Amos 1:13-2:3

Ammon

Genesis 19:37–38 “37 The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.”

The land of Ammon lies outside the Promised Land. Like Edom, God gave the Ammonites their land Deuteronomy 2:19 “19 When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’” But unlike Edom, the Ammonites were forbidden from ever joining Israel Deuteronomy 23:3–4 “3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the assembly of the Lord, 4 because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.” Even though Edom also rejected Israel’s requests to pass through their land, Edom was still considered a brother of Israel. The only real reason for this can be that Edom descended from Abraham, while Ammon and Moab descended from Lot.

Ammon lies to the south and east of Gilead and Syria to the north.

Ammon attacked Gilead, but Gilead was saved by Saul 1 Samuel 11:1–3 “1 Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, and thereby I will inflict a disgrace on all Israel.” 3 So the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Allow us seven days to send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.””

Joab led Israel against Ammon when David stayed back in Jerusalem and sinned with Bathsheba.

Solomon married Naamah, an Ammonite, and the only Queen of Israel or Judah ever mentioned by name who was a foreigner other than Jezebel. She evidently led Solomon astray 1 Kings 11:5 “5 For Solomon became a follower of Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Molek the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.”

She birthed Rehoboam, whose harsh response to the 10 northern tribes caused the kingdom to split. 1 Kings 14:22–24 “22 And the people of Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they, too, built for themselves high places, memorial stones, and Asherim on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the same abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”

During the time of Amos, Ammon was under Judah’s rule 2 Chronicles 26:8 “8 The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.”

When Nehemiah rebuilt the walls, the Ammonites were among those who tried to stop Jerusalem from rebuilding. Nehemiah then nicely sums up the relationship between Israel and Ammon

Nehemiah 13:23–27 NASB 2020

23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people. 25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Did Solomon the king of Israel not sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet the foreign women caused even him to sin. 27 Has it not then been reported about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God, by marrying foreign women?”

Rabbah

Rabbah was the capital of Ammon. Joab sacked it during his campaign while David was sinning. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both have prophecies against Rabbah

Jeremiah 49:1–3 “1 Concerning the sons of Ammon. This is what the Lord says: “Does Israel have no sons? Or has he no heirs? Why then has Molek taken possession of Gad, And his people settled in its cities? 2 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; And it will become a desolate heap, And her towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,” Says the Lord. 3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah, Put on sackcloth and mourn, And move about inside the walls; For Molek will go into exile Together with his priests and his leaders.”

Ezekiel 21:20 “20 You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.” This predicts that Babylon would conquer Rabbah and Judah on the same campaign. But Rabbah’s ultimate destruction comes later:

Ezekiel 25:1–7 “1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them, 3 and say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says: “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the people of the east as a possession, and they will set up their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” 6 ‘For this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, and have rejoiced with all the malice in your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have reached out with My hand against you and I will give you as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you. So you will know that I am the Lord.””

Zephaniah 2:8–11 “8 “I have heard the taunting of Moab And the abusive speech of the sons of Ammon, With which they have taunted My people And boasted against their territory. 9 “Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of armies, The God of Israel, “Moab will assuredly be like Sodom, And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah— Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines, And a permanent desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them, And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.” 10 This they will have in return for their arrogance, because they have taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies. 11 The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.”

Rabbah was a frequent site of conflict between the Romans and the Persians. It’s final destruction came in 63 BC by Rome and the Ammonites lost their identity. But Rabbah continued to be populated then depopulated throughout history. It’s currently Amman, Jordan, which is one of the most populated cities in the area.

Moab

History is intertwined with Ammon. Both come from Lot. Both Have their own territory outside the Promised Land. Both are forbidden from joining the Lord’s Assembly. Both rejected Israel during the Exodus. Ammon worshipped Molek and Moab worshipped Chemosh, but both were fire gods that demanded human sacrifice. Both were haters of Israel. Destruction was prophesied to both. Both people groups are extinct.

