles and Joel, one can surmise that this kind of warfare was rampant among the Philistines.  Also, Edom (see also Amos 1:11-12) violated her covenantal heritage with God’s people. Philistia assisted Edom in violating her fraternal covenant. And, as a result of this complicity, God forewarned Philistia that she would be punished with the fire of divine judgment (1:7), which probably occurred under the leadership of Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BCE).  The prophet Obadiah (845 BCE), approximately eighty-five years before Amos, issues a warning to Edom for violation of her ancestral covenantal heritage with Israel. Obadiah writes his denunciation of Edom with very graphic poetic language:

Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. ¹¹ On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. ¹² You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. ¹³ You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. ¹⁴ You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble (Obadiah 10-14).

The Philistines sold God’s people to Edom. When Edom accepted the Israelites—their relatives—into slavery, they violated their covenant heritage with Israel. Both Israel and Edom descended from Abraham (2166 BCE) through his son Isaac (see also Matthew 1:2). The nation of Israel came from Jacob and the nation of Edom came from Esau. Moses gives the following information about the two boys and the two nations:

The LORD said to her (Rebekah), “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” ²⁴ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.  ²⁵ The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.  ²⁶ After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them (Genesis 25:23-26).

Isaac would have circumcised both boys (Jacob and Esau) in keeping with the covenant God made with Abraham.  God informed Abraham about the covenant of circumcision:

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.  ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.  ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.  ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.  ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant” (17:9-14).

SLAVERY AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

In the time of Jesus, slavery was prevalent. In the New Testament, the early church had to deal with a situation that it could not change without causing irreparable harm to the spread of the Gospel. The youthful church could practice what was generally accepted with guidelines. For example, they, no doubt, reflected upon the words of Moses: “Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt” (23:9). Elizabeth Achtemeier writes:

In the NT, of course, the grace of God reaches even further to make the slave a beloved brother or sister in the Lord (Phlm 15-17; cf. Gal. 3:28). Here in Amos, God’s wrath will wipe out the Philistines and their rulers, so that not even a remnant will be left to them.^[19]

Chart of the Above Citations

Philemon 15-17	Galatians 3:26-28
Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.	You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

THIRD ORACLE: JUDGMENT AGAINST TYRE

            Tyre was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and was the leading city of Phoenicia in the middle of the eight-century, having supplanted Sidon as the dominant urban center of the region.^[20] Tyre was also noted for its maritime trade (see Ezekiel 26—28). Ezekiel 27 paints a glowing portrait of Tyre’s wide-ranging maritime trade. Not only were the Phoenicians blessed through their maritime adventures, but also God had blessed them with a “covenant of love” and a “covenant of brotherhood” between David and Hiram, and between Solomon and Hiram. The geographical location of Tyre is northwest. One quickly observes that Amos appears to point to the points of the compass. He starts with Damascus in the northeast, after that Gaza in the southwest, followed by Tyre in the northeast, and then followed by Edom in the southeast. The next three oracles all concern southeast nations. Douglas Stuart explains the maritime trade of the Phoenicians:

Tyre was a slave-trading nation, and this oracle echoes the Philistia oracle before it (the oracles echo each other in many ways; several are linked to one another by multiple “catchwords”). Tyre, particularly powerful in the eighth century and thereafter (cf. Ezek 26–28), gained wealth and influence as the hub of a far-flung trading empire, its ocean-going ships ranging the Mediterranean Sea. This is the first OT mention of Tyre’s involvement in the slave trade, a dehumanizing business for which it became notorious (Joel 3:6; Ezek 27:13). Again, Edom served as the middleman in the transaction (cf. Joel 3:8 for a similar arrangement), which involved, presumably, the captured population of some town and district in Israel, though this is unspecified.^[21]

Tyre, like Gaza (1:6), was involved in the cold-blooded traffic of human flesh. Profit-making ties to Edom created additional wealth for the powerful in Tyre. Tyre, in the vein of Gaza, was insensitive to human suffering. But Tyre was guilty of another crime—the crime of breaking a treaty obligation. Tyre did not keep her treaty made with David (1000-960 BCE). One’s word should be his/her bond. One’s pledge should never be negotiable simply for self-interest and self-advantage.^[22] Amos describes Tyre’s transgression with the same formula found in God’s denunciation of Damascus and Gaza—“For three sins of Tyre, even for four” (Amos 1:9). In this pericope, one discovers two sins that result in God’s judgment of destruction upon Tyre—“Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood” (1:9). Amos writes:

⁹ This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, ¹⁰ I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses” (1:9-10).

