The Second Indictment On Israel Amos 5:10-13).
This second indictment is fuller than the first (Amos 5:7), and is written in chiastic form. Thus:
a It opens with reference to those who reprove or speak uprightly being ‘abhorred' (Amos 5:10).
b It then refers to the unjust treatment of the poor (Amos 5:11 a).
c Central is the warning of what the consequences will be for them (Amos 5:11 b).
b Further reference is then made to the unjust treatment of the poor (Amos 5:12)
a And it closes with the idea that therefore the wise keep silent in such a time (Amos 5:13).
“They hate him who reproves in the gate,
And they abhor him who speaks uprightly.”
One sign that evil has become prevalent is the attitude of people towards justice. Here we learn that in Israel those who rightly reproved men's crimes at the place of justice (the gate area was where the town court would be held, compare Ruth 4:1-11; Deuteronomy 22:15; Deuteronomy 25:7) were hated, while those who spoke uprightly as witnesses were abhorred. The wealthy did not want justice, they wanted favours. This despising of righteousness is the regular experience of the godly. Men will speak well of righteousness when it does not affect them, but they do not like to be reminded of their sins, nor do they like their false dealings to be exposed..
“Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor,
And take exactions from him of wheat,
And another main sign of the evil in society was that the poor were trampled on (caused to be bowed down), and not given justice (see Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:19), and more was exacted from them than was reasonable. The lessee paid his rent in produce, and the point here was that he tended to be overcharged by greedy land-owners (who may well have seized his land in the first place). A society can always be judged by how it treats its poor, and price-fixing, and seeking to make larger profits than are justified are examples of it.
You have built houses of hewn stone,
But you will not dwell in them,
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But you will not drink their wine.”
The consequence of the evil in society was that they would not finally benefit by all the effort that they had put in. Their possessions too would be trampled on. While they had been able to build themselves houses of hewn stone, expensive and probably obtained by harsh labour, their occupation of them would be temporary. And while they had planted lush vineyards with a view to good times ahead, the wine would go to others. This would be YHWH's judgment on their sins. All that they had built up would be lost, and they would be left with nothing.
“For I know how many and varied are your transgressions,
And how mighty are your sins,
You who afflict the just, who take a bribe,
And who turn aside the needy in the gate (from their right).”
The sinfulness of their society was then reiterated. Their transgressions against YHWH's Law were many and varied, and their sins were large. For their justices, the very men who should have been ensuring the fairness of society, afflicted the righteous and took bribes, and when the needy came for justice they did not receive their rights.
‘Therefore he who is prudent will keep silence in such a time, for it is an evil time.'
The consequence of living in such a society was that prudent men did not speak out, because the time was evil. They knew that things had come to such a state that their words could only bring trouble on themselves and would do no good. That was why Amos had had to come to speak out for them. It was something only a prophet called by YHWH could risk. But there is also something ominous about the words, for they suggest that such efforts would be pointless because the society in question was beyond hope and beyond redemption.