The Covenant Relationship Between YHWH And His People (Amos 3:1-8).
The covenant relationship between YHWH and His people is revealed in this carefully constructed passage in which there is constant reference to that relationship in one way or another. It can be analysed as follows:
a Hear this word that YHWH has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt (Amos 3:1).
b “Saying, ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth.' Therefore I will visit on you all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2).
c “Will two walk together, except they have agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
d “Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?” (Amos 3:4).
d “Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth, where no gin is set for him? Will a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?” (Amos 3:5).
c “Will the ram's horn be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Will evil befall a city, and YHWH has not done it?” (Amos 3:6).
b “Surely the Lord YHWH will do nothing, except he reveal his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
a “The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8).
Note that in ‘a' YHWH has spoken His word against the whole family (Israel and Judah) whom He brought out of the land of Egypt, and in the parallel the Lion has roared, for the Lord YHWH has spoken. In ‘b' the special relationship between YHWH and His people is emphasised, and in the parallel the special relationship between YHWH and His prophets. In ‘c' for two to walk together they must be in agreement, and in the parallel the now disobedient people are afraid and it is YHWH Who has done it (because they were no longer in agreement). Centrally in ‘d' we have a picture of the Lion Who has taken His prey, Who is contrasted with the people who like birds have fallen into the snare.
The Call For Israel To Consider YHWH's Special Relationship With Them A Relationship Which Makes Special Demands Upon Them (Amos 3:1-2).
“Hear this word that YHWH has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth.' Therefore I will visit on you all your iniquities.”
‘Hear this word that YHWH has spoken ---' emphasises the seriousness of what he is about to say, and introduces a new oracle. What YHWH has spoken will surely come about. The language in these verses connects the children of Israel up with Exodus 20:2, ‘I am YHWH your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt ', and thus with the covenant of Sinai. Furthermore at that time YHWH had seen them as ‘My son, My firstborn' (Exodus 4:22). They were His family (Deuteronomy 14:1 - ‘you are the sons of YHWH your God'). They were to be ‘My own treasured possession among all peoples' (Exodus 19:5). And He had ‘known them' (Genesis 18:19) uniquely out of ‘all the families of the earth' (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 28:14 -both Judah and Israel are now in mind) in order that they might be a blessing to the world. They may have considered that that put them in a privileged position, a position which made them feel superior, and to a certain extent it was true, but YHWH wanted them to know that it in fact put them in a dangerous position. For how can two (YHWH and Israel) walk together except they be agreed? Thus it was precisely because they were His chosen and elect people that He would visit on them ‘all their iniquities' which were to be seen as totally inexcusable in those whom YHWH has chosen. They above all were seen to be without excuse.
‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth.' This phrase ties up very much with YHWH's first call to Abraham. His purpose then had been that through His ‘knowing' Abraham ‘all the families of the earth' would be blessed (see Genesis 12:3 combined with Genesis 18:19). And this was later confirmed to Israel (Jacob) in Genesis 28:14 which indicates that ‘all the families of the earth' are waiting for the blessing that will come on them through Abraham's and Israel's (Jacob's) seed. And that would be because of YHWH's special ‘knowing' of Abraham, and through him his seed (see Genesis 18:19). And in Genesis 18:19 we are told that YHWH had distinctively ‘known' Abraham with the express understanding that he would command his children and his household, and their descendants, to keep the way of YHWH, and to do justice and righteousness, so that by that means they might be a blessing to all the families of the earth. In other words such elective knowledge by YHWH made great demands on them. And it was through obedient response to those demands that blessing should have come on all the families of the earth. That was why their disobedience was so heinous.
In the same way we who are ‘elect according to the foreknowledge of God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit unto the obedience of Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of His blood' (1 Peter 1:1-2) are bound to that obedience, and those who have been ‘chosen in Him before the foundation of the world' have been so in order that they may be ‘holy and without blame before Him in love' (Ephesians 1:4). It puts us under a great responsibility.
A Series Of Questions In Which Israel Are Asked To Consider The Consequences Of Their Situation (Amos 3:3-8).
Some see these question as simply illustrating cause and effect from everyday examples, with the aim of seeking to obtain a negative reply from each question until at last Amos suddenly puts in the crunch question (Amos 3:6 b). And for some of his listeners that might well have been how they saw it. (Each receives what he is willing to hear). But when we consider that Amos had initially opened his prophecy with a reference to YHWH as acting like a lion (‘YHWH will roar from ZION, and utter His voice from Jerusalem' - Amos 1:2), and applies a similar parallel in Amos 3:8 (the lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken who can but prophesy?'), the context demands that we see in them more than that. The roaring of the lion must surely be seen as indicating that YHWH was speaking to his people. And what more effective picture of the future of sinful Israel than that of a frightened bird caught in a snare? Thus we see each question as being pregnant with significance in the context. With this in mind let us first look at them as a whole.
“Will two walk together, except they have agreed?”
“Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?”
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?”
Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth, where no gin is set for him?
Will a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?”
Will the ram's horn be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid?
Will evil befall a city, and YHWH has not done it?”
Like the parables of Jesus the questions at first appear to be dealing with commonplaces, but once we pierce underneath them we discover that each line has a special significance in context. How can YHWH and Israel walk together unless they are in agreement? Does not the roaring of YHWH indicate that a prey has been caught (Israel). Will not the fall of Israel indicate that a snare had been set for them by YHWH? Can His snare fail in the accomplishing of His purpose, the ensnaring of Israel?
