Amos

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Amos

• Burden-bearer
• 71 915

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Review

• Amos began with a series of oracles against 8
  nations which had sinned
• Amos continued with 3 sermons explaining the
  details of the sins of Israel and why they needed
  to be punished
• Amos now concludes with a series of 6 visions of
  the future of Israel
• We will first look at what the visions meant for
  Israel
• After each vision, we will look for lessons which
  we can learn for ourselves

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The vision of locusts

• Amos 71-3
• Punishment seen as a locust swarm at the time of
  the last crop
• Could be a literal locust swarm
• Could be an invading, plundering army
• Amos prays on behalf of Israel
• Believes the punishment would be the end of
  Israel (so more likely the army)
• God hears and relents
• Lessons Pray to God God is merciful pray for
  your enemies

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The vision of fire

• Amos 74-6
• A vision of a great fire on the sea that consumes
  Israel as well
• Perhaps a war that will come from the west and
  destroy Israel
• Amos again prays for mercy
• God again relents
• Lessons
• Same as previous vision
• Also the patience of God
• The effective, fervent prayers of the righteous

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The vision of the plumb line

• Amos 77-9
• God is standing on a wall holding a plumb line
• A plumb line measure how vertically straight a
  wall is
• The wall was built plumb
• The wall represents Israel
• She began with Gods laws (and was plumb)
• Now God is going to check her plumb again
• She has high places worshipping false gods
• She has sanctuaries idolatrous worship of God
• Israel is out of plumb
• The offending places and the kings of Israel will
  be destroyed

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The vision of the plumb line

• Lessons
• God has a standard by which His people will be
  judged
• Failure to comply with the standards will result
  in punishment
• Notice Amos doesnt try to dissuade God
• He knows the punishment is just and deserved
• The punishment is against the sin (those who
  practiced sin or were complicit in the sin)

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Amaziahs complaint

• Amos 710-17
• Amaziah (a priest of the golden calf at Bethel)
• Accuses Amos of prophesying against the king
• (essentially that was the meaning of the last
  vision as well as his sermons and oracle)
• Amaziah orders Amos into exile in Judah
• Amos says being a prophet wasnt his choice
• As to the location and content of the prophecies
• God says everything he had been told will happen,
  and because Amaziah protested . . .
• God will make the punishment even worse for him

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Amaziahs complaint

• Lessons
• We must tell people what God has said
• Even if they dont like to hear it
• God does not want to be second-guessed
• Especially by someone who does not obey Him
• He listened to Amos
• He severely punished Amaziah for his arrogance
• How often do unbelievers say they cant accept a
  God who punishes wickedness?
• Should not be surprised that they will get what
  they deserve (on judgment day or before)

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The vision of summer fruit

• Amos 81-3
• A basket of ripe summer fruit is shown
• God says even so, Israel is ready for its harvest
• Punishment can not be delayed much longer
• Amos 84-6
• The sins of Israel are summarized
• Oppressing the poor
• Disdain for proper worship
• Placing economic gain above worship
• Dishonesty in business

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The vision of summer fruit

• Amos 87-14
• The punishment described
• Upheaval and mourning
• Political disaster (war)
• Large scale death and destruction (conquest)
• A famine for the word
• God would stop sending His prophets to them
• The following generations will be lost
• The idolaters will be wiped out

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The vision of summer fruit

• Lessons
• Gods patience has a limit
• Sin must be judged and punished
• God keeps track of all our sins
• A terrible punishment is to lose Gods word
• How often do we deprive ourselves?
• The consequence isnt just harming ourselves
• The following generations will be lost as they
  never hear the word of God

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The vision of the Lord by the altar

• Amos 91-4
• Since the prophesy is against Israel
• The altar is likely the idolatrous altars
• It was also the last thought of Amos 8
• Idolatry will be wiped out
• There will be no escape why? . . .
• Amos 95-6
• Because God is the all-powerful Creator
• Amos 97
• And because Israel was no different than a pagan
  nation

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The vision of the Lord by the altar

• Amos 98-10
• Discrimination in the midst of judgment
• God will not condemn the faithful with the guilty
• Even the smallest grain will be noticed and
  preserved
• Lessons
• Unfaithful believers are no different than
  pagans in Gods sight
• Of course, they can repent and be faithful . . .
• Faithful believers are always noticed by God
• They will be kept by God

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The vision of a restored tabernacle

• Amos 911-15
• A restoration of the tabernacle of David
• David had no literal tabernacle
• There was a tabernacle of Moses
• There was a temple of Solomon
• Included Edomites and Gentiles
• Which were excluded from OT worship
• So it is not referring to a restoration of
  physical Israel and OT worship
• Acts 1513-17 James quotes Amos as a prophesy
  of the church

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The vision of a restored tabernacle

• The vision is of the church
• A tabernacle (place of worship) of David (for
  people after Gods own heart)
• Includes people from all nations who are called
  by His name
• In the kingdom
• By the time harvest is done, more plowing has
  begun
• By the time seed-planting is done, harvest has
  already started

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The vision of a restored tabernacle

• Lessons
• God has always had a plan for the church
• We need to be busy in the fields
• We may be a plowman
• A seed-planter
• Or a harvester
• Whatever your function, no time to sit on the
  sidelines and say Later
• Our time is now, and theres plenty to do

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Conclusion

• Amos has taught us a lot of lessons
• About God
• His righteousness, His power, His judgments
• About Gods people
• The nature of fellowship with God
• The cost of failure
• The need to recognize and accept our
  responsibility to obey God and put Him first
• The foolishness of thinking we can fool God or
  escape His punishment
• Are you prepared to meet God?
• If not, then now is the time to get ready

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