Moab
As we open chapter 2, we see even more declarations from God against
the barbarism that humanity has against itself.
In this case, we see the barbarism against the dead. The people of Moab are accused of burning the
bones of the dead.
In all likelihood, this probably is an analogous (or perhaps literal)
description of grave robbing. Grave
robbing was a common and despicable practice in the ancient world. Families often buried their loved ones with
gold and treasured possessions. Granted,
they often did this in the false belief that the gold and treasure would help
the person in the life to come. However,
because of the wealth often deposited in tombs the practice of grave robbing
became fairly common.
The problem with humanity to which this points is not only greed
but our willingness to take advantage of those least able to defend
themselves. People steal from graves
because the dead cannot defend themselves.
Human beings will often kick people while they are down, and who is more
down than the dead?
However, it also demonstrates a lack of respect for the dead. It demonstrates a lack of respect for people
who are in the hands of God. It is an
assault on those who have gone to rest after their life has ended.
Judah
Once we turn to God’s people, here we see the shift in tone to how
people treat each other to how people relate to God. Now that we move into the talk about Judah,
God takes His relationship with the people even more seriously. This should only cause us to realize even
more that proximity to God comes with blessing and danger. The closer we are to God, the more likely we
are to be able to follow Him. The closer
we are to God, the more personally God takes it when we fall away from how He
desires us to live.
This is precisely where Amos is led against the people of
Judah. They have forsaken the ways of
the Lord. They have violated His
covenant. There lies have led one
another astray from the ways of the Lord.
They have traded away God’s objective truth for their fanciful dreams
and passion.
Israel
You will notice the increased length with which God deals with the
people of Israel. There are two main
reasons that the passage against Israel is longer, and these reasons are
intertwined. First, their rebellion was
great. They had walked away from the
Lord and have not stopped to even turn and look back. This leads to the second reason. Because of their great rebellion, their
judgment is coming quickly. Because
their judgment is coming quickly, God desires to focus on them through the
prophet Amos.
So what is their sin? They
are engaged in selling the righteous and the needy. That is, the people of Israel are engaged in
slaving. Connected to this is a comment
that the people of Israel were willing to take advantage of the poor. A little later in this section of verses we
hear how people are willingly taking clothing as a pledge to repay. Clothing was hard to come by in ancient days;
to take someone’s clothing as a pledge was only pushing them one step closer to
not having the basic necessities to survive.
The first sin of the Hebrew people is their willingness to take
advantage of the people of whom it is easy to take advantage.
In addition to this, there was clear sexual sin. Fathers and sons were having sex with the
same women. This was probably in
connection to the practice of temple prostitution as the Lord connects this act
also to His name being profaned. Not
only is sex being used in a sinful way, sex is also becoming a means to
disrespect God and His worship.
Finally, in this opening section of verses against Israel we hear
the greatest of condemnation. They are
worshipping other gods. In all that they
are doing against their fellow human beings they are also doing against their
God. In their false worship, they are
even commanding the righteous few to break their vows against God.
As a result, God’s grace is suspended against the nation of
Israel. They will pay for their
crimes. They will face their
consequences. As the people forget the
God that brought them out of Egypt and conquered the people of the Holy Land,
so will God forget the covenant that had protected them. The people who rebelled against God would not
be able to stand against the consequences of their sin.
Again we learn the hard lesson of history. We are human.
Part of being human is dealing with our proclivity for sinful behavior. We can embrace it as did the Hebrew people of
Amos’ day. If so, we will reap the
consequences of the sin we sow. On the
other hand, we can see our sinfulness and repent. That is what God desires. Our sin is inevitable – although that is no
excuse. Our repentance is that to which
we are called.
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