Amos (Session 2) Chapters 2-4

well we're exploring this precious little book called Amos we're in the second session and we'll explore chapters 2 3 & 4 if we can make our timing tonight and so just by way of perspective you know that when Solomon died the there was a civil war and the nation of Israel divided into two houses that call themselves Judah and Israel and not to confuse the house of Israel with the total nation of Israel we tend to use the terms the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom many people believe the southern kingdom are only two tribes that's not quite correct we'll touch about that as we go certainly it was dominated by the tribe of Judah but there were others with them and these often speak of Israel as the ten tribes that got lost somehow and that's nonsense and we'll deal with that but clearly the two the two houses split up they were they were from time to time at war with each other I'll we're going to be dealing with a period when they both were prospering interestingly enough and to make the chart a little clearer I'm going to focus on the part that second Kings covers namely the bottom half of that chart so we'll expand that so we can talk about a little bit and we know that the northern kingdom went from bad to worse and ultimately was taken over by Assyria and the southern kingdom also went bad and it was taken over by Babylon and we're gonna deal with Nineveh is one of the cities of the Assyrian captivity before the Syrian captivity because the Assyrian the whole thing falls to Babylon so the captives from that get commingled in the Babylonian captivity we'll talk about that as we go following the Babylonian captivity of the southern kingdom we call that the post exile period we have under Ezra Nehemiah Nestor a era that's called the post exile period now Elijah Elijah and Elijah were prophets to the Northern Kingdom and aware of the tail-end of Elijah's ministry here most of us are familiar with the major prophets of the Bible and Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and Daniel and these four are called major because they're just larger books they're not more significant and Isaiah and and they each rain they each prophesied in a rain of a series of Kings and when you study those books of prophecy you should also understand the the history they fall within to Ezekiel is Daniels deported into Babylon when the Babylonian captivity starts in the second deportation Ezekiel joins him there Jeremiah is all the time prophesying from Jerusalem during that whole period and after that kept well it's enough the majors what we're really focusing on to get all this is just to get some perspective our 12 small books called the Minor Prophets they're not less important they're just smaller books and there's 12 of them and they are in a particular order in your Bible that I I can't imagine how they got in that order but that's the order we have them in our Bible and that's fine but Hosea is the first in your list and he is going to he talks about the same period of time that Amos will talk about here shortly Joe is earlier than either one of those and he's a prophet to the southern kingdom that a time of a messiah and so forth Amos the one we're going to be focusing on tonight is coke temper Aeneas with Hosea and he's a he is from the southern kingdom a businessman from the southern kingdom but called by God to take a message a very unpopular message to the northern kingdom Obadiah speaks to the Jonah as you know speaks to Nineveh a Gentile is a prophet to the Gentiles interesting ly enough and then we have Micah as a southern kingdom but then we have mayhem who actually Jonah gets them to enjoy his thing they repent so they get another century when a.m. goes for the in the same situation sort of they don't repent and that's when Assyria falls and they falls to a city that's grown to be powerful namely Babylon started the Babylonian Empire the captives from the Assyrians are commingled with the captive from Babylon and many people overlook that as they build their conjectures but how back and Zephaniah are more of the southern kingdom guys if you will then you get to the post exile period where you've got three of these Haggai Zechariah and Malachi that are post exile and there's that legion of the period between the old and new Testament some people call that the silent years and but they're not sung at all there in your Bible if you know where to look Daniel chapter 11 5 through 35 details those years so precisely that critics have said it couldn't have been written by Daniel back then it had to be written after the fact which is nonsense because most of it deals with things that occurred after it was translated into Greek so that's another whole thing chronologically before the Exile we we have them in this order Obadiah Jonah this is abusing asurs dates as a guide here Obadiah Jonah Joel Amos Hosea Isaiah and Micah and then they hem and Zephaniah so in Habakkuk so that's the list from a chronological point of view amos of course is about 787 bc and it's a prophet to the northern kingdom so he by this reckoning would be slightly ahead or at certainly contemporaneous with Hosea and after the Exile of course we have the usual three during the Exile and three after the Exile straightforward enough now what I'm going to suggest - maybe this will help raise the understanding or a maybe add to the confusion I'm going to suggest these in a slightly different order and I'm going to take the prophets to the northern kingdom first that's Hosea and Amos and of course it's Amos that we're dealing with here tonight Obadiah is a book written to the against the and we have Jonah named those three or two Gentile targets if you will Joel Micah and Saif and I on Habakkuk are prophets to the southern kingdom and then you have the post exile prophets Haggai Zechariah Malachi that's the way I think it makes it understandable to me because you got them really by subject matter that way pretty much and so for what that's worth but anyway that's where Amos fits into the total picture and let's talk a little bit about the Jamis lived in times of material prosperity there are very long range of the the king in the South you saya and Jeroboam ii of the north they both reign for a long period of time enjoyed a very stable political environment and that brought prosperity and expansion to both kingdoms so from their point of view it's the best of all possible times we often make reference to Charles Dickens famous phrase that opens his Tale of Two Cities is the best of times and it was the worst of times it was the best of times to the people they thought it was the best of times from God's point of view was the worst of all possible times and that's the burden that that Amos is going to deal with the southern kingdom calling itself Judah had subdued the Philistines to the west the ammonites the east and the Arab states of the south so you Zayas political influence was felt as far as Egypt and it becomes a stabilizing southern protector of the northern kingdom okay the northern kingdom to whom a mice's message is directed was at the zenith of its power and Iran that Syria had not recovered from her defeat NATO to be sieved by Assyria and in Assyria however had been unable to press her advantage because she had her own distractions so that's all that sort of stabilized the north for the northern kingdom a succession of an emperors and troublesome Rotarians to the north kept Assyria preoccupied until the acts session of take life blazer in the third in 745 BC so so the northern kingdom enjoyed political stability a standard Army had extended its borders all the way to Damascus actually and so give it a free hand Jeroboam ii was able to extend his borders to the aramean we say remember a ram was the ancient name for a week think of today as Syria okay and he reclaimed israel's lands east of the Jordan so they're doing very well because of the control this gave Israel over the trade routes wealth began to accumulate inner cities everybody's doing well okay commerce thrived an upper class emerged expensive homes are built many people had a summer and winter home that kind of thing the rich enjoyed indolent indulgent lifestyle but I just sound like an place you know about today okay