Commentaries:
In Amos 3:9-10, the prophet is told to proclaim the tumults, oppression, violence, and robbery in the nation. The lack of law and order did not overly disturb the man on the street. He did not seem to realize that the cancerous immorality plaguing the country from within would result in her being crushed and destroyed from without.
However, when the time came to defend the nation from foreign invasion, Israel would have no strength (verse 11). God says in Ezekiel 7:14, “They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle.” Because the people were so preoccupied with their self-interests, they did not respond to the external threat of invasion, and the nation fell easily.
In our generation, we have seen that America's adversaries could not conquer it on the battlefield when its general level of morality was high. But as American moral fiber weakened between 1950 and today, they began to destroy it in the business world. Its foes in World War II, in becoming its allies during the Cold War, learned American ways and now rival or outpace the U.S. in many economic categories—not only in heavy industry, but in highly technological matters as well.
As American economic power is being sapped by moral cancer, its fighting spirit is being drained, too. Americans seem no longer able to present a united front on any matter. In addition, as the United States fills the role of sole superpower, as its troops are deployed all over the world, its military strength is exploited and thinned. In its moral and social malaise, Americans find it increasingly difficult to rouse themselves to action as a nation. America's allies know it is often a weak branch to lean on.
Behind all this is God, who sees the corruption and warns that the time is near:
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'An adversary shall be all around the land; he shall sap your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.'” (Amos 3:11)
“Therefore” connects the preceding verses with a conclusion or result. Tumult, oppression, violence, and robbery beget weakness and destruction.
Sin is inherently self-destructive. It holds out such promise of pleasure and fulfillment but contains within it the seeds of destruction. Whatever is sown is reaped. Why does Amos depict Israel as a powerless nation while she was at the height of her economic, political, and military power?
The nation's religion was a sham! Morality and righteousness make a nation strong, but immorality and unrighteousness will always bring it to ruin (Proverbs 14:34). Where religion is powerless, government, business, and community become ineffective because their moral undergirding is gone.
“'For they do not know to do right,' says the LORD” (Amos 3:10). Unable to tell the difference between good and evil, the Israelites finally reached the point where they called evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). This refers not only to spiritual truths but also to the marketplace. While they no doubt complained about the violence, they could not see that their own selfish ambitions actually produced the violence on the streets.
Evidently, even the religious people never made the connection between the moral and social breakdown in the nation and their selfish ambitions. They may have been embezzling from their company or overcharging their customers, but they went to worship services every week! That is why God says He will destroy the religious system, too (Amos 3:14).
Cold, calloused, indifferent, the ordinary Israelite just did not care about the other guy. “So what if he suffers while I enrich myself—that's life in the big city, baby!” Whether politician or businessman or religious person, all Israelites, it seems, looked at life this way. It was a view of life almost totally devoid of a social conscience. Their lifestyle glorified amorality. But, most condemning of all, it was a lifestyle diametrically opposite to that revealed by God through Moses.
We, too, need to be careful of this attitude in our own self-absorbed culture. Years ago, the media even called the “Baby Boom” generation the “Me Generation,” and a popular magazine found in supermarket checkout lines was boldly titled Self. Society has only become more self-centered in recent decades.
Notice the repetition of “palaces” and “houses” in Amos 3:9-11 and 15. God instructs Amos to tell the kings of foreign nations (verse 9) about the Israelites' stockpiling “violence and robbery in their palaces” against themselves (verse 10). To paraphrase, He says, “Look, My people have weakened themselves through sin! They are ripe for destruction!” God empowers the heathen, so they, as His battle-ax, will punish His people. His ultimate aim, of course, is to bring them to repentance.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Four)
