Amos 4-6
Resources:
Overview:
- Amos chapter 7 contains several visions and prophecies that illustrate God’s justice and mercy towards Israel.
- Amos chapter 8 is a prophetic message that warns of severe consequences for Israel’s societal injustices and spiritual decay.
- Amos chapter 9 highlights the dual nature of God’s character, portraying Him both as a righteous judge and a merciful restorer. It emphasizes that while God’s judgment is severe and unavoidable, His mercy and grace are abundant, offering hope for restoration and blessings to His people.
Notes on the video:
- Amos is one of the minor prophets. The books of the minor prophets are shorter and contain fewer chapters.
- Amos’ message is to the Northern Tribes.
- Saul, David, and Soloman had a unified kingdom. They later split into separate kingdoms and stopped walking with the Lord. The minor prophets were attempting to bring these kingdoms back into alignment with the Lord.
- Amos 7-8 is a message of judgement. Amos 9 is about restoration.
- The Lord was showing images to Amos to help him understand the potential judgement that could happen if people continue to defy the Lord.
- Amos 7
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- v1: The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay.
- v2: When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”
- Amos knew the locusts would be a judgement from God.
- v3: The Lord relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.
- God pulled back His judgement because of his tender mercy.
- v4: The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
- v5: Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”
- Amos again pleaded with the Lord not to punish the people.
- v6: The Lord relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.
- v7: He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand.
- v8: The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
- A plumb line is used in masonry to ensure a wall is straight. The Lord was providing the plumb line as a set of standards that He needed people to measure up to.
- Jesus is our advocate because we can never live up to the standard.
- v9: Isaac’s high places will be deserted,and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins;I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”
- v10: Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,
- v11: for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’”
- v12: Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there,
- v13: but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”
- The priest was very sarcastic to Amos and didn’t believe his prophecies.
- v14: So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.
- Amos pointed out that he was a simple man until God gave him this vision, prompting him to help people avoid judgement.
- v15: But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
- v16: Now hear the word of the Lord. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel;do not preach against the house of Isaac.
- v17: Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,and your land will be divided up with a measuring line.You yourself will die on pagan soil,and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.
- Amos warns the priest that his land, his family and all of his possessions will be ruined and destroyed.
- Amos 8
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- v1: The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
- This is another vision that God shows Amos after the argument with the priest.
- The basket of fruit is an analogy of the Jewish people.
- v2: He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will no longer spare them.
- v3: In that day the temple songs will become wailing” —this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!”
- v4: Hear this, you who trample on the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
- v5: asking, “When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain,and the Sabbath,so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales.
- v6: We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the chaff!”
- v7: The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds.
- v8: Because of this, won’t the land quakeand all who dwell in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile;it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
- v9: And in that day— this is the declaration of the Lord God — I will make the sun go down at noon;I will darken the land in the daytime.
- v10: I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation;I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved.I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.
- A dark day is coming because the people refused to follow God’s laws.
- v11: Look, the days are coming— this is the declaration of the Lord God — when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
- God is going to pull back His word from them and they will be lost without it.
- v12: People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word of the Lord,but they will not find it.
- v13: In that day the beautiful young women,the young men also, will faint from thirst.
- v14: Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”or, “As the way of Beer-sheba lives” —they will fall, never to rise again.
- v1: The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
- Amos 9
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- v1: I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake;knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
- The altar implies that a sacrifice is needed to be made.
- The vision states that the temple is going to be destroyed.
- v2: If they dig down to Sheol,from there my hand will take them;if they climb up to heaven,from there I will bring them down.
- The people might dig down into hell trying to escape judgement but God will find them and apply His judgement.
- There is no escape anywhere from the judgement of God.
- v3: If they hide on the top of Carmel,from there I will track them down and seize them;if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor,from there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.
- God will find them at the highest and lowest points on earth.
- v4: And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them.I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.
- v5: The Lord, the God of Armies—he touches the earth; it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.
- v6: He builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth.He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth.Yahweh is his name.
- v7: Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is the Lord’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,the Philistines from Caphtor,and the Arameans from Kir?
- v8: Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,and I will obliterate it from the face of the earth.However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob — this is the Lord’s declaration—
- This is similar to what happened with Noah – God destroyed all life on earth due to their sinful behavior but He spared Noah and his family.
- v9: for I am about to give the command,and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations,as one shakes a sieve,but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
- v10: All the sinners among my people who say: “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,”will die by the sword.
- Verses 11-15 provide some hope and show us the mercy and goodness of God.
- Verses 11-15 is all about the gathering and restoration of the kingdom of God.
- v11: In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David:I will repair its gaps,restore its ruins,and rebuild it as in the days of old,
- v12: so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name— this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.
- v13: Look, the days are coming— this is the Lord’s declaration— when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes,the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine,and all the hills will flow with it.
- This is a picture of prosperity: planting and reaping will overlap.
- v14: I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,plant vineyards and drink their wine,make gardens and eat their produce.
- v15: I will plant them on their land,and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them.The Lord your God has spoken.
- This is the final word – we have gone from judgement to restoration.
- When Jesus returns the people will never have to worry about judgement or losing their land if they follow the laws of God.
- v1: I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake;knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
Group Discussion:
- The ending of Amos is beautiful – it proves God is good and merciful. He give us the promise of restoration.
- Most of the minor prophets are warnings of judgement to the Northern Tribes.
- Prayers and Praise
- Thanks for the group
- Thanks for my wife, my Canadian family, my kids
- Prayers:
- For our families, marriages, relationships, and friends.
- For the US and Canada to heal their relations and grow closer.
- For the US and Canada to also heal their relations within their respective countries and for a revival to spread and return us to Christian values.
- Prayers for the people that were impacted by the terrible attacks in Boulder, CO last week.
- Prayers for our friend Shizod who is sharing the gospel with new Christians in Pakistan.
- Prayers for our friend Ray who is out of work and struggling.
