Amos 2 Study Notes: Moab, Judah, and Israel Indicted
The LORD condemns Moab for desecrating the remains of Edom's king and Judah for rejecting His law. The series then lands on Israel, charged with selling the poor, oppression, and corrupt worship despite the LORD's rescue from Egypt, and warned that no strength will let anyone escape.
General
Which sins lead off the LORD's charge against Israel in 2:6-7?
Answer: Selling innocent people for money and crushing the poor
Israel's indictment begins with how its people treated the weak. They sold innocent people for money and poor people for the price of sandals, treating people as cheap goods; they trampled the poor into the dust and shoved the needy aside (2:6-7). They also committed sexual sin that profaned the LORD's holy name (2:7). Worse, they carried their greed into worship, lying down by altars on clothing held as security for loans and drinking wine paid for with fines inside their God's house (2:8). The Law required that a poor man's cloak taken as security be given back before night so the borrower had something to sleep in (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). Amos returns to the same charge of buying the poor for silver later in the book (8:4-6). Burning a king's bones, deporting a population to Edom, and breaking a brotherly covenant are instead the crimes of Moab, Gaza, and Tyre.
- Amos 2:6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.”Israel's indictment begins with treating righteous and needy people as goods to be sold.
- Amos 2:8 (BSB)“They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.”Israel's worshipers use loan security and fines to feed their religious feasting.
- Exodus 22:26-27 (BSB)“If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”The Law told lenders to give back a poor man's cloak before night, the command Israel ignored.
- Deuteronomy 24:12-13 (BSB)“If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession; be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.”Deuteronomy repeats the duty to return a poor borrower's security so he can sleep in it.
- Amos 8:4-6 (BSB)“Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!””Amos later repeats the charge of buying and selling the poor and needy.
Theological
What category of sin heads Israel's indictment in 2:6-7?
Answer: Selling innocent people for money and crushing the poor
Israel's oracle opens with social oppression: innocent and needy people sold for money or a trifling price, the poor trampled and the needy pushed aside (2:6-7), together with sexual sin that profaned the LORD's holy name (2:7). The oppression is then joined to cultic practice, as worshipers recline beside altars on garments held in pledge and drink wine exacted through fines inside their God's house (2:8), directly violating the Law's command to return a poor man's pledged cloak by sunset (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). Amos restates the indictment in 8:4-6. Desecrating a king's bones, deporting captives to Edom, and treaty-breaking are instead the crimes of Moab, Gaza, and Tyre.
- Amos 2:6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.”Israel's indictment begins with treating righteous and needy people as goods to be sold.
- Amos 2:8 (BSB)“They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.”Israel's worshipers use loan security and fines to feed their religious feasting.
- Exodus 22:26-27 (BSB)“If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”The Law told lenders to give back a poor man's cloak before night, the command Israel ignored.
- Deuteronomy 24:12-13 (BSB)“If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession; be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.”Deuteronomy repeats the duty to return a poor borrower's security so he can sleep in it.
- Amos 8:4-6 (BSB)“Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!””Amos later repeats the charge of buying and selling the poor and needy.
General
What is the basis of the LORD's charge against Judah in 2:4?
Answer: They cast off the LORD's instruction and followed lies
The nations before Judah were judged for cruelties against other peoples. Judah's charge is different: they rejected the LORD's law, did not keep His statutes, and were misled by the same lies their ancestors had followed (2:4). Amos does not spell out what the lies were. Because Judah had received God's law, it is judged by that law, and fire will fall on Judah and the strongholds of Jerusalem (2:5). Paul states the same principle: people who had God's law are judged according to it (Romans 2:12). The books of Kings record that Judah too failed to keep the LORD's commands (2 Kings 17:19), and Jeremiah later describes the same pattern of fathers abandoning the LORD and children doing even worse (Jeremiah 16:11-12).
- Amos 2:4-5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked. So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.””Judah is judged for rejecting the LORD's law and following the falsehoods of earlier generations.
- Romans 2:12 (BSB)“All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”Paul teaches that those who have God's law are judged by it, as Judah is here.
