June 21 - Amos 1:1-6:14

Good morning everyone,

Amos, the prophet, is another guy in the Bible I really like. He was a self proclaimed herdsman, a grower of sycamore figs, a country bumpkin, who came from a small town about ten miles south of Jerusalem. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and was perhaps the very first missionary, sent to the ten tribes in the north, a nation that was doing pretty good at the time, to deliver a message God wanted them to hear. His messages were not real sophisticated but rather riddled with references to the farm life. I like that :-) God will use anyone to do His work. Many times at Calvary Chapel I heard, God does not call the qualified but qualifies the ones he calls. God actually likes to use those who are not qualified so that the credit does, indeed, go to God.

In 1:1 we read that Amos began his ministry two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah. Remember yesterday we read that Uzziah entered the temple and though not a Levite assumed the role of a priest? Well according to timelines calculated with information from Zechariah and Josephus this is when that earthquake occurred. It had to have been a whopper of a quake to leave leave such an impression that it was still being talked about 200 plus years later. Crazy; right? I love that kind of meshing and validation. 

Amos will begin his series of messages with the Syrians and then continue on addressing the different nations surrounding Israel. The people of Israel really liked these consequence of choice messages .… at first. I can see them in my mind’s eye, all assembled cheering; “Way to go God. Yea, that’s what they get!” Then Amos gets to Judah and the crowd, though still hurrahing it up, because after all Judah is their arch enemy, have got to be getting a bit fidgety; a little nervous realizing the judgements are getting a little closer to home. Then …. then, chapter three, “Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt.” I can only imagine the hush that fell upon the crowd as Amos began. The first charge against them being bribery, then slavery, then immorality, then insensitivity. Boy, he nailed these guys to the wall with the truth of their sins. He reminds them that the Ammonites were destroyed for doing the same things they are doing and of the times of drought and famine God brought on them in an effort to get them to turn back to Yahweh, all for not.

What does this say to us today? Well, to me it looks like, that while it was “good times” for the people of Israel, they had plenty of money, food, luxuries, really no worries, all appeared to be in order on the outside but on the inside their hearts were just not right. It begs the question how is your heart? How is my heart? Quite frankly, and please don’t judge, I sometimes have to check myself when I get impatient or angry at something. Ask myself, where did that come from? I look good on the outside but clearly there is some house cleaning that needs to be done on the inside if I am allowing something to rile me like that. What sin is there that is once more trying to surface? Pride? Righteousness? Selfishness? Could be anything, but what ever the sin, I will name it, claim it, then pass it along to God to take care of, asking His forgiveness. Then I will rest in the promise of His grace and mercy. Do you have anything that you need to name and claim then drop off at the foot of the cross for Jesus? Matthew 11:29 says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Can’t you just feel the weight getting lighter just by reading that? I do. Then Lamentations 3:22-23 promises, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Because He first loved me. Amen?

Have a great day and and to God, our loving Abba Father be all the glory.

God bless you all …