Book of Amos
prophets
Before the exile
Exile
After the exile
Israel
Judah
Joel 830
Isaiah740
Micah730
Zephaniah 630
Jeremiah627
Habakkuk607
Lamentation586
Amos760
Hosea755
Daniel605
Ezekiel592
To the remnant after returning.
Haggai 520
Zechariah 520
Malachi 432
Nineveh
Jonah760
Nahum660
Edom
Obadiah840
+ Amos means Burden or Burden bearer.
+ Amos lived up to the meaning of his name by bearing up under his divinely given burden of declaring God’s judgment to rebellious Israel.
+ Amos was brought up in Judah and prophesied for Israel the northern kingdom.
+ Amos ministered after the time of Obadiah, Joel, and Jonah and just before Hosea, Micah, Isaiah.
+ Amos was from the country, lived a disciplined life, and well educated in the scriptures.
+ Amos was a sheep breeder and a tender of a sycamore fruit. He was no prophet nor son of prophet, but was gripped by God and divinely commissioned to bring his prophetic burden to Israel.
The time of Amos:
Economic and military circumstances were almost ideal in both kingdoms.
But prosperity only increased immorality and injustice of the people.
Below the surface: greed, self-righteousness, oppression of the poor, idolatry, deceit, arrogance, empty ritualism, materialism.
The basic them of Amos was the coming judgment of Israel because of the Holiness of God and the sinfulness of His covenant people.
+He was the first prophet to proclaim the end of God’s covenant with Israel for their stubborn un repentance.
+The priest who were tired of his prophecy clubbed Amos to death.
+ Problems that Amos was dealing with:
Materialism, atheism, selfishness, immoralities, and social differences.
For three transgressions and for four. An indefinite number that has finally come to an end.
God is long-suffering with sinners. To try God’s patience is to tempt the Lord, and to tempt the Lord is to invite judgment. (Micha5:5) (Prov.6:16) (Eccl11:2)
Amos 3-5
God called Syria to punish Israel but the Syrians carried it too far. So God will punish them.
I will send fire means I will send judgment for fire represent the holiness and judgment of God.
Amos 6-8
Amos denounced all five cities of Philistia for trading in human lives. They were capturing God’s people and selling them as slaves to the Edomities.
God’s judgment came upon Philistia in the days of Uzziah and the Assyrian invaders.
The slave masters were themselves taken into exile and slavery.
Amos 9-10 1King.1-12
Israel had a brotherly covenant with the people of Tyre during the time of David and Solomon. But Tyre revoked it and participated in selling God’s people as slaves to the Edomities.
Tyre’s sin was worse because they were selling its friends as slaves.
God’s judgment came when Alexander the great wiped Tyre off the face of the earth in 332B.C.
Amos 11-12
God condemned Edom for their persistent hatred to God’s people.
We would think that brother would help brother in a time of need but the Edomites cast off all pity and acted like beasts instead of humans.
Edom kept their wrath forever waiting for an opportunity to capture God’ people and kill them like beasts.
Teman and Bozra are strong cities that today do not exist.
Amos 13-15
The Ammonites and the Moabites are the descendants of Lot through his incestuous with his daughters.
They were a ruthless people who were not satisfied of attacking the men defending their homeland , they killed women and unborn children in order to enlarge their territory.
To the Ammonites, land was more important than people, including defenseless women and innocent children. Such brutality shocks us, but are we any kinder?.
Judgment came upon the Ammonites when the Assyrian swept over the land in 734BC.
Amos 2:1-3
Animosity between Moab & Israel began very early when:
-Moab refused to give passage to God’s people in the HW.
-Their king hired Balaam to curse God’s people.
-The Moabites women seduced God’s people to fornication and idolatry.
What was the sin of Moab?
Disrespect to the dead , and hatred.
Amos announced God’s condemnation on Moab that was fullfilled by the hand of the Assyrians who destroyed all their cities.
God expected these Gentiles to listen to a Jewish prophet and heed what he said! Though not under the Mosaic Law, these nations were responsible to God for what they did: and responsibility brings accountability.
God sees what the nations do and He judges them accordingly.
Listening and watching news may give the impression that evil rulers and violent subversive groups are getting away with terrible crimes; but in fact God is still in control , still on His throne and will punish them in His good time.
