Sunday School Lesson
Lesson: Amos 2:4-8;
Golden Text: “Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked” (Amos 2:4).
I. INTRODUCTION. Because God is righteous, He demands righteousness from men. When they don’t display it, He judges them for their disobedience to His laws. Amos didn’t leave those to whom he prophesied in doubt as to why judgment was coming. He gave the reasons at the outset, not in vague terms, but in indictments for specific acts they had committed. He first directed attention to the judgments that would fall on some of Israel’s traditional enemies---the Syrians, Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites. But Amos did not spare Judah and Israel from his condemnations, and the major part of his prophecy focuses on their sins. This week’s lesson assures us that the spiritually privileged as was Judah and Israel, do not escape judgment.Indeed, their judgment is more severe.
II. BACKGROUND FOR THE LESSON. Amos was a shepherd and fig grower from the southern kingdom of Judah, but he prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel (see Amos 7:14). He was a native of Tekoa (see Amos 1:1), a town of Judah about six miles south of Bethlehem and ten miles from Jerusalem. The Lord called Amos to leave his native Judah and preach in the northern kingdom of Israel (see Amos 7:14-15) during the reign of Jeroboam II who was king of Israel from 793-753 B.C. Jeroboam II expanded Israel’s boundaries and brought material prosperity to the nation (see II Kings 14:23-29). At about the same time, Judah’s king Uzziah also expanded the borders of the southern kingdom (see II Chronicles 26:1-10). However, as God watched Israel, He was not pleased. Instead of justice, He saw injustice. The people ignored the laws and let temporal lusts determine their life-style. Religion abounded in the land, but truly changed hearts were missing. The religious rituals offended God, who demanded exclusive loyalty. The people were oblivious to God and unaware of their imminent danger from His wrath. Amos pictured God as a crouching lion that roars when leaping upon its prey (see Amos 1:2; Hosea 11:10; Joel 3:16). The people only cared that their kingdom was secure and prosperous. Before he pronounced judgment on God’s people, Amos pronounced judgment upon the surrounding pagan or idolatrous nations such as Syria (Damascus), Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. These nations were punished for committing sins against God’s people (see Amos 1:3-2:3). Then he turned his attention to God’s people, Judah and Israel who had committed sins against God. This is where our lesson begins.
III. JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED UPON JUDAH (Amos 2:4-5)
A. Judah indicted for rejecting God’s law (Amos 2:4). After pronouncing judgment on the Moabites, in our first verse Amos said “Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked.” The phrase “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four” is an expression used to refer to numerous or excessive sins without giving the exact number. It’s the same thing as saying Judah has sinned again and again. It does not represent the exact number of Judah’s sins, but is a figurative way of saying Judah had committed a large number of crimes against God. It was “the Lord” or Jehovah, the Eternal Living One who declared for all of the sins of Judah “I will not turn away the punishment thereof.” This means that God’s judgment upon the southern kingdom of Judah was irreversible for God knew that His people would not repent. God gave two reasons or two indictments as to why He would judge Judah. First, He said “because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments.” The word “despised” here means to “reject” or “ignore.” The people of Judah had rejected and ignored God’s revealed “law” (see Jeremiah 6:19; Ezekiel 20:24) as if it were not worth taking notice of, nor had anything valuable in it. In so doing, they also despised the Lawmaker Himself. God’s people knew what He wanted, but they still rejected His “commandments.” In other words, the people of Judah had no conscience of God’s “commandments,” and were not concerned about them. God promised that He would judge His people if they ever blatantly refused to obey His commandments (see Leviticus 26:14-17, 43). God’s “law” and His “commandments” are synonymous or the same thing. The second indictment was because “their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked.” The words “their lies” refer to the idols that had replaced the Lord in Judah. These images had “caused them to err” because an idol god was a teacher of lies (see Habakkuk 2:18-19). God’s people knew this but still followed idols “after the which their fathers have walked” which meant that they were led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors. Now they were following in the footsteps of their forefathers who perished with idols, instead of heeding the warnings (see Exodus 32:21-29; Jeremiah 16:11-12).
B. Judah’s punishment for rejecting God’s law (Amos 2:5). In this verse God goes on to say “But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” This is the same punishment Amos prophesied for the surrounding nations. Judah’s sins were as many as the sins of other nations, and God puts them all in the same boat (see Jeremiah 9:25-26), so the sentence is also the same, for God “will send a fire upon Judah” just as He said He would upon Damascus (see Amos 1:4), Gaza (see Amos 1:7), Tyre or Tyrus (see Amos 1:10), Edom (see Amos 1:11-12), Ammon (see Amos 1:13-14), and Moab (see Amos 2:2). But the sin charged to Judah is different from all the rest. The other nations were indicted for wrongs done to men, but Judah is indicted for wrongs done to God. This prophecy was fulfilled in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians invaded Judah and burned down the temple, the palaces, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem (see II Kings 25:1-9; II Chronicles 36:17-19; Hosea 8:14; Jeremiah 39:1-8; 52:12-13).
