God's judgement on the nations and on us

Text Amos 1 and 2 Time 16 01 22 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

At the end of the Old Testament in our Bibles you have a series of 12 books known as the Minor Prophets. They are in roughly chronological order. They are called minor because they are all short books unlike the Major Prophets that precede them - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. All of these prophets are writing prophets. Earlier prophets, like Elijah and Elisha, spoke God's Word but did not commit what they said to writing as the later prophets did.

I'd like us begin to look this evening at the third of the minor prophets, Amos. Amos preached in the eighth century BC and his contemporaries were Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. Isaiah and Micah prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah. Hosea and Amos prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel. Let's say some things by way of introduction.

1. An introduction

1. Amos the man. No-one else in the Bible is called Amos. Isaiah's father was called Amoz but that is quite a different name. One writer suggests Amos is a shortened form of Amasiah (sustained by the LORD). All that we know about him is in this book - in 1:1 then also in Chapter 7:10-17. He was from Tekoa, about 16 km/10 mls south east of Jerusalem. He had been some sort of farmer and shepherd and had worked growing sycamore fig trees too but then quite suddenly God called him to leave Tekoa and head north to prophesy in the northern kingdom. Sometimes prophets would train in a school but Amos did nothing like that and no-one in his family was a prophet either.

2. Amos the book. Amos prophesied at a time when there had been many years of peace in Judah and Israel and people had grown quite affluent. With that affluence had come a great deal of complacency and all sorts of sin. Amos wrote to awaken people from complacency. What the prophets do, and Amos is no exception, is to call people back to the covenant with God. Amos declares the covenant God. It's a short book but he uses God's special name, LORD, more than 75 times. He reminds them of their covenant relationship with God and the fact that they are in breach of the covenant. He warns of the dire consequences of failing to repent but holds out hope for all who will turn again to the LORD and trust in him.

Like many of the prophets Amos wrote in poetry. Most of the book is poetry. That can make it difficult to follow at times but along with the vivid imagery he uses it helps us see this is no ordinary writing but an important message from God.

3. Verses 1 and 2. The book opens then (1:1) The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa - the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. There was an earthquake we know between 765 and 760 BC so that dates the book quite closely. Both Uzziah and Jeroboam II reigned for a long time and, as we have said, there was peace and stability.

When I was a child I used to to watch films on TV on a Saturday night. The idents on the films were interesting. Rank Films had a man who would bang a loud gong and Twentieth Century Fox had this searchlight and these impressive pillars. My favourite was MGM where you would see a lion's head then the lion would give this impressive roar. Amos's book begins with a lion roaring. In verse 2 we read He said: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers." God is pictured as roaring like a lion about to pounce or thunder from heaven before a storm. The people thought they were safe. But no, judgement was coming and they needed to wake up to the fact.

We too need to wake up to the fact that judgement is coming. For the most part, we live easy and comfortable lives. It is very easy to become complacent. However, judgement is coming soon. We mustn't forget that. The lion is roaring. The thunder announcing the storm has begun.

2. Prophecies against the nations

The first two chapters contain a series of six prophecies against the nations then one against Judah and then Israel too. Several prophets have similar passages. What is different about Amos is that he starts with these prophecies. He also has an interesting pattern in the way the prophecies are announced. They all begin This is what the LORD says: For three sins of ___________, even for four, I will not relent. Because and then .... I will send fire ... [says the (Sovereign) LORD.]

When I was a child some of my friends had a Magic Robot game. This was a quiz game but its special feature was that when you put the magic robot with its pointer in the right place it would point to the correct answer. It was done quite simply with magnets but it looked quite impressive to a child as you didn't know quite where it would point next. It's a bit like that here. Amos has his pointer out and you don't know where he'll point next. No-one has quite worked out the pattern. First its north east to Damascus, then south west to the Philistines, then north to Tyre, etc.

Such prophecies were not delivered to the nations themselves, although they might have got to hear them. The primary purpose is to remind God's people that all the nations are going to be judged and that includes all the nations, including God's own. In each case a nation is condemned for some atrocity or another. They may not have had God's revelation like God's people but they knew right from wrong and are condemned on that basis. That's how the nations will be judged - on the basis of what they knew, not what they did not know. Every person has a conscience and he will be judged in light of that.

So This is what the LORD says: these are the words of God himself. For three sins ..., even for four, I will not relent. People have not just sinned but they have gone on sinning, sin upon sin, and so God will not relent, he will not turn back his wrath. And then the specific sins are set out and the punishments. First Damascus

Damascus and the Arameans. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, I will send fire on the house of Hazael the name of their king that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad another king. I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the sceptre in Beth Eden another name for Damascus. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir," says the LORD.

The sin is threshing Gilead, the area of Israel east of the Jordan, with sledges having iron teeth. Exactly what they did is unclear but it was some sort of violent torture, what we would now call a war crime. They are warned that because of this a judgement of fire will come and the gate of Damascus will be broken down. This suggests an invasion. Kings will be destroyed and people will go into exile. This happened at the hand of the Assyrians.

Gaza and the Philistines. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses. I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the sceptre in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines are dead," says the Sovereign LORD.

