Book of Amos

God’s Restoration

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

God’s Restoration

Book of Amos Chapters 5-9

One thing we all must remember is that once our bond with God is broken, death has entered into our lives.

We know this flesh we wear will certainly die, but the death that is real is the death of no longer having God involved in our lives.

If we reject Him long enough, we will then be rejected by our Heavenly Father.

Israel in this Scripture relates to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom and not the Israel we know of today.

The message, though, is the same for everyone who lives upon this earth.

We are all given a choice.

*Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

The verse is a call to repentance. God will contrast His requirements with our actual conduct.

We cannot just say we are Christian there must be some proof.

Jas 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Now we have no work to do for salvation; the Lord Jesus Christ did all that work, but there should be signs of a changed life after our salvation. There should be some signs of our faith.

There should be some fruit of the Holy Spirit since He immediately comes into our lives.

This is what James is saying in this Scripture.

God will contact every individual during their lifetime, and each of us will be offered this choice.

We must seek the Lord or else face God’s judgment!

God promises us that if we seek Him, we will find Him.

Deu_4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Act_17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

It is easy to see that this seeking is not about religion; it is about a personal relationship.

This is the difference between religion and Christianity. In Christianity, we get up close and personal with God, as a family should be.

As Israel, the ten Northern Tribes found out, God’s invitations will stop at some time.

And the greatest truth of this seeking is that we cannot seek the Lord God of this Universe if we are also seeking false gods.

*Amo 5:5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
Amo 5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

Bethel had once been a place to seek God, but when the ten tribes split from Judah, Bethel became one of the places where there was false worship of man-made golden calves.

1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

Gilgal too had been a place where the people could seek God, but it too had become a place of false worship.

Hos 9:15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.

God used to speak to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at Beersheba, but traveling to Beersheba in the day of Amos was like going on a pilgrimage.

God would be south at the Temple and not some pilgrimage.

Amo 8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Amos was preaching to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, and his message was, “There is no need for you to seek God in these places where He could have been found at one time because He was no longer there.

It’s like passing a church that was once full on Sunday but is now empty every day; you could say that God is no longer there, and there would be no need to seek God there.

It has become no more than a building because it was the people who came who were the church.

Many of us used to attend other places of worship than we do today. Most of us would not have left those places if we were being fed the truth of the Lord.

The fact that the Lord used to be there is no guarantee that He is there today.

In fact, if we start preaching or teaching some new gospel in the place where we are today, we can be very sure that God will leave this place of worship.

We have an obligation to attend church!

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We cannot just attend any place of worship; we must worship in a place where we can find the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the cornerstone of the Church.

Many churches today do not even acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ, or they do not have the true Word of God.

What is a true Church? Eph_2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

The Apostles taught what Jesus taught them,
The prophets tell us what lies in our future.
Jesus Christ is the God of the true Bible, and He is also our Creator.

If Jesus Christ is not your God, then you are serving the wrong God.

This makes a lot of people mad to say this, but we have to tell them the truth.

It is Satan who has lied to them!

*Amo 5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
Amo 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
Amo 5:9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

The truth is that those who are not seeking the LORD are seeking themselves, and they have no care for others.

There is very little natural affection for other human beings today.

Hatred dominates the minds of most people!

As Christians, we cannot say we have the Lord Jesus Christ and to Hell with everyone else.

Our job is to show all others the way to seek our Savior.

We cannot do this if we do not first show them love!

Wormwood is a shrub or bush with an unpleasant smell and is very bitter to taste.

It is a type of unpleasantness and grief that leads to the thought of death and destruction.

Rev 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Rev 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

The justice I have received from God has been sweet. He is so full of mercy and grace; His justice can be nothing else but sweet.

I did not deserve it, but the grace of God is shown to those who seek the Lord with all their heart in truthfulness.

If we teach a distorted message on the mercy and grace of God, that message will become bitter to those who have never known the truth of the Lord.

If we do not seek our Creator, what chance do we have that we will find Him?

We must seek the right God, and there is only One true God and only one true Way to Heaven.

Our Creator and our Savior are the same God!

His name in the Scriptures is YAHWEH or Jehovah.

Our world exists because Yahweh caused and causes it to exist.

God spoke our world into existence and made from nothing all the things we see.

If we cannot see Him in His Almighty Incorruptible Majesty, who only needs to speak one word and we become no more, then we will never understand His love for us, and we will deserve His judgment, which is far different from His justice.

It is this God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus, who wants us all to be saved!

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We should clearly understand that no man, no matter how strong or how strong the works of that man, no matter how powerful, can withstand the Divine Majesty of our Savior, who is also our Creator.

There is no military that God has not already overthrown. Read your Bible and your history book.

It is this same God who allows changes in nature to succeed or fail at His choosing.
It is this same God who allows the politics of this world to succeed or fail at His choosing.
It is this same God who allows the cycles of time to go and come as He wishes.

This world is moving right along just as God said it would; the plan of God never has to change.

It is not God who has allowed this world to be so close to destroying itself on any given day; it is the sinful people who live in it, but He still gets the blame, though He wants to save the people who live in it.

*Amo 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
Amo 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

God is saying that those who do not acknowledge Him as the Creator will never enjoy life.

It was at the city gates where man’s justice took place on the day of Amos.

If there were a judge who could not be bought or bribed, the people would hate them.

If that judge bends the law, then he is okay, but those who spoke with integrity or used reliable witnesses were hated.

We live in the time of bought and sold-out judges, if not for money, then for a political stand and hatred.

If not for money, it is for fame, or political stance, when it is supposed to be about the laws of the land, and judges have no right to make laws.

We do not even get a chance to vote for these people, so who gave them such power?

Today, if we stand up for the rights of the unborn, those who are disabled, or those who are elderly, and those who are vulnerable in our society, then we are hated, as the other side stands up for illegals, murderers, and lawbreakers to buy a vote; the hatred just continues to spread.

There is no justice beyond God’s justice!

God will judge this world one day; He never forgets the works of those who refuse to repent!

We might ask ourselves; can anyone sin so much that they will never be forgiven?

*Amo 8:4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Amo 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Amo 8:6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Amo 8:7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

Though we do not know much about Amos, he is spending this time being an advocate for these sinful people.

As we read these words, it seems that God is leaving these people no way to escape, but we see the accusations and God’s verdict.

It is not about the amount of our sin; it is about how many times we deny God’s remedy and payment for our sin.

What is social injustice?

It is a violation of another’s rights. It is withholding what is due, or fraud.

If all people are created equal, then why is there an unequal distribution of rights or privileges among people who have equal claims?

I am not talking about equality in riches, I am talking about equality in rights and justice.

Israel was guilty of many things, but the main thing was superficial worship.

