Amos 2:4-5

“While Amos was thus winning his audience’s attention to his message, it is probably that few of them gave attention to the fact that the review of the encircling nations was also a noose of judgment about to tighten round their own throats.”

The surprise that Judah must experience at this turn.

God shows no partiality. Compare with Jeremiah 9:26 “Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.””

Romans 2:12 “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;”

Judah only mentioned in four verses in Amos:

Amos 1:2 “The Lord roars from Zion, And from Jerusalem He utters His voice; And the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn, And the summit of Carmel dries up.””

Amos 6:1 “Woe to those who are carefree in Zion, And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria”

Amos 7:12 “Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee to the land of Judah; and eat bread there and do your prophesying there!”

Amos 9:11 “On that day I will raise up the fallen shelter of David, And wall up its gaps; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old;”

But 3:1 seems to indicate that “Israel” means all tribes throughout Amos. Amos 3:1 “Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt:”

Law and statues means general teaching of elders and prophets, technical direction of the priests, general duty of the law, or specific directions of the law; statutes means permanent

Lies and Idolatry

“but their lies have led them astray, those after which their father walked.” sometimes translated “but they have been led astray by the same lies after which their ancestors walked.” Noticed the possessive pronoun “their lies” vs “the same lies”. Look at the variations in these translations and whether Judah was innocently led astray or wilfully lied.

NASB “their lies also have led them astray, Those which their fathers followed.”

ESV “their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.”

NRSV “but they have been led astray by the same lies after which their ancestors walked.”

NIV “they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed.”

NKJV “Their lies led them astray, Lies which their fathers followed.”

CSB “The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray.”

How can my lies lead my ancestors astray? Because it’s the same lie my ancestors followed, but when I follow it it becomes my lie.

“walking after” is standard expression for idolatry, so we should consider “their lies” to be the idols they worship. Can we consider every lie we tell to be a form of idolatry? If I lie for a purpose, then is that purpose my idol?

Lying to cover up something wrong that I did = opposite of confession, repentance = pride.

Lying to convice someone to do something you want them to = manipulation = power.

Lying to absolve yourself of reponsibility = laziness.

Lying to make yourself look better = acceptance, people-pleasing.

Lying to justify sin = comfort, laziness, or deceit, self-righteousness.

Psalm 119:163 “163 I hate and loathe falsehood, But I love Your Law.”

Do not lie to each other Ephesians 4:25 “Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another.” Colossians 3:9 “Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices,”

Idols do not deceive. Our lies deceive. 1 Corinthians 8:4 “we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.”

Misc

Crazy to me that “rejecting the law of the Lord” is equal to the other wrongs the other nations did.

“after which their ancestors walked” Notice the contrast with religions like Hinduism/Buddhism that emphasize what the ancestors did. Our need to question tradition.