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THE TROUBLE-MAKER FROM
TEKOA !!
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He was not a preacher … just a humble shepherd in the Judean
wilderness. Tekoa is about 12 miles south of Jerusalem.
The only university he had known was the “School of Hard Knocks.’ He had never studied Homiletics, nor did he
wear a silken gown with a back-to-front collar.
But when God called him to visit the ungodly Northern House of Israel
and denounce the sin of that nation, he was quick to respond.
Amos 3:7-8
The lion has roared--tremble in fear!
The Sovereign LORD has spoken--I dare not refuse to proclaim his
message!
……………………………….
1. A MAN WITH A
SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
This Biblical prophet is the hero of the social gospeller of today; those who tackle society’s evils but fail to proclaim the old-time gospel of a Saviour who died to deal with the problem of man’s sin.
True … there are social implications to the Gospel. But the Lord Jesus came to be a Saviour, not
a Social Reformer. The way to deal with
the world’s problems is by changing the hearts of men. Regeneration, not outward reformation, is
what is needed.
Nevertheless, Amos sets a fine example tackling the evils of the House
of Israel. He is scathing in his
condemnation.
Amos 2:6 This is what the LORD says:
"The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not forget
it. I will not let them go unpunished any
longer! They have perverted justice by
selling honest people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample helpless people in
the dust and deny justice to those who are oppressed. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy
name. 8 At their religious
festivals, they lounge around in clothing stolen from their debtors. In the house of their god, they present
offerings of wine purchased with stolen money.
And again …
Amos 5:10 How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth! 11
You trample the poor and steal what little they have through taxes and
unfair rent. Therefore, you will never
live in the beautiful stone houses you are building. You will never drink wine from the lush vineyards you are
planting. 12 For I know the
vast number of your sins and rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice
in the courts. 13 So those
who are wise will keep quiet, for it is an evil time……………… 21 "I hate all your show and
pretence--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. 22 I will not accept your burnt
offerings and grain offerings. I won't
even notice all your choice peace offerings. 23 Away with your hymns
of praise! They are only noise to my
ears. I will not listen to your music,
no matter how lovely it is. 24 Instead,
I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will
never run dry.
And notice the sarcasm of his attack on their hypocrisy …
Amos 4:4 "Go ahead and offer
your sacrifices to the idols at Bethel and Gilgal. Keep on disobeying--your sins are mounting up! Offer sacrifices each morning and bring your
tithes every three days! 5 Present
your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra
voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of
thing you Israelites love to do," says the Sovereign LORD.
But Amos also called upon them to repent of their sin … and turn to the
Lord…. a note so often missing in many a modern-day pulpit.
Amos 5:4 Now this is what the LORD says to the family of
Israel: "Come back to me and live!
5 Don't go to worship the idols of Bethel, Gilgal, or
Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal
will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will come to
nothing." 6 Come back
to the LORD and live!
2. A MAN OF PLAIN
SPEECH
He was not the kind of speaker you would invite to your Ladies’
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Fellowship…
In the town square at Samaria, capital of the House of Israel, he hears
some women giggle at him and perhaps pass a rude comment. He turns on them with “the most vitriolic
attack in the Old Testament” (R.L. Smith).
Pointing his weather-beaten finger at them he says …
Amos 4:1 Listen to me, you "fat cows" of Samaria, you
women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and who are always asking your
husbands for another drink! 2 The Sovereign LORD has sworn this by
his holiness: "The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in
your noses. Every last one of you will
be dragged away like a fish on a hook!
I, the LORD, have spoken!
And thus it literally came to pass when the Assyrian armies
conquered their land and led them away captive about 40 years later.
In a series of visions he sees, and expounds to the mocking crowd, the coming judgment.
For example …
Amos 8:1 Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe
fruit. 2 "What do you
see, Amos?" he asked. I replied,
"A basket full of ripe fruit. "Then the LORD said, "This fruit represents my people of
Israel -- ripe for punishment! I will
not delay their punishment again.
The play on words in the Hebrew is captured here by The Living Bible
translation: Ripe fruit … ripe for judgment!
3. A MAN WHO
COUNTED THE COST
Coming from the southern House of Judah to denounce the sins of the
Northern House of Israel was fraught with danger. But God’s hand was upon him.
The call was unmistakable.
Preach he must.
Amaziah, an idolatrous priest, denounces and misrepresents Amos to King
Jeroboam II.
