The prophet continues his prophetic sermon detailing the punishment to be brought upon Israel.Amos 4:1-3
Vs 1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who dwell on the mount of Samaria, who press upon the poor, weigh down heavily on the needy, and who say to your husbands: “Bring, that we may consume!”
The over-wealthy, over-fed, over-pampered women of Israel (i.e. the Mount of Samaria) are her compared contemptuously to the cows of Bashan. Bashan is a reference to the plains of Bashan located in the trans-Jordan region east of the Sea of Galilee, on the banks of the Yarmuk River. The area today known as the Golan Heights. This rich, fertile plain was famous for its well fed cattle (see Deut 32:14; Psalm 22:13).
Recall that in the initial indictment of Israel by Amos (2:6-16), the nation was condemned because “they trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth” (2:7 RSV); kind of like cattle on a stampede. Here the women of Samaria are accussed of pressing and weighing down on the needy; a similar image. Apparently, the opulent lifestyle they demand of their husbands has helped encourage the mistreatment of the poor, and for this they are condemned. They demand that drink be brought to them, reminding us of the wine extorted from the poor as legal penalties levied by unjust courts (see 2:8).
Vss 2-3 The Lord has sworn by his holiness, “Behold, days are coming upon you when you will be taken away with hooks, the very last of you with fish hooks. Out through the breached walls you shall go straightaway and you will be cast onto the dung-hill,” says the Lord.
The nation will face a military invasion (2:14-16) which will lead to the the capture of the capitol of Israel, Samaria, when its fortified walls are breached by the enemy (obviously Assyria). Rings were sometimes put into the noses of animals as part of their domestication, for it made them easier to control. A hook on a pole or rope would be inserted into the ring in order to lead the animal around (see Job 40:25-26). Ancient Assyrian art depicts people captured by Shalamanezer III being roped together and led away in single file lines. For more on the use of rings and hooks in the treatment of prisoners click here.
Amos 4:4-5 A reproach for hypocritical worship
Vs 4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; come to Gilgal, and multiply your transgressions; bring your sacrifices morning after morning, bring your tithes every third day;
Vs 5 offer a thanksgiving sacrifice of that which is leavened, announce your free-will offrings, make them public: For this you love to do, O people Israel,” says the Lord God.
God is here, through his prophet, engaging in some sarcasm. The words are in the form of typical priestly instruction concerning the Torah. The priests were supposed to teach and exhort the people to worship God rightly. God, apparently imitating the Northern preists, exhorts the people to false worship. The sarcasm is intended to highlight the sin being committed under the guise of true worship.
Morning sacrifices were to be offered at the temple in Jerusalem; not the shrines of Bethel and Gilgal. The very fact that the people are offering these sacrifices anywhere other than the Jerusalem temple is itself a sin, no matter how well intended they might have been.
Bring your tithes every third day. The Jews were expected to pay an annual (once a year) tithe for the upkeep of the temple and another tithe every three years for the good of the poor, widows, and orphans. We saw in Chapter 2 that the people had no concern for the poor and destitute. The tithes “every third day” is probably more of a sarcsam than a fact. You can be meticulous about paying your tithes, you can even pay more than was required, but if it is done out of hypocrisy it will do you no good.
Some would interpret these words as a condemnation of ritual worship, but nothing could be further from the truth. No where do the prophets condemn rituals which were ordered by God himself. Rather, they often condemn formalism, a going thru the motion of ritual for hypocritical purposes.
Thanksgiving sacrifices were supposed to be made known and celebrated publicly, for what was being celebrated was God’s blessing upon an individual (see Psalm 22:23-32 and Psalm 116:17-19). Again, however, such things were not suppossed to be for self-aggrandisment.
The sarcastic command to come to Bethel, and transgress; come to Gilgal, and multiply your transgressions is followed, in verses 6-11 by a series of critiques. God will detail a number of his punishments he brought upon Israel but which went unheeded by the people.
Vs 6 “I gave you cleaness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,” says the Lord.
Vs 7 “And I also witheld the rain from you when you were yet three months from the harvest; I sent rain upon one city, and sent no rain upon another city, one field would be rained upon, and the field on which it did not rain withered;
Vs 8 So two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” says the Lord
Vs 9 “I smote you with blight and mildew; I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; your fig trees and olive trees the locusts devoured; yet you did not return to me,” says the Lord.
Vs 10 “I sent among you a pestillence after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young me with the sword; I carried away your horses; I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” says the Lord.
Vs 11 “I overthrew some of you as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor’rah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; Yet you did not return to me, ” says the Lord. (Revised Standard Version)
These verses, in the form of a litany (i.e. the repeated “yet you did not return to me”) continue the sarcasm begun in verse 4. The people think-or worse, pretend- to be seeking God by “coming” to Gigal and Bethel, but in fact, for all their religiousity, they have not returned to the Lord (See Hosea :1-11)
When God made his covenant with his people, he had warned them not to forget him or worship falsely (Exodus 23:23-26). To this the people agreed (Exodus 24:3). But God, thru Moses also made it clear that the people would sin against him and be punished by things like drought, lack of food, war, pestilence and locust plagues (See Deuteronomy 28-29; and the Song of Moses in Deut 32). God also promised, however that if they sincerely repented they would once again enjoy his favor (See Deuteronomy 30).
verse 11 makes reference to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomor’rah. These two cities are the quitessential symbols of evil and of God’s subsequent punishment. Genesis 19 says that God overthrew these cities; the same word used by Amos in this verse. It means literally “to turn upside down” and refers obviously to an earthquake (see Amos 1:1). The image of a brand plucked from the fire suggests that God showed some mercy towards the unrepentant- but even this did not move them to repent; so God says:
Vs 12“So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! and since I will deal thus with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel:
Vs 13 Him who formed the mountains and created the winds, and declares to man his thoughts; who made the dawn and the darkness, and strides upon the heights fo the earth: the Lord, the God of Hosts by name.” (New American Bible)
Having punished them in the past, he will do so again.
The words prepare to meet your God caps the irony and sarcasm begun in verse 4. the people come to Gilgal and Bethel and worship God falsely. This is not a return to God. Having failed to come and meet the merciful God of the covenant as repentant sinners they must now prepare to meet the God of covenant Justice.
One final note. The Hebrew word translated as prepare is used elsewhere in the Bible for the preparation of sacrifice (Ezra 3:3); and the verb translated as to meet is often used in reference to prayer (often being translated as “call upon” or “invoke”. See Gen 12:8; Psalm 79:6; Jeremiah 10:25). The people had sought God thru illegitimate sacrifice and prayer and now they are going to meet him; but not in the way they expected or wanted
