Amos 1:3-5 Thus said the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof… The beauty of Damascus has been the admiration of travellers and the praise of poets. It is a mournful reflection that a city so magnificently situated, and with associations so romantic, should so often have been the scene of human injustice, cruelty, and bloodshed. The "pearl girdled with emeralds" - as Damascus was gracefully designated - is beautiful without, but, as the text reminds us, has often contained a lawless and godless population. I. THE OFFENCE OF DAMASCUS. 1. In itself this consisted of atrocious cruelty. The records inform us that war frequently prevailed between Syria and Israel. By Gilead in this passage we understand the land possessed by the Israelites on the east side of Jordan. The inhabitants of this pastoral territory were treated by the Syrians in a way fitted to awaken the indignation even of those who lived in times when saw, go cruelty was but the too common accompaniment of war. The unfortunate Israelites who were conquered in war seem to have been literally torn to pieces and mangled by the threshing implements fitted with wheels and armed with teeth of iron. Thus was God's image defaced and God's Law defied. 2. The offence was aggravated by repetition. Thrice, nay, four times, had the Damascenes offended the Divine Ruler of men by their violence and inhumanity. The sin was thus shown to be no mere outbreak of passion, but a habit, evincing a corrupt and degraded nature. II. THE PUNISHMENT OF DAMASCUS. 1. Observe upon whom it came. (1) Upon the king, the rulers and princes of the land. These were the leaders in the nefarious practices here censured. Their ambition and unfeeling selfishness accounted for the sin; and upon them came down the righteous penalty. The annals of many a nation may prove to the reflective student of history that a righteous retribution visits those royal houses which have been infamous for selfish ambition, for perfidy, for tyranny, for serf-indulgence. The King of kings asserts his authority, and brings down the lofty from the throne. (2) The people of Syria shared in the disaster, which thus became national. They may have been misled by their rulers, but it seems rather to have been the case that there was sympathy between kings and subjects, and that the soldiers in the Syrian army delighted in the opportunity of venting their evil passions upon their prostrate foes. 2. Observe in what the punishment consisted. (1) Destruction ("a fire") came upon the royal house. (2) The splendid and powerful city was laid open to the incursion of the enemy. The brazen "bar" which secured the city gate was broken. (3) The people were carried into captivity, the worst misfortune which could humiliate and distress a nation. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: |
    |