The Mystery of Ephraim

The prophecy of Amos is mainly to Ephraim today, in which the prophet thunders the warning of the impending judgement of God, beginning with the ancient house of Israel, the northern kingdom; then Israel’s surrounding pagan neighbors, then briefly resting for a moment upon the house of Judah, and by way of climax describing the prophetic utter ruin and devastation of the house of Israel.

In Chapter 3 the prophet Amos goes on with his prophecy against Israel, whom God had highly favoured, and yet sinned against him, and therefore must expect to be punished; and in this chapter, it is more about Israel.

For more on Ephraim and Manasseh, or the Ox without the Unicorn.

Amos 3

¹ Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, — hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel;

— the prophecy against Israel begins in the preceding chapter where notice is taken of their sins and sure destruction; and here they are called upon to listen to what the Lord by his prophet had spoken; and to “receive” this word, or as the Targum says; to receive it as the word of God and not men and with all humility and reverence.

² “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” — you, children of Israel, only have I known of all the families of the earth; but notice the sweetness and bitterness composite message above!

— therefore I, God, will punish you for all your iniquities; or “visit upon you” or “against you” in a way of chastisement and correction; they were a family he had highly favoured and yet departed from him; children he had brought up in a tender manner and brought out of a most miserable condition and yet rebelled against him;

— to be truly qualified to be kings and priests or kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6) requiries numerous immense purifications; and that’s how the prophets of God see things. Prime examples are Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. God’s message usually has sweetness in the mouth (Ezekiel 3:3), but bitterness when reaches the stomach! (Revelation 10:9-10)

— were worthy of more stripes; their sins were more aggravated than others, being against goodness and mercy, light and knowledge; and therefore the Lord was determined to make an example of them for the surrounding nations to watch, mediate and learn.

³ Can two walk together, unless they be agreed? — shall two walk together; Israel’s having forsaken God’s way means that they are no longer “agreed” with God. “Can they continue together? The law of cause and effect operates to separate them.

⁴ Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? — will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? No, the lion will not, unless he has it in his sight or in his paws;

— he roars when he first sees it whereby he terrifies the creature that it cannot move till he comes up to it; and when he has got it in his paws, he roars over it to invite others to partake with him;

— now prophecy from the Lord is compared to the roaring of a lion, and this is never in a way of judgement without a cause; the sin of men or of a nation which makes them a prey to the wrath and fury of God.

⁵ Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no trap is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? — can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no trap is for him? No, there must be a snare set or a bird can never be taken in it; but when that is done, not by chance but with the design of the fowler; yea, with the knowledge and will of God himself;

— and have taken nothing at all? when men set a snare to catch anything, do they take it up before anything is caught? they do not; they let it stand till something is ensnared in it and so their end answered and then they take it up and not before. And thus when God denounces or brings a judgement or an affliction upon a people, does he remove it before the end is accomplished?

⁶ Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? — shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? As the signal of the trumpet was intended to arouse the people out of their security, so the message of the prophet was intended to awaken the people of Israel to the peril of their position.

— shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? The destruction which would strike Israel on account of the iniquities of the people was indeed planned by the Most High, who in this sense is the Author of the calamities which come upon men on account of their sins.

⁷ Surely the Lord God will do nothing, unless He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets. — surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants, the prophets, that is, Yehovah does not send his judgements without warning but gives the people knowledge of His counsel and opportunity to turn from their evil ways.

⁸ The lion hath roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken! Who can but prophesy? — the lion hath roared in sounding the warning of his approach, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shouldn’t take warning?

— Amos was simply carrying out the work of his calling in announcing to his people the impending judgement. Even so the servants of God are bound to make known his holy will, regardless of the manner in which their hearers react to the truth.

⁹ Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof.

