Amos 1-2: What God wants from his people

As I read through Amos 1-2, I am struck by an odd choice of words by the prophet. He uses a similar refrain to introduce judgment on the nations surrounding Israel: For three sins . . . even for four (NIV). Yet, every time he mentions a nation, he only lists one sin they are guilty for.

Here is a list of the nations: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Edom, Moab, and Judah.

Their sins? The Gentile nations are guilty of acts of war--and are punished for those acts against God's chosen people. They are not, however, annihilated.

The sins of Judah--disobedience of the law through idol worship.

It strikes me that God's expectations of his chosen people are different from those who are Gentiles.

Then God speaks to Israel. For three sins, even four. And then he lists the sins: 1. selling the righteous into slavery, denying justice, sexual immorality in the places of worship, and inappropriate handling of God's resources. (Amos 2:6-8)

So, all of the surrounding nations are guilty of one (or two, in Judah's case) sins. Israel, however was guilty of the four. And they are the ones who will receive the most punishment.

Note also, they are guilty of mistreating the poor and improper worship. And God will punish them more severely than he will those guilty of war.

I wonder if his expectations of his chosen are different, and greater, than those of the Gentiles. If this is so, then his people should be more worried about how they treat the poor than how they treat the terrorist.