Facts
Amos 2:4-5
Why Judas’ sin was greater than that of any other nation?
They despised the law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments. ( they should have proclaimed His name instead.).
The Gentiles sinned against conscience and the law of brotherhood and humanity, but the Jews has despised the very law of God .
(Theirs was the greater sin, for greater privilege brings greater responsibility.)
Their lies Meant their Idols.
"I don't know why you preach about the sins of Christians," a church member said to the pastor. "After all, the sins of Christians are different from the sins of unsaved people."
"Yes," replied the pastor, "they're worse!”
Amos 2:6-8
A prophecy of selling Christ with silver.
Wrong theology:
As long as the people were enjoying the good life, they were sure God were pleased with them.
Amos named 3 flagrant sins:
-Injustice
-Immorality
-Idolatry.
Amos 2:9-12
What a glorious past Israel had; God led them out of Egypt, gave them the promised land, gave them His word through chosen prophets, and raised up dedicated people like the nazirites to be example of devotion to God.
The people rebelled against the Lord by
Rejecting the messages of the prophets,
Forcing the Nazirites to break their holy vows.
The Jews wanted neither the Word of God nor examples of godly living.
Amos 2:13-16
Judgment is coming , and nobody will be able to escape.
Israel will be crushed by their own sins just as a loaded cart crushes what-ever it rolled over.
Just because we enjoy a measure of peace and prosperity, it does not mean God is pleased with us. For that matter, The goodness of God would lead us to repentance.
“’Vengeance is Mine. I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:30-31 )
Amos 3:1-2
What kind of a calling did God give to the Jewish nation?
1- A Gracious call: For God has chosen them and no other nation .
Deut.7:6-8 Ex.19:1-5
This principle of gracious election applies to the church.
Jesus said” You did not choose me but I chose you.” John15:16
1Cor.1:26,29 Eph.1:4
2- An effective call: For God has demonstrated His effective power by delivering them from the bondage of Egypt.
The blood of the lamb protected them .
God had taken them through the red sea to be separated from Egypt forever.
Christians today have been saved by His blood and separated from the world through His death and resurrection. ( Baptism)
3- An Exclusive call: Intimate relationship , God did for Israel what He did not do for other nations. Rom 8:29
4- involved responsibility: God Chose them, blessed them, called them. They should love Him and obey Him. If not, God is responsible to chasten them in Love.
Divine
Calling
Not
An excuse for sin
Rather
It is intended to motivate us to holy life.
What is my response to His Calling then?
I should be humbled by His Grace and amazed Love, So my heart want to do nothing other than serving and worshiping Him.
I should live worthy of His calling, not to follow the unsaved
World, this means living in love and wisdom.
Amos 3: 7,8
"The Lord Reveals His Secrets to His servants the prophets”.
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them His covenant" (Ps 25:14).
Ex.
Abraham : Sodom& Gomorrah.
Noah : The flood .
The Ninevites.
Joseph & pharos.
Amos 3:9,10
It's tragic and humiliating when the unsaved world catches professed Christians in their sins.
Ex.
Abraham & his wife Sarah.
Samson & philistines
David & Bathsheba
“They do not know how to do right”
(Amos 3:10)
We reap what we sow
Israel plundered their own people, so they got plundered by the Gentiles.
Amos 4: 1-3
Assyrians art shows captives being led away with hooks in their mouths.
In His Holiness, God will punish the women (cows of Bashan) for motivating their husbands to oppress the poor and crush the needy by permitting the enemy to take them away with fishhooks ( symbol of humility).
Amos 4:4-5
God is reproofing His people for their mingling good deeds with the leaven of sin.
St. Gregory the Great is asking
What value of partaking of His body and blood with our mouths if we oppose Him with our wicked practices?
Amos 4:6-12
In His love, God permits things to happen in our lives in order to bring us back to Him:
1- Lack of food: 2 Kings 8:1 Elisha the prophet. Sin leads to spiritual famine.
2- Withholding the rain: insisting on sin quench God’s Spirit in our hearts.
Caesarius of Arles: We ought to strive with great care that we may not be that city upon which the rain of The Word of God either does not come at all or at least only late and rarely.
3- struck with Blight and mildew.
4- overthrowing some cities.
5- sent a plague.
