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Post by Cindy on Jun 7, 2019 10:25:28 GMT -5
I'm starting this thread for the upcoming study of Amos and Obadiah that we'll be doing soon. For now, I'd like to give some background about Amos who's a very interesting person.
Amos was from Tekoa, a small village 10 mi. south of Jerusalem. He was the only prophet to give his occupation before declaring his divine commission. He was not of priestly or noble descent, but worked as a sheepbreeder (Amos 1:1; cf. 2 Kin. 3:4) and a tender of sycamore fruit (Amos 7:14) and was a contemporary of Jonah (2 Kin. 14:25), Hosea (Hos. 1:1), and Isaiah (Is. 1:1). The date of writing is mid-8th century b.c., during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (ca. 790–739 b.c.) and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (ca. 793–753 b.c.), two years before a memorable earthquake (1:1; cf. Zech. 14:5, ca. 760 b.c.). Amos was a Judean prophet called to deliver a message primarily to the northern tribes of Israel (Amos 7:15). Politically, it was a time of prosperity under the long and secure reign of Jeroboam II who, following the example of his father Joash (2 Kin. 13:25), significantly “restored the territory of Israel” (2 Kin. 14:25). It was also a time of peace with both Judah (cf. Amos 5:5) and her more distant neighbors; the ever-present menace of Assyria was subdued earlier that century because of Nineveh’s repentance at the preaching of Jonah (Jon. 3:10). Spiritually, however, it was a time of rampant corruption and moral decay (Amos 4:1; Amos 5:10–13; 2 Kin. 14:24). The MacArthur Bible handbook
Amos ministered after the time of Obadiah, Joel, & Jonah and just before Hosea, Micah, & Isaiah. Talk thru the Bible
Christian Worldview Elements
Amos deals especially with the world-view categories of rebellion and sin and ethics and morality. Disloyalty to God is sin, but so is the selfish lack of concern for the needs of others. In other words, failure to live by either of the Great Commandmants (Matt. 22:37–39) offends God. Amos’s emphasis on personal ethics and morality should be seen in this light.
Teachings about God
God is absolutely sovereign. He raises up and puts down nations. He is also a God who reveals himself and his plans to “his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Therefore, he has revealed himself to be the judge of all, pagan and people of God alike. He is also—and not least—a God who has a wonderful future for his people when they are restored at last (Amos 9:11–15).
Teachings about Humanity
The people of Amos’s day showed the universal human tendency to do the wrong thing rather than the right thing. In particular, this often evidences itself in religious compromise and complacency (Amos 4:4–5). On the other hand, humanity will be salvaged! Both Israel and “all the heathen, which are called by my name” (Amos 9:12) will one day experience unmeasured blessings. (James declared that this prophecy began to be fulfilled by Gentiles turning to Jesus, Acts 15:5–18.)
Teachings about Salvation
In Amos, redemption is based entirely on God’s initiative. God reminded them that they were “the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt” and that “you only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:1–2). What God desires from redeemed people is righteous living and obedience. Religious rituals and festivals, even those that God commanded, cannot substitute for a right relationship with him (Amos 5:21–24). Holman QuickSource guide to understanding the Bible
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383 
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Post by fearnot on Jun 8, 2019 11:54:49 GMT -5
I did this yesterday but posted it on the other thread so I am moving it here.
Amos 1:1-15
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Judgment on Israel's Neighbors
2 And he said:
“The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the top of Carmel withers.”
3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,”
says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,
and it shall devour her strongholds.”
11 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity,
and his anger tore perpetually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
and it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and their king shall go into exile,
he and his princes together,”
says the Lord.
Amos was God's prophet, a shepherd from Tekos
during the reign of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam, king of Israel.
I think it is noteworthy that being a shepherd was not then or now, a position of great power, or learning ( he did not have 5 PHD's), yet God choose Amos to speak for Him and choose him as His prophet. God can use anyone, not just the rich, famous, powerful, most intellectual etc.
Amos starts by giving the judgments of Israel's neighbors, and I imagine the Israelites were eager to hear that.
Amos begins with Damascus and the people of Syria.
He tells what cruelty they have done and what God's punishment will be.... fire and they shall go into exile.
He then speaks of Gaza, chief city of the Philistines.
They sent Jews as slaves to Edom (the Jews bitter enemy).
I would think they had many many more sins, but this one really stood out in its cruelty.
And to the punishments....
Tho it seems Gaza had 'strongholds', they were nothing to God, as He sends a fire.
He includes some of the biggest cities Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron
No matter how many or how 'powerful' the people or what idols they have
when God has reached His limit of their sin then.....
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish....they shall perish.
He moves on to Tyre who delivered up a whole people to Edom.
They too will suffer by fire of it walls ( which without that defense defeat is pretty much certain).
Edom was related to Israel but had seemingly only anger which was never let go of, and thus, no pity.
I am not sure if sending a fire is always a fire ( tho it could be that too, I guess) but perhaps a way of saying God will send judgments, in any case He will do so to Edom, upon Teman and the strongholds of Bozrah.
Next the Ammonites
God said He would not revoke the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.
How horrible the sins of humans against humans......and ultimately against God.
The Judgment would come swiftly with great force like a a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 8, 2019 11:59:19 GMT -5
Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill all its princes with him,”
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but their lies have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
5 So I will send a fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
a man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath.
10 Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for Nazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14 Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain his strength,
nor shall the mighty save his life;
15 he who handles the bow shall not stand,
and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,
nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
16 and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.
I think its safe to say, if people don't ( or did not repent) of their sins, God would punish them.....maybe the judgement did not always come immediately ( Amos was giving the warnings) but they did all come.
so now its on to Moab and apparently just killing the king of Edom did not satisfy their vengeance and unrestrained hatred, so they burned to lime the bones of the king.
And so God says they will not die in peace in their beds but in war "amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet"
But being done with the enemies of Israel, Amos now moves onto Judah
being God's chosen people did not keep them from God's judgments for their unrepentant sins.
They have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes " and the lies of the false idols etc.
so God would send a fire upon Judah.
But now on to Judah....which seems to be the longest.
God is the judge of everyone, but it seems his anger, wrath and hurt for the detestable sins of His chosen people made it worse.
The were totally lacking compassion actually selling their brethren, for frivolous items, for their selfish pleasure.
These people were profaning God's Holy name, as His people doing such heartless sins, as the ones Amos lists.
Yet God had done all manner of mercies.miracles for them...
like destroying the Amorites and rescuing them out of Egypt.
Not only that but He raised up some of their sons for prophets,
and some of their young men for Nazirites.....
but they seemingly didn't care, instead they hated the spiritual leaders God provided and treated them very harshly and silenced them.
And so God would not spare them from judgements, that neither their weapons nor physical strength would be able to stop.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 9, 2019 17:24:26 GMT -5
Amos 3: 1-15
Israel's Guilt and Punishment
1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
God wants Israel to really hear His Word, not try to close the mouth of His prophets He sent to them.
This is against the whole family of God.
Perhaps they thought because they were His chosen children, he would not punish them for any of their sins.
God had done many miracles and mercies for them rescuing them from Egypt, but they did not appreciate it at all.
But actually being so bless did not mean they would escape punishment, perhaps because they had been so blessed, none of their iniquities would be overlooked.
It seemed like perhaps they never even ever asked for forgiveness.
They no longer could walk together because they were going different ways, which kind of reminds me of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden ( when they used to walk with God until they sinned.....and then they hid from Him).
The roar of a Lion could be a hint to escape ( for God's people.....to repent).
Traps and snares God has prepared, out of anger but also that they may be 'caught'.
A trumpet blown in a city is a warning signal of war or some calamity ( kind of like sirens for today....of severe weather or tsunami etc. ) so is this prophet giving God's people this Word.
God does not just punish without plenty of warning....the people were not innocent, they 'knew' God's law and that they were breaking it over and over.
Having been a shepherd Amos would know the fear a lion or any fierce animal would cause ( but somehow God's people choose not to fear or pay any attention....... as do many of God's people today).
Some of Israel's enemies are called to witness that Israel does not (did not) do right,.
That had to be an added rebuke.
And Israel will not escape her punishment, only a small remnant with extreme difficulty will escape.
The false worship, heresy, and idols would also be punished
Not just the poor will be punished but the rich that had both winter and summer homes and also their extravagant ivory homes.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 10, 2019 10:53:52 GMT -5
Amos 4: 1-13
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities would wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and carried away your horses,
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
I almost spit out my tea!! Cows of Bashan!!
Whoa!
However I did read a commentary that explained ( my take away....not verbatim)
that they were like lazy fatten cows ( but rich and cruel). Today we might call them 'fat cats'.
Its kind of ironic, woman today want POWER, they get in the work force, and fight tooth and nails to be better than men.
And yet, they seem to be completely unaware, that woman already as wives and mothers in a major way had tremendous power to shape a nation.
Yes, they are 'shaping' it even now in our country, but are actually tearing it down.
Anyway these woman of Bashan seemed to want to boss their husbands almost like slaves to fetch them luxuries, and debaucheries ( like getting drunk maybe?), with no care what that might entail to the poor. Their only interest was their own pleasure.
