I am preaching through the book of Amos. I have two sermons left that will cover chapters 7-9. The following is a recap of what we have covered in those sermons.
Amos 1. The Lord roars from Zion, as a Lion coming in judgment, against the nations (1:2). He is speaking to His people through His prophet Amos. He is sovereign over all peoples and consequently has the right to demand obedience from all peoples. He also has every right to curse in response to covenantal disobedience. These countries surround Israel on all sides and as the list progresses their sins become more heinous. The Lord is patient (“for three transgressions and for four”), but patience, by nature, has an end (“I will not revoke the punishment”).
Amos 2. This is a rhetorical noose that Amos ties around Israel’s neck. Being from the Southern Kingdom (Judah), Amos would have had to build some clout. As he indicted the surrounding countries, Israel would have agreed wholeheartedly and would have praised God for His justice. The people of God would have loved Amos’s preaching until 2:6 when the indictments turned toward themselves. The people of God were abusing, neglecting and oppressing the poor and marginalized for their own personal gain. They, too, deserved God’s judgment (2:6-16).
Amos 3. Being the elect of God, those upon whom lies the special love of God (3:2), does not exempt them from judgment, but is rather cause for more judgment. They had forgotten and rejected the ways of the Lord (2:4). They had misrepresented Him terribly. Rather than blessing others, they were abusing others. And rather than being a spectacle of righteousness for the other nations to see, they were just the opposite (3:9-10). For Israel, the Lord was faithful to bless, but not to curse. They were wrong. The curse would come through destruction - by both natural disaster (1:1) and exile by a foreign army (3:11).
Amos 4. Israel’s cultish religion and material affluence had caused them to ignore God’s previous warnings. The disasters that Israel previously experienced were specific covenant curses that were laid out in the law (Deut 28). They should have interpreted natural occurrences covenantally and theologically. Because they had rejected the law of the Lord, they did not see the natural disasters as Personal warnings for their covenantal misconduct. Instead of being led to repentance by the disasters and “returning to the Lord” (4:6-11), Israel saw themselves as innocent victims of random acts of nature. Again, they were wrong. Therefore, they were to prepare to meet their God (4:12).
Amos 5. The Lord explains more precisely what His judgment will be (the judgmental “this” of 4:12). Israel would be completely destroyed (5:2-3). Escape, via human strength or human righteousness, was simply not a possibility (5:8-9). The Sovereign, All-Knowing Lord of the universe was coming with justice. Israel was guilty (5:12). The only safe response was to seek Him in order to live – to hate evil and love good (vv.5, 6, 14, 15).
Amos 6. God hates those who are religious (5:21-23), self-confident (6:1-3) and self-indulgent (6:4-7); as well as those who “turn justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood” (6:12). Empty people who constantly consume at other people’s expense (like cows of Bashan – 4:1) are an abomination and a horrible distortion of God’s purpose for humanity. Israel, instead of blessing the nations with the justice and righteousness of God (Gen 12:3), and, instead of being an everflowing fountain of love, generosity and equity (5:24), they were a people who the helpless feared most. Israel would therefore become helpless. They would go into exile (6:14). Before, they desired the Day of the Lord (5:18), after, no one would want to mention His Name (6:10).
While the main message of Amos is seemingly grim, light can be seen throughout in the most majestic ways. The Lord is not indifferent to oppression. He hates injustice. He knows about and will sovereignly judge all acts of injustice. These are glorious truths. However, in an age when people are more prone to despise a police officer for giving a speeding ticket, than to thank him for doing his job well, Amos may be a difficult message for us to hear.
But the message of salvation through judgment is clear. The Lion is coming in judgment. Only those who repent and believe will live.
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