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Episode 632: In this episode, we explore the prophetic messages delivered by Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa, and Jonah, who was sent to Nineveh. We discuss how both prophets were contemporaries, with Amos addressing the northern kingdom of Israel and Jonah sent to Assyria. The episode highlights the significance of Amos's message, which centers on social justice and the need to care for the needy, contrasting it with Jonah's narrative of repentance in Nineveh.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, good morning and welcome to the Bible Gay. We've got a good day for you. Chris. This is one of my favorite new segments. It is Remember I demanded we do this segment two or three times a week. It's your favorite because it was your idea. Oh, I love it. I love it. So we had this idea a couple weeks ago about we need a good theme song because we were looking at our roll in write those big guys on the screens are Yeah, it's just been and we don't have a theme song. So we're just trying to think up theme songs. So then we decided what we should do is have AI help us write theme songs. Right, and so here I did chat GPT one, which is maybe one of the most logical versions of chat GPT, and I said, help me write a theme song with lyrics for a pod cast called The Bible Guys where two friends talk about the Bible and fun and practical ways. Make the theme song lighthearted and fun and set into the tune of Dukes of Hazard. That's hilarious, okay, and it worked through it and it says that it helped us out with the copyright stuff and all that. And then it says, I'm shaping the theme song for the Bible Guys with a fun, comedic vibe, keeping it brief to fit the original structure, assuring it's interesting and lively. So I send it to you and then you should be Yeah. But by the way, anybody under thirty five doesn't know this tune. Oh come on, man, I think anybody under thirty five should spend half a day listening to Waylan Jennings anyways. No kidding, yes, just a good old boy. You shading it, never meaning no harm there it is tall. You never saw a whole been in trouble with the law since the day you was born. Yeah, that's good. They was born since the day they was since the day they were born. Yeah all right. So you you want me to. This, yeah? Yeah, So this is for me. This is the Yeah that is a raspy voice today. Yeah I got I lost my voice. Yeah yeah, okay, So here's the Bible Guy's theme song to the tune of the Duke's Ahead. Mike Whaling proud. Just two Bible guys, never out to a fan talking about Jesus and how his love will never end, reading those pages with a laugh and a grin, sharing truths from the good books. So come on in. The Bible guys, keeping it light, shining some grace. And having fun. So meach night and from Jena's sister revelation, that's a weird one. They'll guide you through, Chris, grab. Your seat and tune in and they'll share the good news with you. That's great. It goes back to the course through the Bible, guys, keeping in lying, shot in some grace and head night. There you go, man, Chris, yep. And then and then at the end he goes, yea, y'all come back. Now you're here. It says, we'll be flipping those pages bringing laughter and hope for all ages. That's the that's the. That's the man up up in heaven or wherever. Uh. Johnny Cash and Whaling Jennings are just sitting there clapping. Man. They are thrilled. Oh yeah, I think so. I think so. I think so. You may wailing proud right there? You should you should say it no way, Yeah, I agree. I'm not going to do it. Nope, that's for you. No, yes, good job. I think listen, you're going with the new ideas. So they're for you. My idea was it didn't have me in my mind at all. It was only for you. So good job. I see. Well hey, uh, speaking of good ideas. Oh, you know how God had the idea that Jonah should go to. Yeah, this is getting also getting more, it's getting worse. He also had this good idea that Amos should go to Israel. Wow. So they were contemporaries. Amos and Jonah were contemporaries, and Jonah was sent to Syria what is modern day Syria Assyria back then, and Amos was sent to Israel. Yeah, you know what, it was God's good idea. It's a good idea, good idea. You know, you could literally trans transition every segment that way. And that was a good idea, speaking a good ideas, just pig any story in the Bible. It was God's idea for this. So so the Book of Jonah is only four chapters long. Yeah, and the Book of Amos is what six. Oh, guys, keep in light, you know how when it goes to the Bible, guys, you know, like there's a harmony there. Yes, it's the Bible. Guys, guys, you should you should do that with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to pass. I'm going to pass on that. Yeah. So here we go. It's, uh, the Book of Amos is only what nine chapters long or something like that, and most of it is it's kind of a thus saith the Lord kind of a yeah, it's Amos doesn't write much of a story. Amos is just saying, so God said this about this kingdom. God says this about this kingdom. God says this about this kingdom, and he names all these kingdoms and what God's going to do as a result of the rebellion against him. Right, are we reading all of Amos? I don't know, but we're reading Amos one one through two three. Well, I just glanced. It looks like it we're going through. We're going We're gonna get it. Hey, this might be the first time. Well it's certainly for us. For us, we have gone through it for sure. Yeah, So here we go. And Amos chapter one it says this message was given to Amos a shepherd from the town of Tacoa and Judah. Remember that lady from Tacoah that helped negotiate peace between Absolom and David. That's the second time to CoA is mentioned in the bibalry there. Oh, they received this message envisions two years before the earthquake. Oh, okay, when Uziah was king of Judah and Jereboem the second, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel. This is what he saw and heard. The Lord's voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem. The lush pastures of the shepherds will dry up. The grass on Mount Carmel will wither and die. This is what the Lord says. The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished. They beat down my people in Gilead. His grain is threshed with iron sledges. So I was sent down. Fire on King Hazel's palace, and the fortresses of King ben Hadad will be destroyed. I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter the people in the valley of Avon. I will destroy the ruler and beth Eden, and the people of aramill go as captives to Kur, says the Lord. This is what the Lord says. The people of Godz that have sinned again and again. I will not let them go unpunished. They sent whole villages into exile, selling them as slaves to eat them. So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. I will slaughter the people of Ashdod and destroy the king of Ashkalan. Then I will turn to attack Ekron, and the few Philistines still left will be killed, says the sovereign Lord. This is what the Lord says. The people of Tire have sinned again and again. I will not let them go unpunished. They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel, selling whole villages as slaves to eat them. So I will send down fire on the walls of Tire. All its fortresses will be destroyed. This is what the Lord says. The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished. They chase down their relatives the Israelites with swords, showing them no mercy in their rage. They slashed them continuously and were unrelenting in their anger. So I will send down fire on Teamen and the fortresses of baser be destroyed. This is what the Lord says. This is very encouraging, by the way. Yeah, I'm just. Trying to take it all in and thinking, what are we going to talk about. The people of Amon have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished. And when they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they ripped open pregnant women with their swords. So I will send down fire on the walls of Raba and all its fortresses to be destroyed. The battle will come upon them with shouts like a whirlwind in a mighty storm, and their king and their princes will go into exile together, says the Lord. This is what the Lord says. The people of Moab have sinned again and again. I will not let them go unpunished. They desecrated the bones of Edom's king, burning them to ashes, and so I will send down fire on the land of Moab, and all the fortresses and carry out will be destroyed. People fall into the noise of battle as the warriors shout and the ramshorns sounds, and I will destroy their king and slaughter all their princes, says the Lord. There you go, Oh, we're done. That's it. We got to two three and that's where I was supposed to endow. That's a rough one, buddy. Well, let's start off with this really cool note from the Life Application Study Bible. Yes, it says Amos served as a prophet to Israel, which is the Northern Kingdom, from seven sixty to seven point fifty BC, and it says his main message is that Amos spoke against those who exploited or ignored the needy. That's interesting and the importance of his message believing in God is more than a matter of individual faith. God calls all believers to work against injustices in society to aid those less fortunate. Wow, that was his the heart of his message. Yeh, yeah's interesting. I mean we just read the first chapter. Yeah yeah, yeah, but still that's pretty cool. That's good context, right right. Yeah. So so Tyre was one of the two major cities in Phoenicia. Several treaties had been made with this city, which supplied the cedar used to build David's Palace in God's Temple. Yeah, it's interesting. So there's a I think an interesting thing. God sends these prophets Jonah Amos Nahem is another one that was in the same They were all contemporaries Micah. And they go and they confront the different rulers and leaders, and you know, the rulers aren't happy when God's giving. What in the world you guys doing. You're all living like horrible people. And so God saying, I'm recognizing as a matter of fact. In verse two, it says, the Lord's voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem. Right, God is just telling them off at this point, and so the people would have been thrilled. Yeah, you go get those people in Damascus, God, they make us mad, right, or those people in Gaza. Those Philistines are horrible people. And then finally, you know, he gets down there. He's got Moab here, all these things. So the Bible says he goes through how many kingdoms, I don't know, it's about eight eight kingdoms something like that, and the people love it until he gets to Judah in Israel, which is tomorrow, tomorrow we're going to talk about it. So they're like, yes, you get those Philistines, you get the right and so they're kind of cheering God on I thinks as they hear about God's judgment against Amen and against Edom and against Tire and against Moab and against you know, all these wicked, wicked people. And then God says, hey, I haven't forgotten about what you're doing either, Judah, I haven't forgot about what you're doing either, Israel. That's that's what we're talking about tomorrow. But I would say, God, some of these things seem really bad. Like when he talks about Moab. You know who was it Moab hurting Amen Amen, right, which is part of modern day Jordan. Now, you know, doing horrible things of pregnant women. But the other one, Moab, for instance, it's it's it seems like a little thing. They desecrated the bones of Edam's king. Right. So God sees the big things and the little things. God's not just going, oh hey, it's a light thing, or you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna wink wink wink at that little thing, but boy, I'm gonna be mad at this big thing. God's saying, hey, I'm paying attention to all injustices, everything that is wicked, everything that is is wrong. I'm going to bring you to judgment. And in the same way that he sent