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The Harvester Podcast is brought to you by the Florida School of Preaching. Listen weekly to take a dive into biblical topics and thoughtful studies on things that matter to our eternal souls.
Welcome to the Harvester podcast.
We are glad that you have chosen to listen to us today.
As we continue our fifth season, which is entitled, Majoring in the Minors, the minor
profits that is.
And so we are ready today for episode four on the Book of Amos.
But I am one of the hosts, Brian Kenyon, and with me are
Forest Antemesaris.
Steven Ford.
and we're glad to be with you today as we bring forth a lesson on the book of amos and
stevens can lead us in this study and so steven go in introduced to us to look at amos
All right, this was a great study.
I would encourage anybody to take some time and study through Amos.
There's several good commentaries that might help a person in their study.
I used a couple of them.
uh A good brother, Michael Whitworth, wrote one that I thought was of value.
But anyway, ah the Book of Amos is probably, in my estimation, one that's more strongly
written uh of the Minor Prophets in terms of just how descriptive and how...
strong of language he uses to indicate what's going to happen to them.
It's not where it's just kind of disguised.
You know exactly what's coming, what's going to happen.
The focus here is on the Northern Kingdom, and this is who he's going to be writing to.
The dating of this book is somewhere in the 750s BC, probably early 755 to 750s, what I uh
kind of use as a reference for its uh writing.
ah
One of the things that kind of jumped out to me as I read through the book of Amos is one,
that judgment is certain and imminent.
God is still merciful, but as I was reading it, one of the things that popped out to me
was how this must have broken God's heart to see Israel in this condition and have to
issue this punishment.
It made me think of when I was younger and I would get in trouble one particular time and
my mother was,
Let's see how I can explain it.
She was very determined to convince me that my actions were wrong.
And so, but I don't think it made her happy.
And you know, it wasn't like she was like, yes, I finally get to meet out this anger on my
son.
And it made me think of Ezekiel 33, 11.
God doesn't take pleasure in this.
When we look at his judgment being poured out and meted out on Israel and Judah and the
nations, it's not the God is happy about that.
you know, it's just, it's what's essential to bring his people back, but it doesn't bring
him any joy.
So those are some of the things that kind of just jumped out initially.
And the book is written in such a way, these first several chapters, the first two
chapters anyway, where God is telling through Amos that he's going to bring judgment.
Now Amos, he says that, hey, listen, this is not my job.
I'm not like a prophet.
you know, because my dad was one, grandfather was one, you know, hey, look, I'm a farm
guy.
I'm an agriculture guy.
And this is just my calling to go out and tell people this.
And so it's like he's trying to convince people.
I'm not taking joy and pleasure in this either.
This is something that God has commissioned me to go and say.
But as you look on it, like if you look where to take a map kind of look as the book of
Hamas starts, he is, it's almost like drawing a bullseye.
around Israel to let them know judgment is coming in.
It made me think as I'm reading the first few verses or so that as they're hearing
judgment they might be thinking, yeah, that's right, know, those people deserve it.
You know, he starts out, he says, hey listen, and just to get the language as he says his
judgment is coming to them, ah in verse number two he says, and he said, the Lord will
roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the inhabitants of the shepherds
shall mourn.
and the top of Carmel shall wither.
And so when you think about this roaring, this is not a pleasant, this is not a winnowing
of a horse or uh the bleeding of a sheep or the yelp of a puppy.
This is a lion that's roaring out, which would strike fear in the ears of those who hear
it.
ah And just kind of as an aside, uh kind of a backdrop, at this point Israel is
doing well, I guess you might say, politically, socially, economically, there's some good
stuff going on for them in that way.
And so they probably would have been thinking, hey, stuff is good.
We're all right.
know, the social, there's peace around us for the most part.
The coffers are kind of filled.
But there was spiritual bankruptcy.
This is during the reign of Jeroboam the second.
You can read about him in 2 Kings 14, 23 through 29 is where you kind of can see what's
going on in his life.
And he did evil inside the Lord like his fathers before him.
And so that's kind of the backdrop.
Here's wickedness and here is sin and unrighteousness.
And then we're going to get to see some of the other things that's going on in culture
around the world, or least this area of the world.
It just lets you know that even though things are going well, that doesn't mean that
things are going well.
You can have lot of money in the bank, peace and quiet and all that kind of stuff, but
that doesn't mean that you have a good relationship with God.
Those things don't necessarily correlate all the time.
Yeah, I think a lot of people assume that, if I'm doing wrong, why am I prospering?
Why am I successful?
and even for Israel, I think that would be a tempting thing.
I know Wayne Jackson, his commentary says it was a time of financial security and
egregious vice.
And for some reason, sometimes those things go together.
You know what I mean?
Where people kind of get, you see that in the emails, people get comfortable and they're,
you know, they're kind of spiritual guard is down.
And it's like, well, I got everything I need.
Why do I need to worry about the Lord?
Mm-hmm.
It's a I can't remember what book I read, but it is a cultural phenomenon that is repeated
just about 100 % of the time the cultures go through this Period where they are kind of
coming together and gelling together and then they go through this industrial period where
they're kind of building up the culture Then you go through this age where you're know
defending what you have built
And then you go through a stage of opulence, the writer said.
And that always stood out to me, this opulence, because now you've got everything you
need, now you're just furnishing and beautifying everything, and you're relaxing, peace on
every side.
So what do you do?
Perversion usually comes.
You start to seek out vices and all these different things.