But God gives them warning, thru Amos, that this will not always be so, a day of reckoning is coming. It will be brutal.
It seems like Amos perhaps, ultimately, sadly, tells them to keep on doing the evil they were doing, even their spiritual evils of false idols etc.
because in the end, their false 'religion or religious duties and rituals'
and lack of true love and obedience to God, is what caused this evil.
Now God explains the many trials and woes were meant to bring them to their knees and to turn back to God ( and repent)..... but they did not.
God sent famine and drought ( these are things God controls not man)
Even the seemingly capriciousness of rain in some places but not another is in God's hand and certainly not man's.
I am thinking that even if by some kind of technology man were able to 'control' the weather to some degree.....he may find out, he has taken a tiger by the tail, because tho he may think he has it all figured out, he neglected to factor God in, and will perhaps discover he is way worse off for his foolish meddling.
No doubt like then many people today will not wake up and smell the truth that God is calling them, because people today, as people then, will in pride refuse. Which as an aside, kind of totally refutes the new age idea that man is 'evolving' to a higher level.
God continued to bring hardships that the people might turn to Him
He sent pestilence, war ( and death or young men) so many died the smell of death was terrible, nevertheless, they remained rebellious.
The overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah was sudden and extremely violent in nature, people did not expect it and more than these 'fat cows".
However, God still had mercy on some by saving them as "a brand plucked out of the burning;
but here comes the saddest part....
yet you did not return to me,”
They were not thankful, appreciative, or grateful, rather the opposite.
Tho the people were stubborn, God would continue because He is God!!!
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Post by Cindy on Jun 10, 2019 11:44:58 GMT -5
I did this yesterday but posted it on the other thread so I am moving it here.
Amos 1:1-15
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Judgment on Israel's Neighbors
2 And he said:
“The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the top of Carmel withers.”
3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,”
says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,
and it shall devour her strongholds.”
11 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity,
and his anger tore perpetually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
and it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and their king shall go into exile,
he and his princes together,”
says the Lord.
Amos was God's prophet, a shepherd from Tekos
during the reign of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam, king of Israel.
I think it is noteworthy that being a shepherd was not then or now, a position of great power, or learning ( he did not have 5 PHD's), yet God choose Amos to speak for Him and choose him as His prophet. God can use anyone, not just the rich, famous, powerful, most intellectual etc.
Amos starts by giving the judgments of Israel's neighbors, and I imagine the Israelites were eager to hear that.
Amos begins with Damascus and the people of Syria.
He tells what cruelty they have done and what God's punishment will be.... fire and they shall go into exile.
He then speaks of Gaza, chief city of the Philistines.
They sent Jews as slaves to Edom (the Jews bitter enemy).
I would think they had many many more sins, but this one really stood out in its cruelty.
And to the punishments....
Tho it seems Gaza had 'strongholds', they were nothing to God, as He sends a fire.
He includes some of the biggest cities Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron
No matter how many or how 'powerful' the people or what idols they have
when God has reached His limit of their sin then.....
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish....they shall perish.
He moves on to Tyre who delivered up a whole people to Edom.
They too will suffer by fire of it walls ( which without that defense defeat is pretty much certain).
Edom was related to Israel but had seemingly only anger which was never let go of, and thus, no pity.
I am not sure if sending a fire is always a fire ( tho it could be that too, I guess) but perhaps a way of saying God will send judgments, in any case He will do so to Edom, upon Teman and the strongholds of Bozrah.
Next the Ammonites
God said He would not revoke the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.
How horrible the sins of humans against humans......and ultimately against God.
The Judgment would come swiftly with great force like a a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
Since the doom of Damascus could well be on the horizon and could happen before the rapture, you might want to check out what the other prophets said about it: Jeremiah 49:23–27, and Isaiah 17 also tell what's going to happen to it.
When I read that chapter, I see a lot of sins that are common to us all, and that God warns us about in the NT and gives us examples of in the OT including the examples of the consequences of such sins.
Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill all its princes with him,”
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but their lies have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
5 So I will send a fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
a man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath.
10 Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for Nazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14 Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain his strength,
nor shall the mighty save his life;
15 he who handles the bow shall not stand,
and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,
nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
16 and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.
I think its safe to say, if people don't ( or did not repent) of their sins, God would punish them.....maybe the judgement did not always come immediately ( Amos was giving the warnings) but they did all come.
so now its on to Moab and apparently just killing the king of Edom did not satisfy their vengeance and unrestrained hatred, so they burned to lime the bones of the king.
And so God says they will not die in peace in their beds but in war "amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet"
But being done with the enemies of Israel, Amos now moves onto Judah
being God's chosen people did not keep them from God's judgments for their unrepentant sins.
They have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes " and the lies of the false idols etc.
so God would send a fire upon Judah.
But now on to Judah....which seems to be the longest.
God is the judge of everyone, but it seems his anger, wrath and hurt for the detestable sins of His chosen people made it worse.
The were totally lacking compassion actually selling their brethren, for frivolous items, for their selfish pleasure.
These people were profaning God's Holy name, as His people doing such heartless sins, as the ones Amos lists.
Yet God had done all manner of mercies.miracles for them...
like destroying the Amorites and rescuing them out of Egypt.
Not only that but He raised up some of their sons for prophets,
and some of their young men for Nazirites.....
but they seemingly didn't care, instead they hated the spiritual leaders God provided and treated them very harshly and silenced them.
And so God would not spare them from judgements, that neither their weapons nor physical strength would be able to stop.
Amos 3: 1-15
Israel's Guilt and Punishment
1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
God wants Israel to really hear His Word, not try to close the mouth of His prophets He sent to them.
This is against the whole family of God.
Perhaps they thought because they were His chosen children, he would not punish them for any of their sins.
God had done many miracles and mercies for them rescuing them from Egypt, but they did not appreciate it at all.
But actually being so bless did not mean they would escape punishment, perhaps because they had been so blessed, none of their iniquities would be overlooked.
It seemed like perhaps they never even ever asked for forgiveness.
They no longer could walk together because they were going different ways, which kind of reminds me of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden ( when they used to walk with God until they sinned.....and then they hid from Him).
The roar of a Lion could be a hint to escape ( for God's people.....to repent).
Traps and snares God has prepared, out of anger but also that they may be 'caught'.
A trumpet blown in a city is a warning signal of war or some calamity ( kind of like sirens for today....of severe weather or tsunami etc. ) so is this prophet giving God's people this Word.
God does not just punish without plenty of warning....the people were not innocent, they 'knew' God's law and that they were breaking it over and over.
Having been a shepherd Amos would know the fear a lion or any fierce animal would cause ( but somehow God's people choose not to fear or pay any attention....... as do many of God's people today).
Some of Israel's enemies are called to witness that Israel does not (did not) do right,.
That had to be an added rebuke.
And Israel will not escape her punishment, only a small remnant with extreme difficulty will escape.
The false worship, heresy, and idols would also be punished
Not just the poor will be punished but the rich that had both winter and summer homes and also their extravagant ivory homes.
yes, Israel thought and knew they were privileged, but they forgot (just as Christians often do) that with privilege comes responsibility! His grace is meant to change us, not to allow us to continue to live like the unsaved do!
This will help you understand the questions He asks:
“Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3)
Amos 3:3–8 The Lord posed a series of questions to show that, as some things are certain in nature, surely nothing happens in Israel that is outside His sovereignty. Certain actions have certain results! The Lord had spoken a word, and therefore the prophet was to speak, and the people were to listen with trembling. Instead, they tried to silence the prophet (cf. Amos 2:12; Amos 7:12-13). The MacArthur study Bible
“When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” (Amos 3:6)
A trumpet sounding was the signal for Israel that the city (or country) was about to be attacked. Here the Lord states outright that when a disaster comes, it's because He has caused it. Something many Christians forget as well. But then, in the next verse, God also reminds us that He will always warn His people first. Today He does that through His Word. And today still, people ignore His warnings of coming judgement and that it will start with the Lord's people. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
Finally, God summoned the Gentile nations, such as the Philistines and Egyptians, to witness His judgment. That's only fair because, as MacArthur says, if they'd condemn Israel, how much more will a righteous God?
Goody, the first part of next chapter always gets me lol
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Post by Cindy on Jun 10, 2019 11:47:41 GMT -5
Amos 4: 1-13
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities would wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and carried away your horses,
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
I almost spit out my tea!! Cows of Bashan!!
Whoa!
However I did read a commentary that explained ( my take away....not verbatim)
that they were like lazy fatten cows ( but rich and cruel). Today we might call them 'fat cats'.
Its kind of ironic, woman today want POWER, they get in the work force, and fight tooth and nails to be better than men.
And yet, they seem to be completely unaware, that woman already as wives and mothers in a major way had tremendous power to shape a nation.
Yes, they are 'shaping' it even now in our country, but are actually tearing it down.
Anyway these woman of Bashan seemed to want to boss their husbands almost like slaves to fetch them luxuries, and debaucheries ( like getting drunk maybe?), with no care what that might entail to the poor. Their only interest was their own pleasure.
But God gives them warning, thru Amos, that this will not always be so, a day of reckoning is coming. It will be brutal.
