Sunday
Morning Bible Study
February
9, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words Communion:
2500 words Dividing the book by chapters 1,2 = 31 3,4 = 28 5 = 27 6,7 = 31 8,9
= 29
1:1-2 Introduction
:1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders
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.
:1 Amos = “burden”
Though it’s a different word in
Hebrew, a prophetic word from God was sometimes called a “burden”
(Is 15:1 NKJV) —1 The
burden against Moab. Because
in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste And destroyed, Because
in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste And destroyed,
:1 among the sheepbreeders
of Tekoa
Play Tekoa Bethel map clip
Amos’ home was in Tekoa, a town in Judah about 10
miles south of Jerusalem.
He’s going to be speaking at Bethel, which belongs to the northern tribe of
Israel, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem.
:1 sheepbreeders
– noqed – sheep-raiser, sheep-dealer,
sheep-tender
Amos is a sheep rancher.
The word speaks of someone who
manages or owns large flocks of sheep and goats and may have been in charge of
other shepherds.
This isn’t the typical word for
“shepherd”.
It’s only found one other place in
the Old Testament:
(2 Ki 3:4 NKJV) Now Mesha king of
Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand
lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
Amos also has a side job – he’s a fig picker (Am. 7:14)
(Am 7:14 NKJV) Then Amos answered,
and said to Amaziah: “I was
no prophet, Nor was I a
son of a prophet, But I was
a sheepbreeder And a tender of
sycamore fruit.
The word translated “tender” is a
technical term that describes the process of slitting or scratching the young
fruit, allowing some of the juice to run out, but allowing the rest of the fig
to ripen into a sweeter, more tastier fruit.
He’s a fruit cultivator.
Lesson
God can use anyone
We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that God can only use certain
people in certain situations.
We might think that God can only use people with advanced educational
degrees – and don’t get me wrong, education is a good thing.
The truth is God can use anyone.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
(1 Co 1:26–27
NLT) —26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in
the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead,
God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think
they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are
powerful.
God sometimes prefers to use the “foolish” so that the
wise will be in awe of the God that is working through them.
In the beginning days of the church, God used two fishermen in a huge way.
to heal a man who had been lame
since birth. Peter and John got into trouble because they kept pointing
everyone to Jesus, claiming that it was Jesus who had actually healed the man. When
they were brought before the Jewish leaders to explain themselves, they gave
quite an elegant and bold defense of their actions.
(Ac 4:13 NKJV) Now when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated
and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with
Jesus.
In the early days of the Jesus movement, God used young people. Greg Laurie was 19 years old when he pastored
his first church.
God will be using a sheep ranching fig-picker.
He can use you too.
:1 Uzziah … Jeroboam
This gives us the historical
setting for Amos’ prophecies.
Uzziah in the south and Jeroboam II in the north were two of the longest
reigning kings.
Uzziah was one of the longest
reigning kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. The prophet Isaiah began his
ministry at the end of Uzziah’s reign.
Jeroboam II was the longest
reigning king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
:1 two years before the earthquake
Even more specifically, Amos says
that the words came two years before “the earthquake”.
It’s not that he’s predicting an
earthquake in two years, but that he wrote everything down after the earthquake
and used the earthquake as his date marker.
The Jewish historian Josephus links this earthquake with the time when Uzziah
tried to enter the Temple and became a leper (2Chr. 26:16-20)
It was later in his life that he
had been filled with pride and thought he could break the Law of Moses and go
into the Temple and offer incense, something that only the priests were allowed
to do.
The author of Chronicles tells us
that when the High Priest rebuked Uzziah, Uzziah became afflicted with leprosy
(2Chr. 26:16-20).
(2 Ch 26:16–20 NKJV) —16 But when
he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he
transgressed against the Lord his
God by entering the temple of the Lord
to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 So
Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men. 18
And they withstood King Uzziah, and said
to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of
Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you
have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had
a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests,
leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. 20
And Azariah the chief priest and all the
priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so
they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because
the Lord had struck him.
Josephus tells us that just before
the leprosy struck Uzziah, there was a great earthquake that brought damage to
the Temple and caused massive landslides. (Antiquities of the Jews 9.10.4)
(225) In the
meantime, a great earthquake shook the ground, and a rent was made in the
temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the
king’s face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately; and before
the city, at a place called Eroge, half the mountain broke off from the rest on
the west, and rolled itself four furlongs, and stood still at the east
mountain, till the roads, as well as the king’s gardens, were spoiled by the
obstruction.[1]
Zechariah also mentions the
earthquake:
(Zec 14:5 NKJV) —5 Then you
shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you
fled from the earthquake In the
days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the
Lord my God will come, And all the saints with
You.
