Sermon Tone Analysis

*DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER*

*Amos 7:10-17*

 

Think back with me to the days of the dot.com bubble.

When a lot of money was being invested in the internet during the U.S. presidency of Bill Clinton, the stock market was running over 14,000 and the NASDAQ was over 4000.

It was Alan Greenspan, however, that warned that the stock market was like a bubble and someday it was going to burst.

Greenspan took a lot of ridicule for his failure to jump on the bandwagon.

However, the bubble did burst.

People went from being millionaires to penniless in a matter of a few days–in some cases, in just a few hours.

And now we are still trying to sort out the mess as companies like Enron and Tyco were falsely reporting their economic situation.

In some ways, the situation was the same in Israel as we will find out in our text this morning.

Remember that Israel too was experiencing a time of great wealth and security.

However, they too were warned that they could and would lose it all.

They would be defeated and exiled in the near future.

*Just because you don’t like the message of doom and gloom doesn’t mean that it’s not correct.*

* *

*Let’s pray as we look into God’s Word this morning.

PRAY*

And so we meet someone else at this point of the book.

His name is Amaziah.

You may ask (as I did), who is Amaziah?

Well, we only have to read the first phrase of verse 10 to see who he is.

He is the priest at Bethel.

Oh! Hey! That’s great!

He’s a priest.

Oh, and he is the priest of Bethel – “the house of God”.

Remember Bethel?

When Jacob was running from Esau? Jacob just stole Esau’s birthright and blessing and is now on the run?

He receives the vision of the ladder with angels of God ascending on descending upon it.

It was then and there that God promised Jacob that He would be with him and bless him.

Jacob awakens and names the place Bethel – because surely the Lord is in this place.

And Amaziah is the priest of this place.

Why that’s fantastic!

No, sorry.

That’s not so good - because the times had changed since then.

We need to look back to the reign of Jeroboam I.

He was the first king of the Northern Kingdom when Israel split into the north and south. 1 Kings 12:25-33 reads,

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there.

And he went out from there and built Penuel.

26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

27 “If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, /even /to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went /to worship /before the one as far as Dan. 31 And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

32 Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.

And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

33 Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.”

Alright, so it appears they have several things working against them here.

First, the calves.

What is it with Israel and these golden calves?

Jeroboam I says, “Behold your gods that brought you out of Egypt?” Talk about a slap in the face to God!

They put one calf in Bethel and one in Dan.

Then they appointed priests that were not of the sons of Levi.

That’s like strike three.

If I were God at this point (good thing I’m not), I would have been like, “that’s it!

I’m done with you!”

And then I thought that it’s a good thing that God doesn’t play our form of baseball.

He allows us a lot more than three strikes.

If it were three strikes, I wouldn’t have made it out of the crib.

In fact, if we wanted to be theologically accurate, I would never have been in the game!

 *READ TEXT*

Amos 7:10-17 (NASB95) \\ 10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent /word /to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.

11 “For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’

” 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying!

13 “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.”

14 Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.

15 “But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’

16 “Now hear the word of the Lord: you are saying, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a /measuring /line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil.

Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’

”

 

Finally, Amos’ words have gotten somebody’s attention.

Of course Amaziah finds these words offensive.

And he cannot contain himself anymore.

He says, “Wait a minute!

We’ve had enough of these words.

Now you’ve brought the king into it.

You’ve crossed the line.”

He sends word to the king and frames it as conspiracy against Jeroboam personally.

It was a slightly inaccurate statement but sure to get the king’s attention nonetheless.

Amos has prophesied in the midst of the people and has targeted the king and Israel.

And the land could not endure these words.

Why was Amaziah so concerned with what Amos was saying?

Well, Amaziah had a good thing going.

Actually, you may remember, the /nation/ had a good thing going.

They were experiencing a time of security and wealth.

Times were good.

And Israel had become comfortable and complacent.

And now here comes Amos – rocking the boat.

And, you know this not unlike some churches today.

Some are quite content to go through the motions of Christianity without acknowledging sin, without conforming to Christ, and without proclaiming the truth.

And I would suggest that this is no Christianity at all!

To be “Christian” is to follow after Jesus Christ – to turn from your sin and to the Savior and follow him.

There is no other way to salvation than that.

And would you believe that some that call themselves Christians actually find that offensive?

Some say we need a broader tent, an open mind.

I prefer an open Bible – a Bible that says the road is wide to destruction and narrow to salvation.

Well, we know the world too finds this message offensive, intolerant, exclusive.

But this is only because they do not understand the Gospel fully.

What is not to love about a God who created people in order to have a relationship with them, bless them, protect them, and spend eternity with them?

Why He even made every provision for us to do so!

He sent *His* son Jesus to die on the cross as the just penalty for *our* sins so that we could be viewed as righteous before him – justified.

And this is not what we deserved.

For at the very beginning of Creation, we rebelled against Him and said *we* are in control of our own lives!

We *deserve *death.

God says come to me so that you may live and we say we’d rather die than to submit to you!