Indifference Despite Chastisement

1. Israel’s self-indulgence addressed, vs. 1-3.

v. 1 — This declaration by Amos paints a disturbing picture of either the women or all the people of the northern kingdom. The cow image is not automatically negative, but the contrast between well-fed animals in luxurious conditions to their actions is startling. Being well-cared for and provided for is not necessarily a sin. But how they came to be so pampered is. They have risen on the backs of the weak and the poor through oppression and the crushing of their spirit. They have even gone so fr as demanding others to bring them indulgences. They are the epitome of self-indulgence.

v. 2 — “Watch out!” Judgment is coming because the LORD is holy. He is committing Himself to an irrevocable course of action. The LORD is a holy God and both mercy and judgment are results of His holiness. The LORD gives mercy many times, but the continuing indifference and refusal of His mercy will bring the LORD’s judgment because their sin must be addressed according to the Mosaic covenant.

This judgment is just on the horizon, now certain to come. The people of the northern kingdom will be conquered and taken out of the land. It is a graphic picture of what happens to the self-indulgent of the land. The cows of luxury will now be treated like dead fish, carried away by baskets or hooks.

v. 3 — There is in this great tragedy. The city walls, which they felt safe and secure behind, have failed them. The people will go out through the very holes in the wall that they thought would protect them. There will be no one who escapes — they will be dragged away from their opulent lifestyle. This is a prophecy from the Lord through His prophet Amos.

2. Israel’s religiosity brings the LORD’s sarcasm, vs. 4-5.

Here is the point we would make: for ancient Israel there was no separation between the social and religious realms. The people of the northern kingdom oppressed and crushed the poor and needy because they had turned away from the LORD. They can play-act in their worship all they want, but the LORD knows the heart and He will bring the consequences to bear.

v. 4 — Bethel, in the northern kingdom. became a key place of false worship. The LORD is sarcastically giving them permission to worship false gods … they have turned away from Him, but He is the one true God, who will bring judgment.

Gilgal, important in Israel’s history, at this time was another place of cultic ritual for false gods.

Under the Mosaic law an individual did not need to bring sacrifices every day. Tithes were only brought three times a year, not every three days. By commanding the people to offer daily sacrifices to their gods and the frequency of the tithes, the absurdity of their actions is drawn out.

v. 5 — they are also instructed to give thank offerings and freewill offerings, these being offered in a way contrary to the Mosaic law and not to the LORD but to their cultic false gods. They are to make sure everyone knows what they are doing by making a big show of worshipping false gods (or falsely worshipping the LORD) and brag about it.

The people have turned their back on the LORD to worship other Gods. The conclusion of this verse draws a distinction between the gods the people worship and the Lord GOD who Amos serves.

They have focused on the rituals of worship; they rejected the relationship with the LORD.

3. Israel’s chastisements are warnings, vs. 6-11.

The LORD lists five different types of judgment that Israel has already faced, each one corresponding to those outlined by the mosaic covenant. Yet after each one, we read the refrain, “yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD. The covenant curses of Leviticus 26 were structured by the LORD in such a way that Israel would have multiple opportunities to return to Him, but each time they failed to return the judgments would increase. These five judgments in Amos 4:6-11 mirror the five different opportunities the LORD gives in Lev. 26. Sadly, what the LORD stated in Lev. 26 has indeed come about for Israel.

v. 6 — the effect — “cleanness of teeth” — is caused by a famine in the land. We do not know how long this famine lasted, but the people still failed to heed the warning. If Israel had remembered any of the covenant curses, the famine would have been a sign to return to the LORD. Their failure to do so points out how far they removed themselves from Him.

v. 7-8 — the withholding of rain was the second judgment. The absence of rain is listed among the curses of the Mosaic covenant,Lev. 26:19

Leviticus 26:19 NASB95

‘I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.

Deuteronomy 28:24 NASB95

“The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

The timing of the drought was also very critical. without rain during the three months prior to harvest, there would be nothing to harvest and would lead to famine in the land.

Compounding the problem was when a few cities received rain, thus bringing those without to seek that water, thereby leave both the city which had received rain and the drought-stricken cities in desperate need of water, since water for one city would not be enough for other cities.

This may have caused another famine, yet it still did not cause Israel to repent and return to the LORD.

v. 9 — The third judgment was the destruction of their crops by disease and insects. See Deut 28:22

Deuteronomy 28:22 NASB95

“The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.

As regard to insects, Deut. 28:38

Deuteronomy 28:38 NASB95

“You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it.

Crops destroyed by diseases and insects eating all that remained, yet Israel still did not return to the LORD.

v. 10 — the fourth judgment is compared the the plagues that befell Egypt. The judgment centers on death by two different means. The first is a plague or pestilence; the LORD has sent a disease among them like the disease He sent among the animals of Egypt that killed them.

the second means of death is death in battle, where so many died their was a stench in the camp. Losing young men would be especially devastating, since they were the future of the nation. The horses they had captured in previous victories were now dead, having been killed in the battle. The repulsive stench in the camp was possibly from dead or the severely wounded, or as some have suggested, even a picture of the enemy entering the camp and destroying them, leaving dead bodies in their wake.

Leviticus 26:25 NASB95

‘I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands.

Deuteronomy 28:21 NASB95

“The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

Horrible plagues and severe losses in battle did not cause Israel to return to the LORD.

v. 11 — the contrast here is, unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, the northern kingdom was pulled from the smoldering remains—before they could be turned to ash. Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed. Because Amos was preaching to Israel, the LORD is giving Israel another chance to turn and repent. Prior to Amos, Israel did not face a destruction such as that which befell Sodom and Gomorrah. Even after Amos’ prophecy the northern kingdom did not face such a destruction. There was a remnant allowed to return back to the land.

Here God has turned away from Israel in a similar way to how He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. But the LORD would not utterly destroy Israel as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. Over and over again the LORD plucked them from the fire, relented His judgment, and delivered them. Yet, even then, they refused to turn to Him.

4. The LORD comes in judgment, vs. 12-13.

v. 12 — The judgment being promised by the LORD is that which is found in verses 2-3. This is a certainty; the first two lines are nearly identical, reinforcing the judgment of the LORD that will definitely come.

The ominous note of the last line tells the nation to prepare for the coming judgment which is from the LORD.

v. 13 — Israel must be prepared to meet the LORD because He is the one one with the right and power to judge.

He is the Creator who forms the mountains and creates the wind. Besides having the right and authority to judge His creation, the mountains and the wind are intimately tied to the idea of judgment; for example He is described as treading on mountains/high places and in Ezek. 13:13

Ezekiel 13:13 NASB95

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath.

The Lord is the One who “declares to man what are His thoughts.” The LORD’s judgment is held in tension with His mercy. Sin must be addressed, yet the LORD provided the Israelites with the covenant, which gave instructions on how to relate to the LORD in spite of their sin and also warned them about the coming judgment if they break the covenant as well as giving them a chance to repent and return to Him.

The Lord is the one who in judgment will turn the dawn into darkness, a darkness that is oppressive, wearisome and which drains the people. The LORD’s time of judgment is a time of darkness for the people.

The LORD walking on the high places of the earth points to another truth: the false god who are worshipped are no match for the LORD. He will tread on them like they are stepping stones. He does this on His own, and yet He is the LORD, the God of Armies. Who can stand against Him when He judges in holiness not only His own but the whole world?