In today's passage we find the Lord speaking about His people's crimes and about their coming judgment for their refusal to repent. He will call to some of the surrounding heathen nations to witness the charges and to witness how spotless His character has been in dealing with His people. Although He's been bringing up the charges He has against the people, and although He's been urging them to acknowledge their sins and repent of them, He knows all things and is aware that the majority of the citizens will not repent. He makes the effort anyway because He is filled with love and mercy toward every person He has ever created and He will not fail to make the offer of forgiveness to everyone. Another reason He must make the effort is because He is holy and righteous and, on the day of judgment, no one can accuse Him of not giving them an opportunity to turn from darkness to the light. The Lord sent not only Amos but many other prophets to the nations of Israel and Judah and no one could claim to be ignorant of what those prophets said. No one could say that the Lord never confronted them with their sins and told them they needed to repent.
In our modern times, with all the access most of us have to the word of God, we can't claim ignorance either. Certainly there are areas of the world where the gospel has not yet been preached but we can't say that about the United States of America. I was born and raised in this nation and I wouldn't be able to stand before the judgment seat of the Lord and claim I never heard the gospel message because that would be a lie. Even if I'd never had any intention of listening to the gospel message, I would still have "accidentally" heard enough of it to understand that I'm a sinner who needs a Savior. I grew up in the rural South, smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, and I can't remember a time when I didn't know at least the basic facts about the gospel message. I would have no excuse for not repenting of my sins and for not trusting in the Lord for salvation. What I knew as a small child was enough to know that I couldn't be holy on my own and that I had to trust and depend on the Lord for what I could not do.
Because the people to whom the Lord has sent Amos know they can't be holy on their own, and because they know what they need to do in order to get their hearts right with the Lord, and because they have not done so, an enemy is coming. The Lord says: "The lion has roared---who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken---who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:8) Previously when we've seen the Lord referring to Himself as a lion roaring, He was roaring against the enemies of Israel and Judah. But this time He's talking about roaring against those who once belonged to Him but who have now forsaken Him. He knows a widescale revival isn't going to break out in the land and (as we discussed yesterday) a cause and effect situation is going to take place: defeat at the hands of an enemy nation is the effect caused by the unrepentant, idolatrous ways of Amos' fellow citizens.
The Lord now calls to some of the nations that have historically been enemies of Israel and Judah to witness the things that are going to happen. "Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: 'Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.'" (Amos 3:9) When the Lord mentions Ashdod the people know He's speaking of the Philistines, for this was one of the cities within Philistine territory. He's calling upon extremely idolatrous nations---nations whose Gentile people are looked down upon by the citizens of Israel and Judah---to come and see the terrible crimes taking place in Samaria (meaning Israel, since Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom). In this sense the Lord is declaring that, at this time, the citizens of Israel are sinning more than the people of Philistia or Egypt! The reason their sins are considered worse is due to something we discussed previously during our study of the book of Amos: they are a chosen and blessed people of God who, like no other nation on earth at the time, had more access to Him and to His laws and commandments than anyone else in the world.
The Lord calls as witnesses some of the heathen nations in the region. Even though hardly any of the people in those nations worship the Lord, they can't deny that He exists and that He has protected and provided for and delivered Israel time and time again. They can clearly see that He has been good to all the twelve tribes that descended from the sons of Jacob. From the day He took them out of Egypt until Amos' day, He has prevented them from being overtaken by the enemy and He has given them a bounteous land in which to live. He has supernaturally defended them against invaders time and time again, either by fighting the battle Himself or by fighting alongside the soldiers to give them strength they did not humanly possess. But now, because so many of the people called by His name have turned their backs on Him, He asks heathens to testify in court as character witnesses on His behalf, so to speak. Even the pagans must admit that He exists and that He has done great things for the tribes of Israel.
In today's text the Lord accuses His people of having committed oppressive acts against their fellow man. Earlier in the study of Amos we talked about how they were bribing judges to rule in their favor. We talked about how they were mistreating the poor and needy, the widow and the orphan. As we look at the remainder of Chapter 3 tomorrow we will see that it deals with more crimes the Lord accuses the people of committing.
No comments:
Post a Comment