Amos 3:3 - My Lord and I.

Amos 3:3: My Lord and I.

CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word 
Study:  

Amos 3:3 (KJV)  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 3:3 (CWR)  Can two people walk together unless they both 
agree to do so? 

Amos 3:3 (TLB)  For how can we walk together with your sins 
between us? 

CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:

Overview
Israel's sins required punishment (3:1-15). Amos cried out 
against the pampered wives of the wealthy (4:1-3), corrupt worship (vv. 
4-5), and indifference to God (vv. 6-13). The nation had to seek the 
LORD and do justice (5:1-15), or face the dark "Day of the LORD" (vv. 
18-20). God hated Israel's corrupt religion (vv. 21-27), and would judge 
her for her complacency and pride (6:1-14). [The 365-Day Devotional 
Commentary] 

3:1-15 Certainty of Destruction
Because God had taken the Israelites into a special relationship 
with himself, he would hold them accountable for the unique privilege 
of having him as their loving and disciplining Father (3:1-2). Amos 
made an appeal to the law of cause and effect to prove that no 
calamity came upon Jerusalem except by God's sovereign determination 
(3:6). Ashdod and Egypt (3:9) were representative of heathen nations 
that had witnessed Israel's iniquity, and they would witness against 
Israel before God. 
The judgment on the northern kingdom (3:11-15) was fulfilled in 
722 B.C. after a three-year siege and capture of Samaria by the 
Assyrians (cf. 2 Kings 17:1-6). Bethel (Amos 3:14), an idolatrous worship 
center, would be desecrated (1 Kings 12:32). The "horns of the altar" 
were a place of refuge (Amos 3:14; cf. Exod. 21:14; 1 Kings 1:50), 
but even this refuge would be denied Israel in her day of judgment. 
The "houses adorned with ivory" (Amos 3:15; "houses of ivory," NASB) 
referred to houses with ivory inlays in wooden panels and revealed the 
vast wealth and waste in Israel. Many of these ivory inlays have been 
found in the excavation of Samaria. [New Bible Companion] 

SECTION HEADINGS

Israel's Guilt and Punishment  (3:1-4:5)
The LORD Will Punish Israel for Its Immoral Behavior  (3:1-15)
All the Tribes Are Guilty

CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.

Genesis 5:22 (KJV)  And Enoch walked with God after he begat 
Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:  

Genesis 6:9 (KJV)  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a 
just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.  

Genesis 17:1 (KJV)  And when Abram was ninety years old and 
nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty 
God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.  

2 Cor. 6:14-16 (KJV)  Be ye not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and 
what communion hath light with darkness? [15] And what concord hath 
Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an 
infidel? [16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for 
ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell 
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall 
be my people.  

Mat 12:25 (KJV)  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto 
them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; 
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 

COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?

Observe the seven result-cause questions in vv. 3 - 6, [Scofield 
SB] 

These verses constitute an explanation for the entire prophecy 
of Amos. [Believer's SB] 

The questions in verses 3-6 are calculated to show Israel how 
her sin had separated her from God. [Ryrie SB] 

Each picture is of cause and effect, using figures drawn from 
daily life--and culminating in divine action (v. 6). [NIV SB] 

3:3-6 This series of rhetorical questions illustrates the 
seriousness, certainty, and righteousness of God's impending action against 
Israel. Each question is framed so as to require a resounding "no" as 
its answer. [Nelson SB] 

3:3-6 With a series of seven rhetorical questions, Amos shows 
how two events can be linked together. Once one event takes place, 
the second will surely follow. Amos was showing that God's 
revelation to him was the sure sign that judgment would follow. [Life 
Application SB] 

