In this sermon, Pastor Joseph Babij examines the whole book of Amos to warn you against complacency and religious hypocrisy in light of the impending judgment of God.
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okay this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to Amos the Pew Bible page 9913 and I do recommend this morning that because I’m going to do nine chapters today in one message and I want to give you the sense of what it says in Amos because once you give it give a message like Amos in one chunk you get a good sense of what the whole book says so I really want you to look up the verses when I mention them and I’m going to try to very much stay right here in Amos but let me have a word of prayer Lord this morning as we come before you and we approach your word and we hear from one of your Prophets that we realize that Lord the message that he gave to the people back then is the message we need to hear right now Lord because it’s so applicable to us in our day and age in which we live in our country and so Lord I pray we would take it to heart that we would put oursel in the equation and that we would realize that if we have drifted from you or if we have never come to call you upon call you our Lord and savior and repent of our sin and trust in you then I pray Lord today may be that day but Lord also for those who are serving you that they would realize a seriousness of what the prophets say to the people and I pray Lord that you would work it into our heart that we would be Christians that have a hope but have a soberness about life and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now before I I actually look into Amos I want to just mention first of all what is a prophet all of you may think right now in your mind that a prophet is someone who uh predicts the future but do you realize from scripture that a prophet may be someone who never tells the future another idea you may that may be in your mind is that a prophet is a spokesman for God in fact that is the ethology of the word Pro means in the place of another and of course the second part of the word is to speak so a prophet is one who speaks in the place of another Aaron was Moses’s prophet in a sense and he spoke for him and Moses was God’s prophet and Moses spoke for God now don’t get me wrong I am not saying that a prophet does not at times tell the future and that a prophet does not speak uh does not speak for God what I want you to grasp is that a prophet is much more than this and the question should be what is true of all prophets whether it be Old Testament or new testament I think when we discover that we’ll dis discover the definition of a prophet so so what is running through the verses in Amos and all the prophets is this particular phrase if you look at Amos chapter 1 verse number three it says thus says the Lord in verse number six thus says the Lord in verse number nine thus says the Lord in verse number 11 thus says the Lord and 13 th thus says thus says the Lord so all through the prophets the prophet is definitely speaking in behalf of God so a prophet is one called by God to Bear forth his message the office and sometimes it’s a temporary office sometimes it is a permanent office was a gift of God and involved both the future aspect as well as the present revelatory message it was forth telling uh foretelling and it was forthtelling so what is a prophet Prophet was conscious that his message came from God thus says the Lord is used 1,200 times in the Bible so the Lord first speaks to the prophet and then the PO Prophet turns around and speaks to the people God directly God speaks directly to the prophet that’s divine revelation from God and if that’s what a prophet is you would expect the word of God to speak toward that end in fact when Moses said there was going to be a prophet greater than me speaking of Jesus he said this in Deuteronomy the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your countrymen you shall listen to him and then it says I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I have commanded him so in other words a prophet is someone who gets direct Revelation from God and then he speaks it directly to the people without messing it up so he doesn’t give commentary on it he gives the people what God says so a prophet was a Statesman a prophet a prophet was a preacher to speak to the people to warn them often and called them to repentance a prophet always worked within the groundwork of the law never apart from it and also a prophet speaks when there is a prior situation involved God never gives a word to the prophet for the prophet but for the king or for for for the priest or for the people like Israel and Judah and also for the Nations God speaks when there’s a problem amongst the people some crisis some problem some need so the whole prophetic Ministry of a prophet is a loving God meeting the needs of his people speaking through this individual God speaks direct Revelation but on but but is occasioned by relating a related need of the people if the people need food well God will speak about food if the people need discipline then God will speak about their sin and repentance if they need hope he will speak about the future deliverer if they need encouragement he will speak about encouragement and if they need Grace he will speak of the coming time of Grace in the coming Messiah so a prophet is a person to whom God gives this gift and whatever the need is God speaks directly to that person the prophet and he in turn takes the message to the people or to the king or to the priest or to a nation so the Minor Prophets there’s 12 of them 12 individual prophets to Israel and Judah they serve both as as predictions of judgment and as well as Promises of Hope for the future so what does that mean for you and me well if a loving God addresses and meets the needs of his people he will do the same today and he will do the same