The Prophet Amos

The Lord Jehovah gave some important warnings for Israel through Amos. They didn’t listen to him back then. Are we listening to him now?

BACKGROUND:

Amos (Burden Bearer) was not a prophet but a shepherd and farmer in Judah and prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (about 750 b.c.). Amos 1:1; 7:14

1. Creation shrinks from the Lord’s anger. Amos 1:2

2. God will judge the enemies of God’s people:

>Damascus for crushing Gilead. Amos 1:3-5

>Gaza & Tyre for trading Jewish slaves. Amos 1:6-10

>Edom for attacking their Jewish brothers. Amos 1:11-12

>Ammon for ripping the bellies of pregnant women.

Amos 1:13-15

3. God would bring destruction on these nations for three or four national sins (or generations of sins).

Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13

How many national sins has America committed?

How many more will God allow her to commit before His judgment falls?

Are we being faithful with the message of God’s Word to people that need to hear and repent?

“They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers… This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep His commands and remain faithful to Jesus.” Revelation 17:14; 14:12

Many people, including prominent evangelical preachers sell a lot of books by trying to predict the future. However, all we have to do is to see how God has dealt with nations in the past to get a good idea of what to expect him to do in the future. Based on how God treated His own people, what can America expect?

What can we, His followers, do?

MOAB:

They incinerated Edom’s leaders. Amos 2:1-3

JUDAH:

1. Rejected God’s Law & served false gods. Amos 2:4-5

ISRAEL:

2. Oppressed the poor. Amos 2:6-7a

3. Condoned deviant behavior. Amos 2:7b

4. Profaned God’s name. Amos 2:7c

5. Allowed religious abuse. Amos 2:8-12a

6. Ignored God’s warning. Amos 2:12b

7. Nothing can stop God’s wrath. Amos 2:5,13-16

So then, if God punished His chosen people so severely, as well as the Gentiles,

America’s only hope is to repent.

Through it all, we must be faithful.

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

God had some very strong words of warning for Northern Israel. But wait! These are His chosen people! Right? Why would he do this to them? And if God was this mad at them, what chance did they have?

Did they even have a prayer? Do we have a prayer?

1. After all the blessings God gave them, Israel rejected God. Amos 3:1-2

2. God is not bluffing. Amos 3:4-5

3. God has “roared”, i.e. revealed His plans and His power through His prophets. Amos 3:6-8

4. God would use pagan nations to punish Israel. (see chapter 2) Amos 3:9-11

5. They would no longer be a sovereign nation when it was over. Amos 3:12

6. Even their houses of worship would be destroyed along with all the wealth of the nation.

Amos 3:13-15

As God’s Word was given to warn Israel, so it has been preserved to warn us.

Israel was warned. Israel made a choice.

We have been warned.

What will we choose?

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth… ……choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served…or the gods of [those] in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14-15

God had given Israel many promises. Some of those promises were in the form of warnings. God’s warnings are not just idle threats! God keeps all of His promises, even the unpleasant ones.

God didn’t like what He had to do.

So, how far had Israel pushed Him?

1. Those who flaunt their wealth and oppress the poor would be led out in humiliation through the breaks in the wall instead of the gates in their finery. Amos 4:1-3

2. Their religion was useless because it had become just ritual. Amos 4:4-5

3. Even though God had sent great disaster on them, yet they did not repent! Amos 4:6-11

4. Because God’s warnings were not heeded Israel would now face His judgment. Amos 4:12

5. Who is this God? He is the Creator who reveals His intentions. He is the LORD [Self-existent] God of hosts [Almighty]. Amos 4:13

God will reach a point where He’s done talking to a nation and is ready to act.

How long will He talk to us?

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. ”

Hebrews 10:22-23

God did not just blindly threaten (Northern) Israel. He went on to tell them exactly what He planned to do them if they did not repent. This was His last call.

Vss. 1-3

1. This kingdom will fall after losses of 90%.

Vss. 4-6

2. Israel could still repent & escape judgment but once it starts, it’s over.

Vss. 7-17

3. God would bring this destruction on Israel because they suppress the truth & oppress the poor.

Vss. 18-20

4. The Day of the Lord will be unequalled terror , pain and darkness.

Vss. 21-24

5. God hates vain religion but loves righteousness.

Vss. 25-27

6. Because of their idolatry Almighty God would scatter them to the north and beyond.

So, in spite of all of Israel’s sins and all that

God said he would do to punish them,

He gave a last call – the opportunity to repent.

Can we hear God’s last call to us?

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door….Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 24:32-33; 4:18 a. Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.

God had abundantly blessed Israel but in spite of all the blessings, they turned their backs on Him. God was angry and was about to do something about it. What can we learn from this?

1. Woe to those who feel secure in the wealth that God has given them. Amos 6:1-2

2. Those who lavish in their wealth will be the first to go into exile. Amos 6:3-7

3. God hated Israel’s pride so much He would route all of them. Amos 6:8-11

4. Israel had:

-abused justice,

-they had oppressed the righteous,

-and had forgotten God in their victories. Amos 6:12-13

5. God would raise up a nation to oppress Israel from one end to the other. Amos 6:14

So then, Israel was trusting in the blessings rather than the Blesser.

What is God telling us?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

Psalm 20:7-8

Most folks would prefer to be the bearer of glad tidings. However, God called Amos to be the bearer of bad tidings. As he delivered God’s warnings he was met with great resistance from, of all places, the religious community.

7:1-6

1. In visions of locusts and fire God destroyed the land. Amos begged for mercy & God relented.

7:7-9

2. In a vision of a plumb line God measured Israel & said no more mercy.

7:10-13

3. Amaziah the priest twisted the issue by misquoting Amos & told Amos to go away.

7:14-17

4. Amos was not a professional prophet but he prophesied Amaziah’s personal losses as well as the fall of the nation.

8:1-7

5. In a vision of ripe fruit God said the time for judgment on Israel is ripe because they cheated God and the poor.

8:8-14

6. Northern Israel would rise once more but fall after a famine of hearing God’s Word, never to rise again.

Will America rise once more before falling?

Religion has not helped. Only repentance will.

“But let us who are of the day be sober, …. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Hebrews 13:20-21

God has repeatedly offered His mercy through Amos’ warnings but God has now made it obvious to His prophet that Israel will not repent. Now, through a display of His wrath, power and glory, God will further demonstrate His mercy. God is so good!

Vs. 1- 8a

1. Vision of the alter: God will destroy the false worship and the sinful kingdom. (Rev 14:8-10)

Vss. 8b - 10

2. God would not totally destroy them.

Vss. 11-12

3. Someday God will restore the dynasty of David and all the nations will seek God.

Vss. 13-14

4. God will revive His people in the land and replenish the fruit of the land… (Isaiah 11:10-12)

Vs. 15

5. …and they will be there to stay!

Even though Israel would be punished and dispersed by God’s wrath because of their sin, they will be restored and the whole world blessed though them because of God’s mercy.

So what are we, as New Testament believers supposed to do in light of this O.T. prophecy? (2 Tim 1:7; Rom 8:15)

Be faithful: Living 1 Cor 10:31

Giving Luke 6:38

Praying 1Thess 5:17

Saying 1 Peter 3:15

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters….because the Lord’s coming is near….

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

James 5:7-8; John 16:33

Rev 14:8-10

“A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.”

Isaiah 11:10-12

“In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out His hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean. 12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”

>2 Timothy 1:7

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

>Romans 8:15

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

>1 Corinthians 10:31

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

>Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

>1Thess 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

>1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”