Amos, Pt. 1

Here is the start of a bulletin article series I will be doing on Amos. This book is rich and challenging, and if I represent it right, offensive.

Amos is not a feel good preacher. He is a truth teller-no holds bar. He is a brilliant preacher. I have been doing some study in this often ignored book, and there are many things in it we need to take to heart.

Amos was a farmer from Judah sent to Israel to give a message. Israel at this time is under a wicked king (when did Israel ever have a good king?). He comes to Bethel, which is the Israelite place of worship. When Jeroboam split off the kingdom from Judah, he set Bethel up as a place of worship because he was afraid that all the people going to the temple at Jerusalem, would lose him the kingdom. Now Jeroboam II is on the throne, and Israel is enjoying great prosperity. Their enemies are weak, so Israel is able to control important trade routes, and have riches pouring into the country. It is into this that Amos speaks.

Amos 1 reminds the people that the Lord roars out of Zion. A not so subtle reminder as to where the temple of the Lord is. Then he gets Israel cheering. He attacks their neighbors. For three sins or even four, the Lord will not spare Damascus, Ashdod, Tyre, Edom, etc. Israel can cheer as they are reminded that the Lord will get their enemies. Notice the accusations. Not once does Amos attack them for not keeping the law. He is not in covenant with any of these nations. He goes after them for their mistreatment of each other. It is the same type of natural sin known by Gentiles that Paul discusses in Romans 1. Humanity has the imprint of God, and they are doing what they know is wrong. War crimes, slavery, injustice...all things that the Lord does not need to set up a covenant to condemn. He is upset at the nations for their mistreatment of his beloved, all those made in His image. Then the seventh nation had to get Israel really cheering. They had to like this preacher from the south. For three sins or even four He is going after Judah...and only now does the Lord introduce His law of the covenant. There we go. Great sermon Amos. A Judean coming to Israel and getting his own nation. The Lord is going to get these seven nations (the number seven is symbolic and not lost on the audience) Woohoo!

But Amos throws in an eighth nation. He then turns on Israel and does not let up until the end of chapter 9. I can imagine the smiles being wiped off the faces of the audience. They were celebrating in the destruction of others and feeling smug in where they were. After all, they were God's chosen nation. But the Lord choosing you does not give you immunity. In fact it increases responsibility.

There is a danger in listening to preaching that we think about others who need to hear the message. My guess is we have all been guilty of hearing a sermon and thinking, "so and so really needs to hear this." Then we celebrate in our minds how this would change and fix that person, and then we completely ignore the message for ourselves. We have an amazing capacity to rationalize and point fingers. We are in the same position as Israel. The message of Amos is not for others, it is for you and me. Israel believed that their prosperity was a sign of God's blessing, and they grew apathetic to God's law. The wealthy were making their riches on the backs of the poor. They heard Amos start to preach and rejoiced in the destruction and condemnation of others, but thought themselves ok. We can fall under the same trap. We can speak against the evils of this world, and even rejoice when people who we think deserve it seem to get punished. Yet we can sit back and think that as the church we are ok while we ignore the plight of those around us. Much as the Lord has a message for the nations that ignore Him, He also has a message for the church. As we look at Amos over the next few weeks, let us do some soul searching and prepare to hear a tough message that is very applicable to us.