The Book Of Hosea. Day 8, Reconciliation, Part Three

We ended yesterday's study with the Lord speaking of a day in which His relationship with Israel will be restored. He said, "I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord." (Hosea 2:19-20)

The Lord has been faithful to His wife (Israel) but she has not been faithful to Him. She has gone after her "lovers" as the Lord referred to the pagan gods she's served. But although she has not been faithful to Him, He will court her once again and in time she will respond appropriately to His overtures and give her heart back to Him, forsaking all others. In turn, He will respond to her faithfulness with prosperity.

"'In that day I will respond,' declares the Lord---'I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one called, 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called, 'Not my people,' 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'You are my God.'" (Hosea 2:21-23)

The promised land will flow with milk and honey in a way it never has before. I think the majority of this prophecy will be fulfilled in the kingdom age when the Lord reigns over the world but it cannot be denied that the Lord has kept a protective eye on Israel. For many centuries she was ruled over by one master after another (enemy nations), but she is very much an independent nation in the world again. I believe she will remain an independent nation until the day the kingdom comes---until the day the King of kings takes His throne and rules over the world in righteousness and justice. She will cling only to Him then and forevermore.

In the concluding verses of Chapter 2 we find references to the three children of Hosea's household. Jezreel was his firstborn and the only child we can be certain was actually fathered by him, for the Bible told us that Gomer "bore him" a son. His name means something like, "God sows," or "God scatters", which is a reference to the sowing of seed in the manner of a farmer scattering seed in the fields. This name was part of the prophecy the Lord gave Hosea; He is soon going to scatter Israel among the nations. But when the promise of full reconciliation comes true, He is going to sow Israel in her own land. This has already come true in part but in the kingdom age there will be more Jewish people living in the land of Israel than there has ever been since Old Testament times. The use of the name "Jezreel" will be a positive thing in that day. It will no longer mean being scattered among the nations but will mean being planted---and flourishing!---in their own land.

Two other children were born to Hosea's wife and the Bible does not specify that these were fathered by Hosea. It says that Gomer "gave birth to a daughter" and that the Lord instructed Hosea to name her Lo-Ruhamah which means "not loved". Just as the majority of Israel did not love the Lord in the days of Hosea, Hosea's wife did not love him. This made it impossible for the Lord to bless Israel, for she had forsaken Him and He cannot bless sin, and it made it impossible for Hosea to shower blessings upon his wife, for she ran around with other men and will even leave him for another man in the next chapter. But a time will come when Israel will love the Lord in the right way and He will be able to pour out blessings the way He wants to pour out blessings. Then it cannot be said that He is "not loved" by Israel or that Israel is "not loved" by Him.

When a third child is born into the household of Hosea we are told that "Gomer had another son". Again we take note that this child is not said to be the child of Hosea. The Lord instructed Hosea to name him Lo-Ammi which means "not my people". This child is almost certainly not Hosea's and, in the era of Hosea, the Lord could truly say of most of the Israelites that they were not His people. He wanted them to be His people just as Hosea wanted this baby boy to be his son, but that was not the case. But in time the Lord will say to the descendants of Jacob, "You are My people". They will join themselves in fellowship with Him as never before and it will be clear that they are His because they will be so much like Him. They will obey His precepts and take joy in honoring Him. Just as you or I may clearly look like our earthly fathers, if we are truly the children of God we should resemble Him.

The Book Of Hosea. Day 7, Reconciliation, Part Two

The Lord is foretelling a day of reconciliation between Himself and Israel. As we closed yesterday's study we found Him saying she would serve Him in love, willingly, and not compulsorily out of fear. We found Him saying she will serve Him and no other, forsaking her false gods forever.

As we pick back up in Chapter 2 He says, "I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety." (Hosea 2:17-18)

The complete fulfillment of the verses above won't take place until the Lord Himself reigns over the earth from Israel but some of this restoration has already occurred, in part. Israel is a sovereign nation in the world again today, after many centuries of being under the rule of this or that heathen nation. 

Another way in which some fulfillment has already taken place is that there is no evidence that the Jewish people ever turned to idolatry again (at least not in any widescale fashion such as we've seen in the Old Testament) after the Lord allowed the northern kingdom to fall to Assyria and the southern kingdom to fall to Babylon. He said in verse 17 above, "I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips," and we cannot today find any state-sponsored idolatrous religion in Israel. In the Old Testament there were kings who forsook the Lord in favor of other gods (or who worshiped Him along with other gods) and they sponsored those heathen temples and heathen priesthoods out of the royal treasuries. Idolatry was not only encouraged but was often enforced. But we don't see that in modern-day Israel.

The Lord has been speaking of Himself as Israel's husband. His wife has been unfaithful to Him but He is saying to the people through Hosea that there will come a time when she turns wholeheartedly back to Him, never speaking the names of false gods again. We will learn in our next chapter that Hosea's wife has left him for another man but the Lord will tell him to go and woo her back, just as the Lord plans to woo Israel back.

Hosea and his wife Gomer will recommit themselves to each other. The Lord and Israel will recommit themselves to each other too. The Lord reaffirms His vows to Israel as we close today's study session. "I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord." (Hosea 2:19-20)

The Book Of Hosea. Day 6, Reconciliation, Part One

The Lord has been telling Israel that, in light of the fact that their relationship is broken (due to Israel's idolatry), they will separate for a time. Just as Hosea's wife has been unfaithful to him, Israel has been unfaithful to the Lord. In our next chapter we will learn that Hosea's wife has actually left him for another man, much like Israel has left the Lord for false gods. Hosea and Gomer are currently separated and the Lord and Israel will soon be separated in a sense, for the majority of the Israelites will be deported from their land. The Lord has been speaking of the deprivations Israel will feel while separated from Him but now He goes on to speak of a future reconciliation between Himself and Israel.

He concluded yesterday's text by talking about the way Israel forsook Him for "the Baals" (other gods) and said "but Me she forgot". In spite of all this, He is going to take her back, just as He will command Hosea in Chapter 3 to take his wayward wife back. The emotional and spiritual reconciliation won't happen fully overnight, not for the Lord and Israel or for Hosea and Gomer, but will be an ongoing process for quite some time. After the people of Israel have been conquered and taken captive by an enemy, they will consider their sins and will think about how their sins led to their hardships. They will think back on the blessed lives they once lived in the promised land---before they forsook the Lord---and will begin to call upon Him again. 

The Lord says, "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt." (Hosea 2:14-15) Prosperity can be detrimental to our spiritual health if we allow our prosperity to come between us and the Lord. Hosea is preaching the message of the Lord during the reign of King Jeroboam II, which was the most prosperous era of the entire history of the northern kingdom of Israel. The people are enjoying prosperity and have become complacent and lazy, spiritually speaking, and are living as if things will always be this way. They don't believe hardship will ever come. They don't believe the Lord will take them to task for their infidelities; indeed, I don't think they are thinking about Him very often at all. They certainly don't appear to be concerned that He might send judgment their way. 

But when they are scattered among foreign nations they will think about the Lord. When they are separated from the promised land they will consider all the wrong steps they took that led them into defeat and captivity. And there, in the "wilderness" as the Lord phrased it, they will call to Him. He will speak tenderly to them, urging them to repent and rededicate their lives to Him, encouraging them to remember the way He brought them out of Egypt and called them by His name. Then they will love Him as they used to love Him, forsaking idolatry and giving their hearts to the one true God.

He refers to "the Valley of Achor" which was the place where the sin of Achan was judged back in Joshua 7. Achan took and concealed items the Lord forbade the Israelites to take when they conquered Jericho. Because of this sin, the Israelites were defeated when they attacked Ai next. Joshua prayed to the Lord about this defeat and the Lord revealed to him that there was sin in the camp. Achan had taken the valuable items home and had buried them under his tent, apparently with the full knowledge and approval of his family, for both he and his family were judged guilty of possessing these items. Achan and his family were stoned to death in "the Valley of Achor" which means "the Valley of Trouble". So when the Lord says He is going to turn the Valley of Achor into a valley of hope for Israel, He is saying that the trouble that's going to come upon them is going to turn out for their good. Their trouble is going to lead them back to Him.

