The man, Amos was called by God to go and speak to the northern tribe of Israel. The opening chapters deal with the coming judgment by God for the conduct of various nations. All those cited were those connected to Israel or Judah. The judgment of God would fall on these nations because of their sins and God dealing with them in a direct way. The plan for saving man was eternal in nature and it required the coming of God’s Son to save man (Eph. 3:11). Therefore much of what God was doing in and around the land of Canaan was in preparation for the coming of Jesus the Christ to save all men from their sins.
The nations cited were Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah and Israel. In each case we find the words, “…I will not turn away the punishment thereof.” Also the idea of judgment was portrayed by a fire that would consume the palaces of these various nations. Out of all of them Judah was the only one who still held to the idea of there being just one God. Israel, which should have known it, was dying spiritually because of idolatry. The idolatry meant a wholesale rejecting of the idea of God.
Let us pose the question of, “what would we expect out of these nations”? Beginning with Damascus in chapter one, what kind of god did they believe in (1:3)? Each of the other nations cited would likewise have their gods or similar gods to the other nations around them. You would expect then for their conduct to be consistent with the god which they believed in. Killing children, slave trade, stealing from others and so on are all the direct result of the god they believed in. Whether one uses the word “god” or standard, the idea is nations, people and individuals all have some standard or god that they go by. Whoever or whatever that god or standard is defines the actions of the people.
Why then would God judge them? Removing Judah and Israel out the conversation, how or why would God hold them accountable? They did not know Him so how could He bring judgment against them? The father of the Jewish race was Abraham. God was talking with Abraham in Genesis 15 and He told Abraham about his descendants being in captivity for some 400 years (Genesis 15:13). Why the time period of 400 years? The answer God gave was this. The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full (verse 16). It would take some 400 years for them to reach a point in which God would say, “no longer”.
When Israel stood on the east bank of the Jordan River about to go in and conquer Canaan, the cup was just about full. By the time of Amos many years later, God saw there was no hope for the change and therefore judgment was necessary to halt these nations. We may wonder at times when it looks like evil is growing beyond measure. The book of Amos shows us that God observes the growth of evil and when time is right, He deals with it. What about the two nations of Judah and Israel? They both came from a background of having a belief in there being only one God. What lead to their demise?
Paul gives a history lesson of the Jewish people (Judah and Israel) in I Corinthians 10. He begins by showing they were united having the same spiritual meat and drink (verses 3,4). He then shows God was not pleased with some of them. This would be those 20 and above who died in the wilderness wanderings. The things that happened to them was to educate us to not fall into the same trap (verse 6). When we come to verse 11, what happened to them was for admonition because the end of the world came on them.
The judgment of God fell on them. It was not the end of the world because now the world is still standing. It meant the judgment of God when He moved against sins of these people. God likewise passed a final judgment on His own people in A.D. 70. The world is still standing. The judgment by God in A.D. 70 was not the final judgment that is yet in the future. In the final judgment God will separate the righteous and unrighteous for all eternity and the world will be no more.