We are encouraged to Work Hard and keep ourselves busy. They each follow the same rhetorical pattern. Damascus, Gaza and Tyrethree important cities in the region of Israel and Judahare called to account for their actions by a shepherd from Judah. With a small company of men he defeated a large army of Judah 2 Chronicles 24:23-24. The farmer has something to do every day. In pagan poetry also, as a trace of a mystery which they had forgotten, three is a sacred whole; from where thrice and fourfold blessed stands among them for something exceeding even a full and perfect blessing, a super-abundance of blessings. Threshing SledgeThe purpose of threshing was to separate usable grain from the waste straw or chaff. 24:22) with stone or metal teeth embedded in the bottom side were dragged over the grain by these animals. Meonothai fathered Ophrah; and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of Ge-harashim, so-called because they were craftsmen. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. threshedReverso Context-: Rock threshing floors: seeds were threshed there with the help of animals. Its native historian admits that the Damascenes were, in the time of David, and continued to be, the aggressors, while he veils over their repeated defeats, and represents their kings, as having reigned successively from father to son, for ten generations, a thing unknown probably in any monarchy. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together., Luke 10:2 And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Will the sun really be turned to darkness and the moon to blood (Joel 2:31). So Seneca in Hippolyt., Act. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. The third, having gained the greatest power of all, seeking to repair the defeat of his grandfather, warring against the Jews, wasted what is now callcd Samaritis. They could not brook a defeat, which they had brought upon themselves. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Assyrian chronicles relate only Assyrian victories. The last grace of God, whether sealing up the former graces of those who use them, or vouchsafed to those who have wasted them, is the crowning act of His love or forbearance. On the west and north the city was far and wide fenced by orchards, like thick dense woods, which stretched four or live miles toward Libanus. 5 I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Avenand the . And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to theLord. 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. The art and concealment of man in approaching a maiden is of a subtler kind than things in nature which leave no trace of themselves, the eagle in the air, the serpent on the rock, the ship in its pathway through the waves Proverbs 30:18-19. Amos 1 contains a brief historical account on the prophetic ministry of Amos, providing the reader with the date of Amoss ministry and how the LORD has called him to minister to Israel. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Joel 2:24 speaks of that abundance as a sign of God's blessing if the people repent: "The threshing floors will be filled with grain. Fewer and fewer of us grew up on farms, and thus, we miss a lot of subtle points Jesus is making in some of His stories. 3 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Which words Virgil translates, and puts in the mouth of his hero in similar circumstances, Aen. An example of Damascuss war against Israel is found in 2 Kings 10 where Hazael [the king of Damascus] defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan (2 Kgs. So Paul speaks of those who treasure up to themselves wrath against the Day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God Romans 2:5. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. , Deuteronomy 22:10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.Hebrews 6:7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.Deuteronomy 22:9-11 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. Hebrew Names Version. Corn takes anywhere from 90 to 100 days to be ready to be harvested. And he will bless you in the land that theLordyour God is giving you.Deuteronomy 15:1-10 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.Isaiah 28:28 Does one crush grain for bread? In the visitations of others, it was to read its own; and that, the more, the nearer God was to them. A threshing sledge was pulled by a large animal. This is what the LORD says: 'The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! Specially shod animals walked around on the stalks until the grain separated from the hulls. The three transgressions stand for a whole sum of sin, which had not yet brought down extreme punishment; the fourth was the crowning sin, after which God would no longer spare. Amos 1:3-5 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Tyre is condemned for the same sin as Gazathe deportation and sale of whole communities (cf. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Amos specifically notes one defining cultural sin. v., ver. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, This is what the LORD says: 'For three offenses of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke its. Of the three on the south side, one is led to the populous village Daraya, five miles distant; the other two supply the city, its suburbs, and gardens., The like use was made of every fountain in every larger or lesser plain. W The name of his servant Eliezer my God is help, implies that at this time too the servant was a worshiper of the One God. After he is created by God, he is placed in charge of the Garden of Eden. For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four. As such, it attracted the Arameans who were one of the most frequent enemies of Israel. a aq as _ \\ \ \ \ ss ce ake i arthur s. phelps his booke god give him grace. 1. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. Why Did Jesus Talk So Much About Agriculture? Before this, Scripture speaks of the people only of Damascus, not of their kings. Animals have to be fed, crops have to be watered and fertilized, and it doesnt matter how the farmer feels on that particular day. Why does Amos keep repeating for three sins . The oracles against the nations are intricately structured. E LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel, Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular, Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular, Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular, Gilead -- a region in Palestine, also the name of several Israelites, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural construct, Incised, incisive, a trench, gold, a threshing-sledge, determination, eager, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT Prophets: Amos 1:3 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions (Amo. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Randall. When theLordrestored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. God was and is seeking usfor He will separate usable grain from the waste straw or chaff. Chelub, the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir, who fathered Eshton. And you shall remember the whole way that theLordyour God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Proverbs 12:11 says, Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.Proverbs 28:19 says, He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vainpersonsshall have poverty enough. Deuteronomy 28:12 says, The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. Amos 1:3 . (LogOut/ 41:15).The NKJV Study Bible. Change). ABUNDANCE OR JUDGMENT. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. "Thrice happy Greeks! At this time, Damascus was probably, like ourselves, a rich, commercial, as well as warlike, but not as yet a manufacturing (see the note at Amos 3:12) nation. What then shall we say to these things? 1 Samuel 27:8-12). Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. What is the Biblical Perspective on Agriculture, Why Did Jesus Talk So Much About Agriculture, Why Jesus Talked So Much About Agriculture. Nature takes its own time. Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All the fields have to be checked. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.Deuteronomy 11:13-15 And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love theLordyour God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. A threshing sledge was made of wooden boards embedded with sharp stones or iron teeth. For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four - These expressions of three and four, so often repeated in this chapter, mean repetition, abundance, and any thing that goes towards excess. Joash, king of Judah, bought him off, when advancing against Jerusalem, with everything of gold, consecrated or civil, in the temple or in his own treasures 2 Kings 12:18. Hazael was the king of Damascus in the second half of the ninth century BC, while Ben-hadad was his son and successor (2 Kgs. Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters. Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. Why Did God Use Adams Rib to Create Eve? Are you seeking him? 1:93. The names Hazael and Ben-hadad, two kings of Aram, are also known from 2 Kings 8. Only one sin is identified even though many others are presumed (three, even four). The flail, a pair of connected sticks used to beat the grain, evolved from the early method of using a single stick.It, with the earlier methods, was described by Pliny the Elder in his first-century CE Natural History: "The cereals are threshed in some places with the threshing board on the threshing floor; in others they are trampled by a train of horses, and in others they are beaten with . For each oracle, Amos confirmed his prophetic call with the statement Thus says the LORD (Am. These are the men of Recah. , 1 Chronicles 4:10-41 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? Fire is used symbolically for Gods judgment, which would fall on the house of Hazael and the citadels of Ben-hadad. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 4 So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. F English Standard Version. Its whole plain was intersected with canals, and tunneled below. . They enslaved their inhabitants and sold them to Edom. Damascus was already the chief city, through its relation to which alone Hobah was known. Tyre also sent whole communities into slavery. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn back from it, for they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Grain is threshed with farming instruments, which back then might include a heavy board, studded with sharp metal used to pull over the grain to separate it from the husk. They are a good reminder of what is required from us every day of our own lives. Every infliction on those like ourselves finds an echo in our own consciences. Every day, just like the farmer, we must show up and do the work. 14-15) (LogOut/ Immediately, it was bounded by the three lakes which receive the surplus of the waters which enrich it. These orchards are a most exceeding defense; for from the density of the trees and the narrowness of the ways, it seemed difficult and almost impossible to approach the city on that side. Even to this day it is said, The true defense of Damascus consists in its gardens, which, forming a forest of fruit-trees and a labyrinth of hedges, walls and ditches, for more than 7 leagues in circumference, would present no small impediment to a Mussulman enemy.. Nor will they say, Look, here it is! or There! for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.. P It was on the route by which Abraham himself came at Gods command from Haran (Charrae of the Greeks) whether over Tiphsaeh (the passage, Thapsacus) or anymore northern passage over the Euphrates. Again, Sowing discord among brethren Proverbs 6:16-19, has a special hatefulness, as not only being sin, but causing widewasting sin, and destroying in others the chief grace, love. Others believe the threshing is a metaphor for Israels defeat at the hands of Syria (cf. Labs God authorized human government in Genesis, where He said, Whoever sheds mans blood, by man his blood shall be shed, forin the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6). The reign of this lineage would be destroyed for their wrongdoings. The bar would secure the gate or the door to prevent outsiders from entering to hurt the residents of the city. Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Job 5:19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. It is still the capital of modern Syria today. In this case, God Himself is making the judgement. What Does the Bible Say About A Man Providing For His Family? It had then doubtless, beside the population of its plain, large nomadic hordes dependent upon it. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, TheLordhas done great things for them. TheLordhas done great things for us; we are glad. and four times who were slain, In Atreus' cause, upon the Trojan plain.". Certainly Hadadezer stands cut conspicuously; the Damascenes are mentioned only subordinately. Judging, probably, of Davids defensive conquests by its own policy, it joined the other Syrians who attacked David, was subdued, garrisoned, and became tributary 2 Samuel 8:5-6. If this promise was fulfilled, Ramoth-Gilead must have been lost to Syria at an earlier period, since, three years afterward, Ahab perished in an attempt, by aid of Jehoshaphat, against the counsels of God, to recover it 2 Kings 7:6. They sent them into captivity (or exile). When He no longer withholds it, the law of His moral government holds its course. Here, Damascus represents the entire nation of Aram (or Syria). His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.Leviticus 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. Then follow Edom, Ammon, Moab, who burst the bonds of blood also. , Ruth 2:7 She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.1 Chronicles 4:10-41 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked. Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I shall not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they have threshed Gilead This is what the LORD says: "The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! Yahweh says, according to Amos, the he will not revoke the punishment such sins deserve. After his death, his descendants reigned for ten generations, each receiving from his father the name (Hadad) together with the kingdom, like the Ptolemies of Egypt. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window). De Dieu refers it to the earthquake before mentioned, that God would not turn away that, but cause it to come, as he had foretold, for the transgressions of these, and other nations after spoken of; but rather it refers to Damascus; and so some render it, "I will not turn", or "convert it"; to repentance, and so to my mercy; but leave it in its sins, and to my just judgments. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. He condemns forcibly removing populations from their homeland. What Does the Bible Say About Overcoming? Here in Amos, we see that the people of Damascus rebelled against the LORD because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron. Consistently with this, the first mention of the kingdom of Damascus in Scripture is the dynasty of Rezon son of Eliadas, a fugitive servant of Hadadezer, who formed a marauding band, then settled and reigned in Damascus 1 Kings 11:23-24. 2007. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? B And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you., Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. It is worth noting that each of the oracles begins with the formula For three transgressions of [name of city or state], even for four, though Amos only listed one transgression for each nation, except for Israel which received all four of them (Amos 2:616). 5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;