The final two lines then apply the ‘hidden' meaning more openly as they draw attention to the besieging of a city. The sounding of the ram's horn is a signal of danger threatening, warning all to flee to the refuge of the city. And when evil comes on a city it is the sign that YHWH is active against it. Thus what is to happen to Israel will be proof positive that it is YHWH Who is acting against them. With this in mind we shall therefore consider the statements line by line:
“Will two walk together, except they have agreed?”
While this is certainly a general saying indicating the importance of two people agreeing if they are to walk together, for it is true that no two people will continually stay together unless they are at one with each other, in context its significance goes much deeper than that. For in the light of Amos 3:1-2 YHWH is pointing out that He and His people cannot walk together in the covenant, in spite of His ‘knowing' them, unless they are both in agreement about the need to walk together. Indeed His purpose in ‘knowing' them had specifically been in order that they might walk in agreement with Him. And that they are not in such agreement has come out by the fact of their iniquities.
‘Walking with or before YHWH' is a regular Scriptural picture of His people walking in obedience with or before Him. Consider, for example, Genesis 5:24; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 17:1; Leviticus 26:12; Leviticus 26:27-28; Deuteronomy 11:22; Deuteronomy 13:4; Deuteronomy 23:14; 1Sa 2:30; 1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:7; 1 Kings 2:4; 1 Kings 8:25; 1 Kings 9:4. And the idea of ‘walking in His ways' appears more times than we could mention. Thus what is in mind here is that YHWH and His people cannot walk together, because His people are walking in iniquity.
In other words, referring back to Amos 3:1-2, Amos is pointing out that if they had wished to enjoy the blessing of being ‘known' by YHWH as Abraham had been, they should have walked with Him with a like mind and a similar obedience, instead of walking in the way of iniquity. And it was because of those iniquities that YHWH could no longer walk with them. Their sinfulness had made it impossible. For those people whom YHWH has ‘known' do walk in His ways, as Abraham did. (In the words of Jesus, ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me ---' (John 10:28)).
“Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?”
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?”
With Amos 1:2 in mind this is pointing out that YHWH would not have roared from Zion had He not had a prey in mind. Nor would He have roared through His prophets unless He had intended to fulfil what they said (Amos 3:7). Thus the fact that YHWH is now roaring at them demonstrates that He sees them as a prey which He has taken, and means that they should therefore consider that that in itself demonstrated their precarious position.
Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth, where no gin is set for him?
Will a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?”
Thus Israel should consider that the fact that they are to be taken in a snare is proof positive that it is YHWH Who has set a snare for them, and that when that snare is sprung it will not fail to catch its prey (of course earthly hunters regularly came across snares which had been sprung and had taken nothing, but Amos's point is that it will not happen with the divine Hunter). In other words their coming fall is inevitable.
Will the ram's horn be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid?
Will evil befall a city, and YHWH has not done it?”
The sudden intensification in thought that occurs here is brought out by a change in the interrogative particle to 'im from ha. Now we are getting down to the patent facts. The blowing of a ram's horn in a city for no apparent reason would immediately strike fear into the hearts of those who heard it (compare 1 Kings 1:41). In those days no one blew a ram's horn for fun. It was a serious matter. And if it was unexpected (and not the regular blowing of rams' horns at a suitable feast) it clearly indicated danger, and people would be afraid. Those within the city would know that they should prepare for siege. Those outside the city would know that they should flee into the city for refuge. And in the same way now that YHWH was blowing His ram's horn through his prophets Israel would do well to fear (‘the lion has roared, who will not fear?' - Amos 3:8). Let them then listen to Amos's warning. Let them recognise that the evil that he has prophesied against Israel will actually be due to the activity of YHWH and will certainly come upon them. Indeed nothing happens without YHWH's say-so, for all is under His control, so that they will then know that it is YHWH Who has acted against them.
He Assures Them That YHWH Does Nothing Without Revealing It To His Servants the Prophets So That They Need Not Be Caught Totally By Surprise By His Actions. However As YHWH Has Spoken Through The Prophets They Would Do Well To Take Heed (Amos 3:7-8).
Nevertheless he stresses that YHWH always gives forewarning. He never does anything without revealing it to His servants the prophets, and that with the intention of winning His people to repentance. And that is what He has done here. He has roared from Jerusalem (Amos 1:2). Should they not then be afraid? And it is because YHWH has spoken that the prophets must prophesy, even when forbidden to do so. It is Amos's justification of his presence in Israel.
“Surely the Lord YHWH will do nothing, except he reveal his secret to his servants the prophets.”
These words stress the fairness and nobility of YHWH. While he owes men nothing, nevertheless He never does anything without giving due warning. Indeed that is why He has sent prophets. It was precisely in order to give warning so that men may have the opportunity to repent.
‘His servants the prophets.' The phrase occurs a number of times in 2 Kings and regularly in Jeremiah. It occurs on the lips of the young prophet sent by Elisha on his approach to Jehu to prepare him for kingship (2 Kings 9:7), and in 2 Kings 17:13; 2 Kings 17:23 it is assumed as regularly used by prophets and seers prior to the fall of Samaria. There are no good grounds for denying it to Amos, (nor incidentally for calling it ‘Deuteronomic').
“The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken, who can but prophesy?”
And in this present situation let his hearers be in no doubt. YHWH has roared (Amos 1:2), should they not then be afraid? And the Sovereign YHWH has spoken, and therefore His prophets must prophesy. Both are constrained, the people by fear and the prophets by YHWH. That is why he, a Judaean, has come from Judah bearing the burden of the Lord's message. It is because he has been constrained by YHWH.