Amos 4:1–6:14
The “cows of Bashan” (Amos 4:1) were the rich ladies of Israel who were spoiled and unsaved. They were not immune to the judgment of God – they would be carried away captive, and yes, when Assyria conquered the nation, the people and their children were led away with hooks through their nostrils (Amos 4:2).
Bethel and Gilgal were places of idolatry for Israel. Amos emphasizes the fact that when they offered up those daily sacrifices and tithes every 3 days to their idols, they were transgressing. It’s almost as if he’s daring them (reverse psychology?) to bring greater judgment upon themselves.
God did everything He could to bring the people back to Himself, and yet declares 5 times in this chapter, “Yet you have not returned to Me.” He took away their food and rain, He blasted their crops, and even plagued them with disease. Young men were killed in battle, the stench of death was in the air. Cities were overthrown in dramatic fashion – and still – God was not able to get their attention! What was left, but for the whole nation to go into captivity…to face the music, to face their Maker, “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
Do you need to return to God? If so, I pray you’d do so now…that’s all He wants from us.
In Amos 5 he begins with a lamentation for the nation, and extends a call to repentance. God speaks through the prophet, “Seek Me and live,” “Seek the LORD and live.”
Amos 5:14–15 (NKJV) “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the LORD God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. 15 Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
We are to seek the Lord with all of our hearts! We are to hate evil. Don’t hate the sinner, just hate the sin. If we/I turn from our sin, “It may be…” – who knows what God will do.
There are those who long for the Day of the Lord and yet they’re not really ready for it.
Amos 5:18–19 (NKJV) “Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!”
If Jesus were to come today…would I REALLY be ready?
Israel was living in persistent, resistant, consistent sin – and so we read:
Amos 5:27 (NKJV) “Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.”
They and we can never say, we weren’t warned.
Amos chapter 6 is another warning to those who are comfortable in their sin, who trust in religion (Mount Samaria). This brings up an interesting point. There are many who think it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere, like the people in the northern kingdom of Israel, or later the Samaritans. But Jesus in speaking to the woman at the well, informed her that the Jews were bearers of truth – they knew and revealed the true God (John 4:22). Yes! It DOES matter what we believe, the God of the Bible has revealed Himself to us and the one way of salvation through Jesus Christ.
If the Israelites were to look back in history, they would see the way God had judged other nations for their sins, are they any better than them None of us are. But we carry on, singing our songs, we eat, drink, and are merry while our nation is on the verge of ruin (Amos 6:6) – therefore Israel would go into captivity (Amos 6:7).
Their pride, their complacency. It would be so bad that they would dare not to even speak the name of the LORD (Amos 6:10). Their fear of Him would finally be realized in a deadly fashion.
I read all of this and I examine my life. O Lord, please cleanse me and rid me of my sin. Please help me to remember that You are a holy God, who does discipline, if necessary, in dramatic and even deadly ways.
Amos 6:14 (NKJV) “But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” says the LORD God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of the Arabah.”
Expositor’s, “This verse specifies the judgment that would overtake the Israelites; a nation, not identified here by Amos, would oppress them from their northern border, “from the entrance to Hamath” (2 Kings 14:25), all the way to their southern border at the Wadi Arabah. This nation turned out to be Assyria.”
Revelation 2:18–3:6
The church of Thyatira is often connected to Catholic Church.
Jesus’ eyes of fire and feet of brass definitely depict judgment upon the sins that often only He sees, as He scrutinizes the church with His eyes of omniscience. With the veneration of Mary and prayers to the saints, clearly the Catholic Church teaches spiritual adultery – it’s the spirit of Jezebel. The sexual immorality…and I say this with an aching heart…may even refer to all the molestation taking place in the Catholic church…when priests are unbiblically mandated to stay celibate, it will take its toll.
All this carries a serious warning, even a promise, that these people would be left behind to endure the Great Tribulation Period (Revelation 2:22). God help us to truly listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to be overcomers in Christ! I believe there are those in the Catholic Church who are truly born again, who only trust in Jesus, but, as a whole, the Catholic Church is heretical, teaching salvation by works and elevating the church to the status of the Scriptures – very, very dangerous.