the poor became targets for legal and economic exploitation the poor is that ancient term for a we call today the voter okay slavery for debt was easily accepted standards of morality had sunk to a low ebb and that's always your primary concern idolatry Jeroboam the first that Bacchus you know 150 years earlier had instituted idol worship with two golden calves one of Dan and one of Beth oh man they were replicas so to speak of Aaron's golden calf seven hundred years earlier that led to the you know Ten Commandments all that you've all seen that movie if nothing else no religion flourished underscore religion flourished the people throng to the shrines for the yearly festivals enthusiastically offering their sacrifices their sacrifices in their mind wasn't opposed to these legitimate sacrifices down in Jerusalem they were just supplemented by these other things they didn't really appreciate that they are rebuttals to the ones down there okay they steadfastly maintained that their God was with them and considered themselves immune to disaster because they're religious and they were they attended all the rituals and so forth very enthusiastically it would seem but they did not welcome this uninvited prophet from the south Amos his message was that Israel that's the northern kingdom was experiencing mercy before the storm things look great guys but God is upset is his message really and his message is one of God's impending judgment now it's up to you as we go forward you're going to be probably very surprised to perceive the incredible parallel between both the predicament and the reactions to that predicament that we see today and if that's the case we want to look very carefully at what God's remedy was for that predicament so you need to decide if there is a parallelism with us and if so what that implies for us you're going to find that this ancient book has an amazing startling parallel to our lives today so we outline last time we took the introduction Amos of course and he then plunges into eight judgments and we went through those a judgment on Damascus a judgment on Gaza the Philistia judgment and tire or Phoenicia if you will judgment on Edom a judgment on Ammon or what we think of his northern Jordan judgment on Moab but we think of his central Georgia judgment on Judah oh that's the southern kingdom here and then the judgment on Israel now these eight judgments are very very strategic because what Amos is doing is describing the judgments on all those other guys you see these first handful here this first what five are the heathen nations that surrounded them then he picks on Judah that's that southern place that he comes from but that's those guys down there that's all just setting the stage climaxing on his real target which of course is Israel the northern kingdom so God's going to also judge the southern kingdom what would four what would he judge the southern kingdom for because they did not keep the commandments of God they despised God's law they had the law of God and despised it that was his message to the to Judah if you will if it may recall from last time have you noticed that God did not judge any of these other nations on that basis whatsoever in the first five he judges this Gentile nations but not for not keeping his law that was given to Judah and Israel they had plenty of other things that God judged them for judge them for certain specific sins which were common to natural man he didn't burden them with the fact that they were also breaking God's laws because he's he he didn't have to go that far he just they were doing the basic things that they knew better because these nations did not have God's law they were not judged according to God's law that's a contrast we're going to see with both Judah and Israel so of these eight judgments in the first few verses of chapter 2 we took last time focusing on the judgment on Judah lightly but now Amos turns to his primary assignment by God Israel Israel in the sense of the Northern Kingdom Israel here used as the house of Israel okay what's going to confuse you as we go sometimes God will enlarge his discussion with a whole house of Jacob meaning both North and southern kingdoms that confuses some of some of the commentators it's amazing to me how many commentators don't really recognize that Amos is primary thrust is against the Northern Kingdom all this other is sort of extra source being well last time we went through these eight places but we're down to Israel itself which is up in the region obviously north of Judah and on the coast there so that's straightforward you can guarantee that the map will be on the final exam when you get there should you be in that mode so you'll you want to do some homework there so we're we've done verses 2 3 4 & 5 last time chapter 2 let's jump in where we left off let's say at the Lord for three transgressions of Israel for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes this pattern is a hebrew ism I'll give you three reasons no four and so it's just a it's just a rhetorical way of emphasis and so it's just you'll see that occur again and again not just an Amos but in the book of Proverbs and some of the Psalms and so on they called the X X plus one formula not just X but X plus one not only not just three but four okay there's six things God hates no seven see that that typical Hebrew isn't okay now he sold the righteous for silver the word sat Hakeem in the Greek Sadducees in the Greek sounding him the Hebrew Sadducees agree the righteous ones what were they doing there bribing judges and slaving them for debt and so forth and that was prohibited all through the Old Testament we won't track that down ourselves I'll leave that to you and when you go through your notes every class of sin is going to be involved here theological errors in Chapter three cruelty in Chapter one breaking moral law and chapter two social evils oppressing the pleura in chapter two and so forth that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor and turn aside the way of the meek and the men and his father will go into the same maid to profane my holy name Wow the word Panthers to sniff the ground like an animal and chase of prey as the actual verb it's it's as if the wicked in pursuit of helpless victims that even after the dust of the earth to put dust on the head of the poor it's a rhetorical way of saying the unrelenting cruelty toward the poor and turn aside there with me then we have this other thing the son and the father are taking the same slave girl many commentators presume it's a prostitute probably and yet she just may be a servant slave that's being abused but in any case this is not an isolated case but open immorality violating the rights for the gratification of forbidden less is what's involved in Exodus 21 deals with that it doesn't take any insight to realize that that offends God in a very special dimension the rights of all legal redress before God is what's what is the the flavor here that is dealt with in Deuteronomy 10 among other places but it makes something else in here not only is it offensive but it seems to be in order to profane my holy name in other words done in an almost as an act of rebellion against God that comes out of the preposition that implies an express purpose and intention to profane God so the Hebrew is evil actually more intense than the English translation if you will and they lay themselves down upon clothes laid do pledge by every altar and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God now first of all they're doing this the house of their God he's referring to the altars that have been set up at Bethel and Dan through these golden calves and they're using those altars to sanction the oppression of the poor how are they doing that there is a mosaic prohibition against taking a pledge from the guy if it's his coat after the Sun Goes Down if he takes a pledge to guarantee some action you're not allowed in the Mosaic law to keep that overnight because that's all he has to keep himself warm it's a form of compassion that's in the law so when they take clothes that relate to pledge and they don't they use them themselves and don't return them overnight that's a violation of the Mosaic law it may sound technical but that's a that's a mosaic issue that's