Amos 4

V1

Amos 4:1 “1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who exploit the poor, who oppress the needy, And say to their husbands, “Bring now, that we may drink!””

Bashan: Deuteronomy 32:14 (this is talking about how God blessed Israel but Israel rejected God) “14 Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats, With the best of the wheat; And you drank wine of the blood of grapes.” Or Psalm 22:12 “12 Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.”

Two major interpretations: the cows of Bashan are wives of corrupt Israelite leaders or it’s a gender-slam by calling the corrupt Israelite male leaders effeminate. “husband” in Hebrew is adone or “master.” The same word comes in v2 for “The Lord God.” So, Amos is saying “you say to your master bring something to drink but the real master will bring you fishhooks.”

Most translations use “husband” and I think that’s correct, meaning this verse is directed at wives. Notice it says the wives are “cows” and they “oppress the poor” and “crush the needy”. But how can women, who hold no real positions of power, oppress the poor and crush the needy? Because they command/nag/poke their husbands to do those things so they can buy wine. Controversial opinions expressed here are that another sin of the wives is commanding their husbands and/or sins of the husband are taking a servant’s position regarding his wife. Amos scornfully calls them “masters” but they are actually servants.

God holds women accountable for their sin. Compare with Nazi wives who would have never been hung as war criminals after WW2.

One commentator says “When the women of the land sink to such a low moral and degraded state, God’s judgment must fall.” Another says “Women have ever been the final guardians of morals, fashions and standards.” I don’t agree with this. The Bible never claims women have any type of moral superiority over men. This verse says women can’t hide from judgment behind their husbands.

V2

Amos 4:2 “2 The Lord God has sworn by His holiness, “For behold, the days are coming upon you When they will take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.”

God swears by his holiness, and that will be a factor in vv12-13. The emphasis is that he is holy and we need to be. God’s holiness is part of he being, his existence. Swearing by his holiness, rather than his temple, or his covenant, or the law, or his word, or something like that, implies an insurmountable separation between us and God and a final, authoritative standard of justice.

On the importance of God swearing: Hebrews 6:13–18 “13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.” 15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.”

Possible this verse is literal. “fishhooks” is a debatable translation and could reference rings in the nose of cows.

No idea where Harmon is, or if it even references a real place. This is the only use of the Hebrew word in all the Bible.

VV4-5

Amos 4:4–5 “4 “Enter Bethel and do wrong; In Gilgal multiply wrongdoing! Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days. 5 “Offer a thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened, And proclaim voluntary offerings, make them known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,” Declares the Lord God.”

They shouldn’t enter Bethel or Gilgal, but Jerusalem. Bethel had history with Abraham and Jacob’s dream, Gilgal was where they erected 12 stones after crossing the Jordan. But God never condoned offering tithes and sacrifices outside of Jerusalem. Bethel especially was problematic because Jeroboam established a golden calf there. Dan (where the other golden calf was) borders the Mediterranean Sea, and Gilgal obviously borders the Jordan River. Interestingly, all three of these places border the kingdom of Judah.

You become what you worship: cows.

Some major interpretations:

Israel follows the sacrificial law but not he social law. They display love for God but have no love for neighbor. They are pharisaical. They follow the public law but not the private law.

Israel is actually not following the law: tithe every three days but Deuteronomy says every three years; Leviticus 2:11 forbids leaven in grain offering but 7:12-13 commands “cakes of leavened bread” with the “sacrifice of thanksgiving.”

Israel is thanking God for their prosperity but not sacrificing for their sins.

Israel is following the law correctly but God’s upset that it’s in Bethel and Gilgal rather than Jerusalem.

These verses are explicitly referencing the corrupt leaders whose tithes and sacrifices would have been stolen from the crushed and needy, meaning God doesn’t care if you’re following the sacrificial law correctly.

I believe Israel is following the sacrificial law publicly but not the social law. They value religious displays as just another means of asserting superiority over the crushed and needy. Yes, their sacrifices and tithes are stolen, which is insulting to both God and the needy. Israel “loves” God but does not love their neighbor (which means they don’t really love God). They are in no way holy like God just mentioned.

Israel seems to love outward displays of religion, but violates the law when it comes to justice for your neighbor. It’s a pharisaical religiosity. They follow the sacrificial display of the law but not the social parts of the law. They follow the public law but not the private law. They are in no way holy like God. We should obey God as much privately as we do publicly. We should love our neighbors like we love God. We should obey all of God’s word, not just the parts we like.

“so you love to do” is dangerous. It implies that Israelites worship the way they love to do rather than the way God says to. We should be careful that we worship God as he directs, rather than just what feels good to us. Examples today: concerts, self-help preaching, ignoring biblical values on things like homosexuality, corporate vs church structure, etc.

VV6-11

Amos 4:6 “6 “But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.” Divine punishment 1: famine.

Amos 4:7–8 (summarized) “… Then I would send rain on one city, But on another city I would not send rain … Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.” Could be where Jesus gets his sermon material. Divine punishment 2: drought.

