THE SABBATH (Amos 8:4,5)

THE SABBATH (Amos 8:4,5) When I sat down to prepare for this morning s message I thought to begin at v.11, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. That is a very important verse and one that is as relevant today as ever it was even in the days of Amos. But when I looked at the passage again I realised we would only be entering into the middle of the message rather than starting at the beginning. This was an extremely important chapter and the outcome that v.11 speaks about is simply a consequence of something that was occurring earlier on in these verses. Here is the basis of our study this morning, - the words of Amos that he spoke on God s behalf to the people of Israel, v. 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat. Some people nowadays, in an attempt to let on to be clever, tell us that the old idea of the Sabbath has passed and it is no longer relevant under this present dispensation of grace. They tell us every day is the Lord s Day and Sunday ought to be considered no more special than any other. We are not tied as they were! Yes, the Jewish Sabbath lasted from sundown on the Friday evening to sundown on the Saturday evening and it no longer has jurisdiction over the Lord s Redeemed people. However, the early Church adopted from God s Word the first day of the week as the Lord s Day, - separate from all the rest, and the day in which God s people would keep holy and meet together. Grounded on a solid Biblical basis the principle that God has sanctified one day in the week to be special we uphold and we defend as being His command for His people. So what does Amos bring to our attention here regarding

D.G. 2 THE SABBATH AND THE LORD S PEOPLE God has a long memory! Here are His people whose descendancy and history are founded upon His faithfulness and His goodness. He had brought them to Jerusalem, the city of the Jebusites. The Jebusites were a cruel and wicked people, - they traced their roots from Ham and Canaan, upon which God had brought His curse. Their friends were such people as the Amorites and the Girgashites. They were Godless, Godless people who had a terrible influence over the children of Israel. It was during David s reign the city was taken from them. Prior to that the chief city for the Israelites was Hebron. In the years before that, they were fighting their way inch-by-inch through the land God had promised them they would occupy. Their battling in the Promised Land began in conflict with the city of Jericho, - a battle in which God gave them the victory. For forty years prior to their encircling the walls of Jericho the children of Israel wandered throughout the deserts of Sinai as they escaped, - borne along by the hand of God, - from captivity out of Egypt. Every step along the way had been directed by Almighty God, El Shaddai, Jehovah and His shekinah glory. He had chosen them, He had guided and guarded them, He had loved them, He had looked after them when they called for His help, He had protected them and they would never have been in Jerusalem had it not been for Him. Whilst out in the desert He set before them commandments to obey and each of those commandments had a particular purpose behind it. The first four commandments related to the observance of the Person of God, and the remaining commandments related to the practice of God s people. The first on the list was a defining principle throughout the history of the Old Testament people, Ex.20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

D.G. 3 The people were commanded, Ex. 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Over and over again the prophets had to remind the people, - such was the significance of the Sabbath-observance. Nehemiah was dumbfounded when he wrote, Neh. 13: 15 In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. 16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Isaiah wrote, 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, ; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it. Similarly, Jer. 17:27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. When disaster, catastrophe, or a falling away happened among God s people often it could be traced back to the children of Israel neglecting the sanctity of the Lord s Day. It was as if the observance of the Sabbath was the litmus test regarding the spirituality of God s people. But why did God send Amos to confront them? Here is why: the children of Israel under Jeroboam had departed from the city and the temple of Jerusalem and they had moved their religion out to a place of their own choosing and the religion they had adopted was one of their own fabrication and we discover that the Sabbath, - the day the Lord rested, sanctified and blessed, - had been desecrated and had become a burden, - not a delight, - to these people who continued to call themselves the people of God (vv.5,6).