By law, they had to honor the Sabbath and all the other religious holy days and national celebrations.

This law became a thorn in the flesh of the politicians, the merchants, and the business leaders of that nation.

You tell me we are not experiencing this today. God’s laws are a thorn in the flesh of commerce and wickedness.

Sunday, our day of worship, means nothing to most businesses today.

Even our schools will try to practice sports on Sunday.

All sorts of professional sports use Sunday rather than a weekday.

Even Wednesdays are taken up with secular events.

Alcohol can now be purchased seven days a week.

Politicians are pushing to legalize popular drugs using the excuse to raise taxes when they should be making ways to spend less.

It is our tax system that drives businesses to run twenty-four-seven.

This world is trying to take away any time set aside to worship God.

The alternatives to God that this world offers are nothing more than idol worship!

The guilt of Israel was that while they were supposed to worship, their minds were on how to make more money, or how to rob the poor even more, or how they could take away the land of some poor person.

We see these same things in our politicians today>.

I cannot imagine sitting in God’s house trying to figure out a way to falsify the balances or more ways to deceive more people.

They knew the Law, and they knew this was an abomination to the Lord:

Deu 25:13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Deu 25:14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.
Deu 25:15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deu 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Amos’s job was to announce these judgments to the people of the Northern Kingdom, and Amos knew it would not sit well with the people, but God offered Amos no other answer.

We cannot soften the truth of God and say we are God’s followers!

Only those who feared the Lord would be afraid.

There would be no joy on the Sabbath.
God’s judgment would bring death to many people.
If there were survivors, they would be traumatized, wondering what God would do next.

We do not have to wonder what God will do next!

He either tells us, or He shows us in His Word, examples of what He has already done because He never changes.

If there is one truth in this world, it is that God’s judgment on unbelievers is a sure thing!

God’s “judgment” on sin is a sure thing!

Amos got a chance to witness these things in a vision that God sent to him.

God has every right to judge this world because He created it!

We all will stand face to face with our Almighty God, our Creator!

Some, at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The rest, at the White Throne Judgment.

The even clearer message is that until that day of judgment, we need to repent and seek the face of God.

We will all give an account for the things we have done unless we repent.

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

If we do not want to hear what God has to say, then one day God will take away His Word, and we will know nothing and be like the evolutionists who come up with unbelievable theories and fantasies.

*Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
Amo 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Amo 8:13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
Amo 8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

We may be in that time when the Word of God is hated, and the world does not want to hear what God has to say!

Remember what the Lord Jesus said as He spoke unto the seven churches of the Church Age, the Age we are in now.

To the church at Ephesus: Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

To the church at Smyrna: Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

To the Church at Pergamum: Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

To the Church at Thyatira: Rev 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

To the Church at Sardis: Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

To the Church at Philadelphia: Rev 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

To the Church at Laodicea: Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote down these words given by the Holy Spirit:

Jer 23:30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
Jer 23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
Jer 23:32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

The most tragic thing that can happen to this world is for God to abandon it to its own ways.

It is easy to see that wicked men of this world would destroy it.

It is this same wickedness that says we have too many people to feed in this world and do everything they can to stop population growth.

The ways of God are perfect!

Psa 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

The ways of the world are sinful:

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The world is tired of God telling them they are full of sin and need to repent.

No one in the world has any desire to repent!

The world does not want to hear the Word of God.

When we look at what the Lord Jesus was saying to the Church, He was saying that much of the Church does not want to hear what He has to say.

When this point is reached, God has said He will send a famine of hearing the Word of God.

We must understand that if we reject what God has to say, He will quit speaking to us.

He will put false prophets and preachers in places of worship, and they will do nothing more than tickle the ears of the congregation.

Act_28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

2Ti_4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti_4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

I believe we are in this age or this time now.

Even here in America, the Ten Commandments cannot be posted anywhere without somebody bringing a lawsuit, but why?

People just do not want to hear what God has to say about the way they live their lives.

To repent is just a word in most churches and means nothing.

There is coming a day when this world will become so lawless that the people will once again want to hear what God has to say, and they will not be able to hear it or even find it.

They will go to some church, but that one in the pulpit will teach them about some dream they had that did not come from God.

If they find an old version of a Bible, the Holy Spirit will not open their eyes to what it says.

The young people will see a world falling apart, left by their elders, and seek guidance from God, but they will not find it because the Word of God has been altered to become the word of the world, with just enough of the truth to cause confusion

They will be told they can find the Word of God at the Luciferian Church, but it will not be found there because it never was there.

It was at Beersheba that the enemies of Isaac caused all the wells to go dry, and Isaac had to dig new wells that were also filled.

God is saying that the well of knowledge in the Word of God is dry, and there is no one to clean out the dirt and sludge of the world from it, where there still remains the Water of Life.

Jhn_7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Jhn_4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

We should understand that every person worships something. Whatever they hold first in their lives is their god!

It may be an image of their goal, it may be some idol, it may be something from some religion other than Christianity.

Even the so-called Christians must place God first in their lives, and many refuse.

If we fail to worship anything other than Jehovah in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ in the New Testament, or Yahweh, we are sinning Blasphemy.

All false religions will fall, never to rise again.

No one can escape the Judgment of God!

Amo 9:1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
Amo 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

Once all false religions have been removed, God will do certain things to reclaim Israel.

*Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
Amo 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

God will make Israel the honcho nation of this world.

God will restore His people, Israel, to the national pride they had when King David ruled Israel.

“In that day”, the day of the return of Jesus Christ, when He will publicly appear to save that remnant of the Jews that is mentioned throughout the Old Testament.

The Northern and the Southern tribes will be reunited as it was in the time of King David, but this will be the time of the Second Coming of the Messiah.

All those who were against Jehovah will be removed: Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

We should also understand that at this time, all the land that was promised to Abraham will be restored to Israel.

This is the same land that came to Israel in the days of King David and King Solomon.

This would be the land of Israel, but King Jesus will rule from Jerusalem, and He will rule this entire world.

Psa 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
Psa 72:7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
Psa 72:8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Psa 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

The government of the Messiah will be universal. There will be no one who can hide from the rule of the Messiah.

It is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham: Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

The world will look a whole lot different, even from what it looks like today.

There will be major climate change!

*Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
Amo 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Amo 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

When we know God up close and personal, we will always have a bright and wonderful future. It is His promise!

The judgment of Israel is over after all these years; they now accept all the Word of God, even the New Covenant(Testament).

They have realized that all the Old Testament prophecies were true all along.

They now know the Son of God whom they had rejected and worship Him.

God had broken them because of their sin, and they had now repented and returned to Him.

True prosperity had finally come to Israel, and Jerusalem was now truly the City of Peace.