It seems like Amos perhaps, ultimately, sadly, tells them to keep on doing the evil they were doing, even their spiritual evils of false idols etc.
because in the end, their false 'religion or religious duties and rituals'
and lack of true love and obedience to God, is what caused this evil.
Now God explains the many trials and woes were meant to bring them to their knees and to turn back to God ( and repent)..... but they did not.
God sent famine and drought ( these are things God controls not man)
Even the seemingly capriciousness of rain in some places but not another is in God's hand and certainly not man's.
I am thinking that even if by some kind of technology man were able to 'control' the weather to some degree.....he may find out, he has taken a tiger by the tail, because tho he may think he has it all figured out, he neglected to factor God in, and will perhaps discover he is way worse off for his foolish meddling.
No doubt like then many people today will not wake up and smell the truth that God is calling them, because people today, as people then, will in pride refuse. Which as an aside, kind of totally refutes the new age idea that man is 'evolving' to a higher level.
God continued to bring hardships that the people might turn to Him
He sent pestilence, war ( and death or young men) so many died the smell of death was terrible, nevertheless, they remained rebellious.
The overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah was sudden and extremely violent in nature, people did not expect it and more than these 'fat cows".
However, God still had mercy on some by saving them as "a brand plucked out of the burning;
but here comes the saddest part....
yet you did not return to me,”
They were not thankful, appreciative, or grateful, rather the opposite.
Tho the people were stubborn, God would continue because He is God!!!
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Post by Cindy on Jun 11, 2019 9:46:01 GMT -5
Amos 4: 1-13
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities would wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and carried away your horses,
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
I almost spit out my tea!! Cows of Bashan!!
Whoa!
However I did read a commentary that explained ( my take away....not verbatim)
that they were like lazy fatten cows ( but rich and cruel). Today we might call them 'fat cats'.
Its kind of ironic, woman today want POWER, they get in the work force, and fight tooth and nails to be better than men.
And yet, they seem to be completely unaware, that woman already as wives and mothers in a major way had tremendous power to shape a nation.
Yes, they are 'shaping' it even now in our country, but are actually tearing it down.
Anyway these woman of Bashan seemed to want to boss their husbands almost like slaves to fetch them luxuries, and debaucheries ( like getting drunk maybe?), with no care what that might entail to the poor. Their only interest was their own pleasure.
But God gives them warning, thru Amos, that this will not always be so, a day of reckoning is coming. It will be brutal.
It seems like Amos perhaps, ultimately, sadly, tells them to keep on doing the evil they were doing, even their spiritual evils of false idols etc.
because in the end, their false 'religion or religious duties and rituals'
and lack of true love and obedience to God, is what caused this evil.
Now God explains the many trials and woes were meant to bring them to their knees and to turn back to God ( and repent)..... but they did not.
God sent famine and drought ( these are things God controls not man)
Even the seemingly capriciousness of rain in some places but not another is in God's hand and certainly not man's.
I am thinking that even if by some kind of technology man were able to 'control' the weather to some degree.....he may find out, he has taken a tiger by the tail, because tho he may think he has it all figured out, he neglected to factor God in, and will perhaps discover he is way worse off for his foolish meddling.
No doubt like then many people today will not wake up and smell the truth that God is calling them, because people today, as people then, will in pride refuse. Which as an aside, kind of totally refutes the new age idea that man is 'evolving' to a higher level.
God continued to bring hardships that the people might turn to Him
He sent pestilence, war ( and death or young men) so many died the smell of death was terrible, nevertheless, they remained rebellious.
The overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah was sudden and extremely violent in nature, people did not expect it and more than these 'fat cows".
However, God still had mercy on some by saving them as "a brand plucked out of the burning;
but here comes the saddest part....
yet you did not return to me,”
They were not thankful, appreciative, or grateful, rather the opposite.
Tho the people were stubborn, God would continue because He is God!!!
Yes, it's very sad when people don't learn from their past, from the times that God has disciplined them. But again, I see that also as true about all of us, at least before we were saved but also to some extent after we're saved. Many people today don't seem to even wonder if they might be being disciplined. Like a friend of Jennifer's recently. She's been going through some horrible trials, but at the same time doing bible studies with Jennifer. She told Jenn that she thought she should no longer sleep with her live in boyfriend and Jenn agreed. But she never stopped, and immediately she had another horrible trial hit her. Yet she didn't connect the dots then either. I don't say this to put her down, but to illustrate what I suspect many of us, including myself, have done at times, at least when we were first saved. Of course those who really aren't saved, though they say they are, don't get it at all, and that's another thing God is saying here. That the disasters and hardships He sends to get their attention don't do so. They ignore even those, or at most will use them to harden their hearts even more against Him. (Which is what we see even in the tribulation.)
Yes, God saves many of us even though we're like a burning stick snatched from a fire. He gives the example of Lot and his family as being like that. It reminds me of what we're also told to do:
“snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” (Jude 23)
Wow, the last two verses are really powerful!!! They should make the hair on the back of our necks stand up, and the hair on our arms! They should cause people to immediately ask the Lord to help them search their hearts and show them any sin they need to confess so they can get right with Him! They should also remind us that judgement always starts with God's family! ““Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4:12–13)
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 11, 2019 10:49:22 GMT -5
Amos 5: 1-17
Seek the Lord and Live
1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name;
9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you trample on the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
“In all the squares there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.]
This next part is like a funeral of a young virgin that had died.
War and captivity will leave her with only a small remnant ( about a tenth left) after near total destruction.
I am thinking Amos ( and God thru Amos) is saying to seek 'Him' ( not just do rituals by rote).
it is not that God is hiding, but rather that man is ( like in the Garden of Eden).
There is none that seek after God ( unless God intervenes) and thus they do not really live.
Yet that is God's heart for us...to seek Him, turn from our sins, be obedient and live.
They are also commanded not to go to where all their idols ( golden calves etc. etc.) are or even their false worship.
Instead, seek the True God and live or His anger, and judgement will be as bitter as wormwood.
They did not seem to acknowledge that God is the Creator of the Universe ( why would they worship a stone or do some ritual etc.) when God is beyond our understanding.
His power is also unlimited.
His mercies and miracles are always in view, it is God who controls nature and the universe.
But sadly they hated the truth....and instead oppressed the poor
and so though they built beautiful houses, they would not live in them, nor reap from the planting vineyards.
God knows their sins so their punishments are not just random.
When Amos said it is an evil time, I could not help but think, so is it now, in our time.
But I am not sure fully why Amos says this:
"Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time".
If he means because God's judgments are just, then I get that for sure, ( even Jesus stayed silent because since He was taking all the believer's sins, God was justified in the punishment Jesus was to bear.....
But I am not sure that is the only meaning?
Amos reiterates: "Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;"
and adds:
"so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you"
They were to :
"Hate evil, and love good"
Something they had NOT been doing
Oh as you pointed out.....these are not just sins of Israel.....these are sins of all of us.
We are ALL sinners ( however, some people are saved, born again....but still sinners saved by grace)
Nevertheless, the judgment was coming and they would sorely grieve.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 12, 2019 10:13:57 GMT -5
Amos 5: 1-17
Seek the Lord and Live
1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name;
9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you trample on the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
“In all the squares there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.]
This next part is like a funeral of a young virgin that had died.
War and captivity will leave her with only a small remnant ( about a tenth left) after near total destruction.
I am thinking Amos ( and God thru Amos) is saying to seek 'Him' ( not just do rituals by rote).
it is not that God is hiding, but rather that man is ( like in the Garden of Eden).
There is none that seek after God ( unless God intervenes) and thus they do not really live.
Yet that is God's heart for us...to seek Him, turn from our sins, be obedient and live.
They are also commanded not to go to where all their idols ( golden calves etc. etc.) are or even their false worship.
Instead, seek the True God and live or His anger, and judgement will be as bitter as wormwood.
They did not seem to acknowledge that God is the Creator of the Universe ( why would they worship a stone or do some ritual etc.) when God is beyond our understanding.
His power is also unlimited.
His mercies and miracles are always in view, it is God who controls nature and the universe.
But sadly they hated the truth....and instead oppressed the poor
and so though they built beautiful houses, they would not live in them, nor reap from the planting vineyards.
God knows their sins so their punishments are not just random.
When Amos said it is an evil time, I could not help but think, so is it now, in our time.
But I am not sure fully why Amos says this:
"Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time".
If he means because God's judgments are just, then I get that for sure, ( even Jesus stayed silent because since He was taking all the believer's sins, God was justified in the punishment Jesus was to bear.....
But I am not sure that is the only meaning?
Amos reiterates: "Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;"
and adds:
"so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you"
They were to :
"Hate evil, and love good"
Something they had NOT been doing
Oh as you pointed out.....these are not just sins of Israel.....these are sins of all of us.
We are ALL sinners ( however, some people are saved, born again....but still sinners saved by grace)
Nevertheless, the judgment was coming and they would sorely grieve.