Everyone encounters trouble in this world. Some troubles are of our own making, such as the troubles the Lord is foretelling for Israel. The Lord allows us to experience the consequences of our disobedience not because He wants to destroy us but because He wants those consequences to teach us not to keep making the same mistakes. He warned the Israelites before He ever brought them into the promised land that if they turned to idolatry He would remove them from the land. They fell into idolatry in spite of this warning and now, after many repeated pleadings to repent, He has no choice but to bring about the consequences that their actions merit. But He does not intend to wipe them from the earth. Neither is He going to remain separated from them forever but will someday restore their nation. What He is going to do, through their hardships, is bring them to the point of longing for reconciliation with Him. He is going to cause them to ask themselves, "Why did we fare better in former times? Why did the Lord defeat armies for us in the past but has now allowed the enemy to defeat us and drive us from our land?" His intention is for them to conclude, "It is because of our sin! It is because we have not been faithful to the Lord, who was faithful to us. Let us now turn back to Him. Let us now call to Him in hope that He will answer."

The Lord will answer, in spite of the people's many infidelities. The Lord will forgive them and take them back. "'In that day,' declares the Lord, 'you will call Me 'my husband'; you will no longer call Me 'my master.'" (Hosea 2:16) Their relationship with Him will be more intimate and more satisfying than ever before. Rather than serving Him in fear because He is a God who judges sin, Israel will unite herself to Him in love. She will not call Him "my master", serving Him out of a sense of compulsion, but will call Him "my husband", being faithful to Him because He has been faithful to her.

The Book Of Hosea. Day 5, A Broken Relationship, Part Two

The prophet Hosea's broken relationship with his wife Gomer reflects the Lord's broken relationship with Israel. Hosea has been faithful to Gomer, just as the Lord has been faithful to Israel. But Gomer has not been faithful to Hosea, just as Israel has not been faithful to the Lord. A person has the right, according to the Scriptures, to separate from or even divorce an unfaithful spouse. The Lord has been announcing His intention to separate (to remove the people from the land) from wayward Israel, if she does not repent of her adulteries (her idolatry and rebellion).

We looked at the first portion of Chapter 2 yesterday, which speaks of the adulteries committed by the Lord's unfaithful wife Israel, and today we will be studying the second half of the first portion. The Lord says of His wayward spouse: "She said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.'" (Hosea 2:5b) She credits her false gods with supplying her needs when all along it has been the Lord---and only the Lord---who has ever done anything for her.

Because she does not acknowledge Him and insists on going her own way, He is going to make her way difficult. "Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.' She has not acknowledged that I was the One who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold---which they used for Baal." (Hosea 2:6-8)

She has forsaken Him in favor of others; therefore He will take His protection and provision away. When He does this, she will call to her lovers (her false gods) and they will not answer. They will not answer because they cannot answer---they do not exist. The Lord is the only one who has ever heard her prayers and supplied her needs, yet she took the blessings He gave her and served other gods with them.

Because she has not appreciated His efforts on her behalf, and because she has offered His blessings to idols, He will cause her to suffer deprivations and humiliations. "Therefore I will take away My grain when it ripens, and My new wine when it is ready. I will take back My wool and My linen, intended to cover her naked body. So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of My hands." (Hosea 2:9-10) 

The nations whose heathen gods she has served will observe and be shocked at how the Lord allows her to fall into the hands of the enemy. Up until now the Lord has not allowed Israel to fall to any invader. It is known by all the other nations that He brought her out of Egypt and uprooted the tribes of the promised land and planted her in their place. It is known that He has defended her from all who hate her. But He is going to allow her to be plundered and carried away captive and when that happens the nations will hear about and observe her downfall, her humiliation, and the lack of help she receives from the idols to which she bowed.

The Lord continues, "'I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days---all her appointed festivals. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but Me she forgot,' declares the Lord." (Hosea 2:11-13)

We've talked before about the way some people have to hit rock bottom before they will look up to the Lord. He is going to allow Israel to hit rock bottom and, when she does, she will be ready to listen to what He has to say. Just as the Lord will later instruct Hosea to take back the wife who has left him, the Lord is going to take Israel back. He is going to woo her with His love and she will respond appropriately. Forsaken by the gods to whom she prostituted herself, she will turn once again to her first love---to the only God. His purpose in separating the people from the land (symbolically separating them from His presence) is for reconciliation.

The Book Of Hosea. Day 4, A Broken Relationship, Part One

The Lord continues with the theme of Him as the faithful husband and Israel as the unfaithful wife. 

He says, "Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts." (Hosea 2:1-2) It may be that Hosea is saying this to the children of his household about their mother, who has been unfaithful to him, because Hosea's troubled relationship with his wife Gomer is intended to symbolize the Lord's troubled relationship with Israel. This scene is like a man saying to the children of his household: "You've seen how your mother goes out and stays out all night. You know the kind of lifestyle she is living while I'm being faithful to her. You are a witness between me and your mother that I have done my best to be a good husband and a good father while she has done everything possible to tear this home apart. While I have worked hard for her, she has harbored passion for other men in her heart."

This statement appears to announce an intention to separate or divorce. The Bible only authorizes divorce in the case of unfaithfulness. This doesn't mean a person is required to remain where they are being abused; a person has the right to protect themselves by removing themselves from a harmful situation. The law of Moses allowed divorce for various reasons other than divorce (Jesus said Moses allowed it because the people were so hard-hearted) and the Pharisees and teachers of the law of Jesus' day allowed divorce for trivial and ridiculous reason reasons, but the Lord Jesus Christ clearly stated that a person was not to file for divorce unless their spouse had been unfaithful. The Lord doesn't blame a person for divorcing an unfaithful spouse, although even in that case I believe He would prefer that the guilty party change their ways and that the couple would reconcile and be devoted to each other. But in other cases it seems as if the goal is to work toward reconciliation, even if that means the couple lives apart for a time before reuniting. The Lord is announcing His intention to live apart from Israel for a time if she does not change her ways.

This living apart means being uprooted from the promised land. It means no longer being provided for in the land flowing with milk and honey. Just as a man separated from his wife would expect her to make her own living, the Israelites will be on their own (where material things are concerned) in the lands where they will be scattered. "Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst." (Hosea 2:3)

A man whose wife has given birth to children who are not his does not have a legal responsibility to provide for those children. The following text lends further credence to the theory that Gomer's second and third children do not belong to Hosea. "I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery. Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace." (Hosea 2:4-5a) 

Hosea has the right to cast out Gomer and the two children who were fathered by other men. The Bible only tells us for certain that the firstborn, Jezreel, belongs to Hosea. Just as a man in our day doesn't have to pay child support for children whose DNA tests prove they don't belong to him, Hosea does not have to continue supporting any children born from adulterous relationships. This is still a symbol of the Lord's relationship with Israel, for Israel has committed adultery against Him time and time again by engaging in idolatry. The Israelites who have fallen into idolatry have raised their children in idolatry, and in that sense they are not His children. He has the right to cast out the idolaters and their children, just as a man has the right to separate from an unfaithful wife and to refrain from paying support for children that are another man's.

In tomorrow's study we will continue looking at this passage that describes the broken relationship between Israel and the Lord, and we must keep in mind that it was not the Lord who broke the relationship. Like Hosea, He was not unfaithful to His wife. Like Hosea, He has protected and provided for His wife. But His wife rewarded His love with treachery.

The Book Of Hosea. Day 3, A Day Of Future Restoration

The Lord instructed Hosea to marry a woman who would not be faithful to him. The word rendered into English as "promiscuous" is the same word rendered elsewhere in the Scriptures as "prostitute" or "harlot". We don't know whether Hosea's wife Gomer was a literal prostitute that he took off the street and married or whether she simply began to play the harlot by being unfaithful to him sometime after their marriage. But several times in the Bible we find the Lord accusing Israel of "prostituting herself" as a way of describing her waywardness from the Lord. The Lord often refers to Himself and Israel as if they are a married couple. In this analogy the idolatry of Israel is compared to the adulteries of an unfaithful spouse.

Three children were born in the household of Hosea and Gomer. In our last study session we discussed the theory that one or more of these children were fathered by someone other than Hosea. It seems clear that the firstborn, Jezreel, was Hosea's biological son because the Bible tells us that Gomer "conceived and bore him a son". But when the next child, Lo-Ruhamah, is born, the Bible just says that Gomer "gave birth" to her. And when the third child, Lo-Ammi, is born, the Bible says that Gomer "had another son". Some scholars have come to the conclusion that the second and third child were not Hosea's but were fathered through Gomer's adulterous relationships.

