“Three Strikes and You’re Out!”

Series: “God Speaks”

Text: Amos 7:1-17

Introduction: (What?)

After finishing his five sermons to Israel, Amos revealed 3 of 5 visions that God gave him. In response to the visions, Amos became an intercessor. Twice God “repented” due to Amos’s prayers of intercession, but the third time God stood firm, the plumb line remained in place; and so it does today.

Examination: (What?)

1. Three visions (vv 1-9)

“The LORD showed me this; He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout---after the cutting of the king’s hay.” The significance of this timing is that there were two harvests, or cuttings. The totality of the first cutting went to the king as taxes. The second cutting was what the farmer was left to live on. It is this second cutting that would be swarmed by locusts.

“When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, ‘LORD God, please forgive! How will Jacob (Israel) survive since he is so small?’”

Amos, upon seeing the devastation of the crops, felt to bad for Israel that he became an intercessor. Even though he had prophesied against Israel, he still cared about the people. His example should remind us of what Jesus said in Matt. 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven.” In Exodus 32: 30-33 Moses had interceded when God told of His plan to annihilate Israel, and God relented. Back in Genesis Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah and God promised to spare the country for the sake of ten righteous people. In Ezek 22:30 God said, “I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one. So I have poured out My indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their conduct down on their own heads.” We must not underestimate the power of intercession.

Our natural tendency is to pray AGAINST enemies rather than for them. Israel, although related to the two tribes in Judah, had become their enemy and had sought to impose heavy taxes on them. Since Amos was from Judah, Israel was his enemy, yet he prayed for them.

In response to Amos’s prayer “The LORD relented concerning this. ‘It will not happen,’ He said.” Remember, this was in a vision to Amos, so it had not happened yet. God had already determined that IF Amos interceded, He would relent from His plan regarding the locusts.

Then Amos had another vision. “The LORD God showed me this: The LORD God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Then I said, ‘LORD God, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small.’ The LORD relented concerning this. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the LORD God.” (vv 4-6) Commentators agree that this vision described a severe drought that even dried up the underground water supply and caused the entire land to become like a desert. Once again God relented due to Amos’s intercession.

The third vision is found in vv 7-9. “He showed me this: The LORD was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The LORD asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ I replied, ‘A plumb line.’ Then the LORD said, ‘I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them. Isaac’s high places will be deserted, and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins, i will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.’” At this point Amos did not intercede because the LORD had already said that He would no longer spare Israel from His judgment. We will look at the plumb line more closely in a moment, but first let’s consider the ...

2. Response to a lying prophet (vv 10-16)

“Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jereboam of Israel, saying, ‘Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, for Amos has said this, ‘Jereboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’” (vv 10-11) Remember that Bethel was the Worship center for Jereboam and Israel. However they were worshipping idols rather than God. Amaziah’s position as priest was as much political as it was ecclesiastical. He definitely had a “dog in this fight”. He skewed the vision of Amos to make it a personal threat against the king, which would be treason.

After his lying report to the king, Amaziah then addressed Amos. “Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘God away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there, but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the King’s sanctuary and a royal temple.’

So Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet, rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel. Now hear the word of the LORD. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.” (vv 12-16)

Basically Amos said, “I was just minding my own business when God sent me to Israel.” Amaziah had called Amos “a seer” which is one who has visions. He intimated that Amos did this for profit which brought a stern response from Amos.

Jealousy and ambition can cause people to lash out against those that they oppose. After the recent SBC in Birmingham, AL, some who were opposed to the man elected president of the Convention looked online at some of his past sermons and accused him of plagiarism. What they did not know and failed to research was the fact that the particular sermon they cited contained information that the president had permission to use from the original author. Further, using their rationale, almost every preacher in the world could be accused of plagiarism since you will often find the same phrases, sentences and even paragraphs that they include in their sermons without citing an original author usually because they can’t remember where they heard it or read it.

3. The Plumb Line (v 17)

“God’s written Word is the plumbline for our lives.” Henry Blackaby in “Fresh Encounter”. I would add that the life of Jesus is the plumbline as well. After all, He was “the Word in flesh”. This means that if our lives do not square with the Word of God and the Word in Flesh, then we are out of line. In God’s economy those who are out of line must be disciplined or killed. With that in mind, let’s look at v 17.

“Therefore, this is what the LORD says; ‘Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You, yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’”

As we mentioned in the last message, this prophecy was fulfilled in 722 BC when the Assyrians plundered Israel and took many captive and dispersed others to alien countries. They forced the wives into prostitution, killed the children and dispersed the rest so that they could not rebel against their captors.

Application: (How does this message apply to me?)

Are you living according to the Word of God and the example of Jesus?

Are you interceding for those who treat you badly?

When you are among Godly people do you try to bring them down to your level or do your try to rise to their level?