The Bible

 

Амос 2

Study

   

1 Ovako veli Gospod: Za tri zla i za četiri što učini Moav, neću mu oprostiti, jer sažeže kosti cara edomskog u kreč.

2 Nego ću pustiti oganj na Moava, te će proždreti dvorove u Kariotu, i Moav će poginuti s vrevom, s vikom i s glasom trubnim.

3 I istrebiću sudiju iz njega i sve knezove njegove pobiću s njim, veli Gospod.

4 Ovako veli Gospod: Za tri zla i za četiri što učini Juda, neću mu oprostiti, jer prezreše zakon Gospodnji i uredbe Njegove ne držaše, i prevariše se lažima svojim, za kojima hodiše oci njihovi.

5 Nego ću pustiti oganj u Judu, te će proždreti dvore jerusalimske.

6 Ovako veli Gospod: Za tri zla i za četiri što učini Izrailj, neću mu oprostiti, jer prodavaše pravednika za novce i ubogog za jedne opanke.

7 Čeznu za prahom zemaljskim na glavi siromasima, i prevraćaju put smernima; i sin i otac odlaze k jednoj devojci da skvrne sveto ime moje.

8 I na haljinama u zalogu uzetim leže kod svakog oltara, i vino oglobljenih piju u kući bogova svojih.

9 A ja istrebih ispred njih Amoreje, koji behu visoki kao kedri i jaki kao hrastovi, i potrh rod njihov ozgo i žile njihove ozdo.

10 I ja vas izvedoh iz zemlje misirske, i vodih vas po pustinji četrdeset godina da biste nasledili zemlju amorejsku.

11 I podizah između sinova vaših proroke i između mladića vaših nazireje. Nije li tako? Sinovi Izrailjevi, govori Gospod.

12 A vi pojiste nazireje vinom, i prorocima zabranjivaste govoreći: Ne prorokujte.

13 Evo, ja ću vas pritisnuti na mestu vašem kao što se pritiskaju kola puna snoplja.

14 I neće biti bega brzome, i jaki neće utvrditi kreposti svoje, i hrabri neće spasti dušu svoje.

15 I strelac neće se održati, i laki na nogu neće se izbaviti, niti će konjanik spasti duše svoje.

16 Nego će najhrabriji među junacima go pobeći u onaj dan, govori Gospod.

   

Commentary

 

Exploring the Meaning of Amos 2

By 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.