Amo 3:3-8 | KingComments | STEP | When you travel with someone else or start something, it is important that you have taken a good look at the expectations that each has of this going together. This is also true, for example, for a marriage and a business. If you travel together with people, it is possible that a party has unfounded or too high expectations. This going together can lead to many disappointments, so much so that sometimes a split up occurs. Why is that? Because the basis of the ‘negotiations’ lies in people, in their ideas and opinions about going that way. Often people also agree by making concessions and compromises. The Samen op Weg-proces (Together on the Road-process) in the Netherlands is an example of this. It is the name of the process of the attempts to closer cooperation of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Netherlands since 1961. These churches were called the Samen op Weg (Together on the Road) churches. As of May 1, 2004 this resulted in the merger of the churches into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. It is different when God is involved in a going or walking together. And that is what we are talking about here. Who wants to go on the road together with God, will not be able to make a deal with Him. Going on the road together with God is only possible if you made an appointment with Him. Meeting Him means going into His presence and adapting completely to His holiness. It is impossible to walk with God without being at peace with Him. Walking with God, being with Him, can only be done by separating yourself from evil. Walking with God means listening to Him, obeying His Word. Surely you do not go on the road with someone else, without having made an appointment with him. Otherwise you should not start. For Amos it is clear. He is has made an appointment with God, he completely agrees with Him. Amos and God are on the same wavelength. That is why Amos can be used by God as His prophet, as His mouth. Amos speaks the language of God and he speaks the language of the people. The language of God comes to the people in understandable words. Amos will support the right and duty to prophesy in the following verses by means of examples taken from life. He does this because the announcement of the punishment for the iniquities arouses resistance. He is going to explain that God does not threaten with judgment if there is no reason for it, if He does not have a people before Himself that is ripe for that judgment. Therefore, the question of this verse also includes a call to repentance, a call to make an appointment with God. If not, He will have to be their adversary ( ).

‏ Amos 3:3-8

An Appointment

When you travel with someone else or start something, it is important that you have taken a good look at the expectations that each has of this going together. This is also true, for example, for a marriage and a business. If you travel together with people, it is possible that a party has unfounded or too high expectations. This going together can lead to many disappointments, so much so that sometimes a split up occurs.

Why is that? Because the basis of the ‘negotiations’ lies in people, in their ideas and opinions about going that way. Often people also agree by making concessions and compromises. The Samen op Weg-proces (Together on the Road-process) in the Netherlands is an example of this. It is the name of the process of the attempts to closer cooperation of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Netherlands since 1961. These churches were called the Samen op Weg (Together on the Road) churches. As of May 1, 2004 this resulted in the merger of the churches into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

It is different when God is involved in a going or walking together. And that is what we are talking about here. Who wants to go on the road together with God, will not be able to make a deal with Him. Going on the road together with God is only possible if you made an appointment with Him. Meeting Him means going into His presence and adapting completely to His holiness. It is impossible to walk with God without being at peace with Him. Walking with God, being with Him, can only be done by separating yourself from evil. Walking with God means listening to Him, obeying His Word.

Surely you do not go on the road with someone else, without having made an appointment with him. Otherwise you should not start. For Amos it is clear. He is has made an appointment with God, he completely agrees with Him. Amos and God are on the same wavelength. That is why Amos can be used by God as His prophet, as His mouth. Amos speaks the language of God and he speaks the language of the people. The language of God comes to the people in understandable words.

Amos will support the right and duty to prophesy in the following verses by means of examples taken from life. He does this because the announcement of the punishment for the iniquities arouses resistance. He is going to explain that God does not threaten with judgment if there is no reason for it, if He does not have a people before Himself that is ripe for that judgment. Therefore, the question of this verse also includes a call to repentance, a call to make an appointment with God. If not, He will have to be their adversary (Lev 26:23-24).

Cause and Effect in the Forest

The question in Amos 3:3 is the first of seven poignant questions asked sequentially in these verses. Amos takes us for the following questions

1. to the forest (Amos 3:4),

2. to the field (Amos 3:5) and

3. to the city (Amos 3:6).

After the introductory question of Amos 3:3, the following questions are meant to make us think about cause and effect. God wants to teach us and make it clear that nothing ‘happens by chance’.

A lion does not roar just like that. His roar has a cause, a reason. Thus, what happens in our lives is not the result of blind forces, but of an established plan of God in Whose hand our life rests. He leads our lives and controls all events.

Now someone may think: ‘But God does not lead me if I choose a path of sin.’ No, God indeed does not lead that, but He does lead the circumstances in a way that He wants to bring us back to Him. God is always above evil and sin. In the following verses Amos works this out.

Amos as a sheepherder knows what the roaring of the lion means: it is a warning of approaching danger. This roaring of the lion refers to the mighty voice of God that He makes heard. The cause is the sin of His people, which He must judge.

Yet God does not act without first warning His people. That is why He raises His mighty voice through His prophets to whom He has revealed what He is going to do (Amos 3:7). In His judgment of His people, the LORD presents Himself as a lion and a young lion (cf. Hos 5:14). A young lion can refer to a lesser or partial judgment.

Cause and Effect in the Field

In Amos 3:4 the fact is expressed that the LORD already has the people in His power as prey. He does not tear yet, but roars. He warns as it were. In the first question of Amos 3:5 we see that Israel itself is to blame for this situation. Just as a bird shoots at a bait and is then caught in the trap, so someone shoots in ruin because sin pulls him into it. The bait is sin.

