You'll recall from our study of the kings that ancient Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire approximately 130 years before Judah fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. This is because the northern kingdom fell into widescale idolatry sooner than did the southern kingdom, plus Judah experienced several revivals when godly kings were on the throne. In Amos' day both nations were still standing but he foresaw a day when that would not be the case.
Amos was a prophet called by the Lord to minister mainly to the northern kingdom of Israel. The majority of what he has to say will be directed at the northern kingdom. Our text begins like this: "This is what the Lord says: 'For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.'" (Amos 2:6)
Scholars are divided about what this verse means. The majority of them appear to feel that the Lord is speaking about the appalling practice of taking bribes---that the judges of legal cases were unjustly ruling against the innocent in exchange for money and even for trifling gifts like shoes. If a judge ruled against the innocent party, the innocent party might have to go into the service of his accuser for a period of time in order to pay off whatever debt was assessed to him, thus the use of the word "sell" is used here to indicate the innocent person having to become an indentured servant to the person who claimed he owed them. Other scholars, however, simply view verse 6 as a general expression used to say that the poor and needy were being taken advantage of in many ways by the rich and powerful, that a whole host of inequalities have taken place because so many in the nation have stopped having compassion for those less fortunate than themselves.
"They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed." (Amos 2:7a) This portion of our text definitely appears to be referring to unfair legal practices. A person who could slip the judge some silver before the trial could be assured of receiving the verdict he wanted. In the book of Isaiah the Lord speaks out again against wicked judges in Israel, saying, "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." (Isaiah 10:1-2) In that passage He vows to bring disaster on everyone in the land who has ruled unfairly. The Lord's laws were intended to protect the rights of everyone, whether rich or poor, but justice was being perverted on a daily basis as rulings came down in the favor of whoever could afford to buy the judge.
In addition to allowing themselves to be overcome by greed, some were overcome by sexual immorality as well. "Father and son use the same girl and so profane My holy name." (Amos 2:7b) Earlier in the Old Testament we studied the laws regarding sexual relations. Adultery, of course, was forbidden and the prohibition against adultery is included in the ten commandments. Sex outside of marriage was forbidden too. But there were other laws as well, such as an adult son being forbidden to marry his step-mother if his father died or if his father divorced his step-mother. This was considered an incestuous relationship although there was no genetic link between the young man and his step-mother.
If a young man slept with a wife or concubine of his father, the motive was sometimes political rather than sexual; it was a way to announce his intention of taking his father's place in every way. You may recall that Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob, slept with one of Jacob's concubines in this manner. Another example is when Absalom, the son of David, ordered a tent to be pitched on the roof of the palace so he could have relations with David's concubines in it, thus making a public statement that he intended to take over the throne, the palace, and everyone and everything in the palace.
In verse 7b I cannot say for certain whether a father and son are sharing a concubine, which would be breaking the law even if they both went through a wedding ceremony to marry the same woman, because the Mosaic law forbade father and son to have a relationship with the same woman. It was considered incestuous even though the woman was not the mother of the son. But I think what may be happening in this instance is something just as immoral: the father and son are engaging in sexual relations with the same prostitute. If either of them had sexual relations with a woman to whom they were not married, this would be a sin in itself, for nowhere in the Bible do we find the Lord blessing sexual relations except those that take place between a married couple. But these two men may have gone together to a prostitute, and probably not to the type of prostitute we have in mind (one that trades sex for money) but a pagan temple prostitute. So what's being exchanged here is not necessarily sex for money, which would be bad enough, but there's idolatry involved. There may be no exchange of money at all but instead this might be a fertility ritual or heathen orgy. I think that's the most likely explanation for verse 7b because when we continue on with the prophecy against Israel in our next study session, we will find the Lord accusing the people of engaging in idolatrous rituals.
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