I think this theory is quite likely because the Lord has set up Hosea's household in such a way that He can use it as a symbol of the spiritual condition of Israel in those days. In this symbol, Hosea represents the Lord who has been faithful to provide for and protect His wife (Israel) but whose wife has not been faithful to Him. Gomer, of course, represents wayward Israel; her adulterous affairs symbolize the way the Israelites have turned to idolatry. Some of the citizens have forsaken the Lord entirely for the gods of pagan nations and some of the citizens are dabbling in idolatry by mixing heathen worship practices with their worship of the Lord or worshiping both at the Lord's altar and at heathen altars. Right now Gomer is like those who mix idolatry with the worship of the Lord but a time is coming when she will completely forsake her husband for another man. At that time the Lord will still be using Hosea's troubled relationship with his wife as a symbol of the Lord's troubled relationship with Israel, for He will display His unending love for Israel by instructing Hosea to woo his wife back. Why does the Lord tell the prophet to take back a woman who has been unfaithful to him time and time again? Because the Lord is going to take Israel back, in spite of all she has done.

A time of chastisement and hardship is about to come upon the nation in the very near future in Hosea's day. The nation will be conquered and most of its citizens deported. But this isn't the end of Israel. This isn't the end of the people; they will not be wiped completely out and the survivors will multiply. The Lord will keep this promise He made to Abraham: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore." (Genesis 22:17a)

The Lord restates that promise as we conclude Chapter 1. He has not forgotten the promise. He will not break the promise. "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' they will be called, 'Children of the living God'. The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel." (Hosea 1:10-11)

In Hosea's day there are two kingdoms but the northern kingdom is about to fall and the southern kingdom will also fall in about 130 years. From that point on, there will never again be a separate kingdom of Israel and Judah. It was a very long time before Israel became a sovereign nation in the world again but in our own day, with Israel a sovereign nation, the people who are the descendants of Jacob are all one people. They don't have a divided country where there is a North Israel and a South Israel. And a day is coming in which the eternal kingdom of the Lord is set up in Israel, when the Lord Himself will reign over the world from the throne of David, and in that day there will be no divisions among the Jews and no divisions between Jews and Gentiles. All who belong to the Lord will be of one family---the children of the living God---and all will have only one king---the King of kings---over them.

Earlier in our study of the book of Hosea we learned that the name of Hosea's firstborn son was Jezreel, which means something like "the Lord sows/the Lord scatters seed". The Lord instructed Hosea to name his son Jezreel to symbolize the fact that the Lord is going to scatter Israel throughout other nations just as a man might scatter seed all over a field. But when the restoration comes, the name Jezreel won't symbolize scattering among the nations; it will symbolize the Lord sowing (planting) the people back in their own land. 

 

The Book Of Hosea. Day 2, The Prophet's Children

The Lord told Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman. This will enable the prophet to know how the Lord feels about Israel's infidelity. Many times in the Scriptures we will find the Lord referring to Israel as His spouse---usually as His wayward spouse.

Hosea obeyed the Lord and married a woman named Gomer. Today we learn about their children and the names the Lord gave the children. We will back up to verse 3 again and start from there.

"So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, 'Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel.'" (Hosea 1:3-5)

"Jezreel" means something like "the Lord sows" or "the Lord scatters", which is what's going to happen to the people when the nation falls to Assyria. They will be scattered among the nations the way seed is scattered in a field. Jezreel was also a location in Israel where Jehu (who assassinated King Joram, the son of King Ahab, and took the throne from the dynasty of Ahab) slaughtered seventy male descendants of Ahab. The Jehu Dynasty has been ruling ever since, with Jeroboam II on the throne during the days of Hosea, but the dynasty will soon come to an end with Jeroboam's son, Zechariah. Zechariah will only reign for six months before being assassinated by an unrelated man named Shallum who will take over his throne. 

Hosea and Gomer have another child. "Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, 'Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means "not loved"), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them---not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.'" (Hosea 1:6-7)

The Lord is going to give the northern kingdom no more reprieves; He will allow Assyria to conquer it. But He will not allow Assyria to conquer Judah. You will recall from our study of the kings that during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah the Assyrian army was threatening the kingdom of Judah as well, but the Lord miraculously defeated the enemy by striking 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead in the middle of the night. King Sennacherib of Assyria survived but hastily broke camp and returned to his capital city of Nineveh, likely intending to regroup and go back to Judah at a later date, but two of his sons assassinated him while he was worshiping in the temple of one of his pagan gods. The Lord spared Judah from falling to Assyria because it took Judah approximately 130 years longer to descend as far into the abyss of idolatry as Israel had already fallen. Judah's reprieve is not permanent, for it will be conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire once idolatry in the southern kingdom has reached a tipping point, but the Lord will protect Judah from Assyria just as He promised here in the book of Hosea. 

Hosea and Gomer have a third child. "After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, 'Call him Lo-Ammi" (which means "not my people"), for you are not My people, and I am not your God.'" (Hosea 1:8-9) With the first child, Jezreel, the Scriptures say that Gomer bore Hosea a son. But when it comes to Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi, the Scriptures only say that Gomer had a child. This has caused many scholars to conclude that the second and third babies were not Hosea's. We were told that Gomer was a promiscuous woman and it may be that Jezreel was the only of these three children who were fathered by her husband. Perhaps she was faithful to Hosea in the beginning of their marriage (during the "honeymoon phase") but went back to her sexually wayward ways not long after the birth of their first child. There are scholars who disagree that the second and third children were another man's and instead think that only the third child, Lo-Ammi, was the result of an adulterous liaison since the Lord commands Hosea to name him a name that means "not my people"---in other words, "not my son". 

We could argue that Gomer's daughter also did not belong to Hosea since her name means "not loved". Hosea may have known he didn't father this child and may have found the knowledge difficult to accept, leading to him having difficulty feeling happy at her birth as he would have felt at the birth of his own child, but there is no reason for us to suspect he mistreated the child or that he did not care about her. I believe he lived with Gomer and these three children according to the laws of the Lord, as a good husband and a good father. I believe he provided for them, showed them respect and affection, and tried to instill godly values in them. 

Hosea's troubled domestic life is a symbol of the Lord's troubled relationship with Israel. Hosea has been faithful to Gomer; the Lord has been faithful to Israel. Gomer has not been faithful to Hosea; Israel has not been faithful to the Lord. The Lord gave names to the children of Hosea's household that reflect His troubled relationship with Israel and that foretell the judgment to come upon Israel. Just as a man whose wife has been unfaithful to him has the right to "put her away" (divorce her), the Lord has the right to put Israel away (to allow the nation to be conquered and its people scattered). But as we move on throughout the book we will find the Lord talking about a day in the future when His relationship with the nation will be repaired. To symbolize this, the Lord will command Hosea to take back his unfaithful wife after she leaves him for another man.

The Book Of Hosea. Day 1, The Prophet's Promiscuous Wife

We have been studying the books of the prophets in chronological order and have mentioned before that some of their ministries overlapped. Yesterday we finished our study of the book of Amos and today we are moving on to the book of Hosea. Hosea was a contemporary of Amos and we know this because both of these men ministered to Israel during the reign of King Jeroboam II.

"The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel." (Hosea 1:1) We might think that Hosea was called to be a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah since the kings of Judah are mentioned first, but later in the book we will find Hosea referring to the king of the northern kingdom of Israel as "our king", so we know he was from the northern kingdom. Also he will make mention of Israel's capital, which was Samaria in those days, and this is another very strong clue that he was born and raised and lived his life within the area of the northern kingdom.

When the Lord calls Hosea to be a prophet, He makes an unusual request of him. "When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, 'Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.'" (Hosea 1:2)

I doubt that many people, if any, would deliberately choose to marry someone they know is going to be unfaithful to them. The only reason I can think of that someone might do this is to get monetary gain. For example, marrying a wealthy man who has a womanizing reputation in hopes that if he is unfaithful during the marriage the spouse can sue for divorce on grounds of infidelity and receive a hefty settlement of long term alimony. But most people would not choose to do such a thing and we have no reason to believe Hosea would have chosen a woman with a man-chasing reputation unless the Lord had told him to do so.

Why does the Lord command him to marry a woman from whom he cannot expect loyalty? It's so Hosea can relate to how the Lord feels about Israel's infidelity. If you've ever been betrayed in marriage you know that this is probably the worst type of betrayal a person can experience. It's hurtful and humiliating, especially when you've tried your best to be a good spouse. It's a bitter pill to swallow when you've done all the right things and have committed no acts worthy of being treated that way. The Lord has committed no acts worthy of being betrayed by Israel. Like a good husband, He has been faithful and has supplied the needs of Israel and has protected Israel. He has gone above and beyond, considering how many times and for how many generations the people have committed sins of idolatry. Time and time again He has extended mercy even though He does not have to. He is going to ask Hosea to do the same so Hosea can speak to the people with a heart that is broken like the Lord's heart. Hosea is going to have to forgive and take back a wayward wife.

