11/11/2020 Bible Study

Introduction:

Have you ever seen a child try to convince their parents to let them do something or have something. Some will try to give reasons why they should be allowed others will resort to outright begging. You see it at Wal-Mart or Target when a kid is pleading for a new toy or a snack. How often is the child successful? Does the parent ever change their mind after the kid pleads. Tonight we are going to look at the possibility of changing a mind.

The Locusts

Amos 7:1–2 KJV 1900

1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

Amos begins this next series of information he is providing by putting emphasis on who in fact showed him the things that were to come. He says, “the Lord God” showed me the following events. He was not forming opinions of his own but rather conveying the visions that were given to him by God. This is a change in methodology in which God was communicating with Amos. In previous chapters we read that Amos had been sharing what God had verbally shared with him. Now, Amos is receiving visions from God.

What is the 1st vision being shared by Amos? He sees grasshoppers, if you look at the Hebrew word used here it is derived from the word (phonetic spelling: go-bye) which means swarm of locusts. So Amos sees locusts ravaging the crops of Israel. Locusts are consistently used throughout the Bible as a picture of God’s anger leading to judgement. For instance locusts were 1 of the plagues of Egypt or think of the locust plague that came upon Judah in Joel Chapter 1.

It is an interesting tidbit that we have here when God’s Word points out the beginning of the shooting up and the latter growth after the king’s mowings. Israel’s growing season had two main crops. The first was planted in autumn and harvested in the spring. The second was planted during the winter and harvested in early summer.

I point this out because this vision of God’s judgment did not just impact one class of people nor was it isolated to any individual group. We have discussed in previous chapters how the leaders in Israel had corrupted the justice system & tyrannized the poor. Now, we see that the locusts will plague the everyday person in Israel.

The “mowings of the king” we read in Verse 1 speaks of a substantial amount of the 1st crop harvested that went directly to the king or leaders. That means that this judgment would not just impact the leaders but it would have considerable affect on the average person as well.

What does this mean? Well this means that even though we have spent a lot of time talking about the wrongdoings of the leaders in Israel, it would appear that the dismissive nature, or at best indifferent view, for God extended past the leaders. This is important for us to remember that big sin & small sin is only categorized that way by men & women. Any sin, no matter how big of small we perceive it, still carry the same wages - death! That is why we need a savior, that is why we need Jesus.

God’s Word clearly tells us in verse 2 that what was about to take place was so tragic that it caused Amos to pause and ask God to forgive Israel. No doubt the vision that Amos saw left him with the impression that this would devastate an entire nation.

How Can God Repent

Amos 7:3 KJV 1900

3 The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

Verse 3 can seem quite perplexing at 1st glance but actually offers the Follower of Jesus Christ a glimpse at why fellowship with God is so important. Verse 3 tells us that God repented or this can be translated as the Lord relented concerning this.

The Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon defines this as being sorry or consoling oneself. Now most of us would agree that God is omniscient knowing every single thing. Things that our finite minds could never grasp or even fathom. So how can an all-knowing God abandon what He had set out to do? With these visions given to Amos it would seem pretty clear that divine judgment was going to be passed on Israel.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Variableness meaning that any thing that comes down from the Father will not change.

How can we reconcile these 2 verses because in Amos it seems that God changed His mind but in James it tells us that there is no change. We will come back to this thought in a few minutes.

Amos 7:4–6 KJV 1900

4 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

Amos moves forward with the 2nd vision that is given to him by God which is of judgment by fire. This is another very common method of divine retribution. Consider this verse, Isaiah 4:4 which says, “When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof By the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”

One commentator explains this in greater detail with the following, “Fire is a...symbol associated with judgment, purification, and divine presence. Divine judgment often comes by a purifying fire...where the cleansing of sin by judgment is compared to the removal of impurity in the smelting process.”

Once again we see Amos beseech or rather fervently ask God to reduce or even spare Israel of this judgment. And again we see God repented or relented concerning this.

Intermediary

I posed the question a few minutes ago can God change His mind? When we see Amos stepping up and serving as an intermediary between Israel & God we see God change His original course of action.

This evokes a picture of Jesus who intercedes for His people. Romans 8:34 says, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

However, it also puts empowers the Follower of Jesus as well. God relenting in the Book Amos reaffirms that prayer works. Amos was shown visions of what habitual sin would bring upon Israel. God had not put this plan into action yet. However, Amos response to this vision meant something. Amos was empathetic to the catastrophe that was to come upon Israel.

The Follower of Jesus Christ should have the same heart, a heart like Amos here. 1 John 5:16 says, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”

The phrase “a sin not leading to death” refers to general sin. What is general sin? Any sin other than flat out rejecting God’s Grace. However, this general sin Christians should repent of. Yes, it should be of grave concern for the person who is living in sin to repent, the Apostle John puts emphasis here on the Christian’s duty to show love by praying for their Brothers & Sisters who are in the midst of sin. John here in his letter surmises that the Follower of Jesus’ prayer can help others conquer the sin in their lives.

Conclusion:

Even though the Book of Amos seems like a dark book this chapter should give us encouragement. This Chapter displays how God is closely connected & intimately involved in our lives. He wants the fellowship with us & we should desire the same. We should never neglect prayer for others & ourselves because they do make a difference as we read tonight.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Jn 5:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Is 4:4). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.