If God is Against Us... Amos 3

Good evening, everyone.

You're all doing all right today.

And I just want to jump into the text.

Why don't we open our Bibles in Amos chapter 3.

Amos 3 · chapter mention

I'm seeing a lot of new faces here.

Hopefully by the end of the evening, you'll be able to figure out my accent.

And then somehow you'll understand what I'm saying.

I'll try to do my best, I promise.

Whether it's going to work or not, don't know.

God's grace.

Let's open our Bibles, Amos chapter 3.

Amos 3 · chapter mention

This is what the Word says.

Hear this word, people of Israel.

The word of the Lord has spoken against you.

Against a whole family brought up out of Egypt.

You only have chosen all the families of the earth.

Therefore, I will punish you for all your sins.

You two walk together unless they have agreed to do so.

Does a lion roar in the ticket when he has no prey?

Does he growl in his den when he has cut nothing?

Does a bird swoops down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there?

Does a trap spring up from the ground?

Yet he hasn't cut anything.

When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?

When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?

Surely, the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants, the prophets.

The lion has roared, who will not fear?

The sovereign Lord has spoken, who can't bad prophesy?

Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt.

Assemble yourselves in the mountains of Samaria.

See the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.

They do not know how to do right, declares the Lord, who were stored up in the fortresses, where they had plundered and looted.

Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says.

An enemy will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds, and plunder your fortresses.

This is what the Lord says.

As a shepherd rescues from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an heir,

so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued, with only the head of the bed and a piece of fabric from the couch.

Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob, declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

On that day I punish Israel for her sins.

I will destroy the altars of Bethel.

The horns of the altars will be cut off and fall to the ground.

I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house.

The houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed, and the mansions will be demolished, declares the Lord.

Ah, what a difficult passage it really is.

Tell me about it, really.

I was given this passage quite a few months ago.

Originally, I actually wrote on my phone that I was preaching chapter 4.

And I was preparing myself to chapter 4.

I was reading chapter 4, although I was reading a whole book, I would deny it.

But I was focusing on chapter 4.

And last Friday, I come to church, to the office, and go to meet John.

We were just discussing what Amos is going to be like.

And suddenly he says, yeah, but, you know, 3 and 4 are always together, so it's going to be easy.

I'm like, what do you mean 3 and 4?

And that's when actually I realized I was not doing chapter 4, but actually doing chapter 3.

So, if you feel I'm preaching chapter 4 today, please, I apologize, you now know why.

But I'm going to try to do it in chapter 3.

And the first thought that I have in my head when I was reading the book of Amos, which is actually a kind of book very difficult.

Not many people really like reading Amos because they feel it's very difficult to get.

Normally, when you get to Amos in the Bible, you're doing like chronologically,

or you're just going through the whole book of the Bible, you just jump in.

You go to the next one, next, and then you jump to that.

And the first thing that came to my head was, and I'm going to be honest with this,

how can God do something like this?

I was like, what can I do with this passage?

And then I began to spend a lot of time in Amos.

Of course, that's not the message, basically.

But then I began to spend a lot of time with Amos, and I began to discover what is actually behind it,

to see what the context is about.

And my thinking changed from how can God do something like this to,

what horrible people, what horrible Israel were.

How can they forget what God has done for them?

That is basically the whole message of Amos.

God is roaring.

God is crying out for them to see what they have forgotten.

They have forgotten about him.

They have forgotten what he has done for them.

And they are going in a way that he is not happy with.

That is when the judgment comes.

That is why when it feels like God is roaring,

with angriness, perhaps.

But it's lots of love being implied in that.

So I'm going to try to lead you to that,

and we'll try to see it.

So I'm going to tell you a bit more about Amos.

Amos is in...

I need to put this one up.

Yep.

So Amos is a book...

Amos was a prophet who actually lived in Judah,

but he spoke to Israel.

And his ministry took place during the reigns of Uzziah, Judah,

and the king of Jerobo,

Jerobo and the second of Israel,

which is about 790 to 740 before Christ,

for you to have a picture of what's happening there.

And basically his message was about judgment.

At the beginning of his prophecy,

he firstly spoke of the six nations surrounding Israel,

which are...

Does anybody remember?

Which...

There are no six nations of Rabi, okay?

That's different six nations.

The six nations are Moab, Damascus, Gaza, Tyre,

Eden, and the Ammonites.

And then he not only spoke about them,

but he also spoke about Judah.

And then finally...

He moves to speak to Israel about Israel.

Although Amos is speaking,

but if God, the lion, as I describe it,

he is roaring.

And he is roaring against the six surrounding nations of Israel.

