Amos 2:9 - Meaning and Application

Here, God reminds Israel of the great things he had done for them by bringing them into the land of Canaan, most of which the ten tribes still enjoyed (Amos 2:9, Amos 2:10). We need to remember the mercies we have received, because they make our sins much worse. God gives generously and does not shame us for being poor and undeserving. But he rightly reproves us for our ingratitude and for paying back his kindness with sin.

“Son, remember. Israel, remember.” First, God brought them out of a house of slavery and rescued them from Egypt, where they would have perished in bondage. Second, he led them for forty years through a desert and fed them in the wilderness, where they would have died of hunger. Mercies given to our ancestors were mercies to us too, for if they had been cut off, we would not be here.

Third, God made room for them in Canaan by driving out the native peoples through wonders almost as great as those used to rescue them from Egypt: “I destroyed the Amorite before them.” Here the Amorite stands for all the nations marked for destruction. Their enemies were impressive in size and strength, so God’s victory over them would show his power more clearly. They were tall, like cedars, and strong, like oaks. Their kingdom stood high above the rest, and its supports seemed unshakable. Yet when God wanted to plant Israel there, he did not just cut that enemy down, but uprooted him completely, so that the Amorites disappeared as a nation.

God valued Israel greatly. He gave nations in exchange for them and peoples in place of their lives (Isaiah 43:4). How ungrateful, then, were those who treated him with contempt! Fourth, he gave them possession of the land of the Amorite, not only by conquest, but by promise. So it was theirs by a better title than war could give.

God also rebukes them for the spiritual gifts and advantages they had as his people (Amos 2:11). They had help for their souls, and that was more valuable than help for their bodies, because it taught them how to use earthly blessings well. It is true that the ten tribes did not have God’s temple, altar, and priesthood, and it was their own fault that they turned away from them. They might justly have been left in total darkness. Yet God did not leave himself without witness, or them without guides.

They had prophets, powerful teachers of godliness, inspired by God and sent to make his will known to them. These prophets showed them what pleased God and what offended him, rebuked their sins, warned them of danger, guided them in confusion, and comforted them in trouble. God raised up these prophets from among their own people, as he raised up Moses and Christ from among their brothers (Deuteronomy 18:15). It was an honor to their nation and families that their own children became God’s messengers, speaking their own language, not strangers from another land. Faithful ministers are a great blessing to any people, and God himself raises them up.

They also had Nazarites, that is, men who took a vow to live specially for God and his service. Because of that vow, they denied themselves many lawful pleasures, such as wine and grapes. Some of these were young men in the strength of life, yet they willingly gave up pleasures that others chased. God raised them up by his grace so they would be signs of his work, bring him honor, and stand as witnesses against the sins of that corrupt age. It is as great a blessing to a place to have good Christians as to have good ministers, because people then have examples as well as rules.

It is a good sign when God raises up many promising young people, makes them devout and careful, and teaches them to turn away from bodily pleasures. Such Nazarites are pure, like snow, whiter than milk, and polished like sapphires (Lamentations 4:7). People who have such men among them have a great advantage, both for guidance and encouragement toward religion, and they will one day answer to God for how they used that advantage.

Israel is being called to account not only for the prophets, but also for the Nazarites God raised up among them. God appeals to their own experience: “Is it not so, people of Israel? Can you deny it?” Their own consciences would witness that God had not failed to give them the means of grace. If they perished, it would be because they failed to use those means. The people of Judah would one day judge between God and his vineyard, whether he could have done more for it (Isaiah 5:3, Isaiah 5:4).

Then God charges them with abusing the means of grace and resisting the very purpose for which he gave them (Amos 2:12). They were so far from walking in the light that they fought against it and tried to put it out, so it would not expose their sin. They did all they could to corrupt good people and pull them away from seriousness in worship and strictness in life. They gave the Nazarites wine to drink, even though that broke their vow. In this way, they made them fail in one point so they might not try to keep the rest. Some were persuaded by smooth words, and others were pressured or threatened if they were more careful than their neighbors. By getting them to drink wine, they ruined them as Nazarites.

