Book of Amos 29: Ethical Monotheism

turn in your Bible to the Book of Amos chapter 8 tonight we're gonna study the vision of the summer fruit so follow along with me as I read verses 1 through 3 then the sovereign Lord showed me another vision in and I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit what do you see Amos he asked I replied a basket full of ripe fruit then the Lord said like this fruit Israel is ripe for punishment I will not delay the punishment again and that day the singing in the temple will turn to wailing dead bodies will be scattered everywhere they will be carried out of the city in silence I the sovereign Lord have spoken now the meaning of this vision is pretty straightforward when the fruit is ripe it's hot it's time to harvest them and the harvest signals the end of the season in other words as soon as the fruit is picked it's over until a new season begins now what I'm about to say is very important so listen very carefully what Amos saw was ripe fruit in a basket in other words it had been picked which meant that the harvest was over and that particular season had come to an end and that's what the vision signified Israel was ripe for punishment in fact God had already picked them and placed them in a basket which meant that their season was over the end for Israel had finally come in fact on the day of their punishment dead bodies would be scattered everywhere and there would be so many dead bodies there wouldn't they wouldn't be able to bear them the best thing they would be able to do was to carry them out of the city where birds wild beasts and dogs would be able to consume them and of course all of this would signify that God had brought this upon them for not keeping the Covenant you see unburied corpses are part of the curse for not keeping the Covenant look at Leviticus chapter 26 verses 27 through 33 and I'll show you what I'm talking about now before we read this let me say if you really want to understand the Old Testament you need to be very familiar with Deuteronomy chapter 28 and Leviticus chapter 26 and the reason you do is because this tells us what will happen if you keep the Covenant and what will happen if you don't keep the Covenant and so all of the profits are going to refer back to one of these two chapters time and time again in fact that's why we're reading this unburied corpses are part of the curse for not keeping the Covenant notice what it says we're going to start in verse number 27 read down to verse 33 in fact we could have gone almost all the way back to the 1st of this chapter but I wanted to skip all of that here's what it says if in spite of all of this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile towards me then I will give full vent to my hostility that is not what you want from God I myself and I this first-person pronoun is referring to God I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins then you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters I will destroy your pagan shrines and knock down your places of worship now does that sound familiar it should it's what God said he would do in the vision of the plumb line if you remember in the vision of the plumb line he said that he was going to knock down their places of worship and destroy their pagan shrines right let's keep going I will leave your lifeless corpses piled on top of your lifeless idols does that sound familiar it should we just read about that name as chapter eight verses one through three this is what God said he would do in the vision of the summer fruit now let's continue on and I will despise you I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship I will take no pleasure in your offerings that you should be a pleasing aroma to me yes I myself will devastate your land and your enemies who come to occupy it will be appalled at what they see I will scatter you among the nation's and bring out my sword against you your land will become desolate in your cities will lie in ruins so when this happened they would have no doubt that God had punished them for breaking his covenant that's why God was doing these particular things it's because he forewarned them in Deuteronomy chapter 28 in Leviticus chapter 26 if you break my covenant you don't repent and you continue to do this this is what will happen to you so when this happens they would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is the one who was doing that and that's why they would carry the dig corpses out of the city in silence if you remember the Jews believed that that if God was punishing you you wanted to keep your mouth shut you didn't even want to utter his name lest his judgment fall upon you do you remember that remember when they were supposedly coming to the city and everyone's dead and they were gonna say is anyone still alive and the other person says Shh don't say a word why because they believed if God's punishment came up on you that meant that he was very angry and he had vented his anger and in God's anger you didn't want to tick him off any more so you kept silent you didn't even utter his name so by carrying out the dead bodies in silence it would show that they finally realized they were being punished by God so to recap this is the meaning of the vision of the summer fruit like fruit ripe for harvest Israel was ripe for punishment in fact God had already picked them and placed them in a basket which signified that their season was over the end for Israel had finally come and of course in 722 BC everything that Amos prophesy came to pass just as he said it would everything but the exception of the restoration of the house of David has that come to pass yet no will it come to pass yes when will it come to pass when Jesus Christ returns when Jesus Christ returns he will rule on this earth for a thousand years the house of David will be restored and David will be the Vizier he will actually rule over the