INTRODUCTION:

1. In chapter 1 and the first three verses of chapter 2, God proclaims His judgment upon Israel’s heathen neighbors.
2. “Thus saith the LORD” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1).
3. Six are specifically mentioned. Last week we looked at Damascus, the capital of Syria (1:3-5).
4. The same idiomatic expression is used eight times – “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6).
5. This means their cup of iniquity had been filled to the top.

 

I. JUDGMENT ON GAZA (1:6-8)

1. God’s judgment on Gaza includes all of Philistia. Notice the references to the Philistine cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron (1:8).
2. Gaza was the southernmost city of the Philistine Pentapolis, and is used here to represent the entire nation. The fifth great city was Gath, the hometown of Goliath (Amos 6:2).
3. The five great Philistine cities are mentioned in I Samuel 6:17 – Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron.
4. King David did not exterminate the Philistines because there was still a remnant at the time of Amos’ prophecy. Their descendants intermarried with the Arabs and other Gentile nations and are now known as “Palestinians.”
5. The great crime of the Philistines was slave-trading (1:6). They deported entire communities to Edom (cf. Obadiah 1, 11).
6. Joel refers to this in Joel 3:3, 4, “And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head.”
7. These ancient hostilities continue today. Today this area is referred to as “the Gaza strip,” a coastal strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Israel. It is controlled by the terror group Hamas and is right in the middle of constant Muslim terrorism.

 

II. JUDGMENT ON TYRE (1:9, 10)

1. “The brotherly covenant” (1:9) refers to an agreement between Tyre and Israel, going back to the days of King Hiram of Tyre, and King David and his son and successor King Solomon.
   • “And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house” (II Sam. 5:11).
   • “And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David” (I Kings 5:1).
   • “(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee” (I Kings 9:11).
2. No king of Israel or Judah ever went to war against Tyre. But the Phoenicians broke their “brotherly covenant” with Israel and God judged them (1:9, 10).
3. This judgment upon Tyre, the capital city of the Phoenicians, is identical to the one against the Philistines (1:7, 10).
4. This prophecy was literally fulfilled in an unusual way (1:10).  First, the Assyrians came up against Tyre but were unable to take the city. Then later on, Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans forced the Phoenicians out of Tyre to an island that was about a half mile out to sea.
5. The Phoenicians built a new city of Tyre while Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the old city of Tyre back on the mainland. About 250 years later, Alexander the Great came along and saw this wealthy, prosperous city out on the island and decided to invade it.
6. To accomplish this, Alexander built a causeway out to the city. Alexander was unaware that he was fulfilling several Bible prophecies.

   “And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.  It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations…For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people… And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD… For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee” (Ezek. 26:4, 5, 7, 14, 19).

7. Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Tyre was from 585-573 BC (about 200 years later).
8. Alexander’s siege was in 332 BC.

 

III. JUDGMENT UPON EDOM (1:11, 12)

1. The judgment upon Edom is because of their revengeful spirit – “because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever” (Amos 1:11b).
2. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, were continually fighting against Israel and Judah. Ezekiel 35:5 refers to their “perpetual hatred” against Israel.
3. Isaac said to his son Esau, “And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob” (27:40, 41).
4. Moses asked the king of Edom for permission to pass through his country, and the king replied, “And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword” (Numbers 20:18).
5. This “perpetual hatred” against Israel resulted in the fiery judgment of God upon the Edomite cities of Teman and Bozrah (Amos 1:12). Teman is named for a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11).

 

IV. JUDGMENT UPON AMMON (1:13-15)

1. The Ammonites were descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Gen. 19:30-38).  They were a semi-nomadic people who lived east of the Jordan River (cf. Deut. 2:19; Judges 10:7-18; 11:4-36; I Sam. 11:1-11; 14:47).
2. The atrocities mentioned in Amos 1:13 are not recorded anywhere else in the Bible.
3. Ezekiel 25:5 and Zephaniah 2:9 also predicted judgment upon Ammon.
4. “And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezek. 25:5).
5. “Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them” (Zeph. 2:9).
6. Today that area is in ruins.  The modern city of Ammon, the capital of Jordan, has been built upon the ancient ruins.
7. Interestingly, the Ammonites (along with the Edomites, Moabites, and other Canaanites) are listed among the nations at the battle of Armageddon (Ps. 83:7; Dan. 11:41).

 

CONCLUSION:

1. In Genesis 12:3, the LORD said to Abraham, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
2. This promise was repeated to his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and to the nation of Israel.
3. Amos 1 deals with God’s judgment upon the nations that oppressed Israel.
4. Psalm 105:14 says, “He suffered no man to do them (Israel) wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes.”
5. This has been demonstrated throughout history.
6. God is not only the God of Israel, He is the Lord of all the earth.

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