Amos 4:9 “9 “I struck you with scorching wind and mildew; The caterpillar was devouring Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.” Divine punishment 3 and 4: blight and locusts

Amos 4:10 “10 “I sent a plague among you as in Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses, And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.” Divine punishment 5 and 6: plague and military defeat

Amos 4:11 “11 “I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a log snatched from a fire; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.” Divine punishment 7: natural disaster

Every one of these punishments was promised by Moses:

Famine: Deuteronomy 28:47–48 “47 “Since you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.” Leviticus 26:26–29 “26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied. 27 ‘Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I for My part will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.”

Drought: Deuteronomy 28:23–24 “23 The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.” Leviticus 26:19 “19 I will also break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.”

Blight: Deuteronomy 28:22 “22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with the sword, with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.” Leviticus 26:20 “20 Your strength will be consumed uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.”

Locusts/caterpillars/worms: Deuteronomy 28:38–39 “38 “You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because the locust will devour it. 39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it.” Deuteronomy 28:42 “42 The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground.”

Plague: Deuteronomy 28:21 “21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it.” Leviticus 26:25 “25 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 a plague among you, so that you will be handed over to the enemy.”

Military defeat: Deuteronomy 28:25 “25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” Leviticus 26:25 “25 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 a plague among you, so that you will be handed over to the enemy.”

Natural disaster, Sodom and Gomorrah: Deuteronomy 29:22–25 “22 “Now the future generation, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say, 23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, burned debris, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows on it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’ 24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done all this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 26:31–35 “31 I will turn your cities into ruins as well and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins. 34 ‘Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. 35 ‘All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.”

Solomon also promised conditional restoration from them them: 1 Kings 8:33 “33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and implore Your favor in this house,” 1 Kings 8:35 “35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,” 1 Kings 8:37 “37 “If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy harasses them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,”

“Prepare to meet your God”

Amos 4:12 “12 “Therefore so I will do to you, Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, Israel.””

God hauntingly does not actually say what he’s going to do to Israel.

Warning, threat, not a blessing. A very small number of commentators thought Amos was switching to God’s grace here and that meeting God would be gracious. I don’t see it. Should really bring us back to the Gospel. If God asks “why should I let you in” just point to Jesus and don’t say a word.

Look at other uses of “prepare:” Proverbs 21:31 “31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But the victory belongs to the Lord.” Jeremiah 46:14 “14 “Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’” Ezekiel 38:7 “7 “Be ready, and be prepared, you and all your contingents that are assembled around you, and be a guard for them.” Nahum 2:3–5 “3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red, The warriors are dressed in scarlet, The chariots are fitted with flashing steel When he is prepared to march, And the juniper spears are brandished. 4 The chariots drive wildly in the streets, They rush around in the public squares; Their appearance is like torches, They drive back and forth like lightning flashes. 5 He remembers his officers; They stumble in their advance, They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up.”

Most likely, “prepare to meet your God” is a military summons.

In the next chapter Amos will describe how to prepare to meet God.

V13

Amos 4:13 “13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, And declares to a person what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The Lord God of armies is His name.”

What do we learn about God?

He is powerful (omnipotence)

He is sovereign

He is the creator

He knows our thoughts (mention evil spirts here because they can’t) (omniscience). Alternative translation is that God reveals his own thoughts to us, but I’m not sure what that implies in the middle of a verse all about God’s power and majesty.

He is scary

He is everywhere (omnipresence)

He is the God of hosts (armies include heavenly, earthly, and possibly cosmic). Usually meant to be comforting in that he can defend Israel, but in this case it’s terrifying because he can destroy Israel

He is the God of all, not just Israel

This is the God Israel will meet. The attributes of God that used to inspire trust now inspire terror.

Sins done:

Oppress the poor

Crush the needy

Possibly drinking or commanding husbands, but definitely enticing husbands to sin.

Worshipping with a false heart, possibly not obeying the law

Not returning to God

Punishments given:

Famine

Drought

Blight

Locusts

Plague

Defeat

Natural Disaster

Punishments promised:

Carried away by fishhooks

God will visit you

Applications and Discussion

How do we worship God according to what we love to do rather than what God instructs us to do?

Do we love God yet neglect to love our neighbor? Is our private obedience to God as strong as our public obedience to God?

You become what you worship. If you do not act like God, then can that reveal an idol in your life (like our lies possibly protecting idols)? Examples could be use of money (Mammon), idolizing success in work/ministry, gossip can idolize approval from others, self-image idolatry like fame can impact how we relate to donors, idols of pride can create bitterness or continued anger in our marriages

God holds women directly responsible for their sin.

Reminder of how Jesus saves us from God’s wrath and allows us to enter his presence with boldness and confidence. This goes beyond just forgiveness of sins, it includes justification and righteousness.

Next week Amos will give actual instructions on how to prepare to meet God, so I think we’ll save the discussion “prepare to meet your God” for next week. Today we’ll just remember our hopelessness without Jesus against the holiness of God.