            There is some disagreement as to whom the treaty obligation was made since the text does not identify the party to whom Tyre had entered into the “Covenant of Brothers.”^[23]  But the “brotherhood treaty” (<yh!a^ tyr]B=,  B+r!‚t ah!‚<) was apparently Amos' way of describing the cooperative relationship that had existed earlier between the Phoenicians and the Israelites. The reference may be to the treaty with David (2 Samuel 5:11), Solomon (1 Kings 5:1, 11), and Ahab (1 Kings 16:31). There is no evidence that this  “brotherhood treaty” consisted of a treaty between Israel and Moab because Jacob and Esau were blood brothers. Tyre is the subject of  “did not remember” (rk^z* aO, l)a z*k^r) and “uninvolved parties do not ‘honor’ covenants.”^[24] Tyre is rebuked for not keeping the covenant, not Edom. Even though the Edomites were brothers to Israel, they were not so by an international treaty, but by family descent.^[25]

The following chart is printed in order to facilitate the ease of grasping the “brotherhood treaty” between Phoenicia and Israel:

David	Solomon	Ahab
2 Samuel 5:11	1 Kings 5:1, 11	1 Kings 16:31
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.	When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David (5:1)   Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year (5:11).	He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

            Tyre did not remember her covenant with God’s people. She sold God’s people to Edom, and Edom was totally devoid of family affection. God still warns His people through the chosen envoys of Jesus to avoid this kind of unethical behavior. For example, almost eight hundred years after Amos, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, catalogues a list of sins in which he describes the moral decay of individuals who reject God’s Law:

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;  ³¹ they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:23-32).

Paul’s statement that “They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” adequately describes the Phoenicians and the Edomites. Again, Paul calls attention to the lack of love in his own day, which also depicts the same attitude that Amos condemns among the various nations:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

One should read about God’s reaction to sin as graphically portrayed by Paul. He demonstrates the utter degradation of individuals that reject God’s Law as the absolute standard by which to judge between right and wrong.

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless (Romans 1:18-31).

In conclusion, the words of Amos concerning judgment against Tyre are worth reflecting upon once more: “I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses” (Amos 1:10).  Niehaus makes the following succinct observation about the downfall of Tyre:

Sennecherib apparently subdued it and took captives (Luckenbill, Annals of Sennacherib, pp. 73, 104). Esarhaddon conquered it (Borger, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons, p. 86; see also p. 49) and make a suzerainty treaty with it (Borger, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons, pp. 107-9, “Der Vertrag mit Baal von Tyrus”). Ashurbanipal besieged it, and received tribute (Piepkorn, Historical Prism Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, pp. 40-45; ANET, p. 295). Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.) besieged it for thirteen years, but in vain (Bright, History of Israel, p. 352; Ezek. 29:18). Alexander the Great took it after seven-month siege in 332 B.C., and thirty thousand of its inhabitants were sold as slaves (Bright, History of Israel, p. 413). There may be a note of irony in this latter event, for those who dealt in slaves had now become slaves. Tyre was finally taken by the Saracens in A.D. 1291 and is now only a ruin.^[26]

FOURTH ORACLE: JUDGMENT AGAINST EDOM

            As one embarks upon the judgment against Edom (<oda#, a#do<), one quickly discovers that there is no area of human life that lies outside of God’s rule. God judges Edom for its failure to honor its bond of brotherhood. As stated earlier, Jacob (2006 BCE—date of birth) and Esau were twins. The Israelites descended from Jacob, but the Edomites descended from Esau. Moses gives the background information about these two boys and nations in his record as recorded in the Book of Genesis:

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.  ²⁵ The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.  ²⁶ After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them (Genesis 25:24-26).

