And so punishment, not reward, must follow -- which is why the NIV translators have changed "about" to "against" and "visit" to "punish," what Amos in effect meant, though it loses the impact of how he said it. In the message which follows, Amos establishes two principles which apply not just to Israel but to every nation and person on earth.

In the light of recent events, therefore, we would do well to listen to what the Lord says to us through this ancient prophet, and make sure that we do not respond as his original hearers did. The first principle is this:

1. No Sin without Judgment

In verses 3 to 6 we see that Amos is still working hard to keep the attention of his hearers before they either turn away or hurl a few well-aimed rocks at him. After the shock of the word "sins" at the end of his opening statement, you can imagine that this might well be their reaction.

So Amos does what many speakers of his day did, and many speakers still do in the Middle East today -- he tells a series of riddles: "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch?" (Amos 3:3-5).

What is the point the riddles are making? Simply that there is no cause without effect or, in one of our own sayings, there is no smoke without fire. Everything that happens has a cause. Two people walking together in the countryside do so because they have arranged to meet. A lion roars because he has sighted his prey and is about to pounce, or growls in his den because he has caught something. A bird falls to the ground because a set-snare has caught it, and the trap activates because something triggered it.

And then Amos moves closer to home and humans: "When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?" (Amos 3:6). The people in a city tremble because they have heard the trumpets sound warning of an imminent invasion.

And finally Amos makes his theological point: "When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?" The Lord is the cause behind every effect, and behind the coming invasion of the city - their city of Samaria. They have sinned against the Lord, and He is therefore about to bring judgment upon them and their city. Sin always has consequences, and those consequences are judgment from the Lord. There is no sin without judgment -- either individually or corporately, we reap what we sow.

Now, I doubt if any Israelite would have disagreed with this theological maxim -- that sin always brings judgment. That is why they probably enjoyed the opening message of Amos when he denounced the sins of the nations surrounding Israel and pronounced God's judgment on them. "Amen" you can hear them thunder after each oracle against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. "Quite right too -- no sin without judgment."