That means the earthquake would
have happened in 760 BC, and Amos’ prophecies would be dated 762 BC.
This puts Amos’ prophecy in the year 762 BC
Though there are other nations addressed, the book is primarily aimed at
the northern kingdom of Israel, and may have been completely given to King
Jeroboam II at the king’s chapel in the city of Bethel (Am 7:12-13)
(Am 7:12–13 NKJV) —12 Then
Amaziah said to Amos: “Go, you
seer! Flee to the land of
Judah. There eat bread, And there prophesy. 13 But
never again prophesy at Bethel, For it is
the king’s sanctuary, And it is
the royal residence.”
An Outline of Amos:
The Prophecies of Amos (chs. 1-2)
The Sermons of Amos (chs. 3-6)
The Visions of Amos (chs. 7-9)
:2 And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion, And utters His voice from Jerusalem;
The pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the top of Carmel withers.”
:2 The Lord
roars from Zion
Shepherd were used to hearing a lion roar, but this isn’t
a lion, it’s the Lord.
A lion’s roar can travel a great distance, up to 5 miles away.
Amos may be speaking to Jeroboam at Bethel, but it’s really God who is
speaking, from Jerusalem (where the
Temple is).
:2 pastures mourn… Carmel withers
Even though Amos is living in a time of prosperity, he is painting a
picture of drought and disaster.
1:3-5 Damascus
Play Israel’s Enemies map clip
Amos will launch into a series of prophecies against the nations that
surround the northern kingdom of Israel whose capital is Samaria.
Amos’ prophecies will start with the Syrians in Damascus, then the
Philistines in Gaza, the Phoenicians in Tyre, and then
the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites.
I’m sure King Jeroboam enjoyed hearing bad news about his enemies …
:3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.
:4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
:5 I will also break the gate bar of
Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
And the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go
captive to Kir,” Says the Lord.
:3 For three transgressions …and for
four
Amos will use this phrase through the next couple of chapters as a way of
saying, “God has LOTS of reasons” for things to happen.
Even though each nation has quite a
list of crimes against them, the nation with the biggest list of sins is Israel
(2:6-8, 12).
The cities mentioned with each nation are the chief cities of that nation.
:3 threshed Gilead
Gilead is the northeastern part of Israel.
on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (today
known as the “Golan Heights”)
The Syrians of Damascus literally threshed and mangled the bodies of
prisoners under heavily studded threshing sledges.
As a result of their treatment of
the northern Israelites, the Syrians would be taken into captivity by the
Assyrians. (2Ki 16:9)
:4 Hazael … Ben-Hadad
These were the rulers of Syria.
Hazael was the founder of the
Syrian dynasty and ruler in Amos’ time.
Ben-Hadad was Hazael’s son and
successor.
:5 break the gate bar
The bar is what kept the gate
closed. God is going to remove Damascus’ defenses.
:5 Beth Eden – the summer
palace of the Syrian king
:5 go captive to Kir
When Assyria invaded, they carried
the people of Damascus to Kir (2Ki. 16:9)
(2 Ki 16:9 NKJV) —9 So the
king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus
and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
1:6-8 Gaza
:6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to
Edom.
:7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
Which shall devour its palaces.
:8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And
the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
Says the Lord God.
:6 they took captive … To deliver
The cities listed here are all
major cities of the Philistines.
The Philistines would take entire communities captive and sell them to the
slave markets in Edom.
There have been a lot of headlines lately about the tragedy of “human
trafficking”. Last week a young gal from
Yorba Linda was found murdered, and to the shock of her parents they have found
out that she had been forced into prostitution.
The Philistines would be wiped out
by Nebuchadnezzar.
1:9-10 Tyre
:9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I
will not turn away its punishment, Because they delivered up the whole
captivity to Edom, And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
:10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, Which shall devour its palaces.”
:9 the covenant of brotherhood
Both David and Solomon had treaties
with the king of Tyre. He was the one that helped build the Temple for Solomon.
But now they are selling Israelites as slaves.
:9 they delivered up the whole captivity
The Phoenicians (Tyre) lived to the north of
Israel. Like the Philistines, the Phoenicians also were involved in the slave
trade.
:9 fire upon the wall of Tyre
Tyre was finally conquered by
Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
1:11-12 Edom
:11 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will
not turn away its punishment, Because he pursued his brother with the
sword, And cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, And he kept his wrath
forever.