always so then the Minor Prophets are still relevant for us us today because they address the issues of the heart and Society they remind us that God is still God is a God who still holds people responsible for their behavior especially those who claim to belong to him some of God’s fiercest judgments have been upon his own people because they should know better they have the truth so the call of the prophets are calling us really even to today to repent to return to experience God’s grace and forgiveness which then lays the groundwork for Revival and restoration and for Hope for the future so let’s look at the prophet amus in your Bibles verse number one chapter one here we see the historical background being given to us that background would answer the question who’s the author who is he writing to when was he writing and so the three issues the these three historical issues come up right in the first verse it says the words of Amos who was among the sheep herders from tcoa which he envisioned envisions concerning Israel now remember Israel is the northern kingdom in the days of Uzziah king of Judah Judah is the southern Kingdom in the days of jerob Jobo son of joash king of Israel and then it says this two years before the earthquake so Amos is speaking to the people two years before an earthquake all right now just for a note probably this terrible earthquake is in the time of Uzziah all right and this is what it says Zachariah actually mentions this earthquake and it says in Zachariah you don’t need to turn there it says you will flee by the valley of my mountain for in the Valley of the mountain you will reach to Asel yes you will flee just as you fled before the Earth quake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him in other words this Quake was of such a magnitude that it is mentioned by the prophet Zachariah 200 years later that’s significant that is significant in fact Josephus who was a Jewish historian he wrote this about this earthquake he says a great earthquake shook the ground and and a rent was made in the temple and the bright rays of the sun Shone through it and fell upon the king’s face in so much that leprosy seized him immediately so we know that Uzziah did uh have leprosy uh because he did something he ought not to do so the mention of this earthquake points to the intern connection between this event and the prophet’s own prophetic Mission scripture teaches the earthquakes when the Lord comes in judgment upon the Nations Amos chapter 8 if you notice there Amos 8 in verse number 8 it says because of this because of this will not the land quake and everyone who dwells in it mourn indeed all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and sub and subside like the Nile of Egypt so the earthquake which shook Jerusalem two years after the appearance of Amos was the Judgment threatened by God against two kingdoms of Israel and the actually the excavation of hazor in that area seemed to indicate the earthquake occurred around 760 BC which is the time uh that Amos is actually Pro prophesying now the target for Amos is the northern kingdom Amos though was from the southern Kingdom and so he lived in takoa the Bible says about 10 mil 10 miles south of Jerusalem and he preached in bethl in the presence of the king so that means that the purpose of the message of Amos was to announce God’s impending judgment on Israel for their unrighteous deeds and a call for repentance from the nation see that’s what the theme of this particular book is now what’s the historical situation of the book important to know to get the message well if you look in chapter 2 verse number 8 and then chapter 5 verse number 21 the first sit situation how was it spiritually how were they doing spiritually in Amos chapter 2:8 it says on garments taken as pledges they stretched out beside every Al alar and in the house of their God they drank the wine of those who have been fined now you may say well what is that saying well number one it says every altar there’s only supposed to be one and then also they they drink wine in the house of God N I don’t think so all right so these people looks like spiritually they are taking advantage of people and they’re doing what they think they want to do all right then the next passage of scripture if you notice in Amos 5: 21 it says this verse look at verse 22 Chapter 5 Verse 22 it says even though you offer up my burnt offerings and your grain offerings I will not accept them and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings take away from me the no of your songs I will not even listen to the sound of your Harps now if I were to ask you the question are the people going to the temple yes they’re going to the temple all right they’re offering up festivals their their sacrifices their off they’re bringing their offerings and it says here they’re singing the only problem is God is not happy with them they’re INSP spiritual apathy so are are they offering things to the true god Jehovah uh Yahweh yes they are all kinds of religious activity is directed toward the true God it says the name is 5:22 you’re offering it to me so now we’re getting at really what the prophet is going to speak to the people were worshiping the true God in the wrong way their hearts were far from God and they were worshiping with empty formality so spiritually things were terrible in Israel and the reason why is because the passage we read this morning in their scripture reading Jobo did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and what did he do remember Jobo was from the north riab was in the South and if we read the passage of scripture before these guys did not take the counsel of the wise men of Israel but took their own counsel the counsel of the young people in Israel and the kingdom split northern kingdom split from the southern Kingdom all right now what happened when that took place the Bible says this and I’ll just re