Amos 7:10 But when Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, heard what
Amos was saying, he rushed a message to King Jeroboam: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right
here on your very doorstep! What he is
saying is intolerable. It will lead to
rebellion all across the land. 11 He
is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed (Not true!!) and the people of Israel will
be sent away into exile’” (True!!). 12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: "Get out of
here, you seer! Go on back to the land
of Judah and do your preaching there! 13
Don't bother us here in Bethel with your prophecies, especially not here
where the royal sanctuary is!" 14
But 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. 15 But the LORD
called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in
Israel. 16 "Now then, listen to this message from the
LORD! You say, ‘Don't prophesy against
Israel. Stop preaching against my people.
17 But this is what the LORD says: “Because you have refused
to listen, your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and
daughters will be killed. Your land
will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly
become captives in exile, far from their homeland."
With that, Amos ‘shakes the dust off his feet’, and returns to Tekoa.
Israel fails to repent so the predicted judgment comes!
4. A MAN WHO KNEW HIS GOD … AND WAS KNOWN BY HIS GOD
Amos 7:7 Then he showed me another vision. …. 8 And the
LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
God called him by his name, “Amos!” which is a pretty rare thing in the
pages of Scripture. But it is a
reminder that “He calleth His own sheep by name” (John 10:3). In the eyes of man Amos was but a humble
shepherd. In the eyes of God he was one
of His sheep.
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An incident in the life of Moses has that man of God saying, “Would to
God that all the Lord’s people were prophets!” … Men and women, like Amos, who
have a social conscience, but neglect not the old-time Gospel. Men and women, like Amos, who are quick to
respond to the call of God in spite of adverse circumstances, misrepresentation
and ridicule. Men and women, like Amos,
who know their God intimately.
This ‘Trouble Maker from Tekoa’, as some might call him. is both an example and a challenge to all
who profess to be followers of the Son of God.
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It is impossible to grasp the truths enshrined in the prophetical books
without some historical and even geographical background knowledge.
Amos comes from TEKOA (look at a map!) to prophesy against the Northern
House of Israel. Tekoa is a village in
the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
It is about 750 BC.
Bethel is the centre of Israel’s idolatry … and the king’s chapel! But this fearless man of God has heard the
call to “Go!” … so go he does. (3:7-8).
In chapter 7:9-17 we are given a glimpse of the opposition Amos faced
as he proclaimed the coming judgement.
Amaziah, apostate priest at Bethel, clashes with him violently.
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1. AMAZIAH
MISREPRESENTS AMOS … 7:11
Amos did not say that Israel’s king would die in battle. As far as we know he did not! (2 Kings
14:29). But Amos did say that
Jeroboam’s dynasty would come to an end (v. 9). And it did!
God’s servants are ofttimes misrepresented by their enemies!
2. AMAZIAH
REBUKES AMOS … 7:12-13
He implies that Amos is in this preaching business for the money!
3. AMAZIAH
HEARS AMOS … 7:14-17
This servant of the Lord replies that it is not for PROFIT, nor
is it his PROFESSION, nor his PARENTAGE (“not the son of a
prophet” K.J.V.), but PROVIDENCE has put him where he is. God had called him (v. 15).
Five woes are pronounced upon Amaziah … his wife, his children, his property, his own self, and his nation, are all doomed! (v. 17).
8 WOES upon various nations …
1:3-2:16
3 SERMONS against Israel … 3:1-6:14
5
VISIONS and the clash with Amaziah … 7:1-9:10
EPILOGUE: the Restoration of Israel …
9:11-15
Read the entire book of Amos at one sitting.
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INTRODUCTION
The Eight Woes against Eight Nations are found in 1:3 to 2:16, each message commencing with the same formula, “The Lord says…” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). And each speaks of “fire” coming upon them: 1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2, 5).
Whilst the first five nations have attacked Israel (or Judah), the Moabites will be judged because of their sacrilegious act toward the King of Edom (2:1). God is the God of the whole world, not just the God of Israel! And He punishes sin wherever it is found.
1. DAMASCUS (1:3) ... Capital of Syria. They will be judged for their BARBARIC DESTRUCTION of Gilead. (See a map … every time we come across a place name!)
2. GAZA (1:6-8) … a major Philistine town. Guilty of SLAVE TRAFFICKING.
3. TYRE (1:9-10) … city in
Phoenicia … COVENANT BREAKING.
4. EDOM (1:11-12) … Guilty of PITILESS HOSTILITY against
God’s people.
5. AMMON (1:13-15) … SAVAGE BRUTALITY is their crime.
6. MOAB (2:1-3) … and their SACRILEGIOUS INSULT.
<Notice> the first three are unrelated to Israel … but the Edomites were
descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother!