nation of Israel his dynasty will be restored so the house of David is going to be restored we see that another prophets anyways that's in chapter 9 we're gonna get to that just a little bit a few more weeks now in this next section amos answers the obvious questions a normal person would have after hearing the vision of the summer fruit and these are the questions question number one you say we're going to be punished why are we going to be punished question number two you say we're right for punishment in fact you say we've already been picked and placed in a basket who picked us in other words who is going to bring punishment upon us question number three you say punishment is coming if and when it comes who will help us if we cry out to God will he come to our aid if not will the gods we made and plastered placed at Dan and Bethel come to our aid now these are the three questions that Amos is going to answer in this next section verses four through six answers the first question verses 7 through 10 answers the second question and verses 11 through 14 answers the third question so look at verses 4 through 6 so let's see the answer to the first question have you already forgotten what the first question is well let me remind you question number one you say we're going to be punished why are we going to be punished now you would think that a person with half a brain who's been listening to this prophet wouldn't even have this question but the truth of the matter is most of us are like this we never think that we're worse than what we really are we always think that we're better than what we really are and so when Amos can't prophesying this they just couldn't believe it and so again he had to preach three sermons to trying to convince them that what he was going to prophesy that what he had prophesied against them was really going to happen and then even when he sees this vision he explains what the meaning is the first question they have is well you say we're going to be punished why are we going to be punished well here's the answer verses 4 through 6 listen to this you who rob the poor and trample down the needy you can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over in the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating be helpless do you measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheap the buyer with dishonest scales and you mix the grain you sell with chaff Swift from the floor then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals now Amos indictment of Israel was that they were picking and choosing which parts of the law they wanted to keep and even the parts they chose to keep they so by keeping the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law remember they made two golden calves which were idols and they place one at Dan and one at Bethel and they told themselves that these were the gods that brought them out of Egypt so right from the beginning they were practicing idolatry which was a violation of the first and second commandments how many of you know what the Ten Commandments are how many of you could whip them out write them down repeat them back to me well if you can't you probably should because immediately what they did was a violation of the first two commandments the first commandment is you shall have no other gods before me that's what Yahweh said and of course they did the second commandment is thou shall not make any great graven images so right off the bat they were picking and choosing what parts of the law they wanted to keep but even the parts that they chose to keep they didn't really keep because they only kept the letter of the law and not the spirit of law and this is what Amos zeroed in on to answer the question why are we going to be punished they were being punished because they were picking and choosing which parts of the law they wanted to keep and even the parts they chose to keep they weren't really keeping because they were only keeping the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law and Amos gives specific examples in verses 4 through 6 and let me tell you why he does that it's kind of like when you deal with your children and you tell them that no they can't go to the ball game this Friday night because they didn't do their chores and they look at you like you're stupid what didn't I do and you have to specifically say it's your job to take out the trash did you take out the trash oh no it's your job to pick up your dirty clothes and put them in the laundry hamper did you do that no it's your job to make your bed every morning how many times did you make your bed this week I don't know yes they do no none but you see the reason you had to get specific it's because when you keep it general they deny it and here Amos has been explaining all the things they're doing and breaking the law and they finally get it this well why are we going to be punished and he's telling them it's because you want to pick and choose what part of the laws you want to keep and what part you don't want to and even the part you choose to keep you don't really keep it because you only keep the letter of the law you don't keep the spirit of the law and they're still like well why or how or what aren't we doing so he gives specific examples in verses four through six here it is notice what he says in the first part of verse five you can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless you say they were keeping the letter of the law when they closed their businesses on the Sabbath and on the new festival days or the new moon that festivals but they failed to keep the spirit of the law when they cheated their fellow citizens on the weekdays and on the non festival days this propensity in other words this inclination to fulfill outward religious obligations while the neglecting justice and righteousness is condemned throughout the Bible notice what micah chapter 6 verse number 8 