This week, we have been looking at a
letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the
book of Amos, which is the next letter that was written by prophet
chronologically, which is not necessarily the order that they are found in the
Bible, where they are organized by size. Amos was a herdsman and grower of a
type of figs, which were known as sycamore figs, until God called Him to leave
his home to be His messenger and gave him the responsibility to proclaim God’s
message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Lord, through
Amos, proclaim to the Jewish people that He was about to exercise judgment upon
them as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.
The Lord reminded the Jewish people that even though
He had delivered them from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt, even
though He had chosen the Jewish people from all the nations to enter into a
special covenant relationship with in order that they might represent Him to
all the nations, He was ready to punish them for breaking that covenant
relationship with Him. Despite the
privilege that they had received to be in a special relationship with the Lord,
the Jewish people rebelled against the Lord. The Jewish people responded to
privilege by refusing the responsibilities that came with that privilege.
The Lord used
several powerful word pictures to describe the selfishness and rebellion of the
Jewish people and the judgment and punishment that they would receive from the
Lord as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. Despite the privileges and blessings that
they had received from God, these Jewish women exploited the poor and needy
instead of sharing their resources to help meet the needs of the poor and
needy. In addition the Lord’s punishment and judgment would come as a result of
their worship of false gods instead of the Lord as the One True God.
Amos proclaimed their refusal to
repent; their refusal to recognize and respond to their selfishness and
rebellion, and the consequences that their selfishness and rebellion had
brought them, would result in the ultimate judgment and punishment from the
Lord. The Northern Kingdom would come face to face with the punishment that
comes from the Lord, who alone is the One True God. They would come face to
face with the One who created the universe and who had proclaimed His just and
right judgment for selfishness and rebellion through Amos. And that judgment
would be inescapable. Just a few chapters later, we see the Lord reveal to Amos
the standard for that judgment in Amos 7:1-9:
Thus
the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the
spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing. 2
And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that
I said, "Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is
small?" 3 The LORD changed His mind about this. "It shall
not be," said the LORD. 4 ¶ Thus the Lord GOD showed me,
and behold, the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to
consume the farm land. 5 Then I said, "Lord GOD, please stop!
How can Jacob stand, for he is small?" 6 The LORD changed His
mind about this. "This too shall not be," said the Lord GOD. 7 ¶
Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a
plumb line in His hand. 8 The LORD said to me, "What do you
see, Amos?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said,
"Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I
will spare them no longer. 9 "The high places of Isaac will be
desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against
the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
Here we see the Lord give Amos a series of visions
that paint for us pictures of His judgment for the selfishness and rebellion of
the Jewish people. First, in verses 1-3,
we see the Lord give Amos a vision of a swarm of locust destroying the food
source for the Jewish people. Amos, upon seeing this vision, pleaded and
interceded on behalf of the people before the Lord. Amos explained that the
Lord changed His mind and did not send the swarm of locusts.
Then, in verses 4-6, the Lord gave Amos a second
vision, this time of a fire that would destroy the farm land of the Jewish
people. And once again, upon seeing the vision, Amos pleaded and interceded on
behalf of the people before the Lord. Amos explained that the Lord again
changed His mind and did not send the fire.
Then, in verses 7-9, the Lord gave Amos a third
vision, this time of a plumb line. Now a plumb line is used by builders and
mason to measure the straightness of a wall. The Lord, in this vision is
painting a word picture for Amos. The wall that is to be measured by the plumb
line is the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The plumb line that would be used to
measure the Northern Kingdom would be the Law, which referred to the first five
letters that are recorded for us in our bibles today. The Law revealed God’s
nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people would
need to possess and display in order to experience a right relationship with
God.
And as Amos looked at the plumb line of the God’s word
held up against the selfishness and rebellion of the Northern Kingdom of
Israel, the crooked and twisted nature of their selfishness and rebellion was
unmistakably clear. And as a result, Amos did not intercede. Instead Amos
agreed that God was right and just in His judgment and punishment of the
Northern Kingdom.
You see, when Amos stated that the Lord changed His
mind about this, this referred to how he would judge the Jewish people, not
whether or not he would judge the Jewish people. And by the way, who changed?