- 2 Kings 17:19 (BSB)“and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.”Kings confirms that Judah, like Israel, failed to keep the LORD's commands.
- Jeremiah 16:11-12 (BSB)“Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction. And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.”Jeremiah describes the same pattern of fathers forsaking the LORD and children going further astray.
Theological
On what ground is Judah indicted in 2:4, in contrast to the surrounding nations?
Answer: They cast off the LORD's instruction and followed lies
Where the nations are indicted for atrocities discernible by conscience, Judah is indicted for covenant unfaithfulness: rejecting the LORD's law, neglecting His statutes, and following the falsehoods their fathers walked in (2:4), for which fire will consume Jerusalem's strongholds (2:5). Greater revelation brings judgment by that revelation (Romans 2:12). Kings confirms that Judah also failed to keep the LORD's commands (2 Kings 17:19), and Jeremiah traces the same generational apostasy, with the sons exceeding the fathers in evil (Jeremiah 16:11-12).
- Amos 2:4-5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked. So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.””Judah is judged for rejecting the LORD's law and following the falsehoods of earlier generations.
- Romans 2:12 (BSB)“All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”Paul teaches that those who have God's law are judged by it, as Judah is here.
- 2 Kings 17:19 (BSB)“and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.”Kings confirms that Judah, like Israel, failed to keep the LORD's commands.
- Jeremiah 16:11-12 (BSB)“Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction. And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.”Jeremiah describes the same pattern of fathers forsaking the LORD and children going further astray.
General
In 2:1, against whom had Moab committed the crime the LORD condemns?
Answer: Edom's dead king, whose remains Moab burned
Moab is charged with burning the bones of the king of Edom until they turned to lime (2:1). The victim was not Israel or Judah but another foreign nation, and the offense was contempt even toward the dead. So the LORD will send fire on Moab and its strongholds at Kerioth, Moab will perish in the noise of battle and the ram's horn blast, and its ruler and officials will be cut off (2:2-3). The LORD is the righteous Judge of the whole world (Genesis 18:25), and all the nations are under His rule (Psalm 22:28), so He holds peoples to account for how they treat one another, not only for how they treat Israel.
- Amos 2:1-3 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king. So I will send fire against Moab to consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die in tumult, amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn. I will cut off the ruler of Moab and kill all the officials with him,” says the LORD.”Moab is condemned for desecrating the remains of Edom's king, and fire and death are decreed on it.
- Genesis 18:25 (BSB)“Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?””Abraham appeals to God as the righteous Judge of every nation, which is the role the LORD takes toward Moab.
- Psalm 22:28 (BSB)“For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.”The LORD's rule over all nations is why He judges a crime between two foreign peoples.
Theological
Who is the victim of the crime for which Moab is indicted in 2:1?
Answer: Edom's dead king, whose remains Moab burned
Moab's indictment concerns the burning of the Edomite king's bones to lime (2:1), a desecration committed against a third nation rather than against Israel or Judah. The sentence of fire on Kerioth, death in the tumult of battle, and the cutting off of Moab's ruler and officials follows (2:2-3). The oracle shows the universal scope of the LORD's moral government: as the universal Judge He does what is just (Genesis 18:25), and His dominion over the nations (Psalm 22:28) makes every people answerable to Him for cruelty toward any other.
- Amos 2:1-3 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king. So I will send fire against Moab to consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die in tumult, amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn. I will cut off the ruler of Moab and kill all the officials with him,” says the LORD.”Moab is condemned for desecrating the remains of Edom's king, and fire and death are decreed on it.
- Genesis 18:25 (BSB)“Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?””Abraham appeals to God as the righteous Judge of every nation, which is the role the LORD takes toward Moab.
- Psalm 22:28 (BSB)“For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.”The LORD's rule over all nations is why He judges a crime between two foreign peoples.
General
True or False: According to 2:12, Israel honored the Nazirites and listened to the prophets the LORD raised up.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD reminds Israel that He raised up prophets and Nazirites from among their own sons and young men (2:11). A Nazirite was a person who made a special vow of dedication to God, and one sign of that vow was abstaining from wine (Numbers 6:2-3). Instead of honoring these gifts, Israel pressured the Nazirites to drink wine and ordered the prophets to stop prophesying (2:12). Amos himself met this resistance when Amaziah the priest of Bethel told him to leave and never prophesy there again (7:12-13), and Isaiah describes people who told the prophets to stop speaking the truth (Isaiah 30:10).
