Amos 1:1-2 (New Living Translation)
1 This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel.
2This is his report of what he saw and heard: "The LORD’s voice roars from his Temple on Mount Zion; he thunders from Jerusalem! Suddenly, the lush pastures of the shepherds dry up. All the grass on Mount Carmel withers and dies."
We are going to be looking at the book of Amos today. He was one of the minor prophets. No, he didn’t work in a coal mine. And no, he was not a child. So, who was this shepherd from Tekoa who would speak doom to the people of Israel? You could say he was a hick shepherd that lived in southern Judah. We really get an idea of who he was Amos 7:14-15
Amos 7:14-15 (New Living Translation)
14But Amos replied, "I’m not one of your professional prophets. I certainly never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. 15But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, `Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’
The Culture of Northern Israel
Who were the people of Israel? Israel consisted of ten tribes that had broken off from the kingdom of Judah and established the northern kingdom of Israel. It is believed that Amos preached somewhere between 760-750 B.C. This was a time of great prosperity for the northern kingdom. Jeroboam II was the king of Israel and he had recently conquered Ammon, Moab, Damascus, and Jordan including parts of Judah. With all this prosperity, however, came pride and idolatry. The rich at this time were known for their opulence, but also for their mistreatment of the poor. There was rampant idol worship taking place throughout Israel. Jeroboam II established Baal worship in Bethel the largest and chief religious center for Israel. How did Israel end up in such a state?
Jeroboam I was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel had just revolted from the kingdom of Israel under Rehoboam. What was left over was the northern kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam and the southern kingdom of Judah under Jeroboam. Now the Hebrew religion required that people travel to Jerusalem to worship. The problem for Jeroboam, king of Israel was that Jerusalem was in Judah the southern kingdom. He feared that all of these worshipers going to Jerusalem might be enticed back to rejoin the kingdom of Judah. So this what he did according to 1 Kings 12:26-32:
1 Kings 12:26-32 (The Message)
26"But then Jeroboam thought, "It won’t be long before the kingdom is reunited under David. 27As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of GOD in Jerusalem, they’ll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They’ll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam."
28"So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, "It’s too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these--the gods who brought you out of Egypt!" 29"He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan. 30This was blatant sin. Think of it--people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf!
31"And that wasn’t the end of it. Jeroboam built forbidden shrines all over the place and recruited priests from wherever he could find them, regardless of whether they were fit for the job or not. 32To top it off, he created a holy New Year festival to be held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month to replace the one in Judah, complete with worship offered on the Altar at Bethel and sacrificing before the calves he had set up there. He staffed Bethel with priests from the local shrines he had made."
The problem with the northern kingdom of Israel was that they wanted to have religion on their own terms. They were into Burger King religion—have it my way. They replaced the true worship of God for the worship of idols. The book of Amos takes place over a 160 years later.
People in the northern kingdom are prospering. They are partying it up! Life was a continual party in the northern kingdom, at least if you were rich. And you didn’t have to bother with the ten commandments, because you had your own religion now!
Now picture Amos. How many of you have ever watched the Andy Griffith show? You remember Goober. Now when I picture Amos I picture someone who looked and talked like Goober. You have this country shepherd dressed in the 8th century equivalent of overhauls. He has this hick accent. He is not college educated and he travels to Bethel, the San Francisco of Israel. When these sophisticated, metropolitan people of Israel see this country bumpkin from the wilderness of Judah preaching doom what do you think was going through their minds.
And the message Amos preached didn’t exactly endear him to the people of Israel. All throughout the book of Amos it is a message of doom. What I am going to do this morning is look at Amos 9. Look at God’s pronouncement of judgment here.
I. God would destroy their sense of security in order to bring them to Himself.
Amos 9
1Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, "Strike the tops of the Temple columns so hard that the foundation will shake. Smash the columns so the roof will crash down on the people below. Then those who survive will be slaughtered in battle. No one will escape!
As I mentioned before the people Israel had created their own religion. In fact they had created a religion that was politically correct. It is a very dangerous thing whenever you make religion politically correct. This is why I am concerned whenever I hear of efforts to make Christianity politically correct.
Some people want to throw out whole sections of the Bible or discredit parts of the Bible in order to harmonize them with their beliefs. This is one of the dangers in the church today. Whenever we choose to compromise our beliefs and align them with the culture of this world, we make our faith irrelevant to God and the lost around us. God calls us to come to Him on His terms. We are called upon to have our lives transformed by God’s Word and His Spirit. It is us and not God’s Truth that needs to change.