To his credit, Hosea is obedient to the Lord even though he knows his heart is going to be broken. "So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son." (Hosea 1:3) The word translated into English as "promiscuous woman" is the same word translated as "harlot" or "prostitute" in other passages of the Bible. Many scholars believe Gomer wasn't just a woman with an insatiable lust for illicit relationships with other men but that she was actually working as a prostitute when Hosea met her and asked her to marry him. They believe she continued plying her trade after he married her. 

If Hosea had not been obedient in this matter I don't think he could have relayed the Lord's message in the way the Lord wanted him to relay it. The Lord calls different people to do different things at different times. He doesn't ask all the prophets of the Bible to marry unfaithful women. Some of the prophets are married to good women. Some of the prophets (Jeremiah for example) was commanded to remain single. The Lord asks these men to do different things because of the different messages He wants them to deliver and because of the different people and/or time periods in which He calls them to minister. Just as in our day He doesn't call everyone to be a pastor or a missionary, in the Old Testament He didn't call everyone to go about their work for Him in the same ways.

The Book Of Amos. Day 33, A House That Rises, Part Two

We are concluding our study of the book of Amos today on a note of hope. It's true that a day of disaster is coming upon the ancient northern kingdom of Israel. But it's also true that this fall will not be permanent---not for the northern kingdom and not (about 130 years later) for the southern kingdom of Judah. There will be survivors. There will be a return to the land in various stages throughout the coming centuries. Israel will be a sovereign nation in the world again, which has already come true. A time of prosperity will fall more abundantly upon the nation than disaster ever did, which has come true in part but which will be exceptionally true during the eternal reign of the Messiah. 

The Lord says: "'In that day I will restore David's fallen shelter---I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins---and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,' declares the Lord, who will do these things." (Amos 9:11-12) 

In the original language the word translated as "fallen shelter" is "tabernacle" or "house". While it's true that the walls of Jerusalem will fall when the southern kingdom of Judah is conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, most scholars do not believe the Lord is speaking of literal walls or a literal house but is using these words to symbolize the rising again of the royal line of David. That means this is a Messianic prophecy! This prophecy was fulfilled in part when the Lord Jesus Christ was born of the royal line of David but it will come true in full measure when Jesus returns to rule over the world forever from the throne of David at Jerusalem. The "house" of David is going to endure forever, just like the Lord promised him, but it's going to endure forever through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who lives forever and whose kingdom will never end.

There has not been a king of the northern kingdom of Israel since the nation fell to Assyria. There has not been a king of the southern kingdom of Judah since the nation fell to Babylon. But that does not mean God has broken His promise. The promise that David's house will endure forever still stands firm. During the many centuries that there has not been a king sitting on the throne, the Lord has not forgotten His promise. He never forgets a promise and He never breaks a promise. His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will reign from David's throne and that will be the complete fulfillment of the promise. This is a far better fulfillment than if ordinary men had continued to reign from the time of David on up until now and forevermore. 

The promised land that flowed with milk and honey in ancient times will flow with milk and honey in a way it never has before. "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring My people Israel back from exile.'" (Amos 9:13-14a) This has come true, in part, in various stages since the Lord spoke these words. In ancient times many of the people returned from exile when they were free to do so. After Israel was recognized as a sovereign nation again in 1948, many more Jewish people returned to the land. And a time is coming, which we will study about more in-depth when we arrive at the book of Revelation, when millions from all over the world will return to the promised land. At that time the borders of Israel will encompass all the territory the Lord ever promised the Jewish people---territory that they never completely took because they did not fully drive out the pagan peoples inhabiting those territories. 

In a smaller sense these concluding words have already begun to come true but there is an ingathering of Jewish people promised in the book of Revelation which I believe is in view here in the book of Amos. When the Lord speaks of the people never being uprooted again, when they are free to live in their land peacefully forever without a threat coming against them from any side, I believe He is speaking of the time of the eternal kingdom when the King of kings from the line of David rules from Jerusalem forever. "'They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,' says the Lord your God." (Amos 9:14b-15)

As the book of Amos concludes, neither Israel nor Judah has yet fallen to an enemy nation. None of the people have been taken captive and deported to foreign lands. None of them has been allowed to return from exile and rebuild. But we know that a percentage did return and that they did rebuild much of what had been destroyed. Yet this was not the complete fulfillment of the Lord's promises because until 1948 the nation was subject to several other nations and was not self-governed. Indeed, even when the Lord fulfilled more of this prophecy (by sending the Messiah into the world), the nation was under the iron rule of the Roman Empire. Jerusalem and the temple would again be destroyed in 70AD by the Roman army after the people attempted to revolt against that heathen Gentile nation. But we can be certain that the remainder of the Lord's precious promises to Jews and Gentiles alike will be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus will return to the world and judge Satan and all the angels who followed Satan in his rebellion. The Lord Jesus will judge all those who have hated Him and who have persecuted the people of God. The Lord Jesus will set up His eternal kingdom on earth and His house---the house of David---will have no end, just as the Lord promised David long ago.

The Book Of Amos. Day 32, A House That Rises, Part One

Yesterday's passage was another foretelling of the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. But it ended with this note of hope: "'Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,' declares the Lord." 

Today's passage begins again with the theme of a coming disaster, which we know will be the invasion of the Assyrian army, the conquering of Israel, and the deportation of the majority of Israel's citizens to foreign lands. In today's text the Lord speaks of these events as one would speak of sifting grain or flour. These events, terrible as they will be, will not be for the purpose of wiping the descendants of Jacob from the face of the earth. Rather, He describes those dreadful days as a method of separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. It is a sifting process in which those who have utterly forsaken Him for idols and who will not turn back to Him (those who are the chaff) are separated from those who still have or who will have a heart for Him (those who are the wheat). The Lord Jesus used this same type of analogy in the Old Testament when He spoke of the final judgment day in which the Lord would separate believers from those who have utterly rejected the Lord. Jesus also said there would be many calling themselves by the name of the Lord (and they may be able to fool their fellow man) but the Lord knows whether they are truly His or are simply using His name for their own benefit. 

Here is what the Lord says about the sifting process: "For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among My people will die by the sword, all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.'" (Amos 9:9-10)

As we continue moving through the books of the prophets we will see that there were false prophets contradicting the word of the Lord's true prophets. They were saying, "Disaster will not come! The Lord will never bring disaster on those He brought out of Egypt. The Lord will never bring disaster on those who call themselves by His name. He won't allow the nation to fall. He is not displeased with you. You just need to keep on the same as always; nothing has to change. The Lord made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to never wipe their descendants off the earth." 

While it's true that the Lord made such a promise, He never promised He wouldn't allow them to be defeated and scattered among the nations. In fact, He said they would be defeated and scattered among the nations if they turned away from Him. Two passages that make this very clear can be found in Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy 28, where He plainly describes the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. He can keep His promise never to make a complete end of the people and He can keep His promise to judge their sin at the same time by sparing those who are still faithful (and by sparing those He knows will turn to Him) and by allowing the nation to be conquered and most of the people to be deported.

But the fall of the nation is not the end of the nation. While the ten northern kingdoms will not reassemble and form a new northern kingdom, the Lord did not allow all the people to perish. The Lord did not make an end of a nation named "Israel" either, for the promises contained in the remainder of Chapter 9 have already begun to be fulfilled. Israel became a sovereign nation in the world again in 1948. This was the beginning of the ingathering of the people and the restoring of the nation. The Lord makes many promises in the Scriptures concerning Israel, some of which have already been fulfilled and many of which are still in the future in our day, but we can rest assured that not one word of His promises will fail. 

Amos has had to deliver some bad news. The bad news is going to come true, whether everyone thinks it will or not, and when it comes true they will need some hope to hold onto. Those who still love the Lord and those who come to know the Lord will cling to these beautiful promises. They will need the promises to get them through but, thanks be to God, He always gives us something to hold onto! The entire Bible is filled with beautiful promises that the children of God can cling to and count on when the days are dark.

The Book Of Amos. Day 31, A House That Falls

Chapter 9 begins with a prophecy of terrible hardship but it ends with a prophecy of hope. Today we will look at the first half---the half containing the message of judgment.

As the chapter opens, the Lord makes it clear that this judgment is from Him. It's not merely the result of living in a fallen world where bad things happen. You and I both know that tough circumstances can come into our lives even when we are living within the Lord's will; those circumstances are the result of living in a fallen world polluted by sin (which causes various types of disasters) and the result of things the Lord allows in our lives in order to fulfill a purpose through the hardship. But the hardship that's about to come upon the northern kingdom of Israel is of their own making. They have rejected the Lord time and time again and, as a result, are going to reap the curses found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 rather than the blessings found in those same chapters.