Satan and his agents work hard to corrupt the minds of young people who once looked upward toward heaven. Many whom we thought would have been like Nazirites, people set apart for God, have been defeated by being offered wine, drawn into a love of amusement, pleasure, and drinking companions. Many young men who seemed ready to become serious followers of religion have fallen through wine and been ruined forever. What joy there is in hell when one of these is brought down.

They also did all they could to silence good ministers and shut their mouths. They told the prophets, “Do not prophesy,” and threatened them if they did speak (Amos 7:12). As if God's messengers were required to obey human orders, and could only deliver God's message if people allowed it. In doing this, they wasted the grace of God that raised up those prophets, and they insulted God himself, in whose name the prophets spoke. Those who cannot bear faithful preaching have much to answer for, and those who suppress it have even more.

God then complains about the wrong they did him through their sins. “I am pressed under you,” he says, “and I can no longer bear it.” It is as if he says he will ease himself of his enemies (Isaiah 1:24). The picture is of a cart loaded with sheaves, heavy with grain at harvest time, so full that it groans under the weight. This shows that the great God treats sin, especially the sins of his professing people, as a burden. He is grieved by this generation (Psalm 95:10), and broken by their unfaithful hearts (Ezekiel 6:9). If that does not lead a sinner to deep repentance, it will surely make his ruin far greater.

The God who upholds the world and never grows weary of its weight, who does not faint or become tired, still complains of Israel’s sins, and even of their fake worship. He says he is weary of bearing them (Isaiah 1:14). No wonder creation groans under its burden (Romans 8:22), when the Creator says, “I am pressed under them.”

He also threatens them with certain ruin. Some read Amos 2:13 this way: “I will press, or crush, your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.” They will be loaded with judgments until they sink under them and make a noise like an overloaded cart. Those who will not accept the warnings of God’s word, and will not be moved by the conduct of godly people around them, will be made to feel the weight of God’s judgments. If God loads us every day with his benefits, and we still load him with our sins, what else can we expect except that he will load us with his judgments?

The last three verses warn that when God comes to deal with this provoking people, they will not be able to stand before him, flee from him, or defend themselves against him. When God judges, he will overcome. His patience may be worn out, but his power never is, and sinners will find that at their own cost. When the Assyrian army comes to destroy the land with sword and captivity, no one will escape. Every person will have a share in the common ruin.

It will be useless to try to run from the enemy when he comes with God's own authority to make everything desolate. “The flight shall perish from the swift.” Those known for quick escapes and safe retreats will find their skill fails them. They will have no time to flee, no path to take, or no strength or courage to try. They will be so confused that they will reach the end of their escape almost as soon as they begin it. Even if someone is as swift as Asahel, the runner mentioned in (2 Samuel 2:18), he will only run faster toward his own destruction. “He that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself” (Amos 2:15). Or if they say, as in (Isaiah 30:16), “We will flee on horses, and we will ride on swift horses,” they still will be overtaken. Neither rider nor horse can provide safety.

It will also be useless to think they can fight their way out. God is at war with them, and no human strength can match his. The strong will not be able to strengthen their power. A man who is used to strength will not be able to use it when he needs it most. The mighty man, who should protect and rescue others, will not be able to rescue himself, that is, his own life. So the strong should not boast in their strength or trust it, but in the Lord their God, for in him there is everlasting strength. As bodily strength fails, so will weapons of war. The armor will fail along with the arm. “Neither shall he stand that handles the bow” (Amos 2:15). Even if he keeps his distance, he will not trust his bow to save him, but will turn and run.

Even courage will fail when God removes strength of heart (Amos 2:16). The bravest man among the mighty, the one who usually faces danger without fear, will flee away naked on that day. He will be stripped, not only of his weapons for attack and defense, but also of the riches he hoped to carry off with him. He will think it enough if he keeps his life. So when God chooses, he takes away the courage of the leaders of the earth and makes those who once boasted of bold deeds wander and hide like lost people in a wilderness with no road, (Job 12:24).