GOD S JUDGMENT OF COMPLACENCY Amos 6

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2 GOD S JUDGMENT OF COMPLACENCY Amos 6

3 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Purpose of our study/introduction The way we live is important to God Our hearts are even more important God wants our hearts to be right with Him God promises judgment for disobedience God promises judgment for complacency In the midst of it all, God offers chances for repentance

4 Amos 7:1-3 Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king s mowings. And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: O Lord GOD, forgive, I pray!

5 Amos 7:1-3 Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small! So the Lord relented concerning this. It shall not be, said the Lord.

6 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED First Vision of Judgment A vision of locusts Lord planning to send locusts to eat the "second crop" King got taxes paid by first crop in the fall God honored their responsibility to king Shoots from harvest would yield a second crop in the spring This was to feed them for a whole year

7 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED First Vision of Judgment BUT Amos prayed O Lord, forgive Amos understood sin was the root of all the evil God was going to judge O that Jacob may stand Jacob represented the professing followers of God Feared judgment would bring an end

8 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED First Vision of Judgment God responded It shall not be, said the Lord God relented because of the intercession of Amos Prophets often stood in the gap for God s people Who is praying for the church in America? If Lot had found only 10 righteous to pray

9 Amos 7:4-6 Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, the Lord GOD called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. Then I said: O Lord GOD, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, for he is small! So the Lord relented concerning this.

10 Amos 7:4-6 This also shall not be, said the Lord GOD.

11 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Second Vision of Judgment A vision of fire Lord is planning to send a drought So severe that even the deepest of the waters would be dried up God knew they weren t truly repentant This judgment affected everyone There would be a great famine to destroy all

12 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Second Vision of Judgment BUT Amos prayed O Lord GOD, cease, I pray! Prayed for God to take away the judgment Again Amos pleads a case for Jacob

13 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Second Vision of Judgment God responded This too shall not be, said the Lord God relented because of the intercession of Amos Note: God did not change His mind; He just changed how He would judge them God still has to judge, but perhaps we see more mercy here because of Amos prayer

14 Amos 7:7-9 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A plumb line. Then the Lord said: Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My

15 Amos 7:7-9 people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.

16 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Third Vision of Judgment The plumbline Everywhere "Plumbline" is used in OT, it refers to impending judgment and always refers to the standard of God God s standards represent the plumbline Plumbline used to ensure things line up Paneling, bricks, etc. Our personal judgment can be off

17 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Third Vision of Judgment The plumbline How does Israel measure up to the standards of God? Notice the judgment is on God s terms Here God shows that there is a limit to His patience He will judge; so Amos doesn't even try to pray for God to change

18 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Third Vision of Judgment The plumbline How do our lives measure up to God s standard for righteousness? We won t be judged on whether we are better than someone else Jesus is the standard Jesus never changes and neither does the Father

19 Amos 7:11-17 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall

20 Amos 7:11-17 surely be led away captive From their own land. Then Amaziah said to Amos: Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence. Then

21 Amos 7:11-17 Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to My people Israel. Now

22 Amos 7:11-17 therefore, hear the word of the Lord: You say, Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not spout against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus says the Lord: Your wife shall be a harlot in the city; Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be

23 Amos 7:11-17 divided by survey line; You shall die in a defiled land; and Israel shall surely be led away captive From his own land.

24 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED Response of rulers of Israel Commission their own prophet - Amaziah Amaziah became the opposition to Amos I doubt Amaziah knew Amos was prophesying judgment at the same time he was praying for them He knew Amos was rocking the boat and had to go back to Judah He wanted to maintain peace at all costs

25 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED God s response to opposition He will take care of Amaziah and his family No matter what kind of good news he was spouting, God would have no patience for a false prophet I feel God will do the same today Those who lead people away from the truth will face judgment

26 PRAYER AND REPENTANCE REQUIRED For us God is serious about sin He will judge He will show mercy when people pray and repent 2 Chronicles 7:14 We live in a time where people surround themselves with good news from false prophets

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