Examining The Scripture CXXXI: Verdict: Israel - Guilt As Charged

Please note the kind of sentence structure Amos use in Amos 3:3-6. Also note how these three verses relate to the overall contect of Amos 3:1-8. In Amos 3 verse 3 through 6 we see a series of rhetorical questions delivered in rapid-fire fashion. These questions are directly linked to the overall context of Israel's guilt and inevitable judgment being pronounced upon them.

Things do not happen in a vacuum in God’s universe. God is aware of all things transpiring in His creation and where things demand that He enter His creation and act on it because of any given attribute (such as justice), He will. We see also that once His decision is made it is inevitable and unavoidable. These seven examples become increasingly foreboding.

(1) Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?
(1a) There is a form of agreement that takes place when two decide to work or walk together. They need to agree on a time to meet and walk

(2) Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
(2a) It sounds a form of alarm. If a lion roars it means it has caught its prey not when it is stalking it.

(3) Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing?

(4) Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it?
(4a) A bird cannot be trapped our caught if a trap has not first been set to catch it. (motives and intents)

(5) Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing?
(5a) Nor will a trap spring without and intent to trap something to begin with (motive)..someone has to trigger the snare.

These first five questions are an example of “effect followed by cause”.
The remaining to are reversed to “cause and effect.

(6) Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid?
(6a) Blowing of a trumpet preconditioned people for certain actions. If blown from the city wall it causes dread, anxiety and apprehension because it is a warning of impending attack.

(7) Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?
(7a) Things happen in Gods universe because he has either planned them Himself or allowed them. God is sovereign and in control. If disaster befalls a Israel or Jerusalem, God is involved somehow.


We then see the crux of the issue in verse 7 & 8. The lion (of Judah?) has roared (spoken definitively) through His prophets. He is done hunting, He has caught his prey. He will devour it. All men can do now is prophesy of the coming judgment. We must remind ourselves that prophecy to God is not a revealing of the future for Him. He knows what is going to happened, He planned it. Prophecy is a revealing to man of what God intends to do. This is a really good scriptural indicator of the purpose and use of prophecy and its relation to man and God.

Sunukjian, Donald R., John Walvoord. "Amos: The Reasons For Judgment" Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1380-1381. Print.

Longman, Tremper, and David Garland. "The Outpoured Spirit." Daniel-Malachi (Expositor's Bible Commentary, The). New Rev ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. 235-239. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren. "Listen To What God Says" Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 349. Print.