re reiterate it was read it says rabom king of Judah and they will kill me that’s Jobo and return to rabom King of Judah so the king consulted and made two golden calves and said to them is it too much for you to go up to Jerusalem behold your Gods oh Israel that brought you up from the land of Egypt and he set in bethl and the other he put in Dan now this thing became the Bible says sin for the people went to worship before before the the one as far as Dan in other words this is what jerob bone was saying listen don’t go down to the South to Jerusalem to worship I’m going to make golden Cals one over here and one over there it’s going to be close you don’t have to go all that far and pay all that money to do all those things you’re going to stay right here uh and because if you don’t they’re going to come and kill me and you’re going to get won over by riab and go down and worship God now in saying that look at chapter 2 in verse number 11 Amos chapter 2: 11 then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be nazarites is this not so oh sons of Israel declares the Lord but you made the nazarites drink wine nazarites aren’t supposed to drink wine and then it says this and you commanded the prophets saying you shall not prophesy what were they saying we don’t want to hear from you we’re doing our own thing everything’s going well here we’re worshiping we’re going to the temple we’re doing all those things but they’re worshiping calf idols I mean they didn’t break away from Egypt too much at all did they now I want you to notice in chapter 2 verse 11 which I just read look at chapter 4:4 it says enter bethl now bethl is where the golden calf is and transgress and then in gilgal and gilgal was also an idolatry section it says gilgal multiplied transgression bring your sacrifice every morning your tithes every 3 days now you could not do that if you went to Jerusalem because J Jerusalem was some uh distance away so he was making it easier for them to go through the motions in worship and what else was he doing look at chapter 5 verse 26 it says you also carry along sikou the king of kaiwan your images the stars of your Gods which you made for yourselves in other words you know what they were doing also they were worshiping in fact suku and kaiwan were names for the planet Saturn they were worshiping the solar system that’s what they were doing and so in other words they’re not doing good spiritually at all at all they’re not doing good spiritually but they don’t think they’re doing bad let’s look at second thing what about how are they doing politically chapter 6 of Amos verse number one it says this woe to those who are at ease and Zion and to those who feel feel secure in the mountains of Samaria the distinguished men of the foremost of Nations to whom the house of Israel comes in other words politically they are strong Jobo actually reigned 42 years around 42 years in um in the North in Israel that’s a long time for someone to Reign especially if someone who’s Wicked it and that’s what he did in other words from the top down right to the people in the nation God is speaking to the Nations and he’s saying listen when the top goes bad everything goes bad especially if the people below are not holding to the truth of the word of God they’re going to go bad just like everybody else so they feel secure they’re politically strong let’s see how they’re doing economically look at chapter 3:12 and then verse number 15 in verse number 15 let me read verse 15 it says I will also Smite the winter house together with the summerhouse the houses of ivory will also perish and the great houses will come to an end declares the Lord and then look at chapter 6 in verse number four it says Those Who recline on beds of Ivory and sprawl on their couches and eat lambs from the flocks so in other words how are they doing how are they doing economically they’re wealthy they’re living in plush houses all right in other words another way to look at it is this this is unprecedented Prosperity life had become come to them a big party even in their worship they’re drinking wine they’re partying all the time Life’s a bunch of fun that’s what they thought but it says at the end of verse number six or verse six Amos 6 who drink wine from the sacrificial bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest oils yet they have not grieved over the Rune of Joseph or the Rune of Israel see so in their material uh in their they are very wealthy materially and financially they are rich and people in power are rich Ivory beds plenty of rich food inventing instruments so they play as it says in scripture to improvise eyes to the sounds of the harp as David did they’re inventing music so just think about doesn’t that sound like anybody does it sound like the United States what’s going on right here see it’s spiritually dangerous when a country in which you live is economically rich and spiritually poor which we are today politically we are still superpower although diminishing economically we are stronger than most countries the stock market is trading at all-time high gold and silver are holding their own they’re on the rise right socially we are more we have more genres of music and entertainment than we need we are drowning in a cesspool of our own multimedia forms of amusement and spiritually well let’s be honest nationally we are spiritually dead it is dangerous for the church because we tend to forget God in that situation we tend to live for ourselves we tend to neglect others and the needy and when this happens most likely we’ll still pray somewhat we’ll still sing we’ll still go to church but the danger is religious formalism and hypocrisy and it begins to show up in the heart look at Amos chapter 5 verse number 12 chapter 5 verse2 he says I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great you who distress the righteous and accept bribes and turn aside the the poor in the gate