Amos: The Message - 8/14/2005
Turn with me in your bibles this morning to the book of Amos. Take a quick quiz: What is the book of Amos about?
•a farmer delivering a message of God’s judgment
•a prophet foretelling of attack by an enemy nation
•a call to repentance and a message of hope
And of course, the answer is all of the above. Amos is a book in the Old Testament, in a grouping we call the Minor Prophets. Minor, not because their message is unimportant, but because these are books of only a few chapter in contrast with the Major Prophets which are books like Isaiah with 66 chapters. Christians are largely unfamiliar with the Prophets. But they are books which give us a lot of important teaching. Next week, we’ll be looking in the book of Isaiah. If you want to read ahead, read the first 10 chapters of Isaiah this week.
We mentioned last week that we learn from both the messenger and the message in the book of Amos. In looking at the messenger last week, we looked at the idea of our calling. God often chooses to have us change our job, and takes us out of our comfort zone. But when he does, we need to obey willingly. We saw Amos as a farmer and shepherd in the southern nation of Judah, called to go to the northern nation of Israel. Under David’s grandson Rehoboam the Jewish nation experienced civil war and split into two halves. Amos is called to go out of his comfort zones, to the rebels in the north, to give them a message from God.
This morning, as we look at Amos’ message, I think we will see that it is a message that applies to our nation in an amazing way. And it is a message that each of us needs to take to heart. Let’s pray, and ask God to speak to us through the words of the prophet Amos. PRAY.
On January 23, 1996, Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas offered a prayer at the opening of a new session of the Kansas Senate. It’s suggested that in such circumstances, clergymen should follow the "Guidelines for Civic Occasions", written by the National Conference of Christians and Jews which calls for the use of universal terms for the deity and for the recognition of the pluralism of American society. But what Pastor Joe Wright prayed that day didn’t conform. Let me read some of it:
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, "Woe on those who call evil good" but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem;
We have abused power and called it political savvy;
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free... I ask it in the name of your son, the living savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
How do those words strike you? They partially echo the words that were spoken by God through the prophet Amos around 2,800 years ago. What God said through Amos was, "They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor ... and deny justice to the oppressed." We see parallels between these words as they reflect a society that is less than ideal.
Two-and-a-half millennia separate those pronouncements, yet the prayer uttered in the Kansas Senate echoes the words of Amos to the nation of Israel. The setting of Amos is about the year 760 BC, about the time of the founding of the Roman empire. It is about 100 years after the ministry of Elijah and Elisha. The nation of Israel has been divided for about 160 years. About 200 years before were the glory days of David and Solomon. But these are the days of sin and corruption. Israel had split into a northern kingdom, called Israel, and a southern kingdom called Judah. In the north, you’ll remember, King Jeroboam set up two golden calves, idols, so the people could worship these instead of going south to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh, creator of the universe. The kings of the North were all evil, and years later, another king, Ahab, introduced idol worship, causing Israel to turn from worshiping Yahweh, or Jehovah, the Lord, and to worship Baal and Ashtaroth. Worship at idol temples, worship involving mutilation, premarital and extramarital sex, and all types of perversion. The King in 760 is Jeroboam II. In just 40 years the northern of Israel will be no more - it will be invaded, sacked, and destroyed by the Assyrian nation. The people will be starved, besieged, impaled, raped, mutilated, and taken out of their land and scattered across Asia. But before all that happens, God gives the Jews several warnings from the prophets.
The 8th century BC may have been a great time to be alive. In both Judah and Israel, there was great wealth and unparalleled optimism. Israel was at the height of its material power and prosperity. It must have seemed like the golden age under Solomon had returned. Many Israelites could afford summer and winter residences, and houses were adorned with ivory. Religion flourished, people thronged to the annual festivals, sacrifices were made and God (they thought) was on their side. But the rich were ripping off the poor. Corruption was the norm and the justice system was nonexistent. In spite of being a time of plenty, there was social injustice in the land, moral decay, and a general disregard for God. It was a time of great self-indulgence, corruption, complacency, and religious indifference. Those who were well-off ignored the needs of those less fortunate. The people Amos was sent to didn’t feel a sense of accountability to God. They were Gods elect--chosen to be a holy people, part of Gods family, but they were acting like orphans. Gods covenant with Israel stipulated loyalty to Him and the Law.
Does this sound like our day? When the economy is up, when inflation is down, when we’re not at war, when we have job security, we can neglect our spiritual growth (or if we’re too busy trying to get material things). Comfort may well be the devil’s greatest weapon, resulting in self-reliance and keeping people from making God top priority in life. To a people embracing the idolatry of materialism came the prophet Amos. He warned the comfortable in 6:1- Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria! And this is the first lesson we learn from Amos:
*Beware of Complacency About Sin
Amos starts out with a message of judgment on the nations around Israel. Look in Chapter 1, verse 4:
This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth. To those in the north, God declares judgment for their attack on the Jews. Verse 6 - This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom. To the Philistines to the West, God’s judgment comes because of their kidnapping and selling the Jews into slavery. Verse 9 - “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom. The nation to the northwest also entered into the slavered of the Jews. Verse 11 - “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because he pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked. To the half-brothers of the Jews to the East, God declares vengeance because of their slaughter of the Jews. Verse 13 - “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders. The half-brother of the Jews to the Southeast is condemned because of their brutal attack on the Jews.
