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Amos 3

W
The Whosoever Study Bible
Whosoever will, may come.
amos
Amos of Tekoa · c. 760–750 BC
Chapter the Third
Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
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Chuck Smith on Amos 3

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Verse 1 Hear this word [Amos said] that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, and against the whole family ( Amos 3:1 ) which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying ( Amos 3:1 ), God now is talking to His people, and it's almost a lamentation. For God said, You only have I known of all of the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for your iniquities ( Amos 3:2 ). Verses 2-3 A nation that had special privileges is also a nation that has great responsibilities. "To whom much is given, much is required" ( Luke 12:48 ). Israel had been given so much by God. "What advantage then," Paul said, "hath the Jew?" His answer to his own question is, "Much and in every way, for unto them are committed the oracles of God" ( Romans 3:1-2 ). Unto them were the fathers, unto them were the statutes and the judgments given. He speaks of the tremendous advantages that they had because God had dealt with them as a nation, as a people. But that only increases their responsibility to God. We look at the United States, again, a nation that was nurtured by God, blessed by God. "America, America, God shed His grace on thee." But the fact that we have been so blessed by God only gives us a greater moral obligation to commit ourselves to God, and to represent God before the earth. But even as Israel failed, so are we failing. And when God's people fail in their responsibility, then God punishes them. God said, "I will punish you for your iniquity." And now some rhetorical type of questions that the Lord asked the people. Number one being: Can you walk in harmony? Can you walk in unity unless there's an agreement? Of course the answer is, no. Now how can you walk with God if you're not in agreement with God? How can you walk with God and continue in iniquity, and in unrighteousness, and in sin? The answer is, you can't. You cannot walk with a holy God in a state of iniquity. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? ( Amos 3:4 ) Verse 4 No, he roars when he has conquered the prey, when he has destroyed it, when he stands above it. will the young lions cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where there's been no trap set for him? ( Amos 3:4-5 ) shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? ( Amos 3:5-6 ) Verse 5 Putting it more into modern terminology, "Can the air raid sirens go off and people not be afraid?" I will never forget when we were in Bat Yam outside of Tel Aviv during the 1967 war. As we were there in the hotel just twenty minutes from Egypt by jet, and the Egyptians, of course, were across the Suez Canal and fighting in the Sinai. In the middle of the night about one, two o'clock in the morning, the old air raid sirens began to wail. Now we were the first major building along the Mediterranean from Egypt, and all of our group... Of course, it was a blackout and we all made our way to the basement where there was the air raid shelter. We had some unique experiences getting there in the dark, rousted out of the sleep. Some ladies were wanting their husbands to wait for them while they put on their makeup. Crazy things that you'll do. But I'll tell you, there is something that is quite terrifying in the darkness of the night, hearing those sirens wail. And knowing that it's quite possible that bombs will be falling in that very area. Now, in ancient Israel the sound of the trumpet was the sound of the alarm, "The enemy is coming!" When the trumpets would begin to sound, the fear would grip the hearts of the people. So the question, "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid?" shall there be an evil in the city and the LORD hath not done it? ( Amos 3:6 )