In Amos 3-2:3, the prophet writes to the divided nation of Israel and its 10 tribes and at first God speaks of His coming judgment upon 6 areas: Syria (Damascus is its capital), Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. You can imagine them saying, “Well, they have it coming!” Have you noticed that our sin always looks worse on someone else?
Before that chapter in 2:4-5 God told Amos that He is going to judge Judah, and I bet they thought, “Serves those self-righteous folks right.” Now in each case God speaks through Amos saying, “For three transgressions and for four,” which was the slang for saying that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They probably said, “What a great day! Haven’t you heard? God’s going to get the Syrians, Edomites, Ammonites, people of Tyre, the Moabites, and even those self-righteous relatives from Judah.”
Ah, but hear what Jesus says in Matthew 7:2. “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” You see, everything that God was saying against those other folks was an illustration of what He saw in them as well, even though things were going well. Israel was guilty of everything they saw wrong in everyone else. Oh, what a lesson these words of Amos are for us!
Do we say, as Paul said to Timothy in 1 Tim. 1:15, “That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief?” Ever wonder why you can spot certain sins and faults in other folks? Could it be that they are the same ones you live with each and every day? Other’s judgements are not a time to rejoice but rather a time to examine our own hearts and repent!