— and say, assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; the metropolis of the ten tribes, Isaiah 7:9; and which was built upon a mountain and several others were about it and joined to it;

— and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof; the riots of its inhabitants, the noise of the mob committing all manner of outrages and wickedness:

— in prophecy, the mountains of Samaria are the northern kingdom of Israel; that is, United States, the UK and France (more at the end)

¹⁰ For they know not to do right,” saith the Lord, “who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” — and the oppressed in the midst thereof of their palaces; the poor, the homeless, the fatherless and the widow, injured in their persons and properties, plundered of their substance, or defrauded of it.

¹¹ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: “An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be despoiled.”

— therefore, thus saith the Lord God, an adversary there shall be round about the land, literally, “and that, too, from every side of the land,” attacking Israel from all sides; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, dashing it down to the ground and thy palaces heaped with the treasures of unrighteousness shall be looted;

— or an enemy mainly from the South? (for more, see The Sword from the South!)

¹² Thus saith the Lord: “As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out, that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in Damascus on a couch.

— thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, insignificant, useless remnants; the body of the creature being devoured by the lion, only some offal left;

— so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, occupying the most comfortable soft parts of California, Beverly Hills, living in carefree gossips, and in Damascus in a couch, rather, “on the damask of the bed.” The powerful men of Samaria, living a life of luxury and ease on silken couch, could save their lives only with the greatest difficulties.

¹³ “Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob,” saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, — this house of Jacob is a reference to the ten northern tribes as indicated in the next verses by the mention of the altars of Bethel; not jerusalem;

¹⁴ “that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. — that in the day that God shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him with an adequate punishment;

— he will visit the altars of Bethel, singling out of the polluted shrine at Bethel as this was the seat of the religion of Samaria, their center of idolatrous worship, in defiance of Jerusalem being the holy city;

— and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground, thus demolishing the altars themselves and to which persons in distress fled and laid hold of for refuge; but now these should be of no use unto them, since they would be entirely demolished by the enemy and laid level with the ground.

¹⁵ And I will smite the winter house and the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end,” saith the Lord. — and God will smite their winter-houses and their vacational summer-homes, for not only the kings but the noble and the rich as well had at least two establishments;

— and the houses of ivory, whose walls were decorated with inlaid ivory, Cf 1 Kings 22:39, shall perish and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. All extravagance of luxury is displeasing to the Lord, especially if it is connected in any manner with denial of the Lord’s truth.

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More on the Mountains of Samaria or the Mountains of Israel in Ezekiel 6:

³ and say: ‘Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys: Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. — this message to the “mountains of Israel;” these mountains refer to the United States, UK and France. . . .

— “and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys;” the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland, and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg;

— “and to the rivers,” where during the nineteenth century, the British Royal Navy were known to “Rule the Waves;” and the United States having been plowing up and down the five oceans with her Seven Fleets since the British left the scene.

Amos 4

¹ Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, “Bring, and let us drink.” — Bashan was famous for its flocks and herds, Deuteronomy 32:14; Ezekiel 39:18; and Samaria was the principal city of Ephraim, the metropolis of the ten tribes; cows and oxen are often associate with Samaria,

— in fact cows are associated with Ephraim, the head of the house of Israel; a ox or its horn is a symbol of strength; “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh” Deuteronomy 33:17 (more at the end);

— “who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,” and who say to their masters, bring, and let us drink; Jewish commentators interpret these words as of the wives of great men, supposes their husbands are here addressed, who are, and acknowledged to be, their masters or lords;

² The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness that: “Lo, the days shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fishhooks. — that, lo, the days shall come upon you; speedily, swiftly and unaware: that he will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fish hooks;

— the enemy, the king of Assyria, or God by him would take them out of their own land as fish out of water and carry them captive into a strange land, both them and their posterity; and which should be as easily done as fish are taken with the hook. The word for fish hooks signifies “thorns” and is by some so rendered; these perhaps being used in angling before iron hooks were invented.

— the Targum says, “that people shall take you away on their shields, and your daughters in fishermen’s boats.” In the midst of their security, they should on a sudden be taken away violently from the abode of their luxury, as the fish, when hooked, is lifted out of the water, and not just fish, but even “your daughters in fishermen’s boats.”

