To YOURS!

AMOS

Amos

Prepare to meet your God!

Amos identifies himself as an ordinary working man --- not a prophet --- just a shepherd from Tekoa. His name means “burden or burden-bearer”.  The prophecy is Amos’ great burden from God concerning the national sin of God’s chosen people --- and the judgment that must fall on them.  In the language of today we would say that he was a poor, lower-class, formally uneducated hillbilly.

The opening verse tells us the date of his prophecy is between 765-755 B.C.: thus making him a contemporary with Hosea, Isaiah, and Jonah.

READ: Amos 7:14-15

 Possibly because Amos clearly understood his words were not his own, he preached with great boldness, while at the same time using great tact. 

He gains the attention of his audience by pronouncing judgment upon Israel’s enemies before he turns to his main purpose --- pronouncing judgment upon Israel for her national sin.  Paul uses a similar tack in Romans……

PURPOSE:  The purpose of Amos’ prophecy is to awaken Israel and its surrounding nations to the fact that a nation is both responsible and accountable for its sins.

Amos can be broken down this way;

Judgment upon the surrounding nations                  1:3 – 2:3

Judgment upon Judah & Israel                               2:4-16

Four messages of condemnation                            3:1 – 6:14

Five symbolic visions of judgment                          7:1 – 9:10

Restoration of the Davidic Kingdom                       9:11 -15

One thing we should learn from all of the prophets is that God’s judgment is not a pretty thing --- it is swift, sever and sure.  It is also justified! 

Our nation today should be paying attention to the cause and effect revealed by Amos and the other prophets!  We are living as if there are no consequences for our disobedience to the commandment of God.  Do we believe that we are somehow beyond God’s ability to punish?  Are we too intelligent, too sophisticated; so all-knowing that we no longer need God?  Is God our slave?

God is unchanging ---- national sin brought consequences to Israel and the surrounding nations --- and it has consequences today.

I will cherry pick some of the thoughts that stand out to me from Amos.

As Amos begins to turn his attention to Judah and Israel in 2:4 he says this;

“Because they have despised the law of the LORD and have not kept His commandments their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed.”

If God will judge Judah, who is beyond judgment?  Judah was the branch of the family of Abraham to whom Messianic promises were given.  Notice that is was not just the case of not obeying the commandments; they “despised” the law of the LORD.

In our national attitude of today --- we have reached that point where we are not just disobeying the law --- we despise it!  Our national culture is becoming more aggressive toward dismantling the commandments.  It is not just a passive ignoring the Scriptures --- it is an all out attack against them.

Following the lead of fathers who give little attention to keeping the commandments, their children wanted to do away with the very foundations of Christianity. 

In 2:6 we find this statement, “I will not turn away its punishment because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals.”

The spiritual decay of a nation leads to a declining morality.  The commandments of God are seen as obstacles to money and social agendas.  So, there is little hesitance in “selling out” people who maintain their Godly attitudes and practices.  In a decaying nation, people lose their value, or their value is defined by the needs and wants of its leaders.

Verse 7 says, “a man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy name.”

This a clear reference to a man and his father sharing sexual favors from a temple prostitute.  The generations share in their idolatry, their immoral conduct, their distain for the commandments of God….

For me personally, 3:2 makes cold chills run down my back.

“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities”

Why does this bother me so much?  Because God, though Amos, is telling His chosen people that they will be punished.

9:10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, “The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.

In 3:1 God makes it clear the “You” is the “whole family which I (God) brought up from the land of Egypt.”

The United States of America is a nation that was created to be a standard bearer of Christianity before the world.  God has preserved and protected us, blessed us with an abundance not found elsewhere in the world.  Yet we, like the family brought out of Egypt, doubt that we will be judged.  Like Israel, we forget from whence we came --- and who brought us here.

Our national sin --- will bring judgment --- because God is just.  When God’s church participants in national sin, --- it too will be judged.  Living and working contrary to God’s commandments is not just a bad idea --- it is sin.

Amos 4:12, “Therefore, this will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you.  Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

Just in case we forget just who God is; he reminds us in 9:5-6;

The LORD GOD of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell there mourn; all of it shall swell like the River, and subside like the River of Egypt.  He who builds His layers in the sky and has founded His strata in the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth ----- The LORD is His name.

The good news is the God promises restoration for the nation of Israel once they repent and return to Him.

9:11 On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down and repair it damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.