The rhythmic pattern of the
oracles against other nations continues in. first, an oracle against the people
of Judah, and then, an oracle against the people of Israel which becomes very
extended.
In 2:4-5 a sweeping
accusation is made against Judah: 'They have despised my teachings and have not
kept my commands.' There is no further reference in the book of Amos to what
this meant in detail; the subject of the rest of his oracles is the northern
kingdom of Israel,
2: 6-8 is the first of the
detailed utterances of Amos against the people of Israel. When Amos had been
shown the unrepentant sin of Israel through the visions which he received, it
was left to the prophet to interpret exactly what forms that sin took. In verse
6 Israelites are accused of selling fellow Israelites into slavery against
their will and for unjust reasons. A poor Israelite could sell himself
voluntarily into slavery for a period but this was a different matter from a
rich Israelite forcing a poor man into slavery. The Covenant Law controlled the
conditions of slavery in Israel as is seen in Exodus 21 : 2-6, Deuteronomy 15:
1-18 and Leviticus 25:39-46. Verse 7 refers to the perversion of legal
procedures in Israel's courts of justice; the cases of the poor, the weak and
the helpless are ignored or thrown out. Then follows a reference to sexual
promiscuity against which the Covenant Law set out prohibitions (Exodus 21: 9);
this reference could also point to cultic prostitution and the continuing
worship of fertility goddesses. Verse 8 refers to the victimization of the poor
Israelites by the rich. If a poor man left his garment with another man as
security for what he had borrowed, the garment had to be returned to him by the
end of the day (Exodus 22: 26-27). The rich forced the poor to repay debts and
then squandered the money that had been obtained on drinking. These injustices
took place at the temple where worship was offered to God.
2: 9-3: 2 reveals how Israel
appears to God. God had brought the people he had chosen to serve him from
Egypt to the Promised Land. God's power had overcome the Canaanites (Amorites)
and given their land to the Israelites. God ensured that there were prophets
among his people to remind them constantly of their God and his will for them.
The Israelites had scorned the prophets and told them not to speak for God.
After experiencing God's care and love for them in the wilderness period, the
Israelites had turned against God after they possessed their land. They
rejected their election by God to serve him in a unique way: 'Of all the
nations on earth, you are the only one I have known and 'cared for. That is
what makes your sins so terrible, and that is why I must punish you for them.'