:12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”
:11 he pursued his brother with the
sword
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the twin brother to Israel (Jacob). They had no pity on Israel.
Teman and Bozrah were chief cities
of Edom.
Edom was enslaved by the Assyrians
and later conquered by the Babylonians.
The land was taken over by the
Nabateans (Arabs) around 400-300 BC.
1:13-15 Ammon
:13 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and
for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they ripped open
the women with child in Gilead, That they might enlarge their territory.
:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, And it shall devour its palaces, Amid shouting in
the day of battle, And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
:15 Their king shall go into captivity, He and his
princes together,” Says the Lord.
:13 they ripped open the women with
child
It’s hard to imagine this kind of brutality.
The Ammonites lived to the south of
the inhabitants of Gilead. They were brutal in battle.
Rabbah was the capital, known today
as Amman, Jordan.
Assyria conquered Ammon in 734 B.C.
2:1-3 Moab
:1 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
:2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, And it shall
devour the palaces of Kerioth; Moab shall die with
tumult, With shouting and trumpet sound.
:2 I will send a fire upon Moab
God will give them what they gave
the Edomites.
They burned the king’s bones, God
will send a fire on them.
This is an example of the principle
of sowing and reaping.
(Ga 6:7–8 NKJV) —7 Do not
be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap. 8 For he who sows to
his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will
of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
:3 And I will cut off the judge from its midst,
And slay all its princes with him,” Says the Lord.
:1 he burned the bones of the king of
Edom
In ancient times, it was considered a great offense to disturb or desecrate
a man’s burial site. Many tombs came engraved with violent curses for anyone
who would disturb the man’s bones.
The Moabites had dug up the bones of an Edomite
king and burned them.
2:4-5 Judah
Note: We think of Judah as the “good
guys”, but as Jeroboam II is listening, they are his enemies just like Moab and
Edom.
:4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have despised the law of the Lord,
And have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, Lies which their fathers followed.
:5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall
devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
:5 I will send a fire upon Judah
Judah was the nation of “good guys”. But they too would face judgment.
Lesson
God will judge me too
We are just fine and dandy when
judgment has to do what that person who hurt me.
But God will also one day judge me
as well.
(2 Co 5:10 NKJV) For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things
done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
I need to look at myself.
(1 Pe 4:17 NKJV)
For the time has come for judgment
to begin at the house of God…
(Mt 7:1–5 NKJV) —1 “Judge
not, that you be not judged. 2 For with
what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it
will be measured back to you. 3 And why
do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank
in your own eye? 4 Or how
can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look,
a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
When I’m critical of other people,
is it because I’m actually doing the same thing?
The person with the “plank” is
quite the expert at having a piece of wood in their eye. It’s easier for them
to spot others who have just a “speck” in their eyes.
Yet in reality, they are guilty
too.
:4 they have despised the law
Lesson
Ignoring the Word
The Jews had been entrusted with a most precious treasure, God’s Word.
And yet many in Judah didn’t care about God’s ways any more.
Illustration
Who Shot The Buck
Three men went deer hunting, and as they crossed the field going to the
woods, a huge buck jumped up in their path. All three fired at the same time.
The buck dropped, and as they came up on the buck, they realized they had a
problem. Which one of them shot the deer? As they discussed the problem, a game
warden came along to check for hunting licenses. He offered to sort out the
problem, examined the deer, and said, “One of you guys is a preacher, right?” And
sure enough, one of them was. “Well, preacher, your shot is the one that got
the buck.” Amazed, the guys asked how he knew one of them was a preacher and
that the preacher’s shot was the one that scored. “Simple,” the game warden
said, “It went in one ear and out the other.”
My friends, I hope what I’m saying isn’t going in one ear
and out the other.
Jesus gave some great advice on how to survive the tough times in life:
(Mt 7:24–27 NKJV)
—24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the
rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and
it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these
sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its
fall.”
Everybody is going to face storms – difficult times. You can’t avoid the storms, but you can survive
them.
Don’t pick and choose which parts of the Bible you want to
pay attention to. Learn to do what the
Bible says. Don’t ignore it.
I am grieved when
I hear of people who come to church week after week, hearing the Word of God,
and yet choosing to just blow it all off.
We sometimes pick
and choose what parts we want to take serious and what parts we want to skip.
:4 Their lies lead them astray
Lesson
Truth
They had followed the lies of their fathers, perhaps like…
“All roads lead to heaven”
And yet Jesus said,
(Jn 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said
to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, God could never love you.”