And Ammon and Moab were sons of Lot, Abraham’s nephew.
Now, with No. 7 we get closer still to the House of Israel!
7. JUDAH! (2:4-5) … Guilty of SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS!
But
then comes the bombshell! Amos attacks
8. ISRAEL! (2:6-16) … and their BLATANT HYPOCRISY!
Beneath an outward veneer of religious rites and ceremonies the nation of Israel was morally decadent.
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1. THE
WICKEDNESS OF ISRAEL
(a) IDOLATRY … Bethel was the site of a
Golden Calf, worshipped as their God! (1 Kings 12:28).
(b) INHUMANITY. They sold the poor as slaves … they did not return at nightfall
the cloaks given as a pledge (as commanded in Exodus 22:26), and they “trample
on the weak and helpless…” (2:6-8).
(c) IMMORALITY is a part of their religious
worship! (2:7).
(d) INDIFFERENCE “to the bleeding wounds of
the nation” (6:6 Moffat translation) (see 6:3-6).
(e) INJUSTICE … they turn “justice into
poison and make right come out as wrong” (6:12). That, says Amos, is as foolish as trying to plough the sea with
oxen. The righteous Judge will punish
them for this
(f) INSOLENCE … 6:8, 13.
<Notice> that
these three sermons all commence with “Listen”! (3:1; 4:1; 5:1) and end with
“so…” (3:11; 4:12; 5:16).
2. THE WARNINGS TO ISRAEL … 4:6-12
In the days of the
Judges such calamities had produced a repentance in the hearts of His people …
drought, famine, plague, war … all this was foretold by Moses as the fruits of
rebellion (Deuteronomy 28…).
But the heart of Israel
in the day of Amos was hardened against these warnings from their God.
3. THE “WISDOM” OF ISRAEL is human wisdom. They are
basking in …
(a) FALSE
HOPE … (5:18-20). They actually think the Messianic Age is
about to dawn … and that they will be blest!
You are in for a shock, says Amos!!
(b) FALSE
WORSHIP … (5:21-24)! Without holy living their sacrifices and
religious sons are a mockery.
(c) FALSE
SECURITY … (6:1). They are “at ease in Samaria”, expecting the
strong walls of their city to save them from any attacker … and thinking that
God will deliver them anyway! How wrong
they were!
4. THE WOE UPON ISRAEL
… 3:12-4:3
Therefore … Judgment is
coming!
Thirty years later this
pronouncement of doom was fulfilled.
The dreaded Assyrian army led Israel away into captivity (2 Kings
17:6-7).
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Amos now introduces us
to a series of Five Visions … each one mounting in intensity …
1. THE DEVOURING LOCUSTS …
7:1-3
As they swarm across the
land this herdsman from Tekoa lifts his voice in intercession … and the plague
is stayed!! (vv 2-3.)
The phrase, “The Lord
changed His mind” is what theologians call an (wait for it!)
anthropomorphism!! That means that the
writers of Scripture sometimes use human terms to describe God. And, after all, human terms are all we have! Strictly speaking God does not change His
mind…
The lesson of this
vision is that Judgement was INTERCEPTED … and need never have fallen if the nation of Israel had cried out to
their God.
2. THE CONSUMING FIRE …
7:4-6
This time the Judgement
is IMPEDED in its onslaught! It has already started to “burn up the land”
(v. 4), but again Amos prays and sees the judgement cease.
“More things are wrought
by prayer than this world dreams of…”
3. THE DIVINE PLUMBLINE …
7:7-8
A plumbline is a
builder’s tool used to determine how straight a wall is… This wall was originally straight (v. 7),
but now is ‘out of plumb’.
Israel is the wall …
once walking with their God and now far from Him.
God’s ‘Plumbline’ is His
Law … and they had shattered every commandment. So Judgement was now INEVITABLE!
<Notice> how the
Lord calls Amos by name (v. 8)! The New
Testament reminds us that He calleth His sheep by name, too (John 10:3).
4. THE RIPE FRUIT … 8:1-3
There is a pun here with
is not evidence in our English version.
The Hebrew word for
‘fruit’ (v. 2) is “Kaits” … RIPE fruit!
The Hebrew word for
‘end’ (v. 2) is “Kets” … almost the same sound. Perhaps we could paraphrase it to capture the thrust of Amos’
pun… “I see a basket of RIPE fruit”
… and the Lord says, “Yes, and my people are RIPE for judgement!”
In this vision Judgement
is now IMMINENT!
