Amos 3: Brotherly Mistreatment
Notes
Transcript
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Bookmarks & Needs:
B: Amos 1:9-12, LASER POINTER
Opening
Opening
Welcome to our third week in our series from the Old Testament prophet Amos. Each week in this series, I’m going to open with a reminder of our two points from week 1, because those points are vital for our reading, understanding, and application of the rest of the book. I suppose that I can combine those two points into one by saying: “The Sovereign Lord roars.”
As we approach Amos, we must remember that this is the Lord’s roaring like a lion against the sin of the nations, including His covenant people: Israel and Judah. And while we haven’t arrived at His message against both of those nations, it is coming. As we saw on the map last week, these opening prophecies in the beginning of Amos are kind of like the Lord circling His prey, drawing the net closer and closer. We must also remember that the Lord is sovereign over all things, and so when we come to passages here that we might find difficult, we must remember that God is God, and we are not, and therefore, it is for us to submit to His authority and will. We cannot stand as God’s judges.
With that being said, let’s open up our Bibles or our Bible apps to Amos chapter 1, stand together in honor of the reading of the Word of God, and let’s look at verses 9-12.
9 The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Tyre for three crimes, even four, because they handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom and broke a treaty of brotherhood. 10 Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Tyre, and it will consume its citadels. 11 The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword. He stifled his compassion, his anger tore at him continually, and he harbored his rage incessantly. 12 Therefore, I will send fire against Teman, and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
PRAY
By way of some quick background, today we are looking at the second pair of prophetic messages against the nations. Last week, we saw the connection between the nations of Aram and Philistia in how they treated people.
Remember that each of these messages has this “numerical attribution” formula to them: “for three crimes, even four...” This is not to say that these nations have only committed three crimes, but is more to say that they had done enough to be judged, and then went above and beyond, and sinned against God even more.
Let’s put the map back up so we can see where these two nations are in relation to Israel.
Tyre is up here just to the north of Israel’s northern border. It is one of the great cities of the nation of Phoenicia. This was a great city of commerce and trade, and unfortunately, one of Tyre’s most lucrative commercial activities was slave trading.
The nation of Edom down here in the south is the first of the nations mentioned that have a clear blood relationship to the people of Israel. Abraham’s son Isaac had twin sons: Jacob, who would have his name changed to Israel; and Esau. The nation of Edom are the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau. So they, from a national perspective at least, are Israel’s first cousins.
As we read our focal passage this morning, did you catch the theme that ties together these two warnings of judgment? It’s the term, “brother.” Notice the condemnation of both:
9 The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Tyre for three crimes, even four, because they handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom and broke a treaty of brotherhood.
11 The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword. He stifled his compassion, his anger tore at him continually, and he harbored his rage incessantly.
Phoenicia is being judged because yes, like Philistia that we looked at last week, they “handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom,” but while with Philistia we saw that they were likely at peace with those they did that to, here there is no question. Not only were they at peace with those they handed over to Edom, but they “broke a treaty of brotherhood,” in doing so. They actually had a peace treaty or other commercial partnership agreement with whomever they did this to. Now, this could have been Israel or Judah, but we can’t say that for sure. There were a couple of times in Israel’s history that they had such an agreement with Tyre, and given the condemnation of Edom, this is entirely possible.
We’ve already seen that Edom has been the recipient of communities of slaves from both Philistia and Phoenicia. So they have that against them, but Edom’s direct judgment begins with the fact that he “pursued his brother with the sword.” Who is his brother? Israel. Literally. Edom’s strife with Israel is long-standing, going all the way back to the womb.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
While Jacob and Esau eventually made a tenuous peace with each other, that peace didn’t survive the hundreds of years that Israel was in Egypt. On their way to the Promised Land, Edom caused major problems for Israel, and things were never really peaceful after that. Sometimes Edom was subject to Israel, sometimes they were independent, but they were basically always hostile, something that we can see in the language of Edom’s condemnation by God in the terms that He used for Edom’s sin: terms like “continually” and “incessantly.”
As I reflected on our focal passage for this morning, God brought to mind another passage as kind of a commentary for us to think through so that we would be ready to avoid “brotherly mistreatment.” We are going to let Colossians 3 be a filter for thinking through the failures of Tyre and Edom:
1) Be ready to bless.
1) Be ready to bless.