says he has shown you O mortal well actually what it means is mortal man so really we translate it like this he has shown you O man what is good and what does the Lord require of you to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God do you see that the Lord requires that we deal justly with each other and that week's Dinn mercy to each other people that's not a suggestion that's a command that's a requirement people every Jew knew that because it goes back to the Ten Commandments we don't even have to go into the other parts of the law in the book of Deuteronomy in the Book of Leviticus no we can go all the way back to the Ten Commandments the original Ten that he brings down in fact if you look at the Ten Commandments you'll find that the first four Commandments have to do with the person's relationship with God it has to do with the person's vertical relationship here they are number one that shall have no other gods before me number two not make any graven image number three that shall not take the name of God in vain number four thou shalt remember the Sabbath and keep it holy all of those things have to do do with man's relationship with God now believe it or not Sabbath is not just a day of rest see I have people come to me all the time said well you know pastor I've worked so much I didn't even want to come to church because the Sabbath is a day of rest and I let them know no the Sabbath is set apart for God yes it's a day of rest but the thing that you're supposed to remember is that it's God's day God's the one that created this earth not you and on the seventh day he rested and so what we do is we take a break from those six days that he created and on that seventh day we make sure that we have a right relationship with God it's set apart and holy and if we're not setting it apart for God then we're not really keeping the Sabbath now I'm preaching to the choir because you guys are here on Wednesday nights if you're here on Wednesday nights I assure you you're here on Sunday mornings right I should be preaching this on Easter and Christmas anyways the last six commandments have to do with the person's relationship with others it has to do with the person's horizontal relationship number five honor your father and mother number six thou shalt not kill number seven thou shalt not commit adultery number eight that shalt not steal number nine thou shalt not bear false witness and last but not least thou shalt not covet so in essence to have a right relationship with God you have to have a right relationship with others and if you don't have a right relationship with others and you don't have a right relationship with God the Bible scholars the theologians refer to this as ethical monotheism how many of you know what ethical monotheism is you probably have heard that term because I defined it once as we were going through the Book of Amos let me define it for you again this is a definition for ethical monotheism if I were you I'd take a picture of the screen because I'm gonna put it up here and you really need to understand it because you can't understand having a right relationship with God if you don't understand ethical monotheism you don't understand everything that Jesus taught everything that John the Beloved Disciple taught if you don't understand ethical monotheism here it is here's a definition ethical monotheism is the worship to the one true God by practicing and adhering to the values and morals that he's revealed to us now that's technical that's a technical definition let me give you a layman's definition in other words ethical monotheism is the belief that I can't truly worship God or truly love God if I don't live by and practice the values and moral principles that he's revealed to us through the Bible that's what ethical monotheism is if I say that I love God but I don't treat people the way that God says I should treat them that I'm a liar and I don't really love God whew now let me tell you I have to deal with this as a pastor because there are times when I don't treat people the way I should treat them at least according to the way the Bible says I should treat them and whenever that happens the Holy Spirit sets off this alarm inside of me and it says Alan do you love me and I say well God you know I love you and he says if you love me you'll keep my Commandments if you love me you'll love your brothers and sisters in Christ if you love me you'll have a heart for others but if you say you love me but don't have a heart for others you don't love your brothers and sisters in Christ you don't have a love for your fellow brother or sister when you're lying and that's the way it truly is now look at the last part of verse 5 and verse 6 you measure out grain with dishonest managers and cheap the buyer with dishonest scales and you mix the grain you sell with chaff Swift from the floor then you enslave four people for one piece of silver and a pair of sandals now before I really get into this I want to paint the picture for you here are these godly businesspeople and they are closing their business on the Sabbath because you hat you can't work on the Sabbath and they're even closing their businesses on the new moon festival day they're taking it to the pharisee level before there was ever such a thing as Pharisees the Pharisees actually didn't come into existence until after the Babylonian captivity and the reason they came into existence is because the rabbi's thought that we needed to put or Danida to place a fence around the law that's the reason we were carried into captivity is because we broke the law so if we will put a fence around the law then we will never break the log in and God will not have to punish us like that again and so when you took these Commandments such as thou shalt keep the Sabbath how do you keep the Sabbath and so the Pharisees came along and they said this is how you keep the Sabbath you can't walk this