For the ploughmen to overtake the reaper means that it would take the reaper all Summer to gather in the harvest.

Even the vineyards would produce much more than was needed.

God would also cause cities that had lain in ruin for so many years to be rebuilt.

For the people in the day of Amos, this last part was a message of hope for the people of Israel.

All they needed to do was to believe the God who had delivered them so many times!

They would not have to depend upon foreigners or anyone else around them. God would make their land sufficient, just like their God is sufficient to meet all our needs.

I know this is true because He meets all my needs.

The prophecy of Amos could only be fulfilled by Jehovah, the Living God.

They would never have to leave their land again.

God would make sure these things happened just as Amos had delivered to them.

God means what He says, and God says what He means.

Amen.

The Logic in God’s Judgment

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Logic of God’s Judgment

Book of Amos Chapters 1 through 4

As we take a look into the Book of Amos, we should realize that the Ten Tribes called Israel had moved away from God from the very first day of separating from Judah.

As we study this book of prophecy, we will see that God has given this nation a last chance to repent and return to the truth of Jehovah and worship as God had given them in the Books of Moses.

None of the kings of this divided nation called Israel had any interest in the truth of God nor the worship of the LORD Jehovah.

We know the Lord is patient with His people, but there is an end to that patience, and after patience runs out, it is replaced with judgment.
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God always has to overcome His compassion for His people to bring judgment, but He will.

It is these lessons we read about in the Old Testament that we can learn how God will react to these same types of things today.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We can visibly see how patient God is with the world we live in today, but the Old Testament proves that God’s patience will end, and judgment will come.

God will not allow wickedness and sin to continue indefinitely!

The Book of Amos is a book of judgment!

For one hundred and eighty years, the Northern Kingdom had rebelled against the LORD.

Amos preached a message that focused on the coming judgment of God.

Amos was just a lowly shepherd from Judah who prophesied mostly in Israel, showing us that God can use anyone willing to serve Him.

*Amo 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

In the Scriptures, earthquakes are mentioned as tokens of God’s power, but also as a means of fine-tuning the timeline of the Scriptures.

Job 9:6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Earthquakes are also tokens of God’s presence.

Psa 68:8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Earthquakes that we are more familiar with are those that are from God’s anger.

Psa 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

God’s fierce anger is still in the future.

Isa 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isa 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

*Amo 1:2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Amos was chosen because, in his preaching, he could roar, and his message was that God would soon roar out of Zion.

In fact, Amos begins where the Book of Joel ends.

Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Zion was the same as the city of David to Amos.

1Ki 8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

Amos first begins to prophecy judgment on all those nations that have had any dealings with Israel.

The LORD speaks from Zion, which He had assigned to be the central place of worship of the Jews and also the central place of government, as formed by King David.

Israel was to have a theocratic government. A government that followed the Word of God.

God speaks to all His people, and He includes strangers.

Zion is the dwelling place of the LORD, spiritually and soon will be physically for one thousand years!

A roaring of the lion can be heard from five to eight miles, but God’s roar will be heard from any location upon this earth if He so chooses.

A lion’s roar is aimed as a threat to his enemies, and the roar of God in judgment will be directed at His enemies, the enemies of the Church and the enemies of Israel.

Jer 25:30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

This is another reason why the Lord Jesus is known as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He will roar in judgment sooner than we think.

*Amo 2:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
Amo 2:7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Amo 2:8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

What was wrong with Israel in the day of Amos and still so today?

This sent waves of shock through the crowd that Amos was preaching to, for in their mind they would say to you, “There is no way God’s judgment would fall on them”.

They are so wrong because they know the key to God’s Grace is obedience to His Word. Why would God not judge those who refuse to obey Him?

To the world today that misunderstands God’s nature. Yes, God is Love, and because of this, He is long-suffering.

His long-suffering means He is waiting for the world to repent and turn from its wicked ways, but it never will, so eventually God’s justice must prevail on those who live wickedly, or He would not be the God of truth.

Israel was feeling really good about everything when Amos was preaching about judgment on all those other nations, but their attitude changed when Amos began with God’s judgment upon Israel.

The Judgment of God is coming to this world, and the only way to miss it is to repent and turn back to our Creator. Our God is also our Creator!

God has warned this entire world.

Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

God’s justice must prevail!

These verses describe to us the crimes of Israel.

1) We see a perversion of justice. The judges took bribes and condemned the righteous.
Keep in mind, Judas took silver to condemn our righteous Savior.

For the very smallest of bribes, they rejected the cause of poverty in their own nation.

Eze 13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

They continuously broke the Laws of God.

2) They desired that the poor be removed from the earth.

This sounds like today, when our politicians remind us that if not for the poor and the elders there would be plenty of money to waste on other things, while they intentionally try to move the middle class into that poor category.

Those who are poor are also those who are depressed, even though depression can attack anyone, no matter their status.

It is many of those who are poor who are almost forced to do crooked and evil things in an attempt to survive.

We cannot defend this, but we can acknowledge it.

The world continuously ignores the dignity of human life if you are not a part of their crowd.

3) For a man and his father to go into the same maid could be said to be incest, which was forbidden and could be seen as organized prostitution, but it is certainly fornication.

Eze 36:20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
Eze 36:21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

4) Those who were well off would take the outer clothes of those who had fallen on hard times, as a pledge. These would be the clothes they wore during the day and covered themselves with at night.

Those who stole those clothes would think nothing of wearing them to the House of God.

They engaged in hypocritical worship by worshipping at every altar in any place of worship, even those places where idols were worshipped.

Israel’s worship of Jehovah had become corrupt.

Before we pray and worship at any altar, we had better be sure we are in a true House of God!

5) Israel rejected the Lord as the source of their blessings since the Lord removed them from the Iron Furnace of Egypt.

*Amo 2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Amo 2:10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Amo 2:11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
Amo 2:12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

As we read the Old Testament, we read over and over how God had blessed this nation and had forgiven their many sins.

It was the Almighty God who had destroyed the Amorites and allowed Israel to take over their cities and their homes.

They were certainly wicked people, but Israel was falling into the same trap of judgment.

It was the Almighty Living God who had saved Israel from Egypt, where they had been slaves for nearly four hundred years.

It was the Almighty God who had sent to them His prophets from their own nation, and they had murdered many of them.

6) Even the Nazarites who had committed themselves to live righteously and devote themselves to the Lord were forced to drink wine against their vows.

I absolutely cannot see how those of a certain religion can serve wine at communion, knowing God said not to drink wine at all.

We have to make a vow to live righteously to be saved!

Those who interfere with God’s children will truly suffer the wrath of God.

