LifeWay Family Bible Series for April 7
Amos pushes people from their comfort zones
___ Amos 1:1-5; 2:4-8; 3:7, 13-15
___By Barbara Kent
___University Baptist Church, Fort Worth
___Are you ready to have your comfort zone disturbed? If not, then you will want to forego the study of Amos.
___Who was Amos?
___Amos was a shepherd who lived in the village of Tekoa. Positioned about 11 miles south of Jerusalem and 18 miles west of the Dead Sea, this village was home to one of the most disturbing prophets of all time. He said he was not a prophet, not even the son of a prophet, but simply a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore-fig trees (7:14).
___Little else is known about him. He lived during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (783-742 B.C.), and Jereboah II, king of Judah (786-746 B.C.). Times were good. Prosperity, at least for the privileged, blossomed. Religious observance was practiced with gusto by a people whose faithfulness to the covenant with Yahweh was a total sham.
___Amos was compelled to speak strong words to his people by his conviction that the destruction of Israel was at hand. And thus he spoke.
___Using a broad brush
___Amos' messages of doom began with predicting disaster for the neighbors of Israel. He preached doom for Damacus (1:3), Gaza (1:6), Tyre (1:9), Edom (1:11), Ammon (1:13), Moab (2:1), Judah (2:4).
___With little effort, you can hear the roars of approval as he preached. Of course God would bring destruction to these wicked people; it was nothing but right. God could not sit idly by and watch the wickedness of these people go unpunished. Three cheers for God! Three cheers for Amos!
___The phrase "for three sins ... even for four," which is used eight times in the first two chapters, should be understood symbolically rather than literally. Three sins probably represented the point beyond which God would not allow a nation or society to go without judgment. The fourth sin meant things had gone too far.
___Read 1:3-5 to see the charges against Damascus and the strong words of doom Amos predicted it. The people of Damascus had wreaked cruel and inhuman treatment on the people of Gilead. Heavy threshing sledges with teeth of iron, designed for threshing grain, had been dragged over the bodies of the inhabitants of Gilead. The results of this sin would be swift and thorough.
___Fire would consume the house of Hazael, the dynasty of the Syrian kings. The strongholds of Benhadad (fortified towers used in the defense of Syria) would be destroyed. The "bar of Damascus" (v. 5), the iron or bronze bar which secured the city gate, would be broken. The people of Damascus would experience the severest kind of judgment.
___And the cheers from the people of Israel rang out with the words of Amos against Damascus and all the other people he named.
___The mood changes
___Amos' words moved closer and closer to home. When he got to Judah, it would have been wise for his hearers to begin to be uneasy. It should have been apparent Israel would be next. The cheering might well have waned.
___The charges against Israel were perhaps the most damning. These were the people of the covenant. They themselves had been rescued from bondage and slavery, and yet they were exploiting the poor, denying justice to the oppressed (2:6-7). Their moral character was bankrupt. Father and son "enjoyed" the same prostitutes. They even practiced their unspeakable debauchery beside the altar, lying on garments they had accepted as collateral for loans. These harsh words were spoken against the religious folk of Israel.
___Judgment is coming
___The cheering faded into a stunned silence. Then Amos delivered his strongest words yet.
___God does not work in secret. He is open and forthright in his dealings. The prophet Amos was God's messenger to his people. Israel would be punished for her sins (v. 14), the shoddy religious practicies would be destroyed (v. 14), the ill-gotten gains of the rich at the expense of the poor would disappear (v. 15). Thus spoke the Lord through his prophet Amos.
___Can we hear?
___Israel acted as if being God's chosen people exempted them from the standards he held for all people--to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before the Lord.
___Are we like them in any respect? Do we need to heed the warnings these verses hold? Have we become lax in our commitment to the Lord? Can we be comfortable in the face of the words of Amos? Let our prayer be: "Speak, Lord; your servant hears."
___Questions for discussion
___ What might a prophet like Amos say to the United States today?
___ If God loves us and only tells us what we need to hear to have an abundant life, why don't we want to hear it?
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