that's alluded to in this first thing and then the other one is this it's interesting that God had to go to another another condition namely go south said Toccoa to find Amos to find a righteous man to rebuke them the inference that many commentators make one reason Amos was picked for this assignment is that God didn't have someone local to do what he did I've only had Hosea by the point is he had to go he had reached to the south to get his messenger interestingly enough and punitive damages from all this stuff should have gone to the victims of restitution not to the jurists what's going on here is the the reason these abuses are taking place is because the judges that are supposed to prevent them are taking bribes that's going to come out here as we go okay God speaking has yet destroyed I the amorite before them whose height was like the height of the Cedars and he was strong as the Oaks and yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath notes God's taking credit for him giving them their successes in the past despite the fact that he gave them their successes in the past they are rebelling against the God that provided in those victories so I destroyed the amorite before them now that's a term that's used two ways is used denotative leaf or a specific canine tribe we see that in Jericho which was their capital Rahab the harlot was an amirite am rights were a definitive tribe but it's also as often happens that term can be used connotative li to signify their enemies in general give you some other examples the northern kingdom consisted of the geography of about ten different tribes but ephraim was the biggest largest one so often the bible it will speak of ephraim as a synecdoche that is a an idiom for the whole package a semitic is when you pick the specific for the general or use the general for the specific it's a rhetorical device in other words you can use it connotative li and so so the word amirite is used both ways in genesis 10 and exodus 3 issues denotative li in genesis 15 and joshua pray for its use connotative li so it could be used either way here it still fits an example of that is the spies report in numbers 13 when they see the Nephilim in the land and all of that you can check that out on your own but this is the flavor of what God is saying here implies Supreme ingratitude because he destroyed their enemies that were so large and so terrifying and he intervened to give them these victories and what do they reward him with see he he destroyed the amorite armies that celebrated this verse 9 here he's going to talk the next verse about the deliverance from Egyptian slavery the provision in when they wandered in the wilderness for 38 years he provided for them and then he brought them into the Promised Land and then he manifested his presence and guidance as no other nation has ever experienced and it's going to summarize in verse 11 verses 9 10 11 are going to celebrate these things that he did for them that they're in effect demonstrating an unbelievable ingratitude so he continues here first and I also brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the amorite and I raised up your sons for profits and of your young men for Nazarites is that not even thus so ye children of Israel saith the LORD I raised them up in other words he called them he raised up prophets by his initiative God's initiative to woo them back into the end of the covenant relationship what did they do in response but she gave the Nazarites wanting to drink and commanded the Prophet saying prophesy not now what was the Nazarite you need to understand what a Nazarite was a Nazarite was somebody who voluntarily took on a vow for a period of time to do three things he let his hair grow long and the reason he did is because that was considered a sign of shame for a man and it's not a question of Paul's judgment that's what the intention was that the long hair was a sign of humility or shame and Paul Paul emphasized that for you the second thing is they were not allowed to touch any great products not just wine but raisins or grapes they were that was prohibited the third veins they could not touch anything dead that's where the Nazarite dentist don't if a friend the best friend died they didn't go to the funeral that was a Nazarene and they were that was just their way of separating themselves and setting themselves up as a example of commitment to the God of the Covenant the Nazarites so the background is the number six for those who want to check it out examples in the scripture are new Sampson was a Nazarite very more familiar to most of you maybe Samuel wasn't as right and they may say gee that's a quaint practice in ancient Israel no liberal preachers do the same thing today that they did these guys separated themselves as an example and then we're corrupted by the locals by giving them wine or cutting their hair or whatever violating their covenant unbelieving liberals do the same thing by defiling the preachers when there's a preacher of the gospel of Christ in a pulpit not preaching the gospel of Christ he's watering down the message doing the same thing that compromised them as a writer as a result the message was confused and the command is to be silent now Amos experienced this experience this very thing when we get to chapter 7 we'll talk more about that and that's why be theirs will be a famine not a food or wheat or whatever of the Word of God you and I can't imagine a famine of the word of God but you have it in a sense in effect in America the Word of God is more available today to the average person on the planet Earth than it ever has been on the planet Earth in the history of mankind you can carry a half a dozen Bibles in your phone to read when you like you can have the Greek or the Hebrew Greek or the Hebrew translated for you on a computer that's free of charge and we would go on and on and on and yet the biblical illiteracy in the puppets today is probably the worst in our history in the Revolutionary days the average person on the street knew something about their Bible it's astonishing to compare the literature of that period with the awareness today many of the pamphlets that were given out on the street the Federalist Papers are something you read in graduate school maybe not in college they make college maybe but certainly graduate school I mean it's amazing to understand that anyway let's move on Amos contains behold I'm impressed under you as a Cardus God is speaking through Hemus behold I am pressed under you as a car it is pressed that is full of sheaves in other words I'm strained to the breaking point that's just a agricultural way of saying I'm I'm really stressed here strained to the breaking point and lots of you new testament coolants then so the next few verses going to talk about Israel's that judgment on Israel is certain this is not problematic this is a threat that might happen no no this is coming don't confuse this with the John the Baptist kind of message unless you prevent this that and the other thing is going to happen no no this is this is certain defeats are going to replace victory they're used to winning all their battles those days are over see in the past the Lord fought on their behalf and what's the remedy for all this remember the Christians bar of soap first John 1:9 that's always available if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness it's his faithfulness we can count on not our own and that's always a remedy and still is today but the final three verses are going to indicate that Escape is going to be impossible Amos chapter 4-2 verse 14 therefore the flight shall perish from the Swift the strong shall not strengthen his Force neither shall the mighty deliver himself see neither speed bravery or strength will save a man neither shall he stand and to handle it the bow and he that as Swift of foot shall not deliver himself neither shall he that heart right if the horse deliver himself seen neither the weapons or the speed of retreat nor even having a horse will enable escape and within 40 years the Assyrians will take them into captivity is what actually happens this is coming it's not tomorrow but it's coming within that generation he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day saith the Lord the judgment on Judah