The Moabites hired Balaam to curse Israel during the Exodus.

Moses died in Moab.

Ruth was a Moabite, making David (and Jesus) part Moabite.

David entrusted his parents to Moab 1 Samuel 22:3–5 “3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” 4 Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 But Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went into the forest of Hereth.” But David ended up conquering them later 2 Samuel 8:2 “2 And He defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and a full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.” They are perpetual enemies after that.

Prophecies agains Moab start with Isaiah 25:10–12 “10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, And Moab will be trampled down in his place As straw is trampled down in the water of a manure pile. 11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands. 12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low, and throw to the ground, to the dust.”

Ezekiel 25:1-7 was again Amon, but 8-11 is against Ammon, Moab, and Edom

Ezekiel 25:8–11 “8 ‘The Lord God says this: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’ 9 therefore, behold, I am going to deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim; 10 and I will give it as a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the people of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. 11 So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord.””

Zeph 2:8-11 which we read earlier says Moab will become like Sodom: a “permanent desolation.”

The Moabites were conquered and assimilated by the Babylonians, while the Ammonites persisted a little further into Rome.

Prophecies Fulfilled?

It’s hard to say. Ezekiel and especially Zephaniah predict “I will eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you.” and “they will be a permanent desolation like Sodom and Gomorrah.” The Ammonites were exterminated from the land, and there were times in history that Rabbah was a desolation, but right now it’s thriving. Should we expect Amman to be destroyed in the future to satisfy Zephaniah’s “permanent desolation” prophecy, or should we water down the definition of “permanent” to mean centuries? The prophecy of Amos was definitely fulfilled, since it merely predicted a destruction of Rabbah and an exile of her kings, which happened by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, and Arabs.

The Moabites were exterminated from their land, and Kerioth was destroyed so completely that it doesn’t exist anymore and we aren’t sure where it is, though most believe it is the archaeological site of el-Qaryat in Jordan.

Reasons for Judgement

Ammon “ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their borders.” This is obviously a reference to gratuitous violence in war. Similar to Syria, war must be justified and conducted in a godly manner. I’m reminded of Paul, who never preached anything disrespectful to the Gentiles. Other examples might be enjoying the freedom in Christ we have with food and drink, but not deliberately offending people by eating cows or drinking alcohol. Other reasons for judgment are seemingly Ammon’s attempt to remove Israel from the earth.

Moab “burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.” Again, a reference to gratuitous violence, but this seems more of a prideful boast over your foes and a possible reference to child sacrifice by fire. 2 Kings 3:26–27 “26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. 27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great anger came upon Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.”

Some believe this means burning the king alive, others that this means they dug up a dead king’s bones and basically melted them to lime which could be used as plaster in houses. This is like Muslims destroying temples and using the idols to construct the stairs on their mosques. The ending of WW1 and WW2. Death of Osama bin Laden. I think of Jesus and Stephen forgiving their killers, while the Maccabees boasted in their own resurrection at the time of their deaths. Forgiving others rather than harboring hatred is applicable here, like when we discussed Edom.

Summary of Prophecies Against the Nations

Overwhelmingly the judgements are for how they treated Israel.

All prophecies have already been fulfilled. All gods have been defeated. However, two extended prophecies (Tyre and Ammon) are debatable on if they are completed or not.

At this point, the Hebrews must be celebrating the “roar of the Lord from Zion”. However, remember that Amos never calls God “the God of Israel,” foreshadowing that God will turn is wrath towards Israel/Judah.

The rise and fall of nations

Applications

Those who bless Israel will be blessed

The law is written on their hearts

Balancing celebration of God’s victory over his foes vs. forgiving them

Respecting the people we evangelize. Paul’s five characteristics: 1. Sympathy with hearers

2. Courage in preaching the entire gospel

3. Respect

4. Confidence in the truth

5. Expectation of a response

Do not gloat over our enemies