Amos chapters 1-3 Star Chart: According to the title which Amos prefixes to his prophecy, he prophesied within the 25 years, during which Uzziah and Jeroboam II were contemporaries (809-784 B. C). Since the phrase: "For three transgressions ... and for four" adds up to seven, we have given seven red radius line captivity dates. |
|---|
Can Two Walk Together,
Except They Be Agreed?
1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the (Gemini) herdmen 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.
2 And he said, The Lord will (Argo) roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the (Gemini) shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
3 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed (beaten) Gilead with threshing instruments of (red radius nun-chaka) iron:
4 But I will send a (solar) fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.(732 B.C.)
The conquest of Damascus by Tiglath-Pileser III (733-732 BC) is his response to the coalition of Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel against Ahaz of Judah. Rezin and Pekah tried to capture Jerusalem, but they failed (about 735-734 BC). Tiglath-Pileser III came to the aid of Ahaz of Judah, by destroying the power of Damascus, by besieging the city, forcing king Rezin to surrender, as well as by conquering the whole region once under the control of Damascus. Rezin of Damascus died during the siege (II Kings 16:9). Tiglath-pileser carried away the people of Damascus to Kir, in the fourth year of Ahaz (2 Ki 16:9) which was 732 B.C.
it may be observed, that as Adad was a common name of the kings of Syria; for, according to Nicholas of Damascus (d), ten kings that reigned in Damascus were all called Adad; so this is a name of the god they worshipped. Pliny speaks of a god worshipped by the Syrians, whose name must be Adad; since, according to him; the gem "adadunephros" had its name from him (e); and Macrobius (f) is express for it, that the chief god of the Assyrians was called Adad, which signifies one;(d) Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 8. (e) Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 11. (f) Saturnal. l. 1. c. 23.
5 I will break also the (red radius line) bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him (Ophiuchus) that holdeth the (red radius) sceptre from the house of Eden: and the (Gemini) people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord.
God’s judgments are often compared to fire. But perhaps the expression may here signify, that the fine palaces of Hazael, and his son and successor Ben- hadad, should be burned down, as they probably were in the taking of Damascus by Tiglath-pileser.
Tiglath-pileser carried them away, about 50 years after this, and killed Rezin 2 Kings 16:9.
6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
7 But I will send a (solar) fire on the (red radius) wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod (711 B.C.), and him (Ophiuchus) that holdeth the (red radius) sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the (Gemini) Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.
The brightest star in the head of Ophiuchus is RAS AL HAGUS (A) meaning ‘the head of him that holds’.
Tartan conquered Ashdod in 711 B.C. (Isaiah 20)
from Ashkelon; another of the five lordships of the Philistines, whose king or governor should be cut off, with the inhabitants of it; this was done by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 47:5.
this perhaps was fulfilled when Tartan was sent against it by Sargon king of Assyria, and took it, Isaiah 20:1;
Yet Amos declared absolutely, that Gaza should be destroyed by fire, and it was so. Sennacherib first, then, after Jeremiah had foretold anew the destruction of Gaza, Ashkelon, and the Philistines, Pharaoh Necho "smote Gaza" Jeremiah 47:1.
What is here foretold respecting the destruction of the cities of the Philistines, was fulfilled by Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18:8. The same was predicted by Isaiah, chap. Isaiah 14:29. And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish — These were cut off by the Assyrians: see Isaiah 20.
Fulfilled in the times of Uzziah, under whom Amos prophesied; and very likely in a very short time after this prophecy, who went out and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gaza, 2 Chronicles 26:6; or else in the times of Hezekiah, who smote the Philistines unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, 2 Kings 18:8; or however in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 25:20;
9 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
10 But I will send a (solar) fire on the (red radius) wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof (fell in 570 B.C. after a 13 year siege).
But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus,.... An enemy to destroy the walls of it: this was done either by Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians, in the times of Eulaeus king of the Tyrians, of whose expedition against it Josephus (s) makes mention: or by Nebuchadnezzar, who took it after thirteen years' siege of it, in the time of Ithobalus (t): or by Alexander, by whom it was taken, as Curtius (u) relates, after it had been besieged seven months:
which shall devour the palaces thereof; of the governor, the great men and merchants in it. Alexander ordered all to be slain but those that fled to the temples, and fire to be put to the houses; which made it a most desolate place, as the above historian has recorded.
(s) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 2.((t) Hist. Phoenic. apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 21. (u) Hist. l. 4. c. 4.
11 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: (639 B.C.)
The destruction here denounced against them was afterward brought upon them, in some degree, by Sennacherib, but more especially by Nebuchadnezzar: see notes on Jeremiah 49:7-22, and Ezekiel 25:15.
12 But I will send a (solar) fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah (639 B.C.).
this was Nebuchadnezzar, who, as Josephus (z)(z) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. says, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem led his army into Coelesyria, and took it; and fought against the Ammonites and Moabites, and very probably at the same time against the Edomites:
13 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the (Gemini) children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they (Bootes) have ripped up the (Virgo and Coma) women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
Foretold also Jeremiah 49:3.
14 But I will kindle a (solar) fire in the (red radius) wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: (639 B.C.)
Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, cannot have escaped, when Nebuchadnezzar , "in the 5th year of his reign, led an army against Coele-Syria, and, having possessed himself of it, warred against the Ammonites and Moabites, and having made all these nations subject to him, invaded Egypt, to subdue it."
15 And their (Cepheus) king shall go into captivity, he and his (Gemini) princes together, saith the Lord (630 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar).
This was, Baalis their last king, who was accessary to the murder of Gedaliah, Jeremiah 40:14; whom the king of Babylon had set over the remnant of the Jews left in Judea; which might provoke him to send Nebuzaradan his general against him, who put his country to fire and sword, destroyed his chief city Rabbah, and carried him and his nobles into captivity.
2:1 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he (solar) burned the (lunar crescent or red radius) bones of the king of Edom into lime:
2 But I will send a (solar) fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the (red radius tube with solar or lunar bell end) trumpet:
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the (Gemini or Orion or Auriga) princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.
4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their (red radius) lies caused them to err, after the which their (Gemini) fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a (solar) fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for (lunar) silver, and the poor for a (lunar crescent) pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a (Gemini) man and his father will go in unto the same (Virgo) maid, to profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every (Ara) altar, and they drink the (red radius) wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
9 Yet destroyed I the (Ophiuchus) Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I (Hercules) destroyed his (triple snake) fruit from above, and his (Scorpio) roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up of your (Gemini) sons for prophets, and of your young (Orion and Auriga) men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye (Gemini) children of Israel? saith the Lord.
12 But ye gave the (Gemini) Nazarites (red radius) wine to drink; and commanded the (Orion and Auriga) prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a (Ursa Minor) cart is pressed that is full of (red radius) sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift (Ophiuchus is swinging on a trapeze), and the strong (Hercules) shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow (Gemini's legs cut off); and he that is swift of foot (Ophiuchus) shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse (Centaur) deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.
3:1 Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O (Gemini and Orion and Auriga) children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
3 Can two (Gemini) walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion (Argo) roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion (Argo) cry out of his (lunar) den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a (Corvus) bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin (bait -- Hydra) is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall a (red radius tube) trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?
7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
8 The (Argo) lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
12 Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the (Argo) lion two (Gemini) legs, or a piece of an (Ursa Major) ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the (Ara) altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the (red radius) winter house (639 to 570 B.C.) with the (red radius) summer house (745 to 711 B.C.); and the houses of (lunar crescent) ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.