Amos 4:11 and the 2 powers Heresy

Amos 4:11 and the 2 powers Heresy

It is the claim by those who purport the 2 powers theory that Amos 4:11 demonstrates that there are in fact 2 YHWH’s

They claim that the text shows that YHWH refers to another God who we know is YHWH. The only way this could be is if there were two YHWH’s 

Amos 4:11 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.

So we have I (first person) have overthrown as God (3rd person) overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.  It would appear at first glance that there are 2 distinct referents.

So let’s look at the verse and explain what is actually going on. 

The first thing that we need to understand is that the actual person speaking here is Amos the (human) prophet. 

Amos is speaking the words that he had been given by God to speak. As many prophets, Amos speaks as God in the first person. 

So “I have overthrown some of you”. This is Amos speaking as YHWH in the first person. YHWH stating that he had overthrown some of you. 

Amos was a prophet primarily to the Northern kingdom of Israel. The people that Amos is talking to are the wealthy woman of the house of Israel. 

Sidetracking a moment, it would be a good idea to look into this chapter a little to find out a bit more about these women.

In verse 1 the women are referred to as kine (cows) of Bashan. 

Amos 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

Being called a cow is clearly not a term of endearment.

These women are said to oppress the poor, crush the needy and drink wine. 

The usage of the imagery of the cows was to emphasize this point.

The cows and livestock of Bashan were well known for being large and well fed. 

Psalm 22:12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

Ezekiel 39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

These are indulgent women, wealthy, who were taking advantage of the poor and those in need. Saying to their masters (husbands) bring them wine for them to drink. These women socialites of their time. Enjoying their lavish lifestyles with no care for anyone else.

In verse 2 it is said that the Lord GOD, YHWH, has sworn by his holiness (meaning it is a guarantee) that the days would come when they would be taken away. God uses the imagery here of being taken away by fish hooks. Just as a fisherman catches his fish, takes it away from its own home and then takes it off back to his own home. This to demonstrate the capture of these Israelites, removal from their home and taking away. 

Amos 4: 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.

God then tells them that they will be cast out, they will leave by the breaches in the walls (of Jerusalem). 

Amos 4:3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.

By this God was foretelling the imminent Assyrian captivity that would soon come upon the Northern kingdom. These fat cows are ready for the slaughter. 

God then tells them to come to Bethel and offer their sacrifices and pay their tithes. However he also tells them to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leven. This is mocking the corrupt worship of these children of Israel as sacrifices were not to be made with leven. He even tells them that they loved their corrupt offerings. 

Amos 4:4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Bethel became a place of false worship for the Northern Kingdom after Jeroboam made it so when Israel was split into two. 

1 Kings 12: 32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 33So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Bethel was so called by Jacob as it was the place that God had come to him. Bethel means house of God. 

Genesis 28: 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

So this holy place had become a place of idolatry and false worship by the house of Israel. 

YHWH, through Amos, then reminding them of all the things that he, YHWH,  had done, yet they had not returned to him. 

We see this in verses 6-10. He gave them want of bread, withheld the rain, smote them with blasting mildew, sent them pestilence in the same way as he did in Egypt, slain the young men with swords (in wars), took away their horses and made the camps stink. Yet they did not return to him. 

Amos 4; 6And 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.7And also I have withholden 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 whereupon it rained not withered.8So 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.9I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.10I 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.

Then in verse 11 YHWH, who has already stated that he overthrew some of them uses the 3rd person, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah before returning back to the first person and saying you have not returned to me. 

But was YHWH really referring to another God here. The answer is of course not. 

This is simple illeism, self reference. 

Illiesm is found throughout the Bible 

Jonathan refers to himself as Jonathan when speaking to YHWH

1 Samuel 20:13 The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

King David uses it on a number of occasions 

2 Samuel 5: 8And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

2 Samuel 19: 11And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. 12Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

2 Samuel 22: 51He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.

Psalm 18:50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Daniel also spoke in the 3rd person of himself in his writings. 

Daniel

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…”
(Daniel 1:8)

Daniel is the narrator of his own experience, yet refers to himself in the third person. Again, this does not introduce a second Daniel; it highlights perspective and role.

Jesus of course, uses illeism many times referring to himself as the son of man 

Jesus speaks in the 3rd person when he addresses the father in his prayer found in John 17 referring to himself as the son in verse 1 

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

He then refers to Jesus Christ in verse 3. 

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Of course Jesus is not referring to a different son or another Jesus but simply refers to himself in the 3rd person. 

It is not uncommon to find YHWH doing the same. 

There are a number of reasons why YHWH would use illeism here. 

The first being that “as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” was a well known Hebraism. A common saying that was known through the Jewish world. 

We find the exact same statement in Isaiah 13:19 and Jeremiah 50:40 

Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jeremiah 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

These are word for word in the Hebrew. 

God simply used a saying that was well known to refer back to the event of his overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah. 

It is also possible that through this well known saying regarding himself, God was simply connecting himself, as in his name YHWH, to the God that overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time he was not known by his name YHWH. He did not reveal this name until he gave it to Moses.   

In verse 12 God then tells these people that because of all what they had done he was going to do what he had stated he would do. They are warned to “prepare to meet their God”. 

Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

They are then reminded that YHWH is the God that created all. 

Amos 4:13 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.

So when we look at the full context of this verse the claim does not hold up.  There are not two YHWH’s in this passage. The meaning and context of Amos 4 is in no way support for the 2 powers theory. 

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