Verses 1-3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: 2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: 3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
The nation of Moab had been engaged in a long feud with the nation of Edom, and apparently the people of Moab sought to be vengeful, and so dug up one of the kings of Edom and burned his bones. Disturbing a grave was frowned upon by most cultures and continues to be so today. God made note of this sin, and the promised judgement was destruction or the death of Moab by conquest as evidenced by trumpets sounding in battles of war, and by the tumult and the burning of conquered towns and cities which all happened in war. See 2 Kings 3:21 which records a battle in which Moab was losing, and so the king of Moab offered to his gods a human sacrifice, his oldest son (heir to the throne), as a burnt offering in an effort to turn the tide of defeat. Whether this incident in history has a bearing upon Moab burning an Edomite king’s bones is not known, but it shows the hostility that existed and the extreme lengths the people went to as a result of this inter-nation hatred and conflict.
Verses 4-5 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: 5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
“But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” Colossians 3:25 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11 The Greek word translated as “respect” is “prosopolepsia” and it means partiality. When God judges people or nations, He is judging the sin and it doesn’t matter who or what the people or nations are, Jew or Gentile. In the verses above judgement is pronounced upon Judah because they disregarded the law of God (ten commandments and Mosaic law) and became like the heathen nations around them. The final end of this judgement happened in 70 AD when Jerusalem fell to the Roman army and the people were scattered abroad, their ability to prove their lineage to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob destroyed with the burning of the Temple and their genealogical records, and their nation becoming desolate per the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:38.
Application: Notice that the LORD was concerned with “their lies”. Lies lead to erring or doing wrong, and erring leads to walking in sin. Then excuses are made for the disobedience and sin against God and people justify themselves. This path of destruction will always lead to punishment from the LORD. The people of Judah listened to Satan who is the father of lies. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44 As a result, they failed to keep the commandments of God and so judgement was pronounced upon them through the prophet Amos.
Verses 6-8 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: 8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
Likewise, Israel sinned repeatedly and God’s righteous character demanded judgement to be pronounced because of their wickedness. The remaining verses of this chapter pertain to the nation Israel who committed many acts of social injustice which violated the laws of God and which brought shame on His name. Some of their wicked actions included denying the poor their God-given rights, engaging in human trafficking, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and the worship of heathen gods and goddesses with participation in pagan rituals. Notice that the mistreatment of others was for financial or personal gain. Is this happening today?
Application: The selling of the righteous for silver was not a new practice. Joseph, a type of Christ, was sold to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver as recorded in Genesis 37:28. And of course, the LORD Jesus Christ was sold by Judas Iscariot to the Jewish religious leaders for thirty pieces of silver.
Verses 9-10 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Here God reminds the Israelites of His power and of His past provision of and to their forefathers and that their success in battle was because of His caring for them as a people.
Verses 11-12 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
Instead of being grateful for the LORD’s provision, the people of Israel polluted the Nazarites who were men consecrated to the LORD who were not to touch wine or cut their hair (Samson), and they killed the prophets and threatened them if they brought forth the Word of God. These specific violations of God’s law are not the complete list of sins that the nation Israel engaged in over their long years of history, but are examples that need to be heeded by Christian believers today. Disobeying the commandments of God and mistreating other people for personal gain will lead to punishment.
Verses 13-16 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. 16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD. (Amos 2)
As a result of the sin and rebellion against the LORD God Almighty, the military of the nation Israel would weaken and fail and they would become a conquered people, which came to pass when taken captive by the nation Assyria.