Amos 7:10-17

An Overview of the Life of Amos – Amos 7:10-17

In May 1934, a Christian businessman organized a very special event, he was going to host an all-day prayer meeting at a local dairy farm. It was during this prayer meeting, that the prayer went up that someone would come from that town and preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It just so happened that the farm that this all-day prayer meeting took place at, was the home of Frank and Morrow Graham, and its their son that became so well known, as it was at this meeting that the Lord began to press on Billy to become an evangelist that would carry the message of Christ around the world.

A young man from the country side of North Carolina answered the call and took the message to places we have all dreamed about going too. But he was faithful, and the message was impactful, and it changed a multitude of people into following Christ.

In a similar fashion, we come to the Book of Amos, and like Billy Graham, here was a man that was a shepherd. A country bumpkin or a hillbilly to put it plainly. Whatever we may label him, one thing is for certain, he was a man used by God.

Tonight, let us look at the man named Amos, and see what God did through this man, and how his life an example of willingness, can be helpful to us as well.

The Vexation to Amos (vs 10-13)

1. It was Religious (vs 10)

a. When we are working for the Lord, some of the biggest hindrances can come from within.

b. Amaziah was a priest, but was telling the king, that Amos was, was conspiring (hatching a plot) against the king and the land.

c. Just because a person may go to church with you, doesn’t mean that their heart is in the right place. Amaziah was using his position as a priest to hinder Amos.

d. We may encounter times, where the work that we are called to do, is hindered or slandered by people who claim to serve the Lord.

2. He was Refuted (vs 11)

a. Amos had been preaching the truth, yet, the message was being disputed.

b. Not everyone is going to listen to the true message we preach.

c. The message of Amos was looked at as a joke, that what he said couldn’t possibly happen. The country was in the midst of urban development and becoming sophisticated.

d. The thing we must remember, is that no matter how many people may refute what is being said, we still need to press on with the message, regardless.

3. He was Rejected (vs 12-13)

a. Amaziah was kicking Amos out, when the message was not accepted. Now, who was Amaziah really kicking out? It was God.

b. John 15:18-19 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

c. The world wants to stop the message of Christ from being heard, they want us to go back where we came from.

d. Amaziah tells Amos to not prophesy at Bethel anymore, Bethel meant the House of God, it’s a sad day when people reject the Lord from His own house.

The Vocation of Amos (vs 14-15)

1. It was Abnormal (vs 14a)

a. What Amos was doing was not something he was trained for.

b. The roles that God calls us to are not always the roles we think we are predestined to do.

c. God can take a person from the humblest background, and use them to speak to a nation.

d. Just because you were not from a family that had a heritage in ministry, doesn’t mean that you are not able to serve. God can use anybody, as long as they are willing.

2. It was Agricultural (vs 14b-15a)

a. Amos was a farmhand. He wasn’t from the upper class. He was just a shepherd and gatherer of the sycamore fruit (the poor man’s fruit).

b. He was not a sophisticated individual, here in the city that was priding itself on its advancements, here was a man that went against that way of thinking.

c. He hadn’t forgotten where he came from.

d. Rich or Poor, Educated or Uneducated, when God is moving, he can use anybody.

3. It was Appointed (vs 15b)

a. The Lord was the one who called Amos, and gave him the message.

b. Amos was a different type of prophet, he was not like Elisha doing miracles, he was not pointing people to look at the signs, he was pointing people to listen to the Word.

c. Now here was a backwoods fellow, sent by God to preach the Word. What has the Lord appointed you to do?

The Vision by Amos (vs 16-17)

1. It was from God (vs 16a)

a. Amos had been personally attacked for speaking to this nation, but what the nation needed to know, was this wasn’t Amos talking, it was the Lord.

b. The messages that are proclaimed from the pulpits across the world, need to be a message that the Word of the Lord has said.

c. I heard a minister once preach a revival, and he never opened the Bible, listen, when we come to the point to share the message, let it be the message of God and not from man.

d. Now the Lord will put in your mouth what needs to be said, we just need to make sure we acknowledge where it came from.

2. It was Grievous (vs 16b-17b)

a. The message was not a positive message. I want us to understand that the messages that are preached are not always a message of positivity and encouragement. Sometimes the messages are hard to hear and are meant for repentance.

b. This was a message that the people didn’t want to hear and didn’t see a need for them to repent.

c. Amos tells Amaziah that his family was going to be destroyed in essence. His wife was going to become a harlot and his children was going to die. That’s not a message we want to hear.

d. Listen, if we don’t go out there and make people realize that they are a sinner, that they are bound for Hell, even though they may not want to hear it, we haven’t done our job.

3. It was General (vs 17c)

a. This vision was not just meant for Amaziah and the king, but for the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Amos saw where this nation was heading, and he shared the truth.

b. Where is our nation heading today? Can we say it is following the same course as Israel?

c. The example of this nation, is relevant to what is happening around the world, what we need are some people like Amos to start standing up and sharing the message of Christ.

d. People are heading into captivity, it is up to us to share with them the way of Salvation.