And Israel goes...

I can imagine when Amos is beginning in chapter 1,

at the beginning of chapter 1,

declaring all the sins against those six nations,

Amos, the people of Israel, would be like,

Yes!

Keep going, Amos.

Do it.

Do it that way.

And then the prophecy changed,

and Amos goes,

I'm no longer speaking about the six nations.

I'm going to go and speak again Judah.

And of course, Israel and Judah weren't good friends.

So I can imagine the people from Israel were like,

Yes!

Keep going, keep going.

Bring it on.

Bring it on, buddy.

And then, finally,

from chapter 2, from verse 6 and on,

the message changed.

And then Amos is no longer speaking about the six nations.

He's no longer speaking about Judah.

But now he turns drastically

and faces Israel

and says,

And now I have something for you, Israel.

This is the message for you.

It's actually you the main reason why I'm coming to prophesy.

My whole prophecy has nothing to do with them,

but it has a lot to do with you.

That's why I'm here.

And basically, that is where the Israelites are in chapter 3.

They went from the enjoyment of chapter 1

to the confusion of chapter 2

to the show of chapter 3

where the judgment is being revealed to them.

And precisely, Israel is actually being judged,

not just despised by the far they were privileged,

but because of the fact,

they were privileged.

Because of the things they were given for God,

is that God has to precisely

do something with them.

So, once we begin to dig into the first,

to the first few verses of the chapter,

3,

we develop a...

I hope this one works.

Okay, there we are.

So, I made three different titles for this one.

So, the first one is the fairness of God's judgment.

You can actually see in verses 1 and 2.

And this is what it says.

Hear this word, people of Israel.

The word of the Lord has spoken against you,

against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt.

You only have I chosen,

but all the families of the earth.

Therefore, I will punish you for all your sins.

Amos begins this chapter by reminding them

that God's judgment is fair.

He begins this word by saying,

hear this word.

The beginning of chapter 3,

the beginning of chapter 4,

and the beginning of chapter 5

had a common scene,

something very much in common.

They all began with the same word.

Hear this word.

Basically saying,

Amos,

listen to this.

This is very, very, very important.

Listen to this,

and this is for you.

That is how Amos started

the next three chapters.

And he starts in here.

And then he goes to develop the next thing.

And basically,

it's a reminder that Israel must listen

and they must obey.

But we probably will discover

they wouldn't do that.

So Amos draws deeply on an early scripture

to show how fair and biased God's judgment is.

He calls them people of Israel.

When he's saying people of Israel,

he's not only defying the people of that place,

but it's actually defying the whole people

from Israel.

Both tribes,

both different nations,

Judah and Israel,

because they were both

taken out from Egypt

and brought from God

to the place where he was promised.

There are two important words here to see.

The first one is in verse 2,

where it says,

you only have a chosen.

Slice of working.

Anyway.

And this word chosen

in this particular context

describes a relationship,

describes a word

with God having a relationship

or covenant with them.

God had chosen Israel

to reveal himself,

to reveal himself to them

and to have a permanent relationship with them.

And that's what he says,

I have chosen for all the families of the year,

you, Israel.

And that's what I chose him to do.

The first one we actually,

and basically this describes

the God's sovereign choice of Israel.

And basically,

he's loving and showing,

he's loving concern for them

that he really cares

and he chose them.

That was the first thing,

that Israel is not only a nation.

Israel is the only one nation

with God having a specific covenant,

a relationship or covenant.

But then he goes to the next one,

therefore I will punish you.

And the second word I want us to look

is actually punish.

Generally,

in some other translations of the Bible,

the same word is used

in a different way.

It's used as basic.

So,

the point that is happening here

is like this,

the word can also be translated

as basic.

And it occurs in different contexts.

If you remember,

if you ever read chapter 50 of Genesis,

Joseph is about to die.

The Israelites are in Egypt.

And he is about to go away,

but he speaks to the people of Israel.

And he tells them this,

remember,

God is going to come

and come out

from where you are,

here in Egypt.

And will come and visit you

and take it.

He will take you

to the land

that he has promised you.

That was the first time

that actually this word was used

in the context of basic.

And now the prophet

is coming to say

that therefore God

is going to come

and punish them.

And the same word

is used in a very

backwards way,

I would say.

So now,

they are in a promised land,

but Amos is saying

that the Lord

is going to come

and punish you

slash visit them.

So the Lord

is going to come

and take them,

for where they are,

which is the promised land,

they are going to be

taken away

to the exile.

Do you see the contrast there?

How,

because of disobedience,

because of the fair judgment,

that

treatment of God

has been reversed.

This visit from God,

that doesn't mean

they are taken

to the promised land.

actually,

they are being taken out

from the promised land.

So that therefore,

here,

is the word

that comes very strong.

The Lord's covenant

of grace

includes punishment

for sins,

precisely because

the Lord chose Israel.

Therefore,

He loves His people

too much

to let them sin.

The whole reason

why God

is going to take Israel

away

from where they are,

because they have been

so disobedient to Him.

And they have not behaved

in the way

He has chosen to.

And He has to do something.

So Amos is coming to say,

because of what you're doing,

therefore,

this is what the Lord

is going to do.

That is basically

the fairness

of this judgment.

And for a moment,

I want you to

to think.

Let's just stop for a moment.

I've got a question for you.

I want you to

answer in your head.

Probably you won't tell me,

but answer it.

Is God right

to judge Israel

at this point?

Is God being unfair

with them?

Is God doing something

that He shouldn't do?

God chose His people

and gave them a name.

He gave them a land.

He gave them victory.

He rescued them.

He defeated their enemies.

He gave them more

and more

and more

and more things.

And even with all

they got from God,

they have forgotten

about Him.

He even gave them

a relationship

with covenant.

He said,

I'll,

you'll be my people.

And especially,

the most astonishing thing,

God said,

and I

will be your God.

And they have forgotten that.

So is this fair?

Yes.

Sadly it is.

God is being fair.

Even when He sounds horrible,

God is being fair.

His treatment to Israel

is fair.

So the next thing

we can actually see

is from verses 3 to 8

is that this judgment

is actually inevitable.

I will read it to you again.

Amen.

Do two walk together

unless they have agreed

to do so?

Does a lion

run in the thicket

when he has no prey?

Does a growl

in its den

when it has

caught nothing?

Does a bear

swoop down

to a trap

ground

when it has no

bait in there?

Does a trap

spring up

on the ground

when it has not

caught anything?

Amos presents

a series of rhetorical questions

to emphasize

that actually

the judgment

is not that far away

that the judgment

is imminent.

That the judgment

is going to come

and it's imminent

and inevitable

and it will actually

come to those

who don't respond.

the question

in verse 3

continues

this theme

relationship

playing in the

relationship

between God

and Israel

as it is intended.

The clear

implications

is that

the initial

call

of Israel

needs to be

sustained

by a continuous

walk with God.

Some seem

precisely

they have

stopped doing it.

What it says

like

do two walk

together

unless they have

agreed so?

They were supposed

to agree so.

that's why

there was

the relational

covenant

but Israel

was not doing that.

Israel began

to walk with God

but eventually

drove away

his hand

and didn't want

to walk

with God

anymore.

Verse 4

and 5

the point

that Amos

is trying

to do

in verse 4

and 5

is he's

trying to

come across

that every

effect

has a cause

or every cause

is produced

by an effect.

