Amos 2:1-3

PUNISHMENT PROMISED, THE HEATHEN NATIONSMOAB

TEXT: Amos 2:1-3

1

Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, 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;

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and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah.

QUERIES

a.

Who were the Moabites?

b.

Why is God concerned that the king of Edom's bones were burned?

PARAPHRASE

This is the Lord's word: For sin after sin of Moab, I will not leave her unpunished. Because these Moabites have in their proud arrogance burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime and have thus vented a depraved wrath upon one who at this time stands for Jehovah, I will consume Moab with the fire of My judgment and he shall die midst the shouting of warriors and blare of battle trumpets. I will slaughter Moab's king and other royal princes with him, says the Lord.

SUMMARY

For her unnatural hate and arrogance toward God, Moab will die as a nation.

COMMENT

Amos 2:1-3. FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF MOAB. BECAUSE HE BURNED THE BONES OF THE KING OF EDOM INTO LIME. I WILL SEND A FIRE UPON MOAB. AND MOAB SHALL DIE WITH TUMULT. AND I WILL CUT OFF THE JUDGE. Moab was a son of Lot (as was Ammon) (cf. Genesis 19:38). Moses and the Israelites had a run-in with the Moabites in their journey to the land of Promise (cf. Numbers 22-24). Balaam advised Balak to seduce the men of Israel by sending the Moabite girls into the camp of Israel (cf. Numbers 31:16; Numbers 25:1-9). The Moabites oppressed Israel for 18 years (Judges 3:12-14). When Israel repented God sent Ehud to deliver them from Moabite oppression. Ruth, the Moabitess came to Israel with Naomi, married Boaz and became an ancestress of David and consequently an ancestress of Jesus Christ, the Son of David according to the flesh,

Along with Amos-' death sentence upon Moab are those of Isaiah 15-16; Ezekiel 25:8-11; Jeremiah 48; Zephaniah 2:8-11. Isaiah 16:6 says, We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogancy, and his pride and his wrath. The death knell of Isaiah upon Moab is fulfilled by Shalmanezer of Assyria or by his successor Sargon. From then on a succession of world conquerors subdued and, in the process, annihilated Moab as a nation. The land of Moab was bounded on the west by the Dead Sea, on the east by the desert, on the north by the Arnon, and on the south by Edom. It is about 3200 feet above the level of the sea, and is chiefly rolling, mountainous country

In Ezekiel 28:8-11 we are told that Moab and Seir are to be punished for likening the house of Judah to the other nations. Amos localizes his accusation against her by telling of an incident not recorded anywhere else in the O.T. K & D say, ... no doubt it was connected with the war referred to in 2 Kings 3, which Joram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah waged against the Moabites in company with the king of Edom. Here the king of Edom was found on the side of the covenant people and when the king of Moab gained supremacy over Edom later, he burned the king of Edom's body until the bones turned into lime. It illustrates the depths of depravity to which a highly cultured people can descend if they reject the revelation of God (cf. Romans 1:18 ff). Pusey says, The soul being, after death, beyond man's reach, the hatred, vented upon his remains, is a sort of impotent grasping at eternal vengence. It wreaks on what it knows to be insensible, the hatred with which it would pursue, if it could, the living being who is beyond it. Hatred, which death cannot extinguish, is the beginning of the eternal hate in hell. With this hatred Moab hated the king of Edom, seemingly because he had been. on the side of the people of God. It was then sin against the love of God, and directed against God Himself. This reminds us of Wycliffe who was the first to translate the Bible into the English language. The Roman pope of that day excommunicated him and ordered that Wycliffe's bones be dug up, burned, and cast into the river.

Kerioth is probably the capital city of Moab. It is not to be confused with the Kerioth in the south of Judah (Joshua 15:25) and otherwise known as Hazor. Some say the city lay in what is now Jebel Druz, nearly south of Damascus and in high country. Some have thought that Moab had no king at this time since Amos mentions a judge as the potentate. But there is no notice in the history of that time of any other type of potentate than a monarch. Judge is probably nothing more than a rhetorical expression applied to the king and used simply for the sake of poetic variety.

QUIZ

1.

Who were the Moabites and where was their country?

2.

What is evidenced of their character in the burning of the king of Edom's bones?