5. THE STANDING LORD …
9:1-4
The Hebrew judge would sit to hear the case before him … and stand to
pronounce the sentence. And the Lord is
already standing…
And He stands upon the
altar. That which is a place of
salvation when the sacrifice is upon it can be a place of judgement when the
sacrifice is despised. In our day men
and women will be … and are (John 3:18) judged by their relationship to the One
who offered Himself a sacrifice on the altar of Calvary.
And the message of this
vision is that there is no escape!
Nowhere to hide! Judgement
is INESCAPABLE!
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These verses again
outline the sins of the nation and pronounce the coming captivity.
1. THEY DESTROY THE POOR … 8:4
Oppression of the needy,
instead of showing mercy and charity toward them.
2. THEY DESECRATE THE SABBATH … 8:5
Not by actually working
on it, but even on that Holy Day their mind is still taken up with materialism.
3. THEY DECEIVE THE BUYER … 8:5-6
False weights are
another way of breaking the ninth commandment…
“Thou shalt not bear false witness…”
So…
(a) They will
be Distressed … v. 8. The earthquake is coming! (1:1).
(b) They will
be Disregarded … vv 11-12. God will not answer their dry!
(c) They
will be Dispossessed … 5:27 … taken
captive into a heathen land!
* * * * * * * * * *
“Remember therefore
how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will
come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee.” Revelation 3:3.
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INTRODUCTION
As Amos brings his
message to a close there breaks through these storm-clouds of doom a ray of
hope … there will be a future restoration of God’s people, at least, some of
them! (v. 8b).
The wheat will be
separated from the worthless chaff (vv 9-10), and the faithful remnant will be
saved!
And it is here we strike
controversy. Good evangelical
Christians differ as to the interpretation of these closing verses.
→ WHEN will the Lord “restore the kingdom of David” ?? (v. 11) ←
1. THIS RESTORATION IS OFTEN FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
(a) It was promised to David himself (1 Chronicles
17:11-12). One of David’s descendants
will sit upon his throne, we are told.
Isaiah
foretells the same fact … 11:1; 16:5
So does
Jeremiah … 21:5-6
And
Zechariah … 6:12-13
And Amos …
9:11
2. THIS RESTORATION WAS PARTIALLY FULFILLED
… when David’s
descendant, Zerubbabel, led a remnant of Jews back from Babylon. Representatives from all the twelve tribes
returned (Ezra 2:70).
And had these Jews kept
God’s Law days of blessing would have surely returned. Instead of which they drifted back into
their old sinful ways again (Malachi 1:7-8).
3. THIS
RESTORATION IS REFERRED TO IN CONNECTION WITH THE FIRST ADVENT OF OUR LORD
JESUS
Luke 1:31-32 states that
He would
sit upon the throne of His father (ancestor) David!
But
when??? Aye… There’s the rub!!!
Many Christians would
see these verses fulfilled during an earthly period of 1000 years… yet to come
after the Lord Jesus returns.
It will be time of :
(a) POSSESSION … v. 12.
God’s people will be secure in their own land.
(b) PROSPERITY … v. 13.
Amos paints a picture of material blessings galore!
(c) PEACE … v. 14. No
more trouble from enemies. As other
prophets express it… “the lion will lie down with the lamb”.
(d) PERPETUITY … v. 15 … they will “not be pulled up again.” And obviously, that did not take place after
the return from Babylon.
So those who hold the
Pre-Millennial view of prophecy hold that it is yet awaiting fulfilment. On that Day the Lord Jesus will sit on a LITERAL throne of David, as the old
prophets said.
·
OR DID THEY ???
For other Christians see
this prophecy fulfilled by the resurrection of Christ. It was then, they assure us, that He sat on
David’s throne … and that IS what
Acts 2:31-32 does say!!
In which case it is not
a literal kingdom of 1000 years after the Second Coming, but a spiritual
kingdom here and now!
Jesus DID say that His
Kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).
And Paul tells us that we who are believers are already in His Kingdom
(Colossians 1:13).
And to clinch it
… at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, James actually quotes these verses (Amos
9:11-12) and applies it to the Church!!
(Acts 15:13-18.)
This means that Amos
sees the birth of a new People of God, a “new Israel” comprised of saved Jews
and saved Gentiles …“IF
ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29) ... and in Old Testament language he is
describing the New Testament blessings!
For the Christian there is Possession and Prosperity (spiritual
blessings galore!) and Peace and Perpetuity. Not just
for 1000 years, but for Eternity!
* * * * * * * * * *
Like the rest of those
men of God who are referred to as “Minor” prophets, Amos sure packed a Major
Message!!
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