            Edom, as stated above, is located in the southeast. It is located in the region south of the Dead Sea on both sides of the Arabah. The name Edom (<oda#, a#do<) means “the red region,” derived from the reddish sandstone found in the area. Edom is separated from Moab on the north by the Zered River. Also, the King’s Highway ran north-south through the middle of Edom.^[27] Edom’s prosperity increased because she controlled the caravan routes passing from India and South Arabia to Egypt. Amos reveals, as noted above, that Edom participated in the slave trade with Gaza (Amos 1:6) and Tyre (1:9).

            During the reign of Jehoram, king of Judah, (849-843 BCE), the Edomites revolted and were able to maintain independence for sixty years. In the eighth-century, Uzziah, king of Judah, (783-742 BCE) recaptured Edom. But in the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah, (735-715 BCE) Edom defeated Judah.  During the final conquest of the kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the Edomites were overjoyed that the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem. Psalms 137 records the reaction of the Edomites against their blood brothers:

⁷ Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”  (Psalm 137:7).

After the fall of Jerusalem, the Edomites migrated west of the Arabah to southern Judah, where they became known as the Idumeans.

This fourth oracle of Amos bears the same structure that one finds in Amos 1:9-10 concerning the sins of Tyre. Amos issues the following judgment against Edom:

¹¹ This is what the LORD says:  “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because he pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked, ¹² I will send fire upon Teman that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.”

 

            Amos now completes the chiastic (x) coverage of the compass points surrounding Judah and Israel by focusing on Edom. He mentions two other cites within the borders of Edom—Teman and Bozrah. Teman (/m*yT@, T?m*n) was Edom’s southernmost major city and Bozrah (hr`x=B*, B*x+r*h) was Edom’s northernmost city. Both cities lay along the King’s Highway. It was this highway that Moses and the children of Israel sought to pass through peacefully (1446 BCE), but they were opposed “with the sword” (br\j#b^, b^j#r#b). Moses writes about Edom’s denial of passage and their threat of the sword:

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:  “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us.  ¹⁵ Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, ¹⁶ but when we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. “Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.  ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king’s highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”  ¹⁸ But Edom answered:  “You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”  ¹⁹ The Israelites replied:  “We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”  ²⁰ Again they answered:  “You may not pass through.”  Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.  ²¹ Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them (Numbers 20:14-21).

God’s complaint—“Because he pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion”—against Edom appears to be a reference to the events that transpired approximately seven hundred years earlier. This hatred still remained among the Edomites against their brothers—“because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked.” This hatred is witnessed during the reign of Saul. The author of First Samuel writes:

After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them (1 Samuel 14:47).

 David (1000-960 BCE), too, encountered the Edomites. Again, the author of Second Samuel writes about David’s conquest of the Edomites:

Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah. ¹³ And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went (2 Samuel 8:12-14).

David’s son, Solomon (960-922 BCE) also fought against the Edomites. The author of First Kings gives the following account of this conflict:

14 Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17 But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking men from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food. 19 Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children. 21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.” 22 “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked. “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!” 23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 He gathered men around him and became the leader of a band of rebels when David destroyed the forces of Zobah; the rebels went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25 Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel (1 Kings 11:14-25).

In the time of Jehoram (849-843 BCE), king of Judah, the author of Second Kings chronicles an event that took place between Judah and Edom:

²⁰ In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.  ²¹ So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home.  ²² To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time (2 Kings 8:20-22).

Also, in the reign of Amaziah (800-783 BCE), conflict still existed between Judah and Edom. The record says that he “defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt” (2 Kings 14:7). The full account is given in Second Kings:

⁷ He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day. ⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: “Come, meet me face to face.” ⁹ But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot.  ¹⁰ You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?” (14:7-10).