The Philistines, originally from Crete, had crossed the sea and settled on the west coast of Palestine in the cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath (not mentioned here). Here the charge is people trafficking. They had been capturing whole communities and selling them to Edom. Again they can expect invasion and the burning of their cities. No-one will escape.

Tyre. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, I will send fire on the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses."

Tyre was one of the leading Phoenician cities. The Phoenicians were great traders. They also sold whole communities of captives to Edom the crime exacerbated here by their treaty of brotherhood with Judah that went back to the days of Solomon and Hiram. Again judgement by the fire of invading forces is prophesied.

God deals with those who treat his people with contempt. They will not escape. Seldom in this life do they and certainly not in the next.

Edom. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not relent. Because he pursued his brother with a sword and slaughtered the women of the land, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked, I will send fire on Teman that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah."

The Edomites to the south east have been mentioned twice already but now they themselves are the subject. The Edomites descended from Esau and so were related to God's people. Here they are arraigned for their use of the sword against their brothers, their slaughtering of women, their anger and unchecked fury in war. Because of this they too will be invaded.

Ammon and Moab. (1:13-15) This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah that will consume her fortresses amid war cries on the day of battle, amid violent winds on a stormy day. Her king will go into exile, he and his officials together," says the LORD. (2:1-3) This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom's king, I will send fire on Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet. I will destroy her ruler and kill all her officials with him," says the LORD.

The Ammonites and Moabites were in the same general area to the east of God's people and related to them through Lot. The Ammonites had ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend their borders and Moab had burned to ashes the bones of Edom's king an act of great disrespect and sacrilege. They too were going to suffer fire and invasion then. Their rulers and officials will suffer.

Sometimes people think that because they are related to Christians or very familiar with the things of God that will somehow deliver them from judgement. It will not.

The penultimate pointing is a little different, now to Judah. And so we come to

3. Prophecies against God's people

Judah. (2:4,5) This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem."

With Judah the problem is not any atrocity but the simple fact that on one hand they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, and on the other, they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed. Indeed, this is why they have turned from the truth. They have abandoned the oracles of God for what is empty and useless.

This is the danger for those who are surrounded by the truth. It is not enough to know the truth. We need to do what is right before God.

The final part of Chapter 2 is addressed to Israel, the people who Amos is chiefly sent to prophesy to. With Israel, he expands on the pattern he has used up to this point to show how they are even more deserving of judgement. Three things then

1. Their sins

Verse 6 This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. We then have four or five sins listed

1 They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. There was slavery in Israel but it was closely regulated and certainly what is described here - selling an insolvent debtor into slavery - was not allowed. The lack of mercy involved is rebuked here. The innocent were not absolutely innocent but they did not deserve to be treated as they were being treated. The phrase a pair of sandals refers to the way for a small luxury an Israelite would sell someone into slavery. Such a sale expressed contempt for a person made in the image of God - sold for so little, sold just so someone could enjoy a new pair of shoes.

2 (7a) They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. More generally, there was a lack of justice in that society. We ought to be looking out for the poor and needy. Are we?

3 (7b) Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and they thought they could improve the likelihood of a good harvest by means of temple prostitution. By paying money and having sex with temple prostitutes it was supposed that the gods would smile on them. The Israelites were drawn into this system which is full of problems but the one  highlighted here is the way a father and his son would end up using the same girl and so profaning God's holy name.

4 (8) They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines. These final sins show that the Israelites were mixing all sorts of sins together. The very garments that they lay down on to have sex in the idol temples were taken in pledge from debtors but should not have been. The wine they drank in their pagan festivals had been taken as fines, again no doubt unfairly.

What about those of us who profess to be Christians then? Are we guilty of living like pagans? Are we so busy looking after number one that we have no time for the needy?

2. All this despite all the good things that God had done for his people.

1 He had enabled them to conquer the Promised Land. (9) Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. These are the taller Canaanites who lived in the hills - the more difficult ones to remove, no doubt. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.

2 Before that, of course, God had (10) brought them up out of Egypt and led them forty years in the wilderness to give them the land of the Amorites.

3 The third thing is in verse 11 I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel? declares the LORD. The Nazirite vow was for those who wanted to make a particular commitment to the Lord. They had to refrain from grapes or alcohol, not touch a dead body and let their hair grow. In verse 12 he adds another accusation - But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

And think what God has done for us in sending his Son to die on the cross and in sending the Holy Spirit to live in us and to bless us in all sorts of ways. How can we sin against God so thoughtlessly when we remember all he has done for us?

3. A warning of judgement

And so these word of judgement in verses 13-16

Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. And then a sevenfold warning that escape will not be possible. The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life. Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD.

Do not think you will be swift enough to outrun the judgement with your own speed. Do not think you will be so strong in yourself that you are bound to be okay. You cannot fight your way through or shoot it out or run away or ride off into the night or brave it out. No, no-one will stand then - except in Jesus Christ. Yes, it should be a comfort that God will judge the nations but let's remember that we will all face it too.

In 1 Peter 4:17 he says For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? It is a fact that we will be judged. Judgement in one sense begins with us who believe. However, it extends to all, as is clear here. We need to be ready. The way to be ready is to turn from sin and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.