Mat_18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Mrk_9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Luk_17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Israel at this time was no different than the nations and peoples God had removed from Canaan Land!

Have you noticed how the Church is following in these same steps?

If you are in a godly church today, it is a must to resist any change that goes against the Word of God! All the Word of God!

Jer_6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

We cannot be so foolish as not to walk in the truth of God.

What is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is a person who pretends and is deceitful.

Claiming to believe in the LORD is not enough to become acceptable to God.

A true believer will do their best to follow the LORD!

A true believer will do their best to be obedient to all the Word of God.

A true believer will do their best to live righteously in this world.

A true believer will be looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

A hypocrite is deceitful.

What did the Lord Jesus say we needed to watch out for in the end times?

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

We cannot allow false so-called Christians to destroy our churches!

1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

*Amo 2:13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
Amo 2:14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

In response to any rebellious attitude and opposition of people in answer to His concerns, God has no choice but to react in “Judgment”.

Sin is a heavy burden that will take us into the pits of Hell, when God is so willing to forgive if we will repent and return to Him.

Why would anyone want to go to Hell to spend an eternity there?

The Northern Tribes of Israel were guilty of extreme wickedness, and God judged them by sending them into captivity into a nation that worshipped idols and rejected Jehovah.

God is saying that His cart is so heavily loaded with sin that anything He rolls over will be crushed into non-existence.

God will have removed His compassion.
God will have removed His mercy.
God will have removed His grace.
God will have removed His love, and this leaves only His “judgment”!

God had stated that He hated Esau and the Edomites no longer exist as a people.

God is telling sinners that He hates sin, and the Lord Jesus will say, “I never knew you,” or to Him, you did not exist.

Mat_7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Are those Ten Tribes of Israel still lost?

The “lost tribes” were not entirely lost — many integrated into local populations, and some groups, like the Samaritans, preserved their identity.

The one thing we know for sure is that there are Jews scattered all over the world, and many of them have gone back home to Israel.

We can say that there are no lost Tribes of Israel because God knows where they all are.

What did God do?

God shows them instances of judgments He had sent at various times to correct His people.

*Amo 4:6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Amo 4:8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

This is not some form of toothache, but it is famine.

Their teeth would be clean because they had nothing to eat.

The Laws of Moses, which they were so proud of, stated: Deu 28:48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath destroyed thee.
Deu 28:49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

In all the years since God had taken Israel out of Egypt and formed the nation that they are today, they have never truly repented of rejecting God and His Word.

God disciplines because He loves us, not because He hates us!

The stubbornness of Israel’s rejection caused God to be harsher with His people.

All God has ever asked from any of us is to repent and turn back to Him.

The LORD sent famine and hunger, and this famine struck every city so that each city would not have the resources to feed its people.

Next, God sent drought, and God sent this drought three months before harvest time, so there would be very little to harvest.

They had three months to repent and save their crops, but they were too stubborn to give in.

They would hear about rain in another city, but by the time they got there, the water would be used up.

When they did have enough water for meager crops to grow, God sent the blight and the palmerworm.

Blasting was the damage caused by the scorching East wind.

Eze 17:10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

Mildew would also ruin some crops. Mildew is caused by fungi from dampness and is the opposite of conditions caused by drought.

The locust swarms and disease would take anything that was left of their crops.

They faced economic devastation, but they still would not repent.

War, drought, and famine always end in disease, sickness, and plagues among the people.

These would be the same type of plagues that God used on Egypt, but they still would not repent.

So, God sent war.

The young men, the pride of most nations, were slain with the sword of their enemies. This is what war does. War removes many of the next generation and affects a nation for years.

God took away their ability to defend themselves.

The stink of unburied carcasses lay everywhere, and even more disease came to Israel.

*Amo 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Amo 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

God reminds them that their sin was counted just as hideous and wicked as the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they would have perished if God had not plucked them out of the fire.

Their homes were burned, their cities were burned, and everything they had left was burned, and they have been to if God had not plucked them from the fire.

There was only one thing left to do, and it was for God to come to this earth and take care of this rebellion Himself.

We should all ask ourselves, “Are we ready to meet the God of the Bible?”

God’s judgment is certainly coming to this world.

Judgment is inescapable for those who refuse to repent and return to the Creator.

God will not send an angel.
God will not send the death angel.

God will come Himself, and if He comes in His glory, no one will be able to stand before Him.

There is only one way out to safety, and it is by repentance and returning to the God who made us.

Act 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

We can meet God in the clouds, or we will meet God in “judgment,” and we do not have much time left to decide!

Amen

God Will Also Restore

/ Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

The Restoration God Brings

Book Of Amos Chapters 5-9

Most all people see the prophets of God as messengers of doom but that is simply not true. God is a loving God who sent His prophets to tell all people how wonderful life would be if they would only repent of their evil ways.

We must clearly understand that when we hear the Word of God, and the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ we have an opportunity to believe what God says.

It is at that time that we have a choice to believe or not to believe.

God will honor the choice we make and in most cases if we choose to reject Him, God will provide many opportunities to change our mind and repent.

In truth the prophets of God then and the true Pastors of today provide opportunities for us to choose the most precious of all life, an opportunity to be welcomed into the family of God.

*****Amo 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
Amo 5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
Amo 5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
Amo 5:5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

We can see that God actually begs us to listen to His words.

It is true that most sinners are secure in their lifestyle, I felt the same way for many years. Most sinners have no fear of the future until a tragedy strikes. Sin hides the future!

Most sinners live in the careless ease of their own success.

The proof of that goes all the way back to the days of Moses.

Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The truth is these things will not ever change and are the same even today.

You see unbelievers actually worship their own selves, they have become their own god.

Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

I am sure that we all know these things because God says “but such were some of you”. I can still remember my own self and how foolish I was.

When God reveals the end to these things it’s then time to think about just how secure we are in our life.

Gilgal had been the place where Israel had set up camp to take the promised land. They had celebrated their first passover in Canaan Land in Gilgal.

The Tabernacle was set up there until it was moved to Shiloh.

Gilgal was a place of celebration and a memorial until idolatry became the rule even in that place.

Hos 9:15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.

Gilgal had once been the scene of new life and a place of blessing but there would be no need to return there now, because God would not respond.

Bethel was a place that Abraham had setup camp and the place of Jacob’s ladder. In troubled times Israel had returned to Bethel to seek the counsel of God and He would answer.

But Bethel had also become the seat of worship of the “golden calf” and Hosea said it had become “the house of idols”.

There would be no need to return to Bethel now to seek God, for God would not answer.

They had only one option and that was to repent and seek the Lord where they were now!

The truth is as we see what happened to Israel we get to see what will happen to all those that reject the Word of God.