Jonah up to ninev noticed they did. He doesn't mention the Assyrians at all in this. In the same way I'm sending Jonah to Nineveh, I'm sending Amos to Ammen and Damascus and Gaza and Edom and Moab. And there's no indication that any of them ever turned yeah, right, they didn't repair. So the difference between the Jonah story and this is why it follows immediately after, I think, is the difference between the Jonah story and which gets four whole chapters just about how Ninevah turns. It's not about Jonah, right, it's amazing to us when we read about this fish that swallows this sky, but it was really all about the repentance of the city of Ninevah, right, and then these people. Amos comes with a very similar prophecy, right and goes, hey, judgment's coming on you people, and it doesn't. Ever, there's no indication that they any of these groups ever repented. And so God gives equal opportunity, but only some respond I think is a big part of that. So responding brought peace and prosperity to Nineveh. Not responding to God's judgment calls brings judgment. You know what that verse reminded me of. I mean, I just don't want to ignore it. It says when they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they ripped open pregnant women with their swords. It's it's it's one of the worst. Verses in the Bible, right, I mean, that's that's got a rank up there, doesn't. It pretty horrible? It's pretty horrible. And so I just left to myself, like, you know what it reminds me of. It reminds me that you and I just, no matter how hard we try, we cannot wrap our minds around the mentality and the mindset and the experiences the evil that existed back then. Like, for instance, it speaks into like even remember when I mentioned yesterday and I said. Well, let's get going of the benefit of doubt. He's probably remembering the atrocities of the Assyrians, what they did as people. That's the kind of stuff that they live with. And you know what I also thought of. I thought of, like, have you ever seen those things where you and I are in our early fifties. Have you ever seen those things where it's like, man, they held nothing back in the eighties, you know, remember, so you'll see like a clip or an Instagram reel or something where it's like, wow, you guys really were harsh in the eighties. You know, like you guys called each. Other dumb and this and that, you know, and you sort of bullied each other and you did this kind of mentality and all that. But like just the mentality of like. Working and you know, like shoveling snow, I mean, just whatever it is that they sort of point out. The younger generation looks back and goes, man, you guys were harsh in the eighties, right, and think about the jump right from from my children to when we were kids, the jump from us all the way back to the Old Testament in the times of Amos. Right, the mentality was so harsh that it's just unbelievable, which, by the way, really truly. Does help us, you know when we do. You know, read about for instance, God's punishments, sure, right, you know, like like God's you know, like how he's just how he'll you know, swiftly execute you know, his mercies and his judgment and all things like that. It's like the mentality of what these kids must have grown up with. They must have seen things and been a part of things by the time they were just toddlers that you and I probably could not even fathom. Yeah right, yeah, yeah, it's interesting. So there's a note here for this whole section that we read in Amos chapter one through two says the people have sinned again, and again is the accusation, and God says, I will not let them go unpunished. And this echoes through these verses as God evaluates nation after nation, each nation had persistently refused to follow God's commands, a sinful practice that can become a way of life. Well that's really powerful, yep. Ignoring or denying the problem will not help us. We must begin the process of correction by confessing our sins to God and asking him to forgive us. Otherwise we have no hope but to continue our pattern or sin, which ultimately brings judgment. And that's what I was trying to differentiate between what happened with Nineveh and these other eight you know, groups or things. So here's the thing, and I taught on this one time, which is kind of neat, But there's a note here that talks about Amos. Right, So the very first verse, this message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tacoa and Judah, and he received this message from God and then he took it to the kings. Says Amos. Raised sheep not a particularly spiritual job, yet he became a channel of God's message to others. Your job may not cause you to feel spiritual or successful, but it's vital work. If you're in the place God wants you to be, God can work through you to do extraordinary things, no matter how ordinary your occupation. Yeah right, I love that. So this is just a shepherd guy. It's like King David, It's like some of the others, you know. They just start off very, very simple, normal, every day This is just a standard blue collar kind of a job. And God says, Amos, you're the one I want to use. You're available, and you've got the skill set I need. I'm going to send you. And Amos would have had the same kind of excuses that Moses had. Moses like, oh God, I don't speak very well, not me, I shouldn't go right. Different people throughout the Bible have used excuses as to why God shouldn't use them. But the reality is, if you're doing what God designed you to do. If you're serving and you're willing to let God use your talents and your abilities, God will do greater things than what you think your station in life is. Right. Yeah, and by the way, he also grew figs. Yeah. Yeah, so he's a fig grower. So I mean think about that. It's just how much more or playing can you possibly get? Yet? Yeah? I like fi have you ever? I'm not saying I don't like figs. I'm just saying, like, what does it take to be a fig grower? I bought some fake jam the other day. It's not like I mean, you know, I