Nations Will Give Account
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Amos 1:3-2:16 (Read after Introduction)
We are going to do things a little bit differently today, because of the size of the passage we are going to be looking at today, we will read it as we go through it, for time sake.
So let’s take just a moment and ask the Lord to bless our time this morning - PRAY
We began last week looking at the Book of Amos.
Amos is one of the Minor Prophets, not because it is an unimportant book or prophet, but because the book is small in size.
We learned that Amos was not a professional prophet.
He was just a sheepherder from Judah, the Southern Kingdom, who God spoke to.
God told Amos to go to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and prophesy about their coming judgment.
Everything we know about Amos comes from just a couple of verses in the Bible.
Last we saw that Amos has three main themes regarding God that run throughout the book.
He is the God who Speaks
He is the Lord of History
He is the Lord of Creation
At the fundamental basis, He is the God who reveals Himself to man, this is only by His grace.
We saw that God spoke through in the Book of Amos through
the Man of God himself,
through visions and Oracles (direct speaking through the prophet)
through Creation itself
There are oracles in many other prophets as well, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah.
These passages show that all nations are accountable to Jehovah God.
8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people According to the number of the children of Israel.
God divided and gave the nations their inheritance, and they are accountable for their decisions.
This includes America as well, by the way.
Even if a nation does not have the Word of God, the moral Law is written in all human hearts, and they are accountable to God.
Our very conscience tells us that kindness and respect for human life and the property of others is necessary.
Every society has laws regarding these areas, even if they are not practiced.
Even though God has written on our conscience His moral law, and even the fact that He exists, we must be busy reaching the world around us to share His Perfect Revelation, Jesus Christ to the world.
Jesus will judge everyone in that last day.
Everyone will stand before Him and give an account.
But until then God does work through the nations of men, to bring blessing to those who follow Him, and judgment to those who reject His truth.
As we read these verses, you will notice a four fold pattern in each of these oracles.
The origin of the message
the Scope of the message
The Punishment
and often a Concluding emphasis on it’s origin.
You will notice a common phrase, “For three transgressions…and for four...”
This doesn’t mean they committed three or four, or even seven sins.
It is an idiom, that means many transgressions, and what we might say, one finally broke the camels back.
It speaks to the fact that the whole life of these nations have become corrupt.
The sins we are dealing with were intentional sins.
Now God is proclaiming judgment on the nations.
So let’s begin this passage by seeing...
I. Judgment on the Surrounding Nations
I. Judgment on the Surrounding Nations
We need to understand that God’s judgments are not arbitrary, they are based upon his character.
We will see that these nations committed crimes against basic human rights and decent behavior.
But the idolatry of the nations is also in view in the judgments.
Although this section is the larger portion of this passage, I don’t want to take a long time to go through this section.
Amos 1:3–2:3
3 Thus saith the Lord; [Origin of the message]For three transgressions of Damascus, And for four, (the Syrian kingdom of Damascus, the best organized and most formidable of Israel’s neighbors) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: [Scope or reason for the Message]
Their cruelty is in view here, As a grain or corn is threshed and crushed, the people of Gilead were crushed cruelly.
4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, And him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: And the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, [The Punishment] saith the Lord. [Emphasis of origin]
6 Thus saith the Lord [origin]; For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, (principle city of Philistia, so this is the Philistines) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they carried away captive the whole captivity, To deliver them up to Edom: [Scope]
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, Which shall devour the palaces thereof:
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, And I will turn mine hand against Ekron: And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, [punishment] saith the Lord God. [Emphasis of origin]
9 Thus saith the Lord; [Origin] For three transgressions of Tyrus, And for four, (an important Phoenician city to the North) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And remembered not the brotherly covenant: [Scope] (David had a covenant with Hiram, King of Tyre)
10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, Which shall devour the palaces thereof.
11 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, (Israel and Edom are often spoken of as ‘brethren’ more closely related than other neighbors) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because he did pursue his brother with the sword, And did cast off all pity, And his anger did tear perpetually, And he kept his wrath for ever:
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
13 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, And for four, (Ammonites were descended from Lot, they were East of Jordan) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, That they might enlarge their border: (an incredible cruelty)
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, And it shall devour the palaces thereof, With shouting in the day of battle, With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
15 And their king shall go into captivity, He and his princes together, saith the Lord.
1 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, And for four, (Moab and Ammon are very closely related, and border each other and often worked together in their cruelty) I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: (a sign of endless hate and vindictiveness, history tells us the lime from the kings bones was used to plaster the walls of his palace.)
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: And Moab shall die with tumult, With shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, And will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.
As we can see God does not take cruelty to people or other’s property lightly.
The Christian should not only show concern for the lives of others, and their property…but when our bodies or property is infringed upon, we can take comfort in the fact that God knows, and He will repay.
So those were the foreign nations surrounding Israel, but now God as if in the same breath He moves in verses 4-16 to
II. Judgment of His Chosen People
II. Judgment of His Chosen People
4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they have despised the law of the Lord, And have not kept his commandments, And their lies caused them to err, After the which their fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they sold the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And turn aside the way of the meek: And a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, To profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, And they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, And his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you forty years through the wilderness, To possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, And of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, As a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong shall not strengthen his force, Neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty Shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.
The judgments now move on to Judah and Israel.
Their specific sins are related to their failure to live according to the revelation that God has given them.
As the Bible says, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
Luke 12:48
At first reading ,it may seem that these offenses are minor in comparison to the other nations.
But Amos is exposing the underlying causes of their sin.
