I know this is a lot of reading but there are two basic parts – God’s judgment and why. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Ammon, and Moab had each led campaigns against other nations and committed heinous atrocities. That means they went above and beyond in their campaigns to destroy the enemies.
Damascus used sledges (an iron sled) to destroy the crops of its enemies and cause hunger to take place. Gaza sold people into slavery just to take their lands. Tyre sold people with whom they had a treaty into slavery! Ammon destroyed their flesh and blood and acted with unbridled rage. Moab attacked Edom and desecrated the body of the dead and conquered king.
So God who acts in His will among all nations begins to clean up the mess. You see, all governments are established by God, and He will not let governments go unpunished for atrocities – Hitler’s massacre, Stalin’s cruelty, and Rwanda are all examples of this. God’s punishment fit the crimes of the nations He pointed out. These nations had once been influenced by Israel and because Israel had lost its godly influence they went completely astray and now faced God’s wrath.
When the United States stops influencing the world with good, the world goes its own way. This is why we as a nation are important to the world – not to join in or overlook the evils of the world. We need our Christian heritage because God established us to show mankind how a Christian nation acts internally and how it can act in God’s justice when evil reels its ugly head.
I know this because of the one nation that I have yet to mention from the reading – Judah! Judah was in line to be punished just the same as the other five nations. For be overly violent? No. For destroying their enemies? No. What had they done to elicit such a response from God? Israel rejected the laws of God and ignored His decrees. They were led astray by false gods. Judah, the center of God’s worship, had lost all of its influence and lost its vision to spread God’s love.
God is a jealous God and when our alliances are elsewhere or when we refuse to be faithful to the commands of Christ, we violate that trust God placed in us. Our money may say In God We Trust but do we really? Are we as a nation being faithful to the call God placed upon us? Judah was unfaithful, and God said He would send fire to ravage their fortresses.
We cannot hide from God nor can we hide our sins from God. Sin naturally repels us from God because His holiness is too convicting to allow us to approach Him. God, who wants to have a relationship with His people, will not allow acts of sin to come between His love for us and His promise to us. He sent His son to die for us but when we refuse Him we are just as guilty as Judah. Sin has consequences and we will face those consequences. If we repent, God is just and withholds His wrath though we may still face earthly consequences. If we are rebellious, God will not hold back the full wrath of the punishment we deserve.
I cannot imagine being Amos and having to deliver this message to his nation. If we keep on the path we are heading, however, I may just be doing that with this Bible study.
- What do you think about the judgments being sent by God to these nations?
- What do you think God means when He says, “For three sins, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath”?
- Do you think this passage can be used to describe the dangers a nation faces when it turns its back on God?
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