Did God change? Or did Amos change? Amos changed. God used the plumb line so
that Amos would see God’s rightness and justice and understand why the Jewish
people needed to be judged. We see the Lord give Amos two final visions in Amos
8:1-14:
Thus
the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there
was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, "What do you
see, Amos?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the
LORD said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them
no longer. 3 "The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in
that day," declares the Lord GOD. "Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in
silence." 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away
with the humble of the land, 5 saying, "When will the new moon
be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat
market, To make the bushel
smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, 6
So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the
wheat?" 7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
"Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds. 8
"Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it
mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed
about And subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 "It will come about
in that day," declares the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go
down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight. 10
"Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into
lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone's loins And baldness on
every head. And I will make it like a
time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a
bitter day. 11 "Behold, days are coming," declares the
Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread
or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 12
"People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it. 13 "In that day
the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst. 14
"As for those who swear by
the guilt of Samaria, Who say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' And, 'As the way of
Beersheba lives,' They will fall and not rise again."
Here we see the Lord give Amos a fourth vision, this
time of a basket of ripe fruit. The Lord gave Amos this vision to reveal the
reality that just as there is a time when fruit is right for eating, the Jewish
people were ripe for judgment. The Lord wanted Amos to clearly understand that
there was no hope for the Northern Kingdom. There was no hope because the greed
of the Jewish people pursued profit at the expense of the poor. There was no
hope because the Jewish people refused to humble themselves before the Lord.
There was no hope because the Jewish people despised
the fact that they had to interrupt their times of profit and pleasure for
church. There was no hope because the Jewish people insisted on finding new and
creative ways to cheat others. There was no hope because the Jewish people
forced people into slavery for financial gain. And because of their rebellion,
the Jewish people would experience a drought that would lead to death. And that
drought would be the loss of God’s presence and God’s message. Amos then
received a final vision to reinforce the certainty of God’s judgment in Amos
9:1-6:
I
saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals
so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive
who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape. 2 "Though they dig
into Sheol, From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to
heaven, From there will I bring them down. 3 "Though they hide
on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And
though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From
there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. 4 "And
though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command
the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and
not for good." 5 The Lord GOD of hosts, The One who touches the
land so that it melts, And all those who dwell in it mourn, And all of it rises
up like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt; 6 The One who builds
His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the
earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of
the earth, The LORD is His name.
You
see, the Lord wanted Amos to clearly understand that judgment was certain and
inescapable. The temple in Bethel would be razed to the ground. And wherever
they fled, whether they fled to the dense forests surrounding Mount Carmel;
whether they attempted to hide in the limestone caves around Mount Carmel, escape
was impossible. Wherever they went the Lord would fix
his eyes on them for evil and not good in order to exercise His right and just
response to their selfishness and rebellion.
And it is here, when God speaks, that we discover a
timeless truth about the nature and character of God and God’s activity in
history. And that timeless truth is this: A privileged
indifference toward God will result in judgment from God. You see, the point of the book of Amos is
that there are responsibilities that accompany privilege. Yet, despite
the privilege that they had received to be in a special relationship with the
Lord, the Jewish people rebelled and rejected the responsibilities that came
with that privilege.
And as
the Lord brought consequences upon the Jewish people for rebelling and rejecting
the responsibilities that came with that privilege in hopes that they would
return to Him, the Jewish people responded with indifference. The Jewish people
lived in an arrogance against God as they exploited those who were created in
the image of God. The Jewish people viewed time with God as getting in the way
of their times of profit and pleasure. And it was this attitude of indifference
to God, in spite of the privileges that they had received from God, that led to
their judgment by God.
So here is a question to consider: How
are you responding to the privileges that you have received from God? How are
you responding to the reality that you have been given the opportunity to be rescued
from your rebellion into a relationship with God through Jesus?
And how are you responding to the
responsibilities that you have been given by God as a result of the privileges
you have received from God? How are you responding to the reality that you have
been rescued for something, not just from something? Are
you responding with indifference to the privileges you have received from God? Are
you responding with arrogance to the privileges you have received from God? Are
you rebelling and rejecting the responsibilities that come from God as a result
of the privileges you have received from God?
Because, as we have
discovered this morning, a privileged indifference toward God will result in
judgment from God…
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