UBF Daily Bread

THE PROPHET MUST SPEAK GOD'S WORD

Passage: Amos 3:1~15

Key verse: 8

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

3 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you^(A)—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:^(B)

²“You only have I chosen^(C)
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish^(D) you
for all your sins.^(E)”

³Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴Does a lion roar^(F) in the thicket
    when it has no prey?^(G)
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
⁵Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait^(H) is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
⁶When a trumpet^(I) sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster^(J) comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?^(K)

⁷Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan^(L)
to his servants the prophets.^(M)

⁸The lion^(N) has roared^(O)—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
who can but prophesy?^(P)

⁹Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod^(Q)
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;^(R)
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.”

¹⁰“They do not know how to do right,^(S)” declares the Lord,
“who store up in their fortresses^(T)
what they have plundered^(U) and looted.”

¹¹Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.^(V)”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s^(W) mouth
    only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
    with only the head of a bed
    and a piece of fabric^[a] from a couch.^[b]^(X)”

¹³“Hear this and testify^(Y) against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

¹⁴“On the day I punish^(Z) Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;^(AA)
the horns^(AB) of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
¹⁵I will tear down the winter house^(AC)
    along with the summer house;^(AD)
the houses adorned with ivory^(AE) will be destroyed
    and the mansions^(AF) will be demolished,^(AG)”
declares the Lord.^(AH)

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Footnotes

Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 3:12 Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.

1. God will punish his chosen people (1-8)

Some things have a clear cause-effect relationship. Two people have a date because both agree to it; a bird is caught because a snare has been set. Disaster comes to a sinful city because the Lord sends it. God reveals his plan to his prophets. When the lion has roared who will not fear? God has spoken to his servant, so he must prophesy. God loves his people whom he chose of all the families of the earth, whom he redeemed from Egypt. He cares, so he will punish. Amos, God's servant, rebukes and warns them.

2. Samaria does not know how to do right (9-15)

The unrest in Samaria, capital of Israel, was caused by two things: Jeroboam I had made his own religion by putting a calf-idol in Bethel; this continued to poi- son the inner lives of the people (14). The wealthy people built expensive houses and enjoyed glamorous vacations--and oppressed the poor. Unless they repented, a powerful enemy would overrun them and leave only a small remnant, like an ear of an animal saved from the lion's mouth by a shepherd.

Prayer: Lord, teach my heart to fear you, so that I may not fear people; grant me a repentant heart.

One Word: The Lord's servant must speak