Month: March 2012

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-4; 5:1-24 (day seven)  “He flashes destruction on the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.” (5:9)  The wrath of God is non-negotiable.  It is not something that He can “set aside” to be more tolerant.  It is His nature– steady, eternal opposition to all rises from self and sin.  Death is an expression of His wrath.  (See Psalm 90)  Discipline is as well .(Hebrews 12)  Wrath is what we see poured out on His son on the cross.  We see it also in nature.  Amos tells of the night he saw both the love and the wrath of God.  First, the deep calm of the stars. (5:8)   Then a storm, with a destructive flash of lightning.  I think it was the same night.  I am certain it was the same God.   Beauty and danger are both part of His eternal character.  If we want to know Him and be safe in Him, we must undertand and rightly reckon His wrath.

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24 (day six)  “I hate, I despise your religious feasts. . .let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-ending stream!” (vs 21, 24)  It is a question that I ask myself occasionally.  Not often enough probably.  I am aware of not being all that God made me to be.  Capable of intense fellowship with Him.  Created to be conformed to His image in every aspect of my life and thought.  I must seek Him!  (Matthew 6:33)  It won’t happen by osmosis or the mere passage of time.  I cannot be content just to go to church.  Jesus hates that kind of church–a place where “not right” people feel safe and loved without challenge or change.  It becomes a den of thieves.  (Luke 19:46) ” Let justice roll on like a river” says Amos expressing a completely different vision of what the outcome of worship should be.  Yes!  If it is Jesus I want, I have to get better!

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24 (day five)  “Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil”  (5:13)  One of the worst effects of Israel’s moral decline was the pressure it put on good people to be silent.  With corrupt courts ( vs 12) and public opinion working against them, prudent people were choosing to “not rock the boat”.  There is a touch of scorn in Amos’ description of “the prudent”.  Theirs was a freedom he did not have.  The person who is over-careful of his skin or reputation will hold his tongue.  Becoming accustomed to corruption, he will lose the courage to challenge or rebuke.   The brave man, the one who learns his thoughts from the Lord and judges all things by an eternal standard will not.  No matter the outcome. “The Lord has spoken!  Who can but prophesy?” Amos says in explanation of his boldness. (3:8)  An “evil time” is no excuse.  May the Lord make us as faithful.

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24 (day four)  “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan” (4:1)  Many of us know the New Testament prayer promise, ” and the peace of God which passes understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7)  Great promise, but is there a peace that passes even God’s understanding?  Is there a time when feeling peaceful is inappropriate ?  Perhaps this is what Amos mean’t when he called the women of Samaria (some of them, at least) cows.  Cows are self-centered animals. So long as they have plenty to eat and drink they are not concerned.  This kind of so-long-as-I-am-ok peace is not God’s plan for us.  If people are not being treated fairly, He wants us concerned and involved.  The good Samaritan was upset enough to stop and offer help.  “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1)  If it means complacency or selfishness, there is a kind of “peace” that even God doesn’t understand.

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24 (day three)  “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!. . . That day will be darkness, not light”  (5:18)  It is a disturbing idea!  People can be mistaken about their spiritual condition.  Perhaps not with justification, given the warnings of prophecy and scripture, but even so, Amos spoke of people who longed for the Day of the Lord only to be surprised later by its darkness.  Jesus knew the same truth.  In Matthew 7,  He describes people who say with astonishment, “Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name?”   “I never knew you” will be His terrifying reply.  (vs 22-23)  Treated carefully, this idea can be a blessing.  “Test yourself to see if you are in the faith”, said Paul (2 Corinthians 13:5).  Allowing this fear to send us back and back to the Lord in honest encounter and repentance will prevent the danger from being true of us.  Warning!  Even people in church can be deceived.

