In the previous oracles, Amos consistently likened God's judgment to fire (1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2, 5). In this one he did not use that figure but described the judgment coming on Israel with other images, especially images of panic in battle.
2:13 The Lord said He felt burdened by the sinfulness of His people, as heavy as a wagon filled to its capacity with grain.32Another interpretation understands Amos picturing Israel being crushed like an object under the wheels of a heavily laden cart.33
2:14-16 Running fast would not provide escape from His coming judgment, resisting would not enable the Israelites to withstand it, and outstanding leaders could not deliver them from it. Archers opposing God would not be able to prevent His advancing against them, quick runners would not be able to flee, and riding a horse could not remove them from the scene of judgment. When Yahweh would judge the Israelites even the bravest among them would prove fearful and ashamed. This sevenfold description of Israel's panic balances the earlier sevenfold description of Israel's sin.
The fulfillment of this threatened judgment came when the Assyrians besieged and destroyed Samaria, Israel's capital, in 722 B.C. and carried many of the people of that land into captivity.
These oracles teach the modern reader that God is sovereign over all nations and holds them accountable for their conduct toward other human beings and for their response to special revelation (cf. Gen. 9:5-6). They also teach that God is patient with sinners and will only punish when the measure of human sin has overflowed His predetermined capacity. They also teach that God is impartial in His judgment; He will punish sin in His own people as well as sin in those with whom He has established no special relationship.