the lion

roars

when he

has found

a prey

a young lion

grows

when he

has got

something

a trap

needs a bait

in order to work

can you imagine

a trap

is going to

work

without a bait

we wouldn't

be that

fooling out

with it

a trap

spring

doesn't

shut

when it's

empty

it has

to do

something

basically

what Amos

is saying

if you

do this

this is

going to

happen

you take

state A

actually you

have to

take state B

because that's

what is actually

happening

so Amos

is telling

them

this is

inevitable

this is

going to

happen

and this

is caused

by something

you have

done

verse 6

says

that when a

trumpet

sounds in a

city

does people

not tremble

every time

in the past

when a

trumpet was

blown

in a

city

people

would

know

there

was

something

about

to

happen

either

were

calamity

invasion

something

wrong

and when

the trumpet

was blown

everyone

would shake

everyone

would tremble

oh let's

do something

let's get

my child

let's call

daycare

let's do

something

oh let's

go to

Ikea

and get

something

we need

to

because we

are

going to

be

invaded

let's

prepare

for that

and people

knew it

and Amos

is calling

that and

say

you know

that

but now

when I'm

coming to

you and

telling you

the message

from God

that God

is roaring

you don't

even care

you know

how to

be alert

when a

trumpet

blows

in a

city

but when

God

is blowing

when he

is crying

out

you don't

do

anything

Amos is

saying

I'm

coming to

blow the

trumpet

God has

spoken

he

is

roaring

you

must

respond

you

must

turn

to

God

the

judgment

is

coming

do

sons

in

Israel

but Israel

is not

doing

anything

Israel

had seen

God's

judgment

in pagan

nations

many times

in the

past

but now

they are

about to

face

the same

just

judgment

from

God

to each

one of

them

verses

7 and

8

declares

that

the

Lord

has

revealed

this

to

Amos

God

has

spoken

now

the

prophet

must

prophesy

like a

lion's

voice

evokes

fear

when you

hear it

so

thus

the

word

of

the

Lord

compels

the

prophet

to

prophesy

Amos

is

saying

like

everything

that

the

Lord

has

told

me

cannot

be

quiet

I have

to

tell

you

this

is

the

message

for

you

Israel

wake

up

realize

what

you're

doing

walk

away

from

it

God

is

roaring

and

he's

screaming

out

realize

it

they

wouldn't

do it

Amos

can't

stop

this

neither

can

Israel

but

although

even

when

judgment

cannot

be

stopped

it

could

be

easily

be

prepared

for

but

since

they

are

not

doing

anything

they're

not

able

to

be

prepared

for

there

is

always

an

implied

call

for

repentance

in the

prophecy

or

judgment

God

is

showing

in

some

ways

his

stake

of

laws

over

Israel

he

sent

his

prophet

to

come

and

speak

to

them

it

would

have

been

easy

for

God

to

judge

and

right

away

to

bring

the

Assyrians

the next

day

and they

would

be

done

but

God

is

actually

showing

his

love

given

the

time

and

saying

you

got

this

prophet

he's

coming

to

speak

to

you

my

behalf

repent

do

something

it's

actually

funny

from

the

day

when

the

prophecy

was

given

it

took

like

40

years

when

we

actually

the

Assyrians

came

it is

a long

time

isn't

it

I'm

not

even

40

yet

so

many

years

for

them

to

repent

so

many

opportunities

for

them

to

realize

what

God

was

doing

they

wouldn't

care

Amos

was

not

speaking

about

God's

people

Amos

was

speaking

to

God's

people

the

message

was

straight

to

them

it

was

not

about

them

it

was

to

them

you

must

depend

you

must

change

God

is

telling

you

to

do

something

different

they

wouldn't

listen

to

people

were

ignoring

the

word

of

God

spoken

by

Amos

none

of them

were

responded

and I

wonder

how many

times

do

we

like

Israel

when

we

hear

the

voice

of

God

through

his

word

and we

just

ignore

it

we

don't

listen

to

it

sometimes

when

even

we

know

what

the

Bible

says

we

still

choose

to

run

how

similar

to

Israel

can

we

actually

be

I

don't

know

just

a

generic

question

that

just

came

to

my

head

how

many

times

I

have

been

in

that

situation

where

I

feel

like

even

knowing

what

the

Bible

says

I

do

something

wrong

and

it

it's

fine

nobody

knows

it's

fine

I

got

the

freedom

to do

whatever

I

want

this

country

gives me

freedom

so I

can

do

whatever

I

want

and

so

many

other

excuses

to do

whatever

you

want

even

ignoring

what

the

Bible

says

this

is

the

position

of

Israel

this

is

how

they

are

they

are

ignoring

what

God

has

told them

what

to

do

if

they

don't

want

to

do

it

if

they

don't

want

to

have

this

permanent

relationship

with

God

and

God

has

been

so

merciful

to

them

he

is

letting

them

know

that

they

are

wrong

giving

them

a

chance

to

repent

but

this

again

they

wouldn't

do

it

do

not

never

do

not

allow

yourself

to

be

like

them

anytime

you

do

not

ever

ignore

the

word

of

God

ignore

what

the

Bible

says

the

last

thing

I'll

be

dealing

with

comes

from

verses

9

to

15

he's

not

only

describing

the first

point

he was

describing

was

the

fairness

of

the

judgment

the

second

point

he was

describing

that

this

judgment

was

inevitable

and

it's

going

to

happen

you

don't

respond

the

judgment

is

going

to

come

to

you

and

now

he's

describing

the

nature

of

the

judgment

what

actually

the

judgment

is

going

to

involve

what's

going

to

happen

with

it

the

first

thing

is

worth

notices

in

verse

9

it

proclaim

to

