STUDY THEME: AMOS: PROPHET TO THE NATIONS 4-21-02

"COURAGE OF CONVICTION." AMOS 7: 7-9, 10-13, 14-17.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO AMOS 7.

The two sections of the Book of Amos could be called "Amos’ Words" in Ch. 1-6 and "Amos’ Visions" in Ch. 7-9. Today’s lesson begins the last section in which Amos reported the five visions of judgment of Israel that God showed him.

The lesson this Sunday studies the conflict between Amos, the true prophet of God and the priest named Amaziah who served in the temple of the king at Bethel. When Amos predicted that God would judge the nation and overthrow and destroy the nation and bring judgment upon the king, the priest interpreted his words as being traitorous and rebellious. But Amos was not a traitor! He was simply telling the truth which God had revealed to him.

Prior to W.W. II our national hero Charles Lindbergh visited Germany and viewed the preparation for war in that nation. He came back to America and warned of the impending plans of Germany to conquer the world. Many in America labeled him a traitor for trying to create fear in our superior nation. He would have understood Amos’ position in the 8^th century BC.

There are times when Christians must take a courageous stand and risk being misunderstood because they are simply telling the truth. This Sunday’s lesson seeks to answer the question, "Why should I take a stand for God in a society that is hostile to Him?

My son Harold was asked by a close friend of his to come to the funeral of a rebel son found hanging on a tree and say some words at the service. The father demanded that no Bible be shown and the name of God not mentioned in the service. There would be no music. Harold refused. He said he knew the lifestyle of the dead son and to not challenge those attending with words from God’s Book would be opposed to everything Harold believes in. The father asked several others and each refused due to the demands of the father. Each recommended a simple grave side service with the funeral home chaplain in charge.

Today’s lesson writer’s suggested "Bible Truth" is that God expects His people to remain faithful to Him even when they are vastly outnumbered by unbelievers. The suggested "Life Impact" is to help us stand alone for God in the face of opposition. I realize this is much easier for us in a land of no persecution than if we were attempting to live a Christian life in a land 99% Muslim.

Dr. Sam and Ginny Cannata, missionaries to Africa, spoke to our group Monday night. He said when they were assigned to the Island of Madagascar off the coast of Tanzania they were advised that the people there, 99% Muslim, hated Americans; even worse they hated Christians, and above all they hated Missionaries. He and his wife were welcomed as Doctor and Nurse. Medical aid was needed. Mrs. Cannata said when they were reassigned to Somalia she considered that as 50 miles past the Great Commission. They served in Kinya and other African countries as Medical Missionaries and witnessed for Christ wherever they were assigned. These are 21^st century heroes.

1. PLEASE READ AMOS 7: 7-9.

Our lesson today deals with the third of the five Judgment Visions experienced by Amos. Each of the fourfold visions of judgment in Ch. 7 & 8 are introduced with the words "The Lord showed me." The fifth Vision in Ch. 9, which we study next Sunday, begins with the acting, smiting Jehovah. You will want to read Ch. 8 & 9 between now and next Sunday. You will read of one of the most awe inspiring visions of the whole Bible. This deals with the fact that even in judgment the Lord offers hope through a promise of restoration of a remnant.

The first two parables in Ch. 7 present visions of coming judgments: locusts and fire. After each vision Amos prayed for the Lord to relent and in each case God relented and did not send the locust or the fire judgment. In both vs. 2 and vs. 5 Amos asked God, "How can Jacob survive? He is so small." This shows that Amos was not a negative, vindictive, Judean who wanted to see Israel punished; it also shows the Lord’s persevering love for His sinful people.

However, the third vision shows the Lord’s patience had worn out. Israel’s doom was determined. There would be no more restraint of judgment. Amos made no further plea. It is evident that as he looked, he realized all the irregularities the plumb line revealed. Amos saw that the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line. A plumb line is a string with a weight on one end. When hanging down it hangs vertically true. Amos knew the usual purpose of a plumb line. Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 28:17 that "Justice and Righteousness were God’s plumb line by which He tested His people."

The Master Builder asked Amos what he saw. Amos’ attention was on what God was holding, so he replied," A plumb line." Then God said he was setting a plumb line among His people Israel. That they were His people did not exempt them from their accountability to Him.

The implicit message in this part of the vision was that God was testing or measuring His people to see, whether or not, they were what He intended them to be. He had built them as a mason would build a straight wall; He had fashioned them according to His standards of uprightness. He had chosen them, delivered them from slavery, made a covenant with them, given them His laws, and established them in the land He promised to Abraham. He figuratively had built them true to plumb. The implied question related to their present condition.