far you can't open this door you can't pick this up you can't do that you can't start a fire you can't do all of these things why did they do all of that because they wanted to build a fence around the law if we don't do this then we won't break the law or we'll make sure we're not going to break the law the Pharisees did that well I want you understand these businessmen they took it to a whole new level not only were they closing their business on the Sabbath but they were also closing closing their business on the new moon festival day and they were taking it to the nth degree and yet these same businesspeople look at the last part of verse five and verse six we're measuring out grain with dishonest measures and they were cheating the buyer with dishonest scales and they were mixing the grain they sold with chaff swept from the floor they were enslaving poor people for a piece of silver or a pair of sandals in other words according to Amos these businessmen were making a killing by ripping off their poor customers and the way they did it was why you buy using two sets of weights and by using two sets of measuring containers you think when they were buying grain from the farmers they used oversized bushel baskets to measure what they were buying yeah so they were getting more than what they were actually paying for and over time that little bit that they were getting that more it begins to add up and when they sowed the grain to individuals they use smaller the show baskets to measure it so they gave less to the customer than what they really paid for and again over time it really added up and they did the same thing with their weights a standard shekel weighed eleven point four grams if you ever want to know what is a shekel because they were talking about shekels as a measurement of weight a shekel is approximately eleven point four grams which is about 0.04 ounces but they had weights that were a little lighter and a little heavier than a shekel and they would switch these weights depending upon whether they were buying or selling so the one selling to the merchants thought he was selling less than he really was and the one buying from the merchants thought that he was buying more than he really was and that's why and that's how he was ripping them off and if that wasn't bad enough they mixed dirt and chaff in with the grain they sowed so the customer actually got an inferior product even though he paid a premium price look back at the first part of verse six and you see what I'm talking about and you mix the grain you sail with chaff swept from the floor not just chaff people they would sweep the floor now what happens when you sweep the floor what do you pick up oh I know what's in your house I don't care if you clean it before I come I know what it looked like before I got there it's dirt so when you sweep you're sweeping up the chaff but you're also sweeping up the dirt and the reason they're mixing it with the grain is the more dirt and chaff that's in there the less grain they're actually selling even though it felt feels up this bushel basket right yeah and to top it off the more they were able to drive people into debt the more likely it would be that they would have to sell themselves as indentured servants and people that's what they wanted because then they would become their servants now according to the law if you soldier self as an indentured servant you could only serve for a maximum of six years how many of you remember when I went through what slavery was all about and people will make this comment that don't understand the Bible well God allowed slavery in the Old Testament God did not allow slavery in the Old Testament go back and listen to that see we don't do see DVD so just listen to it watch it what you'll find is God had strict regulations if you found yourself in the poorhouse and you couldn't take care of yourself you couldn't pay your debts then you would become an indentured servant but the maximum you could service indentured servant was how long six years but that was six years of someone working for them six days a week 12 hours a day for the price of food and clothing so these merchants wanted these people to become indebted to them because if they got to the point they could not pay their debt then they had to become an indentured servant and now they're gonna work for me six days a week 12 hours a day for me giving for for me providing food and clothing and I don't really have to worry about putting them anywhere because if I have a barn or the land that they own they can stay in their own house they just have to work their land for me yeah so they purposely cheated people hoping to drive them into debt so they would become their indentured servants and to them well that was just good business practice you know it's kind of funny to me sometimes you run again run into a business person that's really not honest and you know he'll tell you that's just good business that's what they thought that's just good business so that answered the first question why were they gonna be punished they were going to be punished because they would pick and choose which parts of the law they wanted to keep and they didn't even keep the parts they chose yes they kept the letter of the law but they didn't keep the spirit of the law and for that they were going to be punished no ifs ands or buts and Amos got very specific on what they were doing and violating the law because they were acting like children who defy their parents say well I did my chores when they know good and well they didn't do their chores now verses 7 through 10 answers the second question how many of you remember what the second question was question number two you say were right for punishment in fact you say that we've already been and placed in the basket who picked us in other words who's going to bring judgment upon us well here's the answer in verses 7 through 10 