We are expected to learn from these examples that God has given to us

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

And we are expected to seek the Lord.

*****Amo 5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

God says it is a waste of our time to seek deliverance or any help from any sort of false worship.

We know that the promise land was the land given to the Jews.

The earth we live on is the land promised to all human beings so what does God say about Israel this day.

God said all false worship sites would be destroyed and those that worshipped in those places would be expelled from the land.

You see this our choice. God promised not to send a worldwide flood to destroy this earth again. So we can seek the Lord and live or God will break out like a fire and destroy those that reject Him.

The truth is that God did actually sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire, leaving only a remnant in which He will still one day fulfill His promises to them. Some say these were the ten tribes that some say are lost but there are no lost tribes of Israel.

The truth is no matter what you make your own personal god, it will never be able to save you from the True and Living God!

And then God describes some of the things they were doing wrong and we should pay closes attention.

*****Amo 5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

Wormwood is noted because of it’s intense bitterness.

These people had turned justice into extreme bitterness!

Righteousness, simply put, is doing things that are right to people instead of wronging people.

These people had cast righteousness into the dirt!

This means those that were trying to do right and being honest in the society of that day actually received very little fairness, and seeking the truth was an extremely bitter experience for them.

Most all the judges were as unrighteous and as lawless as those in that lawless society.

As we can see this is exactly what we see in America today, in Europe today, and in most every other nation on this earth.

Those that do not see this, are those that are causing the problem and others are simply blind and live in their own little world.

The Lord says, it is these people who have forgotten who actually is the power in this world.

*****Amo 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
Amo 5:9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

God says that it is He who is the Creator of all things!

It is almost everyday that astronomers tell us they see another new star, which is really not true, it is only true that technology has allowed them to see things that they did not see before, but indeed the magnificence of the night time skies is truly a wondrous sight.

Isa 40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Those who disregard the truth of creation according to the Book of Genesis are only fools!

When we look up into the night time skies we can see the same sights that Adam saw when he looked up at night and Adam knew his Creator personally as we should also.

It is this same God of all power who can also hear the whimpers of a small child when they have been abused and all the prayers of all His saints.

Amos said it is our Creator that you are to seek because it is our Creator who is the true “Judge” of His people and of this earth.

It is only the Almighty God who can turn the shadow of death to a beautiful morning and another day.

It is only the Lord who can strengthen the weak to overcome those who are stronger.

And there is no fortress strong enough to withstand the power of God!

The world will find this out one day soon!

*****Amo 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
Amo 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

What is the truth of sin?

Sin hates justice and sin hates the truth.

We know it was at the city gates at that time where the city government leaders would sit in judgment of the people.

This would be the same place in most cases where God’s prophets would give their message.

God had already informed that prophet why that message had to be delivered and what kind of people they would be dealing with.

No doubt Amos had stood many times addressing these hypocrites to no avail.

The truth is, no good man will fear justice!

It was these leaders that hated the message delivered by God prophets, just as they do today.

They absolutely cannot stand to hear the truth!

The reason our judges will not judge according to the truth is, because it goes against their own sin. They hate you even more when you point that out to them!

Pro 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

Justice will rob sin of the respect sin is craving to have.

Look at America today.

The gays are forcing recognition.

The LBGT are forcing recognition.

The Pro-Abortionist are forcing recognition.

Marijuana smokers are demanding recognition.

Drug makers are demanding recognition.

Our leaders throw justice out the door to accommodate all these things.

The innocent are rebuked while the guilty are exalted and set free.

God has quit sending His prophets and now just sends His warning of future punishment.

Raising taxes is the only answer to solve all problems but only on a certain group of people.

In this day of Amos, the taxes would be paid on the harvest and when a poor man would be taking some home to feed his family, he would be stopped again to pay taxes on what he had on him that day, or they would take it away from him for some pretended debt he owed the government.

They would take the extra money and build things that would never be occupied.

In the day of Amos God sent the enemies of Israel to solve these problems.

We are blind if we cannot see these same things going on today and people think God has a different answer or they think God will simply allow these things to keep going on.

*****Amo 8:4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Amo 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Amo 8:6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Amo 8:7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

In chapter 7 Amos was told by a false prophet that he should return to Judah with his Words of God before someone took his life.

This is what we face today as Christians everywhere.

The truth is when you are called on to go forth with a specific message from God, He will not allow harm to come to you until He is ready to take you home and then you just move on into Heaven your work complete.

In verse 2 God said to Amos, tell Israel this is my final warning.

So we will pick with this thought in mind.

We all know that this summer has been so hot that when we work out side for any time at all that when we do come into the house we are very thirsty and drink our water like it is our last chance to get it, we might say greedily.

Well this is the exact way that the rich and the leaders of government were devouring the poor in Israel, including the king.

BUT, even during this time Israel kept up a mere observance of religion.

SO, One of the sins that brought this judgment on Israel was social injustice.

We do not think on this as we do on many other sins but this is also the truth of the Scriptures.

These things happen because of “Greed and Dishonesty”.

The truth is these are the exact same things we see in our politicians today here in America and we are fools to believe that God will keep allowing these things to go on!

They had made floor mats of the weak and less fortunate by making promises that they never intended to keep.

They have made excessive demands on those that did work hard and prospered.

They robbed the rich using the excuse the poor needed it but the poor never received but just enough to keep them at bay.

God will not continue to allow these things to happen.

Verse 5 says they were guilty of superficial worship.

Same thing is happening in America today.

God will not continue to allow this to go on!

The people honored the Sabbath and the some religious holidays and national celebrations but only because it was demanded by the government.

The freedoms of the citizens had been eroded.

God will not continue to allow this to happen!

The Word of God had become a thorn in the flesh of the government, the merchants and the business leaders just as it has in America.

In the eyes of the Lord any false worship is desecrating His Holy Name.

God will not allow these things to continue to happen.

The merchants did everything they could possibly do to increase their profits.

Exactly what is happening in America today!

God is not blind to all these things!

They even made slaves to those who could not pay their debts. It was greed that drove all business.

Even today the poor are required to sell themselves or their vote, or their souls in order to just survive in America, the world’s once greatest nation.

The truth is God hates any form of slavery!

God will not continue to allow these things to happen!

And those same evil merchants even sold inferior products at an extravagant price.

How many of us have bought something we thought was a good price but when we got home we found that it was made in China or some other place and it soon became useless or just a bad product.

All these things just show the greed and dishonesty of a nation that was once God’s people.

Are we any different now here in the USA.

The Lord said in verse 7 “that He would never forget these things that were done to His people.

Why should we think the Lord is any different today to not see all these things?

We sometimes wonder what is happening to our world that is blamed on Global Warming along with many other things.

Maybe it’s just God sending His final warning!