was fulfilled in the 70 years captivity the judgment on the northern came in was the worldwide dispersion which continued until May 14th of 1948 because the Northern Kingdom evaporates from history the people didn't we'll come back to that later even the strongest nations when the abandoned God falls swiftly and totally the ingratitude of a uniquely blessed people causes pain and frustration and that's a that clearly is a parallel to where we are at America here we're uniquely blessed spiritually uniquely blessed in many ways and certainly materially and yet where we see a parallel here there's no turning back the judgment of God after his repeated offers of grace and blessing are spurned and refused and that's true today that's Tuesday well with rosette judgments we just finished talking about the judgment Israel's the eighth of the eighth so we're not now Amos is going to turn and give three sermons on the judgment of the Northern Kingdom this all was just a warm-up he's not going to focus on Israel but with three sermons we're gonna go out there there's going to be first sermon will be Israel's present and that's in chapter three the second sermon will be Israel's past that's chapter four a little short one there will then be a third sermon Israel's future that's two chapters long five and six then we'll have five visions of judgment and we will go through all those here and then that's chapter seven of eight and the first part of nine and then we get to the Davidic Kingdom restored and it will shock you to discover how relevant a few verses of Amos are to the New Testament and to us today that's where we're headed as we get the background here well we're gonna go into chapter three now the first of these three sermons you're focusing on Israel in the present verse one here this word that the Lord hath spoken against you O children of Israel against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt saying did you notice that by the way notice that the whole family this is not limited to just the northern kingdom most of what he says will be in this case though God is including the whole gang in this this language yields a wider application than just the northern kingdom although the judgment will be initiated on the northern kingdom he speak to the whole family of Israel she brought out of Egypt that includes the north end the south in God's eyes they're not two nations but one the twelve tribes are one family before him they were in two houses yes but they're one family let's never forget that it's astonishing how much confusion is introduced by trying to regard them as to fit two nations no they're one nation as far as God is concerned and he emphasized that again and again in eschatological passages the deliverance from Egypt decided as the foundation of his relationship with Israel it's amazing to me to go through the entire Bible and to see how again and again and again and again God always refers to the deliverance side of Egypt as a fundamental not just one of a series of miracles a major fundamental thing they went in as a family came out as a nation and he redeemed them they belong to him special privileges made them more responsible than their ignorant heathen neighbors so he dresses the entire room the key point there their special privileges made them more responsible than their ignorant he the neighbors apply that to America have we been especially blessed by God in this country over the last two centuries I think so well with that goes the responsibility that he's going to hold us accountable for as a group now Israel was chosen there's lots of verses on that we don't have to be that to death responsibility flows from relationship and so does ours we have been purchased by his blood now that's talking not to us as Americans us do as members of the body of Christ we have a responsibility that goes far beyond what Israel had because he purchased us with his blood the church is on the ground of substitutionary redemption that's at Moria that's in us in a very real sense more intense than anything you can imagine but God Himself became man and fulfilled it on our behalf and he substituted himself for our guilt Wow we therefore owe him love and faithfulness boy that's the understatement of the a lifetime no rules no procedures no just love and faithfulness it's that simple trying to make it more complicated invites disaster you only have I know know you speaking to Israel you only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities the word known there is yada yada yada yada you have to hear that today well you don't realize you're speaking here speaking Hebrew in your sanity it means intimately acquainted to choose to know in international treaties that means to recognize by covenant - recognized by covenant therefore see because you have known the because I've known you therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities that's the mystery of election it's got two sides of that coin see only Israel was in fellowship and intimacy light creates responsibility the more light you have the more responsible you are an enlightened nation has a greater responsibility than a nation that's in darkness once you notice that yoni evolved a and I you could call him EA Hova or Yahweh picker way to pronounce the unpronounceable name but in case his controversy with the Gentile cities which hated Israel is brief when we went through those five heathen cities each one was very brief because this I'm going to send fire period that's simple but here Israel been brought to the place of privilege so and so of responsibility so the Lord is indictment is going to be detailed and unsparing much more precise much more detail that's that's what you read the whole book you'll get that flavor the the either not Unforgiven they're dealt with but very peremptorily here the situation's really detailed God personally gave his really Ten Commandments God appeared to their prophets God spoke to Abraham and Moses he dwelt in their tabernacle and you're gonna hear words that quote remember the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 they part from me I never knew you want to probably the most terrifying words in the Bible are verses 21 through 23 of Matthew 7 - on that one for a while anyway Israel is not the only nation established by God by the way Lord also brought up that's the term used the Kushites the Philistines their means so God brought up other nations but there's only one that he had a covenant relationship with that's Israel Israel's uniqueness is due to his covenant relationship and that's what he they are going to be judged by their in all these other sins yes but especially that comes relationship heavy here you might call this the election syndrome is that around today well we're not Jewish we don't have that problem wait a minute the election syndrome is when a believer or one who thinks he's a believer begins to assume that what he or she does makes no difference since salvation is once and for all and indeed it is justification is indeed God will overlook disobedience is the is the syndrome boy is that widely embraced in the Christian community today by an over selling of grace as if there's no flip side to that coin the New Testament warns against this attitude in Romans 6 and Hebrews 6 and James to check it out my wife and I have published a book Canterbury it's turned out to be very controversial the kingdom power and glory and the reason it's controversial it focuses on this very specific misunderstanding today that all of us as Christians are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ everyone before that judgment seat is saved the judgment is what have you done with it what fruit have you borne it's a fruit bearing review oh boy you mean what we do today makes a difference it certainly does you mean I can lose my salvation I don't think so if you can lose your salvation I got a new name for God it's called butterfingers read John 10 verses 28 29 carefully and dozens of other passes know if you if you've trusted Christ you are saved that doesn't that's not the end of the story what's your inheritance going to be this is going to be minimum or maximum that depends on your fruit bearing it makes it if one reason our books doing so well in China is because the