that doesn’t sound good does it see God hates when his people slip without much notice into spiritual a spiritually destructive condition that’s why the Lord says I hate your festivals I hate what you’re doing I do not Delight in your solemn assemblies and he uses the word transgression sometimes you come across that word you may say well what does that word mean see transgression is a ual word for sin because what it means is that it’s a sin of willful Rebellion towards something you already know secondly it’s a sin and a violation of a covenant standard that God set up in the word of God in other words that standard was if you obey you will be blessed if you do not obey you will be cursed right so it’s it’s this obedience Disobedience things and what they did is they broke the agreement with God and a person should never expect if they just wander away from what God says that somehow God’s going to look over that and find favor in that he will not he will not do that see the Lord God is speaking to all the nations that surround uh Israel and Judah and and he is holding them responsible for their treachery for their violence for their corruption for their slavery for their killing pregnant women all found in Amos now with that in mind that’s where the Prophet Amos comes on the scene and we see in chapter one verse number one that he is he lives in tcoa right his very name Amos means burden Bearer and the Bible does tell us there that he was a sheep herder from tocoa and then Amos even replied to amziah in chapter 7 verse 14 and 15 he says I’m not a prophet nor am I the son of a prophet in other words Amos is saying listen I’m not a professional Prophet I don’t even come from a family of prophets it’s not even my job or my trade I’m just a Layman he says that I’m a I’m just a herdsman and he was a herdsman from a country and he was a grower of Sycamore figs he says I’m a Nipper of sycamore fruit I’m a poor Prophet who eats common food now in the passage from Amos chapter 7 he says that he is a grower of Sycamore figs a more correct translation might be a Bruiser of sycamore fruit which becomes important for the message of Amos because Sycamore the sycamore fruit being like a fig though not quite as sweet in flavor and it was believed in the East that it would never ripen except it was a little bruised so some person was actually employed with an iron comb that scratched the skin of the Sycamore and unwounded and unwounded the fruit would even when ripe would be bitter to eat but when after it was wounded it would ripen rapidly and become sweet so this becomes important as God gives Amos A Vision that harmonizes with his occupation so he is a northern he is a northern uh a Souther a northern country boy from Judah a southern country country boy excuse me from Judah called to prophesied to the rich city in Israel now how does Israel respond to the prophet and his message well we if you look over to Amos chapter 7 you’ll find that in verse number 10 this is how they respond to him in Amos chapter 7 verse number 10 then amiah the priest of bethl sent word to jeroboam king of Israel saying Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the House of Israel the land is unable to endure all his words in verse 11 of chapter 7 for thus Amos says Jobo will die by The Sword and Israel will certainly go from It Go from its land into Exile then amziah said to Amos go you Seer SE another word for Prophet flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying in verse 13 but no longer prophesy at bethl for it is the sanctuary of the king and the Royal residence so in other words they were saying to him the northern King was saying to this Southern boy they were saying to him listen go back from where you came from we don’t want to hear what you have to say because what you say is against what we want to do and what we are enjoying doing so you’re messing up the party here Amos and we we don’t we don’t want you to do that so Israel broke away from Judah the South and therefore they were no longer going down to the temple to worship God they’ve designed their own religious system now these are God’s people who should know better so the theme and purpose of Amos is the chastising of God’s people in chapter 1 verse number two it says he said the Lord Roars from Zion and from Jerusalem he utters his voice so the from the very temple of God in Jerusalem the Bible says that the Lord Roars his voice now when a lion roars and to those who are in earshot do they listen yes they do they listen right and uh I would listen well the Bible is saying that God is the he is the lion and he’s roaring from Jerusalem so to announce God’s impending judgment on Israel for their unrighteous deeds and vain worship and a call for them to repent of their sins so the theme of Amos starts with God because this is who they forgot they forgot who he is they forgot how he acts they forgot how seriously he takes wrong worship how seriously he takes sin how seriously he takes that so Amos begins to prophesy and remind them again who God is because they distorted who God is they are ignoring his word and they are forgetting God and what does he say well look at chapter 4: 13 He says first of all he created it all chapter 4:3 he says for behold he who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what is his thoughts he who makes Dawn Into Darkness and Treads on the high places of the earth look what it says the Lord God of host is his name you forgot his name you forgot not who he is Yahweh who creates everything he’s saying here behold your God again and when you get your eyes off the Lord you need to get him back on him again or it’s going to be ending it’s going to end in disaster which it always does and then look what else he says in chapter 5: 8 and9 he creates the great Heavens he says he who made pleades and Orion and changes deep Darkness into morning who also darkens day into night