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Pastor Nathaniel's Blog April 20, 2023
"God’s Care and Judgement V"
Last week we saw that God cares about human rights - that he wants humans to flourish, whether they have a relationship with him or not. This focus on "human rights" and human flourishing continues in Amos 1:13, which says, "Thus says the LORD: 'For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory'" (NKJV).
Similar to the Edomites in verse 11, the Ammonites were relatives of Israel and Judah, descending from the line of Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). Despite being related to the ancient Israelites, the Ammonites treated their kin with brutality. The Kingdom of Ammon was located east of Israel and Judah on the other side of the Jordan River, and the Israelite region of Gilead was east of the Jordan River and immediately north of Ammon. Apparently, the Ammonites wanted more land and chose to take it from their northern Israelite neighbors. But according to God, the Ammonites did this in a brutal fashion: "they ripped open the women with child in Gilead."
This wasn't an unusual war-time practice in the ancient world, but it was quite cruel. There are many ways in which ancient near eastern people disposed of pregnant women in this fashion, depending on the brutality of the particular nation, but the intention behind each method was the same: get rid of a population by forcing the women to view their unborn children while bleeding to death, which also traumatized the men because they were forced to watch their wives and unborn children die gruesome, senseless deaths.
Friends, God is not a fan of barbarity inflicted on families and villages, especially for the sake of materialistic gain or power-trips concocted by leaders or nations who believe themselves entitled to unlimited resources. While we may not witness these kinds of atrocities of war first hand, let us continue to value the lives of all those who are trying to live them, because "thus says the Lord."
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