D.G. 4 But really the Lord s Day was an obstruction/obstacle to them and to their business; it held them up from making more and more money. They were fiddling the books such was their insatiable greed. At the gates of the city they were doing business on the Sabbath, the Lord s Day, - it was just like any other day of the week! And the day that had been set aside as on to God had been hijacked and stolen by man s own greed and they were all complicit in its violation and defilement. That is what was happening among these people for whom God had done so much whom He had saved out of Egypt and God said, v.7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. There came a time when God said, Enough is enough! I shall not be mocked any longer. And whatsoever a man soweth that shall He also reap! And God began to hurl such a litany of condemnation upon these people (vv.9,10); how it must have broken His heart for the state of the land was entirely because of the sinful condition of these people who claimed to be His! You see the connection to today, don t you? We can t dodge the responsibility we as the people of God shoulder to our country and nation. Yes, we can lambast the governments and the politicians and throw our insults at them but at the end of the day, is it not the people of God whom He calls to account? II Chron. 7: 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Why are the shops open on the Lord s Day? Why is the Lord s Day no different to all the other days? Is it possibly because even the children of God are sitting at the gates of the city with a scowl of discontent on their faces, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor

D.G. 5 for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? Ought a Christian to be involved in buying or selling on the Lord s Day? What does the Word plainly say?! The Sabbath and the Lord s people. It s an important subject, - one that has been relegated, neglected and shoved into the corner, but one that God considers so important. THE SABBATH AND THE LORD S PROMISE We see here of course - in this passage the Sabbath and the Lord s punishment, 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. There is a darkness that pervades across the land, but there is also another kind of darkness here, - it s a spiritual darkness and wherever there is darkness there is no growth. You need the light to grow. And God said, 11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it, - that which they took for granted was no longer available to them! the preaching of the Word of God (esp. v.11b). When he was only eight years old the Bible tells us King Josiah began to seek after the God of David his father (II Chron. 34:3) and he broke down the altars and images of the gods. In his eighteenth year as king the Book of the Law was discovered while repairs were being made to the Temple. Hilkiah, the high priest, found it and gave it to Shaphan, the scribe, who in turn read it to King Josiah. When he heard the message of the book, it had such an impact upon his life that Josiah rent his clothes and humbled himself before God. Revival swept through the city!

D.G. 6 Similarly, Neh. 8 records that Ezra read the Book of the Law to the people of Jerusalem, and the Bible says he caused the people to understand it and there was very great gladness. Amos also was telling the people of Israel to remember so that the judgement of God might be halted. Such tremendous responsibility! Remember what God told Joshua, 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. It is not the way the world would advise you or me but we ought not to be surprised at that because the Bible says the world is blind and deaf to the Truth of God s Word because Christ is merely a foolishness and a stumbling block. Where do you find the promises of God? You find them in His Word. And God instructs His people to live by His Word and to keep His Word and His Word clearly commands us to be obedient to the Sabbath day and not to neglect its observance in the way He has commanded. And the Lord has given the clear promise that Is. 58: 13 If thou call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: - here is the Lord s promise - 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Conclusion Yes, these children were in an awful state but the prophet of God told them it was due to the fact they desecrated the Lord s Day, the Sabbath.

D.G. 7 Do you think God was justified in bringing this old commandment from the days of Sinai to the attention of those people who wanted to be so modern and up-to-date just like their neighbours? Do you think it right of me to bring this to your attention in January 2004, - this subject of the Sabbath, or should we have long since buried this concept that the Lord s Day is different? I get people who tell me I am old-fashioned over a number of things, but I agree with Solomon when he said there is nothing new under the sun and neither there is! The people in Amos day were just like the people in our day, - not a bit of difference spiritually! Sad to say, even among those who profess Christ s Name there s not much that would separate them from these people to whom Amos prophesied the judgement of God. Today, consider the Sabbath and the Lord s people. It s His day and He calls on us to keep it as He commanded, - a day set aside and given completely over to Him. And consider also the Sabbath and the Lord s promise and just think on these beautiful words, - words that would have meant nothing to the people to whom Amos was sent, - but words that I trust are precious to you, Ps. 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. 149:4 the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5 Let the saints be joyful in glory.