guess, I guess you're a farmer if you're a fig grower. But yeah, so I think he's kind of a rancher. He's a shepherd and a fig grower. Yeah, yeah for sure. Hey, when you were in Israel, Jordan or any of that area, did you come across a lot of shepherds? Yes? Yes, and what they were just sort of wandering by the side of the road. We're just walking with their sheep. Keep an eye. Usually it's young boys. Yeah, they got sticks, yeah right, they're kind of keeping the sheep going in the right direction. Yeah. In Jordan, it seemed like they always had a dog with them, so it be a boy or two with a bunch of sheep. Dog. Hey, just for fun, I'm going to tell you this quick story. I was in India one time and you know, the traffic been an idiot, It's crazy. The traffic is crazy. It's unlike anything I ever seen. Right, So my buddy at the time said, hey, let's ride motorcycles to this church plant. And so I literally was on a motorcycle in India and so we were. We all took them, and there must have been twenty of us. We were in this caravan, and it's just crazy. So as you're going through India, which has like a billion people within a one square mile, it seems like it's like there's no room in between the cars, and there's no rules and there's no there's no guidelines on the streets. Everybody just goes where there's room. So literally, we're going in between the cars and we're barely fitting and we're going through. And then anyway, so we turned this corner and as we were riding, we came across these goats on the side of the road and I'm telling you they were there were six hundred goats and. They took up almost the whole road and we almost hit them, and so it's like and it's like we're just it was going around, and I was just thinking. To myself, like this is some of the craziest uh you know, uh thing. But anyway, I just but I saw them, and these the shepherds are just you know, the most unassuming people. In the world. And you think about what you just said that God uses Amos, but. God used David. Yes, right. And David, by the way, had so much talent that when he was out there tending his sheep. It said that a bear came and a lion came on two different occasions, and he had learned because he had a lot of time to learn, he had learned how to do a sling shot, and he was so good that he actually killed the bear and killed the lion with a slingshot. Right. So I would imagine if you're out there, you get a lot of time to practice. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's about developing the skills. Yeah, right, that's that. I mentioned it several times. There's lyrics to an old song from back in the eighties that talked about is talking about David's life and it says hidden valleys turned shepherds into kings, right, And it's all the development that he did then he was writing music back then, he developed skill as a harp player, yeah, musician. She developed skill with his sling. He developed physical prowess, being able to fight lions and bears. He developed leadership skills you going down aline, and he wasn't just wasting time. And then suddenly God chose this guy and did a miraculous thing to make him amazing. He was becoming amazing, and God went, that's the guy I want to use. Right. So it doesn't matter what job you have, it doesn't matter what role you have in life. You keep developing, you keep growing, you develop your skills, and for a while it may not even make any sense that all these different, loosely connected skills make any sense, But you just keep getting better and better at what you do, whether it's communicating or you know, for you, it was what leading, it was public speaking, it was being handsome right, well, yeah, the list and you were constantly working on right, right, and you just keep developing those skills, developing those skills, and it's amazing how God then takes what you have. You know, he gave you five talents and you turn him into five more and he moves you ahead. This is what I think you see with Amos, as Amos is one of the prophets. But it highlights the fact that he's not like you know, seminary president prophet. He's not Alisha, right, which Elishah seems to have presided over a group of profits, right, the School of Profits. So it's not Alisha a seminary president Alisha. He's just a farmer right shepherd guy. But God goes, hey, you're the one I can trust you. He I think probably, and it might have been the earthiness of him. These are some pretty bold proclamations, right, These are some really aggressive they're harsh words. And so if you think of if you about bad news, yeah, if you think of amous as kind of a cowboy a little bit right, this kind of just walk in. Let me just tell you, let me be blunt. I've got bad news for you. If you heard about what happened in Nineveh. If you repent, things will be okay for you. If you don't repent, well, fire is going to fall from heaven on your cities, right, And so there's that, So I love that part of it. And if you no matter what role you have, no matter what job you're doing today, keep developing into the man, keep developing into the woman that God to have for you, Keep developing those skills, look for opportunities to push yourself to keep growing because you never know what doors God's going to open up for you or how He's going to use you to make a difference. Yeah, and not only with Amos, but with so many different people in the Bible. What we discover is that God uses ordinary people for extraordinary things. And by the way, He's still in the business of doing that. So if you feel overlooked, if you feel average or vanilla, and you feel like you're just not you know, a person poised or positioned to accomplish much, just know that God always has and always will use ordinary people and broken people for great things. Right. If we just simply repent, and we simply acknowledge Him and lean on him and depend on him, we will discover that God can use us for great, great things. So all right, we hey, that is our time, so we will see you next time on the Bible. Guys,