*****Amo 8:8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
Amo 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

The truth is we can read what happened to the Israel of these Northern Tribes but we may actually be witnessing these things today.

God can make this earth tremble any time He so chooses:

Psa 104:32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

We know that the heavens are full of the glory of the Lord.

Psa 97:5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Psa 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

Most everyday we may acknowledge things like temperature or rain or wind but most of the time the heavens rarely engage our thoughts because the rise and fall of the Sun and the Moon are so common that they cease to amaze us or even impress us!

Sometimes an eclipse of the Sun, or a comet, or the Sun spots, or even a Meteorite may be just to show us who is in charge of all these things.

But an eclipse should also remind us the effect of sin upon the soul as a dark object shuts out the light of God.

We know that the Sun does not quit shining and the Moon has passed between us and the Sun.

Sin is the same. We know that the Sun of God does never quit shining but we have allowed sin to pass between us and the Son.

What do we know for sure?

A day of judgment is is guaranteed by the sworn oath of God on a world that is exactly like our world is today.

That day will be catastrophic with earthquakes and the earth will actually tremble, and heave and shake like we have never seen.

There will be a major eclipse not like the ones that are seen in just a few places but one like the day of the cross when it was impossible for such and event and it will be seen world-wide.

And not only that but there will unprecedented distress, grief and mourning.

*****Amo 8:10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

The day of judgment, The Day of the Lord, will be a day of of absolute despair for all those that remain on this earth.

Remember the Church will have already been in Heaven at least 7 years when this Day of the Lord occurs.

But this is exactly why we can see the beginning of these things now and we should make others aware of it because this is what Amos was doing!

There will be no one to warn the world that day because the Church will be in Heaven!

*****Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
Amo 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

All those who have waited till the last minute thinking they would still get another opportunity.
All those who are Atheist will find out that they were wrong all their days.
All those that had rejected Holy Ghost conviction.
All those that had rejected the Word of God outright.
All those that thought that being good was enough.
All those that thought being baptized was enough
And most sad all those that have played Church and thought Church membership was enough.
All of these and even others will search throughout the world for someone who knows the Lord in a personal way to help them find the way to Heaven and that person cannot and will not be found.

The Lord will not answer their prayers and there will be no Saints to pray for them.

The Holy Spirit will not be available to them.

There will be no Angels left to battle the evil nor stop the many accidents that happen.

People will beg God to forgive them but He will not hear them!

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Isa 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

And this awesome display of God’s power and judgment will continue.

*****Amo 8:13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
Amo 8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

The truth is, that every person worships something. It is either God or some false god. Truly there are no Atheist who in fact worship themselves.

All those that have failed to worship the Lord will fail. This world will tell you that there are many ways to Heaven but that is simply not true!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

It’s time this world woke up to this truth and part of our job in these remaining days is to try to get this message to as many people who will listen. They must realize salvation is a choice for each individual.

Those that do not believe these words of Amos also do not believe the words of Jesus!

Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Those that reject these things need to read the entire Book of Revelation without spiritualizing any of the words!

There will be no one who escapes the “judgment of God”!

We can be sure of a final judgment and we can be sure of the promise of a glorious Kingdom.

And it is only then that the Lord will rule upon this earth for 1000 years and restore things similar to what they were in the days of Adam.

Let Amos describe these things for us.

*****Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
Amo 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

Verses 1-10 describe the destruction of all sinners upon this earth. Sinners being all those that have rejected the truth of the Scriptures and the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 11 begins with the restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of prophecy.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The Tabernacle of David was located in Jerusalem and placed by King David when the Ark was recovered and restored to the people of Israel.

King David was absolute ruler of all of Israel and greatly loved by all the people for a time.

Amos speaks of a day when the government of David, the throne of David will be reestablished also in Israel also in Jerusalem.

Israel will be reunited, there will be no Northern Tribes and no Southern Tribes and there are no lost tribes of Israel.

We know that the Tabernacle of David had fallen, breeches were made in it and it was in ruins.

We know the Jesus Christ will establish His universal government in Israel for 1000 years.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

A remnant of Israel will be there and the entire Church will be there.

Any people that remain on this entire earth will look to Israel and Jerusalem as the center of government.

It is in that day that God will restore this earth to what it was in the day of Adam before sin entered into this world.

*****Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
Look how God describes these things.

Crops and fruit will grow so fast that those that reap the harvest will be over taken by the plowman and those that plant the seed for the next harvest.

Those that plant the vineyard will be over taken by those who press out the juice from the harvest.

The prophet Joel explains the melting hills.

Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Remember God had said the Promised Land would be a land flowing with milk and honey.

The economy of the Lord will be strong.

Prosperity will be to all people everywhere!

And all the exiled remnant of Israel will return to their homeland.

*****Amo 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Amo 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

It is hard to imagine a world with a lasting peace and a guaranteed security but that is the promise of the Lord for 1000 years and it only gets better after this.

Every human being at that time will experience the “peace” of God!

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It is the truth in all these things that is the reason God has left us on this earth to share this
Good News” with anyone that crosses our path.

God has told it to Israel:

Act 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

God has told it to the world:

Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

God has had only one message:

Psa 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psa 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The message of Amos to the Israelites was that God’s promises are sure.

It was Israel that were to be the disciples of God but they had failed so God established the Church.

Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Israel is still the spiritual exile of the Lord even to this day even since they have been restored to the promised land and the blindness of Israel has not yet been removed.

2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

It is at the 1000 year reign of Christ when this will take place though it will begin during the Tribulation Period.

Rom 11:15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

All these things are still our future but also in the future of Israel.

But we are fools if we cannot see the beginning of these things now and the next thing on God’s agenda is the “Rapture” of the Church which will put all these other things in motion!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Judgment Of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Judgment Of God

Book of Amos Chapters 1-4

Amos was a fiery preacher and God’s prophet, but most all the things we know about Amos we find in the book that bears his name.

Amos is not mentioned in any other book of the Bible.

Amos was a native of Tekoa a place about 6 mile from Bethlehem in the Southern Kingdom but God sent him to the Northern Kingdom to do His work.

Amos may not have been just a poor shepherd because according to the Hebrew word used for shepherd, Amos could have been a breeder of sheep.

It is possible that Amos raised large herds of sheep.

And also possible that Amos managed a large grove of Sycamore trees.

BUT, Amos described himself simply as a simple farmer called of God.

Amo 7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
Amo 7:15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

Amos was a true prophet of God and he had the courage of a prophet called of God and remember the words of a prophet of God had to always be true.

Num 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

The only prophet that was different as far as we know was Moses who had a special task.

Num 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
Num 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

In time there became what we would call prophetic order of men called of God probably begun at the time of Samuel.