now the Lord the Lord is in all caps what does that tell us this is the covenant-keeping name of God that only those who are in covenant with him can use these people were supposed to be in covenant with him they referred to him as Yahweh now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name oh my gosh when God swears by himself you're in trouble because what he's saying has come hell or high water this is what's gonna happen I promise you so the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name the pride of Israel yeah did you know that God is referred to as the pride of Israel and one day we're going to see that when Jesus comes back because the prophets tell us that in the middle of the tribulation the Antichrist is going to go into the temple he's going to commit what's called known as the dissing the abomination of desolation and he's going to set himself up as God he's going to do these things in the temple and at that point the Jews are gonna realize what's taking place and they're gonna run to the wilderness at least some of them are a third of them will now I'll be honest with you I believe that where they're going is Petra but here's what's kind of interesting when you when you look at this they're going to be there for three and a half years and of course one of the minor prophets says that they're going to look upon whom they pierce and are going to repent and they're going to call upon him to return which is Jesus Christ and that's what Jesus is waiting for because Jesus told them until you call upon me until you repent and say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord I will not return but that's what's going to cause him to return and when he comes back he comes back as the Lion of Israel he is the pride of Israel we need to understand that our church stands for Israel always because that's what the Bible teaches but anyways let's keep going sorry getting into this I will never forget the wicked things you have done notice that first-person pronoun God speaking I will never forget the wicked things you've done the earth will tremble for your deeds and everyone will mourn the ground will rise like the Nile River at flood time it will heave up then sink again in that day says the sovereign Lord I will make the Sun go down at noon and darken the earth while it is still day I will turn your celebrations into times of morning and your singing into weeping you will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow as if your only son has died how very bitter that day will be as you can see it's Yahweh that's bringing this punishment upon Israel and in verse 7 Yahweh spent swears that he will never forget their sin in other words he will never forgive them you see throughout the Bible God promises not to remember the sins of those he forgives look at Isaiah chapter 43 verse number 25 you see what I'm talking about knows what it says I even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more in other words if God blots out your sins he remembers them no more now I really like this because in the book of Colossians it tells us that he has blotted out the handwriting of Ordinances that was against us that was contrary to us I've told you that when the great white throne judgment takes place all of those who are not written into in the or who are not written in the book of life stand before God and their judge said of the things that's written in the books that's what the book of Revelation chapter 20 tells us now here's what's interesting everything that you've ever done everything that you've ever thought everything that you've ever said is written in those books and if you and accept Jesus Christ you're going to be judged out of those things that are written in the books they're being recorded but if you're a believer you won't be judged out those things are in the books because the book of Colossians tells us that he has blotted out the handwriting of Ordinances that was against us that was contrary to us because everything we do the reason it's considered a sin is because there's a law that says or commandment that says or an example that says or principle that says we shouldn't do that so that's why it's called handwriting of Ordinances that was against us that was contrary to us it's contrary to their sinful nature but that's blotted out now here's the great thing if God BOTS it out it means that he remembers no more that's what this is saying I even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sin no more so if your sins are forgiven God doesn't remember them now it doesn't mean that he doesn't know about them obviously because God is omniscient God knows everything but what he means is he chooses to not bring them up he choose to forgive them they've been paid for now look at Psalm 79 8 here they were praying do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us let that compassion come quickly to meet us for we are brought very low you know he's saying don't remember the sins that our fathers have done and what we've done why because if God doesn't remember then that means he's forgiven you so as you can see when God forgives it means that he chooses not to remember the sins he's forgiven at the same time if God says he will not forget our sins it means that he won't forgive us and that's what he's saying in verse number seven he will never forget their sins is what he says in Amos chapter eight verse seven or in other words he will never forgive them oh my gosh well that's the Old Testament that's the law let me tell you something the reason you're cast into the lake of fire that's the second death and you're there for all eternity is because God will never forget those sins they're written down and if he doesn't ever forget them then he doesn't ever forgive him that happens in the New Testaments well as the Old Testament people so you need to understand what he's saying in Amos chapter 8 verse