3. The third message on injustice 5:1-17

The structure of this message is chiastic, which focuses attention and emphasis on the middle part.

AA description of certain judgment vv. 1-3

BA call for individual repentance vv. 4-6

CAn accusation of legal injustice v. 7

DA portrayal of sovereign Yahweh vv. 8-9

C'An accusation of legal injustice vv. 10-13

B'A call for individual repentance vv. 14-15

A'A description of certain judgment vv. 16-17

Another structural feature stresses the solidarity between Yahweh and His prophet, namely, the alternation between of the words of Amos (vv. 1-2, 6-9, 14-15) and the words of God (vv. 3-5, 10-13, 16-17).

 A description of certain judgment 5:1-3

5:1 This message begins as the previous two did, with a call to hear the Lord's word. However here Amos announced that what follows is a dirge (Heb. qinah) against the house of Israel. A dirge was a lament that was sung at the funeral of a friend, relative, or prominent person (e.g., 2 Sam. 1:17-27; 3:33-34; 2 Chron. 35:25). The prophets used the dirge genre to prophesy the death of a city, people, or nation (cf. Jer. 7:29; 9:10-11, 17-22; Lam.; Ezek. 19; 26:17-18; 27:2, 32; 28:12; 32:2). Amos announced Israel's death at the height of its prosperity under Jeroboam II.

"To his listeners, hearing this lament would be as jarring as reading one's own obituary in the newspaper."⁴⁷

5:2 Amos announced that the virgin Israel, in the prime of her beauty and vigor, had fallen fatally. "Fallen"in funeral songs usually means "fallen in battle"(cf. 2 Sam. 1:19, 25, 27; 3:34; Lam. 2:21). She would never rise to her former position again. No one came to her aid, even Yahweh (cf. Judg. 6:13; 2 Kings 21:14; Isa. 2:6). She lay forsaken in her land.

5:3 Cities that had sent 1,000 soldiers against Israel's enemy saw only 100 survive, and smaller towns that sent out only 100 soldiers saw only 10 come home alive. No nation could survive such devastating defeat in war.

 A call for individual repentance 5:4-6

This pericope is also chiastic (Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba, Gilgal, Bethel).

5:4-5 Yahweh invited the Israelites to seek Him so they might live. Even though national judgment and death were inevitable, individuals could still live. Announcements of impending judgment almost always allow for the possibility of individual repentance (cf. Jer. 18:1-10). The Israelites should not seek the Lord at the popular Israelite shrines at Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba in southern Judah, however. All these worship centers stood at cites that were important in Israel's earlier history, but God had commanded His people to worship Him at Jerusalem. There is a play on words regarding Bethel. "Bethel"means "house of God,"but it would become "Beth Aven,"meaning "house of nothing.""Aven"(nothing) often referred to the powerless spirits of wickedness (cf. Isa. 41:22-24, 28-29).

5:6 Amos, as well as the Lord (v. 4), invited the Israelites to seek the Lord by doing good and refraining from evil so they might live (cf. vv. 14-15). The alternative would be God's judgment breaking forth and unquenchably consuming the whole house of Joseph (i.e., the Northern Kingdom, whose main tribe was Ephraim, a son of Joseph).

 An accusation of legal injustice 5:7

The reason for Yahweh's consuming judgment of Israel was that the Israelites were turning sweet justice into something bitter and were throwing righteousness to the ground with disrespect. These figures picture their total contempt for what was right (cf. Prov. 1:3; 2:9; 8:20; 21:3; Isa. 1:21; 5:7; 28:17). Right conduct was the proper action, and justice was the result, but the Israelites had despised both in their courts. Instead of the judicial system functioning like medicine, healing wrongs and soothing the oppressed, the Israelites had turned it into poison.

 A portrayal of sovereign Yahweh 5:8-9

Since Yahweh made the Pleiades and Orion, constellations of stars, He could bring His will to pass on earth too. The rising of the Pleiades before daybreak heralded the arrival of spring and the rising of Orion after sunset signaled the onset of winter.⁴⁸Since Yahweh brings light out of darkness in the morning and darkens the day at night He could change the fate of Israel from prosperity to adversity. Since He calls the waters of the sea to form clouds and then empties them on the land He can pour out judgment on the land as well. Yahweh is the name of this God, the covenant God of Israel. Israel's pagan neighbors attributed all these activities to their idols, and some of the Israelites worshipped them, but Yahweh was the only God who could do these things. The person who would flash forth like lightningfrom heaven, striking the strong oppressors with destruction and bringing an end to their fortresses on earth, was Yahweh.

 Another accusation of legal injustice 5:10-13

This pericope is also chiastic. Intimidation and abusive treatment flank an announcement of covenant violation.

5:10 Amos cited other reasons for the coming judgment. The Israelites hated judges who reproved evildoers in the city gate, where the court convened, and witnesses who spoke the truth.

5:11 They imposed high rents and taxes of grain on the poor to keep them tenants on the land (cf. Exod. 23:2, 6).

"The small farmer no longer owns his own land; he is a tenant of an urban class to whom he must pay a rental for the use of the land, a rental that was often a lion's share of the grain which the land had produced."⁴⁹

The oppressors used this illegally obtained income to build themselves luxurious homes. The Lord promised that He would make it impossible for these evil people to live in their fancy houses and enjoy the fruits of their vineyards.

5:12 Yahweh knew the many transgressions of His covenant and the great sins that these perverters of justice committed. They had distressed the righteous by their unrighteous conduct, accepted bribes from the wealthy, and made it impossible for the poor to get fair treatment in the courts. God was looking for justice (in their relationships to one another) and for righteousness (in their relationship to Him). This dual emphasis on justice and righteousness runs throughout the Book of Amos.

5:13 Life had become so corrupt that keeping quiet about these abuses of power had become the only prudent thing to do. If a person spoke out against them, he could count on feeling the wrath of the powerful.

 Another call for individual repentance 5:14-15

5:14 Again the prophet urged the Israelites to seek good rather than evil so they could live (cf. vv. 4-6). Then the sovereign, almighty Yahweh would truly be with them, as they professed He was even as they practiced their injustice (cf. Num. 23:21; Deut. 20:4; 31:8; Judg. 6:12; Isa. 8:10; Zeph. 3:15, 17). He would become their defender rather then their prosecutor.

5:15 They should hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate (a metonym for the courts). Perhaps then sovereign, almighty Yahweh would be gracious to the faithful remnant in the Northern Kingdom and deliver them.

 Another description of certain judgment 5:16-17

This message concludes by returning to a further description of conditions when Yahweh would judge Israel (cf. vv. 1-3). The sovereign Yahweh of armies, Israel's master, announced wailing in all the open plazas of the Israelite towns and in their streets. There would be many funerals. Everyone would bewail the conditions of divine judgment, not just the professional mourners but even the poor farmers who would have to bury their oppressors. The vineyards, often places of joy and merriment, would be full of mourning, as would the streets. Yahweh promised to pass through the midst of His people, not to bless them but to blast them with punishment. Earlier God had passed through Egypt with similar devastating results (cf. Exod. 11:4-7; 12:12-13).