The Treachery of Forgetting: Judgment on Tyre Text: Amos 1:9-10
Introduction: The Universal Reach of God's Law
As we continue our march through the opening judgments of Amos, we come to the great seaport of Tyre. And as we do, we must dispense with a common, sloppy bit of modern thinking. Many Christians today, particularly those of a pietistic bent, labor under the delusion that God only holds His own people accountable to His law. They imagine that the pagan nations of old, and the secular nations of today, get a sort of pass. God, in this telling, is like a frustrated father who only lays down the law for his own children, while the neighborhood hellions are free to trample his lawn and throw rocks through his windows without consequence. This is a profound theological error, and the prophet Amos is a sledgehammer sent by God to demolish it.
The Lord roars from Zion, but the sound of His voice shakes the foundations of Damascus, Gaza, and now Tyre. God is the God of the whole earth, and His law is the bedrock of reality for everyone, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Sin is a reproach to any people, not just the covenant people (Proverbs 14:34). Gravity holds the atheist in his chair just as firmly as it does the believer. The moral law of God is just as universal. When nations, any nation, engage in certain kinds of wickedness, they are storing up wrath for themselves. God is not a tribal deity. He is the judge of all the earth, and He will do right.
Amos has been moving in a counter-clockwise circle, delivering God's indictments against the nations surrounding Israel. He has dealt with Damascus for its savage cruelty and with Philistia for its slave-trading. Now his gaze turns north, to the wealthy, sophisticated, and treacherous city-state of Tyre. Their sin was not one of simple passion or battlefield brutality. Theirs was a sin of cold, calculated, commercial treachery. It was a sin against a covenant, a sin of forgotten brotherhood. And for this, the fire of God's judgment was coming for them.
The Text
Thus says Yahweh,
“For three transgressions of Tyre and for four
I will not turn back its punishment
Because they delivered up the whole community of exiles to Edom
And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
So I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre,
And it will consume her citadels.”
(Amos 1:9-10 LSB)
The Full Cup of Iniquity (v. 9a)
The oracle against Tyre begins with the same solemn formula we have seen before.
"Thus says Yahweh, 'For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not turn back its punishment...'" (Amos 1:9a)
Once again, we have this poetic formula: "for three... and for four." This is not simple arithmetic, as though God has a celestial clipboard and Tyre just committed its fourth sin. This is Hebrew parallelism, a way of saying their cup of iniquity is full, and then some. It is overflowing. God is patient, He is longsuffering, but His patience has a limit. That limit is not arbitrary; it is determined by His perfect justice. The sins of Tyre have reached a tipping point. The time for warnings is over, and the time for judgment has come. Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, is the one speaking, and He is speaking as the sovereign Lord of Tyre as well.
This formula is a declaration that judgment is now irreversible. "I will not turn back its punishment." The sentence has been passed in the heavenly court. The course is set. The prophet is simply delivering the verdict. This should be a terrifying thought for any nation that has institutionalized its rebellion against God. There comes a point when the accounts are called in, when the divine patience is exhausted, and the gears of judgment begin to grind. And when they do, no amount of frantic political maneuvering or economic gamesmanship can stop them.
The Sin of Mercenary Betrayal (v. 9b)
Next, God specifies the particular crime that has filled their cup to overflowing.
"Because they delivered up the whole community of exiles to Edom and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood." (Amos 1:9b)
The charge is twofold, but the two parts are woven together. First, the practical crime: "they delivered up the whole community of exiles to Edom." This is the same charge leveled against the Philistines in the previous oracle. Tyre was a great maritime power, a hub of commerce and trade. They were the FedEx of the ancient world. And one of their most lucrative businesses was the slave trade. When raiders, likely the Philistines, attacked villages in Israel or Judah, they would capture entire communities. Tyre, with its fleet of ships and its vast network, would then act as the middleman, the broker of human flesh. They would buy these Hebrew captives and sell them to their bitterest enemies, the Edomites. This was not a crime of passion; it was a business decision. They saw a market opportunity in the suffering of their neighbors and exploited it for profit. They commodified entire communities, turning men, women, and children made in the image of God into chattel for the sake of financial gain.