³ And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her (each woman straight ahead), and ye shall cast them into the palace,” saith the Lord.

— and ye shall go out at the breaches; not at the gates of the city as they had used to do at pleasure; but at the breaches which had been torn in the walls by the attacking enemies, every woman at that which is before her, literally “every one before her,” anxious to get away, looking neither to the right nor to the left;

— and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord, or “be cast forth to Harmon” apparently the place where they were led away captive. So much having been said of the rulers of Samaria and of Israel, the Lord now, in bitter irony, turns to the entire nation, bidding the people just continue in their idolatry and transgression; the divine punishment would not be kept away by their tactics;

— the Targum of the whole is, “and they shall break down the wall upon you, and bring you out, gathered everyone before him, and carry you beyond the mountains of Armenia.”

⁴ “Come to Bethel and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years. — come to Bethel and transgress; like a man who says to a scoundrel, “Do as you please until your measure of sin is full” for Bethel was one of the places where the calves were placed and worshipped; in defiance of Jerusalem being the holy city:

— at Gilgal multiply transgression; that is, multiply acts of idolatry: Gilgal was a place where high places and altars were erected, and idols worshipped; as it had formerly been a place of religious worship of the true God, the ten tribes made use of it in the times of their apostasy for idolatrous worship; see Hosea 4:15;

— and bring your sacrifices every morning; and offer them to your idols, as you were wont formerly to offer them unto the true God, according to the law of Moses, Exodus 29:38; that is, altogether, there is a sarcastic force of an appearance of worship, but and yet it is a form of false whorship!

⁵ And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings; for so ye love, O ye children of Israel,” saith the Lord God. — the special meat offering of the thank offering was to be without leaven Leviticus 7:12; so ironically to “offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven” was a direct infringement of God’s commandment.

⁶ “And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me,” saith the Lord. — cleanness of teeth: this is a description of food by one effect of it to foul them with; the teeth are free from uncleanness, but it is the cleanness of want.

⁷ “And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece upon which it rained not withered.

— and God caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; so that it might appear to be not by the course of nature, or through the influence of the planets, or by chance; but was according to the direction of the hand of God:

— yea, one place will have torrential rain while another it rained not; one ground or field had a plentiful shower on it whereby it became fruitful; and another field or close on the other side of the hedge or partition had none, whereby what did spring up withered away and came to nothing:

— or “one inheritance” or farm as some render it; one man’s estate was well watered with rain from heaven and brought forth much fruit; and another man’s estate for want of it, was barren, and brought forth nothing: thus God was pleased to do in his providence, to show his sovereignty and to chastise men for their sins; and in such a manner as that they might, if not blind easily perceive his hand in it.

⁸ So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto Me,” saith the Lord. — two or three cities, that is, their inhabitants, being without water, went up and down in quest of any city or place where they could find water for themselves and cattle to drink:

— but they were not satisfied; could not get enough for their present use and much less to carry back with them to supply them for any length of time; such a scarcity in other parts; see 1 Kings 18:5;

— yet they are blind, obstinate or stiffnecked and have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord; this had no more effect upon them than the other to relinquish their former courses, and return unto the Lord by humiliation and repentance.

⁹ “I have smitten you with blight (plant disease) and mildew (mold or fungus); when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmer worm devoured them; yet have ye not returned unto Me,” saith the Lord.

— the two disasters recorded here are (1) the blasting and mildew, and (2) the invasion of the palmer-worm, or locust (as in some versions). Some doubt persists as to which insect exactly is mentioned; but whatever it is, the effect of it is totally ruinous;

— “blasting and mildew; both words are doubly intensive; they stand together in the prophecy of Moses (Deuteronomy 28:22), among the other scourges of disobedience; and the mention of these would awaken in those who would hear, the memory of a long train of other warnings and other judgements.