And so culturally, spiritually, there's this cycle that I think takes place all the time.
But here, God is going to roar out.
one of the things I also like about this is that
uh There can be times in culture that we people will say we think we know what is the
worst thing in God's eyesight.
So whatever is unpalatable to me, that must be the worst thing in God's eyesight.
And whatever is uh unpalatable to you, well that's the worst thing.
Well here in Amos and much of the minor prophets, you hear straight from the mouth of
Jehovah as it were what he doesn't like, what displeases him.
how interacting with each other affects God.
And so it's not like we can say, well, I ain't doing anything to God.
Well, no, mistreating the brother that you can see is mistreating the God that you cannot
see, and it affects God.
And so I love that we get to hear right from the Lord, here's the things that is bringing
judgment down on you.
And so he says to Damascus the first, says the Lord, for three transgressions of Damascus
and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have
threshed Gilead with of iron.
And so he says to them and to the various other cities or nations and groups of people
around them, he uses this phrase for three transgressions and for four, which is to say
you've gone beyond the limit.
So the limit was three, but you've gone to four, which does a lot of things, or does a
couple of things at least.
It points out one, the extreme mercy and patience that God has.
because he didn't just get you at one, two, or three, but you went beyond the threshold.
But then it shows you the utter wickedness of these people.
Like man, you went that far?
And so around this area of the world, you just find wickedness.
And so the backdrop of Amos is while there may be prosperity, there is just this
rottenness that permeates all of these nations.
And the thing that I think that Israel is about to notice, well I know that they're about
to notice, is that it's not just them, not those people.
It's easy for God's people, even today, to start to think, well hey listen, I go to the
one church of which I can read the scriptures.
I hear the gospel preached every week.
I...
give according to my means.
I take the Lord's Supper.
I take my family to worship.
And there are these outward things, but just because those things are okay, doesn't mean
that I'm okay with God.
There can be some other stuff on the inside.
Like Jesus would talk about in Matthew 23, like man, you guys are just white as supple
curves, man.
There's rottenness inside.
And so, it indicates that there can be some things that look good on the outside, but
they're still.
terrible things on the inside, like we talked about in last episode in Joel.
Yeah, and I think Amos, these first couple chapters also tell us that, just as a side
note, but going along with what you're saying, that even Gentile nations were accountable
to God.
But Damascus have judgment upon them, Edom, Gaza, all these places, even though the things
listed, Tyre and Sidon, but the things listed are not violations of the law of Moses,
they're just violations against humanity.
Exactly.
You know, and then when he gets into
judean israel and then you have more violations of the law so even gentiles and this good
passage to show that even gentiles were accountable to god they were amenable to his word
Absolutely, everyone has always been amenable to God.
And it's not just his people.
And as you said before, the only way we can know that is to hear it from God himself.
Which we have in the prophets and that's a very good point.
I that idea that that's your truth, that's what you say, whatever, is just so rampant
today as it, I guess as it always has been maybe, but it's like no, God has spoken.
Just as you mentioned with Amos, God has spoken, this is what's wrong.
And there's no way we can wiggle our way out of it if we're not.
You know going by what God says
Yeah, and even like for people in the church sometimes we got to be careful because the
sin that we think is the worst is the one we don't struggle with.
You know what I mean?
The sins I struggle with.
well, you know, I mean things happen people that but it's the other stuff.
That's the bad stuff.
You know, it's like, you got to take all of God's word.
Absolutely and for those that might say well ah God only sent prophets to Israel and the
other nations didn't know that is absolutely not the fact though We don't have a recording
of all of those you still have people like Jonah that went to Assyria and preached and so
God did have people ah Who were?
Expressing his word.
I'll just say this the world knew the will of God because even when Abraham comes to
Pharaoh.
He's a hey
why didn't you tell me this was your wife?
So he knew that that was wrong.
So while we may not have the record of how did he come to know that, when did he come to
know that, how did that culture know those things, we know that they were aware of God's
word.
So they had an opportunity.
So just with the backdrop, thinking of the things that we just talked about so far, um
knowing that Israel was at this point of prosperity but there was spiritual ruin,
That brings up a question I'd like to throw out here before we move on to uh the judgment
that they were enduring.
In what ways can people today safeguard themselves against this sort of a thing?
Having the outward appearance of goodness but then spiritual complacency I guess we call
it.
yeah i think one way is to to make sure that we measure ourselves by god's word and not by
others you know paul said some that sent crinthians ten twelve twelve ten can remember
offhand now but you should not judge ourselves by those who come in themselves mean but
rather judge ourselves according to god's word and and it's easy you know maybe at times
of prosperity is the times we really need to
make a decision within ourselves to man this this study guys were even more to make sure i
don't go off because things are going well because again like you like you said sometimes
we forget about god when things are going well it's only when things are going bad but
let's make sure we going back to god's word daily and measuring ourselves by that
Yeah.
And acknowledging that the things you have came from God, you know, that it's not your,
just your own hard work, your own whatever, but God bless you with these things and you're
a steward of them.
You know, one day you'll die.
You won't be able to take any of your stuff with you.
So how are you going to, are you just going to store it up?
Are you going to use it?
you going to help those who are in need?
Are you going to bless the, the church?
Are you going to, you know, all those things.
And I always think of first Timothy six.
Yeah.
You know, versus
Or is that 17 through 19, I think, where Paul has those commands to the rich, you know, to
place your hope, not in the uncertainty of riches, but in the true and living God and to,
you know, be generous and to share and to store up true wealth, which is in heaven, you
know, that you can never lose as long as you stay faithful.