The Lord paints a clear picture of Himself being the one directing the events that are to come. Amos sees a vision of Him issuing the orders from the temple. "I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: 'Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake.'" (Amos 9:1a) The "house" of Israel is about to come down. You may recall the parable taught by the Lord Jesus in the New Testament in which two men built a house. One man built his house on the solid rock (on the foundation of the Lord) and his house stood firm when the storms of life came. But the other man built his house on the sand (on the things of this world, on that which is temporary) and his house fell when the storms of life came. By Amos' day, the house of the northern kingdom of Israel had been standing on nothing but sand for many generations---the sand of idolatry, the sand of worldliness, the sand of following their own carnal desires---and the Lord has mercifully withheld judgment for a long time while sending prophet after prophet to warn the people, but the time has come for the house to fall.

The vision shows the house collapsing upon the people, much like the temple of the idolatrous Philistines fell upon them when Samson pushed against the pillars in Judges 16. "Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. Though they dig down to the depths below, from there My hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from My eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will keep My eye on them for harm and not for good." (Amos 9:1b-4) The Lord uses poetic imagery to describe the inability of any person to hide from Him. There is nothing in all creation He cannot see. There is no depth or height to which He cannot reach. When He passes sentence, no one can keep Him from carrying it out.

All creation is within the power and control of the Creator. "The Lord, the Lord Almighty---He touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt; He builds His lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land---the Lord is His name." (Amos 9:5-6)

Nations have risen and nations have fallen since the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob out of Egypt. And the Israelites understood that the Lord brought down idolatrous nations because of their idolatry and wickedness. He also warned them, before bringing them into the promised land, that He would bring them down too if they turned to idolatry and wickedness. So now He points out that they have become no better than the heathens that they have looked down on. "'Are not you Israelites the same to Me as the Cushites?' declares the Lord. 'Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? Surely the eyes of the Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,' declares the Lord." (Amos 9:7-8) 

A number of the nations mentioned in the Old Testament are no more. Their kingdoms fell and their people were either destroyed or scattered all over the world. In many of these cases there is no one on earth who can directly trace their lineage back to any of those fallen ancient nations. In some cases this is because there actually are no descendants, because the ancient nation or tribe was wiped out. In other cases it's because they were deported to other nations and assimilated into other cultures and their descendants today have no idea where their ancestors originated. The Lord isn't going to make such a final end of the people of the northern kingdom of Israel as has been made of many heathen nations. The kingdom will fall but there will be survivors from each tribe.

The first half of Chapter 9 begins on a very hopeless-sounding note but as we conclude this portion today we see a glimmer of hope shining from a far horizon. The first half of this chapter is about the fall of the house of the northern kingdom of Israel but the second half is about the spiritual restoration of these tribes of Israel and a future day of national prosperity as well. 

The Book Of Amos. Day 30, The Sun Will Go Down At Noon

In Thursday's text the Lord spoke of the people's lack of respect for Him, their disinterest in His prescribed holy days (which was caused by their disinterest in Him), and their inhumanity to their fellow man. 

Today He says, "Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt." (Amos 8:8) The Nile flooded annually and the Lord compares the coming disaster to the inrushing of flood waters. An enemy army will rush in like a flood and the nation will sink. 

"'In that day,' declares the Sovereign Lord, 'I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.'" (Amos 8:9-10) It is believed that two eclipses occurred during Amos' lifetime, based on the historical timeline of known eclipses and the way this timeline lines up with the reign of Jeroboam II, who was on the throne during Amos' lifetime. The reference to the land going dark at noon may mean that one or the other of these eclipses was the sign that the prophesied disaster was imminent. 

But I am not sure whether the Lord literally means the earth will turn dark at noon or whether this is an expression He's using to describe a day that begins like a normal day and ends catastrophe. Have you ever experienced a day like that? I have and it's a shocking and devastating thing to be going through an ordinary day and suddenly be faced with a horrifying loss. I don't believe I did anything that caused the particular loss I have in mind and it's important to remember that not every catastrophe is a result of our own sins. Simply living in this fallen world that's been polluted by sin exposes us to the risk of danger. We live in a world where bad things happen, so we don't have to be living in disobedience to the Lord to experience hardship, but in the book of Amos it is clear that the hardship that's coming is a direct result of the people's deliberate sin. When we are living within the will of God and hardship comes, we know that the Lord has a purpose for allowing the hardship. But when hardship comes into the life of a deliberately disobedient person, it is for the purpose of discipline and (hopefully) to cause repentance. 

The religious festivals and the singing mentioned in verses 9-10 may be of an idolatrous nature. But even if these are festivals and songs in the Lord's name, we've already learned that most of the people were only going through the motions. He's already spoken of how meaningless are their observations of His prescribed holy days. While they are participating in religious observances and songs, just as they would do on any other day, shocking things are going to occur.

Worse than invasion by an enemy army and worse than being taken captive to foreign lands is the era of spiritual darkness into which they will be plunged. "'The days are coming,' declares the Sovereign Lord, 'when I will send a famine through the land---not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.'" (Amos 8:11-12) For a long time now they have ignored His word. They have eschewed His holy principles in favor of living according to their carnal natures. But when the "wakeup call" comes, they will desire a word from the Lord and will not receive one. He will be silent for a time until their desire for His word is as strong as a parched tongue desires water and is as strong as an empty belly desires food.

Silence can speak louder than words. Have you ever had someone pay no attention to you until you stopped talking? A person may ignore our warnings for a long time until we give up and go silent. Then, realizing we are no longer trying to deal with them, they suddenly want to hear what we have to say. The Lord has sent prophet after prophet after prophet to preach His message to the nation but most of the people have ignored His warnings. A day is coming when He will go silent for a time and the silence will be deafening. That is when He will finally get their attention.

He concludes Chapter 8 with this: "In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. Those who swear by the sin of Samaria---who say, 'As surely as your god lives, Dan,' or, 'As surely as the god of Beersheba lives,'---they will fall, never to rise again." (Amos 8:13-14) Again this "thirst" is a reference to the thirst for God's word. 

The sin of Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom which was close to the golden calf worship site at Bethel), the god of Dan (another golden calf location), and the god of Beersheba (another location of an unauthorized altar), are mentioned here because it is these gods and these religious sites to which the people are looking for help. But no help is coming from useless idols. Their only help is in the Lord, whom they have rejected, and because they have rejected Him so many times and for so many centuries, the northern kingdom will collapse, never to rise again. Its people will be scattered throughout the nations, and from there many of them will remember the one true God and call upon His name again, but the northern kingdom will not revive and prosper politically or militarily. This is why the Lord says that those who trust in idols "will fall, never to rise again". 

The Book Of Amos. Day 29, A Vision Of Ripe Fruit

As we begin Chapter 8 we find the Lord sending the prophet Amos another vision. This time it is a vision of a basket of ripe fruit.

"This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 'What do you see, Amos?' He asked. 'A basket of ripe fruit,' I answered. Then the Lord said to me, 'The time is ripe for My people Israel; I will spare them no longer.'" (Amos 8:1-2) Ripe fruit doesn't last long. The time is at hand to eat it. The Lord uses the ripe fruit as a symbol for the time of judgment being at hand. He may also be using it as a symbol of something that has gone bad. Just as fruit becomes overripe and then turns rotten, the nation has gone "rotten" spiritually. 

The Lord speaks of the coming judgment, which we know is invasion by the nation of Assyria, but whether or not Amos or the people knew the exact nature of this disaster I cannot say for certain. "'In that day,' declares the Sovereign Lord, 'the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies---flung everywhere! Silence!'" (Amos 8:3) If we didn't already know that the Lord has spoken of being displeased with what was only an outward show of worshiping Him, we might think that people are going to be attacked while faithfully serving Him. But earlier in the book of Amos He spoke of taking no pleasure in the ways they were simply going through the motions. 

It's clear that they are not following the Lord's laws and commandments when we read this next segment. He accuses them of having no compassion on the needy and of trampling the rights of their fellow man and of being dishonest in business. He accuses them of caring nothing for the Sabbath or for other religious holidays, saying they observe them but are eagerly waiting for them to be over so they can resume the things they really want to do. "Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, 'When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?'---skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat." (Amos 8:4-6)

We might compare this with someone in our day who attends church every Sunday but who lives immorally the rest of the week. We could compare this with someone who is very involved in charitable works with the church but who is dishonest in business, cheating people in order to make a bigger profit. Does the Lord care that this person attends church? Or does He care that they don't practice the principles they hear at church? It's useless to hear the word of God if the word isn't applied to the person's heart. It does no good to sit on a church pew if the person doesn't love the Lord and isn't willing to obey Him.