number 7 he's telling them I've given you over 200 years to repent I've sent prophets to you I've sent men from God to you and you have been hostile to me I've told you what would happen in Deuteronomy 28 I told you what would happen in Leviticus chapter 26 if you did not keep the Covenant now you've not kept the Covenant and this is what's going to happen I will never forget your sin which means I will never forgive your sin and then in verses 8 & 9 God promised to give them two signs but his judgment was coming let me tell you it's like God bends over backwards to the point that he's doing backward what do you call him flips trying to get them to come to the realization of who he is and what's going to happen if they don't make him Lord of their life he's going to give them two signs the first was an earthquake and it happened two years after Amos delivered this prophecy and the second was an eclipse look at verse 8 the earth will tremble for your deeds and everyone will mourn the ground will rise like the Nile River at flood time it will heave up then sink again every year the Nile River flooded it rose up and it receded and God promised that the earth would do the same as a sign it would tremble and then rise and fall in other words there will be a massive earthquake you know I'll never forget when they came up here to blast you don't realize this but cornerstone is actually built on stone this was just kind of a little heel here and when they brought the dozers in all it was was solid rock and so in order to be able to build this church here we had to bring someone in who would dynamite it and so they drilled all of these holes and they placed all of this dynamite in here and because it was after 9/11 you know you've had to go through all these hoops just to get them to do that and the day the they blasted I came to watch it and they said fire in the hole I didn't know they actually do that and they still do that and we had to have on these hard hats and they hit it and it wasn't what I expected because they did their job right here's what's interesting instead of things just going everywhere here's what it did the ground just kind of trembled went up and down now when you have a massive earthquake the earth trembles and it rises and then it falls back and that's what God was promising what happened to the earth it would tremble and that would rise and fall there would be a massive earthquake and we're told in Amos chapter 1 verse 1 that two years after Amos prophesied there was a massive earthquake exactly what Amos prophesied in chapter 8 verse 7 this is interesting look at Amos chapter 1 verse 1 this message was given to Amos a Shepherd from the town of Tacoma in Judah he received this message in visions two years before the earthquake now I want you to see that he received this message two years before the earthquake so two years before this earthquake comes he comes and tells them there's gonna be a massive earthquake we know from other minor prophets this was so massive that they were remembering it almost 300 years later that's how massive it was but here's what's kind of interesting when a prophet had this prophecy as I told you what would happen is it would be recorded and then you took it to Jerusalem and you placed it in the temple with the priests and they held it there if what you prophesied didn't come to pass you were stoned they burned your prophecy so it would not be included in the writings of Israel so here's what we think happened he gives this message but in verse number one it was added by the priests because what they would do is when they brought this prophecy in they had to identify who the Prophet was and what his message was but the person who took it must have added to it this little part this message was given to Amos a shepherd from the town of Tacoma and Judah he received this message in visions two years before the earthquake in other words when that happened they go spread this this is what he said so they add two years before the earthquake the second sign was an eclipse look at verse number nine and that day says the sovereign Lord I will make the Sun go down at noon and dark near Earth while it's still day now the phrase go down as a figure of speech and it means to cover or to block so what this this thing is that is that the sun's light will be covered or blocked at noon and of course there was a total eclipse of the Sun at noon in 763 BC in fact that's one of the reasons we kind of know that window of when he must have prophesied so both signs were fulfilled shortly after Amos delivered this prophecy to Israel and only God could have caused these two signs to occur when they did and I'm not saying these two things don't naturally occur I think someone said that we had an earthquake last night here in Oklahoma didn't we 2.4 most of us didn't even notice yeah a little one the people this was a major one he didn't just mean a little earthquake he said the earth would tremble it would rise and it would fall it was so massive that two to three hundred years later all the prophets are still talking about what took place and what Amos prophesied and then of course the Eclipse comes almost in that very same year so they know that this is exactly what God is doing the reason God did this was so they would know that it was God that brought this punishment upon them now verses 11 through 14 answers the third question do you remember what the third question is question number three you say that punishment is coming if and when it comes who will help us if we cry out to God will he come to our aid if not will the gods we made in place that Dan and Beth will come to our aid well here's the answer to that question in verses 11 through 14 the time is surely coming says the sovereign Lord when I will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread or water but if hear in the words of the Lord we'll stagger from sea to sea