“The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish” (Deuteronomy 28:22)

¹⁰ “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt; your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils; yet have ye not returned unto Me,” saith the Lord.

— two more disasters are recounted here, (1) pestilence, and (2) military disaster. God have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt, or “plagues of Egypt” so called because it was prevalent in that country;

— your young men have God slain with the sword, especially when the Israelites suffered defeats at the hand of the Syrians, Egypt or Assyria; and have taken away your horses, these also being slaughtered in battle;

— and God have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils, namely, that of the dead bodies of men and beasts; yet you have not returned unto him.

¹¹ “I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto Me,” saith the Lord.

— God have overthrown some of them as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; either their houses were burnt or their bodies consumed by fire from heaven with lightning; not whole cities but the habitations of some particular persons or they themselves;

— yet have ye not returned unto him, saith the Lord, even this chastisement having no effect upon them; even though it is repeated five times (Amos 4:6, 8, 9, 10, 11), somewhat like a refrain or a chorus; it has the utility of constant emphasis upon the truth that the disasters were not mere punishments, but solicitations for the chosen people to repent and return to the Lord but of no effect.

¹² “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel!” — therefore thus will God do unto thee; what he would do is not expressly and particularly said;

— it is commonly understood to be something in a way of judgement and worse than what he had done, since they had no effect upon them; or these things should be done over again until an utter end was made of them; Amos 3:11.

¹³ For lo, He that formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is His thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth—the Lord, the God of Hosts, is His name.

— for lo, the Lord that formeth the mountains, calling them into existence by his almighty power and createth the wind and declareth unto man what is his thought; his omniscience readily penetrating into the mind of man;

— the Lord, the God of hosts, Yehovah, is his name, the Ruler of all the heavenly armies;

— God is sovereign over things visible (the mountains), things invisible (the wind), and things rational (man and his thought). He is in direct executive control of the world as is evident when he makes the morning darkness, brings about the sequence of day and night. No place is beyond his reach, even the heights of the earth being beneath his feet.

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More about the Ox without the Unicorn; and Ephraim and Manasseh

“His (singular) glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh” Deuteronomy 33:17.

The first part of the above: The armies of Ephraim and Manasseh are majestic and fierce like a bull or a wild ox; its horns like that of a unicorn.

Rashi: and his horns are the horns of a re’em (unicorn): The ox is powerful, but its horns are not beautiful; on the other hand, a re’em has beautiful horns, but it is not powerful. Moses thus blessed Joshua with the power of an ox and the beauty of a re’em ‘s horns. — [Sifrei 33:17]

Or, Joseph is like a powerful firstling bull. His two sons are like bull’s horns; and its horns are like that of unicorns;

“I know it, my son, I know it,” Jacob said to Joseph, “he [Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations (H1471 goyim)” Genesis 48:19; “And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

Or, Joseph has the strength of a firstling bull; one horn like that of a wild ox, the other like that of a unicorn. These are the ten thousands of Ephraim. And these are the thousands of Manasseh.

Today, the “Five Eyes” is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and led by the United States. After breaking out of the yoke of Europe, the UK thought they could operate independently.

Not so, and soon Americans are heard shouting down at the British! And Boris Johnson succumbed to the whelm of Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the many despicable policies they adopted.

Unlike the Saudis or the Emirates, they just refused taking up the phones, but within the Anglosphere, the British as a vassel couldn’t avoid being shouted at! Hence now the Five Eyes operate as One Eye with its nerve center in Washington, DC; impulsively telling lies and constantly impregnating themselves with many other abominations as they dance like a gang of drunkards along a cliff.

And when they fall, they’ll fall together: And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. Isaiah 34:7; thus saith the Lord: which is to show the Lord God had spoken it; and it is timeless, fulfilled today as it was by ancient Israel shortly after this prophecy was written.

~ by Joel Huan on January 27, 2023.

Posted in Minor Prophets