Amos said he had never belonged to such an order.

The 16 prophets in which we have books, were called of God, commissioned, and entrusted with the messages of God to His people.

They were not only prophets but also historians, and preachers of patriotism and had morals that were based on the Word of God.

It was also their intention to influence the politics of the government to follow the Word of God!

Amos’ most important job was to reveal God’s will to all mankind.

Most every prophet also foretold of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Amos’ main target was the Northern Tribes of Israel and Amos preached the coming judgment of God!

We must remember all the books of the prophets were written as much for us as they were for the people of that day.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: “and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come”.

And these things were written to teach how to live godly lives.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

The Book of Amos was written to call Israel to repentance and obedience to the Word of God to avoid the judgment of God.

We can also learn this valuable lesson.

So let’s begin:

*****Amo 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Amo 1:2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

To understand better the time of Amos we need to take the time to read in the Book of Kings from the time of Uzziah of the Southern Kingdom and Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom.

To relate the message of Amos to our life today, we need to remember those times when we have been told, “this is your last chance”.

In most cases it meant one last chance to change our behavior or else?

The “else” that Amos was referring to was the “judgment” of God!

Amos made it very plain, these were not his words but that this message was from God Himself as it was from all God’s prophets!

There are so many today that preach the God of Love and this is certainly true.

There are many today that preach a prosperity gospel and it is true that God will provide our needs but He did not promise to make us all rich.

There are very few that preach the “Judgment” of God and if these other things are true then we must accept that we can make God angry and God will one day reach a point where He will simply say “I’ve had enough”.

There are those that preach that Amos only pronounced “judgment” on the Northern Tribes but they simply did not read the book.

Before God allowed Amos to preach “judgment” on Israel, the Northern Tribes, God mentions the nations that surrounded Israel in that day but also today.

Amos preached the judgment on Damascus, which is Syria, a cruel people.
Amos preached the judgment of Gaza, the Philistines in that day the so called Palestinians of today a callous people.
Amos preach the judgment Tyre, Phoenicia in that day but does not exist as a state today. They were a disloyal people.
Amos preached the judgment of Edom. Edom does not exist today as a state but they were an unmerciful people.
Amos preached the judgment of Ammon, now Jordan, they were a covetous people.
Amos preached the judgment of Moab, they were a vengeful people.
And before Amos preached the judgment of Israel, he preached against Judah, modern day Israel, a disobedient, and unfaithful people.
And finally Amos preached the judgment of Israel, a hypocritical people.

You see like a Lion the Lord will roar from Zion!

The message of Amos was judgment on all the people of this world that do these things!

*****Amo 2:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
Amo 2:7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Amo 2:8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

We should also be clear that God’s judgment will be on His own people first.

God’s people will be the first to given an account for their own works after salvation.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

God will judge the Church first then the rest of the world.

God has said that there was to be a treaty of brotherhood among all human beings, and we can see how we have all failed.

We are to love one another no matter our race, our color, or our nationality after all we all come from the Living God!

The people of Judah and Israel were not accustomed to such preaching especially by such a man as Amos who was not connected to the line of Aaron or Moses or any of the priesthood.

Israel lived understanding that they were the chosen of God and above God’s judgment which is not true.

There is no one above the “judgment of God!

The truth of God is that He is Love.

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

God will continue to bless all people while He patiently waits on them to repent and turn from their wicked ways, right up until the time that He decides it is time for judgment.

Right up until the time when He says, “this is your last chance”!

What had Israel done? They had denied the power of God and turned to idol worship.

They had denied the salvation of the God who had set them free from the bondage of Egypt and claimed that power actually came from a false god.

They had rejected all the prophets of God. (It is during this time of Amos that we also find Jonah and Hosea)

They had rejected those who had pronounced their claim to be Nazarites who also witnessed for the Lord.

They had actually persecuted all those that remained true to God!

They had actually tried to force God’s people to to violate their commitments they made to the Lord.

All these things sound so familiar to what is going on in our world today even in America.

The terrorists and the governments doing the same thing, trying to rid the world of God’s people.

While pretending to be God’s people they had become deceitful.

They were hypocrites!

They drank the wine of the condemned in the house of their god!

And what was the best example in the history of this people?

*****Amo 2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Amo 2:10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Amo 2:11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.

Amos had preached that the sins of terrorism and barbarism were truly great and would be judged.

Amos had preached that civilizations that made slaves of the poor and abused the needy would be judged even more harsh.

Israel had great victories but those victories had come by the hand of God.

It was God that had destroyed the Amorites.

These were a people full of passion and pride and all sorts of immorality. So much was the destruction of this people that they are no longer remembered except on some ancient Egyptian monuments.

This thing had followed the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and their 40 years in the wilderness.

In fact they had spent 40 years in the wilderness because they had a deadly fear of these same Amorites.

It had been by God’s mercy that Israel had been blessed.

But, It was God who had called the prophets who spoke only the words of God.

And, It was God who had called for the Nazarites who showed the way of God through the way they lived.

When we deny the power of God we will spend our days in wasted lives.

It is God who destroys our enemies.

It is God who provides a plan of salvation.

No matter what we think we have gotten for ourselves, it was God that provided it.

When we deny God’s power we are wasting our time praying because the object of prayer is seek the God of all power!

This world we live in better wake up because to persecute God’s messengers brings the downfall to every nation.

To persecute God’s people will bring the wrath of God!

We live in a world that simply refuses to hear about their sin, so they truly do not want to be around a righteous person.

A righteous person is only those that follow the teachings of the Word of God!

Persecuting the people of God was accepted by society in the day of Amos and we can see that persecuting God’s people is accepted by society in the world today and yes even in America!

God only has one choice and this world is making it for Him!

God will judge each nation and then the world!

None of these will escape the wrath of God!

God says no one is swift enough nor strong enough to escape (vs14)

God says no nation has enough military power to defend against His judgment (vs15)

God says there is simply no one that can stand up to Him in this world (vs16)

The absolute worst sinner in this world is not the mass murderer or the ones who are the most evil.

The worst sinners in this world are the hypocrites who profess to believe upon the Lord but are deceiving those who truly believe.

Those that profess they know the Lord on a personal level and then live their own life by their own rules are hypocrites.

Israel had become a nation of hypocrites!

Tit 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

We are warned specifically about these things:

1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Chapter 3 is more about how to avoid the “Judgment” of God. God had chosen the nation of Israel to bring His message to the world and they had rejected this purpose and rejected His privileges and therefore they would see His “Judgment”.

We must remember that the Living God has offered every human being the opportunity to walk and talk with Him and most of the world still rejects His offer. Therefore most of this world will see the soon coming “Judgment” of God.