The Lord is not going to allow people to get away with "going to church on Sunday and living like the devil through the week", as the saying goes. "The Lord has sworn by Himself, the Pride of Jacob: 'I will never forget anything they have done.'" (Amos 8:7) 

If a person's deeds are pleasing to the Lord, it's a wonderful thing to know He sees and rewards obedience. We are promised in the Scriptures: "God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them." (Hebrews 6:10) But when a person's deeds are wicked, it should be a fearsome thought that He sees those deeds and will punish those deeds. In our passage from the book of Amos today, the Lord warns those who are wicked that He has seen all the ways they have cheated and disenfranchised their fellow man. He has seen their lack of compassion on widows, orphans, foreigners, and all the poor of the land. He has warned them over and over to repent and they have not repented. While it's true that when we repent of our sins the Lord forgives our sins, these people have not been sorry and have not asked for forgiveness and have not stopped doing the things He's accused them of doing. Unrepentant sin calls for judgment and the Lord will soon deliver that judgment. Just as the fruit in the basket of Amos' vision is ripe, the situation in Israel is ripe. The time is at hand for the Lord to act and, as we've noted before, the nation's fall to Assyria occurs within about thirty years of Amos' warnings to the people.

The Book Of Amos. Day 28, The Priest Amaziah Falsely Accuses The Prophet Amos

Amaziah, who was a priest (presumably the high priest) at the golden calf worship site in Bethel, makes a personal attack on Amos in today's study. He accuses him of heading up a conspiracy against the king.

"Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: 'Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.'" (Amos 7:10) This is King Jeroboam II. Politically and militarily, he was a good king for Israel. He reclaimed some of the territory that had been captured by enemies and the northern kingdom was more prosperous during his reign than it ever had been before or ever would be again. But spiritually he was not a good influence and neither is this high priest of Bethel. 

Amos was preaching against idolatry. Amos was proclaiming a message of impending disaster if the people did not turn away from idolatry. Amaziah feels threatened by what Amos is saying. If the king listens to the prophet and decides to do away with the golden calf altars, Amaziah will be out of a job. The priesthood (the unlawful priesthood of the northern kingdom that used priests not from the tribe of Levi) is being supported from the royal treasury. No doubt Amaziah is living a life of prestige, power, and wealth. If he can make the king suspicious of Amos, the king won't listen to a word Amos says.

While it's true that Amos is predicting bad things for the nation, it's not because he intends to take any violent action himself. But the priest wants the king to think Amos is threatening the king's life. He continues: "For this is what Amos is saying: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.'" (Amos 7:11) 

In yesterday's text the Lord said, "With My sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam," but this statement may be intended to indicate the fall of the house of Jeroboam, not that Jeroboam would literally die by the sword. The Bible doesn't provide us with the cause of death for Jeroboam. 2 Kings 14:29 says, "Jeroboam rested with his ancestors," and 2 Chronicles 13:20 says, "The Lord struck him down and he died." Both of these verses may indicate a natural death for Jeroboam, since there are other kings in the Bible who were "struck down" by the Lord with illness. But Jeroboam was warring with King Abijah of Judah during the end of his reign, with Abijah winning some major battles against him and taking several towns from him. It may be that he died in battle or died at his palace from wounds he received in battle. Either way, Amos is not threatening to personally strike him with a sword, so the priest is falsely accusing him.

After bearing false witness against Amos to the king, the priest confronts Amos, who may be standing in front of the king at this time. I think it's likely that the two of them are standing before the king's judgment seat so the priest can present his accusations and so Amos can answer these charges. "Then Amaziah said to Amos, 'Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king's sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.'" (Amos 7:12-13) He says something like, "Go peddle your fortune-telling in Judah where they tolerate this kind of stuff. We won't put up with it here."

The priest may be insinuating that Amos will be welcomed with open arms in the royal court of the king of Judah and that he will be paid handsomely as an advisor to the king. Why should he eke out a meager living while proclaiming a message in Israel that no one wants to hear? He will not be appointed to any position of power in Israel but his chances of such a promotion might be quite good in Judah. But Amos, unlike the wicked priest, is not interested in fortune or fame. In Amos' reply he points out that he was just a shepherd before he became a prophet and he isn't used to being a member of the royal court and has no aspirations to become a member of the royal court.

"Amos answered Amaziah, 'I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'" (Amos 7:14-15) Amos only cares about what the Lord thinks of him, not about what the priest or the king thinks. Amos is only concerned with pleasing the Lord, not with pleasing his fellow man. The Lord will provide anything he needs. 

Chapter 7 concludes with an unpleasant prediction for the priest who has so sorely mistreated the prophet. "Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country.'" (Amos 7:17a) We won't hear any further details of the priest's life but we can safely assume that the prophecy came true. The Lord said it would happen and I believe it did happen, likely when the land was invaded by the Assyrian army. The Assyrians deported many thousands of citizens to other lands and Amaziah must have been among those captives. His children probably died in the military conflict. His wife, perhaps left behind to fend for herself, turned to prostitution to make a living.

As we close today's study we find Amos repeating his prediction of the fall of the nation. "And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land." (Amos 7:17b) Did King Jeroboam II take any action against Amos based upon the priest's charges? There is no indication in the books of the Holy Bible that he did. He may have seen through the priest's lies and realized he was jealous and insecure about his position in the kingdom. But since Jeroboam II had no intention of demoting Amaziah as his high priest, the priest's worries were unfounded. However, there is an apocryphal book known as "The Lives Of The Prophets" which states that Amos was banished from Israel based upon the priest's words and that sometime later, perhaps after the king's death, he returned to the land but was murdered by Amaziah's son. We must keep in mind that most of the apocryphal books are not considered holy Scripture and that most of them first appeared on the scene many hundreds of years after the deaths of the people they were written about. Some of these books contain obvious falsehoods that contradict the books that are accepted as Scripture. Others are based on oral traditions as to what happened to this or that person. But since they appeared late in Israel's history, we cannot be sure of the veracity of what's contained in them, and we do not know what happened to the prophet Amos. 

The Book Of Amos. Day 27, A Plumb Line

Today's passage has to do with something called "a plumb line". These were instruments for measuring if a wall was straight or for measuring depth. Typically it involved a rope with a weight attached to the bottom. A person could stand on the highest level of a wall, as each level was laid in place, and hang the plumb line down the side. This would allow the builders to see whether they were veering off course. It is generally not desirable for walls to bow outwards and using the plumb line helped to prevent that.

Amos has already mentioned two visions in Chapter 7 and now he tells us of a third. "This is what He showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, 'What do you see, Amos?' 'A plumb line,' I replied." (Amos 7:7-8a)

In the Bible a plumb line is often used as a symbol of a spiritual standard of living. The standard to which the people were to aspire was to be true to plumb---to be on course. Amos sees the Lord standing by a wall that's perfectly straight. It was built true to plumb. And now the Lord uses the plumb line in His hand to measure the nation of Israel to see how it compares to His standard.

"Then the Lord said, 'Look, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will spare them no longer.'" (Amos 7:8b) He has not found the nation to be true. Its people have gone very far off course spiritually. He has been patient with this situation for a long time while He sent prophet after prophet to plead with the people to repent. But nothing has changed; in fact, they have only continued to fall farther into apostasy. So He's saying the time is at hand to take action.

A plumb line was used not only for keeping the lines of a building or wall on course but could also be used to destroy a structure, perhaps somewhat in the manner of a wrecking ball. The Lord appears to speak of a plumb line as a wrecking ball in 2 Kings 21:13 when He mentions the destruction of the house (the royal family line) of the wicked King Ahab. He also speaks of a plumb line in this manner in Isaiah 28:17 when He uses the plumb line as a symbol of righteousness that sweeps away lies. And in Lamentations 2:8 He refers to the plumb line as what He will use to tear down the wall around Jerusalem. 

The Lord previously threatened to send a plague of locusts against the land but Amos interceded for the people in prayer and the Lord granted them a reprieve. Some time later He threatened to send drought and famine but Amos interceded again and the Lord granted them a reprieve again. We don't know how much time elapsed between each of those conversations between the Lord and Amos. We don't know how much time elapsed between those conversations and the one they are having in today's text. But I feel there was a period of time in which the Lord mercifully gave the people opportunities to repent. They have not repented and it's interesting to note that, unlike on the two previous occasions, Amos doesn't immediately cry out in alarm on behalf of the people when the Lord says this: "The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with My sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam." (Amos 7:9) 

The remainder of the book of Amos will contain dire prophecies about what is going to happen to the nation. It does not look to me as if Amos cries out again for the Lord to relent. This may be because he has come to the realization that bringing disaster into the land in the form of an enemy army is the only thing that is going to get the attention of those who have forsaken the Lord for idols. 