Next is the church of Sardis. So – here’s a church that has plenty of works, even their name boasts of their life, (something like New Life Community Church), but when Jesus checks their pulse, He pronounces them dead. This is probably why He revealed Himself to them as “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” The messengers, pastors, and leaders of this church needed to be revived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
A spiritual lull or deadness can happen to any person, church, and even an entire denomination when we begin to just go through the motions. It began as a movement of God, continued as a machine of men, and is now as dead as a monument. We all have to search our hearts – do we need a revival?
Pastor Chuck also described the church of Sardis as, “…the period of church history called the Protestant Reformation. It began in the 1500’s and exists through the present day. How sad it is to see some protestant churches become as dead as the church they set out to reform.”
Psalm 130:1-8
Have you ever been in a “deep dark place” emotionally, or spiritually? Maybe you’ve blown it (we all have) and you’re praying for God’s help, to move on your behalf, to answer prayer, to forgive.
This is what we see in this Psalm.
The Psalmist cries from “out of the depths.” (Psalm 130:1)
He knows if God keeps track and holds on to all his sins, he’s dust (Psalm 130:3), but thankfully God’s not like that (He’s not like us).
Psalm 130:3–4 (NLT) “LORD, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? 4 But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.”
I love that verse because usually we connect the fear of God with punishment for sins, but here it’s connected to the forgiveness of sins. Here the fear of God is an awe of God. Wow! Thank You Lord – that You have forgiven me!
So, he waits for God to move. He waits for God to fulfill the promise of His Word. He waits in faith and fervency, more than those who watch for the morning.
Let’s say it’s night, it’s dark. When was the last time you doubted that the sun would rise? We don’t doubt that – we know, it’s just a matter of time. With this mentality the Psalmist knew (and we should too) that the sun will rise, that God will move on our behalf.
And He has – God has redeemed us from all our iniquities (Psalm 130:8) and as a beautiful bonus, taken care of all the details of our lives. Thank You Lord!
Proverbs 29:21-22
Proverbs 29:21 (NKJV) “He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.”
There are 2 very different views on this passage, and 2 very different translations.
This is the only time in the Bible this Hebrew word is used, translated “pampers.” In Hebrew it means to indulge, bring up, to treat delicately. The English definition says, to indulge with every attention, comfort, and kindness; spoil.
According to the NKJV if you start early, pampering them from childhood, they become more than an employee – they become family.
But then there are the other translations:
Proverbs 29:21 (NIV) “A servant pampered from youth will turn out to be insolent.”
Proverbs 29:21 (NLT) “A servant pampered from childhood will become a rebel.”
There may be some merit to this translation because the Hebrew word translated “son” is only found here (nowhere else in the entire Bible) and the lexicon defines it as “greif, progeny, thankless one.”
At the end of the day, I think we all know, there’s a balance. Usually if you treat your employees, your friends, your family right, even pamper them a bit, just love on them…they’ll love you back…but not always – especially if we spoil them.
Proverbs 29:22 (NKJV) “An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.”
“An angry man” “a furious man” – doesn’t refer to someone who gets angry occasionally, it’s someone who does so frequently, it’s a description of their normal disposition. And it’s probably not a little anger we’re talking about, this is a furious person.
In all honesty, anger can be a struggle for any of us, I’d venture to say maybe even most of us.
There’s things like road rage, office rage, computer rage, net rage, phone rage.
I always tell people to be careful of anger, remember it’s only 1-letter short of danger.
32% of all people say they have a close family member who struggles with anger, while only 12% admit to it.
Ungodly anger is heartbreaking when you consider all the rude insults, foul language, yelling, verbal abuse, physical abuse, violence, and hatred that can even lead to murder.
I’m not sure to what extent, but there was a time Pastor Chuck Smith described himself as an angry man – but God worked…and transformed him into a loving man (like James and John who at one time were sons of thunder – Mark 3:17).