So I think that's part of it too, where, you know, just it's almost like a perspective
change of
what you have God blessed you with and you're supposed to use it, not just hoard it.
That made me think when you just said that, as you were talking, I was thinking 1 Timothy
6.
But then also I think of what Jesus says in Sermon on Mount.
Hey, listen, don't lay up for yourselves treasures here on earth.
Stuff can happen to it, and it will happen to it.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
I think that's just the issue of thinking about the now, the temporal, or the future.
And I guess you can find that a lot throughout the New Testament.
When you were talking, I thought 1 Timothy chapter 6.
And when you said 1 Timothy chapter 6, I went over to the Sermon on the Mount.
But then as I'm talking about that, I'm thinking about 2 Timothy chapter 4, or excuse me,
2 Corinthians chapter 4, excuse me, where Paul says, listen, don't look at this temporal
stuff, man.
This stuff's going to be here just for a little while.
We need to be looking at eternal things.
Yeah, and even like Brian said, you know comparing yourself to the Word of God, know who
the most successful man who ever lived You know wasn't married didn't have any kids Didn't
have a house didn't own a business didn't you know, Jesus Christ obviously and it's like
that is our example That's our number one and all that doesn't make any of those things
bad But it's like they have to be contextualized by sure.
What is a life?
a truly successful life really look like, you know, what really is the most important
thing.
Yeah, I guess that could be the question of consideration.
What does it actually look like?
What does a successful life, according to the Scriptures, look like?
think there could be a dozen answers just in general, but according to the Scriptures, a
successful life, as I read it, is a holy life.
Mm-hmm, right.
in every aspect, it's holy.
So whether or not it has poverty is irrelevant.
Whether or not it has health is irrelevant.
It's that it's holy.
And that's what God is always looking for.
So that's kind of like the, just like the introductory background to Amos.
So now why would God judge Israel and why is he judging these various nations?
And in uh several of these occasions, he tells them that they're being judged and he gives
them exactly why.
In verse three, again, we go back to Damascus,
They're being punished, why?
Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.
So they're being cruel.
In verse six, we get to Gaza, he says, because they carried away captive the whole
captivity to deliver them up to Edom.
So we have this excessive cruelty with them.
Verse number uh nine, we have Tyre, he says, the Lord says to Tyre, why are they being
punished?
Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom.
And they remembered not the brotherly covenant.
they're,
without mercy, they're merciless.
And they're meeting out of judgment on the people.
Later on in verse 11, he's talking to Edom again, he says, because you did pursue his
brother with the sword, and they cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
So there's no pity in excess of anger.
And so, just kind of at these first few, it's like there's just this
blind rage uh and cruelty and harshness, ah which is the opposite of the nature of God.
You you have God and he does pour out wraths.
There's zero doubt about that.
But it's never without the bridle of his mercy.
So the two always go together.
Yeah, and even that like idea of pursuing your brother like Brian you mentioned stuff
That's not necessarily in the law of Moses, but rather these general moral principles, you
know There was no law of Moses when Cain murdered Abel that didn't make it right There was
this innate kind of just understanding that that's your brother.
That's not something that you do, you know Right, right
That demonstrates that even the law of Moses, it just comes from the nature of God.
God's laws come from his nature.
why do we not lie to our parents or mistreat our parents?
Why do we not lie to our neighbor?
Why don't we murder?
Well, this is all coming from the nature of God.
God is love, he wants fellowship, those sorts of things.
He is merciful and all those attributes that we could list about him.
But he wants those to be demonstrated in his people.
uh
The laws that he institutes are just outpours of those attributes that he has and
demonstrates to us.
But he continues, talks about verse 13, Ammon, why are they being punished?
Because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead that they might enlarge their
borders.
So here and now they're cruel, they're giving death to babies just for what reason?
We want more land, Chapter two, Moab.
because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
And so this is just utter brutality.
I mean, you beat the guy, you won, that's fine, but then you dig up the bones and you burn
the bones.
Now whether or not they burned him to death or dug up the bones, exhumed him and burned
those is really secondary to the fact that it's not necessary.
If there's a battle between men, that's fine, but then they go overboard, it seems.
And then as the circles
If you can imagine these, there's an outer circle of geography, then there's an inner
circle of geography, and then it's getting right close.
And as they may have been kind of cheering, at least at the beginning, at least in my mind
how I envision this, they're like, yeah, these enemies of God, they're doing wrong, and
they're getting their comeuppance what they deserve, and then it's getting closer and
closer and closer.
And I imagine the cheering kind of quiets, at least in my own mind, you know?
Yeah, the pit is coming.
Yeah, because you gotta be thinking, well, wait a second.
They're being punished for all these things.
I got some of that same blood on my hands too.
Get close to home too.
Yeah.
Yes, I think about like when I was a kid, you my brother might get his spanking and then
they might say, well, this is because you all were loud.
So after Stanley gets his spanking, I'm thinking, uh-oh, we were both loud.
So I know what's coming next.
And so in my mind, you know, Israel and Judah are kind of considering this.
And so in verse four, says, the Lord said for three transgressions of Judah.
and for four.
So why are they being punished?
He says because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments
and their lies caused them to earn after which their fathers have walked.
So they're disobedient to God and they continue to lie and be dishonest.
And then we get to Israel for three transgressions and for four.
Why is Israel being punished?
