Judgment Against the Neighboring Nations

1
Judgment Against the Neighboring Nations

• Amos 1.1 2.5

2
The Terms of Judgment

• for three sinseven for four
• You shall not bow down to them or worship them
  for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
  punishing the children for the sin of the fathers
  to the third and fourth generation of those who
  hate me (Ex 20.5 cf. Ex 34.7 Num 14.18 Deut
  5.9).
• transgression, is frequently a political
  category referring to revolts against or apostasy
  from a superior entity (Jeremias 1998 20).

3
The Terms of Judgment

• I will send fire upon X that will consume Y
• To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked
  like a consuming fire on top of the mountain (Ex
  24.17)
• For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a
  jealous God (Deut 4.24)

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Damascus

• Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having
  iron teeth (1.3b).
• These wars were fought primarily for possession
  of the middle and northern part of East Jordan,
  especially for possession of Gilead, that is,
  the forested area south and above all north of
  the Jabbok (Jeremias 1998 25-26).
• Yahwehs judgment will fall heavy upon the house
  of Hazaeland the fortresses of Ben-Hadad
  (1.4)
• Hadad was the name of the ancient god of the
  storm whose cult was established in Damascus
  (Mays 1969b 29).

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Gaza

• Because she took captive whole communities and
  sold them to Edom (1.6b).
• Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him
  or still has him when he is caught must be put to
  death (Ex 21.16).
• Thus, I will turn my hand against Ekron, till
  the last of the Philistines is dead, says the
  Sovereign LORD (Amos 1.8b).

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Tyre

• Because she sold whole communities of captives
  to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood
  (1.9b).
• In this case of Tyre, this probably refers to
  the alliance between (David and) Solomon and
  Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 515ff. 910ff., esp.
  913), an alliance carried on in the marriage
  between Ahab and the Tyrean princess Jezebel
  (Jeremias 1998 30).
• Consequently, I will send fire upon the walls of
  Tyre that will consume her fortresses, God says
  (1.10).

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Edom

• Because he pursued his brother with a sword,
  stifling all compassion, because his anger raged
  continually and his fury flamed unchecked
  (1.11b).
• Teman was Edoms largest city in her southern
  region, located on the Kings Highway just east
  of Sela. Bozrah was Edoms stronghold in her
  northern territory. The two cities thus
  encompass the nation (Mays 1969b 35).

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13
Ammon

• Because he ripped open the pregnant women of
  Gilead in order to extend his borders (Amos
  1.13b cf. 2 Samuel 12.26-31).
• The practice of ripping open pregnant women in
  captured places was sometimes a feature of war in
  that day (II Kings 8.12 15.16), especially in
  the case of border wars where the purpose was to
  terrorize and decimate resident populations
  (Mays 1969b 37).
• However, Her king will go into exile, he and
  his officials together, says the LORD (1.15).

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Moab

• Because he burned, as if to lime, the bones of
  Edoms king (Amos 2.1b cf. 2 Kings 3.4-27).
• The act of burning skeletal remains so was to
  prevent resurrectionthus to wish for him or her
  eternal death (Stuart 1987 314, 315).

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Judah

• Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
  and have not kept his decrees, because they have
  been led astray by false gods, the gods their
  ancestors followed, I will send fire upon Judah
  that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem
  (Amos 2.4-5).
• because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as
  a father the son he delights in (Proverbs 3.12).

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19

• Projecting
• into
• the New Testament

20
Judgment Against Nations

• And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on
  their thrones before God, fell on their faces and
  worshiped God, saying We give thanks to you,
  Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was,
  because you have taken your great power and have
  begun to reign. The nations were angry and your
  wrath has come. The time has come for judging
  the dead, and for rewarding your servants the
  prophets and your saints and those who reverence
  your name, both small and greatand for
  destroying those who destroy the earth. Then
  Gods temple in heaven was opened, and within his
  temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And
  there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals
  of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm
  (Revelation 11.16-19).