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24 (day two)  “You will be taken away with hooks, and the last of you with fishhooks”  (4:2)  Unacceptable language for polite society!  Outrageous!  What possible purpose could Amos have had for using such graphically violent words?  You mean, except that they were true?  Amos didn’t apologize.  He knew that sometimes we avoid feeling fear to our own harm.  We forget that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”  (Proversb 9:10)  Following the wisdom of man, we avoid thoughts of a Holy God or His promised judgement and forfeit the corrective strength that it provides.  Never entertaining such possibilites, we fail to heed the wisdom to “test yourself, to see if you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5) Until we know the great danger can we ever appreciate our great salvation?  Admitting that “God has not given us a spirit of timidity” (2 Timothy 1:7), Amos still believes that fear is not something that we should be afraid of.

RE Verse reading–Amos 4:1-5, 5:1-24  (day one)  “The town that marches out one hundred strong will only have ten left”  (5:3)  The English word decimated comes from a form of military discipline in ancient Rome.  Cowardly or mutinous cohorts were gathered to have one soldier in ten selected by lot and executed.  (decem is ten in Latin)  Amos predicts something worse for Israel, a military defeat more disastrous than decimation.  Rather than one of ten being destroyed, only one in ten will be saved when the day of God’s fury arrives.  Some argue that God hates the sin and not the sinner.  Perhaps so, but the distinction is hard to support with scripture.  Refusing His mercy, sinners will experience the “wrath of the Lamb” ( Revelation 6:16)  With both the promise of His judgement and the offer of His grace, we have strong incentive to turn to the Lord in these days of warning.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . .

RE Verse reading–Amos 1-2 (day seven)  In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul introduces a scriptural concern, that we would “take for granted” the grace of God and be doubly accountable as a result.  “We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain“,–ie. without effect, without repentance and gratitude.  Perhaps this explains why Amos had 5xs as many words of warning/judgement for Israel as he had for the other neighbor nations.   God’s blessings obligate us!  We are held to a higher standard if we continue in sin.  Amos mentioned that God had given “prophets and Nazirites” (vs 11)  From these dedicated lives, Israel heard the word of God and saw an example of holy life.  Ignoring the prophet’s words and asking the Nazirites to “have a drink” (vs 12) the people of Israel treated the grace of God with contempt and proved His justice when He stood in wrath. Wonderful truth. . .terrible truth. . .  To whom much is given, much is required.  (Luke 12:48)

RE Verse reading–Amos 1-2 (day six)  “And they will hammer their swords into plowshares. . .never again will they learn war”  (Isaiah 2:4)  Part of God’s judgement on the nations is for their behavior in war.  Amos called out Damascus for the cruelty to “thresh Gilead with sledges having iron teeth”.  (vs 3)  He condemned Ammon for “ripping open pregnant women to extend his borders”. (vs 13)  Is our world different?  When the negro spiritual sang “I ain’t gonna study war no more” it was a confession that we do. . .study war.  Much of our research is toward better weapons.  Many of our private thoughts are justifications for continued fear/anger toward our enemies.  Sometimes war is just and necessary, but the Christian heart must never surrender the hope that the cruelty of war will someday cease and the world will know the Prince of Peace.  Friend, does your heart break with the report of every new atrocity?  Do you feel angry?  God does.

RE Verse reading–Amos 1-2 (day five)  “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my WRATH”  (vs 6, chapter 2)  For those of us schooled on John 3:16, it is a strange word.  Not as rare as we may think, but unfamiliar none the less.  Wrath translates the Hebrew word pequddah which means “visitation”.  It speaks of the day when God comes for a painful, corrective reckoning.  Amos is very aware of this gathering wrath.  He declares God’s hatred for things that DESTROY.  Cruelty in war (1:3)  Broken promises of brotherhood (1:9)  Injustice to the poor (2:7)  He also declares God’s hatred for things that DISTRACT.  “I hate your religious feasts. . .away with the noise of your songs, but let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream.”  (5:21-24, next week’s lesson)  With a clear vision for the potential of the human race, God rightfully hates the things that destroy or distract us from His high holy purpose.