The people have brought destruction upon themselves by not walking with God but rather, choosing the way of sin. The meaning is: Can destruction strike a person when sin does not draw him into it? No one is ruined without looking for it himself.

The first question in this verse is about the behavior of the bird. The second question is about the working of the trap. Both parts of the verse are about the sin of Israel, but approach it from a different point of view. The trap represents the judgment of God. He makes those who sin His prisoners. The trap symbolizes the means available to God which are effective in their use. They will reach their goal because Israel has gone the way of sin.

But a warning precedes the judgment. We see it in the following verse.

Cause and Effect in the City

Every previous question starts with the effect, for example: the bird is caught: then comes the cause: because of bait. That order is now reversed. We now first have the cause: the blowing of the trumpet; then the effect: the trembling or frightening of the inhabitants of the city. The sound of the trumpet from the city wall warns the city that intruders are approaching (Eze 33:1-3).

The trumpet represents the voice of the prophets. It is not listened to (Jer 6:17), because the people are gazing at their prosperity. They go on as if there were no danger and no warning. Every disaster that strikes a human being or a community of people, a city, is meant by God as a punishment. The word ‘discipline’ has a negative sound for some people. But it has to do with education. Its meaning is ‘pulling’. God disciplines to educate His people and to draw them to Himself. Also, discipline does not always have to be ‘corrective’, as a result of sins committed. It can also be ‘preventive’, to prevent us from sinning.

Another mistake we can make when we are disciplined is that we remain sticking to the means God uses to discipline. That is the case if we start giving our own explanations for example for illness, an accident, unemployment, children going their own way, while we do not think about the fact that God makes these things happen to us. We must learn not to look at second causes, the instruments, because there is nothing that happens outside of Him. No sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father (Mt 10:29). How much less can a disaster occur in a city without Him.

The foregoing is not meant to be a cheap solution for dramatic and shocking events or even crimes that have happened to someone. There are acts that can be done to someone, that can ruin someone’s life. In such cases, one can only hope and pray that the victim may eventually come to entrust himself completely to God. He was there when that terrible thing happened.

He did not intervene, that is true, but that does not mean he wanted this terrible thing or even agreed with it. He cried with him or her. Whoever can get to the point of looking at God beyond this personal catastrophe and its cause, will experience His consolation and alleviation of pain on the way to healing.

The thought of sin, as if God would work it, is completely misplaced. That is also not what Amos says. It is always, and certainly here, necessary to see the context of the verses in which it is written. Then it becomes clear that God is not the Processor, the Author of sin. Evil has a punitive character here. It is a disaster, such as an invasion by hostile forces, the sword, famine, or plague, as the necessary consequence of sin (Isa 45:7).

The LORD Reveals His Secret

It is a tremendous privilege that God tells us what He plans to do. This privilege is the part of the ‘friends’ of the Lord Jesus, His disciples (Jn 15:15). God has revealed to all Christians through His Spirit what He has prepared for those who love Him (1Cor 2:10-16). And Peter writes in his second letter about upcoming events and concludes his letter with: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard” (2Pet 3:17a).

Why then is it that so many people are not aware of God’s purposes? Because they do not meet the conditions attached to them. Are we ‘friends’ of the Lord Jesus, followers, disciples, of Him? Do we really love God and let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit? For the things of God are only understood by spiritually minded Christians. Do we read in God’s Word to know what is in it? God has told us everything, but we must take note of it. And are we prepared to do what He says?

The latter is what Amos is talking about. He speaks about “His servants”. A servant is someone who is in the service of a boss and from whom is expected to carry out the orders of his boss. God can reveal His counsel to such people. To them He can reveal the things He is going to do. If we take God’s announcements to heart about what He is going to do, we can go a certain way. Everything He has to say, He has revealed to us in His Word.

We read in the Old Testament how He confided in servants like Noah, Abraham, Joseph and many others about the judgments that were to come. In the New Testament we read how the Lord Jesus told His disciples about future events (Lk 21:20-24). And don’t we have “the prophetic word” (2Pet 1:19) like the whole book of Revelation? What do we do with all these confidential messages from our Lord?

There Must Be a Reaction

Amos does not apply the examples of cause and effect only to his hearers. He himself also does something with them. His speaking is the consequence of the speaking of the LORD. He has to speak because as a prophet he is in a direct connection with Him. What Amos has said and will say, seems to the hearers not at all a word of God. The people can say in rejection: ‘How can this man speak like this, where does he get the guts from?’ And Amos says: ‘I cannot do otherwise, because the LORD has spoken.’

No lion roars without prey, no bird is caught without bait, and no prophet speaks without hearing a word from the LORD. And when the LORD speaks, he cannot remain silent. Amos proves with the examples quoted that he must speak, because the LORD has spoken to him. He who criticizes Amos, criticizes the LORD.

The LORD has made His warning voice heard with great power in all kinds of events. Many have remained deaf to it. The prophets are God’s voice to the conscience of the people. They want to point again to God’s warnings, so that the people will come to repentance. Whoever is aware of what God is going to do, cannot but speak about it (Acts 4:20; Jer 20:9; 1Cor 9:16). If we are convinced of the truth of God’s Word and the seriousness of the judgment it announces about those who disobey God, it will encourage us to testify of the Lord Jesus: “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2Cor 5:11a).

We are not allowed to pass on anything but what God has told us. A willful explanation of what He has said is not permitted. If He has not spoken, every statement of any man, no matter how learned, is worth as little as that of another. Its value is nil, not to speak of a harmful effect. Only the Word of God keeps its value forever and proves its validity in all times and situations. Whoever has realized this, wants to pass on this Word to others.