The document discusses the kings of Syria named Benhadad that were mentioned in the Bible. There were three Benhadads that ruled Syria: the first allied with King Asa of Judah, the second had many wars with Israel under King Ahab, and the third was a weak king under whom Syria faded in prominence. The prophet Amos condemned Damascus and the kingdom of Syria for oppressing Israel, threshing the people of Gilead with iron threshing instruments, and for the sins of being a resource for rebels, being greedy for gain, and finding ease in oppression. God would send fire to consume the palaces of Benhadad as judgment for these sins against his people.

1. Benhadad
Amos 1
Amos announces God’s judgment on 6 nations around
Israel.
Each woe has it’s own peculiarity to itself,
but there are points common to them all.
IN EVERY CASE JUDGMENT IS THE ACT OF GOD.
"I will send;" "I will kindle" (4, 7, 10, 12).
IN EVERY CASE GOD’S JUDGMENT IS FOR MAN’S SIN.
"Because they have threshed;" "Because they
carried away”
IN EVERY CASE THE SIN SELECTED FOR PUNISHMENT IS
COMMITTED AGAINST GOD’S PEOPLE.
In 5 cases out of the 6 the sin was committed directly
against Israel, and in the 6th
case it was committed
against their ally. God loves the world as a whole, but
he loves his people best. (Joh 3:16 Joh 14:23)
JUDGMENT IS CAUSED BY PERSISTENCE IN SIN.
"For three, transgressions and for four" is the
constant formula. The expression means many

2. transgressions, culminating in a final one. (Pro 30:15,
Pro 30:18, Pro 30:21; Job 5:19; Ecc 11:2)
IN EVERY CASE THE GUILT INVOLVES THE EXTREME OF
PUNISHMENT OR ENTIRE DESTRUCTION.
This is inflicted by fire, the most destructive element
in each case.
Amos 1:3-5
3 Thus saith the LORD;
For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof;
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing instruments of iron:
4 But I will send a fire
into the house of Hazael,
which shall devour
the palaces of Benhadad.
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitant
from the plain of Aven,
and him that holdeth the sceptre
from the house of Eden:
and the people of Syria
shall go into captivity unto Kir,

3. saith the LORD.
Damascus
Is first mentioned, as an important military power, in the
time of David; to which David made tributary and planted
Israelite officers in their territory. (2Sa 8:5)
2Sam 8:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus
came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah,
David slew of the Syrians 2 and 20k men.
Damascus becomes an active enemy of Israel under
Solomon’s reign, from the time that Rezon threw off his
allegiance, and seized Damascus (1Ki 11:23).
1Kgs 11:9-11 9 And the LORD was angry with
Solomon, because his heart was turned from the
LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto
him twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this
thing, that he should not go after other gods:
but he kept not that which the LORD
commanded.
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon,
Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou
hast not kept my covenant and my statutes,
which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend
the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy
servant.

4. 1Kgs 11:23 And God stirred him up another
adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled
from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:
The history of the wars carried on by Syria against the
Jews are recorded throughout the chronicles of the kings.
(1Kgs 15:19, 20:22; 2Kgs 7:9, 10:32, 12:18, 13:5, 25, 14:28;
2Chr 16:2, 24:23)
Battles may rage back and forth between men, but the
war is not decisive won till God declares the end.
5
I will …cut off …him that holdeth the sceptre …and
the people of Syria shall go into captivity… saith the
LORD.
Jer 49:27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of
Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of
Benhadad.
3
Because they have threshed Gilead.
This is the crescendo of sin that infuriates God.
This threshing instrument was designed to drag like a
plow. The business end was made of heavy planks with
iron teeth beneath.

5. This machine was weighted with the driver who sat or
stood on it as it was drawn by oxen.(Isa 28:27 Isa 41:15)
Isa 28:27 For the fitches are not threshed with
a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel
turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches
are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin
with a rod.
Isa 41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp
threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt
thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and
shalt make the hills as chaff.
Such an implement was used by David (2Sa 12:31; comp.
Pro 20:26).
2Sam 12:31 And he brought forth the people
that were therein, and put them under saws,
and under harrows of iron, and under axes of
iron, and made them pass through the
brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of
the children of Ammon. So David and all the
people returned unto Jerusalem.
Prov 20:26 A wise king scattereth the wicked,
and bringeth the wheel over them.

