CROSSING The THRESHOLD-I—Amos 1:1-2
Attention:
A Threshold is a crossover or transition zone or optimal use zone. Where the upper limit or end of effectiveness is reached.
An automobile transmission—Each gear is limited in it’s response. Each of the gears has a threshold beyond which it will not optimally operate. When the particular gear reaches its limit, something else has to take over. It is meshed with other gears &/or dampening or enhancing systems in order to supply power in the correct manner. A very different way of working has to be employed.
When the threshold is reached, of God’s toleration of sin in the world & His people, His wrath takes over & He approaches them in a very different way.
God used (His servant)Amos to declare God’s new relationship with His people.
Amos declared God’s strained relationship with His people.
An amiable/good relationship between God & His people can be so changed that it invites God’s wrath.
A failed relationship with God evokes His wrath.
What does a failed relationship with God evoke(bring about/cause)?
What results from God’s Crossing His Threshold?
God is Longsuffering—
Rom. 2:4—“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, & longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”
Neh. 9:17—“They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious & merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.”
BUT...
God can Reach/Cross His Threshold & we discover that
1—A failed relationship with God evokes...
a PUBLIC REVELATION(:1a)
Explanation:(:1a-c) Insight/Public Record/Messenger
:1a-c—“The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, & in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
Amos’ is the first written prophecy of the time. He was a contemporary of Hosea(~750BC+ff.), Isaiah(~740BC+ ff.), & Micah(~735BC+ ff.). He prophesied after the time of Joel & Jonah.—Nelson’s
“The words of Amos.....which he saw concerning Israel”
Amos’ “words” are recorded here for the sake of his own generation as well as for posterity—such as for you, & me, & future generations.
Heb. 11:39-40—“And all these[the faithful], having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
“who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa”
Amos may have been a man of some means, as the only other reference to the word translated “Sheepbreeders/Herdmen/Sheepherders”[dqn] is applied to Mesha king of Moab(2Kgs. 3:4). There we are told that King Mesha(the sheepbreeder) regularly supplied the King of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs & the wool of a hundred thousand rams. Amos was not “among” the sheepbreeders as a shepherd[her-usual word] among them(it seems), but appears himself to be a breeder of sheep. Yet he himself “followed the flock”(Amos 7:15). Thus Amos may be uniquely using the term to describe a ‘boots on the ground’ relationship with the workings of being a herdsman.
Amos 7:14-15—“Then Amos answered, & said to Amaziah: “I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder[rqwb] And a tender of sycamore[sycamore fig] fruit. Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, And the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’”
Regardless of his position, Amos was not so enamored with his social status that he was distracted from honoring God’s direction. He easily gave himself to faithfully proclaim God’s word.
*Myself—I was a lab tech for Skidaway Institute, Savannah when God called me. “Words”—rbd dabar—1) Speech, word, speaking, thing. Strong—A word; by implication--A matter(as spoken of) or thing; adverbially--A cause.
“Amos”—owme `Awmows—= “Burden” or ‘One sustained by YaHWeH’
“Was Among/Was one of”—hyh haw-yaw—1) To be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out. Strong—To exist, i.e. Be or become, come to pass(always emphatic, & not a mere copula or auxiliary).
“Sheepbreeders/Herdmen/Sheepherders/Shepherds”—dqn noqed'—1) Sheep-raiser, sheep-dealer, sheep-tender. Strong—A spotter(of sheep or cattle), i.e. The owner or tender(who thus marks them). Used 2X.?From—dqn naw-qod'—from an unused root meaning to mark (by puncturing or branding); spotted.
“Tekoa”—ewqt tek-o'-ah— = “A stockade”—2) A town in the hill country of Judah near Hebron built by king Rehoboam of Judah.
“Saw/Envisioned”—hzx khaw-zaw'—1) To see, perceive, look, behold, prophesy, provide. Strong—a primitive root; To gaze at; mentally--To perceive, contemplate(with pleasure); specifically--To have a vision of.
“Concerning”—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; Conj.—2) Because that, because, notwithstanding, although. Strong—properly--The same as le[substantive—1) Height or—adverb—2) Above, upwards, on high] 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.?From—le ; properly--The top; specifically--The highest(i.e. God); also(adverb)--Aloft, to Jehovah.
