Flee the Wrath to Come
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Introduction
Introduction
About 2,000 years ago in the year 79 AD there was a volcanic eruption on the west coast of Italy from a volcano called Mount Vesuvius. This eruption, which was 100,000 times more forceful than the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, sent tons of molten rocks, ash and poisonous gases 22 miles into the air, all of which fell down and decimated everything within a 15 miles radius of the volcano. The most famous example of this destruction is the resort town about 5 miles away from the volcano known as Pompeii, which archeologists discovered 1700 years later to be almost perfectly preserved underneath the layers of rock and ash. Historians love Pompeii because it gives them a perfect look back in history as you can see the villas, bakeries, arenas and even people in a perfect snapshot of 2,000 years ago; but what is even more interesting is the picture it gives of human nature. You see, Vesuvius did not form overnight, and it had been an active volcano with dozens of eruptions over thousands of years. Even this specific eruption that buried Pompeii gave warning signs in the form of earthquakes and mini-eruptions in the days preceeding the massive blast that rained destruction on the city. The 2,000 people that died found it easy to ignore the warning signs of Vesuvius while they were soaking in the views and luxury offered by Pompeii and the surrounding area. Fast forward to today and the 3,000,000 people living near the still-active Vesuvius volcano prove that humans have an unhealthy tendency to ignore warning signs of destruction if it means they can live in luxury. That is true today, it was true 2,000 years ago in Pompeii and it was also true of the Israelites at the time of Amos.
God Judges Sin
God Judges Sin
Israel is sinful
Israel has walked far away from God and do not remember Him
We have seen that they have become incredibly comfortable with evil and they no longer have regard for God in their lives.
God is holy and good, which means that he must punish evil
They just want to take the religion, freedom and blessing that came from God and separate it from him. They want all the benefit, but they no longer want God.
No good leader allows evil to run around unchecked. We like hearing that until we recognize that we are the evil ones
Israel (and we) are sinful
We often emulate the sinful people that Amos was sent to
Comfortable with sin
Ignore those less fortunate than ourselves
Try to ignore the fact that God punishes sin
Or, we try to ignore God altogether. We too are guilty of claiming the blessings of God but swearing allegiance to king, country, or ourselves and rejecting the word of God when it confronts our allegiances.
And then we have a tendency to look at other people and claim that we should be considered saints compared to our neighbor or that person we cant stand on Facebook.
The scale of righteousness isn’t our own crooked scale, but the plumb line referred to in verse 8 is a perfectly righteous life, free of evil in any way. If you’re wondering what that looks like, God even gave us a practical example. Jesus lived a perfect life and was without sin. He obeyed the Father perfectly in every way. He did exactly what God demands of us.
But we don’t like plumb lines. We like to play the comparison game on our own terms because it makes us look a lot better.
That’s why in middle school when I made an art project I didn’t place it next to the truly impressive ones, but I went and found the only other ones that somehow managed to turn out worse than mine and placed mine right next to them. If I had placed it next to the real artist’s work people would have been concerned for me, but all of a sudden I looked like a disciple of Van Goh
That worked in middle school art, but God is not fooled by the comparison game. He has placed a truly straight line next to each of us, and it will be by the example of Christ that we are judged.
God hates the comparison game, He hates our sin
Israel has walked far away from God and do not remember Him
God is holy and good, which means that he must punish evil
No good leader allows evil to run around unchecked. We like hearing that until we recognize that we are the evil ones and that goodness restricts our sinful desires.
We do not measure up to that
He is longsuffering and endures our sinfulness
God’s patience is great, but it is not forever.
It is a foolish thing to test the patience of an all-powerful, righteous God.
We do not measure up to that
God Offers Mercy
God Offers Mercy
God is patient and hears prayers
He is longsuffering and endures our sinfulness
Amos interceded for Israel twice, and both times God relented from destruction. God hears the prayers of those who love Him.
While the Israelites had Amos, We have Christ interceding on our behalf
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Christ is the one who intercedes for us, and Christ is the one who allows us to repent and brings us to life. He makes a barren tree bear fruit.
Christ is the one you
The Father is longsuffering and endures our sinfulness for the sake of Christ
God’s patience is great, but it is not forever.
Although Jesus intercedes for us, we cannot be saved unless we demonstrate a repentance that leads to faith in Christ. God forgave sinful Israel twice, but there comes a time when he places the plumb line in front of them and will no longer ignore their crookedness.
Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
Therefore thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
When the word of God confronts their sin, Israel demands that Amos leave them in verses 12-13.
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
They would rather risk destruction than change their ways. Would you? Are you like the people from Pompeii, ignoring the warning signs of destruction so that you can live a comfortable and luxurious life?
Our sin will not be forgotten, and it WILL be judged. We cannot just play this game where we get ourselves comfortable and forget about the fact that God must deal with evil. At the end of the chapter we see what ultimately will happen to a people that get so comfortable in their sin that they remove the word of God from their presence.
Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
Therefore thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”
God does not forget sin, and He does not allow evil to go unpunished. Either we take the wrath that our sin deserves, or Christ covered us when he died on the cross and purchased eternal life on our behalf when he rose from the tomb.
That is why we must hear the words of John the Baptist “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
We must ultimately repent and find our righteousness in Christ
The plumb-line himself, Christ is the only one who measures up to the righteousness that God’s holiness demands.
God judges sin, but God also offers mercy and a way of escape.
God judges sin, He has to, but He also offers mercy and a way of escape for any who would believe in Christ.
Do you believe that? Do you see what Christ has done for you?
Sin brings on the wrath of God, but you no longer have to taste it.
Repent and turn to Christ, and enjoy life everlasting!