The issue that both Tyre and Edom share is that when it came to those people that they were close to, those whom they should have seen as “brothers,” they chose to seek the worst for them, to hurt them. For Tyre, they broke their word, and sold those that they had agreed to see as brothers as slaves. For Edom, they actually sought the destruction of their brothers, pursuing them with the sword. They were ready to treat those they saw as “brothers” in the worst possible ways.
This is not how we are to live, brothers and sisters. We are to seek to be a blessing, both to those who are our brothers in Christ, and to those who are not. This is because we are no longer to think and act in the way the world does. The world would tell us that we have to look out for number one—ourselves. The world would tell us that using others to get what we want is perfectly acceptable. The world would tell us that winning isn’t everything—it’s the only thing. But we aren’t to operate in that way any more, because our focus is to be somewhere else:
1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Our focus is no longer to be the world and the things of the earth. The message of the Gospel tells us that we have died to ourselves, and Jesus is Number One. So rather than seeking to bless ourselves, we are to always be ready and willing to be a blessing to others, because that is both what we would want them to do for us, and the example that Christ set for us Himself. When we seek the things that are above, when we set our minds on those things, we want to see those things be manifested in our lives. And Paul is clear in Galatians that we are going to reap the things that we sow, and because of that, we should seek to be a blessing to all:
7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
This includes the people we don’t agree with. This includes the people who would actually see us as their enemies. Think about it. It seems like in many ways, our culture is just so angry all the time, and we’re constantly looking for ways to get even more angry. For many people right now, every issue is becoming an “all-or-nothing” topic, every societal mound a hill to die upon, an “if you don’t agree with me, you’re not my friend” battle line. We sit and troll internet news sources or social media feeds just looking for stuff to get mad about. How many of us have looked through our Facebook, Insta, Twitter, or Snapchat feeds just to find someone to argue with? I’ll admit: I’m tempted to do this very thing sometimes. Just ask my wife. And many of our political “leaders” are right down in the muck with us, trading jabs and barbs over Twitter for the whole world to see and comment on.
But for those of us in Christ, we’re called to something higher, something better:
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
I’ve spoken to verse 20 before, but just to remind us quickly: while it may sound like “heaping fiery coals” is giving them a comeuppance, it’s not. It’s a blessing. We must be ready to be a blessing to others, brothers and sisters.
2) Be ready to show compassion.
2) Be ready to show compassion.
The rest of our reference to our focal passage will really just be about Edom. They had constant conflict with and animosity toward their “brother” Israel. Even with this declaration here, they still didn’t change their ways, and the entire message of Obadiah is written to Edom, and how they rejoice at and join in with an assault on Jerusalem, probably the Babylonian invasion of the early 6th century BC, about another 180 years from the time of this message from Amos.
In a way, the first thing in the list of three makes the other two possible:
“He stifled his compassion.” The people of Edom knew that the Israelites were their brothers, and that they should show them compassion—that they should be sympathetic to their struggles, that they should show concern for their sufferings and problems. But they intentionally chose not to: the Hebrew gives the impression of choosing to ruin their compassionate feelings for their brothers.
As believers, we are called to have and show compassion to others. And, just like Edom chose to stifle their compassion, we are to choose to put compassion (as well as other things) on like clothing:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
As a part of setting our minds on things above, we are to choose to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Why? Because we are God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved. Since He has shown such great compassion to us, we should be like Him, showing compassion to others, being sympathetic to them in their pain, showing genuine concern for them in their suffering. Isn’t this what Jesus did?
He came as a man, and so can sympathize with our weakness. He understands our struggle as humans, so we can come to Him and receive true compassion:
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
This takes us to the next thing we need to be ready to do:
3) Be ready to show mercy.
3) Be ready to show mercy.
The Edomites were anything but merciful. In fact, the condemnation against them included that “his anger tore at him continually.” I have to take a moment and paint this picture a little clearer in the original language. The word here for “anger” is really the Hebrew word for nostril or nose. It’s used figuratively for anger, resentment, or wrath because of our noses’ propensity toward changing color (red) and shape (flaring nostrils) when we become really angry. So first of all, picture the face of a furious person.
But then we have another word picture. When this says that Edom’s anger “tore at him,” this word means to tear, rend, or mangle… like a wild animal. Edom’s national anger against Israel was such that it was constantly ripping, constantly clawing, constantly keeping the nation stirred up against their brothers. This is holding a grudge at its finest, most intense level.