Five main issues are identified among God’s people as the root of their sinful condition.
A. Rejecting God’s Law
A. Rejecting God’s Law
Because they have despised the law of the Lord, And have not kept his commandments.
This leads the charge, from this all other sins will begin.
You see the path to sin begins with unbelief…we don’t really believe that that sin will harm me.
Unbelief —> Lack —> Desire —> Temptation —> Sin
It has often been said, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the book.”
We need to determine that we are going to believe God’s Word!
Hearing God as He speaks on the pages of God’s Word is the very basis of knowing God, and obeying God.
But far too many Christians today do not care enough about God’s Word to read it, study it, meditate on it, and obey it!
But that is just what God expects His people to do!
105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.
Read it to see the path you ought to go
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Study God’s Word
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Meditate on God’s Word
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.
Memorize God’s Word
This is what will keep you from Sin.
God’s people did not treasure God’s Word.
They did not keep His commandments.
This sin led them to judgement.
One of the main commandments that they did not keep was God’s command to have no other God before Him.
Which is the Second sin they were guilty of:
B. Idolatry
B. Idolatry
Rejecting God’s Word and Idolatry are very closely linked.
G.K. Chesterton said, “When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing. They believe in anything.”
Amos is speaking of a common theme, seen in Isaiah, Jeremiah and many others.
God is not willing to share His people with anyone else.
Idolatry in its most basic form is placing anything or anyone in God’s place as first, and most important in our lives.
Idolatry is not a sin of the past!
It is prevalent in our culture, and even among God’s own people.
The idols may look different than the days of old, but they are idols never the less.
Tim Keller in his book, Counterfeit Gods says, “An idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.”
Our Idols can be things like:
Our Identity - we need to have our identity centered on being God’s Child, not what we do for work, or church or anything else.
Our Money - When you pursue money with more fervor and concern than seeking God, it becomes an idol.
Entertainment - People are obsessed with entertainment, it becomes a drug that soothes our hurts and helps us forget our pain for a time. We should be turning to God for this, so this can be an idol.
Family/Children - Our family is a blessing from God, no doubt! But if our family and becomes more important to us than God, our priorities are wrong…of course we don’t rid ourselves of our families, we just put our focus in the right place on God…and everything else, He will help us!
There are many other idols in our world today: fame, success, things, and many more.
Idolatry was one of the charges against God’s people, and it is still true today!
C. Oppression and Sacrilege
C. Oppression and Sacrilege
In Amos, God’s people were guilty of selling the righteous into slavery for silver or even a pair of shoes.
panted after the dust of the earth seems to be a poetic way of saying they wanted the land of the poor, so they deceived them, or sold them into slavery.
Turn aside the way of the meek - denied justice to those who have no means to gain justice.
Man and his father go in unto the same maid - they were guilty of uncleanness and speaks of the depravity that God’s people have stooped.
Verse 8 speaks of taking a pledge as a guarantee for a repayment of a debt
10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.
12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.
Today we might say charging unreasonable interest and taking advantage of those who are poor.
These verses speak to abuse of power, contempt for the poor, and cruelty to others.
D. Forgetting History
D. Forgetting History
Amos 2:9–10 (KJV)
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, And his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you forty years through the wilderness, To possess the land of the Amorite.
They do not remember how God has helped them in the past.
He has given them the land,
He has cleared out their enemies,
He has rescued them and cared for them.
Yet in their unthankfulness they worship other gods, and ignore God’s Law.
God has likewise rescued us, and given us a new life that we should walk in newness of life.
And yet when we go our own way we trample underfoot the grace and mercy of God.
We are His!
We are bought with a price, we do not have rights to do our own thing!
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
E. Lack of Discipline
E. Lack of Discipline
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, And of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
God had called their sons as Nazarites, and yet they encouraged them to break those oaths, and gave them wine to drink.
God called their sons to be His prophets, and yet they commanded them to not speak out.
We are guilty of these same sins when we see the conviction of a man or woman on fire for God and attempt to silence their voice for sake of political correctness which will not allow us to call a sin a sin.
If someone has a conviction in an area that you do not hold to, don’t discourage them, don’t make fun of them, don’t look down your nose at them, and don’t assume they are judging you for not following their example.
Just let them answer to God, and know you will answer to Him for what He convicts you for.
In turn, we have all been called by God, we are His!
And as such we are responsible to do as He commands.
Just as the Nazarites were responsible to fulfill their vow, we as Christians are responsible before God to do as He asks us.
Having now identified their sins, he announces their judgment.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, As a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong shall not strengthen his force, Neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty Shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.
God has revealed to His people His expectations in how they are to live their lives.
When our lives continually do not meet His expectations we can expect Judgment as well.
Conclusion
All nations have some revelation of God, what theologians call general revelation.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
But God’s people have been given special revelation.
And as such we are responsible to follow all that is written therein!
Is this a big ask?
Yes, it is!
But, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
We have been given salvation free and clear!
We have been given the Word of God to hold in our hands, to read, to study, to meditate upon, to memorize.
We have been given the very Holy Spirit of God to indwell us, to lead us, to teach us.
We have been given so much, may we not be guilty of the same sins that Israel and Judah were guilty of!
Do Not Reject God’s Law!
Do not Make Any Idols, but place God first in your life!
Do not be guilty of Oppression or Sacrilege.
Do not Forget what God has done for you!
Fulfill what God asks of us - Serve Him with All of your heart.
Let’s learn from their mistakes and choose to follow Christ.