When we carefully consider the pattern Amos has been following, we can see that he was heading in this direction all along. The first prophecies were pronounced against people who had no genetic kinship with the people of Judah and Israel, such as the Syrians (called Arameans in the Bible), the Philistines, and the Phoenicians.
Then Amos pronounced prophecies against people who were related to the Israelites, such as the Edomites who were the descendants of Jacob's brother Esau, and the Ammonites and Moabites who were the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. Now Amos is about to pronounce prophecies against those the Lord rescued from Egypt and settled in the promised land. These are those people to whom the commandments and the law were given. Now we can clearly see the pattern that's emerging here, for it progresses from bad to to worse to worst as far as how badly these various groups of people have sinned against the Lord. Or we could put it like this: each of these nations is judged according to how well its people walked by the light they had been given.
The Syrians, Philistines, and Phoenicians had been serving other gods since some time way back in the mists of history. Somewhere so far back that we cannot pinpoint a precise era, though it must have been post-flood, these people decided they did not want to serve the God of generations past. They were living according to their own desires and according to what they believed the gods (whom they had created in their own minds) required. Because they had rejected the Lord long ago, they were stumbling about in the dark, spiritually speaking. Anyone who has lived in this world for any amount of time knows that we cannot expect godly behavior from unbelievers. We cannot expect them to live by the same code as the children of God. We could refer to the Syrians, the Philistines, and the Phoenicians as the "bad" group.
This next group of nations---Edom and Ammon and Moab---could be called the "worse" group because they had more light to walk by and chose darkness instead. The founders of these nations, Lot and Esau, knew about the Lord. They had been brought up in the fear of the Lord. However, both of them seemed to love the ways of the world more than the ways of God. Lot compromised his faith a great deal by living in, working in, and even being a judge in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah. Esau cared about the things of this life more than the things of God and was very nonchalant about the role of spiritual leadership he was supposed to step into when his father passed on. He traded in this privilege for the mere price of a bowl of stew, being far more carnally minded than spiritually minded. Both Esau and Lot made decisions that led to the fall of their descendants into idolatry.
This third group, Judah and Israel, could be called the "worst" group as far as having no excuse for the sins into which they have fallen by Amos' day. Of all the people in the world at that time, they had the most light shining on their path. They knew more about the Lord than anyone on earth. They were at an advantage like no one else, yet the majority of them forsook Him in favor of the useless idols of the nations around them.
Because this group was brought out of slavery into a beautiful land by the very hand of the living God, and because the Lord revealed His personality to them in a way no one else had ever experienced Him, and because He clearly told them what was expected of them, the Lord considers their sins far worse than the sins of their idolatrous kinsmen and far worse than the sins of their unrelated heathen neighbors. "This is what the Lord says: 'For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept His decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem." (Amos 2:4-5)
The Lord foretells the same kind of judgment for Judah that He foretold for the other nations. In tomorrow's study He will foretell this judgment for Israel as well. The people of ancient Judah and Israel cannot expect preferential treatment just because they have long been known by the name of God. He will not turn a blind eye to their sin. In fact, He considers their sin far worse than the sins of the pagan nations, for they were given far more spiritual opportunities to know Him and to honor Him than were the people of those nations who were raised up in idolatry.
A similar thing could be said about the United States of America because here we are free to read the word of God whenever we want. We can hear the word of God being taught at any time of the day or night on the internet or on the radio or on the TV. No one is stopping us from entering the churches and the synagogues to freely worship the God of the Bible. Anyone who wants to know about the Lord can easily get access to as much material about Him as they want. If the Lord judged ancient Judah and Israel for not walking in the right ways by the light they were given, how much more will He judge our modern nations for not walking in the right ways by the light we are given? He could not have made it easier for us to learn about Him and to find out how to live in ways that honor Him.
The Lord allowed the southern kingdom of Judah to fall to Babylon, as we learned in our study of the kings. He allowed the northern kingdom of Israel to fall to Assyria. We will be provided with more details about this era as we move on through the books of the prophets. But I want to close by saying that our own modern nations of today can't expect to be given preferential treatment in any judgment that may be coming upon the world. We have access to more information about the living God than anyone has ever had since the creation of the world. Even people who don't want to know anything about Him can't help hearing at least some things about Him in an era when instant information is at our fingertips at all times. If we do not learn anything about Him, it's not because we didn't have the opportunity; it's because we chose not to accept that opportunity. The people of the information era could actually be called "the worst of the worst" if we do not walk properly by this amazing flood of light that is shining down on our path.
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