- Amos 2:11-12 (BSB)“I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is this not true, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.”The LORD gave Israel prophets and Nazirites, but Israel corrupted the one and silenced the other.
- Numbers 6:2-3 (BSB)““Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.”The Nazirite law required abstaining from wine, which is why making them drink was an attack on their vow.
- Amos 7:12-13 (BSB)“And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.””Amaziah's order that Amos stop prophesying at Bethel is an example of the silencing described in 2:12.
- Isaiah 30:10 (BSB)“They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.”Isaiah describes the same refusal to let the prophets speak God's truth.
Theological
True or False: Amos 2:12 commends Israel for supporting the Nazirites and heeding the prophets God had given them.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD had given Israel prophets and Nazirites from among their sons and young men (2:11), living tokens of His word and of consecration to Him; abstinence from wine marked the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:2-3). Israel corrupted the one and silenced the other (2:12), suppressing both the visible sign of holiness and the spoken word. Amos experienced the same silencing from Amaziah the priest of Bethel (7:12-13), and Isaiah describes a people demanding that the prophets stop declaring the truth (Isaiah 30:10).
- Amos 2:11-12 (BSB)“I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is this not true, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.”The LORD gave Israel prophets and Nazirites, but Israel corrupted the one and silenced the other.
- Numbers 6:2-3 (BSB)““Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.”The Nazirite law required abstaining from wine, which is why making them drink was an attack on their vow.
- Amos 7:12-13 (BSB)“And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.””Amaziah's order that Amos stop prophesying at Bethel is an example of the silencing described in 2:12.
- Isaiah 30:10 (BSB)“They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.”Isaiah describes the same refusal to let the prophets speak God's truth.
General
What is the point of the list of runners, warriors, archers, and horsemen in 2:14-16?
Answer: No speed, strength, or skill will save anyone on that day
The LORD says He will press Israel down as a cart loaded with grain presses down on what is under it (2:13). Then He lists every kind of strength people trust in battle: the fast runner, the strong man, the mighty warrior, the archer, the swift-footed, the horseman. None of them will escape, and even the bravest will flee stripped of everything in that day (2:14-16). The psalmist says the same thing: no king or warrior is saved by army or strength, and horses cannot rescue anyone (Psalm 33:16-17). Victory and deliverance belong to the LORD alone (Proverbs 21:31).
- Amos 2:13-16 (BSB)“Behold, I am about to crush you in your place as with a cart full of grain. Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet of foot will not escape, and the horseman will not save his life. Even the bravest of mighty men will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.”The LORD announces a crushing judgment that no runner, warrior, or horseman will escape.
- Psalm 33:16-17 (BSB)“No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.”The psalm denies that military strength or horses can rescue anyone.
- Proverbs 21:31 (BSB)“A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.”The proverb teaches that the outcome of battle rests with the LORD, not with preparation.
Theological
What does the catalog of warriors in 2:14-16 establish about the coming judgment?
Answer: No speed, strength, or skill will save anyone on that day
The LORD announces that He will press Israel down like an overloaded grain cart (2:13), and the following catalog systematically removes every human means of escape: speed, strength, the warrior's might, the archer, the fast runner, the horseman, and finally the bravest, who flees stripped on that day (2:14-16). The point is the inescapability of divine judgment; no military or personal capacity can stand against it. Psalm 33:16-17 denies that army, strength, or horse can save, and Proverbs 21:31 ascribes victory to the LORD alone.
- Amos 2:13-16 (BSB)“Behold, I am about to crush you in your place as with a cart full of grain. Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet of foot will not escape, and the horseman will not save his life. Even the bravest of mighty men will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.”The LORD announces a crushing judgment that no runner, warrior, or horseman will escape.
- Psalm 33:16-17 (BSB)“No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.”The psalm denies that military strength or horses can rescue anyone.