Verse six of chapter two, because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a
pair of shoes.
that pant after the dust of the earth, the head of the poor and turn aside the way of the
meek and the man and his father will go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name.
And they lay themselves down upon the clothes laid to pledge by every altar and they drink
wine of the condemned in the house of their God.
they're up to verse four, they're disobedient, they're lying.
Verse number six, there is injustice.
Verse number uh seven, there is greed and just
utter perversion which was spoken against way back in the book of Leviticus.
And then in verse number eight, you have uh cruelty mixed with idolatry.
And so it says they're drinking wine of the condemned in the house of their God.
That's not of Jehovah.
ah Because if they're in the house of their God, Israel, first of all, Jerusalem wasn't
there.
So they would have had to go down to Judah.
So if they're worshiping, they're worshiping at these centers that were set up previously
and they're worshiping idols.
And so even in their worshiping and everything they're doing, it's like all of it's just
wrong.
And the other nations were cruel and rude and mean and barbaric and brutal and all these
things.
And then you get to Israel who's supposed to be the gold standard of righteousness because
they represent God in the earth.
They're the people who have had these encounters with God that are like breathtaking.
When you think of God talking to them, talking to them on the mountain.
When you think about God delivering them in Egypt, which you'll find multiple times here,
we'll talk about this a little bit going down a little bit further into verses nine, 10,
and 11, God reminds them, listen,
I am the guy that brought you out of Egypt.
I'm the guy that sustained you.
And so he's reminding them, here's what I've done for you.
And almost a look at where you are.
And I can almost imagine the head of Israel bowing down in shame as they hear, here's what
you've been doing.
And here's what I had done for you.
it's not as though God is saying, well, I did kind of forget about you guys for a few
years.
I did stop blessing you.
And I see why you're disobedient.
But it's like, no, I've been there.
I've loved you, I've provided for you, I've held you by the hand, I've given you
everything that you could have, and your repayment to me is unrighteousness and
wickedness.
And that's what mean, they're worse than the nations around them.
Yeah.
Like literally what they're doing is worse.
But then on top of that, it's worse because they should have known better.
They did know better.
And I mean, they're bearing God's name, right?
Israel.
And to be that, you know, coming from Jacob, of course, but that whole thing where they
really have no room to gloat over any of these other nations because they're worse and
they should have known better.
anything of the principle to whom much is given much of the required and so they had all
kinds of blessings and that those blessings were to help them show the world who got his
you know god was to reveal himself to israel and but they failed miserably in that
I think you see why, know, and I think that's like you said, that's part of why the other
nations are getting judged too, because Israel is supposed to be a light and they're not,
you know?
So how can, how can Edom and Gaza and all these places do right when the nation that
actually is supposed to be their example is all in sin?
Yes, it should be a wake-up call for them and because of all of their unrighteousness, God
says in chapter 2 verse 14, Therefore, since all that is the case, therefore the flight
shall perish from the swift, the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the
mighty deliver himself, neither shall the stand that handleeth the bow, or neither shall
he stand rather than handles the bow, and he that is swift afoot shall not deliver
himself, neither shall the
one that rides a horse to deliver himself, and he that is courageous among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day, says the Lord." And so all of these people who might
otherwise be able to deliver themselves, who might otherwise be able to escape, God's
saying, no, nobody's gonna escape my judgment because nobody was exempt from my law.
And so since everybody is amenable, everybody's gonna receive judgment.
No matter how mighty you might be, we might look at ourselves and think that, I could do
this and I could do that because things may be going well.
I can insulate myself, but we can't.
There's nothing a person can do if they fall into the hands of the living God.
Only thing we can do is follow his will and repent when we sin.
Yeah, yeah, that's it.
You can't be strong enough to fight back fast enough to run away.
You you can't be sneaky enough to hide it.
No, no, where could we hide from God?
Like literally, where could we hide?
Like if they say, right now, if there's an earthquake, this is a big desk, we could all
get under the desk to kind of hide from the debris.
Or if there's a burglar, we can lock the door, turn off the light.
But God sees everything.
There's nowhere that you can hide where God cannot get you.
Because even if you go and hide somewhere, he can say, all right, I'm gonna just shut off
your air.
So where can we hide from him?
Anyway.
In chapter three he begins, says, hear the word that the Lord has spoken, which again kind
of underscores his authority.
This is coming right from God.
says, against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out
of the land of Egypt.
Again, reminding them of the care that he gave them.
So all of these judgments are right and just because God had been caring for them and
loving for them.
He says, you only have I known of all the family of the earth.
Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities." And you think about that, God
selected Israel.
He handpicked this nation of people who were small and weak and feeble.
He said, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to make you my covenant people uh through
Abraham's seed, through this group of people.
The world will be blessed.
I'm going to give you this land promise.
I'm going to give you this seed promise.
I'm going to give you the offspring promise.
All these things that God made possible for them.
And he keeps kind of calling back to that, which has to really ring in their ears.
know, judgment's coming because remember I was good to you and judgment's coming because
remember I was good to you.
And so they have to be, they are being confronted constantly with the fact that God had
been good and favorable and they had no reason to depart from him.
It's not like God has stopped being good or favorable to them.
And so then he says, oh he asked a series of questions, can two walk together except they
be agreed?
And I think in the King James, maybe that may throw us off a little bit.
think, well,
If we're gonna start walking together, we need to agree, but this is more like, can we
walk together unless we meet on the same terms?
so just this morning, Brian, you and I rode together here to where we rode in a caravan
here to Auburndale.
