Judgment is Coming!

Michael Licina Jr.

Seek the LORD and Live • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

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Welcome and Announcements

Welcome - Welcome to Crestview! We are so glad you’re here this morning.

Children’s Sunday School - We need someone with a heart for children to teach our kid’s Sunday School class. Lots of hugs await! If you are willing to love some great kids, let me know and we’ll get you going!

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Reading: Amos 1:1-2

Amos 1:1–2 ESV

1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”

Pray

Have you ever seen the set of an old western? Whether it was a series or a movie, you’ll find the same thing. When you see it on the screen, you might not believe it’s a set - it looks just like a real town. You can see the signs of wear on the wooden slats, you can spot the tumbleweed or the dust stirring up. If it’s in color, even the colors look like the desert - muted by the constant sunlight.

But if you go to the set, you find something you don’t expect. What looked so real is all a facade. The buildings are only for show - you can’t really go in many of them. They are just walls.

The religion of Amos’ day was just as phony. It was a facade of devotion hiding the decay of immorality within. The culture of holiness that God called Israel to model was almost no where to be found. But religion - now that was everywhere. The temples in Bethel and Dan were overwhelmed with the volume of people coming to bring their offerings, pray their prayers, and do all sorts of “worship.” But it was all for show - none of it was internal. The external rituals had left the Israelites in a stupor of false religiosity. They thought they were fulfilling their duty to honor God just by showing up.

And the prosperity of the time proved that God looked at them with favor! There were no major world powers in that day, so the northern kingdom expanded its boundaries almost to match Solomon’s kingdom. Wealth was so abundant in the merchant class, many owned multiple homes with ornate furnishings. Most people, however, were destitute. And the wealthy had no qualms treating the masses as chattel.

All this carried on until God said, “Enough!” And when God speaks, it makes an impact on all creation:

Amos 1:2 ESV

2 And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”

Here is a shepherd-turned-prophet, watching a vision of pastures mourning and luscious mountain scenery withering away. Talk about a disaster! When the Lion of Judah roars, it is a frightening thing!

All through the first two chapters, we hear each judgment roar from God. He calls out all of Israel’s neighbors, showing how their sins will lead to God’s impending judgment.

If you’re Israel, you have to be feeling real good about the list. Damascus has mistreated God’s people. Gaza has traded people like they would trade spices or fabrics. Tyre also traded people, going against its longstanding covenant with Israel from David’s day. Edom, the descendants of Esau, turned against their brothers in wrath instead of showing them mercy. Ammon committed grave atrocities just to have more land. Moab committed its own atrocities against Edom. All of them will be judged.

The judgment roars of God declare his wrath upon each in turn. Then, Amos speaks prophesy against his own home - Judah. Judah’s crime was against God - they rejected God’s laws and turned to lies instead. The northern kingdom of Israel has to be loving Amos by 2:5 - he has declared God’s judgment on every enemy surrounding the northern tribes.

But the Lion has another roar; this one would get to the heart of this entire book:

Amos 2:6 ESV

6 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—

Notice first - “thus says the Lord.” These are God’s words. Every prophecy that Amos declares is not his own - they are all the declarations of God himself. He is the lion that roars. He doesn’t farm out his responsibilities or delegate his duties on someone else. God is speaking; Amos is just relaying the message.

Notice second: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four...” That is a turn of phrase. The picture is one of God waiting to pass judgment, even though he would be right to judge immediately after the first sin. Instead, he gives chance after chance after chance. God patiently continues to give opportunities for his people to repent. But they keep on sinning. They won’t even stop committing sins long enough for the prophet to count them!

Notice third: “I will not revoke the punishment.” The Hebrew phrase here is something like “I will not hold it back.” There is coming a time when God will judge all men. Church, listen to me because this is very important: You and I will have to stand before God one day, and he will judge each one of us. Just because you’ve prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, taken a dip in the baptistry, or any thing else, does not exempt you from judgment. God will judge every one of us.

It’s easy to think that judgment isn’t coming. When we allow the things of this world to capture our attention and our affection, judgment seems distant and for someone else. That’s especially true when we think of our own sins as “not that bad” and someone else’s sins as terrible. We start the think that judgment is for the really bad folks. Sure, we mess up, but those people over there are much worse…judgment is for them. It’s all to easy to think we can escape from judgment.

But that’s just wrong. Amos’ job was to warn Israel that they would not elude God’s justice. Neither will we. God not only makes sure to judge his people, he judges his people first.

Something sticks out to me in these first two chapters: with all the judgment being declared, only the people of Israel hear these words. Amos did not prophesy anywhere else, but only in the northern kingdom. God wanted them to know his plan to punish their wickedness so that they could repent.

And they needed to…look at their sins:

Amos 2:6–8 ESV

6 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— 7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; 8 they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

Every other oracle in chapters 1-2 only lists one sin. Here, God lists six different sins: human trafficking (for pocket change and new shoes, no less!), violence against the poor, rejection of justice for the afflicted, sexual perversion, taking somebody’s protection from cold, and drunkenness from the spoils of unjust fines. How can God not judge Israel for this sort of behavior?

Worse yet, all this was in spite of God’s goodness to Israel:

Amos 2:9–11 ESV

9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. 10 Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.

God destroys their enemies, even though they are mighty and formidable. God brought them from Egypt with his mighty hand, guiding them through the wilderness and into the land where they currently commit these evil deeds. God raises up prophets and Nazirites to proclaim God’s covenant and model holiness. And Israel’s response:

Amos 2:12 ESV

12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’

Instead of repenting of sin and turning back to God, they perverted even the holiest of things. So the lion roars his judgment:

Amos 2:13–16 ESV

13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down. 14 Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life; 15 he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; 16 and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day,” declares the Lord.

Now that we have seen God’s case against Israel, let’s take one step back and consider God’s judgment:

God’s Judgment Is Guaranteed

The phrase “Thus says the Lord” in verse 6 and throughout chapters 1-2 show us that God has declared judgment. And in case we forget, even the end of chapter 2 reminds us that God has declared his judgment. Judgment needs no further authorization to happen. The lion has roared - judgment is guaranteed.

God’s Judgment Is Deserved

The declaration “for three transgressions…and for four” reminds us that every object of God’s judgment has earned it. They all deserve judgment, and so do we by the way. We stand before God rightly accused of sin and just as deserving of judgment as Israel was.

God’s Judgment Is Unrestrained

When God says that he “will not revoke the punishment,” he’s issuing a stark warning: God isn’t going to hold back what we deserve. In his patience, he may tarry to pass judgment on sinners, but judgment will not be withheld forever. “The long arc of history bends toward justice.” God will allow his judgment to go forward.

God’s Judgment Is Final

Look carefully and you will see the finality of God’s judgment. No one judged gets away scot free. No one escapes God’s judgment, by speed or by ingenuity, by strength or by stealth. God’s judgment is no comma - it’s the last period of the last sentence on the last page.

There are no false facades that fool God. You can act all you want, but God will see straight through any facade you put up. Rather than try to bypass God’s judgment, we need to be ready. God is a roaring lion - he’s no one to mess around with. Repent of your sins today and let God’s judgment bring reconciliation rather than wrath.