As we continue we will see that God’s “Judgment” will fall on an unrepentant people who have been given many opportunities to do so.

Selfishness, stubbornness, and hypocritical worship will bring the “Judgment” of God on every people!

The answer to all these things is repentance.

Chapter 4 is about repentance.

This is not the repentance of Judas who was very sorry for what he had done but his heart was still unchanged.

True repentance is a change of mind, a change of our purpose in this life, a complete change of direction of where we were headed.

This is the only repentance that will bring forgiveness of sins!

It takes a true realization of our sin.
It takes a true realization of God’s mercy.
It takes a true hatred for any and all sin.
It takes a true walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The truth is stubbornness will result in the “Judgment” of God.

In the past God has used famine as a means of discipline and I am sure He may still use this and other things today.

The truth is discipline means that “Judgment” has not yet come.

God will make use of famine.

Amo 4:6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

The truth is, we live in cursed world and many evils may come upon us which we may be innocent in relation to them, but God’s discipline is for the sin we know we have.

When we know what God expects and He gives a complete list, so we are without excuse, then to do those things is just being stubborn and in open rebellion to the Word of God.

If there is a famine then we should ask ourselves what are we doing wrong and repent.

We should consider that even if God did not cause a situation, He did allow it for some reason and God judges sin, but rewards good works even though good works cannot get you into a personal relationship with God.

We should also consider that God has a reason for everything He does and “Love” and “Concern” are His two greatest reasons.

Afflictions are designed to humble us to the point of asking why and then we can look in the mirror of our lives to get the answer.

God will do the same thing to a government that He will do to a person and God sometimes uses human wickedness and we can see this in America today. We should see this as discipline to give us time to repent before “Judgment” come, for it will certainly come without repentance!

Cleanness of teeth means that Israel had a lack of food in all their cities.
They had a cupboard or a pantry that just did not have enough food in it to sustain good health.

But they refused to repent!

So God added drought.

*****Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

Sometimes when we will get so relaxed in our lifestyle that God will do things to make us uncomfortable.
In America we have when many other nations to do have.

Notice here that God had sent the drought early enough that if Israel would repent then the crops could have been saved but they refused to repent and their hunger increased, their lack of food increased.

We can see that God even showed favor to one city more than another to show His power over nature. Some suffered for thirst while some had plenty. Some gardens suffered while other gardens produced plenty.

This was done to show them the error of their ways but they would still not repent but we can be sure they blamed God for their misery.

When we are foolish enough to blame God for our misery but still to foolish to repent this in itself should show us how foolish we truly are.

If it is truly an act of God then God teaches us how to avoid such things so these things are really an act of sin and sin is to be blamed!

Sin is anything that goes against the Word of God!

*****Amo 4:8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

Many would leave their homes to find a place where things were better but so many would do this that that new home would soon be the same and they would be lacking again.

If they had stayed at home and changed their ways then things would have been much better but they refused to repent.

The truth is God has much more patience than most people have stubbornness but even the patience of God has it’s limits.

The more stubborn people are, the more discipline is required.

*****Amo 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

Blasting is what we would call “blight”.

Blight effects plants sometimes causing the whole plant to whither and sometimes only the leaves, or the blossoms, or the fruit will shrivel up as if they were scorched.

In America we sometimes call boils or eruptions in the skin as blight.

Blight has the meaning of to prevent or to frustrate growth and or fertility.

This was God’s intent!

Mildew can be said to be paleness of the skin in people who are afraid but in most cases it refers to the corrosion of plants or stains on objects caused by moisture.

The Palmer-worm is thought to be a type of locust that devours plants and are a nuisance to humans.

What this verse is saying is that God brought economic devastation to these people in ways that that they knew came from Him but they still would not repent.

We wonder sometimes why our economy just does not seem to get better, well instead kicking God out of every door and laughing at the Word of God, maybe we just need to repent and change our evil ways.

If we would return to the Lord, things could be so much better but we simply allow a very small portion of our population, who so engrossed in sin and in power to control, to dictate the sin in our nation. Until we take a stand on the Word of God, things simply will not get any better no matter who sits in the White House.

SO, When we refuse to repent it then hits closer to home.

*****Amo 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

There are always those that have no fear of drought.

There are always those that have no fear of doing without food.

There is no one that does not have a fear of disease and plagues.

And, Not everyone can protect themselves from the murderers and the terrorist.

And no one likes to live in a place where it just stinks all the time.

The Lord sent sickness and disease to all of Israel.

The Lord sent military defeat and many of those young sons were killed in lost causes by governments that rejected the Lord.

Rejecting the Lord is harmful to all people in all cultures and all societies.

Life without God is a life of misery!

Misery is the force of human depravity!

But Israel still would not repent.

*****Amo 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

There is no one with any sense that does not realize the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and God destroyed these places with fire and brimstone.

In all of Israel, there were catastrophes to cities and to homes where some only escaped with the clothes on their backs.

It’s amazing how stubborn these people were but yet we can see these same things happening today and yet those causing much of the problems we face, deny the wrath of God and say we have only a God of love.

God certainly has more love than He has wrath but one moment of the wrath of God is still the most destructive thing that can be witnessed on this earth.

When we have a tendency to disregard what God has done in the past saying He will not do those things again, then we are fools!

All these things are only examples what our God is capable of to those that reject Him!

When discipline just will not work then God only has one alternative.

The truth is that people only go to Hell because they have chosen too!

Therefore these are the reasons for God’s “judgment”!

*****Amo 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

There is one truth that holds to every human being that has ever lived on this earth, “judgment is certain”!

The “judgment” of God is inescapable.

Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

When we reject the truth of God then along with the other things we may think we can do, we certainly had better be prepared to meet the One and the Only Living God!

Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

These words are just as true as all the Word of God.

This is the same God of creation who is denied by most of the world.

This is the same God that has revealed Himself to Israel and then to all the world but is denied by most.

This the omnipotent God of all power who it was that has established all the laws of nature and who controls all the things of the day and of the night, here and throughout all that we can see.

This the same omnipresent God who dwells wherever He chooses and we simply cannot go anywhere where He is not present.

This is the Lord God of all the Angels and rules over all life in Heaven and on Earth.

We must not be fooled by this world, “judgment” is guaranteed!

Judgment is inescapable!

The only hope for all people is repentance and then forgiveness!

The sad part is that many will never come to the Lord and repent and the Book of Revelation was written for this purpose and in the end God simply says these words.

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

God will come as a thief in the night and while the world is still going about it’s routine of evil, this world will get to see the God that they have rejected and it will not be a pleasant day.

When the Lord comes it will be done very quickly!

Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Who in their right mind wants to see the God of Wrath! I know I do not.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!