Not so famous Amos

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Can I be completely transparent with you for a few minutes?

I was recently invited to a pity party, and I accepted the invitation!

There was three of us there, me, myself and I.

How did I end up there you ask? Well I was accused of something, true or not, that I didn’t like. And certain things happened in my life that didn’t go as I wanted or planned.

Have you ever been accused of something?

I have been accused of being rebellious, and going along with everyone.

I have been accused of being unwilling to work with others and working with others efficiently.

I have been accused of having too much mercy and not having enough mercy.

I have been accused of being a work-aholic and and being lazy.

I have been told I don’t know how to write a scholarly paper and I write excellent scholarly papers.

I have been told

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How you respond to accusations is important, especially when it revolves around your relationship with God and his call on your life.

There is a man in the BIble I think we can learn from, his name is Amos.

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Amos 7:7–17 NLT

7 Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.” 10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. 11 He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’ ” 12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! 13 Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!” 14 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’ 16 Now then, listen to this message from the Lord: “You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.’ 17 But this is what the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’ ”

To get the real picture of what Amos was going through we need to understand some background.

God promises Abraham numerous descendants and a great land they will be theirs.

After their time as slaves in Egypt, receiving the law, wandering in the desert for 40 years, they finally get into the land God promised their forefathers.

After driving out most of the inhabitants, God set up judges to guide his people as they live in the land God had given them.

The people rejected God as their king and wanted a king like the people around them.

After warning the people of what a king will do, he relented and Gave them King Saul. Saul abandoned God’s direction and so God replaced him with King David, after a long life devoted to God, his son Solomon became kings.

Solomon’s reign was defined by prosperity, but also hard work.

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam was made king, but the nation split into two kingdoms, the kingdom of Judah, the Southern kingdom who was lead by Rehoboam, Solomon’s son , and the Northern kingdom who was lead by Jeroboam one of Solomons officials.

12 Kings and a couple hundred years later and we have King Jeroboam II ruling in the northern kingdom of Israel.

One of the first things that was done in the northern kingdom by King Jeroboam was to set up places of worship for the people so they wouldn’t go down to Jerusalem, which was in the southern kingdom. One was in Dan and the other was in Bethel. There were two big issues with this,

1) God said to worship in Jerusalem,

Deuteronomy 12:5 “5 Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored.”

That place was the Temple and the temple was in Jerusalem.

2) Jeroboam set up golden calfs in them to represent the God of Israel.

Exodus 20:4 “4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.”

Jeroboam started the northern kingdom down a road of false worship. And in the day of Amos, it had gotten even worse.

This is where our text comes in, because of the northern kingdom’s sins, God has chosen someone to speak to it, that man was Amos.

Amos has a vision of a plumb line.

7 Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

Wha is a plumb line?

There is a lot of people who think a plumb line is used to find the line what is perpendicular to the ground.

Illustration of how we should not be plumb with the ground.

When we determine right or wrong with anything but God’s standard, everything we build will eventually fall!

Proverbs 14:12 “12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

We need to remember that it is not only living according to the Bible, but living according to a right interpretation of the Bible.

The northern kingdom started off doing what they thought was right, but it ended in gross sin through worshiping God incorrectly and eventually worshipping a false God!!

After a vision of the plumb line, we read a response to Amos from a guy named Amaziah.

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. 11 He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’ ” 12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! 13 Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”

Like all who seek to dismiss or destroy the the words of God, Amaziah does what comes natural.

He distorts the truth…“Amos is hatching a plot against you” and “Jeroboam will soon be killed”

He tries to make him leave…sends orders

When we face opposition to the things of God, how do we respond?

Do we remain quiet?

Do we avoid those situations?

Do we back down?

When God gives us direction, it is sinful to go in any other direction!

That is not in just what job to take, whether to move or not, marriage, or how to discipline our children.

It also includes, how to witness to our coworkers, family and friends…

It also includes, how to defend the innocent, how to promote Godly standards and how to fight injustice.

Ultimately when we do not do what God tells us to do you are telling God, “My way is better!”

The final thing we can learn from Amos is about our calling.

14 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’

Amos was not a professional prophet, he didn’t have the training that most prophets had.

Think of Elijah and Elisha, Elisha was a protege of Elijah for six years…

Amos didn’t have that! What he did have was God’s word!

When you do what God has called you to do, he will give you the ability to do it!

When God calls you to something, your past will never be an issue!

We are good at making excuses.

We make excuses why we do what God doesn’t want us to do.

Jesus, I know you say this movie/music isn’t good for me but I really makes me feel good/happy, besides I have your in my life!

Jesus, I know I should watch what I eat better and exercise more, but is my health really that important?

Jesus,

We also make excuses why we don’t do what God wants us to do.

Jesus, you want me to work in what ministry, I don’t have time, or I’m not skilled enough, or there are people there I’m not comfortable with!

Jesus, you want me to give that much to missions? I barely make ends meet as it is, or it will mean I won’t be able to get my cup of joe as so and so…

You want me to show more compassion and forgiveness, but they don’t deserve it!

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How will you respond?