John Cassian
(on those who refuse to repent)
In their hardness of heart and with their frequent habit of sinning, they are beyond the purgation of this very brief age and the punishment of the present life.
Amos 4:11
Proof of the Trinity
Amos 4:13
“Proclaims His anointed one to mankind ”
prophecy of the incarnation; Jesus Christ is the mystery that reconciles us with God the Father.
Thunder
is the voice of God’s word who will strengthen our spiritual man.
Amos 5:1-3
Amos compared the nation to a virgin daughter in the bloom of youth, ravaged and slain on the field of battle, her corpse left to rot.1
History records the fulfillment of Amos' words. After the Assyrian invasion, the kingdom of Israel ceased to exist and has never been restored.
There can be no victory when the Lord has abandoned you to your fate, because you have abandoned Him.
Nations today depend on their wealth, their military establishment, and their political wisdom when they need to depend on the Lord.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Ps 33:12).
Amos 5: 5-7
What does it mean to seek The Lord?
1- Change our thinking
Abandon the vain thoughts that are directing our wayward lives
Disobedient children of God are thinking wrongly about God, sin, and life. They think God will always be there for them to turn to, but they forget that sinners reap what they sow. To walk "in the counsel of the ungodly" is folly indeed (Ps 1:1), for it leads to a fruitless and joyless life.
2- Change direction
It means forsaking old ways and turning to The Lord for mercy and pardon.
3- Loath and despise the sin in our lives.
Seek the fellow- ship of God and His cleansing power.
Why I should seek God?
To live: If we do not submit to God we will die.
He is the source of all spiritual blessings.
His judgment is coming.
Amos 5:8-9
God of creation.
God of justice.
Amos named a few of their sins:
1- Promoting injustice. V.7
2- Rejecting rebuke. V. 10,13
3- Oppressing the poor. V.11, 12
4- Arrogant &self-confidence. V.14-16.
Amos5:15
Hate evil, love good ; establish justice at the gate in order to enter not in variance but dwell there in harmony.
Amos 5:17-21
Obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams. For behold the Lord doesn’t so much delight in sacrifice as in obeying Him.
Amos 6:1-2
-Woe to the indifferent towards God’s word and complacent.
-Complacency is an insidious sin, because it is based on lies and motivated by pride and leads to trusting some thing other than G0d .
When the Lord sees His people becoming complacent and self-satisfied, He sometimes sends trials to wake them up.
Amos 6:3-7
There's certainly nothing wrong with enjoying good food or good music, provided the things of the Lord are uppermost in your heart. David designed and made musical instruments, but he used them to praise the Lord. Abraham was able to prepare an elegant feast for his guests (Gen 18:1-8), and the Lord didn't rebuke him.
the sin in Amos' day was that these luxuries distracted the people from the real problems of the nation, and "they [were] not grieved for the affliction of Joseph [Samaria]" (Amos 6:6).
It's difficult today to find people who are truly burdened about the sins of the nations and the sins of the church. Too many are like the rulers of Samaria or the members of the church of Laodicea, closing their eyes to reality and living on fantasy based on false theology. How many believers can honestly say,
"Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law"? (Ps 119:53)
Or,
"Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law"? (v. 136 )
Too many Christians are laughing when they should be weeping (James 4:8-10) and tolerating sin when they should he opposing it.
Amos 6:8-14
Woe to the impudent:
These impudent people would face one of three judgments:
1- Death. V.9-10
2- Destruction. V.11-13 (Pride always goes before destruction).
3- Disgrace and defeat. V.14
If I rehearse the victories of the past giving glory to God , that’s one thing, but if I claim the victory for myself, I’m asking for future defeat.
Humble dependence on God is the only guarantee of His help and blessings.
Chapter 7:1-9 (Struggling with God)
The prophet saw 3 visions of judgment and responded to them.
1- The vision of the locusts: 1-3
Being a man of the soil himself , Amos would sympathize with these farmers.
Amos’ heart was agonized for his people, so he prayed that God would call off the judgment; and he did.
Amos joined that select group of intercessor:
Abraham Gen18.
Moses Exodus 32. Numbers 41:1
Samuel 1Sam12.
Elijah 1King18.
St. Paul Rom9:1-3 Rom 10:1-2.