While it's true that God always has a remnant, this is prophecy and means what it says: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong for Israel will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.”” (Amos 5:3) In other words, 90% of the people will die. This was fulfilled when Sargon II of Assyria destroyed the cities of Israel (c. 722 a.d.), bringing an end to the Israelite kingdom (2 Kin. 17:5–6). Most of the survivors were deported to Assyria, while Israel was repopulated with outsiders. God speaks of it in Jeremiah too: “I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them.”” (Jeremiah 9:16) God actually warned them about this way back in Deuteronomy: “Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.” (Deuteronomy 28:64) Yet they didn't listen. However, it was this scattering that brought "the Samaritans" into being.
This is kind of scary and easily describes people today: “You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground” (Amos 5:7) The ESV translates it this way: “O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!” MacArthur says, Wormwood was an herb known for it's bitter taste. This commentary did a good job explaining it: Prophet after prophet reminds Israel that one can only live in fellowship with God by doing justice in his or her relationships with others (cf. Isa. 58:2–10; Jer. 22:15–17). As these passages and others point out, doing justice means more than refraining from harming another. It requires an individual and the nation to take active initiative to “do away with the yoke of oppression” and to “satisfy the needs of the oppressed.” When God asks us if we were committed to doing justice, it will not be enough to reply, “Lord, I did not wrong another person.” We must be able to say we “defended the cause of the poor and needy.” The Bible reader’s companion
In verse 8, where God speaks of creating the stars, He says that because Israel at that time had been worshiping the stars instead of Him. Jeremiah is more explicit about this: “They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground.” (Jeremiah 8:2)
“Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.” (Amos 5:13) Did you notice that this verse is in the news feed at the top of the board, after 1 Peter 4:7–8? This commentary explained it well:
shall keep quiet—not mere silence of tongue, but the prudent shall keep himself quiet from taking part in any public or private affairs which he can avoid: as it is “an evil time,” and one in which all law is set at naught. Eph 5:16 “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” refers to this. Instead of impatiently agitating against irremediable evils, the godly wise will not cast pearls before swine, who would trample these, and rend the offerers (Mt 7:6), but will patiently wait for God’s time of deliverance in silent submission (Ps 39:9). “I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.” (Psalm 39:9)
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The reason I'm showing you the commentaries is so you'll know that what's said isn't just my idea, but has been explained this way for many years by scriptural teachers and pastors. So what this is saying is that we shouldn't get all worked up over the evils being done today, or try to make others agree with us that these things are evil and that what we say is good, because their hearts are hardened and they won't ever agree with us. Of course that's speaking about the vast majority of people, not the occasional person who comes and actually asks us to help them understand what we believe about this or that, and why. For those who show a true interest in the truth, which are those who don't spend their time arguing against the truth, it's fine to explain the gospel and why these things are happening now. That's what Eph 5:16 is speaking about. We have to discern who is worthy of the great pearls of truth we have to offer. This verse in Amos is saying though, that rather than getting worked up about the evil that's happening, or who's president or who should be or shouldn't be, or anything else, we should be simply acknowledging to ourselves that all these things are in God's hand and He is in complete control. It does no good for us to get all riled up about any of it, for as the Lord tells us, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:8–9) I lov3:14-18e Psalm 37 because of this, so whenever I begin to get upset about the goings on of today, I read this psalm; for the whole psalm is all about these two verses. The NT puts it this way: “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:20) Both Old and New Testament verses show us that we shouldn't allow ourselves to get all riled up about the evil that's going on today. When we do, then we're actually adding to the evil instead of being righteous like the Lord wants us to be. Now that's a scary one to chew on, isn't it? This is again why God says not to get involved with conspiracy theories. Not because they're not true, but because they generate anger and fear, both in the one reading or hearing about them and the one telling about them. Both anger and fear are sins against God because both emotions show a lack of trust in His love for us and in His sovereignty. Job shows us that getting angry about this only hurts ourselves: “You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?” (Job 18:4) It's saying in other words, that our anger is tearing us apart, and that "in our anger, do we expect God to do things our way, as though we know better then He does?"
Immediately after telling us to keep quiet about the evil, God says, “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.” (Amos 5:14) This is very important, especially for us today as we can apply these verses to our lives. (I mean verse 13 and 14) When we constantly read or listen to the news (evil reports) and conspiracy theories, and other things that show us the evil that's going on now, what we're actually doing is "seeking evil". We're looking for it, and inputting that evil into our minds. That's one thing we're to guard against doing! Remember: “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7) We need to input good to have righteousness within us. The Lord gives us two beautiful verses to show us what kind of things we should be seeking to put into our minds. (well, there's also a bunch of verses that tell us the major thing we should input is His Word!) “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17) The phrase about good fruit reminds us of Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23)
If what we're reading of listening to causes us to think and feel the things in this verse, then it's something we should be putting in our mind. And of course you're familiar with the other one: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) Sadly, we don't find any of the things from any of these verses in reports or conversations about the president, politics, conspiracy theories, etc. So anyway, the Lord wants us to be looking for good things to put in our minds, not negative things. This would include about other people we know, family, etc. as well as world events, politicians etc.
He isn't saying that we should be ignorant about what's going on in the world. Not at all. But we don't have to seek it out. For example, I can listen or read the news once a week and get a good idea of what's going on; and honestly, even only listening to it that often it's pretty much all the same stuff, only occasionally with a new face on it. I certainly don't have to read or listen to everything I can find about it in order to know what's going on. Besides that, God told us what was going to happen and what the world would be like and what the people would be like during this time. The news only confirms those things. So why should I constantly listen or read about something I'm already aware of. Knowing all the juicy details is only going to put more evil in my mind, it's certainly not going to help me in any way. See what I mean? By the way, using myself as an example, I didn't mean that no one should watch or read the news more then once a week, lol. That's just how I deal with it. (In fact, sometimes I don't watch it for several weeks!) I figure the world is going to get along just fine without me knowing every little dirty detail.
I've even begun to feel that way about all the false teaching. While we certainly have to be discerning, I've realized that there's no way I can warn everyone about every single false teacher. Plus, I've also realized that I'm perfectly capable of watching a "Christian movie", seeing the errors, and yet still enjoy the movie! Because I know the Truth, I can actually make the movie mean more to me by remembering the truth that they're not speaking in it. So should I warn others not to watch it? I don't think so. Not unless they ask me anyway. God wants us each to be discerning. So while it's my job in a sense to warn "newbies" especially, (baby Christians), it's really up to each person to know the Truth so well that they can easily discern the errors for themselves. I guess I've just begun to trust the Holy Spirit a whole lot more, because I know He will warn every person that's truly saved about any false teacher or false teaching that they may have inadvertently gotten into. While He can and does at times use people like me to warn them, my job isn't to warn everyone, but to wait on Him, and warn those He tells me to, when He tells me to. So that's what I've been trying to do more lately.
Anyway, the next verse, Amos 5:15, then tells us to hate evil and love good. What do you do when you hate someone? Do you seek them out? No, you avoid them as much as possible! If you hate a certain food, you certainly don't eat it constantly, you avoid it. If you love someone, then you seek them out and spend as much time as you possibly can with them. If you love a food, you eat it as much as you can. Etc. The same goes for evil and good. If we hate evil, we will avoid it. If we love good, we will spend as much time around it as possible; reading about it, listening about it, etc. Sadly, Amos 5:13–15 is something most of us need to work on a great deal! Lest we think that these three verses are the only places God tells us these things, we need to think again, because they're repeated all through the old and new testament!
Yes, we should work hard on those things too because judgment is surely coming and it always begins with the family of God!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 12, 2019 18:57:07 GMT -5
Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
19 as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,
27 and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
I am not sure if these were scoffers or Jews who were so proud ( tho in so much sin)
they either did not think the Lord's day would come, so said "bring it on" ( sort of LOL)
or they were thinking because they were God's chosen people, that no matter their sins, it was going to be great.
Amos tells them, it will not be good!
Amos gives some examples of foolish people feeling 'safe' and sort of sleep walking into danger by not being aware or caring and danger bites them.
God hated their 'worship' because it was not really real or not really for Him.
They kept the love in their hearts for pagan worship of demonic idols ( not just them, but men throughout time).
They did these things by rote, hoping it would make God bless them.
In a way, it was like Adam and Eve hiding hoping their sins would not be found out by God.
If your heart is not right, your songs to God are just so much noise.
He mentions harps....I am thinking that the instrument itself is more or less neutral.
And many if not most Christian churches ( or does) has many types of instruments.
I am not arguing that is wrong. But I have always wondered a bit about their use because today there are 'Christian' bands, and Christian rappers etc. etc.
Even that many be ok
but I often see videos where if I did not know it was a 'Christian' concert
I would think it was any rock band or rappers
If I could not hear the words being sung.....just the outfits worn by the 'Christian' group singers and instrument players, they way the musicians prance about, the way the audience of young people act.....I could absolutely not know it was Christian.....unless, they maybe showed a close-up of some crosses being worn, but many secular rock groups sometimes wear crosses just for decoration.
I understand that even tho all that might be true.....they still could truly Love Jesus and be worshiping Him with all their hearts minds souls etc.
It just is a little worrisome that even a Christian could not tell the difference, since they look , act and in many ways sound just like unbelievers.
