Amos 3:12
Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea who prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel. His name probably means burdened, and he was burdened for his people. The priests accused him of treason and expelled him from the northern kingdom, to which many of his prophecies referred.
This verse belongs to his prophecy to the northern kingdom, delivered during Jeroboam II's reign amid idolatry, injustice, and abuse of the poor. The surrounding message warns that privilege brings responsibility and that failure to live up to received light and knowledge brings punishment. The verse foretells the downfall of apostasy and belongs to a prophecy that points forward to the last days, when there shall be a famine of the Word. Its picture of a shepherd taking remains from the mouth of the lion is one of the striking illustrations from shepherd life that fill the prophecy.
It shows that the Lord's people may be oppressed and surrounded by danger, yet some are rescued, as a shepherd retrieves only fragments of a sheep from a lion's mouth, picturing the rescue of only a small remnant from the lion's jaws. It presents the deliverance of Israel's inhabitants in Samaria and Damascus as limited, like the few remains recovered from the predator. It applies to shepherds who recover God's people from spiritual danger.