Series: Social Justice [#2]
THE REPLY OF A NATION
Amos 1:2-2:3
Introduction:
The shepherd Amos was a gifted preacher and psychologist. He began preaching about the sins of Damacus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. This made the Israelites very happy because he was preaching against their enemies; but they did not realize that Amos would also be preaching against them. Amos was going to preach to them that those Nations were responsible for their actions; but Israel and Judah were more responsible because they had the truths of God.
Amos condemned each Nation according to their sins. These Nations were under God’s judgment; and were responsible to God for what they had done. Nations are still held responsible to God for their actions. As our Nation celebrates July 4th tomorrow, I want to ask the question, “Is the US under the judgment of God right now”?
There are 4 ideas to consider concerning God’s judgment on those Nations and any other Nations.
Notice…
1. The Sovereign.
You cannot understand what is happening in the Book of Amos until you have looked at God. One of our Nation’s greatest issues is that we do not have the concept of an eternal, sovereign, authoritative God. We have no idea of a God to whom we are morally responsible. We ignore Him, turn away from Him, mock Him, or laugh at Him. Many people do not give themselves to God because they have no understanding of who He is; but each person will be confronted with Sovereign God.
God is Sovereign, which means that He is in charge of everything. God will do as He pleases; and nothing that people can do will thwart His plan. God rules over everything whether we understand it or not. God rules over everything whether you like it or not. We answer to God, not the other way around. We must understand the God is in control at all times.
Amos 1:2
Notice the Sovereign’s…
* Judgment.
The word “roar” is a vicious word. Amos referred to the lion’s roar before he pounced upon his victim. This roar strikes terror into the prey. The phrase speaks of imminent danger, destruction, pain, and even impending death. Roar is the word which Amos used in reference to God. Our God sometimes roars and warns of impending doom and destruction. With that said, understand that God does not make hasty judgment. Let’s read through all 6 of the condemnations and notice the consistent pattern.
Amos 1:3-15; 2:1-3
Here is the unusual pattern, what does it mean? God was indicating, “I was very patient, the 1st transgression”. The 1st rebellion deserved God’s immediate response; but He was longsuffering. The 2nd certainly should have been judged immediately; but God still waited. The 3rd time, God raised His fist; but He stopped in midair. When the 4th transgression was committed, God’s patience wore thin. God’s decision to send judgment wasn’t hasty; but mankind’s sin had reached its fullest proportion; and God had to act in judgment. “The Lord roared,” wrote Amos.
We must understand a cardinal truth about the Almighty- There is a point beyond which God will not let us go. “My Spirit will not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3) God warned in the very 1st Book of the Bible. In the New Testament there are 2 basic doctrines which express this truth. There is the unpardonable sin- When the wickedness and rebellion of a lost person reaches such proportions that he rejects God (and even curses) God as though He were actually Satan. God can reach the point beyond where He will not go. 2nd, if a child of God ever becomes so rebellious and hostile against the purposes of God, God can move in judgment on the life of that Christian. 1 John 5:16 speaks of “a sin unto death” which is committed by a Christian. The Christian is guilty of such a sin and is called away by the Lord. In this life, judgment falls upon the disobedient, rebellious Christians though God is patient and waits in mercy to forgive and forbear. There is a time when “the Lord will roar from Zion,” and in judgment God will move upon the people. Those pagan nations had sinned and overflowed their sin cups. They were running over with rebellion and God said, “I’ve had enough” and judgment fell like a blade of the guillotine.
Notice the Sovereign’s…
* Perception.
God sees all- Nothing escapes His eyes. Our earthly relationships have heavenly dimensions. What we do toward one another affects our relationship with God. All sins mentioned here are those of inhumanity, sins, oppression against another person or persons. Our actions toward mankind provoke reactions from God, and God is protective of everything in our lives. In the case of Damascus, that city had done unjustly to the Gileadites. Hazael’s sin was a half century old. In this case, God saw the past- The sin of Hazael even though the sin was in the past, it was so great an abhorrence to God because it hadn’t been met with the fruits of repentance. God does see unrepentant sins- Those sins that might have been forgotten by some. When it came to Gaza, God saw individual acts of slave trade, seizing people and putting them in harnesses; and selling them as pieces of property or animals. In verse 9, when Amos dealt with Phoenicia or Tyre (Tyrus), he saw that Tyre had made a treaty and broken it. In verse 11, concerning Edom, he saw hidden hatred, hostility, and bitterness in the hearts of Edomites. In verse 13, he saw the emotions and ambitions Ammon had swallowed up all the pity; the Ammonites brutally disregarded the welfare of others as they sought to enlarge their borders. Going into Chapter 2, concerning Moab, he saw a memory of cherished sins and bitter hostility which existed in their lives. Amos saw the Sovereign as Judge, because he (Amos) also viewed clearly the heinous sins of those who were to be judged.
Notice the Sovereign’s…
* Requirements.
