Amos Chapter 3

Amos 3:1–15 ESV

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst.” “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord, “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.” Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered.” Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed. “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts, “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares the Lord.

Am. 3:1-2

-         “from the land of Egypt”

- To take possession of the land of the Amorite (Nephilim reference) (Canaan)

Am. 2:10

-         “You only have I known” (chosen)

Known represents a covenant relationship

Held to a higher standard

Hos 6:6 – For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings

-         “therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities”

Iniquity is a perversity – a turning away/back (generational curses); twisted, depraved,

Sin – missing the mark

Transgression – rebellion

[Turning back to Egypt?]

Am. 3:3-5 - Rhetorical questions

“Do two walk together, unless they have agreed [2 prophets have agreed]

Am. 3:6 - acknowledgment of Yahweh’s sovereignty

“is a horn blown in a city” - Alarm by the watchman on the wall to warn of danger so people could flee

Jer. 4:5 - Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, ‘Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities.’

“Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”

Isa 45:7 - “I form light and create darkness; I make well being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things”

Question: Does God’s judgment display his Glory

Am. 3:7-8 - “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.”

Jer. 7:25 - “From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day.”