Have you ever had a loved one whose life went severely off course? And although you hated to see them having to suffer the consequences of their poor decisions, you realized that some people have to hit bottom before they will look up to the Lord? There was a situation like that in my own life some years ago. A person very close to me kept digging a deeper and deeper pit of sin. I saw that some very unpleasant consequences were about to come this person's way and I begged the Lord to put a halt to what was about to happen or to show me what I could do to help, but He made it very clear to me that the best thing that could happen was for the person to hit bottom. He showed me that this was the only effective, loving, and merciful solution to the problem. So I stepped back and stopped asking Him to avert the consequences and let Him do what He needed to do. It worked! The person finally saw what a mess they had made of their life and repented of their sin and turned to the Lord. That person is still living for the Lord today, many years later, but what if they had never had to face the consequences of their actions? Would they have repented or would they still be living in a pit of sin? I think Amos knows now that he has to step back and let the Lord do what He needs to do; if the Lord doesn't bring about unpleasant consequences for the people's sin, they will all keep living in sin. I sympathize with the prophet because I know how hard it is to stand back. But to comfort Amos, at the end of the book the Lord gives him a message of hope regarding the restoration of Israel. With that good news on his mind and in his heart, Amos is able to accept that the Lord's way of handling the situation is the best way.

The Book Of Amos. Day 26, Intercessory Prayer, Part Two

Today we are studying the second half of the first portion of Chapter 7 that deals with intercessory prayer. 

In the book of Amos the Lord is angry with Israel due to the people's idolatry and their many other sins. In our last study session we found Him showing Amos a vision of a plague of locusts that was going to come and eat up the harvest. Amos cried out in alarm, begging the Lord to have mercy and relent from sending this calamity. The Lord agreed not to send the locusts.

I don't know whether Amos' next vision was shown to him shortly after the vision regarding the locusts but I tend to think a period of time passed. A period of time passed in which the people still did not repent in spite of repeated warnings by Amos and by other prophets. The Lord now warns the prophet He's going to send a different calamity.

Amos says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land." (Amos 7:4) This "fire" may represent a long drought. When Amos says it "devoured the land" he may mean that everything in the fields and on the fruit-bearing trees and shrubs dried up, resulting in a dreadful famine and many deaths.

Amos again cries out in alarm. "Then I cried out, 'Sovereign Lord, I beg You, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!'" (Amos 7:5)

I think it's important to stop and take note of Amos' repeated use of the title "Sovereign Lord" in our current chapter. The word "sovereign" can be used as a noun to denote someone who has absolute power, such as a king. It can also be used to describe an independent nation, such as the United States of America. Our nation is sovereign in that it governs itself and has not been subjugated by any nation more powerful. So we see that the Lord is the King of kings---having absolute power---and we see that He is independent and autonomous---not needing anyone's permission to govern the world He created. Amos is recognizing the Lord's authority over His creation. Amos is recognizing the Lord's right to be angry with the people's sin and His right to judge their sin. But Amos is also recognizing the Lord's mercy! Since the Lord is sovereign and can do whatever He wants, He can choose to extend mercy yet again even though there has been no widescale repentance in the land.

The Lord chooses mercy. "So the Lord relented. 'This will not happen either,' the Sovereign Lord said." (Amos 7:6)

The Lord is not making empty threats. I believe He would have sent the plague of locusts or the severe drought if no one had interceded for the nation. He heard Amos' prayer and, in addition to Amos' prayer, other prophets are praying for the nation, as we will see as we move on through the Old Testament. I am sure there are average citizens in the land who haver not forsaken the Lord who are praying too, although these faithful souls are in the minority at this time. 

Why does the Lord make these threats and then relent? It's not because He wasn't prepared to carry these actions out but I think it may be so the people can never accuse Him of not giving them many chances while they persisted in idolatry. Their sins are already abominable enough for the Lord to take these actions but He has mercy on them because of the prayers of Amos and others who haven't forsaken Him. The words of these prophets, which have become a part of the holy Scriptures, are a testimony to the Lord's longsuffering attitude toward ancient Israel. These words will stand against them in court, so to speak, to prove that they were given many opportunities to change their ways and did not change their ways. That way, when the Lord does finally bring judgment against them, His character cannot be attacked. Indeed, it will be clear that He went above and beyond in dealing with people who repeatedly rejected Him, who mistreated the poor and needy in the nation, who disenfranchised widows and orphans and foreigners, who bribed dishonest judges to find innocent people guilty, who made sacrifices and offerings to false gods, who engaged in sexually immoral occult practices, and who made burnt offerings of their own children. 

They've done all these things and more. In our study of the Bible so far, we have found the Lord making such accusations against them. We will continue to read of the appalling behavior of citizens who were once called by the Lord's name. The Lord is merciful but He can only be merciful for so long because He cannot be holy and righteous and good if He does not judge sin---even if that means judging the sin of those called by His name. The people to whom He gave the commandments and the law and the prophets actually have less excuse for their sins than do the heathen nations around them. The Lord will not show them any favoritism; rather, He will judge them by the fact that they have less excuse for their sins than anyone in the world at that time. 

The Book Of Amos. Day 25, Intercessory Prayer, Part One

The first portion of Amos 7 displays the value of intercessory prayer. We will be looking at the first half of that portion today.

The Lord shows Amos a vision of a disaster He is planning to visit upon Israel. "This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king's share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up." (Amos 7:1)

The king took his share first; it was a form of taxation. The remainder of the harvest was for the citizens to keep. But Amos saw swarms of locusts approaching just as that latter harvest was coming up, meaning the people wouldn't get their share. This would cause a great famine and the sight of the swarms alarmed him.

Amos becomes even more alarmed when, in his vision, he beholds the locusts destroying everything that came up. "When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, 'Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!'" (Amos 7:1-2)

We should all have a heart like the prophet's. He is grief stricken at the thought of famine. He is moved with compassion for the hardship this will cause. His heart breaks thinking about the growling bellies and about the lives that may be lost due to malnutrition. When he cries out in sorrow I think he cries out involuntarily. He knows the people have forsaken the Lord and that the Lord has a right to judge them but I think he involuntarily cries out for the Lord to relent in spite of their sin. None of us can presume to tell the Lord what to do, especially where judgment for sin is the issue at hand, but in a spirit of compassion and love we can ask Him to have mercy. We can cry out urgently, "Lord, please forgive! Lord, please relent from this judgment! Give them another chance!"

It may be that Amos refers to the nation as "Jacob" instead of "Israel" because it's the more personal name. The Lord renamed Jacob as "Israel" and now the great nation that sprang from Jacob's descendants is known by that name. But Jacob was a man---a man the Lord chose before he was even born---and in using his name I think Amos is reminding the Lord that it's not just a nation at stake but individual lives at stake. I think also he is reminding the Lord of the promises He made to Jacob and that the Lord has an obligation to fulfill those promises and not to allow all the descendants of Jacob to be destroyed.

The Lord knew all along, of course, that Amos would intercede for the people. He knew all along that He would hear Amos' heartfelt prayer and withhold the locust plague. "So the Lord relented. 'This will not happen,' the Lord said." (Amos 7:3)

Why did the Lord show Amos this vision in the first place? Was it to stir up love in the prophet's heart? Was it to demonstrate to Amos how much the Lord loves mankind and how much it pains Him to have to apply discipline for man's sins? Would the Lord have relented if Amos had not cried out for mercy? I don't think anyone fully understands how prayer works. I don't think the human mind can completely grasp how intercessory prayer and the will of the Lord work together. We just know that somehow these two things do work together. And that should encourage us not to let up on praying for those who don't know the Lord. Jesus' brother James said, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16b) 

When he says "righteous" he doesn't mean "perfect", for no one is perfect, but he means the one who is in fellowship with the Lord. An example of this is the Christian praying for the unbeliever. The one who is saved by faith in Christ is the one who is "righteous" in that example. The Lord listens to the prayers of His children. While it's true that the unbeliever can continue resisting the Lord (because he has free will), who knows whether our continued prayers will somehow break down his resistance? Our prayers, working together with the Lord's desire to see the person saved, can be powerful and effective.