And so if we hadn't agreed, if we just said, hey, let's meet for Auburndale, it would've
thrown everything up.
But you texted me before, you said, here's where we're gonna meet and here's the time
we're gonna meet.
Well, if you just say, let's meet.
Well, what if I showed up at 1045 and you were at a lead at 930?
If I showed up at 6 a.m., you know, we wouldn't have been, or if I showed up at the right
time, but I was at the target, I wouldn't have met you.
And so unless we're on the right terms, which God sets, the standard and the terms, we
can't walk together with him.
And so Amos is asking this question from God, how can we walk together if we're not
meeting on the same terms?
If we're not in the same mind and heart?
which of course is God's.
And then he asks this question, oh verse number four, this is second of the questions,
which really kind of, it kind of shivers down my back.
He says, will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den if he's taken nothing?
And so he's asking this question, you think about this lion, he doesn't roar when he's
stalking his prey.
This roar comes out when he's actually
taking the prey.
And so in chapter one, he says, we hear God's voice roaring out.
Here in chapter two, he's asked the question, is the lion gonna roar if there's nothing in
his grasp?
Which is indicating to Israel, God is right here on you.
It's not like saying, you know, the lion's a mile away, you hear this.
bellowing way way way in the distance know when the lion roars you are in his grasp and
the death blow is coming and so for them they have to Have this in their mind man.
The lion is roaring There's nothing we can do for an actual line, which they would have
been familiar with lions in this in this area if the lion is roaring now There's nothing
we can do about it.
The judgment is coming Then he asked can a bird fall and snare upon the earth where no
genus for him Now she'll one take up a snare from the earth
and have taken nothing at all.
So he's saying, hey, see the signs.
there's a, ah if the bird's not gonna fall, if there's no snare to catch him.
And so if you see the bird falling, then you know there's a snare.
So it's kind of like, look man, pay attention to what's going on around you.
verse number six, the fifth question, shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people
not be afraid?
Sure there'll be evil in the city and the Lord has not done it.
And so if you're hearing this trumpet call, which everybody would have known in this city,
it's kind of like if we hear the tornado sirens, at least that was a big thing in
Michigan, the tornado sirens.
I don't know if there are tornado sirens here.
No.
No.
Yes, we just get blown away here.
you you heard the siren, then you knew.
In Arkansas, we had them too.
When you hear the siren, you know, man, you better take cover.
And here it's saying when the guard, when the watchman blows a trumpet, it's not because
nobody's out there.
It's because the enemy is right here on the gates.
and we can see them.
so he's asking a series of questions to Israel like, look, why aren't you paying attention
to what's going on around you?
Why aren't you noticing that you are in this condition, this state in relationship with
God?
And he says in verse number, ah verse number eight, the lion has roared.
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken.
Who can but prophesy?
So if God is roaring out,
They should be fearful and if God is speaking, we have to say what God says.
So Amos is helping Israel to know that man, you guys are in a bad condition.
You have earned this by your wicked behavior, says verse number two, uh punishment is
coming because of their iniquity.
And so there's no excuse.
And so he has to stand up and to preach and declare God's word.
But even as his judgment
is being described and he goes through the rest of chapter three.
He wants him to know that there are still some blessings.
But I want to point out something too.
As chapter four begins, here again is judgment on Samaria because of what they're doing.
says, they oppress the poor, they crush the needy, which say their masters, bring and let
us drink.
So here are these people who just being cruel for no reason.
They're greedy.
ah
imbibing into drunkenness and all this sort of a thing.
And this is God's people.
This is Samaria.
This isn't like the nations around them.
But I love how verse two begins, because God is saying judgment is coming, but how he
frames this, I think, is really potent and strong.
He says, the Lord has sworn by his holiness.
in as much and as sure as God is holy, and he is,
That's how certain they can be of the wrath that is to come.
And just as sure as we hear the horn of the train, we can be sure of God's judgment.
I just, that always just jumped out to me.
He says he is swearing by his own holiness.
just as much as.
what's gonna happen.
Yeah.
because you know he's holy.
And so you know the judgment's gonna come.
I don't know why that just kinda really jumped out to me um how certain they could be.
And then as chapter four goes on, notice their worship.
He says to them, come to Bethel and transgress.
And Gilgal, multiply transgression.
Bring your sacrifices every morning and your ties after the King James says three years
other versions save three days kind of showing that they're kind of Overdoing these gifts.
It's kind of like a hyperbole perhaps every three days.
They're there making these sacrifice, but where are they doing it?
How are they doing it?
You know, it wasn't the way God wanted them to do it.
I says then offers offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving with leaven and Proclaim and publish
the free offering.
So now they're offering these things not without leaven
but with leaven, and then they're proclaiming and publishing their free gifts, and I think
of people with the whole Instagram posts today, hey, look at me, watch how I worship,
everything's great.
O ye children of Israel, says the Lord.
um But even with all of this, he asks this question in verse number six, he says, I'm
gonna give you cleanest of teeth, which doesn't mean he's gonna give them white, bright
smiles.
There's gonna be no food in their teeth, so they're gonna be starving.
And there's going be want of bread.
And he says, yet you have not returned unto me, says the Lord.
So all these things are coming, and you still haven't returned.
He says the same thing in verse number eight.
Two or three cities, they wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not
satisfied.
Yet you have not returned to me.
I have smitten and blasted in the vineyards and the fig trees, verse number nine.
Yet you have not returned to me.
