Judgment on nations by Amos

I am torn between studying the epistles of St. Paul and the daily readings. The Year of St. Paul has officially begun. We are supposed to spend time learning more about the messages of St. Paul. On the other hand, I have started my journey to reflect and draw inspirations from the daily readings. I don't think I will be able to do both at the same time. Therefore, I will continue my journey and when occasion arises, I will touch on the writings of St. Paul. I do have a plan to read St. Paul. I will begin with the letters to individuals before I touch on those to churches. May God guide me.
This week, I will read the book of Amos. Scholars have agreed that Amos was the first prophet whose sayings have been collected into one opus. It is a book of judgments and the first two chapters contain judgments on 8 nations: Damascus (1:3-5), Gaza (1:6-8), Tyre (1:9-10), Edom (1:11-12), Ammon (1:13-15), Moab (2:1-3), Judah (2:4-5) and Israel (2:6-16). In all these judgment oracles, God was a terrible destroyer and Israel, the chosen people of God, naturally the greatest attention.
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
And he said: "The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers." (Amos 1:1-2)
Thus Amos 1:1 gives us the setting of the activities of Amos but we are not able to reconstruct much about Amos, the man. Tekoa was south of Bethelem and Jerusalem. So, Amos was a prophet from Judah but his mission was for Israel before Assyria conquered her. We should not be surprised to read "The words of Amos, ..., which he saw ...". "Seeing words" suggests that Amos and many other prophets, such as Isaiah, had visions of God.
Now, God pronounced judgments from Jerusalem. These judgment oracles follow a certain pattern. Take the example of Damascus.
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.
So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and him that holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir," says the LORD (Amos 1:3-5).
Each judgment begins with a formula:
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of (country name), and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
Then an accusation of their sins and the punishment to be meted out. Judgments on all seven nations follow this pattern. The last one on Israel is more elaborated. The punishment on Judah was interesting because God would be burning His own dwelling place!
Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes,
but their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked.
So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem." (Amos 2:4-5)

Whatever God's logic, it is time to turn to Israel. She drew 11 verses of judgment from God, instead of just two to three, like the 7 other nations. The accusations against Israel were many: the rich exploited the poor (2:6b-7a), fornication (2:7b), oppressed the poor in front of God (2:8a) and defiled the Temple (2:8b). Then, Amos lists a series of good things God had done for them in their history (2:9-11). He then switched back to yet more sins of Israel against Nazarites and prophets (2:12). As for the punishments, while the first 7 nations were purged with fire, Israel would not be. God simply pressed her to the ground (2:13). At last, Amos warned that the swift, the strong and mighty (2:14), the warriors (2:15) and the stout of hearts would not escape the punishments (2:16). We cannot rely on ourselves, our strength to gain salvation.

My Advocate, how often we abuse our authority and strength! Indeed, we are putting fire on our own heads. Amos' message is clear. Let us not depart from Your statutes. If we do, let us see clearly our sins and repent and turn back to You once more. Have mercy on us and let us live to praise You. Amen.