I guess the thing I fear, is some will get the idea, you don't have to change anything in your life......" JUST ADD Jesus"
You can go to rock concerts but it will be about Jesus, you can wear whatever the latest sexy styles are, you are too worried about sin or doing good works that God wants you to do after you are born again etc. etc.
it may buzz a bit in the back of my mind, because I have always been 'moved' by music and I do believe basically any music can be a true worship of God....but it could also be like God is saying about how these Jews 'worship' but it really was not about God....but more about self.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 12, 2019 19:02:43 GMT -5
I already have slowed way down with the 'news etc.
It's interesting you should say it often is the same stuff with maybe different names. I have been noticing that also.
But you post was a good 'push' :-) in continuing to pull away maybe once a month, would be better, I am thinking.....unless something truly radical happens
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 13, 2019 10:37:28 GMT -5
Amos 6:1-14
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
the notable men of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over to Calneh, and see,
and from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 O you who put far away the day of disaster
and bring near the seat of violence?
4 “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the midst of the stall,
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
6 who drink wine in bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
10 And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, the Lord commands,
and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.”
Now we get 'Woes'......never a good thing.
I don't think this ( the woes) is because they rest
or
even in a way,
it's not even because they are rich....
I think it has more to do with their whole attitude.
They are totally self-centered and don't care about anyone suffering.
It's also how they gained their wealth, by abusing the poor.
It is also their excesses...and they have become lazy, filled with pride, extremely sinful in the luxuries etc. and have kicked the true God out of their lives.
Their ease ( often won by extreme cruelty) kept them from being concerned about their eternal life.
Their security was false.
This is something so close to our own lives now...
we have lots of 'stuff',
and it has a way of often keeping us from thinking about our future...our eternal future.
So Amos tells them to look at other thriving pagan cities who may have been conquered and/or in ruin...
they were mostly likely, not any more evil than these Jews, sad to say
( nor anymore evil than most people today).
Instead they shut their eyes and minds from judgment sure to come ( like most people today do).
He details some of their excesses like lying on beds of Ivory, eating the tastiest morsels of lamb and calves , singing idle songs ( that reminds me of today for sure because most rock and rap music is not to praise God), drinking to excess out of the biggest bowls etc.
Even then, it was not so much that they did these things, but had no pity in their hearts for others.
Since they made themselves number one in everything, they would be the first for judgment also.
God was not going to give a mild rebuke, it would be heavy, severe and devastating....consuming whole families.
Even the name of God, did would not bring them peace ( but then, they had thrown Him far away long before).
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 14, 2019 9:17:50 GMT -5
Amos 7: 1-9
Warning Visions
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
3 The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
5 Then I said,
“O Lord God, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
6 The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
I see in this passage that God in His great love and mercy postponed or delayed judgments and punishments, giving the Jews yet more time to turn from, repent from their sins
( He does that often for many people today also)......
but
eventually,
if they ( or we)
did not or do not turn,
then
judgment is inevitable.
In the first vision, it seems like the King gets the 1 st cutting, and the people the 2nd.
However, God prepared locusts that would eat it all and thus severe famine would be the result.
But Amos prays to the Lord on behalf of Jacob and asks God to forgive them, and God in His kindness, relents as a result .......or rather, He suspended for a time his vengeance.
But the people did not turn or repent, and God shows Amos in a 2nd vision of fire judgement.
Yet again Amos prays begging God to cease and God once more does.
However, now God shows Amos a different vision: A wall and a plumb line....by this God is measuring the sins, and righteousness of His people, and they have failed and are not true, and He will not spare them any longer, but rather the judgments and punishments will come.
This is a lesson to all people. God is kind, loving and very patient, but if people wax worse and worse, there does come a time, when He must punish.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 14, 2019 12:16:31 GMT -5
Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
19 as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,
27 and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
I am not sure if these were scoffers or Jews who were so proud ( tho in so much sin)
they either did not think the Lord's day would come, so said "bring it on" ( sort of LOL)
or they were thinking because they were God's chosen people, that no matter their sins, it was going to be great.
Amos tells them, it will not be good!
Amos gives some examples of foolish people feeling 'safe' and sort of sleep walking into danger by not being aware or caring and danger bites them.
God hated their 'worship' because it was not really real or not really for Him.
They kept the love in their hearts for pagan worship of demonic idols ( not just them, but men throughout time).
They did these things by rote, hoping it would make God bless them.
In a way, it was like Adam and Eve hiding hoping their sins would not be found out by God.
If your heart is not right, your songs to God are just so much noise.
He mentions harps....I am thinking that the instrument itself is more or less neutral.
And many if not most Christian churches ( or does) has many types of instruments.
I am not arguing that is wrong. But I have always wondered a bit about their use because today there are 'Christian' bands, and Christian rappers etc. etc.
Even that many be ok
but I often see videos where if I did not know it was a 'Christian' concert
I would think it was any rock band or rappers
If I could not hear the words being sung.....just the outfits worn by the 'Christian' group singers and instrument players, they way the musicians prance about, the way the audience of young people act.....I could absolutely not know it was Christian.....unless, they maybe showed a close-up of some crosses being worn, but many secular rock groups sometimes wear crosses just for decoration.
I understand that even tho all that might be true.....they still could truly Love Jesus and be worshiping Him with all their hearts minds souls etc.
It just is a little worrisome that even a Christian could not tell the difference, since they look , act and in many ways sound just like unbelievers.
I guess the thing I fear, is some will get the idea, you don't have to change anything in your life......" JUST ADD Jesus"
You can go to rock concerts but it will be about Jesus, you can wear whatever the latest sexy styles are, you are too worried about sin or doing good works that God wants you to do after you are born again etc. etc.
it may buzz a bit in the back of my mind, because I have always been 'moved' by music and I do believe basically any music can be a true worship of God....but it could also be like God is saying about how these Jews 'worship' but it really was not about God....but more about self.
Yes, anytime people went to worship God, or today, go to church, for the wrong reasons - like so others will notice their new or beautiful clothes, or their body, or for men often it's simply to be noticed for business reasons, or for children and teens, because they "have to"; for others it's to make themselves look good in the eyes of someone or some group they want to impress with the idea that they're really a good moral person (when they're not) and I'm sure there's many more "wrong" reasons people go to church; God notices that, because He looks at our hearts and He hates it when we do that. He wants us to be there to be with Him, to worship Him, praise Him and learn more from His Word, and especially to pray. I liked your examples too!
I know what you mean about the various kinds of Christian music that's around today. Personally, I suspect that IF the words are true according to God's Word, and the people singing them are in truth worshiping God, then He would accept it. But today, those are two BIG IF's, and often the words don't represent God or His Word accurately and the band and or congregation is really worshiping themselves. But, let's say some christian rapper really has accurately represented God in their songs, and is really worshiping Him; in that case God would accept it, but some people in the congregation may hate the style of music so much that they couldn't worship God that way even though they'd tried. (that would be me in this case.) That person would sadly have to find a different church to attend if they couldn't get comfortable worshiping God that way. Hopefully the person would realize that there was nothing wrong with the church they were leaving, and that it was only a question of them being comfortable with that style. The same would be true for any other style of Christian music and worship. God doesn't care about what instruments are used, or what the beat of the music is, or how it's arranged, or even if there's any music at all! He doesn't care if everyone sings acapella, or if they chant instead or even if they don't sing at all. He only cares about what's in their hearts, and if their heart is worshiping Him, then that pleases Him. He does care though about anything misrepresenting Him or His Word, whether it's in a song or a sermon or something else.
If someone looks, acts, and sounds like an unbeliever, they most likely are. It goes with that very true saying, "if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it's a duck."  Just because a song is about Jesus, doesn't mean the person singing it is a Christian, anymore then someone having Christian on their facebook page or a legal document makes them a Christian. That's why Jesus said that there would be some who call him "Lord" that He will say "I never knew you" to.
I love music too, and always have; both playing it on the piano, and singing. I'm just careful now to only listen to songs that honor God; songs that speak the truth about Him. They always move me to tears!
I already have slowed way down with the 'news etc.
It's interesting you should say it often is the same stuff with maybe different names. I have been noticing that also.
But you post was a good 'push' :-) in continuing to pull away maybe once a month, would be better, I am thinking.....unless something truly radical happens
I know many people think that Satan is behind things like that and while he most certainly can and does use everything, I don't think he's necessarily behind the inventions. If so, then we'd have to say he was behind the invention of the telephone, electricity, the telegraph, radio and TV and so on. Like I said, he absolutely does use those things, as he uses everything that's ever been or ever will be invented. But it doesn't make the inventions themselves bad. I remember a very long time ago when my children were in elementary school, one of them asked me about it. In trying to explain it to them I used the Bible as an example and told them even the Bible could be used by Satan because I could pick up a big one and hit someone over the head with it and kill them. (They weren't old enough yet to understand about false teaching lol, but that example worked).
Oops, I didn't finish it... I meant to conclude by saying that obviously the Bible isn't evil, yet Satan can and does use it, just as he uses everything else in this world. People get all uptight whenever something is mentioned that might be used by the antichrist, like microchips and the RF tags, yet there are some very good uses for those, so they aren't at all evil, and it's not evil to use them for good. However, even if the antichrist does use that, again, it won't affect us, and by telling others that he will do so, we again could cause great harm because we can't know for sure.