He says, I have sent among you the pestilence
right like I did it in Egypt, but you haven't returned to me.
I've overthrown some of you, just like God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, yet you haven't
returned to me.
Man, that makes me sad.
And this kind of previous episode, think in Joel, we talked about natural calamity should
be a wake up call.
how natural these were, maybe miraculous, whatever, but that rephrase, yet you did not
return to me.
I did all this for you to repent, but yet you turned not unto me.
I did all this, but yet you returned not unto me.
And so it's showing that these things happen.
And it should be a wake-up call.
We should check to see if we're right with God because He wants us to repent and He wants
us to be saved.
Absolutely.
That just, just over and over and over, yet you've not returned to me, yet you've not
returned to me.
You would make, you would think that after so much people will return and you would think,
well, what could they possibly be thinking?
But think today.
How do people comfort themselves today?
People don't say, you know what, we need to return to Jehovah.
is you know what, I need more of this worldliness I'm seeking.
I need drugs or I need something to dull my senses instead of saying, you know what man, I
need to turn to God.
I mean, if everything we're reading in Amos, we could probably just about attribute to the
world around us today in some way, shape or form, not just the world around us, this
country.
I mean, we have a measure of physical, financial, economic blessing.
And I think in many ways it drives people to forget about God.
And we could be saying the same things.
Yeah, false sense of security.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Why haven't we as a country completely, wholly turned to God?
You you think when after a couple of world wars, after a civil war, after COVID, you
think, man, people would get themselves together, Spanish flu or whatever else, the black
plague, nothing gets our attention, at least not for long.
I remember after 9-11, people were praying and that was beautiful, even though I recognize
it.
not everybody that was doing those things, they were New Testament Christians, but at
least there was kind of a semblance of religion and morality in the world.
know, people were nice.
Around Christmas time, people are real nice, you know, God bless you, oh, over the door
for you and that, like December, or January 1st.
So it's just kind of this temporary righteousness.
Now anyway, chapter four ends, man, he says, therefore thus will I do unto thee, Israel,
and because I will do this unto thee,
prepare to meet thy God, Israel.
Man, that should be a wonderful statement, prepare to meet God.
But when you read it in the context, it's like prepare to meet thy God.
And we were reading it earlier in Hebrews chapter 12, there's a statement that you only
read I think three times in all the Bible, that God is a consuming fire.
and one time should be comforting for Israel to say God is gonna drive out your enemies
and they won't be able stand against you because I'm a consuming fire.
But the other time is to Israel issuing them a warning.
Don't trifle with God because he's a consuming fire.
so depending on the way you hear it, it might be comforting or concerning.
And he says to them here, which should be concerning, prepare to meet your God, Israel.
ah Well, why should that be a thing of concern?
Verse 13, for lo,
He's formed the mountains and he creates the wind and declares unto man, what is his
thought?
That maketh the morning darkness and tread upon the high places of the earth.
The Lord, the God of hosts is his name.
So there's this, there's this judgment that's looming over them and there's nothing
they'll be able to do to escape it.
And it's all just.
Everything that they're gonna receive is just.
So there's no excuse for them to say, well, I didn't do anything or this is too much.
No, you've had three reasons and for four, they've been wicked and they're gonna be
punished.
uh But then right in the middle of all of this harshness, you get to chapter five and he
says in verse number four, for thus says the Lord unto the house of Israel, seek me and
you'll live.
Verse six.
Seek the Lord and you will live.
Verse 8, seek him that makes the seven stars of Orion and turns the shadow of death into
the morning and makes a day dark with night and calls the waters of the sea and pours them
out upon the face of the earth.
The Lord is his name that strengthens the spoiled against the strong so that the spoils
shall come against the fortress.
He's reminding them that this doesn't have to be your end.
And even in a book like Amos,
where there is like utter destruction coming to them because of all of their utter
wickedness.
God is still crying out like, come on man, seek me and live.
Like, you know, again, going back to Ezekiel 33, 11, I mentioned either earlier or last
episode, can't recall.
But anyway, why will you die?
You know, why are you gonna choose this way of death?
Which is kind of a surreal facet of God.
that the sovereign creator of the universe reasons with us.
And he says, man, what are you doing?
Why are you choosing this way of death?
Just come back and live.
And not only live, prosper.
Which is always just, I don't know, that just kind of jumps out to me.
Staying in chapter five, he says in verse 14, seek good and not evil, that you may live.
And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you as you.
or as ye have spoken, hate the evil and love the good and establish judgment in the gate.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious under the remnant of Joseph." So
even here, God is reminding them that he loves them or that he's going to bless them if
they will just do right.
And he gives both sides of it, seek good and then not the evil so that you can live.
ah God wants, he wants relationship with man.
He wants fellowship with man.
And he, unlike us at times, goes through every conceivable length to make that
relationship possible.
Which is mind blowing to me.
God wants a relationship with us so much that he goes through all these lengths of
discipline and he goes through the length of having people to prophesy, even so much as
having Jesus to die.
And it doesn't benefit him.
And he knows that probably most people won't even take advantage of it or avail themselves
to it, you know, and he still does it.
Yeah, most people won't.
it's still, which is even greater still, which shows that it's still worth it for him.
I know that there may be only whatever the percentage, let's say only 30 % of the world's
people turned to God.
He says, yeah, I know, it's still worth it.
But you're gonna lose 70?
So you're gonna send Jesus only for the 30?
Yeah, man, do you know who the 30 is though?
They're people who made him my image.
