Amos 3:13-15: what God punishes
“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 house shall come to an end.” Amos 3:13-15
God calls Egypt and Philistia once again to testify against Israel. God’s witnesses to Israel’s crimes are stubborn, rebelious nations, but they can point out the crimes of Israel well. God tells his witnesses what he will punish. Of all the mistakes Israel has made, of all the ways they have lived, of all the deeds they have done, what is God going to make sure he punishes?
(1) their false religion. He is going after their altars. Their worship is infuriating to Him (Amos 5:21). It isn’t real worship of the true God. It isn’t birthed out of a passion for the true God. Instead it has been shaped and tweaked to accommodate their own desires, many of which are blatantly sinful. And their worship is another expression of their oppression of the poor. So God is going after their alters. He is going to tear them down. The horns of the altars, which are a symbol of strength and pride, will be smashed and broken, laying on the ground. Their false gods will be proved impotent. Their man-made creations will be put away. God hates this false religion, and he will see to its destruction.
(2) their riches that oppress the poor. He is going after their extra houses. The winter and summer house. One would face one direction to be warmer in winter, and the other would face another direction to be cooler in summer. Israel was beginning to have more of these…by oppressing the poor. They had even built some houses of ivory, which would have been massively expensive…by oppressing the poor. They had sections of great houses, nicer homes, luxurious homes that stood in contrast to the smaller, simpler homes of the poor. These neighborhoods were built by oppressing the poor. In fact, this is an early glimpse of a sociological problem we will fight today. Neighborhoods mainly for the poor and neighborhoods mainly for the rich, with a thick separating wall between them. This leads to resentment, superiority, crime, pain, glass-ceiling upward mobility, and all sorts of other problems. Consider how Israel contributed to this problem:
In the age prior to Jeroboam II, the houses in Israel’s cities were roughly the same size. But archaeologists find a change starting in the eighth century b.c. – ancient cities like Tirzah have a neighborhood of large, expensive houses and another neighborhood of small, crowded structures, smaller than the houses from previous years. The larger houses are filled with the marks of prosperity, and the oppressive rich of Israel thought they could find safety there – but God’s judgment came against those houses as well, just as Amos promised.
Amos 3:12: you get what you asked for
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 a part of a bed.”
Sarcasm. God Almighty is using sarcasm to make his point. The first time I considered/read this verse I had no idea what was going on. It just sounded bad to me. I had this mental image of a shepherd beating down a lion, yanking his sheep from his jaws, and bringing the sheep to safety. But sometimes the shepherd doesn’t get there in time or someties the shepherd doesn’t win. So he can only manage to rescue the legs of the sheep or the ear of the sheep. That is all that is left of the sheep. And with that mental image in my mind I kept wondering why God would just “pull out” the corner of a couch or a part of a bed. It didn’t make sense to me. What was God saying?
Then I remembered sarcasm. Not make-fun-of-you sarcasm, but you-need-this-to-understand-your-blindness sarcasm. That is what God is doing here. Many of the people in Israel who dwell in Samaria would totally get this when they first hear it. They would have a mental image of a shepherd rescuing the sheep, only to salvage a leg or two. And they would begin to wonder what could be salvaged from their life? What would remain? When it came time to grasp for what was really important, what was really important? When death was on the doorstep, what do you cling to? It is the same decision that evacuees have to face when a hurricane is barreling towards them. What do you grab out of your house that means the most to you?
What is the answer for these Israelites? Luxury. A couch, which was top notch luxury. A place to recline, chill out, talk about how good things are, impress your friends, and forget about the poor who have to sit on the ground. Luxury. An extra bed, which was great luxury. A bed to keep around in case the other bed doesn’t feel so soft tonight. Luxury.
God is saying: “Don’t you get it? The only thing worth saving about you is your luxury goods? And couches and beds don’t impress me one bit!”
But this is what the Israelites want, what they asked for. More than anything else, they want their luxury. So God, quite sarcastically and quite painfully, is telling them, “Well, you get what you asked for.”
Amos 3:9-11: a holy God uses unholy judges
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: “And adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered.” Amos 3:9-11
God sends an invitation out to Ashdod – those hated Philistines – and to Egypt – one of Israel nastiest enemies to come and judge Israel. The Philistines, who inhabited the strongholds of Ashdod, are long-time enemies of Israel, fighting against them, stealing from them, ridiculing them, and being a general pain in the neck. The Philistines are known for their perversion, wickedness, angry might, fury, and injustice. The men and women of Egypt are also long-time enemies of Israel, going all the way back to when they treated the Hebrews unjustly. They, too, are viewed as wicked and cruel. And, yet, God calls these people to be the judges against Israel.
Israel – who has received God’s special revelation, God’s holy prophets, God’s written law – has grown to such a wicked place that unjust nations can call them out on it. Unjust, cruel nations are able to see the wickedness in Israel. That means it’s bad. Israel is so blind to their own wickedness that even terribly unjust nations can see it clearly. God tells these unjust nations to “see the tumults within her.” What are those tumults? Is it an economy in shambles? No. Is it a lack of religious fervor? No. Is it a split people who can’t get along with each other? No. Is it a lack of leaders who are willing to rule them? No. Instead, it is a successful economy built on injustice and oppression. It is surging religious fervor built on self-centered pleasure. It is a well-united people coming together for all the wrong reasons. It is an abundance of leaders who are greedy for gain. The system is based on greed and ignorance.
God’s word, specifically, are: “See the oppressed in her midst. They do not know how to do right.”
Isn’t true that many times we need outside observers to point out to us the oppressed. By our own doing we have mastered the art of neglecting the oppressed – that is how they got to being oppressed. Now God must bring in unjust, unruly, cruel people to even get us to take notice of the oppressed. They can see the oppressed in our midst; certainly we should be able to see them, too.
Israel was guilty of storing up violence and robbery in their strongholds, even in the midst of their successful and surging economic and religious system. Their wealth and prosperity was the death blow to their love for the poor. Their wealth and prospertiy was the death blow to the sense of kindness and patience; they turned to violence and robbery.
God tells the Philistines and the Egyptians and the Israelites what the consequence is for their failure to care for the oppressed. The consequence is that they, as a whole people, will become the oppressed. An enemy will surround their land (on the rim of the mountains of Samaria) and bring down their defenses. Right now Philistia and Egypt are on the rim of the mountains of Samaria, taking notice of the oppression within. But soon it will be Babylon on the rim of the mountains of Samaria, charging down the hills to wipe out the defenses and strongholds of the oppressors. Then the leaders and rulers of Israel will learn, too, what it is like to be oppressed. Just like the last defenses of the poor have been strategically removed, so will it be for the whole nation of Israel. And just like the last strongholds of the poor were plundered (Amos 2:6-8), so will it be for the whole nation of Israel.