and wonder from border to border searching for the word of the Lord but they will not find it beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day thirsting for the Lord's word and those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria who take oaths in the name of the God of Dan and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba they will all fall down never to rise again in essence when God's punishment comes upon them they will cry out to God for help and God won't answer them in fact the more they seek God the more he will hide from them it's totally opposite of when God says if you draw near unto me I'll turn to you if you draw close to me I'll draw close to you no they've had two hundred years of this they've had a prophet tell them exactly what's going to take place and he says when that happens I won't be found and then he goes further says when you hunger for a word from me none will be given there will literally be a famine not a famine of bread or water but a famine of the word of God so when God doesn't answer them they will turn to the gods of Dan and Bethel look at verse 14 you'll see what I'm talking about and those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria they are the shameful idols those two golden calves won and Dan won in Bethel who take oaths in the name of the God of Dan and make vows in the name of the God of Beersheba why doesn't it say Bethel I'll explain in just a second they will all fall down never to rise again the God of Dan was named fail in fact they bought but they actually borrowed that I don't know if you remember but of the the Cyril Phoenicians - the Phoenicians their God was bailed and so when Ahab Mary's Jezebel she's the queen or she was actually a princess from one of the kings of Phoenicia she brings baled worship in here you remember the stories of Elijah Elisha and all of those things that are taking place but the god of Dan was failed the God of Beersheba was the same name as the God of Bethel but the reason it says bear Sheba's because of how he had spread but those gods the pagan gods are no greater than men and God says that they will fall when Israel fall never to rise again so to answer their question who will help them when God's punishment comes upon them no one not Yahweh and certainly not their pagan gods this is going to come upon them now how do we apply this today what do we apply to our life go pull out your discipleship card and remind yourself that every time you read the Bible every time you come in here sermon you're supposed to ask yourself is there an example I'm supposed to follow is there a command I'm supposed to obey is there a principle I should live by well what about this well there's several here but I'm going to boil it down into one we are not supposed to be able to pick and choose what we want to obey of the Bible but we better make sure that when we do choose the things we're going to be that we don't just keep the latter of it not the spirit of it in essence we need to make sure that we apply ethical monotheism if we say we love God we sure better love others because God says if you say that you love me who you've not seen but you don't love your brother who you do see then you're a liar and the truth is not in you so for us we need to make sure that we're not like those businessmen where we come to church we read our Bible we pray but we don't practice what the Word of God says what God is looking for is people who will love him in spirit and in truth in spirit because God has speared in truth because his Word is truth I hear people all the time on Facebook I don't hear them I see it not religious but spiritual hogwash let me tell you if you're not worshipping according to what the Bible says you're not worshiping in spirit at least not the right spirit we're to worship Him in spirit because God is spirit but we're also the worship him in truth according to the Word of God which means that the things that we learn from the Bible have to be have to be put into application in our life and if we're not doing that we're gonna be in trouble now not to scare you because we're saved by grace but we're rewarded by works and just last Sunday I talked about this foundation that no other foundation can a man lay except that is laid which is Christ Jesus and if we build upon this foundation wood hay stubble or goat silver precious stones that is going to be passed through the fire and our works will be made manifest if it's wood hay stubble it'll burn up if it's gold silver or precious stones it will come back and show what it is and will be rewarded but then it goes further it tells us if our works are burned up we'll still be saved why because of that foundation which is Jesus Christ but the sad thing is when we get to eternity when we get a chance to rule with Jesus Christ if we didn't put into practice what the Word of God says then we have wood hay and stubble on that foundation we're not going to receive the rewards we're not gonna get to rule where God wants us to rule we're not gonna get arraigned the way he wants us to reign we're not gonna have the things he wants us to have let me just tell you heaven is not a socialistic Society at all you're saved by grace but you're rewarded by works

Channel: Cornerstone Fellowship

Views: 1,694

Rating: 4.8974357 out of 5

Keywords: ethical monotheism amos, ethical monotheism christianity, ethical monotheism explanation, ethical monotheism sermon, ethical monotheism definition religion, ethical monotheism bible study, punishment, ethical monotheism, fruit, book of amos bible study, prophetical literature, minor prophets, minor prophet amos, Amos, The Book of Amos, eschatology, Millennium, bible study book of amos, Old Testament, Bible Study, Bible, End Times Prophecy, cornerstone fellowship, Allen Nolan

Id: DPrF3BGMC2I

Length: 43min 28sec (2608 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 08 2018