Chinese believe that they're in the eighteen with preparation what we call the Millennium they call the kingdom of inheritance and they believe their authority responsibilities the kingdom inheritance will derive from their faithfulness today and they're right out of the market and they regard our book as a paraphrase of dr. Tim's dr. Timothy Lin's teachings that they're so heavily influenced by in China anyway let's move on God contains name is asking seven questions by the way can two walk together except they be agreed good question that may sound familiar to you because you remember that same remark when Abraham was taking Isaac up the hill for the Yaqui da the offering of Isaac they went in agreement they what they walked together as the way your King James says the action said they went in agreement how can they walk together except the agree Amos says do they walk together except they have made an agreement to meet in agreement a greek term is Koinonia in the New Testament but we see that model modeled if you will in Genesis 22 which is also the passage the first passage in the Bible where the word love appears interesting things check it out he can no longer walk with Israel because they are no longer an agreement in where or even in which direction to walk so these are rhetorical questions he knows the answer who can two walk together except they be agreed there's seven of these they imply causality and certainty nothing by chance the Lord has spoken his word I suggest to you here the Lord has spoken his frightening word can two walk together except they be agreed are you working with God are you walking in agreement with him well I'm saved yeah sure hope so but are you walking with God it's a different question what kind of fruit are you bearing how are you gonna deal with the judgment see if you're not saying don't even be there that's a little different issue if you're saved you're gonna be there all of us are how are we gonna fair interesting question will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing Rea that word there's an adult lion if there's a triumphant roar before he pounces on it prey the the young lion is a kaffir growls when his prey is already his that's used in Isaiah 5 and I was a 11 other passages by the way Israel's primary jet fighter is called a Kaffir young lion lions inhabited the land until about 80 AD when the Romans removed them for cloudier gladiatorial shows and persecution culminating the dedication ceremonies the Roman Colosseum in that year in 80 AD and so much for that can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where there is no gender trap for him shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all the trap is the gin is a trap Israel is already in his grasp for judgment shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid shall there be evil in the city and the LORD hath not done it he's saying Israel ought to be trembling and repent you know there's another there's a we've got our vocabulary problems this country there is a word that used to be very prevalent in our vocabulary we never hear today called God fearing the concept of electing a leader who's god-fearing set aside doctrinal details is a god-fearing boy does that cut through a lot of nonsense right so we don't use that anymore we've had another word or vocab extent it's called trillion and and I can't find anyone they contend what a trillion is but figured out in seconds and you get my point that's the only thing I've got a dozen of these the one that really works is this one how much is a million seconds 12 days how much is a billion seconds 32 years how much is a trillion seconds 32,000 years that's the relation between a million and a trillion is 12 days to 32,000 years that get we've got Congressman promoting bills they don't understand that they don't understand and congressmen signing bills they never read and we wonder what's going on well we all sort of tremble and repent shall there be evil in the city the word there actually means calamity calamity it's used all through the scripture but so you know it's not evil and sense of good and evil it's calamity is what the term really means and the calamity will dis glam but he will be from the Lord Himself that is threatened here surely know this is a this is an incredible verse it's one you may want to remember memorize Amos 3:7 surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets that verse if you take it what it says is a staggering verse that there's nothing God's going to do that he hasn't explained to his prophets boy is that an incentive to really know your Bible because everything God is up to is in their summit very obvious some of it perhaps more subtle but it's all there let's take a look at this he does nothing unless he reveals it the word reveal it there's galai which means to uncover or reveal his secret is a Hebrew word means sword it means secret council it actually comes from a root that means couch or cushion it's a secret told by whispering to another while sitting close together you know the definition of a secret that's something to tell one person at a time right he reveals his secret unto his servants not to everybody to his servants that's those that are inspired of God not self-appointed second Peter one deals for that and Jesus did that in John 14 and 17 give you some examples of this Noah in Genesis 6 through 9 Abraham in Genesis 18 Joseph each in each one of these places God reveals to them what he's doing secretly Abraham in Genesis 18 is Abram not my friend shall I tell him what I'm gonna do he bet that's separate we left him in advance what its gonna go it's gonna happen we had a very colorful negotiation going on at the end of that chapter Joseph in Genesis 41 Samuel 1st Samuel 3 Elisha all through the scripture he tips off him what's going on so much so that the king of Syria thought he had a phone tapped or something and Jesus tells his believers about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD 38 years in advance he says that not one generation shall not pass till all this be fulfilled he's talking to the generation that was to see in the fall of Jerusalem 38 years later 30 being at this the duration of a generation as defined in Deuteronomy - so all the way through there many people who think that Luke 21 is part of the Olivet discourse missed that because they they lose the sharpness of what's really there anyway the Lyon f Lord who shall not fear the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesy against the area that you don't lie it about to rush upon his prey so we too must warn and declare silence is not an option yes Lord God spoken who can but prophesy just as Amos is called to declare God's word you and I are when we fail to do that we're failing what God has called us to do ooh now we're getting nowhere meddling in people's lives here a little bit comfortable up till now because those guys no no it's us guys publish in the palaces at Ashdod in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria that was the capital of the northern kingdom some of yourselves about the mountain says Mary and behold the great two motes in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof great tumult who on the disturbances wild living he's saying the whole world is to take note the same thing that he says in Revelation 18 Ashdod and Egypt are mentioned here well always two witnesses are required we know that but those are kind of interesting ones Ashton Ashton Egypt it's possible that the scribes may have confused the Daleth in a rash which are very subtle Hebrew letters is it Ashdod or is it in Assyria either way you can interpret it but some scholars suspect that there may be also a textual issue here of subtle one perhaps in any case they're used idiomatically in any case so let's not make a thing of it for they know not to do right saith the lord who store up violence and robbery in their palaces robbed violence and robbery the pound so they saw a cartoon recently the son is going to the father says I think I'm going to take up a life of crime the father says in the public sector the private sector more leverage in the public sector now these not just technical slips attire means store up heap up pile up in a safe place they no longer new yada