Does God speak to me? Yes, but generally not audibly.
The Holy Spirit teaches us all things, reminding us of that which Jesus spoke during His earthly ministry(Jn. 14:26). He ‘impresses’ His will upon our hearts.
Jn. 14:26—“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, & bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
God may have spoken to a situation many hundreds or even thousands of years prior to it’s occurrence.—The arrival of, character of, & mission of the Messiah/Christ.
He may speak to a circumstance the day of.—
He may speak to a situation after-the-fact.—Christ came as the fulfillment of the law.
Why does He speak to me, you, or others?
He has specifically spoken to certain people who have been anointed to particular & monumental tasks—writing books of the Bible. The Canon of Scripture is now closed.
The question arises—Why does He not speak to me like that?...Am I not ‘spiritual’ enough...not ‘good’ enough?...not committed enough? It is not a question of deserving but of need. Christ has come & the Apostles were needed at that particular time in history to birth the church.
You & I have other duties which tie into that which God has done in the past. We should never feel ‘slighted’ because we are not used of God in the same manner as others.
This is a major difficulty/quandry/problem with any ‘Pentecostal movement.’ The events of Pentecost in Acts was a time in history which initiated the ‘Church Age’(current) as it were. Some would have you believe that their so-called revelations stand along side of & effectively supplant the written revelation of God! Christians have work to do, but not necessarily with miraculous signs & wonders, & certainly not by any word that would override His standing revelation.
Argumentation:
Amos 3:7-8—“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?”
Gen. 6:13—“And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; & behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, & cover it inside & outside with pitch.”
2Pet. 2:5—“& did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”
Gen. 18:17-19—“And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, “since Abraham shall surely become a great & mighty nation, & all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children & his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness & justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.””
Rev. 1:1-2—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent & signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, & to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.”
Acts 26:1-29(:26)—“Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand & answered for himself: “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs & questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand & am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night & day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, & many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; & when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue & compelled them to blaspheme; & being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority & commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me & those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me & saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise & stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister & a witness both of the things which you have seen & of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, & from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins & an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus & in Jerusalem, & throughout all the region of Judea, & then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, & do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple & tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small & great, saying no other things than those which the prophets & Moses said would come--that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, & would proclaim light to the Jewish people & to the Gentiles.” Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth & reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost & altogether such as I am, except for these chains.””
Jer. 7:1-16—“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, & proclaim there this word, & say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways & your doings, & I will cause you to dwell in this place. “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ “For if you thoroughly amend your ways & your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man & his neighbor, “if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, & the widow, & do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, “then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever & ever. “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, & walk after other gods whom you do not know, “& then come & stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, & say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, & see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “& I spoke to you, rising up early & speaking, but you did not hear, & I called you, but you did not answer, “therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, & to this place which I gave to you & your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. “And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren--the whole posterity of Ephraim. “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.”
Illustration:
In Eastpoint, FL...On Sunday June 24, 2018 there was a fire which was started by sparks from a controlled burn in the nearby state forest/That spark eventually resulting in the total destruction of 36 homes, along with all the property associated with them/Children were out of school, & miraculously, there was no loss of life to the flames/There was a threshold reach wherein the firestation was called/Sirens blared & firefighters took action/Another threshold was reached where surrounding firestations were called/PUBLIC REVELATION
Our FBCC benefit for Eastpoint fire victims/It was announced—Radio, signs, word-of-mouth, etc./If you missed it, it’s your own fault!/PUBLIC REVELATION
FBCC Noah’s Ark Water Park/It was announced—Radio, signs, word-of-mouth, etc./If you missed it, it’s your own fault!/PUBLIC REVELATION
Application:
?You Recognized as authoritative, God’s PUBLIC REVELATION?
?How will you respond to God’s Crossing the Threshold?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
An automobile transmission—Each gear is limited in it’s response. It eventually reaches a threshold beyond which it will not operate.
Action:
A failed relationship with God evokes...
1. PUBLIC REVELATION(:1a)
Presented 07/15/2018am
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SW(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