This is some pretty serious stuff here - kidnapping, slavery, assault, slaughter. And surely the Jews in Israel who heard Amos’ message would have said “GREAT” -- it’s about time God brings judgment on those sinners -- but Amos continues with a message of judgment to the Jews. Look in 2:6 - This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.
Now seriously, looking at the Jews, is that any comparison to what the enemy nations were doing? Kidnapping vs. taking advantage of the poor. Murder vs. corrupt judges. It would be easy for the Jews to think they were OK - but the truth is all sin is BIG sin in God’s sight. We can’t be complacent about sin. We can’t be apathetic. We can’t excuse it away.
Think for a moment. Is there anything that you do, that you know is sinful, but you do it anyway, because you don’t think it is really all that bad? If so, you’re just like the Jews in Israel. As Christians, we can’t tolerate even a little sin. Ephesians 5:3 warns us, But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Satan knows it only takes a little sin to get us hooked. How do drug dealers get started? They don’t start going around selling crack. They start with giving kids cigarettes, then getting them to try marijuana, and then they progress to harder drugs. People who have gambling addictions don’t walk into casinos and bet the house and the farm. They start buying lottery tickets, or playing poker, or any of a number of seemingly “innocent” forms of gambling. Then they get hooked. But once Satan gets you hooked, he has you, and he’ll seek to reel you in. Never let yourself think that any sin is trivial. It’s NOT! Search your life to see if there is any sin you have not confessed and repented of.
Look at 2:9 - God warns that if he judged others for sin, he will judge his people.
“I destroyed the Amorite before them, though he was tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. God had told the Jews that seven nations, larger and stronger than the Jews, were displaced because of their sin. Deut. 9:5- It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you. But the Jews thought that because they were God’s chosen that they would not be judged. Amos’ message is just the opposite - that BECAUSE they are God’s chosen, they will be disciplined. 3:2 - “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” In our society today, sometimes we have the same misguided thinking. We think all the non-Christians need to change their ways. But God says just the opposite. 1 Peter 4:17 - For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. Relationships do not spare us from judgment. Neither does ritual worship. Look at 4:4 - “Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank-offering and brag about your freewill offerings--boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign LORD. Then over in 5:21 - I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
We need to be careful of thinking that because we come to church and “worship” that our sins are okay. The Roman Catholic church has many congregants who practice this mindset regularly - they think they can go out and commit any sin they want, and then come confess it and do penance and everything will be just fine. They say their rosaries and hail marys, and light some candles, and they think they can then go out and sin for another week.
The first message of Amos is to Beware of Complacency About Sin.
What exactly were the sins of the Jews?
2:4 - They had rejected the law of God, and had not followed God’s word.
2:4 - they had turned to following idols
2:7 - they had abused and misused the poor
2:8 - they found their pleasure at the expense of others
2:12 - they promoted a religion that was acceptable to modern society
4:1 - they promoted a feministic society of dominant women controlling men
4:5 - they boasted of their empty worship, pridefully bragging of what they gave in the offering
Here is a materialistic, self-centered culture who has empty worship and little time for following God’s ways. And it is very similar to our nation today. Let’s learn from Amos not to be complacent about our sins: individually, or as a nation. But the second reminder of Amos is this:
*Every message of judgment is a call to repentance
In the midst of Amos’ warning of God’s coming judgment, God gives these words in 5:4 - This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live. They’re recorded again in 5:14 - Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
What we need today in not less unemployment, it’s not higher wages, it’s not lower gas prices - although those would be nice. What we as a people need is to return to following our God. Patrick Henry, one of the key founders of our country stated, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians - not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." But in our country today, one can hardly reference the scriptures or prayer without threat of lawsuit, and the only acceptable use of God’s name is in a blasphemous curse.
So, what do we need to do? PRAY! I remind you of 2 Chronicles 7:14 - if my people, who are called by my name, will 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. If we want to see our nation spared from rushing further down the pathway of destruction, we need to pray. Pray for our president, vice-president, senators, representatives, our governor, our mayor, our policeforce, and all those in authority over us. There is power when God’s people pray.
Amos comes with a message of judgment - the people have been complacent about their sin. But that message is really a call to repentance. The third message from Amos is this:
*Every message of judgment is a vision of hope for the future
Amos tells the Jews they will be overthrown. 3:11 - Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.” But he also prophecies of God’s restoration of his people. Look in 9:11 - “In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things. “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the ploughman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Amos doesn’t leave the people without hope. He calls them to repent, but he reminds them God is in control. God knows he will overthrow the Jews - he will bring the Assyrians from the north to destroy the nation of Israel, but in future days he will place David’s heir, Jesus, back on the throne once again. Amos looks forward to the day when the Jews will look on their Messiah and once again worship him.
The nation of Israel never repented and as a result, they were destroyed. But one day Jesus will come back as King and reign once more on David’s throne.
Amos gives us a reminder that we cannot be apathetic about sin - that we need to pray for repentance - and we need to be reminded that God is in control.
