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Amos 2

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1 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon: Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Moab, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kaniyang sinunog ang mga buto ng hari sa Edom na pinapaging apog.

2 Nguni't ako'y magsusugo ng isang apoy sa Moab, at susupukin niyaon ang mga palacio ng Cherioth; at ang Moab ay mamamatay na may kaingay, may hiyawan, at may tunog ng pakakak.

3 At aking ihihiwalay ang hukom sa gitna niyaon, at papatayin ko ang lahat na prinsipe niyaon na kasama niya, sabi ng Panginoon.

4 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon: Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Juda, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kanilang itinakuwil ang kautusan ng Panginoon, at hindi iningatan ang kaniyang mga palatuntunan, at iniligaw sila ng kanilang mga pagbubulaan, ayon sa inilakad ng kanilang mga magulang.

5 Nguni't magsusugo ako ng isang apoy sa Juda; at susupukin niyaon ang mga palacio ng Jerusalem.

6 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Israel, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kanilang ipinagbili ang matuwid dahil sa pilak, at ang mapagkailangan sa dalawang paang panyapak;

7 Na iniimbot ang alabok sa lupa na nasa ulo ng dukha, at inililiko ang lakad ng maamo: at ang magama ay sumisiping sa isang dalaga, upang lapastanganin ang aking banal na pangalan:

8 At sila'y nangahihiga sa tabi ng lahat na dambana, sa ibabaw ng mga kasuutang sangla; at sa bahay ng kanilang Dios ay nagsisiinom ng alak ng mga multa.

9 Gayon ma'y nililipol ko ang Amorrheo sa harap nila, na ang taas ay gaya ng taas ng mga cedro, at siya'y malakas na gaya ng mga encina; gayon ma'y nilipol ko ang kaniyang bunga sa itaas, at ang kaniyang mga ugat sa ilalim.

10 Iniahon ko rin kayo sa lupain ng Egipto, at pinatnubayan ko kayong apat na pung taon sa ilang, upang ariin ninyo ang lupain ng Amorrheo.

11 At nagbangon ako sa inyong mga anak ng mga propeta, at sa inyong mga binata ng mga Nazareo. Di baga gayon, Oh kayong mga anak ng Israel? sabi ng Panginoon.

12 Nguni't binigyan ninyo ang mga Nazareo ng alak na maiinom, at inutusan ninyo ang mga propeta, na sinasabi, Huwag kayong manganghuhula.

13 Narito, aking huhutukin kayo sa inyong dako, na gaya ng isang karong nahuhutok na puno ng mga bigkis.

14 At ang pagtakas ay mapapawi sa matulin; at ang malakas ay hindi makaaasa sa kaniyang kalakasan; ni ang makapangyarihan man ay makapagliligtas sa sarili;

15 Ni makatitindig man siyang humahawak ng busog; at siyang matulin sa paa ay hindi makaliligtas; ni siya mang nakasakay sa kabayo ay makaliligtas:

16 At siya na matapang sa mga makapangyarihan ay tatakas na hubad sa araw na yaon, sabi ng Panginoon.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Amos 2

Napsal(a) E. Taylor, Helen Kennedy

In the Book of Amos, chapter two begins with the Lord declaring his anger against the people of Moab, Judea, and Israel. They have committed various wrongs against the Lord and the church, despite His efforts to guide them, and the chapter goes on to suggest that the Lord is losing faith in His people.

Verses 1-8 of this chapter describe the specific ways in which people can destroy or misuse the good and truth of the Word.

Verses 1-3 discuss the Moabites specifically. They represent people who corrupt the good and truth of the church, meaning they would twist what they learned from the Word to suit their own selfish purposes. Bones represent natural truths that we can use as a framework to support all higher knowledge that we learn, so the fact that people were ‘burning bones’ means they destroyed their own foundation to gain spiritual knowledge. In verse 3, the Lord says that he will cut off the judge and the prince, meaning that the Moabites’ failure to determine what is good (like the judge), and lead a life based in truth (like the prince) will not stand against the real spiritual principles of the Lord.

Verses 4-5 are about people who destroy celestial things from the Word, by turning their hearts away from the Lord. The people of Judea had believed they were the Lord’s chosen people for so many generations at this point that they grew complacent, and no longer felt they needed to obey the Lord’s commandments.

Verses 6-8 tell what can happen when people pervert spiritual truths from the church, and turn them into falsities. Swedenborg writes that most of the images from these verses - silver, shoes, dust, wine - can all represent either falsity, or only the most external type of truth. The Israelites were turning to these falsities and to their own greed, instead of using the Lord’s truths to help the poor and the meek.

In verses 9-11, the Lord reminds the children of Israel of everything he has done to prepare them for salvation. He fought for them and delivered them from Egypt, lifted up their leaders and prophets, and provided them with the truths they would need in order to be regenerated.

He also shows that He has the strength to punish them, because He’s already overcome the Amorites, who symbolize evil in general (Secrets of Heaven 6306).

Verses 12-16 describe how the Israelites perverted the knowledge the Lord tried to give them. Instead of trusting what the Lord had taught them, they turned to their own self-righteousness for guidance. Since they thought they had all the answers, they corrupted the Nazarites and silenced the prophets. Without a proper understanding of the Lord’s teachings, the people were no longer equipped to fight against evils or to grow spiritually.

At face value, this chapter depicts the Lord as an angry god who will punish those who disobey him. What seems to be anger is actually the Lord fiercely protecting us, and calling us to follow Him. This chapter reminds us to turn our hearts toward the Lord, and to live according to the truths of the Word.