Amos 1:1 says, The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.  Amos was a herdman, or a country farmer according to Matthew Henry.  He prophesied before Isaiah.  He was just another simple man that God spoke to and worked through. The first chapter deals with prophecies about enemies of Israel.  Verse two states, And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.  This is simply a statement of the power of God's word.  As I have stated several times before, we should never underestimate the power of God's word.  When God speaks to a person, that person is indeed foolish if they ignore God's word to them.  The most foolish act is to ignore God's call to salvation.  Verse three says, 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:  Matthew Henry says that the three transgressions, which are mentioned in all the warnings, are general sins, with the fourth being the specific sin the country is charged with.  This is the first of several nations that are warned of God's coming judgment and the giving of the reason why.  God said that Damascus, or Syria, had thrashed Gilead with instruments of iron.  They had terribly mistreated God's people.  Verse four states, But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.  God said He would destroy them with fire, or reduce them to nothing.  Verse five states, 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, saith the LORD.  The people of Syria, instead of ruling, were going to be taken captive themselves.  Verse six says, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:  Gaza was a city of the Philistines.  They had been guilty of carrying God's people, either Israel or Judah, away as captives.  Verse seven states, But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:  We see God's judgment as being stated as destroying them with fire in these prophecies.  Though they may have been burned down, I believe that it is more a statement of total destruction.  We know that those who do not accept Christ as Savior are destined to end up in hell, a place of everlasting fire.  The really bad thing about this is that they will be forever separated from God.  Verse eight says, And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.  God said His judgment was to be on all the Philistines. They had believed themselves more powerful than God, and they had succeeded for awhile, but God's judgment was coming.  People today may mock God, and even destroy His people, and see nothing bad happen, but God's judgment has already been pronounced on them.  If not before, then when Christ returns they will know the truth of God.