Next Amos comes around in his circle
of shame to two new targets: Tyre and Edom. Since their crimes were similar,
we’ll handle them both today.
Tyre was the most prominent merchant
city of Phoenicia. It was most famous for its lumber: Ever hear of the “Cedars
of Lebanon”? David
had a great relationship with them, along with Solomon. King Hiram made a very
profitable business deal with Solomon and thus provided the lumber for the
temple. They considered each other closer than brothers, and they had an
official peace treaty with each other.
Edom and Israel went back a long
ways, all the way back to the patriarchal heads of both respective nations. If
you’re familiar with Genesis, you probably know the story: Jacob and Esau were
fraternal twins who struggled with each other in the womb, and that struggle
continued throughout both their lives. They never really got along with each
other in the best of times, and more than once Esau threatened his brother with
fratricide. Both men originated a nation—Jacob became Israel, and Esau became
Edom.
When Moses was leading the Hebrews
up to the Promised Land, they went
all the way around Edom's land in order not to provoke them. The Lord very
expressly excluded
the Edomites’ land from their inheritance in the Promised Land. He also forbade
them from despising (or mistreating) an Edomite, specifically citing the fact
that they were related.
So with Tyre they had a “treaty of
brotherhood,” and with the Edomites they literally were “brothers” in that they
were physically related to each other and had a common ancestor (Isaac).
That’s what made their behavior so
egregious to the Lord. He expects people to take their agreements and word
seriously, and he's especially angry when someone mistreats their brother.
Tyre, business-minded as it was, raided towns and carried away entire
populations into slavery. Edom, being more direct in its approach, brutally
attacked their brothers and slaughtered their women. And the Lord would demonstrate his
displeasure by destroying both nations like he would Damascus and Gaza. They
placed their faith in their fortresses, thinking that no one would call them to
account. They were wrong. There was One who saw, and at the right time he’d do
something about it.
What was Israel’s likely reaction to
this news? The same we’d feel if someone authoritatively predicted the
destruction of our sworn enemies, someone who'd wronged us, someone who'd
broken a treaty, especially a brother who mistreats us.
But before we react as they did,
let’s focus on this for a moment. Again, the Lord is talking about sins on a
“macro” scale, but that doesn’t mean he ignores sin on the “micro” scale. On
the contrary, he who knows
when a sparrow falls to the ground is the same one who
“[searches] the heart and [examines] the mind, to reward each person according
to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
The reason I’m saying this is that
“macro” sins are “micro” sins writ large. The way that Tyre and Edom were
behaving was rooted in the condition of people’s hearts. And the same sins of
which they were guilty had its roots in the same attitudes which I display at
times.
Do I take my word seriously? How do
I treat my siblings in Christ? Do I see them as they really are, or as
something to be ignored—or worse, exploited for my selfish gain?
Lord Jesus, only you really know what’s
in the bottom of my heart. But I strongly suspect that what’s down there is
something I need you to clean out. Please do so.
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