Amo 3:4 | KingComments | STEP | The question in is the first of seven poignant questions asked sequentially in these verses. Amos takes us for the following questions 1. to the forest ( ), 2. to the field ( ) and 3. to the city ( ). After the introductory question of , 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 ( ). In His judgment of His people, the LORD presents Himself as a lion and a young lion (cf. ). A young lion can refer to a lesser or partial judgment.

‏ Amos 3:4

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.