It seems that this is a good picture of our nation right now as well. We’re masterful grudge holders. We even hold grudges against people that we’ve never met because of things that they said, or did, or lately even just thought years or decades or even centuries before, judging and condemning them on the basis of our 2020 ideology, giving little thought to the process that got us to this 2020 ideology. We’ve even created a sub-culture as a result: “cancel culture,” where we as a culture demand the censure, boycotting, or in some cases, even the firing of someone because of what they have done in the past… maybe even the very distant past.... even if they realize their wrong and ask for forgiveness.
We are losing our ability to show mercy as a culture. That’s not what we’re called to in Christ:
8 But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.
We are commanded to put away these things: To refuse to cling to things such as anger, wrath, malice, and slander. We might argue that “righteous anger” has its place. But does it? Are we really that good at being angry in a righteous fashion?
There’s a reason that James wrote James 1:19-21:
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
We must be ready and willing to show mercy to those who wrong us, or else our anger will tear us apart from the inside like a wild animal tears its prey. And the biggest step in showing mercy is to be willing to forgive:
4) Be ready to forgive.
4) Be ready to forgive.
This is our last point from God’s condemnation of the Edomites and their treatment of their brothers. He says that Edom “harbored his rage incessantly.” Again, we see here a choice by the nation of Edom to harbor, or to keep, to protect, or even worse… to protect and guard, their rage against Israel. It’s almost as if they loved being mad at Israel.
Just like Edom, we have a choice: we can cling to our rage, or we can forgive and let it go. It sounds so simple, and I know that it’s not. But we aren’t called to forgive just out of our own strength. We are called to forgive because that’s what God has done for us. He made the way through Christ so that we can be forgiven.
13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.
Whenever we sin, we deserve God’s wrath. For any sin. For every sin. But Jesus came and died in our place so that the wrath of God would be poured completely out on Him, and since God’s wrath has been poured out, our sin debt has been paid. So our debt can be forgiven, canceled, and released because of what Jesus has done. He died so we could live. And then He defeated death and rose again, so that if we surrender to Him for the forgiveness of our sins, we will also live forever with Him.
Think about how many sins you’ve committed against God’s perfect commands and will just this morning. Just this weekend. Just this week. Just this month. And even the things that we think no one knows about: the prideful thoughts, the lustful looks, the selfish motives. All of those are sins as well. Since we have been forgiven of so very much, we should be willing and ready to forgive someone who does something so much less to us.
32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
Closing
Closing
So Tyre and Edom had made choices to show brotherly mistreatment instead of brotherly love. And brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s love that we’re called to, especially toward one another:
14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
When we mistreat or hold grudges against our brothers, it really says more about us than it does about them. It has no place in our hearts, and in fact we are commanded to put away those things. God is not going to let us wallow in these things: He will bring correction to those who show brotherly mistreatment. Just because it doesn’t come when we think it should (like immediately) doesn’t mean it will never come. Tyre was besieged several times by the Assyrians following this prophecy, and was destroyed completely by the Saracens in AD 1291. Edom vanished from history in AD 70. But both were destroyed, just as God had said they would be.
Unlike Tyre and Edom, we must be ready to bless, ready to be compassionate, ready to show mercy and offer forgiveness. In short, we must be ready, and willing, and able to love because we have been loved so extravagantly in Christ.
God loves each of us and wants to be in a relationship with us. But as I mentioned, our sin separates us from Him, but Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. If we trust in Christ for our salvation, surrendering our lives to Him because we know we can’t live up to God’s standard, we are forgiven and have the promise of eternal life. And not only that, but God provides us with His Spirit, so we don’t have to live the Christian life on our own.
Right now, wherever you are, you can surrender your life to Jesus Christ. And if this is you this morning, or if you have questions about following Jesus or about salvation, then please reach out to us by email or by text to 505-339-2004. We want to be able to help you and minister to you and explain anything that might be unclear to you.
Donna is going to play our reflection and offertory song after I pray. Please use this time to reflect on the message of Scripture this morning, and if you would like to, you can use this time to give your offering online. If you’d rather give it directly, you’ll be able to use the plates by the doors as you leave the sanctuary.
PRAY
Thanks for being here. Feel free to have COVID-safe conversation out on the parking lot, under the carport, or in the courtyard. God bless you this week!