The LORD Destroyed the Amorite Amos 2:9

Amos the prophet shared the judgments that were to come upon the enemies of the LORD's people Israel and Judah. He then began to proclaim the punishment that was to come upon the LORD's own people - Israel. In chapter two and verse nine of his prophesy, Amos continued to address the people of Israel as he declared how the LORD had “destroyed the Amorite” in His protecting of them. We read:

Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

The verse began, “Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks;” Amos began with the words, “Yet destroyed I” or “The LORD exterminated and annihilated” “the Amorite” which means “a sayer” and was “one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan, dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt” “before them” which refers to “Israel”, “whose height” or “exaltation, grandeur and haughtiness” “was like the height” or “exaltation, grandeur and haughtiness” “of the cedars” which refers to “the cedar tree which is so called from the firmness of its roots and is uncommonly tall and wide-spreading”, “and he was strong” or “powerful” “as the oaks” which means “the great oak trees”. Though the “Amorites” were a strong and powerful people, the LORD “exterminated” them before the people of Israel.

The verse goes on to say, “yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.” Amos continued, “yet I destroyed” or “The LORD exterminated, destroyed and annihilated” “his fruit” which means “the Amorite's produce, offspring, children and progeny” “from above” or “the higher or upper part”, “and his roots” which refers to “the bottom, deep and heel” “from beneath” or “below or underneath”. Both the “progeny” and the “ancestors” of the “Amorites” were “destroyed” by the LORD.

When we think through these words of Amos, we see how the LORD protects His own. God is interested in people aligning with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and when they do, they are directly under the protective care of our Heavenly Father. Israel knew the LORD's protection as He cared for them against the Amorites, and this should have inspired them to keep His commandments and follow His ways. Let us understand the importance of the LORD's protection and keep ourselves in His love at all times.

Next time we see how God “brought” Israel “up from the land of Egypt”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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