who calls for the Waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the Earth then notice what it says the Lord is his name have you forgotten him you would not eat if it wasn’t for him he Waters the Earth he is the one that we ought to keep our eyes on and behold all the time in verse number nine it is he who flashes forth with destruction upon the strong so that destruction comes upon the fortresses now just think for a moment pleades in Orion is still visible to us today it’s it’s one of the best known star clusters out there if you know anything about viewing the sky and no remember they’re worshiping planets right and God is saying well hey I created those you should be worshiping me see they got it all mixed up and that’s what happens when we move away from God our our our thinking becomes completely distorted even if you’re a Believer if you wander away from God you’ll start doing things before you would have never even thought of because it is the Lord who keeps us in line it’s the word of God who keeps us on the straight and narrow all right that’s what it does so if you consider this well-known star cluster it’s one of the most beautiful objects in the sky and with a naked eye you can see six or seven stars enshrouded in blue gas and dust the problem is in New Jersey you may say two you may see two of those Stars I asked a uh scientist in our church many years ago uh if he would figure out the distance uh this St cluster is from the Earth and um if somewhere to travel there how long would it take and uh he did his calculations and he came up with with like 415 light years which is uh quite a distance now I don’t know if his calculations were correct however the point is the universe is very very very big and God God Almighty has created and sustains it he sustains all of it and I say all this to stress the important point that not only it’s not only for the the people of Israel but for all of God’s people at all times is that the important Point attached to the theme of a Amos is this you my people have lost sight of how great and awesome I am and you made me again into some little Idol that you can put in your pocket or you can travel around with in your suitcase and that’s what we often do we minimize God to a point where we are in control God’s not in control and you know what there’s there’s really no other place in the Bible that tells us more about the character of God than the prophets because the prophets are dealing directly with the people about who God is and what God says if you look at chapter 4:3 I read this already but it said I want you to notice it says for behold he who forms and then he he ends with this the Lord God of host is his name he’s saying to them listen behold your God and if or better when you get your eyes off the Lord you need to get them back on him quickly because when you get your eyes off the Lord you drift further and further into darkness into worldliness into the sinfulness of your own heart and into idolatry so what’s God’s plan for Amos to bring the condition of the people to their attention and who’s going to do this the one who Roars from jerus Jerusalem God is the lion he tells them what he sees and he says to them you forgot I’m not like your dumb Idols who do not see who do not hear who do not respond I am the god who sees and responds I am the god who knows everything going on that’s who I am John Calvin a reformer from Years Gone by remarked on our detrimental tendency as human beings to keep our eyes fixed on the terrestrial plane he said and he added if we just once lifted our gaze to heaven and contemplate what kind of being God is we would gained a very different perspective on ourselves and our world what does God think when his people drift away from him and he finds them going just going through the motions of worship and their hearts not engaged in real worship of God and they’re involved with all kinds of activities that they know God is not pleased with and they’re still doing it well here’s the plan here’s the plan of Amos chapter 3 and verse 7 and 8 this is what he reveals to both the northern kingdom and the southern Kingdom even though the northern kingdom is the one under judgment it says this in verse number seven surely the Lord God does nothing unless he Reveals His secret counsel to his servants the prophets in verse eight a lion has roared who will not fear the lord God has spoken who can but prophesy see you have done this and this and this and this and I’m going to discipline you for your sins in Amos chapter 3: number two he says you only have I chosen among the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities because you are are my children I will hold you responsible for breaking my Covenant remember the Covenant blessings and cursings that if you don’t obey the cursings that went on Egypt will be on you that’s what he’s saying there will be a lack of bread there’ll be a withholding of rain there’ll be blight and Milo there’ll be plagues you’ll die from The Sword all those things will take place because you broke my Covenant so in other words this is coming a a discipline that will come in the Assyrian destruction in Amos chter 5 verse 27 says therefore I will make you go into Exile Beyond Damascus says the Lord whose name is the god of host the god of the Lord’s army that’s who he is he’s saying listen behold your God again you’ve gotten your eyes off of me and you’re already slipping into the uh to a path of Destruction now saying all that God gives object lessons to to Amos for Israel and the OB object lessons are easy to understand and I want you to let’s look at them in chapter 7 of Amos the first object lesson is a locust plague and the Locust plague what he’s showing them he’s showing them something that could happen and that’s insects devouring the land look what it says in in verse number two of Amos chapter 7 thus the Lord God showed me and behold he was