again what was right in the sight of God what is right that is to go straight they had corrupted the message of God the prophets to the Northern Kingdom were Elijah Elijah they both are looking Jonah in a sense so he was really targeted to Nineveh Amos and Hosea northern came Northern Kingdom had a whole array of prophets here the other point that's worth making if person is not a horse thief because he steals a horse she'sa steals a horse because it's a horse thief these people are sinners they're gonna be dealt with therefore thus saith the Lord God and adversary there shall be even round about the land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled the invincible nation of amos time ceased within 40 years it was invincible prosperous top of the within one generation it's gone it is gone the lion is roaring who shall not fear in 724 BC Shama knees were the fifth besieged Samaria for three years king of Israel tempted to revolt against paying Assyrians and annual tribute money he even tried to do a treaty with Egypt didn't help Samaria fell in 722 BC within one year sargon ii seized power the Assyrians pulled down the towers took thirty thousand seven thousand nine 290 captive doesn't tell how many they killed us placed in the Syrian ruler over the city they looted it a fifty Royal chariots and other items and so forth that's all in the inscriptions that you can find in the publications if you want to dig into that you hear about the lost ten tribes let me just put a footnote here so we put that one to bed okay you've probably heard that it's a myth that's very prevalent in literature Sargon implemented when he took over his infamous policy of mixing conquered peoples to keep them from organizing a revolt in other words if he took a bunch of Jews he would mix them with non Jews why so they wouldn't coagulate and form a revolt against him that was a way of diluting their political geopolitical presence Israel was mixed with Persians and others strangers from far-off lands were resettled in Samaria so that the Jews were removed from Samaria many of them and non-jews were moved in that was commingling that's what then that's what he erases the the presence of the the Jews there eventually mixed semi Jewish populations will result a generation later in what we call Samaritans we all know the story of the Samaritans the New Testament they were a detested half Jew that lived up in that region why were they half just because they're the results of this commingling policy of the Assyrians when they conquered him follow me when Babylon conquers the southern kingdom it takes them as a group in captivity for seven years but they come back as a cogent group okay now this so-called invincible nation ceased to exist but there's a chapter there's lots of to this whole story but let me just give you one reference to check out second chronicles 11 just remember second chronicles 11 what you'll discover there Jeroboam the first took the northern kingdom into idolatry worshiping these golden calves if you are a Levite in that region that was an anathema you III dolla tree was the politically correct point of view if you were faithful to temple worship and all that which as a Levite you would be what did you do you picked up and migrated south where the politically correct mode was to worship at the temple right make sense if you read the passage carefully you'll realize that the Levites move south you can also infer from the text that others that wanted to be faithful to the temple left town they move to the extent they could to the south the text doesn't say this but you can also infer very comfortably that if you lived in the south and you had no use for the temple that and you were attracted to idolatry you wouldn't fight the City Hall down there you'd move up north where being an adulterer was politically correct you follow me so what second chronicles 11 and other passages will highlight is there's a commingling of people you follow me there aren't 10 Lost Tribes members of those ten tribes whatever they first of all they weren't kin because we know the southern king was Judah and Simeon and also Benjamin that's three of of twelve that means it sounds mean oh you got nine lifts right the Levites go south that takes one more so now I got four to the south and if there's tribes lost there'd be eight right four from 12 is eight not ten right but that's not the point they're not lost they're commingled the faithful ones of all shapes and sizes are south the idolaters of all shapes and sizes move north they commingle you with me that's in the text so this is a myth that it was propagated years ago it sometimes goes by the label of British Israel ISM these guys were resettled presumably about 800 AD in Britain and northwestern Europe and Scandinavia elsewhere Dan mark Dan Denmark was Dan mark all that business the Old Testament promises that were to them devolve on Britain America and so forth Jews become mixed with the kazars ancient people these are all part of the myth Manasseh Ben Israel back in 1604 to 1657 used these legends of lost tribes in pleading successfully for the admission of Jews into England during Cromwell's regime that's where it got a lot of pot it was used and became popular that we enforced this myth this legend of the so-called Lost Tribes there is no real evidence and the myth is not taken seriously by competent scholars so for what it's worth is there's a whole study of this when we deal with the Book of Joshua because at the end of the book we have the twelve tribes being allocated their land and all that and we use that occasion to put a whole hour into this whole issue if you want to get into it more the key thing to be on your guard of don't confuse the territories assigned to those tribes with the people themselves see I can be a Californian because I live in the region we call California I can be an ephah might because I live in ephraim my tribe I might belong to might be Judah or some other tribe but I happen to be living in Ephraim or might be leaving in action these tribal names describe geographic territories that were understood that doesn't mean your ethnic Li part of that tribe and that's where the naive Bible student goes astray because well he's an ephraim it--so he's he's from the tribe of ephraim no not Sarah Lee he lives in that tribal area because that all gets blurred as the years go by obviously especially when there's got these North and South with different worship systems that's going to have an influence when you get to the New Testament you've got books in the New Testament that are written to the twelve tribes book of James it's actually yuck off by the way but we call it the book of James is written through the twelve tribes 1st and 2nd Peter are clearly addressed to the 12 tribes so we there's no Lost Tribes Ana knew she was from the tribe of Asher and and so forth and and and Zechariah was of the trial he's that he was a Levite but he was a tribe but anyway boys Simeon these people knew what tribe they were from and they're in the New Testament they weren't lost ok so let's move on here verse 12 let's say at the Lord as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear so shall the children visit will be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in Damascus and a couch a lot of rhetorical stuff going on pulling the pieces that means spread around Asia Europe and so forth evidence is required of a shepherd to prove that an animal had fallen prey to a wild beasts is where the it's an agricultural idiom used by Amos who you realized was a business he was only a sheep herder he was a farmer and a breeder he's a successful businessman so he's using agricultural business terms here and cover of a couch fancy woven kilts pillows are imported from Damascus the word covers damask in Hebrew by the way so moving on here you testify the house of Jacob saith the Lord God the God of hosts notice this verse further testify in the house of Jacob the scope of this is more than just the Northern Kingdom house of Jacob means all 12 tribes no los tribes here and we have seven variants to Adonai Jehovah el Hussle abroad the Lord Yahweh God of hosts or you Dave Ave just pronounce the letters and some rabbis do your Diwali God of hosts you got it at your knee Bobby the