GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 2 ~ ~ “Amos 1:2 ~ ~ “And he said, “The Lord roars from Zion, and from Jerusalem He utters His voice;  and the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn, and the summit of Carmel dries up.”

Another “minor” prophet in the Old Testament, Amos, as looked at by Dr. Michael Youssef in his book, How to Read the Bible.

AMOS: “LET JUSTICE ROLL”

Amos is probably the earliest of the prophetic books.  Amos came from the southern kingdom of Judah but he preached in the northern kingdom of Israel.  The themes of the book of Amos are God’s power, judgment, and demand that all people, especially the poor and powerless, be treated justly.

Amos tells Israel that God will judge His own chosen people with the same standard He judges the heathen nations.  He also warns that God will reject their religious rites and sacrifices if they do not repent of their sins and acts of oppression:

“I hate, I despise, your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to Me.  Even though you bring Me burnt offerings, and grain offerings, I will not accept them.  Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.  Away with the noise of your songs!!!  I will not listen to the music of your harps.  But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

Amos 5:21-14

The central theme of the book is that a corrupt, selfish, idolatrous society is terminally ill.  Such a society is under god’s judgment.  If God’s people fail to take a stand and speak out against it, they have ceased to have an influence – or any reason for existing..  No amount of religious activity can build the Kingdom of God.  Correct doctrine is no substitute for obedience to God’s will.  God wants to reign in our everyday lives.

Amos preached to the nation about the need to reactivate faith in – and obedience to – God’s covenant.  He reminded the Jews that they were God’s people and subjects of His sovereign rule.  As such, they had a solemn responsibility before God.

Speaking through Amos, God warns that Israel is at risk in Amos 9:8:

“’Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom.  I will destroy it from the face of the earth.  Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,’ declares the Lord.”

The kingdom of Israel, then, was not and could not be the Kingdom of God because it was under the judgment of God.

The smug and complacent people were looking forward to the “day of the Lord” because they thought it would be the day in which Israel would be confirmed as the Kingdom of God.  But God, through Amos, declared that the “day of the Lord” would be a day of judgment and doom for the disobedient nation:

“Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!  Why do you long for the day of the Lord?  That day will be darkness, not light.  It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.  Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light – pitch dark, without a ray of brightness?  (Amos 5:18-20)

Amos affirmed that God would not defend the ancient state of Israel when the Assyrians came.  Israel’s hope in the political kingdom would be irrevocably shattered.  The story of Israel’s swift destruction, as Amos predicted, is found in 2 Kings 15-17.

But that did not mean all hope was lost.  God promised that His people would be restored – not politically, but spiritually – when His true, eternal Kingdom was established.

************  ***************

A POEM BY HELEN STEINER RICE:

IN GOD IS OUR STRENGTH

It’s a troubled world we live in, and we wish that we might find not only happiness of heart, but longed-for peace of mind.

But where can we begin our search in the age of automation with neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation.

 Where values have no permanence and change is all around, and everything is sinking sand and nothing solid ground?

Have we placed our faith in leaders unworthy of our trust?  Have we lost our own identities and allowed our souls to rust?

Have we forgotten Babylon and Egypt, Rome and Greece, and all the mighty rulers who lived by war, not peace?

Who built their thrones and empires on power and manmade things and never knew God’s greatness or that He is King of Kings?

But we’ve God’s eternal promise, so let us seek a goal —  that opens up new vistas for man’s eternal soul.

For our strength and our security lie not in earthly things but in Christ the Lord, who died for us and rose as King of kings.

 *************  ***************

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

Psalm 9:10

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.

Psalm 13:5

But I have trusted in Your faithfulness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart triumphs, And with my song I shall thank Him.

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord