Overview: From 3:13-4:5 there are 5 times mentioning that the LORD is speaking or the LORD confirms this oath.
v.13 The Sovereign LORD, the God who commands armies, is speaking!
v.15 The LORD is speaking!
v.2 The Sovereign LORD confirms this oath by his own holy character:
v.3 The LORD is speaking!
v.5 The Sovereign LORD is speaking!
Israel needed to pay attention to this warning v.13, they will certainly come true.
Ob and In:
1.The name of places=The objects of the punishment
a. the Bethel's altars v.14, 4:4
(BKC) Bethel was the royal sanctuary of Jeroboam II (7:10–13), the most popular religious center in Israel (cf. 4:4; 5:5). As the site of the golden calf erected by Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26–30; Hosea 10:5), its altars symbolized Israel’s continued rebellion against God.
(NET) Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the LORD’s enemies.
#1 thing that God was displeased was their violation of His covenant. Rebellion in worship manner, and places were not small thing that we can change at our convenient.
b. the cows of Bashan v.1
(NET) The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter.
c. You will be thrown out toward Harmon v.3
(BKC) An enemy would storm and capture the city. The destruction would be so thorough and the breaks in the wall so numerous that each woman, rather than going with others toward an exit gate, would simply be pushed straight out of the city. Once outside they would be fastened to ropes with hooks for a single-file march into Assyrian exile. Those who balked or refused to be led away would be forcibly snagged with large harpoons or fishhooks, much like fish pierced together and jerked over one’s shoulder to be carried to market. Yanked in such manner, they eventually would be cast out as corpses as the march neared Harmon. (For the use of “cast out” to depict what is done with dead bodies; cf. 8:3; 1 Kings 13:24–25; Jer. 14:16.) “Harmon” may refer to Hermon, a mountain at the northern tip of the Bashan region on the way to Assyria. If so, an awful irony would attach to their fate: the “cows of Bashan” (Amos 4:1) would end as carrion in Bashan!
The scene was brutal and devastating. What would I do if I hear this? Why not get ready before it happened?
d. At Gilgal rebel some more!
(NET) Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4–5 have to do with sin.
2. The sarcasm was based on the observation that they loved to be hypocrites!
v.5 For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
Reflection: Am I hypocritical like Israel? Do I go through the ritual just because I love to? I go to worship just because I love to sing/see my friend/get my ego satisfied/fulfilling my duty? What about my every day life?
Do I love the "god" that I create and ignore what the demand of God for His worshipper? Am I a worshipper of God? What do I really love?
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