God of hosts the Lord your dear Bobby then whose name is the God of hosts and Lord your knee Ravi of hosts and your larvae your God these are all phrases just here from the Book of Amos 7 variants of this title of the Almighty God our Creator moving on that in that day I will visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and follow the altars holy but the altar of Bethel is is a sacrilege Bethel and Dan Jeroboam 150 years is the predecessor from the first 150 years earlier had set up the golden calves there even with both Elijah and Elijah rebuking them they still stood shouldn't be it took violence to get the two altars to come down remember Elijah killing the 450 priests of bale Jesuit these things are still standing despite all that the horns see the horns the altar Moses designated the altar as a piece of asylum but not for sheltering a murderer Nexus to anyone his long-suffering will expire the altars of Bethel were clearly something God hated and from which his blessed presence was absent 150 years later it was Judah that didn't get the message until God spoke through Babylon the United States we used to be a bastion for freedom for what is right sending out missionaries and all that's what we used to do we passed our two century mark just as they had we're coming to the twilight years perhaps and I will smite the winter house with the summer house and the house of ivory shall perish in the Great Houses shall have an end say it winter and summer house of Herod by the way he had a summer palace at Masada you'll visit there if you go to Israel want to go to some Masada fourteen hundred and fifty feet high the Israeli jet fighters have their attempters set too they can fly below sea level the only ones that do in the world by the way but IRA plaques and fragments from the eighth century have been found in Samaria there's a lot of finds that corroborate all this so ok a quick snapshot of the second sermon Israel's past and we'll wrap this up some areas failure to heed God's chastening is going to be laid out here five times the Lord recites his call to return to him that seems to be the number of grace all through the Bible God does not judge a nation without warnings are there perils for the United States I think so you feminists might want to notice something I think it's kind of interesting chapter three was to the sons of Israel in chapter fours to the women of Samaria I wouldn't make a big thing of it I just did generate thought I generate some discussion in the discussion groups by that we'll move on here this word he kind of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria which oppressed the poor which crushed the needy which say to the Masters bring let us drink the kind of Bashan strange construction in the Hebrew kinase a to Old English term for towel but here it's in the feminine so you can draw it come to your own conclusions they're the cause of a son most commentators suspect this is a little too spoiled women of luxury the Hebrew peraud is the feminine plural of paratha cow these women oppressed the poor by making excessive demands on their husbands some also suggest that it might imply homosexuality among the rulers that the feminine twist on this thing isn't referring to women it's referring to homosexual leaders there are some commentators the exegetical specialists that suggest that may be what's implied here bhishan was part of the northern kingdom is east of Jordan stretches east of southeast 475 miles famous for fabulous pastures well-fed fat cattle walled watered mountains which rise more than five thousand feet to protect the table land from the desert that's the goal Heights and all of that Reuben and GAD and later they have tried Manasseh asked for that territory and and Gilead because it was so ideal for raising cattle so it became a controversy of its own there in the in the book of Joshua the Lord God hath sworn by His Holiness that lo the day shall come upon you that he will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fish hooks if you probably if you've been to the museum or somebody's museums where they have the old engravings you see the ancient tribes carrying their captives by hooks changed them through the nose literally leading him by the nose that phrase goes back to that kind of practice I found by a hook through the nose widely is all through the scripture and he shall go out of the breaches every cow that at that which is before her and he shall cast them into the palace saith the Lord breaches in Hebrews / it's seen a break in the wall and there's a wordplay going on with cows of Herat the cows and so forth and in Joshua 6 the breeches allow the holy judges in and out and the similar language in Joshua Amos by the Holy Spirit is very suggestive here and the ceremonies will cease at beth-el Abraham pitched his tent between Bethel and AI built an altar of the altered life if I can call it that and called upon the name of the ordeal of a and that's where Jacob dreamed and gave it its name and part of samos early circuit and it's now the site of jeroboams two altars two idols of all things so amos is using sarcasm here in Gilgal is the first is like camp them in Joshua 4 set up twelve stones and all that base of operations during the conquest in Joshua up to Joshua 10 Samuel judged the nation from there saw affirmed as king their guilt God is important it's unlikely that Jeroboam first would have tried to unify his country by getting the people to abandon the worship you and have avi entirely he just added his own idolatry mixed in with it to make it saleable the worship of worshippers of Bethel considered themselves tied to your evolving by the Covenant that's sort of like putting in God We Trust on our money and then ignoring it right many of these right kings have names compounded a command form of you ready Vavi your arm your harem yeah whoo yeah in Omaha zecharia pacaya oh sure these are all names that have the name of God buried in them many of the israelites failed to understand the finer distinction that the author of the kings and the Prophet Hosea rightly regarded the worship of these calves as idolatry that was clear to the prophets and so for them the Kings maybe not to the common people no says Amos you have severed yourselves from the Covenant because you do not keep its provisions come to Bethel and transgress he's being sarcastic at Gilgal multiplying transgression bring your sacrifices every morning and your ties after three years transgress means to break your covenant it's easier to donate attend and bow than to search our hearts form over substance is what he's saying misplaced is easy that's what Romans 10 all talks about sarcasm explains this whole passage they're zealous but unbiblical cults they're following and offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving with 11 and proclaim and published that free offerings for this lake like a few o ye children of Israel saith the Lord God it may surprise you to know that there were offerings that were supposed to have lemon and the leaven thanksgiving with leaven leaveneth the sacrifice of Thanksgiving offerings that's in Leviticus 7 verse 13 by the way for as the offers acknowledgement of his own personal and worthiness it's the only place that plus the feast of firstfruits actually the feast of show vote which has leavened bread representing the giving of this Jim tile flavor which is the Feast of Pentecost and all of that but Thanksgiving offerings the only place where people were in in a right state before God here we have irony after a lie just taunt to the priests of Vail very parallel to that so he's speaking here now to the law the non listening Israel 7 punishments famine drought blight locust plague war complete destruction the partitioning phrase still you have not returned to me declares you're evolving he does that seven times in Leviticus and Deuteronomy 28 it's all through there the war in the form of a sword often directed by the Lord through those passages warned plagues were promised as punishments for not keeping the Covenant leviticus 20:6 is one of your major passages here and Deuteronomy 28 that's exactly what's he got us saying he's gonna be good for his word here I also given you cleanness of teeth in all his cities and one of read and all