The essence of these passages is- God still governs Nations, and those Nations are responsible to Him. There is no national sin which goes unnoticed or unpunished. The righteousness of a Nation will ensure the blessings of God; but its sin will solidify the judgment of God. Amos let these Nations know that no philosophy or ideology can free them or excuse them for trifling with God’s requirements. The tidal wave of doom may seem to move slowly, but it moves surely upon those nations who respond in rebellion against God. Amos emphasized moral responsibility of mankind to God. Many times, we wonder about “the heathen,” whom we feel have never heard the Gospel; and we become awfully concerned about them. Amos makes it abundantly plain that they are morally responsible because they’ve rejected the light God has given them. In the Book of Amos, we are confronted with a God who is a moral being. From this message we should see ourselves and the nations of the world as morally accountable to God. God moved in judgment upon those heathen nations. I would to God that we could grasp what kind of God we serve. Our concepts of God, for the most part, are so feeble. We must think God has an IQ of 16, and that He has no understanding at all, excusing us from our disobedience and rebellion and for our devious attitudes which impede our service to Him. In essence, Amos preached, “Listen, you may be living in a nation surrounding Israel or Judah, but you’re still responsible to God, even though you don’t claim Him. God is the God who sees all and knows all; and He is going to move in judgment on you.” Here is a harsh reminder to us in America- No nation in the history of the world has enjoyed such sudden prosperity, affluence, and blessing from God as the U.S. God will hold us severely responsible for our reaction to Him.
Notice…
2. The symbol.
Amos used the symbol of fire. Throughout this passage Amos used for God and His judgment the symbol of fire. “I will send a fire, I will send a fire”- Over and over again. This picture recurs throughout the Word of God. God was seen in the burning bush, in the fire of that bush God spoke to Moses and called him to service. In Exodus 19, the people observed Moses on the mountain as they walked and waited. Smoke boiled form the mountain because God descended on the mountain in the fire. Fire is the symbol of God and His judgment.
There are several factors about fire which are different from most other elements.
Fire is a…
* Destructive force.
Fire is one of the most destructive forces of all the elements. It destroys. It is a fitting symbol of the destructive power residing in the nature of God. God is a holy God. When His presence enters our lives and meets our sin, it destroys sin.
Fire is a…
* Purifying force.
In the ultimate sense, it destroys only that which isn’t valuable. It destroys that which is refuse, wood, hay and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:12-13). That which is pure, real, eternal, and zealous.
Fire is a…
* Refining force.
Fire refines, it reveals the character and nature of our Savior. What we desperately need is for the fire of God to destroy that which is abhorrent to Him and destroy that which destroys us.
Fire is a…
* Revealing force.
The fire purifies, cleanses, refines, and reveals. It is the symbol of God.
Notice…
3. Self.
In Amos, one devilish thread weaves its way. There was among those nations the sin of selfishness and the sin of self-pleasing. They did what they did because they wanted to please themselves. They wanted to get what they wanted. It is a picture of self, proudly trampling on others in order to gain a profit, in order to succeed, in order to gain prosperity. It is a picture of self, and we must see that because of this, your greatest enemy is you. The greatest enemy of me is me. Dear Lord, what You could do with me if it weren’t for me- If it weren’t for sin and self that always struggles against God. I know God’s ways are best; but still I resist. I know God’s forgiveness is sweet; but still, I fight it. I know God’s way is right; but I still debate within myself. How desperately we need to reaffirm Galatians 2:20.
Galatians 2:20
Self, the severest struggle of all, runs like a malignant tumor through this passage.
Notice…
4. The sin.
What sin does He condemn? Bear in mind that here He is speaking to pagan nations- Not Israel, not people who had benefit of prophets, of written laws, of a privileged system for God. He’s speaking of pagan nations, and He describes their sin. Their sin was basically 1 of cruelty to other people- Inhumanity, it was vividly described.
In verse 3 concerning the sin of Damascus, the text says, “This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth”. The word “thresh” describes what you do to grain crop in order to make it profitable. To thresh grain means you beat it repeatedly; but in threshing you do it to things. Hazael and Damascus had done that to people. They had treated people as if they were things and the judgment of God falls on those who treat people as if they are mere things. At Gaza it was slave trade where they traded their fellowman. Tyre signed a treaty giving their word, and they broke it. That passage reveals how much God hates a lie and despises covenant and treaty breaking and these people violated their treaty and entered into slave trading. For the Edomites, there was bitterness and hatred toward their brothers. This is described in vivid detail in verse 11. In Ammon there was an ambition to be bigger than they were, and to have more land than they possessed. They responded with cruelty, violence, and murder against their brothers in order to seize it (verse 13). Moab had violent and vindictive hatred, and in this passage, you’ll find that God said, (through Amos) “Thus saith the Lord”. God had responded because their horrid action toward others. God hates inhumanity and oppression of every kind. I wonder what God is going to do with our world? Never in the history of the world has there been such a cold, calculating inhumanity among nations as exists today. In our lifetime there has been atrocities, acts of oppression, sins of violence, movements of inhumanity that nations have perpetuated against one another; and I have to believe God will respond. God will punish.
Conclusion:
Now God’s message to pagan nations is a stern warning to us. If God held those pagan, heathen nations responsible, we are even more responsible. If God judges them, surely He will judge us. If He were patient with them, surely He is patient with us; but there reaches a time when patience can no longer endure. There has to be a forceful moving of God in His people. We pray for revival, we talk about it; but, when revival comes, God uses the fire of revival. I want you to realize that fire is not only revealing, but also destructive and purifying. It tears away that which is on the surface, that which is hypocritical, that which is shallow, that which is meaningless. I believe that God is coming in revival during our lifetime. I pray that He will do it and that He will help us understand what it’s going to require of us. We must be honest with Him. We must lay our lives before Him. There must be perfect obedience to Him if He’s to have liberty to move in blessing among us.
