The Punishment of Tyre
1:9-10
Tyre was a wealthy and powerful city state northwest of Israel. It is now a city in Lebanon.
God said he would punish it for delivering up a whole people to Edom, indicating the capture and selling of people into slavery. We do not have a specific event to identify in the Bible. Tyre was known for slave trading, however.
God condemns slave trading. In Exodus 21:16, God says: “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”
The prophet Ezekiel issued a lengthy prophecy concerning Tyre. (Ezekiel 26-28) He also mentioned their slave trading. (Ezekiel 27:13) The prophet Joel also prophesied against Tyre and accused them of removing Israelites from their cities and selling them to the Greeks. (Joel 3:6)
Amos also condemned Tyre for not remembering the covenant of brotherhood. (9) Tyre had previously had good relations with Israel during the reigns of David, Solomon, and Ahab. Hiram, king of Tyre, sent materials and workers to David when he built his house in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:11) Hiram loved David. (1 Kings 5:1)
Hiram also sent materials to Solomon when he became king and wanted to build the Temple.(2 Kings 5:8-11)
Ahab married Jezebel, a princess of Tyre, who led him into the worship of Baal. (1 Kings 16:3133)
But, somewhere along the way, Tyre sided against Israel and became an enemy. God determined to punish Tyre and bring destruction upon it. (10)
Judgment Against Edom
1:11-12
Edom was the country founded by Esau, brother of Jacob.
There was a long history of enmity between Israel and Edom. Notably, when Israel came out of Egypt they sought to travel up the King’s Highway, but Edom prevented them from doing so with a large army. (11) This required the Israelites to travel south past the border of Edom then turn north and travel just east of Edom’s eastern border. (Numbers 20:14-21)
Because of this, there was continual conflict between the two nations. Now, through Amos, God says he will judge them and destroy two of their main cities, Temen and Bozrah.
Edom was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nabonidus (c. 553-550 B.C.E.). Later, in the 5th century B.C.E., the Nabataeans conquered the territory, forcing the Edomites into southern Judah, where they disappeared after the Roman era.
Judgment Against The Ammonites
1:13-15
The Ammonites were descended from Lot.You might remember the story where, after the destruction of Sodom, Lot’s oldest daughter decided she and her sister had to have sex with their father so they could have children and continue the family line.
Moab was the son of the oldest daughter. The Moabites descended from him. Ben-ammi was the son of the youngest and is the father of the Ammonites. (Genesis 19:30-l38)
Ammon was east of the Jordan River, where the Kingdom of Jordan is now. They had many conflicts with Israel and attacked the region of Gilead often in attempt to expand their territory to the river, enlarging their border. (13)
The Ammonites were vicious as shown by God’s accusation that they ripped open pregnant women in Gilead. So, God said he would send fire to destroy the capital city of Rabbah and send the king and his sons into exile.
Assyria did conquer Ammon and made it a vassal state. Babylonia later conquered it and dispersed the people into exile so that Ammon ceased to exist as a country.
Judgment Against Moab
2:1-3
Moab’s offense was not against Israel. Instead, it was against Edom. So, we see that God’s justice is not only for those who do bad things to Israel, but is applied to any who commit atrocities.
Moab had many conflicts with Edom, their neighbor to the south. We do not have a record of this in the Bible, but in one such conflict the Moabites burned the body of the king of Edom.
This was evidently done to prevent resurrection of the king’s body. Many of the cultures of this region believed in a resurrection of the body, but only if it had been properly buried. So the Moabites attempted to impose an eternal death on the king.
Because of its atrocities, God said he would punish and destroy Moab. He would also kill the king and his sons. (2:3) The only city mentioned here for destruction is Kerioth, which was the center of worship of Chemosh. He was the supreme deity of the Moabites.
Worship of Chemosh included child sacrifice. The king of Moab actually sacrificed his oldest son and heir on a burning altar when a battle against the Israelites turned against him. (2 Kings 3:27)
Sadly, King Solomon built an altar to Chemosh on the Mount of Olives to accommodate one of his foreign, pagan, wives. (1 Kings 11:7) The Bible records King Josiah destroying the shrines of Chemosh as part of his religious reforms. (2 Kings 23:13-14)
Judgment Against Judah
2:4-5
God also promised punishment of Judah, the southern kingdom. The reason is not war crimes, like the others, but because it rejected and violated the covenant with God, not obeying his laws. They also went astray, meaning they worshipped other gods.
Jeremiah prophesied the same thing:
“But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.” (Jeremiah 17:27)
In Jeremiah 26:4-6, God also told Judah that he would destroy the Temple if they did not repent.
Hosea likewise prophesied:
For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
(Hosea 8:14-9:1)
So, they had plenty of warnings. Still, they did not heed them.
So, we see that God’s justice is universal: God holds all nations accountable for violence and injustice—not only Judah and Israel.
We also see the truth of Romans 1:18-32 played out among these nations.
And for Judah, we see that God holds them to the terms of the covenant and will impose the curses of the covenant for disobedience. Yet, we see that he gave many opportunities to repent before he said the punishment was irrevocable.
He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6)
