Amos 3:9-15
Posted by Dim Bulb on June 13, 2007
A prophetic threat proclaimed 3:9-12
Vs 9 Proclaim this in the strongholds of Ashdod, likewise in the strongholds of the land of Egypt, saying: “gather yourselves upon the mountain of Samaria, witness the great upheavals within her, and the oppression in the midst of her.”
Vs 10 For they do not know how to do what is right, says the Lord, treasuring in their strongholds extortion and theft.
During the reign of Omri, Samaria became the capitol of the Northern Kingdom, as such it could stand as a name for the entire kingdom, and such is the case here. As we have seen, the leaders of Israelite society had become corrupt, greedy, and oppressive towards the poor (2:6-8). Also, they had rejected the prophets and the nazarites (2:11-12), no doubt because these people troubled their already guilty consciences.
God tells the prophet to proclaim to the pagan stronghold (i.e. fortified city) of Ashdod and to the strongholds in the pagan nation of Egypt that they are to gather and witness the sins which Samaria/Israel has stored up in her strongholds.
There is intense irony here. In telling the prophet to “Proclaim” something to the pagans God uses the Hebrew word shama (shaw-mah) in what is known as its hiphil form in which it means to tell or proclaim something. This same word, in its Qal form means to listen or hear. In this later form the word was spoken everyday by devout Jews in their morning prayer known as the shema:
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength. Take these words to heart which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and when abroad, whether you are busy or at rest…” (Deut 6:4-7)
By “hearing the statutes and decrees” of the Lord the people were to give evidence of their “wisdom and intelligence to the nations” (see Deut 4:1-8); but this they have not done. As a result, pagan nations are called upon to witness the sins in Israel. The implication is that Israel has become as bad as, if not worse than, the pagans.
Vs 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, an enemy shall encompass your land, and shall take from you your strength, and plunder your stronholds.
A generation after the preaching of Amos this prophetic warning would become reality when, in 722 BC, Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom and sent the people into exile. Their cities, land, and the ill-gotten booty they “treasured in their strongholds” (vs 10) would be given over to an enemy, just as the prophet Moses had warned them (see Deut 28). The reference to lost strength repeats a warning from 2:14.
Vs 12 Thus says the Lord: As a shepherd grabs from the lion’s mouth two legs, or a portion of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be saved with a corner of a couch, or a portion of a bed.
Again we see the image of the lion. A shepherd who wrestles over a sheep with a lion who has taken it as prey is likely to come away with very little for his efforts. Against the Assyrian menace a remnant of the people of Israel will survive, but without their pampered luxury symbolized by the couch and bed. Their “good life” extorted from the poor will come to an end. (Note: in Assyrian art the king, and sometimes his army, is symbolized by a lion).
Vs 13 Here this and bear testimony against the house of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of Hosts:
Vs 14 For on the day I bring punishment upon Israel for his crimes I will also bring punishment upon the altars of Bethel, the horns of the altar I will cut off so that they fall to the ground.
Vs 15 The winter-house and the summer-house I will smite; and the ivory-houses shall perish, and their many houses shall be brought to an end, says the Lord.
It is uncertain to me whether God calls upon the prophet to bear witness in vs 13 or if it is Ashdod and Egypt who are being spoken to (see vs 9). The term House of Jacob could refer to the entire chosen people but here it must certainly refers to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom. This is borne out in vs 14 which speaks of the destruction of the altars at Bethel, which was in the Northern Kingdom.
Bethel was a sacred spot in Israel. Jacob himself, the father of the twelve tribes (see Gen 30-31) founded a sanctuary there (Gen 28). It was also at Bethel (also called Paddanaram) that God renewed the covenant promise he had originally made to Abraham (Gen 35:1-15). But God had chosen Jerusalem as the place for his temple to the exclusion of all other places; therefore, when Jeroboam I, the first king of the new Northern Kingdom, established a shrine at Bethel, it was seen as an abomination (see 1 kings 12:26-13:3). Worse, the altar was in the shape of a bull, the figure of an Egyptian deity. By the time of Amos’ preaching (circa 760 BC), the “sin of Jeroboam,” as it was called, had been in existence for about a century and a half. Bethel and its altars would indeed be destroyed. This in fact took place in 722 BC.
The wealthy people of Israel lived luxurious lives. In the summer they stayed their homes in Israel. Archaeology tells us that the homes of the wealthy during the time of Amos were magnificent, with the walls and floors being inlaid with ivory. Not content with these, they also had winter homes to the south, in the kingdom of Judah, where the weather during the winter months was somewhat milder. These too will be destroyed