But what made this sin especially heinous was the second part of the charge: they "did not remember the covenant of brotherhood." This is not some vague reference to the general brotherhood of man. This points back to a specific, historical covenant. We read in 1 Kings 5 about the close alliance between Hiram, king of Tyre, and King Solomon of Israel. Hiram provided Solomon with the cedars of Lebanon and the skilled craftsmen needed to build the Temple of the Lord. Their relationship was so close that Hiram called Solomon "my brother" (1 Kings 9:13). They made a formal treaty, a covenant of peace and mutual support. This was a relationship that went back generations, a bond of friendship and alliance.
And Tyre forgot it. For the sake of a business deal with Edom, they betrayed that ancient friendship. They chose mammon over brotherhood. They looked at the children of their old allies and saw not covenant partners, but inventory. This is a profound sin. To break a covenant is to attack the very grammar of trust and faithfulness upon which civilization is built. All relationships, from marriage to international treaties, are held together by covenantal promises. Tyre treated its solemn promises as disposable, something to be discarded when a more profitable opportunity arose. They were treacherous, and God takes treachery very seriously.
The Inevitable Fire (v. 10)
Because of this covenant-breaking, profit-driven cruelty, the sentence is pronounced.
"So I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it will consume her citadels." (Amos 1:10)
The punishment fits the crime. Tyre was a fortress city, famous for its impenetrable walls and strong citadels. It was an island fortress, a symbol of security, wealth, and earthly power. Their trust was in their walls, their navy, their wealth. They felt secure, untouchable. But God says that the very thing they trust in for their security will be the object of His fiery judgment. The fire of God will do what no human army could. It will consume their defenses and bring their proud city to ruin.
This is not just a prediction of military conquest, though it certainly was fulfilled historically through the sieges of Nebuchadnezzar and later, catastrophically, by Alexander the Great. It is a theological statement. God's judgment is a consuming fire. When men put their ultimate trust in created things, whether it be wealth, military might, or political savvy, God has a way of showing how flammable all of it is. The walls of Tyre were a monument to their self-reliance. The fire of God is a monument to His sovereignty.
Conclusion: Remembering Our Covenant
The sin of Tyre is the sin of mercenary betrayal. It is the sin of prioritizing profit over people and commerce over covenant. And it is a sin that is alive and well in our own day. We live in an age that worships at the altar of the free market, but often forgets the covenantal bonds that are meant to govern it. We see it when businesses exploit their workers for the sake of the bottom line. We see it when nations betray their allies for economic advantage. We see it when the unborn are sacrificed on the altar of convenience and economic freedom. We are very much like Tyre when we forget the covenant of brotherhood for the sake of a deal.
But the ultimate act of covenant-breaking was not Tyre's. The ultimate act of covenant-breaking was ours. We all, like Adam, have broken covenant with God. We have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage. We have betrayed our Maker for the fleeting profits of sin. And the sentence pronounced against us is the same: a consuming fire. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).
But here is the glorious gospel. God, in His infinite mercy, did not forget His covenant with us. In the person of Jesus Christ, He remembered. Jesus is the ultimate covenant keeper. He is the true brother who, unlike Tyre, did not betray His own for profit. Instead, He was betrayed. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave. He was delivered up, not to Edom, but to the cross. And on that cross, the fire of God's judgment that we deserved was poured out upon Him.
He took the fire so that we could receive the blessing. He endured the curse of the broken covenant so that we could be brought into the unbreakable New Covenant, sealed in His own blood. Therefore, the warning to us is the same as the warning to Tyre: Remember the covenant. Do not forget the brotherhood we have in Christ. Do not trade the priceless realities of the kingdom, faithfulness, loyalty, and love, for the cheap trinkets of this world. For if God did not spare the proud citadels of Tyre, He will certainly not spare those who trample underfoot the precious blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified.
Let us therefore be a people who remember. We remember our sin, we remember His grace, and we remember the covenant of brotherhood we share in Him. We must build our lives, our families, our churches, and our communities not on the shifting sands of profit and convenience, but on the solid rock of God's covenant faithfulness in Jesus Christ.