Sorry, I was going to say that I don't know what set me off on this again, but I do...it was seeing what Steve wrote and then what you said about the news reminded me of it. 
Amos 6:1-14
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
the notable men of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over to Calneh, and see,
and from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 O you who put far away the day of disaster
and bring near the seat of violence?
4 “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the midst of the stall,
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
6 who drink wine in bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
10 And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, the Lord commands,
and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.”
Now we get 'Woes'......never a good thing.
I don't think this ( the woes) is because they rest
or
even in a way,
it's not even because they are rich....
I think it has more to do with their whole attitude.
They are totally self-centered and don't care about anyone suffering.
It's also how they gained their wealth, by abusing the poor.
It is also their excesses...and they have become lazy, filled with pride, extremely sinful in the luxuries etc. and have kicked the true God out of their lives.
Their ease ( often won by extreme cruelty) kept them from being concerned about their eternal life.
Their security was false.
This is something so close to our own lives now...
we have lots of 'stuff',
and it has a way of often keeping us from thinking about our future...our eternal future.
So Amos tells them to look at other thriving pagan cities who may have been conquered and/or in ruin...
they were mostly likely, not any more evil than these Jews, sad to say
( nor anymore evil than most people today).
Instead they shut their eyes and minds from judgment sure to come ( like most people today do).
He details some of their excesses like lying on beds of Ivory, eating the tastiest morsels of lamb and calves , singing idle songs ( that reminds me of today for sure because most rock and rap music is not to praise God), drinking to excess out of the biggest bowls etc.
Even then, it was not so much that they did these things, but had no pity in their hearts for others.
Since they made themselves number one in everything, they would be the first for judgment also.
God was not going to give a mild rebuke, it would be heavy, severe and devastating....consuming whole families.
Even the name of God, did would not bring them peace ( but then, they had thrown Him far away long before).
Amos 7: 1-9
Warning Visions
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
3 The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
5 Then I said,
“O Lord God, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
6 The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
I see in this passage that God in His great love and mercy postponed or delayed judgments and punishments, giving the Jews yet more time to turn from, repent from their sins
( He does that often for many people today also)......
but
eventually,
if they ( or we)
did not or do not turn,
then
judgment is inevitable.
In the first vision, it seems like the King gets the 1 st cutting, and the people the 2nd.
However, God prepared locusts that would eat it all and thus severe famine would be the result.
But Amos prays to the Lord on behalf of Jacob and asks God to forgive them, and God in His kindness, relents as a result .......or rather, He suspended for a time his vengeance.
But the people did not turn or repent, and God shows Amos in a 2nd vision of fire judgement.
Yet again Amos prays begging God to cease and God once more does.
However, now God shows Amos a different vision: A wall and a plumb line....by this God is measuring the sins, and righteousness of His people, and they have failed and are not true, and He will not spare them any longer, but rather the judgments and punishments will come.
This is a lesson to all people. God is kind, loving and very patient, but if people wax worse and worse, there does come a time, when He must punish.
I think one of the things that we often fail to realize is that if we sin, or maybe I should say "when we sin", we will get "worse and worse". That always happens until we confess our sin and repent of it. That alone will turn the tide and stop the progression of sin, because it will always continue to spread until we do that. That's the problem unbelievers face because they have nothing to stop sins progression in their lives. Therefore it's going to continue to grow and spread until it destroys their life or destroys them. Knowing that should make us pity unbelievers even more and realize even more that quite literally, "there but for the grace of God, go I!"
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 15, 2019 13:06:43 GMT -5
Amos 7: 10-17
Amos Accused
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
Amaziah the priest of Bethel tries to scare Amos from Prophesying and to get Amos to leave altogether.
Amos related how Amaziah sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, all manner of negative things about Amos.
Clearly the priest and the people were highly offended, they did not wish to hear the truth.
So one plan was to get the king to see Amos as a dangerous treasonous traitor and rebel, and that could not be tolerated.
Amos did say God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. I don't think that specifically meant this King would die by the sword, but surely his offspring would.
It struck me as kind of funny because Amaziah kind of says: Go away!!! LOL
I don't know why that seemed funny to me, I guess it reminded me of Hossanah when she was little and we said something or asked her to do something she did not like and she would say: Go Away. haha
It's like Amaziah just wanted to pass the buck to Judah and then he could say:
He's not my problem man, any more! He also tries intimidation, false kindness anything to be rid of this thorn in his side.
Then Amos answers Amaziah and explains his unique calling by God for him to be a prophet.
And so Amos must obey God and not men.
Why such a harsh judgment on Amaziah? Because he wished to stop the chosen prophet of God, and basically muzzle God. He was the true rebel and traitor against God.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 16, 2019 11:13:52 GMT -5
Amos 8:1-14
The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
“The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on every waist
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
13 “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
shall faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”
When I first read a basket of summer fruit, I was thinking blessings.
The fruit is ripe and ready to eat....
Well...
ripe, yes, but not in a good way....
Because God goes on to say:
"The end has come upon my people Israel"
Their sins were not only ripe for judgment, I guess you might say the fruit was really rotten inside, spoiled and good for nothing.
God's long suffering, patience and mercy had come to His end and now would come severe judgments.
This is not just a warning for those Jews at that time, but for all people at any time.
God is patient, loving, long suffering, but not forever will He put up with evil, if people do not repent and turn from sin, a day will come.....
Then God goes into more detail of their sins, How they trampled the poor ( but even so the poor were sinful as well, people can be in humble poor circumstances but not humble or worshiping God.
The merchants could not wait for the Sabbath to be over so they could go back to making by deceit of false weights, and sell people into slavery for some sandals etc. etc.
People may sin and for some, for a short while it might bother their conscience a wee bit, but then, a day or two passes and its forgotten, but God does not forget ( unless Jesus has paid for the believer's sins).
so He says He will not forget all the sins listed here ( and I am thinking this is maybe not a complete list even).
They thought because their were God's chosen that they could do whatever and be safe, totally missing the fact God hates sin.
I am not sure if the Nile refers to God's vengeance will overflow and flood them all or that their sin has done so?
But for sure the day of vengeance is coming.
God who created everything also can make the sun go down at noon, if He so commands ( or it could be an eclipse....but no matter, it won't be pretty, it will be dramatic, sad, horrifying, unexpected.
God is going to send a famine....but this is a most unusual one...they will not have God's word ( nor His prophets I am thinking, they certainly did not want Amos, and so they will get their desire, but then they will finally view it as a true famine, They will search for it as necessary food for life but will not be able to find it...and they shall die without it.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 17, 2019 10:59:30 GMT -5
Amos 9: 1-10
The Destruction of Israel
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:
“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 “If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
God standing beside the alter makes it clear there is nowhere to hide from the judgments coming.
These were the only chosen people and in some or even most cases they were worse than the pagans, certainly they did not live lives to give God the glory.
God thru Amos gives various places they might try to hide from the punishment but there is nowhere to hide from God.
Neither places on earth, under the earth, in the seas, in Hell, in Heaven etc. there is nowhere proud, boastful, uncaring, self-centered, self-serving, God hating sinner can go to hide, when God's appointed time for judgments come.
God not only created everything, He is in control, so that He can cause earthquakes, and floods.
I am sure there will be scoffers who think such a statement could only be made by someone of low intelligence with no understanding of plate tectonic theory, geological faults, volcanic activity and so on, or flooding is caused purely by heavy rainfall and so on....
So be it......
I believe in God and what God's word says!!!
When it says God builds upper chambers in Heaven....I am thinking that even heaven was created by God and so he 'constructed, designed, it the way He choose.
It is beyond my comprehension that God is outside of time
( He created 'time' and set it going, as He did the physical universe and Heaven). ...
In fact ( tho not really having to do with Amos,
I am equally unable to fathom Jesus dying and paying 'eternity' for millions, or more likely billions of people sins
( which for each saved born again individual ( if not for Jesus)
would have been an eternity in Hell ...for ever and ever and ever).
But then, only God could do that...
and I guess perhaps in some way, because 'time' is something the Lord 'created', and since He is also infinite, all powerful, all knowing etc. such is possible with Him!!
God points out the great miracles He did for them ( they should have been grateful and loving Him) but instead they became like the pagans, like the Cushites, the Philistines, the Syrians etc.
It makes me think of our country and how much God has blessed us, but what our response has been.
Nevertheless God says that he will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.
And yet the people foolishly say: say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us......
I am afraid that is what some in our country think ( tho maybe not so much any more).
But God says to the people that All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 17, 2019 11:09:26 GMT -5
Amos 7: 10-17
Amos Accused
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
Amaziah the priest of Bethel tries to scare Amos from Prophesying and to get Amos to leave altogether.
Amos related how Amaziah sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, all manner of negative things about Amos.
Clearly the priest and the people were highly offended, they did not wish to hear the truth.
So one plan was to get the king to see Amos as a dangerous treasonous traitor and rebel, and that could not be tolerated.
Amos did say God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. I don't think that specifically meant this King would die by the sword, but surely his offspring would.
