AMOS LESSON 2


     We will begin this lesson in Amos 2:1 "Thus saith the LORD; For
three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away [the
punishment] thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom
into lime:"

     The Moabites were descended from Lot and his daughter. They, and
the Ammonites, were not friends with Israel. They were very vicious in
some of their battles. They were blood related to Israel, but they
were enemies. It was the Moabites that hired Baalam to curse the
Israelites. II Kings 23:16 "And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the
sepulchres that [were] there in the mount, and sent, and took the
bones out of the sepulchres, and burned [them] upon the altar, and
polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God
proclaimed, who proclaimed these words."  God will not allow such sin
to go unnoticed.

     Amos 2:2 "But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour
the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting,
[and] with the sound of the trumpet:"

     The following companion Scripture shows that God gives the same
message to more than one prophet. Jeremiah 48:41 "Kerioth is taken,
and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in
Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."
The fire that came on Moab was in war. The trumpet was blowing, and
they were destroyed. Kirioth is a city. It could even be a double
city, since it is a plural word.

     Amos 2:3 "And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof,
and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD."

     "Judge" was translated from shophet, which could, also, mean
king.  The king and his sons will all be slain.

     Amos 2:4  "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:"

     Judah's enemies were dealt with first, but God does not overlook
the sins of Judah either. The main reason, that their enemies had been
punished by God, was because of their cruelty toward God's people. We
see that Judah was punished for her unfaithfulness to God. They
worshipped false gods along with their worship of the One True God,
and He was jealous. We studied in Hosea about the harlot wife of God.
His chosen people were unto Him as a wife. God had given them His law.
They had not kept that law. They did not keep His commandments either.
They had become liars. They sought the false gods of the heathen
around them. God gave them ample time to repent, and they did not.

     Amos 2:5 "But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour
the palaces of Jerusalem."

     We studied in some other prophetic books, how the Babylonians
took Jerusalem and Judah and burned them. Jeremiah dealt with this
more fully than Amos. Jeremiah 17:27 "But if ye will not hearken unto
me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering
in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a
fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."

     Amos 2:6  "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;"

     This is speaking of the judges taking bribes and condemning the
innocent. The sandals were very important in their land. For a man to
take your shoes, was cruel and unusual punishment.

     Amos 2:7 "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:"

     It is difficult to determine who the maid belonged to, but the
following Scriptures cover the sin. Leviticus 18:8 "The nakedness of
thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it [is] thy father's
nakedness." Leviticus 18:15 "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of
thy daughter in law: she [is] thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover
her nakedness." The needy were to be cared for, and not abused. We see
in the following Scriptures, they did sin against the poor. Job 24:4
"They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide
themselves together." Job 24:10 "They cause [him] to go naked without
clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry;"  These
people have rebelled against God and His law.

     Amos 2:8 "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."

     We see they had no compassion at all for the poor. They took the
things away from the poor, that were necessary for them to live, and
used them. They did not need these things, but they took them from the
poor anyway. The poor had pledged them, and the rich took the clothes
away. Notice, the word god is not capitalized. This is speaking of
their worship of false gods. They were a greedy self-indulgent
society.  They hated the authority of God.

     Amos 2:9  "Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height
[was] like the height of the cedars, and he [was] strong as the oaks;
yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath."

     These had been God's people, and He had been with them in battle
against the Amorites. The Amorites were like giants, yet God helped
Israel defeat the Amorites. God had been faithful to them in every
way.  They had not been faithful to God. They disobeyed God, and ran
after false gods.

     Amos 2:10 "Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led
you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the
Amorite."

     God had miraculously delivered them from the rule of Egypt, and
fed, and protected them for 40 years in the wilderness. They had need
for nothing. He even took the land from the evil Amorites, and gave it
to them. They are a very ungrateful people.

     Amos 2:11 "And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your
young men for Nazarites. [Is it] not even thus, O ye children of
Israel? saith the LORD."

     They were God's chosen people. They were to be the religious
standard for all the heathen nations. God communicated with them
regularly. God had endowed some of their people to speak to them the
wishes of God. On occasion, God had spoken directly to them Himself.
"Nazarites" are those who have taken a special vow to God. They had
paid no attention to the messages these prophets had brought them. The
prophets were chosen of God for this special purpose, and were
actually speaking words that God placed in their mouths. The Nazarite
was chosen to live an example for the others to follow. The question
here, is saying have you forgotten all of this?

     Amos 2:12 "But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded
the prophets, saying, Prophesy not."

     One of the requirements of the Nazarite vow was, they were to
drink no strong drink. They tried to tempt the Nazarites to be like
them. The holy life the Nazarite lived was a constant reminder of
their sins. They had ears to hear, but they paid no attention to the
messages the true prophets brought them from God.

     Amos 2:13 "Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed
[that is] full of sheaves."

     The heaviness this has placed on God's heart, is almost more than
He could bear. They have greatly disappointed God.

     Amos 2:14 "Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and
the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty
deliver himself:"

     There will be no escape for the punishment God must bring to them
for their sinful ways. There is no place to run and hide from God who
is angry. Their strength was in the Lord, and now that He has left,
their strength left with Him.

     Amos 2:15 "Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and [he
that is] swift of foot shall not deliver [himself]: neither shall he
that rideth the horse deliver himself."

     There will be no fight in them. The following Scriptures shows
the futility of trying to run, or fight, without God's help. Psalms
33:16 "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty
man is not delivered by much strength."  Psalms 33:17 "An horse [is] a
vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great
strength."  We can take a lesson from this. To depend on one's self,
or the things we possess, is an action in futility. We must depend
upon the God who created us.

     Amos 2:16 "And [he that is] courageous among the mighty shall
flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD."

     Even if a person were to get away in such a heated battle, it is
certain they could carry nothing with them. He would have to leave all
behind to hurry away. Again I say, to depend on things of this earth
to help, brings destruction. Colossians 3:1 "If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God." Colossians 3:2 "Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth."  To depend on things of the earth,
brings heartache and failure, as these Israelites found out. Their
only help was God.































                          Amos 2 Questions


1.  What terrible thing had Moab done against Edom?
2.  Who were these Moabites descended from?
3.  They were blood related to Israel, but they were __________.
4.  What had the Moabites hired Baalam to do?
5.  What did God send on Moab?
6.  Quote Jeremiah chapter 48 verse 41.
7.  What does the word "judge" in verse 3, probably, mean?
8.  Why had God determined to punish Judah?
9.  Why had God punished their enemies?
10. They sought the ________ _______ of the heathen around them.
11. Who took Jerusalem and Judah?
12. Quote Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 27.
13. The Israelites had done what terrible sin?
14. What is verse 6 speaking of?
15. Give the two laws in Leviticus, that forbid a man and his son
    sleeping with the same maid?
16. What did God say, that sin did to the name of God?
17. Quote Job chapter 24 verse 4.
18. They had no ______________ for the poor.
19. Why is god not capitalized in verse 8?
20. They were a _________ _____________ society.
21. The Amorite was so tall, they were compared to __________.
22. How many years did He lead them through the wilderness?
23. God had raised up ______________, and of their young men for
    ____________.
24. What was the prophet to speak?
25. What was a "Nazarite"?
26. They had given the Nazarites ________ to drink.
27. They had ears to hear, but they did not ________ the message of
    the prophet.
28. What heaviness is spoken of in verse 13?
29. Where can they escape to?
30. Quote Psalms chapter 33 verse 17?
31. The courageous shall flee away ________.
32. Quote Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 and 2.
33. To depend on things of the earth, brings _________ and ________.