your places yet you have not returned unto me saith the Lord cleanest of teeth neither was famine crop failures the teeth are clean cuz nothing to eat the ideas a strange turn but that's very descriptive and emergent global famine is currently being a knowledge above any international authorities as you're probably well aware and also I've withholding the rain from you where you when there were yet three months to the harvest and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city one pieces rain to Barden apiece we're on it rained not withered the withholding rain three months before harvest that's called a disaster not only is it disastrous but he also made it clear that God was doing it on purpose by letting it some win some lose deliberate to serve as a god-sent warning interesting concept a century earlier elisha pronounced no rain on the northern kingdom for three and a half years at first kings 17 that happened to be mentioned by both Jesus in Luke 4 and by James and James 5 and it also is an identifying capability of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 so I encourage you to check that all out so two or three cities wandering in one city to drink water but they were not satisfied yet you have not returned unto me saith the Lord in other words they're so desperate they're going city city just for some water they're desperate but they still haven't heated all this is a warning i've smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and the vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increase in the Palmer room devoured them yet had he not returned unto me saith the Lord with blasting of militants the crops are blasted by the scorching east wind from the desert california cold of Santa Anas right and the mildew was from the excessive drought not not from moisture and the Palmer woman of course is a very very heavy for of cutting off insect that you remember from Joel chapter one one of the most voracious form of locusts in fact in that that passage the plagues of tonight 28 the Goshen of diversity are now reversed if you will and so and there's a parallel here perhaps to America I'll let you conclude that on your own now let's take a person let's set aside American are there events in your own life through which God is taking away material necessities to focus you on the spiritualities via work be alert to that God may be doing that in some of our lives because these things can apply to us personally are there events in our lives through which God is taking away material necessities to focus on the spiritualities pray about it every one of this is different I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the sword I've taken away your horses I've made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord well that's graphic enough Inlet I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning yeah have you not returned unto me saith the Lord that's the repeating refrain here all the way through and of course Sodom Gomorrah it's used here as a manner not for it you know I mean not matter but third us they're not necessarily destroyed by hips of the fire and all that but the thoroughness of it Sodom and Gomorrah the the analogy here isn't the fire it Nesi as a fire plant plucked out of the fire it's that they were destroyed and never returned never came back as a fire blind plucked out of the fire a piece of firewood ablates cannot survive unless someone Yanks it out in Zechariah applies this phrase to the rescue of Judah from the Babylonian captivity which of course they worked there are a lot of successive defeats the Syrians under has Al Jarreau arm Jay who Jo has these victories gave Jeroboam the second to save Israel during God gave Jeroboam the second dish during a mice's day so those were victories God gave Jeroboam the second those are that's the good news various disasters limited scope were sent in the hopes of bringing repentance they didn't work so he got the ultimate disaster the Syrians wiped him out God is not fooled by for feigned piety he will deal personally with this nation which was too rich too preoccupied and to callous to listen to his word that's the message of Amos is there a parallel that's up to you to figure out therefore that's what I do unto the O Israel because I will do this under the prepare to meet thy God o Israel the Assyrians swooped down and took the entire northern kingdom captive distributed them throughout their empire of thus ending their corporate existence as a nation Wow prepare to meet thy God o Israel that's a heavy sentence not all were taken captive some were slain prepare to meet thy God you know that that admonition applies to you and me we don't know what tomorrow brings sufficient of the day is the evil thereof are you prepared to meet God every day that he tarries gives us another day to repair our report cards are you going to stand before every one of us are gonna stand before him are we gonna are you gonna stand alone are you gonna stand before God in your own righteousness if so you're in for a rude surprise eh I'm not worried about standing before God I'm a mess you don't want to know what a mess I'm in very few mistakes I've missed I've done wrong but I'm not worried about that because Christ is gonna stand in my place I know that do you know that this Christ's gonna stand in your place at that judgment the Bema seat of Christ if you're saved you'll be there great but how you gonna fare that report Congreve you that's we might call that the final exam I'm going to see us it's time for all of us to cram for our finals here right you stand alone are you gonna have Christ as your advocate your defense counsel well sure well that's my choice for early I love this is a great wrap up here lo hee that form at the mountains and created the wind and declare them to man what is his thought that maketh the morning darkness and travel on the high places of the earth the Lord the God of hosts is his name he's not only an incredible creator who formed the mountains great of the wind he declares to man his thoughts this is not an impersonal force a first cause or some other idiom no no this is a God who gives us his thoughts his words maketh the morning darkness Trevathan the high places of the earth Wow he's on Nippon he's omniscient and he's omnipresent it's more powerful than anything he's present everywhere and he knows everything secret sin on the earth will be an open scandal in heaven you've got a secret sin that nobody knows about then you're in for a rude surprise a secret sin here will be an open scandal in heaven boy confess it get it behind you get it covered here in famous they will not return him so he will come to them in a terrifying historical theophany so inexorable that no Israelite can avoid that's chapter 9 is gonna be all about that and it's so awesome that none can mistake it not in the sanctuary but in history not in covenant making but in judgment the Lord of hosts leader of the Israeli army that used that term is used 282 times in the Old Testament hosts mean armies by the way the god of battle Elohim by the way did you know that that's a plural noun and Hebrew Elohim is plural always used as a single his parole did you know in Hebrew the plural is always three three or more not two or more the two or more is a dual there's a singular a dual and a plural which is three or more Elohim is three or more don't tell me there's Trinity's in the Old Testament it's in the very first verse merci bara Elohim and so forth okay then just as long as it's the Israel Defense Force everywhere ders what's this you know it's all ho acronym so for what Hagen ah the authorial the host of Defense for Israel is what you'll see the three letters on a jacket whatever okay well we've taken a quick look at the first two sermons for next time I'd like you to read two chapters five and six that's going to be the final sermon of Amos and it deals with Israel's future these previous two sermons jephta three was Israel present men and Chapter four was Israel's past from his point of view third German is going to be Israel's future chapter five in chapter six and let's stand for a closing word of Prayer

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Length: 73min 58sec (4438 seconds)

Published: Sat May 09 2020