It struck me as kind of funny because Amaziah kind of says: Go away!!! LOL
I don't know why that seemed funny to me, I guess it reminded me of Hossanah when she was little and we said something or asked her to do something she did not like and she would say: Go Away. haha
It's like Amaziah just wanted to pass the buck to Judah and then he could say:
He's not my problem man, any more! He also tries intimidation, false kindness anything to be rid of this thorn in his side.
Then Amos answers Amaziah and explains his unique calling by God for him to be a prophet.
And so Amos must obey God and not men.
Why such a harsh judgment on Amaziah? Because he wished to stop the chosen prophet of God, and basically muzzle God. He was the true rebel and traitor against God.
Amos 8:1-14
The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
“The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on every waist
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
13 “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
shall faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”
When I first read a basket of summer fruit, I was thinking blessings.
The fruit is ripe and ready to eat....
Well...
ripe, yes, but not in a good way....
Because God goes on to say:
"The end has come upon my people Israel"
Their sins were not only ripe for judgment, I guess you might say the fruit was really rotten inside, spoiled and good for nothing.
God's long suffering, patience and mercy had come to His end and now would come severe judgments.
This is not just a warning for those Jews at that time, but for all people at any time.
God is patient, loving, long suffering, but not forever will He put up with evil, if people do not repent and turn from sin, a day will come.....
Then God goes into more detail of their sins, How they trampled the poor ( but even so the poor were sinful as well, people can be in humble poor circumstances but not humble or worshiping God.
The merchants could not wait for the Sabbath to be over so they could go back to making by deceit of false weights, and sell people into slavery for some sandals etc. etc.
People may sin and for some, for a short while it might bother their conscience a wee bit, but then, a day or two passes and its forgotten, but God does not forget ( unless Jesus has paid for the believer's sins).
so He says He will not forget all the sins listed here ( and I am thinking this is maybe not a complete list even).
They thought because their were God's chosen that they could do whatever and be safe, totally missing the fact God hates sin.
I am not sure if the Nile refers to God's vengeance will overflow and flood them all or that their sin has done so?
But for sure the day of vengeance is coming.
God who created everything also can make the sun go down at noon, if He so commands ( or it could be an eclipse....but no matter, it won't be pretty, it will be dramatic, sad, horrifying, unexpected.
God is going to send a famine....but this is a most unusual one...they will not have God's word ( nor His prophets I am thinking, they certainly did not want Amos, and so they will get their desire, but then they will finally view it as a true famine, They will search for it as necessary food for life but will not be able to find it...and they shall die without it.
And the famine of God's Word came about as He said it would. When they were in captivity, they wanted to hear from God about when it would end, but He didn't answer by prophets, dreams or the Urim and Thummim.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 18, 2019 10:02:00 GMT -5
I hope you're OK. It looks like you didn't post yesterday or today so far anyway. We have to go to another doctor appointment so I can't wait long today. Sorry.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 18, 2019 11:00:00 GMT -5
Amos 9:11-15
The Restoration of Israel
11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name",
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
The judgments were so severe ( yet of course warranted) and without escape, that absolute total despair could only be the outcome for any....
so now God gives some comfort.
Their dispersal will not be forever, nor the desolation, decay and ruin.
I am not sure about this ( so correct me if I am wrong) but I 'think'
there are some
who think God's millennial Kingdom is right now....
and maybe because the Jews are in fact back in Israel and are prospering.....
But ( here is my speculation) I have noticed the Bible often has 2 parts to some prophecies.
And tho the Jews are back in the land and prospering,
all that will drastically change in the tribulation
( the anti-Christ will kill 2/3 of the Jews, and the remaining 3rd will head to the desert for a place of safety God has provided for them ( maybe Petra?)
Anyway, this prophecy won't really be fulfilled until Jesus reigning in the 1000 year millennium to come after the 7 tribulation.
In any case they will be back in the land and everything will be restored.
The ground will even be super fruitful and abundant blessings will just flow.
David's throne restored
They would be in the land God had promised them and would never again be moved from it.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 18, 2019 11:23:14 GMT -5
Oh no....I did post yesterday....but it is not showing up???
And I just posted now for today, so prayerfully it will show up.
I don't know if you want me to go back and redo yesterdays or just take my word that I did it ( as I recall, it was kind of long.
But for now, I will go on tomorrow to Obadiah.
The only thing I can think of is maybe I 'thought' I had hit post and then closed the window ( only had not actually posted it....maybe was distracted by any number of things?)
But that would be weird because, I now 'set' up for the next day ( put the scripture in and colors etc.
and then leave that window up for the next day ( and thus never close this window any more...soooo????
The only other option is.....
tho I always now leave 'this' window open,
I sometimes open a 2nd FH window,
so I can look at the other things like chat etc. and then,
I do close that 2nd window when done
( but....... if not paying close attention
I could accidentally close the wrong one...
However, I don't remember looking at chat etc. yesterday,
tho it is possible.
Another mystery sigh!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 19, 2019 10:09:50 GMT -5
Obadiah 1: 1-9
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
you have no understanding.
8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Obadiah hears from the Lord God, in a vision, concerning Edom.
Again, I see that God is in control, and tho He will use people and nations, it is worked out according to His will.
In this case, God calls the nations surrounding Edom, to war against Edom, they will utterly despise Edom.
Pride was one of their main sins ( which reminds me of satan).
I didn't realize that Petra was where Edom was...
and it gave them a false sense of secure and unconquerable.
But they have put their faith in an untruth and when they are conquered, nothing will be left....it will be total and complete devastation.
They are actually being deceived, lied to, and a trap is being set but they are so foolish in their pride they are unaware of the danger which will wipe them off the earth and none will be left.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 19, 2019 10:43:57 GMT -5
This is going to read like I did it the day before, but I only set up the colors etc.
Sometimes I 'post' just to see the colors ( and wait until the next day to actually study).
Since I already did the Bible study for each day...when I am done, I set up the scripture passage for the following day ( take out any letters etc. within the passage, as it will change the colors or font etc.)
Obadiah: 10-14
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.]
Edom's Violence Against Jacob is looked at now.
They refused to aid Jacob and in fact it seems they they threw their lot in with Jacob's enemies and cast lots for the spoils.
They were without pity, or compassion, but had evil hatred in their hearts.
Not only that but they gloated over the misery of Jacob.
In fact, that is one of the 8
"Do not"
that follow.
Not to rejoice, or gloat, boast, steal what was theirs, and cut of their way of escape are some of them.
That is so sad.....people do these things, have such hard hearts it almost impossible to understand. And yet, there but for the grace of God would go I.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 19, 2019 11:24:11 GMT -5
Amos 9: 1-10
The Destruction of Israel
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:
“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 “If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
God standing beside the alter makes it clear there is nowhere to hide from the judgments coming.
These were the only chosen people and in some or even most cases they were worse than the pagans, certainly they did not live lives to give God the glory.
God thru Amos gives various places they might try to hide from the punishment but there is nowhere to hide from God.
Neither places on earth, under the earth, in the seas, in Hell, in Heaven etc. there is nowhere proud, boastful, uncaring, self-centered, self-serving, God hating sinner can go to hide, when God's appointed time for judgments come.
God not only created everything, He is in control, so that He can cause earthquakes, and floods.
I am sure there will be scoffers who think such a statement could only be made by someone of low intelligence with no understanding of plate tectonic theory, geological faults, volcanic activity and so on, or flooding is caused purely by heavy rainfall and so on....
So be it......
I believe in God and what God's word says!!!
When it says God builds upper chambers in Heaven....I am thinking that even heaven was created by God and so he 'constructed, designed, it the way He choose.
It is beyond my comprehension that God is outside of time
( He created 'time' and set it going, as He did the physical universe and Heaven). ...
In fact ( tho not really having to do with Amos,
I am equally unable to fathom Jesus dying and paying 'eternity' for millions, or more likely billions of people sins
( which for each saved born again individual ( if not for Jesus)
would have been an eternity in Hell ...for ever and ever and ever).
But then, only God could do that...
and I guess perhaps in some way, because 'time' is something the Lord 'created', and since He is also infinite, all powerful, all knowing etc. such is possible with Him!!
God points out the great miracles He did for them ( they should have been grateful and loving Him) but instead they became like the pagans, like the Cushites, the Philistines, the Syrians etc.
It makes me think of our country and how much God has blessed us, but what our response has been.
Nevertheless God says that he will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.
And yet the people foolishly say: say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us......
I am afraid that is what some in our country think ( tho maybe not so much any more).
But God says to the people that All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword.
Again, the last two verses also show another basic principle, which is that God always saves a remnant. Sadly, today we know what it feels like to be among that remnant He's saving.
Amos 9:11-15
The Restoration of Israel
11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name",
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
The judgments were so severe ( yet of course warranted) and without escape, that absolute total despair could only be the outcome for any....
so now God gives some comfort.
Their dispersal will not be forever, nor the desolation, decay and ruin.
I am not sure about this ( so correct me if I am wrong) but I 'think'
there are some
who think God's millennial Kingdom is right now....
and maybe because the Jews are in fact back in Israel and are prospering.....
But ( here is my speculation) I have noticed the Bible often has 2 parts to some prophecies.
And tho the Jews are back in the land and prospering,
all that will drastically change in the tribulation
( the anti-Christ will kill 2/3 of the Jews, and the remaining 3rd will head to the desert for a place of safety God has provided for them ( maybe Petra?)
