The Book Of Amos. Day 19, Lighter Discipline Has Not Worked, Part Four

Yesterday's study closed with this ominous warning from the Lord: "Prepare to meet your God!" Depending on a person's spiritual condition, those can be comforting words (as in the case of the believer who looks forward to being in the presence of the Lord forever) or they can be scary words if the person is living in opposition to the Lord. We might even call them "fighting words" because the Lord will soon stop issuing warnings to Israel and will begin taking action. Not everyone in the nation has turned their backs on Him but a majority of them have and, in spite of repeatedly hearing the messages of the prophets and in spite of knowing the Lord's laws and commandments, those who have forsaken Him for false gods are still refusing to turn back to Him. 

After issuing the words, "Prepare to meet your God!", He reminds them of just who He is. "He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals His thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the heights of the earth---the Lord God Almighty is His name." (Amos 4:13) 

This is the Maker of heaven and earth speaking! This is the One who said, "Let there be light!" and caused the universe to spring into existence. Who can fight against Him? Why would anyone want to fight against Him? No other god called light out of darkness. No other deity created order out of chaos. No one but the Lord God Almighty did it; no one else could because there is no other God.

Who else ever spoke to the people except Him? Who but the Lord delivered them from Egypt with great signs and wonders? Who parted the Red Sea? Who provided manna in the wilderness? Who was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them on their journey? Who uprooted the idolatrous nations of Canaan and planted Israel in their place? Who provided the commandments and the laws to live by---the words that reveal "His thoughts to mankind"? Who made their nation prosper while they lived according to His commandments and laws? No one but the Lord God of Israel! 

The One who planted them in the land is able to uproot them for forsaking Him. In approximately thirty years after Amos relays the Lord's message to the people, the Lord will follow through on His threat to uproot them. He will allow the Assyrian army to invade the land, take the people captive, and disperse them to other nations. 

This lesson is one we need to take to heart today. No matter which nation we live in and no matter how prosperous that nation may be, the Lord can overthrow it if we forsake Him. Why should He bless sin? Why should He reward waywardness? He is patient with the nations of our day just as He was patient with Israel and Judah. He issues warnings when He sees us going down the wrong path. He provides many opportunities to turn around and go back in the right direction. If we don't respond to warnings, He begins using corrective action to help us see that our waywardness is the cause of our hardships. But if lighter discipline does not work, as it did not work with the people of Amos' day, the Lord very well may decide to allow a nation to fall. This is why it's imperative for each of us to examine our hearts every day and repent of personal sin and also to pray for the sins of the nation as a whole. Intercessory prayer is a powerful tool that we mustn't neglect. Who knows whether a great revival might break out if we commit to praying for it daily?