Amos addresses the ungodly women of Israel as the cows of Bashan. No woman wants to be referred to as a cow, but Amos, being a herder, probably knew all about the cattle raised in that area. That area is called the Golan Heights today. It was a prime grassland known for its wonderful cattle. They were sleek, fat. healthy and desirable for the market. The women of Israel had become pleasure-seeking, pressuring their husbands to oppress and crush the impoverished. The way it is stated in the Scripture it would appear that they also oppressed the impoverished and were being looked on as guilty by God for the action taken against the poor by their husbands. Their desire for more affluence escalated the injustice inflicted on the poor and needy.
The Lord swears by His Holiness and this is a serious oath. God's holiness will not allow sin to go unpunished. When a statement like this is made the punishment is definitive. God was warning them of what was to come. The Assyrians would come in and take them captive. They would be led through the broken walls of their conquered city with fishhooks in their lips attached to the one ahead of them with string. The Assyrians were cruel and showed no mercy. They would take their captives away and relocate them to Assyria. The area taken would then be repopulated.
In chapter one we discussed the actions of Jeroboam to maintain political control of the Northern Kingdom. He convinced the people that they could worship the golden calf as their ancestors had done, and he set up a place of worship in Bethel and Gilgal. He convinced them that traveling to Jerusalem was unnecessary and inconvenient. 2 Kings 17: 21-23 tells us that the people walked in all the sins of Jeroboam. They tried to maintain the worship of Jehovah while also worshiping other Gods. The worship was not done in obedience to the laws set down by God. Their worship was hypocrisy. It was for outward show and they loved their gathering and their feasts. They were done for their pleasure not in obedience to God. They put leaven in their sacrifices which was a sin and made their sacrifice an abomination to God. Their worship was done for outward show not with heartfelt love and worship, to their God Yahweh.
Their idolatry brought consequences and yet they refused to return to their God. They felt his corrective power and refused to return to him. There was a lack of food and the rain came here and there and they would have to go to whatever cities were receiving rain to have water. The events showed that they were the act of God, but they would not return to him. He started with a small amount of discipline which showed great restraint and love. The discipline became incrementally more severe to try to bring them back, but they refused to change their ways as rebellious children.
God states his intentions and they are told to "Prepare to meet your God." That is a statement that we should all take seriously because we do not know when the moment will come when we will meet our God and hopefully we have received Him as our Savior. He tells them who He is. He created the mountains and the winds, and He knows the thoughts of man and sees his intentions. There is no hiding from God. " The Lord God of hosts is His name." We have free will and have to make the choice of who we will serve. But be assured that you will stand before him and be called into account for your choices, so choose wisely.
Questions:
1. Who is Amos calling the cows of Bashan, and what is their sin?
2. What was Bashan known for?
3. What does the Scripture tell us is the danger of desiring wealth and pleasure? (Matt. 13:22; Luke 8:14: Proverbs 11:28)
4. How does the Word teach the poor are to be treated? (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; 1 John 3:17-18; Matthew 25:34-36)
5. What did the " Lord God swear by His holiness"?
6. Describe the punishment God laid out in verses 2-3?
7. What was God's opinion of their worship?
8. Where were they worshipping?
9. Where were they supposed to worship? Why was this important?
10. Why was it important to use unleavened bread for the sacrifice?
11. Verses 6-11 gives a list of the punishments for their transgressions. What were they?
12. What is God attempting to teach the people?
13. In verse 12 what is Israel told to prepare for?
14. How is God characterized in verse 13?
15. What is His name?
16. What lessons can we take away from this chapter?