Amos didn’t plead any of the covenant promises of God because he knew the people had violated God’s covenant and were deserving of a plague.
2- The vision of the fire: 4-6
3- The vision of the Plumb line: 7-9
Plumb line: an instrument used to test whether a wall was straight and true. A man stood on top of the wall and dropped a line with a weight on it. By matching the line to the wall, the workers could tell if the wall was upright.
God’s law is the plumb line.
Q. Are we “out of plumb” or “according to plumb” ?
“I will spare them no longer”
It is an ominous statement, threatening, or unfavorable.
Here, Amos didn’t intercede because the nation went so far.
Ex. Jeremiah 7:16 11:14 14:11
Amos7:10-17
4 different messages are involved in this event:
1- Amaziah’s report to the king: 10-11
The king didn’t bother to go and listen to Amos’ prophecy, The king was complacent and comfortable and wasn’t about to have a visiting farmer to tell him what to do.
2- Amaziah’s message to Amos: Bitter speech.
It reveals the priest wicked attitude towards Amos.
A) seer: i.e visionary, as if Amos dreamed it up.
B) Escape: as if he is a coward, he would flee once the king begin to be involved.
C) Interested only in earning bread.
3- Amos’ message to the priest:
He revealed what kind of a man he was by not being intimidated or running away.
He was called by God and obeyed the call.
Then , He proclaimed the Word of God to Amaziah and informed him of God’s judgment on him and his family.
Amaziah had position, wealth and authority, and reputation, but Amos had The Word of God. Amaziah served the king of Israel and depends on him for support, but Aoms served the king of kings and had no fear of what men could to do Him.
Amos 8:1-3
After a painful encounter with Amaziah, The Lord is showing His servant, Amos, a message of encouragement. (Contemplate God’s care to His servants).
“At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me,”(2Tim.4:16-17).
There comes a time when God’s longsuffering runs out and judgment is decreed.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (Is.55:6-7)
Amos 8: 4-6
Why the end is coming:
Deception: the merchants used inaccurate measures.
Desecration: The Sabbath and the holy days. God’s worship interrupted their businesses, and they didn’t like it.
Amos 8: 7-14
How the end is coming
The prophets used 4 pictures to describe the end:
Earthquake, Darkness, Funeral, and Famine
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Mt.4:4).
Absence of God’s word means No nourishment for the soul,
No light in the darkness, No direction for making decision, No protection from the lies of the enemy.
Amos Chapter 9
Amos shares four affirmation from the heart of The Lord
I will strike
I will search
I will destroy
I will raise up
Amos 9:1
The alter is the place of sacrifice and atonement but God refused to accept their sacrifices and to forgive their sins. Their man-made religion carried on by unauthorized priest was an abomination to the Lord and He would now destroy it.
Amos 9: 5-10
Since the people of Israel shaped their own gods, held a low view of Jehovah and entertained bad thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him, Amos reminded them that The Lord of Hosts He is:
The God of Creation and The God of History.
Amos 9 : 9-15
-God who fashioned it from the beginning stretched out His Hand to form it again from above through water and spirit. (V.11)
-The door became opened for Edom and all gentiles to join the faith and be called by His name.
Questions
Are you ready!!!!!!!!
Answers to be handed in to Fr. Reweis by Thursday the 15th of October 2009
Book of Amos
1-Amos is a Hebrew name means:
A) Dove B) Lamb C) Messenger D)Burden-bearer
2- Amos used to work as :
A) A prophet and son of a prophet.
B) A herdsman.
C) A tender of sycamore fruits.
D) A sycamore fruits collector and a herdsman turned a prophet.
3- Amos was contemporary to Isaiah and prophesied:
5- The prophecies of Amos were against Israel because:
6- The essence of Amos’ message was
7- The book of Amos included many judgment visions:
8- Many encouraging promises were mentioned in Amos such as:
9- The book of Amos declared many important spiritual facts like:
10- The sin of Moab was:
11- In Chapter 8, There is a prophecy happened during the tome of crucifixion;
12- In Amos Ch.5 To seek The Lord means:
13- Amaziah was:
14- The sin of God’s people is greater because:
15- Amaziah Carried a message of…………. To Amos.
16- In Chapter7: Amos showed the power of:
17- Amos is :
18- Amos was almost: