Israel Confronted (Amos 4-5)
Walk through the Word 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Biblical Timeline
United Kingdom under the Kings of Saul, David, and Solomon.
Divided Kingdom - The nation of Israel split into two different nations; Israel in the North, Judah in the South.
All people are God’s covenant people, but the North has evil kings that lead the people to defy God and serve false gods. They often forsake the messages from God through the prophets.
The southern kingdom has a mix of good and evil kings that lead the people towards or away from God. They may listen or reject the prophets based on their relationship with God.
Amos
Prophet of God with a message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Israel was living under the wickedness of its first King Jeroboam and the continuation of evil kings after him.
The Israelites continued to live in sin despite God’s constant messages and actions calling the people to repent and turn back to Him.
“Chapters 3–6. This section contains oracles against Israel and predictions of its destruction, and the vast majority of scholars consider this section of the book to contain the actual words of Amos.” (Willoughby, Bruce E. “Amos, Book of.” Ed. David Noel Freedman. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary 1992: 208. Print.)
“Five Sermons (3:1–6:14); Five Visions (7:1–9:10)” (Clendenen, E. Ray. “The Minor Prophets.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Ed. David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998. 353. Print.)
Sin of Israel (Amos 4:1-5)
Sin of Israel (Amos 4:1-5)
Oppression of the Poor (1-3)
Sin of the wealthy (1)
Amos 4:1 (ESV)
1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
Cows of Bashan - The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women. (Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible. Second Edition. Denmark: Thomas Nelson, 2019. Print.)
“who oppress the powerless The women are guilty of self-indulgence at the expense of the poor and powerless of society.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)
They were indulging in their personal desires and pleasures at the expense of the Poor and Needy. Although Amos is addressing the wealthy women here, this self indulgence at the expense of the poor was happening everywhere in Israel.
Lord’s Judgment (2-3)
Amos 4:2–3 (ESV)
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks. 3 And you shall go out through the breaches, each one straight ahead; and you shall be cast out into Harmon,” declares the Lord.
God is declaring that He will punish them in their sin through a foreign army taking them away into slavery.
“when they shall take you away with hooks...” - they will be a foreign power (Assyrians) will come and conquer them and take them away as slaves/plunder from the war. they will be lead away to Harmon: an unidentified place (Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) 1997: n. pag. Print.)
Worship of false gods (4-5)
Amos 4:4 (ESV)
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days;
Bethel - 3:14 the altars of Bethel An ancient sanctuary turned into one of the primary religious centers of the northern kingdom (see 1 Kgs 12:25–33; note on Hos 8:6). (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)
1 Kings 12:28–32 (ESV)
28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30 Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.
31 He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.
32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
Gilgal - Probably a reference to the Gilgal near Jericho, where Israel camped during the conquest. Joshua had set up 12 stones there as a memorial (Josh 4:1–8, 19–24). The site later became an important religious center (1 Sam 7:16; 10:8; 11:14–15). The prophet Amos also criticizes Gilgal for religious infidelity (Amos 4:4; 5:5). (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)
Sacrifices and offerings - the leaders and Israelites are active in serving false gods in the land and continually worshiping the golden calves set up by Jeroboam.
the sin of Israel was Injustice and worship of false gods.
Call to Repent (Amos 4:6-11)
Call to Repent (Amos 4:6-11)
God judges and discipline his people with the goal of their returning to Him. God fulfills with Israel what he said in Deuteronomy 28.
God Blessed them (6)
Amos 4:6 (ESV)
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
God withheld rain for their crops (7-8)
Amos 4:7–8 (ESV)
7 “I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither; 8 so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
God brought problems to the Land (9)
Amos 4:9 (ESV)
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
God brought suffering upon the People (10)
Amos 4:10 (ESV)
10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
God brought devastation to Israel (11)
Amos 4:11 (ESV)
11 “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.
God does use our suffering, consequences, and judgment in our lives to return us to committed walks with Him.
When difficulty, suffering or sickness comes into our lives, we need to seek the Lord to see if we are living in sin.
God will reveal it to us. “The way you are treating Bob...”, “You know you are not to watch that.”
We are to repent and return to the Lord and walk in His ways.
This does not mean that all difficulties, suffering, or sickness is because of our sin.
They could come from the sins of others.
They could come from the sins in the world.
However, God can use our suffering to lead to repentance. Which is what Amos is saying that the Lord is using these to lead the Israelites to repent. “ yet you did not return to me,”
When we talk about suffering and God healing, I feel the need to address it slowly and carefully because there are a lot of factors involved with Sin, sickness, consequences, conviction, healing, and repentance.
Therefore, God will judge Israel (12-13)
Amos 4:12–13 (ESV)
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” 13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
This word should have terrified the Israelites.
Call to Seek Him (Amos 5:4-9)
Call to Seek Him (Amos 5:4-9)
Seek the Lord, not other gods (4-5)
Amos 5:4–5 (ESV)
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; 5 but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
Seek me and live
Seek me - to seek (experience) v., to earnestly try to encounter the presence of a deity; often involving requests or petitions to the deity. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Seek the Lord of the covenant and you will live.
Don’t seek false gods.
“but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal”
Do not go to the alters or priest set up in those places.
Do not worship the false gods in those areas.
“for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
God is going to judge them and they will not be available.
Seek the Lord, for he will punish (6-7)
Amos 5:6–7 (ESV)
6 Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, 7 O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!
Seek the Lord for forgiveness and mercy before He judges you.
Sinful actions leading to judgment (7)
Justice - the quality of being free from favoritism, self-interest, bias, or deception; especially conforming to established standards or rules. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Wormwood - bitter substance n., any substance that is bitter and perhaps dangerous for consumption (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Righteousness - adherence to what is required according to a standard; for example, a moral standard, though not always: (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Seek the Lord for who he is (8-9)
God is the Creator and Sovereign Lord of creation. (8)
Amos 5:8 (ESV)
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name;
YHWH is the creator of the world, not the false gods they are serving.
Sovereign
SOVEREIGNTY—of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure. (Easton, M. G. Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature 1893: 641. Print.)
Divine sovereignty refers to God’s all-encompassing rule over the entire universe. (Crutchfield, Joshua A. “Divine Sovereignty.” Ed. Douglas Mangum et al. Lexham Theological Wordbook 2014: n. pag. Print. Lexham Bible Reference Series.)
YHWH will judge and discipline. (9)
Amos 5:9 (ESV)
9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
Call to Righteousness (Amos 5:14-15)
Call to Righteousness (Amos 5:14-15)
Seek Good, Not Evil (14)
Amos 5:14 (ESV)
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.
Seek Good, Not Evil
to seek v., to try to get or reach something one desires. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
good (moral) adj., of moral excellence (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
evil adj., morally bad or wrong: (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
live - to be alive v., to have life, be alive. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Lord will be with you.
Living morally is about honoring God and living His standard of right and wrong. God is with those who live for him.
Hate Evil, Love Good (15)
Amos 5:15 (ESV)
15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Establish justice
“tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).” (Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible. Second Edition. Denmark: Thomas Nelson, 2019. Print.)
I found it difficult to fully grasp who Amos is addressing by the pronoun “you”. Sometimes he is addressing the leaders, the wealthy, or the nation.
Establish (Promote (NET)) justice in the nation by seeking good and not evil. Then ...
God will be gracious to the remnant
Remnant - remnant (people) n., the remainder of a person’s descendants or of a citizenry: (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)
Remnant could refer to the people left over after the war and exile of Israel, the Israelites left after the exile, or the faithful to God whether in Israel or Exile.
When we turn from our sinful ways and seek righteousness, God responds with grace.
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Lessons from Amos
Lessons from Amos
God can use our suffering as a means of convicting us of our sin to lead us to repentance.
God will show grace and forgiveness towards those who seek Him.
God wants us to live in righteousness with Him.