Reflections on Amos 4

Amos 04 (Contemporary English Version)


1. You women of Samaria are fat cows! You mistreat and abuse the poor and needy, then you say to your husbands, "Bring us more drinks!"
   
2. I, the LORD God, have sworn by my own name that your time is coming. Not one of you will be left-- you will be taken away by sharp hooks.
   
3. You will be dragged through holes in your city walls, and you will be thrown toward Harmon. I, the LORD, have spoken!
   
4. Come to Bethel and Gilgal. Sin all you want! Offer sacrifices the next morning and bring a tenth of your crops on the third day.
   
5. Bring offerings to show me how thankful you are. Gladly bring more offerings than I have demanded. You really love to do this. I, the LORD God, have spoken!
   
6. I, the LORD, took away the food from every town and village, but still you rejected me.
   
7. Three months before harvest, I kept back the rain. Sometimes I would let it fall on one town or field but not on another, and pastures dried up.
   
8. People from two or three towns would go to a town that still had water, but it wasn't enough. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
   
9. I dried up your grain fields; your gardens and vineyards turned brown. Locusts ate your fig trees and olive orchards, but even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
   
10. I did terrible things to you, just as I did to Egypt-- I killed your young men in war; I let your horses be stolen, and I made your camp stink with dead bodies. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
    
11. I destroyed many of you, just as I did the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. You were a burning stick I rescued from the fire. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
    
12. Now, Israel, I myself will deal with you. Get ready to face your God!
    
13. I created the mountains and the wind. I let humans know what I am thinking. I bring darkness at dawn and step over hills. I am the LORD God All-Powerful!
    

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While the first two chapters of Amos brought general charges against Israel and the surrounding nations, chapter three began the first of five messages that go into greater detail concerning Israel's sins. Chapter 4 is the second of the five messages. It addresses four topics: the upper-class women who exploited the poor, the propensity of the Israelites to exercise their rebellion against God at their places of worship, the previous punishments God had brought on Israel to get her to repent, and the further punishment God was going to bring.

Cows of Bashan: This was the description given these upper-class women who exploited others for their own gain. It would seem that they may have even exploited their husbands, demanding them to wait on them as servants. The Hebrew word used here for husband is a rare word meaning "master." This seems to be a parody on the idea of these men who were supposed to be masters in their roles in reality acting more as servants to their wives. To support their wives expensive tastes they were forced also to exploit the poor. What these women had to look forward to was to be dragged with fishhooks through breaches in the city walls and to be driven toward Harmon. The significance of Harmon is not clear.

Rebel at Bethel: Verse 4 has a note of sarcasm to it. "Come to Bethel and rebel; rebel even more at Gilgal!" Bethel was the most prominent place of worship for the Northern Kingdom, and Gilgal was a center for pilgrimage and sacrifice due to its historical position as the place where memorial stones were set up marking Israel's crossing of the Jordan into the land of promise. The people were invited to bring all manner of offerings to these places for sacrifice. This was to highlight the point of their rebellion. Much of their offerings of animals and produce was grown or fattened on stolen land and their religious activities were done in a manner to impress others, not to fellowship with God. The whole thing was a sham and had become an offense to God.

Refusal to Repent: Verses 6-11 give account of multiple times God brought punishment on Israel in keeping with the covenantal agreement Israel had with God. Leviticus and Deuteronomy outline the chastenings that would come to Israel if she did not keep the covenant. God resorted to these chastenings in an effort to draw Israel back to Himself. The chastenings included food shortages, drought, blight, plagues, wars that killed their young men, and the overthrow of some cities on a dimension similar to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. If Israel remained familiar with the scriptures, she would have known the meaning of these chastenings, but it very possible she was not still familiar with the teachings related to the covenant and the chastenings since the priests had also rebelled. There was also the fact that the droughts were selective, raining on some cities and not on others, and on some fields but not on others. This had to make them wonder. Through it all, however, Israel did not repent and return to the Lord. Rather than noting the chastening and considering the need for repentance, it is more likely that the people were angered that God would allow or cause these things to happen to them.

Coming Punishment: Because Israel had not repented, she should now "prepare to meet your God!" She had not come to God, so God was going to her and it would not be a pleasant occasion. The previous list of problems had been chastenings. Now was coming the judgment. The people were reminded that the one they should be prepared to meet is the one "who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man". He also "makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth." There was no escape from their pending judgment. We don't have to worship God or give Him any consideration at all, but we do have to live and die with the consequences.