I want fellowship with them.
I want relationship with them.
Which is just so amazing, man, about
how much the Lord loves us and how much he wants us to have this relationship.
ah But when we're not doing right, our worship is detestable to him.
ah Verse 21 in chapter five, he says, I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not
smell in your solemn assemblies.
Or he doesn't want those odors to come up to him as a sweet offering, as they wouldn't be.
says, you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them,
neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the noise of the songs, for I will not hear the melody of the
vials.
And guys, here it's saying, like Jesus was saying in the New Testament, that's vain
worship.
It's completely empty, which makes me think, wonder, I could wonder, um
today as we look at worship, how God sees the worship of people.
mean, and not just denominational worship or false worship, but even worship that's
offered to him without the right heart.
Like, you know, ah we're starting to discern them out at South Florida Avenue and, excuse
me, ah Jesus says, listen, man, if you...
If you're offering your gift and you realize that your brother has something to give you
or against you, leave it and go settle that.
So I wonder how many people have grievances and issues of the heart.
And we may think, well, since I'm doing a scriptural thing in worship, you know, I'm
singing, I don't have a guitar, so it must be acceptable to God.
It doesn't have to
Yeah, Bush vengaba grudges and bitterness and yeah, you know all that different kind of
stuff
Yeah, because Isaiah mentioned something similar, Isaiah 1.15 or 11 through 15, and even
here in Amos 5.21 or 24 after he talks about that worship, God is the one that commanded
the sacred assemblies.
God is the one who commanded the peace offerings.
God is the one who wanted them to sing even stringed instruments in verse 23.
But notice verse 24, but let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty
stream.
That seems to be what was making their rendering their worship vein is they were unjust
they were unrighteous and You know we cannot You know live like a like a heathen Monday
through Saturday then come in Sunday morning worship and think of things all right even
though we're doing the scriptural things on the outside You know acapella sing and put our
contribution in the plate, you know praying and all that kind of stuff But uh he demands
our heart
and he demands the right kind of heart, not the perfect sinless heart, but a loyal,
faithful heart that wants to be pleasing to God.
I love how justice and righteousness are paired together there because I think many times
people, you know, there's people in the world who care about justice, but they don't care
about personal holiness, you know, and they want the poor to be taken care of and all
that's good stuff, you know, but, but well, don't talk about my life though.
You know what I mean?
I want to shack up and I want to do this at the other.
it's like, well, those things really go together.
And that's the goal, you know, to, have both of those together is really what God's
looking for that full picture.
And then,
with those things to worship him the right way that he's asked for.
That's interesting you bring that up and I'm just wondering how many times justice and
this is for later for sure but how many times justice and righteousness
are paired together.
uh Probably a lot.
It shows you both sides of God's nature that justice and righteousness do go together.
And that's one of the things in our culture that I think is a big problem that people want
justice but they don't want righteousness.
You have the people who are, and I may be ascribing attributes to them that aren't right,
so maybe I'll need to be corrected, but these, what are so-called social justice warriors,
know, people who are becrying things that are going wrong.
And I'm not saying that those things that they are complaining about aren't wrong.
That's fine.
However,
why are they wrong?
It's not just because I think they're wrong.
It's because it's not righteous to treat people poorly.
It's not righteous to overlook or take advantage of someone like God told them.
Why is he punishing?
Man, you're cruel to the poor people.
You're terrible to these people.
um I didn't go into a lot of detail, but he talks about um with Isra, what they were doing
in chapter two, verse number six, seven, and eight there.
He says even in verse eight, they lay themselves down upon clothes to pledge by every
altar.
So they would keep a person's coat and instead of giving it back to which the law
commanded, because that could have been the only thing they had to sleep with or sleep on,
they had the audacious sleep on top of these other people's coats and clothes and make
them cold at night.
For what reason?
You didn't need it.
And so it's just like they're just being cruel for no reason.
they're gonna be punished because of their wickedness.
And so let's just jump real quick to
kind of the final part of here because the judgment is coming it is certain the people
were perishing in chapter 8 verse 11 because they were not doing what God said so there's
going to be a famine he says here behold the days come says the Lord that I will send a
famine in the land not a famine of bread nor of thirds of water but of hearing the words
of the Lord so there would be a period of time that there would not be any
uh new or fresh revelation from God.
But notice in this next chapter, chapter nine, though there's gonna be all of these things
that we might look at that will be destructive, they will be harsh, be their punishment,
judgment, meted out on them, as we're saying, God still loves them.
And so we read in chapter nine, beginning at verse number 11, he says, in that day, will I
raise up the tabernacle.
If we look at some of the language in here, how he describes what he's gonna do, he says,
I'm gonna raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen and close up the breaches
thereof.
The New Testament says, excuse me, the King James says, and some other ones that may be to
repair, holes, do you want to have a different rendering of that in verse number?
damages you can change this
repair damages, and so he's going to raise up, he's gonna repair, and he says, I will uh
raise up his ruins and I will build it as in the days of old.
So there's all these terms of restoration, like we talked about in last episode with Amos,
how God is gonna give them back what they lost in those years of famine.
In the book of Joel, yeah, and so here he's saying, he's gonna do these things, he says,
that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all
the heathen which are called by my name says the Lord that doeth this." And so again, this
is going back to um those that call on his name we talked about in the book of Joel, those
that would be faithful to him.
says, behold the days come says the Lord that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and
the treader of the grapes him that soweth seed and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and
all the hills shall melt.