6. Gilead is representative of all the country east of Jordan.
(Jos 22:9)
Josh 22:9 And the children of Reuben and the
children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh
returned, and departed from the children of
Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of
Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to
the land of their possession, whereof they were
possessed, according to the word of the LORD
by the hand of Moses.
The cruel treatment referred to in the text occurred in the
time of Hazael during the reign of Jehu.
It is no wonder we read Elisha’s words to Hazael, as God
shows him Hazael’s future. (2Ki 8:12)
2Kgs 8:12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my
lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil
that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel:
their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their
young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and
wilt dash their children, and rip up their women
with child.
Amos 1:3

7. 3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions
of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the
punishment thereof…
There were three kings of Syria named Benhadad.
 The first made an alliance with Asa, and fought
successfully against Baasha; (1Ki 15:20)
1Kgs 15:20 So Benhadad hearkened unto
king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts
which he had against the cities of Israel,
and smote Ijon, and Dan, and
Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with
all the land of Naphtali.
 Benhadad II was the contemporary of Ahab, and had
war for many years with the northern kingdom. (1Ki
20) He was murdered by Hazael. (2Ki 8:15)
2Kgs 8:15 And it came to pass on the
morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and
dipped it in water, and spread it on his face,
so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his
stead.
 Benhadad III, the son of Hazael, was a weak
monarch of small ability, Syria under his authority

8. fades off the scene of prominence. (2Ki 13:4; 14:27;
15:17)
2Kgs 13:4 And Jehoahaz besought the
LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him:
for he saw the oppression of Israel, because
the king of Syria oppressed them.
2Kgs 14:27 And the LORD said not that he
would blot out the name of Israel from
under heaven: but he saved them by the
hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
2Kgs 15:17 In the nine and thirtieth year of
Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the
son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned
ten years in Samaria.
All this happened before the time of Amos, who probably
refers to all the kings of that name, Benhadad, "Son of
the Sun," being the title of the dynasty.
I. A Resource for a Rebel
Prov 20:3 It is an honour for a man to cease
from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

9. Prov 26:17-19 17 He that passeth by, and
meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like
one that taketh a dog by the ears.
18 As a mad man who casteth firebrands,
arrows, and death,
19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour,
and saith, Am not I in sport?
Matt 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the
dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and
turn again and rend you.
1Thess 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and
to do your own business, and to work with your
own hands, as we commanded you;
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail
of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled;
1Pet 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a
murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a
busybody in other men's matters.
II. Greedy of Gain

10. 1Kgs 20:1-6 1 And Benhadad the king of Syria
gathered all his host together: and there were
thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and
chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria,
and warred against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel
into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith
Benhadad,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also
and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My
lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine,
and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said,
Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I
have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver
me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and
thy children;
6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to
morrow about this time, and they shall search
thine house, and the houses of thy servants;
and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in
thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and
take it away.
1Kgs 20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet
unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the
LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude?

11. behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day;
and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
Josh 7:24-25 24 And Joshua, and all Israel
with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the
silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold,
and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen,
and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and
all that he had: and they brought them unto the
valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled
us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And
all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned
them with fire, after they had stoned them with
stones.
2Kgs 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman
shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for
ever. And he went out from his presence a leper
as white as snow.
Prov 15:27 He that is greedy of gain troubleth
his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall
live.
Jer 17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and
hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches,
and not by right, shall leave them in the midst
of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

12. 1Tim 5:6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth.
Titus 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped,
who subvert whole houses, teaching things
which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Jas 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth,
and been wanton; ye have nourished your
hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
III. The Ease of Oppression
Oppression is always hateful to God, even when he is
using it as his instrument for chastising or punishing a
guilty people. He "sees" it, notes it, lays it up in his
remembrance for future retribution.
2Kgs 13:4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD,
and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw
the oppression of Israel, because the king of
Syria oppressed them.
2Kgs 13:7 Neither did he leave of the people to
Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots,
and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria

13. had destroyed them, and had made them like
the dust by threshing.
Exod 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen
the affliction of my people which are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of their
taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Isa 10:5-12 5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine
anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation,
and against the people of my wrath will I give
him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the
prey, and to tread them down like the mire of
the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his
heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy
and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether
kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as
Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the
idols, and whose graven images did excel them
of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and
her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

14. 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when
the Lord hath performed his whole work upon
mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria,
and the glory of his high looks.
Benhadad
I. A Resource for a Rebel
II. Greedy of Gain
III. The Ease of Oppression