Anyway, this prophecy won't really be fulfilled until Jesus reigning in the 1000 year millennium to come after the 7 tribulation.
In any case they will be back in the land and everything will be restored.
The ground will even be super fruitful and abundant blessings will just flow.
David's throne restored
They would be in the land God had promised them and would never again be moved from it.
The phrase “on that day” is important in the first verse as it shows God is speaking about the Millennial Kingdom. God tells them that He will restore the house of David. He's not talking about Israel as a country here, but the House of David, and Jesus who will reign as King over Israel during the Millennium. The next verse that says “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 9:12) Israel, united again under David's descendant, Jesus, will finally be a blessing to all the kingdoms on earth. This prophecy also shows that God intended to include the Gentiles from the very beginning. In fact, James uses this verse to prove that: “When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ that have been known for ages.” (Acts 15:13–18)
All of the verses in this section of Amos are speaking about the same time: The second coming when Jesus starts His Millennial Kingdom. Therefore verse 14 that speaks about bringing His people back to the land of Israel, isn't speaking about what's been happening and is still happening now. It's speaking about how God will gather up all of the Jew''s at the end of the Tribulation, and reestablish Israel as their land, fulfilling all His promises to them. We can know that for sure because the last verse says they will never again be uprooted, meaning exiled from their land again. We know that during the time of the antichrist, during the last 3 years of the tribulation, he will not only torture and kill many Jews, but will try to drive them out of their land too, and many will run and hide in Petra where God will keep them safe. So these verses can't be speaking about what's happening now. Another way we know this is because God says that when He brings them back and gives them back their land, there will be an unparalleled abundance and prosperity. There's no way anyone could stretch their imagination to say that about Israel now. This is yet another case of where people who are constantly searching for things to prove something amazing is happening, twist scripture just a little to make it seem like this prophecy is being fulfilled now.
All of the following verses are concerning the time of the second coming, after Jesus has defeated the antichrist, and then sends His angels to gather up all the elect who are still alive and who will enter the Millennial Kingdom:
“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31)
“The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” (Matthew 13:41)
“And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” (Mark 13:27)
“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—” (Isaiah 43:6)
“Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.” (Ezekiel 39:28) There are others as well, but it would take to long to post them all.
Basically the Jews being in Israel now is fulfilling prophecy simply because other things prophesied in scripture couldn't happen unless there was a country called Israel with Jews living in it. After the Tribulation however, God will send angels to literally transport the Jews from wherever they currently are to Jerusalem for the judgements about to happen, such as the judgement of the nations in Matthew 25:31-46.
This isn't a case where there's more then one fulfillment of a prophecy, because as I pointed out, there are parts of this prophecy that haven't been fulfilled yet, therefore it hasn't happened at all yet. For a prophecy to have more then one fulfillment, just at different times, it has to be completely fulfilled both times. Often a passage like these, isn't an actual fulfillment, but rather a preview of what will happen when it is actually fulfilled. Kind of like what we're seeing today in many areas.
Oh no....I did post yesterday....but it is not showing up???
And I just posted now for today, so prayerfully it will show up.
I don't know if you want me to go back and redo yesterdays or just take my word that I did it ( as I recall, it was kind of long.
But for now, I will go on tomorrow to Obadiah.
The only thing I can think of is maybe I 'thought' I had hit post and then closed the window ( only had not actually posted it....maybe was distracted by any number of things?)
But that would be weird because, I now 'set' up for the next day ( put the scripture in and colors etc.
and then leave that window up for the next day ( and thus never close this window any more...soooo????
The only other option is.....
tho I always now leave 'this' window open,
I sometimes open a 2nd FH window,
so I can look at the other things like chat etc. and then,
I do close that 2nd window when done
( but....... if not paying close attention
I could accidentally close the wrong one...
However, I don't remember looking at chat etc. yesterday,
tho it is possible.
Another mystery sigh!
Obadiah 1: 1-9
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
you have no understanding.
8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Obadiah hears from the Lord God, in a vision, concerning Edom.
Again, I see that God is in control, and tho He will use people and nations, it is worked out according to His will.
In this case, God calls the nations surrounding Edom, to war against Edom, they will utterly despise Edom.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 20, 2019 9:55:32 GMT -5
Sorry, I can't wait any longer today, so I'll have to catch you tomorrow if I can... Not sure if I'll be able to as the kids are coming over tomorrow though... so maybe Saturday....
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 20, 2019 12:03:43 GMT -5
I hope I did not give the impression that I thought the kingdom was now, because I don't, but I think there are people who do ( maybe Jehovah witnesses)?
as I sometimes managed to write so its confusing and not clear, I think I did it again......sorry.
But even so your information was great, for anyone who might have been told the 'kingdom' is now.....if this were the Kingdom now, it would be very disappointing ( wars, hatred, evil continuing to grow etc.).
And I see the post I am working on right now, is going to be above you recent posts.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 20, 2019 12:25:39 GMT -5
This is going to read like I did it the day before, but I only set up the colors etc.
Sometimes I 'post' just to see the colors ( and wait until the next day to actually study).
Since I already did the Bible study for each day...when I am done, I set up the scripture passage for the following day ( take out any letters etc. within the passage, as it will change the colors or font etc.)
Instead, I decided to just re-post it.....................
Obadiah: 10-14
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.]
Edom's Violence Against Jacob is looked at now.
They refused to aid Jacob and in fact it seems they they threw their lot in with Jacob's enemies and cast lots for the spoils.
They were without pity, or compassion, but had evil hatred in their hearts.
Not only that but they gloated over the misery of Jacob.
In fact, that is one of the 8
"Do not"
that follow.
Not to rejoice, or gloat, boast, steal what was theirs, and cut of their way of escape are some of them.
That is so sad.....people do these things, have such hard hearts it almost impossible to understand. And yet, there but for the grace of God would go I.
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Post by Cindy on Jun 21, 2019 10:30:51 GMT -5
I hope I did not give the impression that I thought the kingdom was now, because I don't, but I think there are people who do ( maybe Jehovah witnesses)?
as I sometimes managed to write so its confusing and not clear, I think I did it again......sorry.
But even so your information was great, for anyone who might have been told the 'kingdom' is now.....if this were the Kingdom now, it would be very disappointing ( wars, hatred, evil continuing to grow etc.).
And I see the post I am working on right now, is going to be above you recent posts.
This is going to read like I did it the day before, but I only set up the colors etc.
Sometimes I 'post' just to see the colors ( and wait until the next day to actually study).
Since I already did the Bible study for each day...when I am done, I set up the scripture passage for the following day ( take out any letters etc. within the passage, as it will change the colors or font etc.)
Instead, I decided to just re-post it.....................
Obadiah: 10-14
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.]
Edom's Violence Against Jacob is looked at now.
They refused to aid Jacob and in fact it seems they they threw their lot in with Jacob's enemies and cast lots for the spoils.
They were without pity, or compassion, but had evil hatred in their hearts.
Not only that but they gloated over the misery of Jacob.
In fact, that is one of the 8
"Do not"
that follow.
Not to rejoice, or gloat, boast, steal what was theirs, and cut of their way of escape are some of them.
That is so sad.....people do these things, have such hard hearts it almost impossible to understand. And yet, there but for the grace of God would go I.
“He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 17:5)
“Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,” (Proverbs 24:17)
“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44)
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:6–7)
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it” (Luke 19:41)
You must be having a hard time since you're doing so little lately. I hope you feel better soon. I still don't see why you spend so much time setting your post up, or even why it takes you very much time to do it. It honestly shouldn't take you more then maybe a few minutes. If it takes you longer than that, then just don't use color or anything. It's nice but it's not necessary. You can also choose one color that you want your words to be in normally and put that in your profile so that when you go to start your posts that code will already be there. Then, if you want some of what you write to be in another color, you can just change that part to the other color after you've written it. That's what I do. I put my name in it so that when I start to write I can start where my name is. So in my profile, the code for mine looks like this:
[b][font color="#006600"][font size="3"]Cindy[/font] [/font][/b]
It's on the settings page of your profile, which you can't see until you click on "edit" on your profile. The way I set it up was to write my name on a post and configure it the way I wanted it, which is exactly the way I'm writing right now. Bold, dark green, size 3. Then I copied the code and pasted it into the space under "Default BBCode" which is toward the bottom of the settings page. I just hate that it seems to take you so long to do this, when there's no reason it should, and want to make it as easy as possible for you.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Jun 21, 2019 10:43:33 GMT -5
It's between not feeling well and just a crazy busy last couple of weeks, which are finally slowing down.
Today is probably the most super short one of all....
But then, it will be a new book....
and I forgot to ask you which one,
so I am going to have to choose one
but as soon as you read this, maybe ( after we finish .....Joshua......)
right now, or rather, as soon as you read this,
you can choose the one after that :-)
okay???
LOL
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Just because a song is about Jesus, doesn't mean the person singing it is a Christian, anymore then someone having Christian on their facebook page or a legal document makes them a Christian. That's why Jesus said that there would be some who call him "Lord" that He will say "I never knew you" to. 
!!
