THE LORD WILL NOT RELENT
Amos 2:1-16
This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. (6)
chapter 2
1. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom’s king,
2. I will send fire on Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
3. I will destroy her ruler and kill all her officials with him," says the LORD.
4. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. 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,
5. I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem."
6. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.
8. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.
9. "Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.
10. I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites.
11. "I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel?"declares the LORD.
12. "But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
13. "Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
14. The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life.
15. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life.
16. Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD.
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1. Amos continued pronouncing God’s judgment on the surrounding nations. He next pronounced judgment on Moab. Moab was judged for desecrating the remains of the king of Edom. This angered the Lord because Edom had a kinship with Israel. Amos also pronounced God’s judgment against Israel’s sister-nation Judah, because they neglected the law of the Lord and went after idols. Both nations would be set afire by the Lord.
2. Amos then turned to his own nation, Israel and pronounced God’s judgment on them. They were judged on three accounts. They neglected justice and oppressed the poor. They treated the poor as commodities instead of as human beings. They had fallen into moral and spiritual decay. Sexual immorality had corrupted them so much that their actions were profaning the name of the Lord. The people of Israel also failed to remember their history with the Lord. He was the one who brought them up out of Egypt. He brought them to the promise land and defeated the Amorites before them. He sent prophets and Nazirites to feed them his word. But they made the Nazarites drink wine and silenced the prophets. So, the Lord would crush them and give them a spirit of fear and defeat.
Prayer: Father, thank you for calling us as your people. Help us to remember your grace on each of us and to walk before you at all times.
One Word: Remember God’s grace