So this is showing such abundance.
that it's gonna even throw off their normal rotations for agriculture.
They'll still be reaping while the guy's trying to sow and still be sowing while the guy's
reaping.
So there'll just be so much prosperity, which is gonna be the opposite of what was going
to be going on during their judgment and punishment.
He says, verse 14, and I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they
shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink
wine thereof and shall make
also gardens and eat the fruit thereof.
So the places that they inhabited once they would not inhabit anymore, God is gonna allow
them to come back to that place.
Not only so, but he's showing that this is not gonna be like just a short glimpse of one
day.
They'll be able to plant gardens again, which take time, effort, so they'll be able to
have those things restored to them.
And he says, verse 15, and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be
pulled up out of their land.
which I have given them says the Lord thy God.
And so with all of the judgment that's coming to them, he still tells them that there's
gonna be this great day of blessing.
There's gonna be this future coming which we look forward to in the New Testament and
which is awesome because as you mentioned uh earlier, for us there is this,
We have to allow the Bible to be its own commentary, so we have this inspired commentary
in Acts chapter 15, beginning at verse number 13 or 14, where there is reference to this,
where in 13 it says, after that they held their peace, James answers saying, men and
brethren, hearken to me, Simeon hath declared how God at the first did see the Gentiles,
or did visit rather the Gentiles.
take out of them a people for his name and to this agree the words of the prophets." So he
says, listen, here's what's going to happen.
God's going to allow the Gentiles.
And how do we know that?
Because this is in agreement with what was already said.
So what was already said?
Verse 16, he's quoting directly from Amos 9 where he says, after this I will return and
will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down and I will build again the
ruins thereof and I will set it up that the residue of men might seek after the Lord.
and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called says the Lord who doeth all these things.
And so it was always in God's mind that there would be restoration.
It was always in God's mind that the Jew and Gentile together would be able to benefit
from this new covenant, this new kingdom, the church age in which we now live.
think Acts 15 that you just read also shows, because a lot of people take verse 15 of Amos
9 as to mean that Israel, literal Israel is supposed to be forever in that temple area,
whatever, which of course it's applied to the church in Acts 15.
And so as you mentioned, that's the best interpretation of that, how the Bible interprets
it.
And even some of that language, some of the same language is used in Joel, right, of the
grapes and the seed and everything.
And I think that it's kind of this idea that Jesus talks about where his kingdom, the
kingdom of Jesus satiates you, right, where there's almost like this spiritual harvest,
this spiritual abundance.
There's waters, there's, you know, there's springs of living water.
And, you know, Jesus has those parables.
The kingdom of God is like a banquet and everybody's invited.
The first people don't show up.
So then
The Gentiles essentially come and they are sitting down in the banquet, you know, all that
I think kind of connects together.
When you see this beautiful image, it's interesting that James, I don't know if you guys
have heard this, some people call James the Amos of the New Testament because of some of
this, you know, the mistreatment of the poor and stuff like that.
But then this, the same James quotes Amos in Acts 15 and almost kind of settles the whole
meeting there in Acts 15, the Jerusalem council or whatever sometimes that is called.
because that shows, it was always God's plan to bring the Gentiles in and Peter didn't do
anything sinful by preaching the gospel to them.
Yeah, and that's good because if you read Amos 9, those last verses, and you don't have
the New Testament revelation, you're left to what does this mean?
But when you have the New Testament revelation, you know exactly what it means.
And it's not that it's like abrogated or canceled out.
It's fulfilled.
And that's the thing.
I some people miss.
Yeah.
So then just let's just throw this out here.
That's kind of like a final thought or question.
Thinking about these passages that we just read, looking at this hope, how should that
hope of restoration motivate Christians today?
Like Israel had a motivation in their age, but today is 2026.
As we read Amos, what should this do for Christians today?
I think the spiritual prosperity that's only found in God's kingdom, God's way, because we
live in a culture right now that's just so messed up, so torn up, you know, but there's
peace and prosperity, spiritual prosperity, spiritual peace in this kingdom that the world
can't touch.
I think of John 16, 33, in the world you have tribulation, but in me you have peace.
Right, And I've overcome the world.
Yeah, and I think too, just that idea that if you stick with God and do things his way,
God will always make it worth it.
God will always make it work, you know, and even that we read in Amos 9 11, the tabernacle
of David, which has fallen down.
So something that was like raggedy and in disrepute, God says, I will repair.
So if you really, if you stick with God, no matter how things look, it's gonna, there's a
change.
Like if anybody can make a difference, it's God.
But
you've got to make sure you're on his side doing his will.
Mm-hmm.
You mentioned that often the prophets will give this imagery of an abundance of food,
which would have been, you know, great for them.
And then I'm thinking about the New Testament where Jesus was saying, John chapter 6,
listen, you guys just follow me for the bread.
Don't seek after this bread that perishes, but you need to seek after the true bread that
brings eternal life, which the Son of Man is going to provide for you.
ah this has been a really good study.
I appreciate
you know, being able to kind of facilitate this conversation.
Amos is a tremendous book of study and reflection.
Judgment is coming for those inhabitants who were hearing this message, but there was
always hope.
And so for us today, we look for the hope that is real and that can be found in Jesus.
uh
a good way to end this episode of the podcast, the hope that is in Jesus that Amos and for
that matter the rest of the minor prophets do teach us.
We appreciate you joining us today and we look forward to our next episode.
We will look at the Book of Obadiah.
Have a great rest of your day.