Amos 3:3-14. In this passage Amos developed a simple theme: 
causes are related to effects. Thus people walk together because they 
have agreed to do so (v. 3), no bird falls into a trap unless one has 
been set (v. 5), and the sounding of a watchman's warning trumpet 
causes a city's citizens to tremble (v. 6). What cause then did God 
send His prophet to link with what effect? 
Normally a nation loots its enemy's fortresses. But Israel, 
which did "not know how to do right" plundered and looted "in their 
[own] fortresses" (v. 10). Because the society was corrupt and the 
rich unjustly looted the poor of their own land, "an enemy will 
overrun the land" (v. 11). The cause of the coming disaster was the 
injustice that was deeply entrenched in Israel's society. 
Exercising his prophetic gift, Amos foresaw a day when Israel 
would be punished for her sins, when her worship centers would be 
razed, and the mansions of the rich would be left smoldering ruins (vv. 
14-15). 
Cause and effect operate in the moral as well as physical realm. 
This is the impact of Amos' teaching, and we need to take it to heart 
today. Any individual or nation that abandons justice as a guide to 
personal and social action in effect loots his or its own fortresses. 
One's only sure defense against disaster crumbles, and ruin will 
surely follow. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary] 

When God's people become so depraved they forget how to act 
rightly, they are ripe for God's discipline. False worship and greed rob 
people of moral sensitivity and make judgment necessary. [Disciple SB] 

God has the sovereign right to choose a people for Himself. He 
has the sovereign freedom to punish us when we disobey. Historical 
acts are not accidents. God controls them in His sovereignty. 
[Disciple SB] 

"Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one 
another?" To "walk together" with God means, not an occasional act, but a 
continuing habit that issues from an established relation. It means a 
companionship based upon a mutual harmony of mind and spirit. Two people must 
go in the same direction if they are to walk "together." [SDA 
Commentary] 

They could not expect communion with God, unless they first 
sought peace with him. Where there is not friendship, there can be no 
fellowship. God and man cannot walk together, except they are agreed. Unless 
we seek his glory, we cannot walk with him. [Matthew Henry 
Commentary]  

Priscilla is inseparable from her husband because "their two 
hearts beat as one."  They walked as one, for they had mutually agreed 
to put Christ first.  They were one in marital bliss, in their 
secular occupation, in their friendship with Paul, and in their service 
to the chruch.  The oneness of Priscilla and Acquila shame the 
self-centeredness of our day.  We spend much of our time demanding our own way, 
and striving for self-recognition.  Throughout the history of 
Christianity, however, the truly great characters have always been simple and 
humble men and women.  Will you be listed among the simple and humble 
in the Lord's records? [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom re 1Co.16:19] 
 

Enoch walked with God. He was of one mind with God. The prophet 
asks, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" If we are of one 
mind with God, our will will be swallowed up in God's will and we 
shall follow wherever God leads the way. As a loving child places his 
hand in that of his father, and walks with him in perfect trust 
whether it is dark or bright, so the sons and daughters of God are to 
walk with Jesus through joy or sorrow. . . .  
The followers of Christ are to manifest to the world the 
characteristics of their Lord. They must not become careless or inattentive to 
their duty, or indifferent as to their influence, for they are to be 
representatives of Jesus in the earth. . . . 
Those who do not walk in all faith and purity find the thought 
of coming into the presence of God a thought of terror. They do not 
love to think or speak of God. They say in heart and by their 
actions, "Depart from us, O God; we desire not the knowledge of thy 
ways." But through faith in Christ the true Christian knows the mind 
and will of God. He understands by a living experience something of 
the length and depth and breadth and height of the love of God that 
passeth knowledge. 
The soul that loves God loves to draw strength from Him by 
constant communion with Him. When it becomes the habit of the soul to 
converse with God, the power of the evil one is broken, for Satan cannot 
abide near the soul that draws nigh unto God. If Christ is your 
companion, you will not cherish vain and impure thoughts; you will not 
indulge in trifling words that will grieve Him who has come to be the 
sanctifier of your soul. . . . 
Those who are sanctified through the truth are living 
recommendations of its power, and representatives of their risen Lord. The 
religion of Christ will refine the taste, sanctify the judgment, elevate, 
purify, and ennoble the soul, making the Christian more and more fit for 
the society of the heavenly angels. [www.bibleuniverse.com]