Amos

Notes from Bible study with Pastor Terry Gray

Terminology:

Israel split into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom retained the name "Israel," while the Southern Kingdom was also known as the Kingdom of Judah. Hence, note that in the text, Israel, when read under the context of time, is the Northern Kingdom.

Prophet Amos

- His name means burden or burden bearer

- He was not from a prestigious background; he was a 

"country boy," a sheep breeder from the Southern Kingdom

- He prophesied during a time of great prosperity and success in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. This period of time was believed to be the zenith of the Northern Kingdom: great wealth, great success, great material blessing

- He was not a prophet, nor a son of a prophet (Amos 7:14). In those days, there were schools and seminaries to train prophets. That is, Amos had no formal training. In man's eyes, he was not "qualified" to be a prophet. He was just a sheep breeder and a tender of crops on a farm. He was common, working class, yet, God raised him to do His calling.

Inspiration: We are not here to do things according to man's will. We are not here to be defined by man's standards. There is nothing wrong with seeking formal training to understand and teach God's Word. We just need to keep in mind that God appoints His leaders, not us.

- The Book of Amos is considered one of the darkest books in the Bible. It's a book of doom and destruction. It is a book of judgment.

    Amos 1-6: Amos brings scathing messages to the NK

    Amos 7-9 Amos is given visions about Israel and the judgment that is coming.

Amos 1:3-2:3

Amos starts off by stating God's judgment on enemy nations of Israel. One by one, Amos lists off how each surrounding nation would be judged by God. The Israelites obviously had no trouble listening to that.

Amos 2:4

Judah will be judged. This is starting to hit a bit too close to home.

Amos 2:6-16

Israel will be judged. Now, Amos has hit home, and the Israelites responded very negatively, offended, horrified, surprised that they would be wrong. Remember, both the Southern and the Northern Kingdoms were thriving during this time. They are enjoying prosperity like they have never had before. And here, standing in front of them, was this country boy with no formal training telling them they should repent? Worse, this Amos guy was from the Southern Kingdom. What was he doing preaching man-defined non-sense in a foreign land?

The Israelites wanted Amos out.

Inspiration: From Amos 1:3-2:16, we get a glimpse of how easy it is for us to elbow the person next to us. But when the spotlight is on ourselves, we eagerly look away or turn a blind eye. We readily judge others and exclaim in glee when others are judged. But when it comes to examining our own lives, we are reluctant and quiet. When we stand in front of God at the end of this life, we give an account of our own lives, not what our neighbors did or what our friends did. I'd say it's best we focus on living according to God's will before we worry about how bad other people are doing.

Israel's Deeds for Judgment

1. They abused the poor, the needy, the innocent for their own gain (Amos 2:6-7; 5:11-12)

They have forgotten how only years before, they were abused slaves of the Egyptians, how God had delivered them to be His representatives on Earth. And when they are prospering under the blessing of God, they now become abusers themselves, taking advantage of those who need help the most. This is not a sin that God takes lightly. Many events and stories throughout the Bible reveal the anger of God when the poor, the needy, and the innocent are abused for selfish gains.

2. They failed miserably as God's representatives (Amos 3:1-2)

The Israelites was God's chosen people--of all people! Yet, they did not set a good example and strayed away from God. The Israelites failed to appreciate they were the chosen people of God. They did not behave like children of God. (Today, the Israelites are still the chosen people, but because they rejected Christ, the Church has become the royal priesthood.)

3. The rich cared only about pleasure, and they get it at the expense of the poor (Amos 4:1; 6:1-7)

The rich and the powerful were complacent with their materialistic pursuits. Their eyes were no longer on God or God's mission for the Israelites. Their eyes were only on pleasure. Upperclass women, over-indulgent and obsessive with wealth, cared only care about more wealth and pleasure when their actions oppress the poor further. If you're offended by this statement, read what God actually called these desperate housewives: "You cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria." These women were pridefully arrogant and materialistic. They were rich in worldly goods but desolate in the spirit. They think because they offer freely, they are awesome (Amos 4:4-5). They boast about their offering, showcasing how much they have and how much they are willing to give. This is disgusting. They give not out of love. They give not to glorify God. They give to glorify themselves. Rich in worldly goods. Desolate in the spirit.

4. They refused to return to God (Amos 4:6-11)

Despite the many times God has reached out to them, the Israelites refused the hand of God and continued down the path of self-indulgence and self-righteousness.

5. They corrupted justice and God's righteousness (Amos 5:7-10)

They disregarded God's prophet after prophet sent to the Northern Kingdom. They failed to see and hear all the warnings. They thrived on a corrupted justice system, and they were satisfied, again, at the expense of the poor, the needy, and the innocent.

6. They were religious (Amos 5:21-26)

They presented offerings, but, as mentioned above, they did not do so out of repentance of their sins but to further feed their sin of pride. The Israelites did not have a giving heart. They gave because they wanted show off their materialistic treasures. They had a prideful heart. Worse, they used the opportunity for repentance to proudly parade in their sins. In other words, while they claim they are honoring God, they are honoring themselves. Such is the epitome of idolatrous worship.

Inspiration: I always twinge when people ask if I'm "religious." No, I am not religious. I am a follower of Christ, who seeks the Truth and hopes to bring the Truth to those around me. My motives are pure and simple: I love because Jesus first loved me. And because I love, I tell people the Truth so that they can make their choice based on the correct information.

"Religious" is never discussed in a positive light in the Bible. Paul called himself a religious man when he persecuted Christians with zeal. And here, we see God harshly telling the Israelites, "I hate, I despise your religious festivals" (Amos 5:21).

Religious describes what we do in the name of God when our heart is not in God.

