The Lord gives many warnings, but eventually if they are ignored judgement comes. This was about to happen to Amos’ hearers. The Lord’s plumb line did not lie and the Lord’s people were out of line.
Amos 7: Warning Visions
1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"
3 The LORD relented concerning this: "It shall not be," said the LORD.
4 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
5 Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"
6 The LORD relented concerning this: "This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD.
7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
Amos Accused
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said, "'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'"
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser 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 therefore hear the word of the LORD. "You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.'
17 Therefore thus says the LORD: "'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'"
Amos 8: The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," declares the Lord GOD. "So many dead bodies!" "They are thrown everywhere!" "Silence!"
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?"
7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: "Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?"
9 "And on that day," declares the Lord GOD, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land--- not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
13 "In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' and, 'As the Way of Beersheba lives,' they shall fall, and never rise again."
Things to think about…
1. God sometimes relents and does not give us what we deserve, Amos 7:1-9. Here the prophet sees two visions of Israel’s destruction. The prophet prays and the Lord relents. God does not give us what we deserve because of what He has done for us in Christ. But there is a 'plumb – line’ that is set, vs 8. The Lord is the plumb line and mark of what is upright. Israel was not aligned with it. Therefore they would be “passed by” and judged. May the Lord mercifully send rain over Qld and NSW delivering us from fires and drought.
2. Consider the apostate priest Amaziah. He was a priest at Bethel – where the gold calf was and where Israel would worship it as an idol. Amaziah had said Amos was a conspirator against the king. Amos explains to him his background as a farmer and how he became a prophet. He then says that Amaziah’s wife would become a prostitute and that he would be taken captive and die in an “unclean land” – which would have been Nineveh. His children would have been put to the sword by the Assyrians when they conquered Bethel. His wife would have resorted to prostitution after the demise of her husband in Nineveh. Harsh judgement, but that’s exactly what happened when the Assyrians invaded the land in 722BC.
3. The horror of judgement upon Israel was going to be very graphic. There would be wailings in the temple, rather than songs, dead bodies would be thrown everywhere, Amos 8:3. Then ‘silence’. No more noise of people going about their daily lives. Why was this going to happen? Because they were hypocritical in their worship, vs 5. They couldn’t wait for the Sabbath and new moon festivals to be over so they could trade again, vs 5, they oppressed the poor and needy, vs 4 and used dishonest scales and weights. The Lord says ‘Surely I will never forget their deeds’, vs 7. Christians who live hypocritically before the world by what they say and do are of the same spirit as these ancient Israelis unfortunately.
4. Can you think of when Amos 8:9 was fulfilled? Hint - When was the sun ever darkened at noon? That’s right – at the crucifixion – 3 hours of darkness while Christ was on the cross from 12pm- 3pm. This is a wonderful example confirming that Amos’ words were inspired by the Lord.
5. The days are coming says Amos when there will be a different drought, not of seeking water, but of the Word of God, Amos 8:11. After Malachi prophesied, around 400BC, there was no prophecy for 400 years. The word of the Lord had dried up. In the same way the judgement of God is evident where there is no faithful bible teaching and preaching. It is sad when people go seeking a faithful church where the Word of God is preached and they cannot find one. Keep praying that God’s Word would be faithfully proclaimed in our city where I know there are faithful churches preaching the gospel. But let’s pray for even more conviction of the Spirit from the pulpits of our city, including at Chuwar.
6. The two gold calves at Dan and Bethel Amos 8:14 that were called the “Guilt of Samaria…shall fall and never rise again”. Josiah the king of Judah would be the one who would destroy these idols about 100 years later. All that is left of that ancient site in Dan (in the Golan Heights) is a memorial where the gold calf stood. There is also a site where the gold calf sat at the ruins of Beitin (Bethel) in Israel today.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer points
1. Pray for our elder Doug as he preaches on the book of Amos this Sunday.
2. Pray for the church in Australia that it focuses on Christ, His Word and holiness and away from trying to mould character aside from the cross and repentance.
3. Pray for our leaders in Australia that they press in closer to Christ.
4. Pray for the Liberal party as they wrestle with leadership issues.
5. Pray for the people of Iran that they finally get their freedom from an oppressive regime
6. The Royal Commission that the Jewish people will feel safe in Australia.
7. One for Israel ministry.
8. Conflict zones – especially within Africa, Israel, Iran and Ukraine
9. Pray for new people to step into ministries at CBC – eg worship, café, sound/technical, giving, podcast.
10. Reform and Revival over our city and country.
11. Finances to cover our needs
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for His blessing over our service on Sunday
2. Another day of joy on Sunday with new folks at our service.
3. Praise God for ministries – Life Groups, Prayer meetings, Kids@Church
4. Café team every week. Thankyou to all those who serve and bring food. Especially Fiona, Maddie and Suzy.
5. Worship, Admin and Technical teams – Nita, Brendon, AJ, Suzy, Maddie, Mathys, Doug.
6. Kids Church teachers – Jacqueline, Maddie, Elise, Anastacia and Fiona
7. The Lord’s faithfulness this year to CBC and all who have served in ministries
8. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. All ministries on break over the school holidays
2. Kids@Church starts back Sunday 1st Feb
3. Members Meeting – Sunday 22nd Feb after the service
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for February...
Q. 5. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever sin? A. No; he was holy, blameless, and undefiled.
