Motivational Atrocity-3

MOTIVATIONAL ATROCITY-III—Amos 1:9-10(1:3--2:5)

OR--Indefensible National Atrocities/Pride

Attention:

Self-Control, Sir!

A man walks into a bakery, carrying a pie box. He approaches the baker who is at the counter.

The baker says, “Yes, sir, what can I do for you?”

The man replies, “I want my money back! I bought this pie here yesterday.”

Puzzled, the baker looked at him & says, “This is our pie box, But there’s no pie in the box, sir.”

The man says, “I ate it! I ate ALL of it!”

So the baker asked him why he thought he should get his money back if he had eaten the whole thing.

The customer quickly points to the box & says, “See it says right there on the box that the pie is supposed to feed 6 people! I am NOT 6 people!”

•The customer’s attempting to return the pie box, was an ‘atrocious’ act that motivated the baker to not refund the customer’s money.

Similarly, ‘atrocious acts’ on the part of individuals all the way up to, & particularly entire governments, invite God’s wrath in response.

ATROCITY—‘an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury.’

Need:

In a very real sense, any nationally motivated actions, & especially when levied thru a democratically governed people, are a result of the personal choices of the people of that republic. Those choices are spiritually telling & significant!

Rom. 2:4-5—“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, & longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness & your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath & revelation of the righteous judgment of God,”

If a nation that actively supports fleshly ‘atrocities’ to the ‘exclusion’ of God’s desire, then that country places themselves on the same level as any other country that is without Christ. Likewise, iff the true Church ever ceases to recognize God’s morality & godliness, then the church will have ceased to be God’s Church...

Ps. 33:12—“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”

Ps. 144:15—“Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!”

Amos declared God’s wrath to be justified/warranted due to nationally sourced atrocities.

Nationally sourced atrocities move God to retribution.

Why/When/How do nationally sourced atrocities move God to anger & retribution?

Some nationally sourced endorsements that move God to anger/retribution.

ENDORSE—“To approve openly, To recommend, or To declare one's public approval or support of.”—Merriam-Webster; New Oxford American Dictionary

Previously we’ve found that National atrocity motivates God’s retribution when it endorses...

1. CALCULATED BRUTALITY(1:3-5)

2. CALCULATED GREED(1:6-8)

3—National atrocity motivates God’s retribution when that nation endorses...

A CALCULATED BREACH Of BROTHERHOOD(1:9-10)

Explanation:(1:9-10)Blood/Kinship/Contract

1:9—“Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, & for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.”

1:10—“But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, Which shall devour its palaces.””

1:9—“Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, & for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.”

Amos’ declaration next takes us to the judgment against “Tyre”(located in modern Lebanon—you can find ‘Tyre’ on a mapping program) Tyre’s judgment is taken up in vss. :9-10.

As Damascus represented Aram(:3-5), & Gaza represented Philistia(:6-8), so “Tyre” represents Phoenicia(:9-10). Tyre was an influential seaport built upon trade with other nations. Thereby it had become a wealthy capital. Tyre supported, & was supported by, a brisk commercial slave trading business(AKA--human trafficking).

At one point, the northern kingdom’s King Ahab married Jezebel, who was the daughter of the King of Sidon(1Kgs. 16:29, 31). Thus she was of Phonecian extraction.

“Because...”

God never does anything without a ‘perfectly’ valid reason! It is against His nature to do otherwise. The rub is this—that you may be ignorant of God’s will/intention/desire for you, your church, city, county, state, country, & world. And if you do not know God’s will/intention/desire, then you will not be able to actively fulfill that will/intention/desire. Therefore, I encourage you to ‘know God’, whom you can only know personally by means of Jesus Christ.

“Because”—le ‘al—Preposition—1) Upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against—1a) Upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards, 1b) Above, beyond, over(of excess), 1c) Above, over(of elevation or pre-eminence), 1d) Upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with(of addition), 1e) Over(of suspension or extension), 1f) By, adjoining, next, at, over, around(of contiguity or proximity), 1g) Down upon, upon, on, from, up upon, up to, towards, over towards, to, against (with verbs of motion), 1h) To(as a dative). —Conjunction—2) Because that, because, notwithstanding, although. Strong—used as a preposition(in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); Above, over, upon, or against(yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications.?The same as—le ‘al; properly--The top; specifically--The highest(i.e. God); also adverb--Aloft, to Jehovah.