Major Truths from Minor Prophets or Prepare to Meet Your God Date: June 19, 2016 Scripture Basis: The Book of Amos Introduction: Amos, like Hosea, was one of the earliest, if not THE earliest of the writing prophets. He ministered somewhere around 760 B.C. It was a time when both Israel and Judah were under kings who reigned a rather long time. Assyria was somewhat distracted at that point, and the two kingdoms were able to thrive for the most part. But with prosperity, came spiritual problems, as is often the case. God had warned his people before they ever entered Canaan to beware when you eat and are full... lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Deut 6:11f). And, he further warned, that when they had been there a while, and God had blessed their labors: Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 8:17-20). When I read those words, I can t help but think of us here in the United States. It is precisely what happened in Israel; and it is precisely what we see happening here in the United States of America. It is precisely what Abraham Lincoln said mid-way through the American Civil War, and which I read couple of weeks ago: We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven [said he]. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown, but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and multiplied, enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated by our own unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us. (Quoted in John Blanchard s Major Points from the Minor Prophets, pp 35f).
03~Amos, page 2 I. Amos begins The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers, and then proceeds to pronounce judgments upon peoples surrounding Israel, identifying certain distinctive sins of each: Damascus Gaza Tyre Edom the Ammonites Moab A. In each case, the people of Israel would have concurred, and likely been glad 1. It is worth noting that the sins for which each of these peoples were to be punished were violations related to how they had treated others, violations of God s law as written in the hearts of men in general, not of the Law as given through Moses. Amos repeated a formula: For three transgressions of Damascus, or Gaza, or whoever, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment... said the Lord. This was an idiomatic way of saying that God was judging them not for merely three or four offences but for many, committed over a long period of time though for each nation just one appalling sin is pinpointed, all of them gross violations of human rights, said John Blanchard. 2. But then he came to Judah at 2:4, and we see a distinctive difference: Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem. Did you notice the difference?... because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes... Judah was a nation in covenant with the Lord as other nations were not. All were responsible to God, but not specifically to the Mosaic Law, as were the people whom God had taken to be his own from among all the nations.
03~Amos, page 3 B. But then Amos said: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of ISRAEL, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because... (2:6ff) and he begins to recount Israel s sins II. Amos identifies a number of Israel s sins throughout the book A. 2:6-12 Mistreatment of the righteous 2:6a Mistreatment of the poor 2:6b-7a Sexual license 2:7b Disregard and ingratitude for the Lord s blessings 2:9, 10 Provided a ministry of the word for them, and they rejected it 2:11-12 B. As he progresses through the book we see other characteristics of their sin 3:10 they don t know how to do right... 3:14 & 4:4-5 false worship, even delight in it 3:15 selfish and likely prideful affluence 4:1 a certain feminist element 5:10 they hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth The spirit of our day that quotes Judge not... 5:18-20 oblivious to the day of the Lord, to the reality of judgment 6:1ff sinful complacency... and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! (6:6) Many in America are not grieved over the moral decay and ruin of this country, but revel in it
03~Amos, page 4 6:8 pride and arrogance 8:4-5 driven by money to the disregard of honesty and integrity and of people who do not serve their interests, and an impatience with the Sabbath so they can get on with business III. The Lord judges by a standard of righteousness Amos 7 A. Amos sees three visions 1. Locusts... Amos intercedes and the Lord relents 7:1-3 2. Fire... Amos intercedes and the Lord relents 7:4-6 3. A Plumb Line 7:7-9 In a way, Amos and the prophets are the plumb line, or are at least holding it in the midst of the people B. Amaziah opposes Amos 7:10-17 John 15:18-21, 25; 16:1ff... but Christ will send the Spirit, and the gospel will progress in spite of the opposition Amos 5:13 a day will come when the prudent will keep silent, an evil time 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. C. Throughout the book are sprinkled God s responses to Israel s sins 3:1-8 & 11 Therefore... 4:6-13... The Lord says: I did...., yet you did not return to me
03~Amos, page 5 5 times over again we read this pattern, and then THEREFORE 4:12 Therefore... prepare to meet your God, O Israel! The Creator! The same word is spoken to us today... D. Amos calls the people to repentance, to seek the Lord and live 5:4f It is a tremendously gracious invitation... 5:14-15 Seek good, and not evil... IV. The Lord will render Judgment and Punishment A. A famine in the land 8:11ff but a famine of the word B. A devastating judgment, but short of total destruction 9:1-9... Nevertheless: 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Disaster shall not overtake or meet us. V. Amos speaks of Christ Amos 9:11-16 Acts 15:12-17... (like our General Assembly) Conclusion: Anthony Selvaggio, in a book entitled The Prophet s Speak of Him: Encountering Jesus in the Minor Prophets, makes a couple of points with which I want to close: 1) Jesus brought an end to the famine of the Word Hebrews 1:1f and 2:1-4... and consequently an end to the famine of meaninglessness The Great Commission sends the Church forth with the word throughout the world 2) Jesus also builds a new nation God had promised Abraham that he would make of him a great nation, and that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. Later he established David on the throne as King of that nation. Israel failed both as a nation and the kingship. God sent his Son to be the seed of Abraham and of David. He would establish a nation from among all nations, with Jesus as its king. (Matt
03~Amos, page 6 1:1) Implications: as citizens of this one nation, Christ is to be preeminent in all of life and we are to place our allegiance to this holy nation above all else, we have all the benefits and privileges of this nation hear the word preached and taught, experience the fellowship of God s people, we are to be mindful that social issues and our culture affect the church, and we are to not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds by the truth as it is in Jesus (Rom 12:2; Eph 4:20-24) we are to carry the light of the gospel to the ends of the earth, not neglecting where we live...