- Proverbs 21:31 (BSB)“A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.”The proverb teaches that the outcome of battle rests with the LORD, not with preparation.
General
What does the LORD recall in 2:9-10 to set against Israel's sins?
Answer: His defeat of the mighty Amorite and the exodus from Egypt
Right after listing Israel's sins, the LORD reminds them of what He had done for them. He destroyed the Amorites, the peoples of Canaan who were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks, wiping them out from fruit to root (2:9). He brought Israel up out of Egypt and guided them through the desert for four decades so they could take the Amorites' land (2:10). Israel's oppression of the poor was all the more shameful because the LORD had rescued them when they themselves were helpless slaves. Moses told Israel that the LORD Himself would go ahead of them like a consuming fire to destroy the tall and strong peoples of Canaan (Deuteronomy 9:1-3), and that the four decades in the desert were His leading to humble and test them (Deuteronomy 8:2).
- Amos 2:9-10 (BSB)“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.”The LORD recalls destroying Canaan's mighty inhabitants and bringing Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 9:1-3 (BSB)“Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens. The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?” But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.”Moses says the LORD Himself would destroy the strong, tall peoples of Canaan before Israel.
- Deuteronomy 8:2 (BSB)“Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.”Moses describes Israel's long desert journey as the LORD's own leading of His people.
Theological
Which acts of grace does the LORD recount in 2:9-10 to heighten Israel's guilt?
Answer: His defeat of the mighty Amorite and the exodus from Egypt
The indictment turns to redemptive history: the LORD destroyed the Amorite, towering like cedars and sturdy as oaks, root and fruit together (2:9), and brought Israel out of Egypt, guiding them forty years through the wilderness to possess the land (2:10). The rehearsal of grace aggravates the guilt; a people redeemed from bondage now sells its own poor. Moses had promised that the LORD would go before Israel like a devouring fire against the mighty Anakim (Deuteronomy 9:1-3) and interpreted the forty years as His humbling and testing of them (Deuteronomy 8:2).
- Amos 2:9-10 (BSB)“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.”The LORD recalls destroying Canaan's mighty inhabitants and bringing Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 9:1-3 (BSB)“Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens. The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?” But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.”Moses says the LORD Himself would destroy the strong, tall peoples of Canaan before Israel.
- Deuteronomy 8:2 (BSB)“Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.”Moses describes Israel's long desert journey as the LORD's own leading of His people.
General
Where does the series of oracles that begins in 1:3 finally land?
Answer: On Israel itself, with the longest and fullest charge of all
The oracles move from Damascus to Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, then to Judah, and finally to Israel (1:3-2:16). Israel, the northern kingdom Amos was sent to, receives the longest and most detailed charge, and its judgment is the most complete (2:6-16). People who would have agreed that the foreign nations deserved judgment discover that they stand under the same judgment themselves. Paul makes the same point: whoever condemns others while doing the same things will not escape God's judgment (Romans 2:1-3). Peter says God's judgment starts with His own family (1 Peter 4:17).
- Amos 2:6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.”The final oracle of the series turns to Israel itself.
- Romans 2:1-3 (BSB)“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”Paul warns that those who condemn others while doing the same things cannot escape God's judgment.
- 1 Peter 4:17 (BSB)“For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?”Peter teaches that God's judgment starts with His own people.
Theological
Where does the sequence of oracles running from 1:3 to 2:16 reach its climax?
Answer: On Israel itself, with the longest and fullest charge of all
The sequence moves through Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, then to Judah, and finally lands on Israel itself (1:3-2:16), whose indictment is by far the longest and whose judgment is the most comprehensive (2:6-16). Those inclined to applaud the LORD's verdict on the nations find themselves the final defendants. Paul uses the same move against those who condemn others while practicing the same things (Romans 2:1-3), and Peter states that God's judgment starts with His own family (1 Peter 4:17).
- Amos 2:6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.”The final oracle of the series turns to Israel itself.
- Romans 2:1-3 (BSB)“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”Paul warns that those who condemn others while doing the same things cannot escape God's judgment.
- 1 Peter 4:17 (BSB)“For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?”Peter teaches that God's judgment starts with His own people.