forming a locust swarm and when the spring crop began to sprout and behold the spring crop was after the king’s mowing at that point Amos intercedes for him and it says this in verse number two and it came about when he it had finished eating the vegetation of the land that I said Lord please please pardon how can Jacob stand for he is small so that’s he pleads for him he prays for Lord please please don’t do this on the nation please it’ll just destroy them and what does God do how how does God respond verse number three the Lord changed his mind about this I shall it shall not be says the Lord so in other words Amos is not from Israel he is from Judah they are actually his enemies and he is praying for them all right then here’s a second vision and it’s the vision of drought and fire in verse number four of chapter 7 of Amos notice what it says it says thus the Lord showed me and behold the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire and it cons and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the Farmland all right so that would be devastating right fire destroys everything if you ever have any damage in your home by fire or something that would burn down that’s it you got to rebuild you got to destroy everything you have to really unless unless you there’s something left that you can save but most of the time with the smoke and the fire and the Flames it just destroys everything and God says I’m going to do that well what does Amos do he prays for them look what it says in verse number five of Amos 7 then I said Lord please stop how can Jacob stand for he is small Judah was only two Nations right well Israel was larger and then what does God do in verse number six God changed his mind about this this too shall not be said the Lord so God relented now when does God relent when does God change his mind he changes his mind in scripture for actually two reasons number one when someone prays in their in in the will of God and by repentance right when you repent from your sin and trust in Jesus he changes his mind toward you instead of judgment being poured on you and I he gives us his Mercy see that’s why you have to repent to come to Jesus because if you don’t repent then the Judgment of God is still will still be upon you all right but he’s not done yet there is a third vision and look at verse seven of Amos chapter 7 and this is the vision of the plum line now you know what a plum line is Right a plum line is is a is a straight it’s like a a string and on the bottom it’s a weight and then you would hold it up against the wall to see if that wall is straight now if you hold it up and the wall is crooked then you know something’s wrong right well that’s what’s going on here and notice what it says in verse number seven of Amos 7 thus he showed me and behold the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plum line in his hand you know what happens next Amos does not intercede there’s no prayer verse number eight says the Lord said to me what do you see Amos and I said a plum line then the Lord said behold I’m about to put a plum line in the midst of My People Israel does God relent this time no he does not what does he say in verse number seven or verse number eight he says I will spare them no longer this is in other words this is where the occupation of Amos comes in because it says in verse number uh 1 and two of Amos chapter 8 it says thus the Lord God showed me and behold there was a basket of summer fruit and he says what do you see Amos and I says a basket of summer fruit then the Lord said to me the end Has Come For My People Israel I will spare them no no more in other words when you nipped the syamore uh the sycamore fruit right it became sweet but if you waited too long it became rotten and what is he God saying to my to the people he says God’s people are rotten to the core the Fig was nipped but became rotten that’s the point so what will God do what will God do well look what it says in verse number 11 of chapter 8 behold days are coming declares the Lord God when I will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread or a thirst for water but for hearing the words of the Lord people will stagger from sea to Sea from from the north even to the east they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord but they will not find it that is the worst Famine of all if the word of God was not available to the people they wanted to hear it but they could not find it do you know what happened two years later after his message an earthquake came and do you know what happened 25 years later this is what happened right here that God held judgment upon the people and the nation the northern c nation of Israel fell and they fell under the mighty power of the Assyrians who God raised up to discipline them so in other words you see the character of God in these uh passages that are so incredible now if I were to end right there I would say wow this is this tough but this is the amazing thing about God this is the amazing thing about God Dave had mentioned this in Sunday school too that in the midst of judgment God is still merciful he is still merciful he’s still reaching out saying come and repent he gave them 25 years to repent he didn’t do it right away he sent an earthquake just to remind them about the message of Amos and they still didn’t repent so see God in other words there’s a time where God’s mercy ends and judgment begins but I want you to notice some people have called this second Amos now I I don’t mean to be fun funny but but when you read the last chapter of Amos it’s not M talking about judgment it’s talking about restoration see here’s the greatness of God three big things contained in the framework of all the prophets and what are those three big things that you can never forget is number one the Lord will raise up the davidic line again secondly the Lord will have a theocracy well God will be the king