IV. JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED UPON ISRAEL (Amos 2:6-8)
A. Exploitation of the poor and sexual immorality (Amos 2:6-7).
1. (vs. 6). Now in this verse, Amos turns his attention toward the northern kingdom of Israel. He said “Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.” God began his indictment of Israel the same way He did with Judah and the other nations saying “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.” As mentioned before, this was God’s way of declaring that Israel had sinned time and time again. Just like Judah, God knew that His people in the northern kingdom would not repent so the punishment was inevitable. Here, the Lord also gave two indictments against Israel and they both had to do with wrongs done against the poor. First, the people “sold the righteous for silver.” This no doubt refers to the corruption in the court system. Judges were bribed into condemning “righteous” or innocent people after hearing false testimony (see I Kings 21:8-14) which was against God’s law (see Deuteronomy 16:19). The word “sold” describes the enslavement of Israel’s poor by the wealthy class. If a poor person borrowed the smallest amount to buy food for his family, the creditor and judge worked out a deceitful plan to enslave the “righteous” or guiltless person who owed the debt. This too, was against God’s law (see Leviticus 25:39-41). The phrase “and the poor for a pair of shoes” does not mean that a judge was bribed for the trivial or small price of a pair of sandals, but that the poor were being enslaved for a trivial amount---the cost of sandals (see Exodus 23:6).Very often a rich creditor would not allow a poor person time to pay off even the smallest loan. To get what was owed at once, the debtor was forced to sell himself into slavery which was also against God’s law (see Leviticus 25:39-41).
2. (vs. 7). In this verse God continues to
say “That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and
turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the
same maid, to profane my holy name.” This is a
continuation of the previous verse with another indictment of how the wealthy
was treating the poor. God said that they “pant after the
dust of the earth on the head of the poor.” This
expression could be interpreted in more than one way. It could
mean that the wealthy were covetous enough to steal even the dust from the heads
of the poor if that was possible. It could also mean that men were
panting after their poor victims like dogs in pursuit of prey. The
problem presented in interpreting this phrase is that the word
“pant” can also mean “to crush” or “to trample.”
Some scholars interpret this as the wealthy trampling the heads of the
poor into the ground (see Amos 4:1). However, the context suggests
this more likely means that the oppression of the poor by the wealthy caused
them to put dust on their heads as a sign of grief and mourning (see II Samuel
1:2; Job 2:12). The phrase “and turn aside the way of the
meek” in the context refers to the road to justice and the fact that
the meek were denied justice causing them to suffer unfairly (see Amos
5:12). The justice system should have offered justice to the
oppressed, but was turned into an instrument of further oppression.
Still another indictment of Israel was that
“a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy
name.” The moral condition in Israel had deteriorated so
badly that fathers and sons were using the
same women for sexual purposes. It’s possible that Amos was
referring to the prostitution that was part of many false religions.
Baal-worshipping Canaanites dedicated a certain number of women to Baal
as temple prostitutes. They would be visited regularly by young
and old alike and sexual union with them was regarded as an act of
worship. However, such practices in Israel were abominable in
God’s sight (see Deuteronomy 23:17-18; Leviticus 18:6-18; II Samuel 16:22; I
Corinthians 5:1).God also
declared that this intentional immorality was done
“to profane my holy name.”
This is the opposite of sanctifying or setting apart God’s
name. In other words those who were involved in this blatant
immorality were intent on dragging the Lord’s name in the dirt, and making Him
no more special than the false gods the Israelites and their neighbors
worshipped. Since the pagans saw no difference between the
Israelites’ lives and their own, they also saw no difference between the Lord
and Baal. This insulted and mocked God (see II Samuel 12:14; II
Timothy 2:19).
B. Religious hypocrisy (Amos
2:8). Still referring to the rich in Israel who were
taking advantage of the poor and meek, in our final verse God says through the
prophet Amos “And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge
by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their
god.” Those who disgraced God’s name through oppression
and immorality didn’t stop being religious. When attending
religious festivals, God said that “they lay themselves down upon
clothes laid to pledge by every altar.” This was the
first area of religious hypocrisy. The
“clothes” or garments spoken of here were those the rich had
taken from the poor as a “pledge” or collateral for debts or
loans they owed. As part of the religious ritual, the rich would
spread these garments on the floor for padding and rest on them as if they were
their own. However, the law required that the garment be returned
to the debtor at sundown, since it was also his covering during the night (see
Exodus 22:25-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). But the rich violated this
provision of the law and God heard the cries of the deprived. The
“altar” with its sacrifices had ceased to have a spiritual
significance for these worshippers. A second area of religious
hypocrisy is seen in the indictment that “they drink the wine of the
condemned.” The word “condemned” refers
to those who were falsely fined (see Proverbs 17:26). However, the
Mosaic law did allow fines that were deserved (see Exodus 21:22).
The “wine of the condemned” refers to the
“wine” collected from those who were treated unjustly instead
of the fines they owed. This wine was consumed by these
extortionists in “the house of their god” or their places of
worship. Instead of assembling in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem,
they gathered at Beth-el and Dan where King Jeroboam set up golden calves for
Jews in the north to worship so that they wouldn’t return to Jerusalem to
worship (see I Kings 12:28-33; Amos 3:14). But God refused to be
identified with these two places of worship (see I Kings 13:1-3).
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