Amos 1
COMMENTARY:
: 1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen 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. (5349 “herdmen” [noqed] means sheep-raiser, sheep-dealer, sheep master or sheep-tender.)
DEVOTION: The LORD is known for calling people from all different kinds of work backgrounds. HE has called adoptive sons of Pharaoh, garden workers, prophets, priests, kings, scribes, lawyers, tax collectors, doctors, fishermen and many other professions. Here HE is calling a man who tends sheep.
HE called David out of this profession to be king of Israel. HE is calling Amos out of the sheep-tendering business to share a vision he receives from the LORD. This first chapter is dealing with other nations for their treatment of Israel when it was going into captivity.
Some of these nations were cousins to the Israelites. They were descendants of Lot (Abraham’s nephew). Some were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s (Israel) brother.
Sometimes relatives are the ones who mistreat us the worst. Sometimes relatives can be lifelong family enemies. Sometimes it is perfect strangers. We never know where those who are planning to hurt us come from but the LORD does and HE deals with them.
We are not to take vengeance on our enemies. We are to leave it to the LORD. HE will deal with them in HIS time. Are we willing to let the LORD deal with those who cause us problems? We should be!!!
HE is calling us to be faithful to HIS word. HE is calling us out of our professions to share the Good News of the gospel. There is an internal and external purpose to the church today. Let’s be busy doing the LORD’S work.
As I was listening to a sermon today, I heard the pastor quote from Spurgeon. He was making the point that Christians are not to move along as single individuals. They are not compared to lions or tigers that hunt alone. They are compared to sheep, which travel in flocks.
The LORD wants us to have fellowship with one another. So as we think about Amos giving the vision of God for these nations because of their treatment of Israel, he is emphasizing the fact that we are to treat our neighbors well, especially those who are related to us. All Christians are related to one another. How are we treating one another?
CHALLENGE: Our profession is Christian. Our avocation is whatever we do other than our service to the LORD. If we are faithful in our service the LORD will use us just like HE used Amos to reach others.
: 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. (398 “devour” [’akal] means to eat, to feed, to destroy completely, consume, or destroy.)
DEVOTION: The LORD states that HE is going to send a fire. What does this mean? Here we have many nations who have hurt the children of Israel. HE is going to judge them for their actions.
What does HE use in judgment? Fire is a term HE uses to describe what HE is going to do. What does fire do? It burns things. Sometimes there are some things left after a fire other times nothing is left. In this case HE is going to end a nation from existence. There will not be a remnant of them.
HE always gives a reason for the judgment on a nation. They have done something to Israel that was cruel. HE uses fire to destroy material things. HE uses fire to torment humans who have not obeyed HIS commands.
The final place for those who have rejected Christ is called the Lake of Fire. The first ones there are the devil and his angels. Next comes those who have worshiped the beast. Finally, after the Great White Throne judgment those who have not been found in the book of life are cast into the Lake of Fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Some say that God is a God of love only. They are wrong. HE so loved the world that HE gave HIS Son to die for the sins of the world. HE gave everyone a choice to follow HIM. There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. No one will have an excuse when they stand before HIM. HE will open the books and there will be recorded their refusal to follow the LORD Jesus Christ.
CHALLENGE: The time period of the end is coming. All those who are ready will be in heaven. All those who refuse will be in the Lake of Fire for eternity.
: 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn MINE hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord GOD. (6 “perish” [’abad] means destroy, get lost, go astray, to cease existing as a sentient entity, vanish, or be exterminated.)
DEVOTION: God has many names. Each name has a special meaning. In the Old Testament there are three main names for God.
In Genesis 1: 1 we find the words “In the beginning God created….” In this verse the name for God is Elohim. This means that we have a plural name with a singular verb. What does this mean? The name means that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit created the world as ONE God. They were united. They were each individual persons that made up ONE GOD not three gods. Not saying that HE was God the Father in the Old Testament. Then HE became God the Son in the Gospels. Then HE became God the Holy Spirit in the Epistles. There is no Modalism here. This name for God is not found in this verse.
The second name for God is LORD. This is the name that is translated sometimes Jehovah. HE is a personal God. HE is a God who keeps all HIS promises. This is the second name used for God and it is found in this verse.
The third major name for God is Adonai. This means owner, master or sovereign. HE is in control. HE has a plan and HE is working HIS plan. So we find this name first in this verse.
We have the Sovereign (Adonai) Personal (Jehovah) God speaking concerning judgment of the nations for their treatment of HIS people. HE has the same feelings for us. HE is our protector and HE will judge those who give us a hard time. Trust HIM to take care of your enemies. You don’t have to. We are to pray for them.
CHALLENGE: The LORD is the one who deals with people who disobey HIM or mistreat HIS people. We are to realize that HE knows exactly what we are facing each day.
: 11 Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept this wrath forever. (7356 “pity” [racham] means mercy, compassion, loving feeling, or favor.)
DEVOTION: History lesson helps us understand that the descendants of Esau were the Edomites. Esau was the brother of Jacob who was renamed Israel by the LORD. The two fought of the blessing and birthright which Jacob received through trickery. Esau initially wanted to kill his brother before he ran away. Upon Jacob’s return he thought Esau still wanted to kill him. The LORD protected him.
So we have a brother, Esau, whose descendants have been carrying a grudge against another brother, Jacob, for something that happened years before. Family feuds have been happening since the first family and will never end until the end of time.
The LORD wants us to have compassion toward one another. We are to love one another if we are genuine followers of the LORD. This is not happening in many churches. There is a lot of family feuds going on when we should be facing the world with an attitude of love for each other.
This is a transgression that the LORD doesn’t like.
We are not pursuing a brother with a sword, at least, most of the time but words can be worst than a sword. We are not heartless most of the time but if someone crosses us they need to watch out because too often we are looking for an opportunity to return the favor.
CHALLENGE: One of characteristics should be showing mercy to others. If we put it into practice, then we could encourage others to put it into practice. Avoid all gossip about others.
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