And yet Jesus said,
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
“You’ll never change”
Paul said,
(Php 4:13 NKJV) I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me.
You can change.
Learning to grow up is all about learning truth with love.
(Eph 4:15 NKJV) but,
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
It’s good to speak the truth in love…
Play Skit Guys’ Tell Her
clip
2:6-16 Israel
:6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals.
:6 transgressions of Israel
Up to this point, King Jeroboam II would be pretty happy to hear that all
his enemies (including Judah) were facing judgment. But now things start hitting close to home.
Illustration
Amos is now “meddlin”
:7 They pant after the dust of the
earth which is on the head of the poor, And pervert the way of the
humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, To defile My holy
name.
(Am 2:7 NLT) —7 They trample
helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way. Both father
and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name.
:8 They lie down by every altar on
clothes taken in pledge, And drink the wine of the condemned in the
house of their god.
:9 “Yet it was I who
destroyed the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of
the cedars, And he was as strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit
above And his roots beneath.
God had given victory to Israel as
they conquered the kings like Og as they got ready to cross the Jordan and take
the Promised Land:
(Deu 3:11 NKJV) "For only Og king of
Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron
bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its
length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.
:10 Also it was I who
brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you forty years through the
wilderness, To possess the land of the Amorite.
Let me read vs. 7-10 in an easier translation:
(Am 2:7–10 The Message) —7 They grind the
penniless into the dirt, shove the luckless into the ditch. Everyone
and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore’— a sacrilege against my Holy Name. 8
Stuff they’ve extorted from the poor is piled up at the shrine of their
god, While they
sit around drinking wine they’ve conned from their victims. 9 “In
contrast, I was always on your side. I destroyed the Amorites who confronted you, Amorites
with the stature of great cedars, tough as thick oaks. I destroyed them from the top branches down. I
destroyed them from the roots up. 10 And yes, I’m the One who delivered you from Egypt, led you
safely through the wilderness for forty years And then handed you the country of
the Amorites like a
piece of cake on a platter.
:11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets, And
some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not
so, O you children of Israel?” Says the Lord.
:11 prophets
These were men like Moses and
Elijah, who taught the nation of Israel how to follow God.
:11 Nazirites
This is a person who makes a special commitment to follow God (Numbers 6). This
commitment meant that they did not…
Drink any wine
Touch a dead person.
Cut their hair.
Speaking of
haircuts …
A few years ago a refugee from Laos
came to the US in one of the resettlement influxes. He had been an announcer in
radio back in Laos, and he wanted to get into the same line of work here. The
first thing he did was join AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio
Announcers). He tried to pursue a job, but of course, he had problems with the
English language, being a new resident. In order to keep body and soul together
while going to English classes, he took up barbering. Soon, he became a very
good barber, giving haircuts, stylings, and shaves. He seemed to be an artist
with the straight razor. In fact, the shop where he worked made him specialize
in giving shaves.
Thus, he became known as an AFTRA
shave Laotian.
The most famous Nazirite was named … Samson.
:12 “But you gave the Nazirites
wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’
They were hindering the very people that God was using.
:13 “Behold, I am weighed down by you, As a cart
full of sheaves is weighed down.
:14 Therefore flight shall perish from the swift,
The strong shall not strengthen his power, Nor shall the mighty deliver
himself;
:15 He shall not stand who handles the bow, The
swift of foot shall not escape, Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.
:16 The most courageous men of might Shall flee
naked in that day,” Says the Lord.
:15 The swift of foot shall not escape
There is no escaping from God’s judgment
Lesson
Facing Judgment
Not a single nation that Amos mentions avoided the judgment that God warned
about.
Damascus was carried off by the Assyrians. Gaza was wiped out by
Nebuchadnezzar. Tyre was conquered by Alexander the
Great. The Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites were all decimated by the
Assyrians.
Judah was carried off to Babylon.
Israel was conquered and scattered by the Assyrians
Don’t think that you will somehow avoid God’s judgment.
Even if you avoid getting “caught” doing bad things in this life, you will
face God after you die.
(Heb 9:27 NKJV) And as it
is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
No one will get away with anything.
(1 Pe 1:17 NLT) And remember that
the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward
you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during
your time as “foreigners in the land.”
How can we be able to stand before this great Judge?
We have to learn to trust Him to pay for our sins.
(Ro 3:21–25 NLT)
—21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without
keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses
and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s
glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.
He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our
sins. 25 For God
presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when
they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ?
Are you ready to stand before God?