A Covenant of Brotherhood
Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.”
Amos 1:9–11
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A Covenant of Brotherhood
Tyre was known for engaging in the slave trade. In particular, Amos is rebuking Tyre for the role it would play in selling Israelite slaves when the northern tribes fell to Assyria. Israel and Tyre made a covenant during the days of King Solomon. It was a covenant of brotherhood. Yet seemingly motivated by greed, the people of Tyre would soon violate that agreement. And as in the first two oracles, God would send His fiery wrath upon them. Sadly, biblical history is full of accounts of people making war against one another. Greed, power, lust, and so much more all contribute to the breaking of bonds between God’s people. But these are simply the symptoms of the bigger problem of sin. We do not want to listen to God; we despise His Word and reject His love. And we would continue to walk in this path of damnation if it were not for His love for us, shown in His sending of Jesus Christ, His only Son, to be the propitiation for our sins. Christ, our brother, gave Himself for us so that we might have a relationship with the Father. And He still, to this day, comes to us, intercedes for us, and forgives us. He does what we could never do and through His salvation won on the cross, we have life.
Amos 1:9–11
+
A Covenant of Brotherhood
Tyre was known for engaging in the slave trade. In particular, Amos is rebuking Tyre for the role it would play in selling Israelite slaves when the northern tribes fell to Assyria. Israel and Tyre made a covenant during the days of King Solomon. It was a covenant of brotherhood. Yet seemingly motivated by greed, the people of Tyre would soon violate that agreement. And as in the first two oracles, God would send His fiery wrath upon them. Sadly, biblical history is full of accounts of people making war against one another. Greed, power, lust, and so much more all contribute to the breaking of bonds between God’s people. But these are simply the symptoms of the bigger problem of sin. We do not want to listen to God; we despise His Word and reject His love. And we would continue to walk in this path of damnation if it were not for His love for us, shown in His sending of Jesus Christ, His only Son, to be the propitiation for our sins. Christ, our brother, gave Himself for us so that we might have a relationship with the Father. And He still, to this day, comes to us, intercedes for us, and forgives us. He does what we could never do and through His salvation won on the cross, we have life.
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