Fire on the Wall of Gaza Amos 1:7

As Amos the “herdsman” prophet of the LORD continued to share about judgments that were to fall upon the enemies of Israel and Judah, he included “Damascus, Aven, Syria and Gaza” in his remarks. In chapter one and verse seven of his prophesy, Amos shared how God would send “fire on the wall of Gaza” where we read:

But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

The verse begins, “But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,...” Amos began with the word, “But” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated, “I will send” or “stretch out, extend, direct and let loose” “a fire” which means “flames and supernatural fire” “on the wall” or “protecting wall” “of Gaza” which means “the strong” and was “a city of the Philistines located in the extreme southwest of Palestine close to the Mediterranean”. The LORD vowed to “let loose” a fire upon the protecting “wall” of the city of Gaza.

The verse goes on to say, “...which shall devour the palaces thereof:” Amos continued, “which shall devour” or “burn up, consume and destroy” “the palaces” which refers to “citadels, castles and palaces” “thereof” or “within them”. When the LORD sent His “fire”, the results would be total destruction and elimination of all the protecting structures upon which the people of Gaza relied.

When we think through these words of Amos, we notice a specific judgment predicted upon Gaza. The people of the Philistine city of Gaza aided both the Assyrians and the Babylonians in the captivity and exile of Israel and Judah. Gaza turned them over to the Edomites who were also the enemies of Israel, and as they did, God was watching. The scriptures say, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay says the LORD”, and in this case, Gaza had to contend with the LORD's “fire”. We are not to be in opposition to the people of God, and when we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will not be. Lest the LORD bring judgment upon us for aiding those who would destroy God's people, let us rely upon the Holy Spirit of God to lead and guide us to live as Jesus lived – blessing and not oppressing the burdened ones in this world.

Next time Amos shares how God “will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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