The Book Of Amos. Day 24, The Sin Of Pride

The second half of Amos 6 deals with the sin of pride. In yesterday's study the Lord warned the northern kingdom of Israel not to be complacent about its strength or prosperity. Other strong and prosperous nations have already fallen to enemies. Throughout the ages more strong and prosperous nations will fall to enemies. The Lord is supposed to be the strength of Israel and if the people will turn back to Him and trust in Him they will never be shaken.

But as we know, the majority of them have not been faithful. Some are worshiping the Lord in idolatrous ways by mixing pagan religious practices with their worship of the Lord. Some have forsaken Him entirely in favor of the gods of other nations. Yet they seem to be clinging to the notion that because He brought them out of Egypt and settled them in the promised land and made them into a great nation, nothing about their situation will ever change even though they have changed. This would be like me thinking just because I'm from a Christian family I can live any way I want without ever facing any repercussions. Or it would be like me thinking because I attend church on Sundays the Lord will turn a blind eye to my deliberate disobedience. We each need our own personal relationship with the Lord, which is why the people of Amos day can't rest on the fact that they're descended from Abraham. Abraham's faith doesn't save them; their own personal faith is what's needed to save them. They also can't rest on the fact that a lot of them are still going through the motions of worship. Earlier in the week we found the Lord stating how much He despises an outward show of religion when on the inside their hearts aren't true to Him.

The people have a national pride (believing the Lord will never allow them to fall no matter what they do) in addition to being too proud to repent. "The Sovereign Lord has sworn by Himself---the Lord God Almighty declares: 'I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.'" (Amos 6:8) The Bible often uses the names of "Jacob" and "Israel" interchangeably, which is what the Lord is doing in verse 8. When He says He will deliver up "the city", I presume He means Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom.

He paints a graphic and dreadful picture of what is going to happen. "If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, 'Is anyone else with you?' and he says, 'No,' then he will go on to say, 'Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.'" (Amos 6:9-10) It appears as if war does not take most of their lives, and if most of the survivors are not carried away captive, famine or hunger or some other cause will do the majority of the idolaters in. And when a godly relative comes to the house to try to carry out a decent burial for his deceased family members, he will be forbidden by anyone still living there to speak in the name of the Lord. This indicates that there will still be a reluctance to repent even if someone comes and says, "This calamity is from the Lord. You must repent before you end up like these deceased household members."

Disaster will come upon the rich and poor alike, for there are citizens from every walk of life who have forsaken the Lord. "For the Lord has given the command, and He will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits." (Amos 6:11)

This next segment appears to be reference to the futility of the way the people are living their lives. Any life that leaves the Lord out of it is accomplishing nothing of eternal value. Thus we find the Lord comparing their fruitlessness to that of trying to run horses on steep and stony ground or trying to plant crops where they will not grow. "Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness---you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, 'Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?'" (Amos 6:12-13) They are trusting in themselves, not in the Lord. They are not crediting Him for their victories and have begun to believe they don't need Him at all. They do not understand the holy majesty of the One they are dealing with.

Because they have begun to think they've prospered by their own hand, the Lord is going to show them this is not true. They cannot defend themselves against the great Assyrian army that is coming. "For the Lord Almighty declares, 'I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.'" (Amos 6:14) In other words, He is saying, "From north to south they will attack your cities. From north to south they will defeat you."

We can all take to heart the words that are spoken here. Though the Lord was speaking specifically to ancient Israel in this passage, His warning is for anyone to has begun to believe they have done anything on their own. We can't even take our next breath unless the Lord holds us in this life; how much less can we do anything else? We owe everything we have and everything we are to Him. We wouldn't even exist if it weren't His will for us to exist. We wouldn't have the health or the intellect to do anything we've done unless He had given us those gifts. It's important to always acknowledge that we wouldn't be anybody and we wouldn't have anything without Him.

The Book Of Amos. Day 23, Do Not Be Complacent

Yesterday my power was off all morning and I didn't have any access to the internet before I left for work. I apologize for not being able to post yesterday's study.

Today we will be concluding Chapter 5 and beginning Chapter 6. In our last session we found the Lord deploring the people's outward show of religion that had no heart to it. He stated His intention to ignore their way of just "going through the motions" and He concludes that theme like this: "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream! 'Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god---which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,' says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty." (Amos 5:24-27)

Many scholars interpret these verses to mean that the people have offered far more sacrifices to pagan gods than they ever previously offered to the Lord or that they brought idols out of Egypt with them to which they made offerings in the wilderness. Exactly what is meant is not clear except that the people's hearts are not wholly committed to the Lord. Some are mixing heathen religious practices with their worship of the Lord and some have forsaken Him entirely for idols. Because they love idols so much, He intends to send them to a land where they will see nothing but idolatry.

He warns them not to be complacent. Just because no nation has ever conquered them before doesn't mean He will continue to protect them. The reason they stood firm against enemies in the past is because the Lord was on their side. But they are no longer on His side and if they continue to ignore His call to repent He will allow the nation to fall.

"Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to Great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?" (Amos 6:1-2) The Lord points them to other lands that have already been conquered or subjugated by other nations. Those idolatrous lands were prosperous but eventually they could not stand against the enemy. Israel and Judah cannot trust in wealth or military might to protect them from the enemy either. 

"You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end." (Amos 6:3-7) These words paint the picture of citizens numbing themselves against any prickling of their consciences and against any fear of an advancing foe and against any warnings of judgment from the Lord. They are eating and drinking and making merry while the wolf is at the door, so to speak. 

The reference to "Joseph" is a reference to his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, whose tribes belong to the northern kingdom of Israel. The Lord announces that the northern kingdom will go into exile before the southern kingdom of Israel. From our study of the kings we know this is exactly what happened. Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire approximately 130 years before Judah fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. 

No nation should trust in its prosperity or in its superior weaponry or in the size of its army. We are to trust in the Lord. If we are right with Him, He is more than able to protect us even if our forces are outnumbered, as we have seen Him do several times on the pages of the Bible. But if we are not right with Him, and if we continue living in opposition to Him in spite of repeated warnings and corrective action on His part, a day may come when He allows the nation to fall. We don't want to let things get to that point! It should be a part of our daily prayer time to pray that more and more people of our nation would turn to the Lord and that He would be able to continue blessing us.

The Book Of Amos. Day 22, The Day Of The Lord

Whenever the Bible uses the term "the day of the Lord" it is usually a reference to the day of the Lord's judgment at the end times. I believe that is the context in which Amos uses the term in today's text.

It appears as if the people are looking forward to the day of the Lord. Amos warns them that they should fear it, not welcome it. It is one thing for a person who is right with the Lord to long for the day when He judges all evil. To the child of God, that day is our victory day in court, so to speak. It's the day when the Lord passes sentence on all the wrongs that have ever been done to His children. But for the person living in opposition to the Lord, it is a day to dread.

"Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light." (Amos 5:18) Amos urges the people to wake up and take a good long look at their own lives. While they are wishing judgment upon their enemies, they are failing to acknowledge that they have become as wicked as their enemies. If the day of the Lord were to come right now, it would consume not only their enemies but themselves as well.

Amos describes that day as a day the wicked cannot escape. "It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light---pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?" (Amos 5:19-20)

The people are still going through many of the motions of serving the Lord. Although a large number of them are engaging in idolatry, some aren't doing it exclusively; some are mixing pagan practices with their worship of the Lord, such as bringing offerings to Him at the golden calf sites at Bethel and Dan. This is not pleasing to Him. There are also those, as we will see as we continue our study of the prophets, who are bringing sacrifices to the proper place in Jerusalem (especially the people living in the southern kingdom of Judah), who have no personal relationship with Him. Those offerings are meaningless to Him because they don't come from the heart. This next segment deals with the practice of only going through the motions. "I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to Me. Even though you bring Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps." (Amos 5:21-23) 

It's possible to be heavily involved with church work and not be a child of the Lord. People attend religious services for a variety of reasons. It might be to enjoy a sense of belonging. It might be to look good to others in the community. It might be because their family has always attended church and they are expected to do likewise. These are just a few examples of why a person might spend a great deal of time working with the church and why a person might give large amounts of money to the church. But works aren't what make us right with the Lord; faith is what makes us right with the Lord. If He isn't Lord in our hearts, it doesn't matter how much money we donate or whether we sing in the choir. We don't get into heaven because of how much we put in the offering plate or because we play piano during the services. We get into heaven because we've given our hearts to the Lord and have trusted Him for salvation. This is why the Lord is warning the people, through the prophet Amos, not to look forward to judgment day. They won't fare well at judgment day if they continue living with hearts far from Him. The judgment they long to see falling on their neighbors will fall on them too if they don't repent.