the

fortresses

Ashdod

and

to

the

fortresses

of

Egypt

assemble

yourselves

to

the

mountain

of

Samaria

see

the

great

unrest

within

her

and

the

oppression

among

her

people

when

God

has

rescued

Israel

from

slavery

and

when

God

had

chosen

Israel

to

bring

them

to

a

promised

land

and

when

God

had

chosen

to

have

a

permanent

relationship

with

them

the

purpose

was

for

them

to

reflect

what

God

is

or

who

God

is

for

them

to

show

what

a

godly

nation

should

be

like

he

had

brought

up

Israel

to show

to the

world

what a

godly

nation

should

be

and to

reflect

to the

pagan

neighbors

what a

nation

should be

like

but here

the

prophets

with

big

irony

is

called

Ashdod

which was

a Philistine

city

and

he's

calling

Egypt

which was

an

enemy

of

Israel

an

enemy

of

God

and

he's

calling

these

two

people

to

come

and

witness

against

Israel

how

wicked

Israel

may have

been

that the

prophet

has to

call

two

barbarians

horrible

and

evil

doers

nations

to come

and witness

against

God

holy

people

God

the

prophet

is

calling

these

two

pagan

nations

to come

and witness

against

Israel

can you

imagine

if I was

an Israelite

at that

point

that may

have

been

shocking

God

is so

proud to

show

an

unbeliever

and say

like

look

look how

my son

is not

behaving

the way

he wants

look how

my people

are not

doing what

I want

them to

do

and you

laugh

and look

at them

that is

kind of

the way

he's

picturing

it

it's

irony

and sadness

at the

same time

the scene

was so

evident

as expressed

in verses

nine

there was

oppression

see the

great unrest

within her

and the

oppression

among her

people

there was

materialism

and violence

verse 10

their fortresses

are filled

with wealth

taken by

robbery

and violence

even verse 10

says they do

not know

how to do

right

normal

proper

behavior

is so

far away

from them

and that

leads to a

gross

materialism

and violence

defending

a wealth

and privilege

so they

are doing

everything

that God

has told

them

not to

and because

of that

they must

be

punished

all

these

behavior

will lead

to evident

destruction

that therefore

here comes

very strong

in verse

11

it says

therefore

this is

what the

sovereign

lord

says

an enemy

will

overrun

you

your land

pull down

your strongholds

and plunder

your fortresses

it's funny

but this

the beginning

of this

verse

verse 11

with the

therefore

it's pretty

similar

to what was

happening

in chapter

28

when God

was describing

actually

sorry

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28

when God

was describing

what the

blessings

and the

curses

for obedience

or disobedience

are going to

happen

and this

verse here

in chapter

in verse

11

brings to

my head

a lot

of that

for the

whole chapter

of Deuteronomy

as I was

saying

it is

about

the blessings

for disobedience

and the curses

for

the blessings

for obedience

and the curses

for disobedience

from verses

1 to 14

in chapter

28

I'm just giving

you a heads

up about

that

God

is describing

what a

blessing

they would

get

in their

obedience

but

in verse

15

or 28

he says

however

if you are

disobedient

this is what

you're going

to get

and it's

pretty similar

with basically

the pattern

that is

happening

here in

Amos

I'm pretty

sure

Amos

knew

about

chapter

28

of Deuteronomy

the second

thing

is going

to happen

with them

and there

comes the

therefore

as I said

so they

are showing

oppression

they are

acting in sin

and God

is going

to come

and punish

them

God

is going

to come

and do

something

for them

two main

things

he's going

to do

the first

one

they're going

to be defeated

in battle

as verse 11

and 12

says

as I said

before

the Assyrians

were going

to come

they're going

to come

and destroy

them

they're going

to come

and do

something

to them

they're going

to destroy

all the

greatness

that they

used to

have

they're going

to attack

their city

their cities

are going

to be

knocked

down

something

is going

to come

it's going

to come

it's going

to be bad

keep your

eye in

verse 11

and listen

what I'm

reading

from chapter

28

verse 52

of Deuteronomy

find how

similar

the circumstances

are here

he says

chapter 28

verse 52

but keep

your eye

on Amos

3

11

and listen

to this

they will

attack

your cities

until all

the fortified

walls in

your land

the walls

you trusted

to protect

you

are knocked

down

they will

attack

all the

towns

in the

land

the Lord

your God

has given

you

that was

from Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28

what is

what is

Amos

telling them

in chapter

11

precisely

that

what he

was told

if you

are disobedient

that's

going to

happen

Amos

Amos 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

is telling

them

this

is

actually

happening

this

will

happen

the

other

thing

for

then

is

going to

be

they

will

only

be

defeated

in

battle

but

there

will

also

the

places

where they

take

false

refugees

the

places

where they

take

false

worship

the

places

where they

take

false

security

is

going to

be

destroyed

verses

13

to 15

describes

the altar

of battle

the altar

of battle

was made

by

Jerobo

on the

first

it was

actually made

from a

golden

calf

and the

purpose

was

Israel

didn't want

to go

and worship

in Jerusalem

anymore

because they

were split

so Israel

decided

we don't

want to go

there

anymore

so Jerobo

on the

first

said

I don't

want to

go there

anymore

so I'm

going to

create