Jeroboam I had wanted to make religion politically correct because he didn’t want to lose any people, but I say to you today it is far better for the church to be spiritually correct and lose some people, than to be politically correct and lose the presence of God.
The people of Israel had placed their security in their false religion, so what God was going to do was to tear down that source of security.
II. They Could Run, But they Couldn’t Hide
Amos 9
2"Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down. 3Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the great sea serpent after them to bite and destroy them.
4Even if they are driven into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them."
(New Living Translation)
When the day of judgment came, the people would try to hide, but wouldn’t be able to. Within forty years Israel would be taken over by the kingdom of Assyria. In was in 721 B.C. that Sargon would finish off Israel. The Assyrians were known for their ruthlessness. How bad were the Assyrians? Remember the Disney film, A Bug’s Life? Remember how mean the grasshoppers were with the ants? Well, the Assyrians were worse. Here is a description of how bad they actually were:
“They skinned their prisoners alive, and cut off various body parts to inspire terror in their enemies. There are records of Assyrian officials pulling out tongues and displaying mounds of human skulls all to bring about stark horror and wealthy tribute from surrounding nations. Nowhere are the pages of history bloodier than in the records of their wars.” http://www.bible-history.com/Samaritans/SAMARITANSThe_Assyrians.htm
There is no running from God’s judgment. We read this in Revelation 6 regarding the final judgment of God.
Revelation 6:12-17 (New Living Translation)
12I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from trees shaken by mighty winds. 14And the sky was rolled up like a scroll and taken away. And all of the mountains and all of the islands disappeared. 15Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy people, the people with great power, and every slave and every free person--all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who will be able to survive?"
This is what is coming in the end days. Have we committed our lives to this world or have we committed our lives to God?
III. Judgment for His people, Israel
Amos 9
5The Lord, the LORD Almighty, touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn. The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime, and then it sinks again. 6The upper stories of the LORD’s home are in the heavens, while its foundation is on the earth. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The LORD is his name!
7"Do you Israelites think you are more important to me than the Ethiopians?" asks the LORD. "I brought you out of Egypt, but have I not done as much for other nations, too? I brought the Philistines from Crete and led the Arameans out of Kir.
8"I, the Sovereign LORD, am watching this sinful nation of Israel, and I will uproot it and scatter its people across the earth. Yet I have promised that I will never completely destroy the family of Israel," says the LORD. 9"For I have commanded that Israel be persecuted by the other nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. 10But all the sinners will die by the sword--all those who say, `Nothing bad will happen to us.’
(New Living Translation)
Now whenever you read stuff like this, God seems pretty harsh. His judgment truly can be harsh, but when I read Scripture I see a God who is brokenhearted whenever He brings judgment to His people.
Amos 5:4-7 (New Living Translation)
4Now this is what the LORD says to the family of Israel: "Come back to me and live!
Ezekiel 18
23"Do you think, asks the Sovereign LORD, that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.
Ezekiel 18
31Put all your rebellion behind you, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? 32I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign LORD. Turn back and live!
Believe it or not, God’s act of judgment upon Israel was an act of mercy. Israel had totally fallen away from Him. Israel was totally caught up in idolatry. The only way that He could some of them back to Himself was this act of judgment. Unfortunately, it often takes God’s discipline in our lives for us to come back to Him. We as believers, however, need to remember that when God disciplines us He does it because we are His children.
Hebrews 12
6For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes those he accepts as his children."
7As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined? 8If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all.
IV. A Promise of Restoration
Amos 9
11"In that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David. It is now like a house in ruins, but I will rebuild its walls and restore its former glory. 12And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do these things.
13"The time will come," says the LORD, "when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! 14I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. 15I will firmly plant them there in the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. "Then they will never be uprooted again."
We read this morning in Amos of God’s judgment upon the nation of Israel, but what we read here is now a promise of restoration. God here is speaking of a day when the land of Israel will overflow with His blessing. I believe the time that God is speaking of is the time after Christ returns to the earth and establishes His millennial kingdom.
So how does all this stuff in Amos relate to our personal lives?
I. We need to place our security in God.
II. We need to tear down idols in our lives.
III. We need to remember that we can run from God, but we can’t hide.
IV. We need to remember that God’s heart breaks for the lost
V. We need to know that we can experience restoration in the desolate areas of our hearts if we just turn to Him.
Through Jesus Christ, the sin and desolation of our lives can be replaced with the overflow of God’s grace. The message of Amos to Israel was to embrace the love of God before it was too late. This is also the message of the gospel to those who live in the world today. When the judgment of Christ comes, where will you be on that day? With arms ready to embrace Him or cowering from His presence?