God is all powerful. What do we think those offerings are for? A gift to God? A sacrifice to God because He needs food? Because He is poor? The idea of offerings is to bring our heart closer to God. When we give, we should be reminded of how Jesus gave. It is to remind us the heart of Jesus, the heart of God. And when we are reminded of Jesus, we repent of our present sins, and we strive to be more like Jesus. To do in the name of God when our heart is not in God, God will not hear us. Such hypocrisy is only a stench and noise to God (Amos 5:21-23).

7. They were prideful (Amos 6:8-14)

Amos 7:1-6

Twice, God showed Amos the judgment against the Northern Kingdom. Twice, Amos prayed for mercy. And twice, God relented.

Inspiration: There is power in prayer; there is power in intercessory prayer. Other powerful examples occur in Genesis, when Abraham intercedes for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and in Exodus, when Moses intercedes for his people.

Amos 7:7-9

Despite the numerous times God has given the Northern Kingdom to repent and change their ways, they continued to bathe themselves in sin. God thus will no longer allow them to self-destruct in sin.

Israel was being judged because it was idolatrous, wicked, and assaulting the holiness of God.

Israel, in essence, is the wall that, when lined against the plumb line, is crooked. It needs to be torn down and be reconstructed.

Inspiration: God measures with a plumb line, a FIXED measure. There is no relative. You're either straight or you're not. There is no in between.

Amos 7:10-17

Amaziah, priest of Bethel, tells Amos to leave. They have no interest in the warnings of God given through Amos. Amaziah told Amos that the land cannot bear all his words (Amos 7:10) (Amos is living up to his name, the burden bearer).

This confrontation took place in Bethel, the capitol city of the Northern Kingdom, the royal center of the Norther Kingdom, where Jeroboam, the king of the Northern Kingdom, lived, reigned and ruled. It was also its religious center. Everyone would go down to Bethel to worship. Amaziah was the high priest there, the heart of the Northern Kingdom.

In contrast to Amos, we see that Amaziah, though a high priest, though trained in God's Word, has fallen far away from God. This gives us an idea of how corrupted the Northern Kingdom has become. They have become so corrupted, there was not one man of God there to speak words of wisdom. Those who were suppose to guide people to God were deep in sin.

But, that was not how the Northern Kingdom viewed Amos.

To the Northern Kingdom, who the heck was Amos? An untrained, uneducated country boy from a small town in the Southern Kingdom. What was he doing preaching the demise of the Northern Kingdom in THE city of the Northern Kingdom, under the watch of the high priest Amaziah? And why should anyone listen to what Amos had to say? The Northern Kingdom was in its prime!

So, Amaziah told Amos to go home, go back to the Southern Kingdom, go prophesy back home. Stop prophesying in the Northern Kingdom (Amos 7:12-13).

But, Amos answered boldly, "I am going to prophesy, and I'm going to prophesy here, because God told me to." Amos knows very himself that he was not trained, that he was nothing but a simple shepherd and gardener. But so what? He was called by God, and he took that calling seriously. He was told to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom, and so, he was there, preaching that if they do not repent, Israel will be judged heavily (Amos 7:14-17).

Inspiration: God uses us regardless of our Earthly status. Again, we're not here to accomplish the will of man, or to achieve accolades in the eyes of man. As followers of Christ, we are God's ambassadors on Earth. God will call on us, and we should be ready. We should not limit ourselves just because we are "not good enough" according to Earthly standards. When God calls on us, He deems us good enough. And frankly, that's good enough for me.

Amos 8

A great famine is coming. Because of Israel's sin and unwillingness to repent, God will remove His blessing. There will be a famine of food, a famine of water, but worst of all, a famine of God's word. The Israelites did not want to listen to the Word of God, then they will not hear him anymore.

Inspiration: This is quite scary, even from a human's perspective. I am always more afraid when my mom stops talking to me, when she won't even bother yelling at me when I've done something wrong, because this usually means I've pissed her off so much that she's given up. To have my mom give up on me, that is scary. To have God give up on a nation? I cannot imagine anything worse.

Amos 9:1-4

Judgment has come. And once judgment comes, it is inescapable. There is no escape.

Inspiration 1: Repent when we still have the chance

Physical death is the cut off. If a person dies without Christ, he/she is under the judgment of God, and there will be no escape.

Some believe that people who die can go see Saint Peter, where he will send them back to Earth to have a second chance, to redeem themselves, to earn their way. Not so.

Some believe those who die goes to purgatory where they can be prayed out of it or be bought out of it. Not so.

After death, that person has already had all the opportunities to hear the Word and to make his/her decision. If we die with the decision to be apart from God, there is no escaping Hell. If we die not having made our decision, there is no escaping Hell.

Do not test the patience of God like the Israelites did. Repent when we have the chance.

Inspiration 2: Sin must be judged

God is just, and He therefore must judge sin. However, because God's heart is that none should perish but all have eternal life, He delays judgment after numerous warnings. This is what we see happening with the Israelites. They've been given multiple times to repent, but they refused. They would rather live a life without God, and they made that statement clearly time after time.

Amos 9:8-10

This passage describes what has literally happened to Israel. They've been sifted out, scattered, and found trouble everywhere they go, even to this day.

Amos 9:11-15

This passage clearly states that God will one day restore Israel.

This has not happened yet because Israel is not a monarchy. However, the restoration process has started, with 1948 as the turning point, when Israel became a state.

Once God restores Israel, Israel will be in abundance. Sowers literally won't be able to get out of the way before the reapers come. That is, the harvest will be so plentiful, there won't be enough people to harvest it all.

Israel will once again be returned to its Holy Land, never to be  uprooted again.