Amos 2
COMMENTARY:
: 4 Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: (3988 “despised” [ma’ac] means refused, rejected, abhorred, pertaining to limiting or avoiding association, spurn or trash.)
DEVOTION: There is a time when children have to challenge what their parents have taught them regarding the LORD. Amos is warning the children of his generation to not listen to their fathers who are not following the LORD.
There are parents that don’t love the LORD even among those who say they are following the LORD. There are many parents who go to church but don’t live the life the LORD wants them to live. They want their children to follow their lifestyle rather than the lifestyle the LORD instructs them to live in HIS Word the Bible.
All children have to question whether their parents taught them correctly. We can have religious parents but not true believers in the Word of God. This is what was happening in the days of Amos and have happened for every generation.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to follow HIS instructions no matter what others have taught us when we were young. Start a new generation based on truth not a lie.
: 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will gin into the same maid, to profane MY holy name (7602 “pant” [sha’aph] means gasp, to be a nuisance, pester, to cause to suffer, as if being trampled, or swallowed up.)
DEVOTION: The LORD wants us to help those who are helpless. This group of people need assistance on a regular basis. The assistance of the poor doesn’t always mean handouts. There should be time taken to instruct the poor so that they can function in society. They are not to be put down but lifted up by those who are followers of the LORD.
In our day there are many places where the poor can go. The churches responsibility is to help them through the ministries of local city missions. This can be done by giving of our time, talent and treasure.
Too often we just look down on those who are down and they feel that we don’t care what happens to them. That is wrong. The children of Israel were being like the rest of society by taking advantage of them.
We are to be encouragers and not discouragers to those who have little. Just giving them things will not help them become the servants the LORD wants them to be.
Teaching them the truth of the Word of God is the first priority. Second, teaching them to work constructively in a field where they can function is good. We are not to just shove them out of the way.
CHALLENGE: Our treatment of others really matters to the LORD. HE especially wants us to treat fellow believers really well!!
: 9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. (8328 “roots” [sheresh] means bottom, deep, heels, foundation, source, or uproot.)
DEVOTION: Remember that the ten spies gave a bad report to Moses. They had gone into the land of Canaan to see what it was like and they came back to the camp afraid of the size of the people. They called them giants. They had also brought back some of the fruit of the land it was good.
Two of the spies brought back a report that the land was ready to be conquered because the LORD had promised them the land. It was the Promised Land for the children of Israel.
However, the people listened to the ten instead of Joshua and Caleb. So they wandered in the wilderness for forty years so that the fearful generation would die off and their children would conquer the land.
When the forty years were up, the LORD brought the people back under the leadership of Joshua and the giants were defeated. The LORD uprooted the Amorites. Their sin had become full and they were ripe for judgment.
God is going to honor HIS people when they honor HIM. If HE promises a victory all of God’s people should go into battle. HE never lies. The children of Israel found that out under the leadership of Joshua.
We need to believe the same truths today. If the LORD instructs us to serve HIM in a certain way in a certain place we need to honor HIM and HE will honor our actions.
HE was giving this lesson to the descendants of Judah and Israel as an example of what HE has done in the past and what HE is able to do in the future. They were not listening. We need to listen.
CHALLENGE: The foundation of the wicked is sand. Our foundation is the ROCK of God. Our foundation is stronger than any nation or people in our world. We are to have victory.
: 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. (3196 “wine” [yayin] means banqueting, winebibber, house of wine, fermented grapes juice, or drunkenness.)
DEVOTION: Amos continues with the judgment of the nations around Israel and Judah. However, he also issues judgment on Judah and Israel. They are not following the LORD even though HE has given them the land. HE brought them out of Egypt and gave them the land to serve HIM but instead they were worshiping false gods. When HE sent individuals to tell them they were doing wrong, they told them to shut up. They also mistreated a group of people that had dedicated themselves to the LORD.
This special group of people called Nazarites. These people made a special pledge to God that they would for their life or for a period of time in their lives give themselves to certain restrictions. One of the restrictions was that they would not drink the fruit of the vine or grapes. Here we find that the children of Israel were causing these people to break their promise or vows to the LORD. They didn’t want anyone to have a special relationship with the LORD. Not only did they want this group of people to not follow the LORD but they also wanted another group to not do what they were supposed to do for the LORD.
This second group was the prophets. They wanted them to not say the words the LORD had told them to say. They would rather have no word from God than to hear the truth about their condition before HIM.
Today we have many people in the pews that don’t want the pastor to preach the Word of God. They just want to hear good things about themselves and others. They want humanism in the pulpit. They don’t want to know what their responsibility is to the LORD. They don’t want to serve the LORD. They just want to do what they want to do and then go to heaven.
It doesn’t work that way. The ones that don’t want to hear what the LORD has to say to them are not going to heaven. The children of Israel wanted the prophets to say nothing. God’s children want to hear what the LORD has to say to them. They want to have a right relationship with the LORD. They want to serve the LORD. They are convicted of sin in their life and want to confess it.
Are we listening to the Word of God? OR do we want the pastors in our lives to just say nice things about us? Are we encouraging those who have a message from God to not tell us the message?
CHALLENGE: Listen to the pastor/teachers who are presenting the truth of the Word of God and challenging you to follow HIM no matter what. Don’t have your ears tickled by someone who is not honoring the Word of God.
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