and SEC and thirdly that he will they will be saved saved and blessed in their own land talking about Israel now I want you to look at the last section of Amos chapter 9 verse 11-15 and I want you to notice the goodness of God towards people that have rebelled against him that he disciplined because he was a father to them and now this is what he promises them in the midst of this uh hard message look what he says in verse number 11 in that day I will raise up the Fallen Booth of David and wall up its breaches and I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it in the days of old verse 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord who does this verse 13 behold days are coming declares the Lord when the plowman will overtake the Reaper and The Treader of grapes him who SWS seed and when the mountains will drip sweet wine in all the hills will be dissolved in verse 14 also I will restore the Captivity of My People Israel their wine and make Gardens and eat their fruit verse 15 I will also plant them on their land and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them says the Lord God now of course eventually this is talking about the millennial Reign the tribulation the in the Millennium where where the Lord will restore his people and the plan goes from the church to Israel right the church being taken out we’re in heaven right we’re in front of the beam to see Judgment of God then the marriage supper of the land then we come down with the Lord and resurrected bodies to reign with him on the earth for Thousand Years and in that time God will call his people back they’ll see him whom they have pierced and they’ll get saved they’ll get saved in their land and that’s where Jesus will reign in the temple for a thousand years and will reign with him a thousand years see that’s God’s plan so in the midst of judgment There’s Hope for the future and we’re all part of that because we are part of God’s plan so God’s promises to reinstate the ddic line to renew the land and restore the people will come to pass it will come to pass and that’s the great message of the prophets all the prophets end here Malachi ended there too and so do the other prophets there’s always this hope for the future he’s not done with us in other words so what are some of the things that we could take away from flushing it out in our own life I think one of them would be God cares about people and those who have needs and so should you and I that whenever you have an opportunity to show compassion you should act upon it as God does and it is wrong to enrich yourself at the expense of others and in your heart if your heart is far from God and you are living in Disobedience then your words and actions mean nothing to God and you’re still under judgment and then also compl complacency happens almost without notice check and renew your heart daily judgment is certain to those who ignore God see the patience and the kindness and the mercy of God have a ending point which judgment or discipline will take hold so in the end keep your eyes on the Lord and your heart warmed to the awesomeness and the greatness of who God is and how much he loves his people and desires them to walk in Holiness and worship him in spirit and truth but if you decide to do your own thing and go your own way and sin he will hold judgment on you as a father does a son that’s the message of Amos Amen in one message let’s pray before I pray I just want to end with this one preacher once said to a group one day I Came Upon a drunken man asleep on the railroad tracks and the the express is due what would you have done he said and each answered quickly I would have dragged him off the track in a hurry well said the preacher this is the state of every unsafe person in the world asleep on the tracks and God’s judgment Express is almost due and then when you find the man you find that he’s not just asleep on the track he’s dead on the tracks so you have to give him the gospel so he comes alive right let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for your word Lord don’t don’t allow us Lord to slip into a condition like these people and Lord in our country it’s easy to do so we’re wealthy Lord we have more possessions than we could even need or want and Lord there’s pleasure abounding in our country and yet Lord those are the very things that can move us away from you I pray Lord they would not that you would stop stop us Lord in our tracks help us Lord to lift our eyes to you and both Behold our God and who he is and what he’s done and what he’s going to do and how we’re fit fitted into to that plan and I pray Lord Jesus we would Worship You from our heart and it would show in our our manner of life it would show in our um understanding of the word of God it would show in our practice it would show in our singing it would show everywhere Lord because we have our eyes upon you thank you Lord for your mercy thank you Lord for your kindness and I pray Lord Jesus we your people would submit unto you and that Lord we would receive the blessings that come from worshiping our true and living God and Lord we do look forward to the future we do look forward to your plan that’s yet to be unveiled and and take place and so Lord allow us to keep our eyes upon that hope no matter how dark our days may get no matter how much trouble we may find ourselves in I pray that our eyes would be upon your plan because your plan is not going to change because a nation is going in its wrong direction so I pray you would bless us Lord in that way and Lord give us people make us people that are rejoicing in all the great things that you have done and I pray you give us the opportunity to hedge against sin and Lord even for those who don’t know you today would be the day of salvation they would come and call call upon you as Lord and savior because judgment is coming and you mean what you say and I pray this in Christ’s name amen
