All the crimes, all these actions by foreign nations, are not done by people who are ignorant of what God expects. You do not need a Bible to know that it is wrong to kill a baby or to rape, murder, and enslave an entire village. God’s moral law has been written on the conscience of all people (see Romans 2:14–15). His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived so that all people are without excuse (Romans 1:18–20). Each nation will therefore be held accountable by God. They do not believe in the Lord but that does not mean that he has not been attentive to their crimes. He has been watching, he has been waiting. He has seen how they use and abuse their power and authority, and he will not let them go unpunished. Therefore we read, For three transgressions…and for four, I will not revoke the punishment
(Amos 1:3, Amos 1:6, Amos 1:9, Amos 1:11, Amos 1:13; Amos 2:1, Amos 2:4, Amos 2:6). I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael
(Amos 1:4), I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza
(Amos 1:7). There will be a fire for Tyre (Amos 1:10) and a fire for Edom (Amos 1:12), a fire for Ammon (Amos 1:14) and a fire for Moab (Amos 2:2). God’s wrath cannot be stopped, his judgment is certain.
3 Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.