The lasting biblical truth in "I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel" is that God has a fixed standard. This is totally different from the modern view that wrong and right are relative to the person and situation. Many people do not believe in a fixed standard for human conduct, but the Bible clearly teaches it here and elsewhere.

2 Peter 3:9 says, "God is merciful, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance;" however, there is a point of no return for those who persist in violating His standard. This is the meaning of the words "I will spare them no longer", or "I won’t forgive them any more." The nation had many calls to return to the Lord, including the messages of Amos, but they resisted them all.

God already had charged, "I raised up your sons for prophets, and your young men for Nazarites. "Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel?" saith the Lord. But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, "Prophesy not." Now they had rejected God’s message through Amos. Thus, their doom was sealed. God would spare them no more. In this vision Amos is show that each person shall be dealt with according to his iniquity as determined by the plumb line. Amos made no further plea.

Amos messages in Chs. 1-6 describe ways the people were continuing to rebel against God and His standards. God had been gracious and merciful to them, but they would not turn to Him. He had disciplined the, and they had ignored Him. The time for judgment had come for Israel.

God’s verdict was not arbitrary but was rendered in accord with facts that had been tested and proved. When measured by His plumb line—His standard of righteousness—the people of Israel were spiritually and morally crooked.

God focused on three aspects of Israel’s corrupted state that would fall under His judgment. The first two were high places and sanctuaries, terms that covered all Israel’s formal worship sites. The high places of Isaac were local shrines Jeroboam I built on hills throughout the countryside. These places of worship would be destroyed. The Hebrew word describes a scene of total devastation. Isaac, Jacob’s (Israel’s) father, occurs as a name for Israel only in the Book of Amos. Perhaps the reason is that Beersheba, one of the shrines the Israelites venerated , was Isaac’s birthplace.

Next named are the sanctuaries of Israel—temples such as those with golden calves at Dan and Bethel. They soon would be ruined. The point seems to be that the worshipers were corrupt. Sinful lifestyles had produced worthless worship. God would do away with the whole system of Israel’s superficial and empty worship. Worship sites would be as barren and lifeless as was the worship offered at them.

Finally cited is the house of Jeroboam, the current ruling dynasty of Jeroboam II. The nation’s rulers continued to be part of the problem. In Israel the king was to rule under God’s leadership. Instead, the king and his nobles had profited from the common practices of oppression and injustice. The King’s worship at Bethel was as insincere and meaningless as that of others. The dynasty thus would end under God’s sword.

Jeroboam’s last ruling descendant was Zechariah, who was assassinated after ruling only for six months; however, he was not Israel’s last king. Because ‘sword’ usually indicated warfare, the vision probably intended the house of Jeroboam to represent Israel’s ruling monarchy. That family would be wiped out as God’s judgment, but Israel’s monarchy as a political system also would end. In 2 Kings 15:8-10 the nation would fall to Assyria.

The positive lesson of this vision to believers is our need to live according to God’s fixed standard, which is set forth in His Word. This is the reason we never graduate from S.S. We need to continually evaluate our lives in light of God’s fixed standard. Then we need to readjust our lives so we live by His standard. We also must be willing to proclaim God’s Word as the standard by which we are to live and by which God will judge all humanity. We need to have convictions based on God’s fixed standard in His Word. Convictions within themselves can be good or evil. Sidney Harris made a good point when he said, "I am tired of hearing about men with the ‘courage of their convictions." Nero and Caligula and Attila and Hitler had the courage of their convictions---but not one of them had the courage to examine his convictions or to change them, which is the true test of character. Having convictions is evil if all the convictions are evil.

Some people have no real moral and spiritual convictions. When faced with moral challenges, they are swept along by whatever wind is blowing. Peter Marshall prayed: A man is a fool when he dies for his opinions.

A man is a saint when he stands for his convictions.

Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and

What to stand for, because unless we stand for something we

Shall fall for anything.

The lessons we should carry away of verses 7-9 are these: (1) There is a fixed standard of right and wrong. (2) God’s Word is that standard. (3) God’s people should live by that standard and base their convictions on it. (4) Those who reject the standard or consistently break it will be judged.

Amaziah sent a hurried message to the king: "Amos is raising a conspiracy against you." Amaziah rises in anger to denounce Amos as a traitor to the king. Conceivably, the priest could have thought Amos actually was a Judean spy sent to create unrest to demoralize the people and soften them up for a Judean attack. Amos’ messages were even more offensive because of the place where he delivered them. "The land cannot bear all his words" could mean that Amos’ words threatened the nation’s existence. To further encourage the king to take official action against Amos, Amaziah informed Jeroboam that the prophet was saying: "Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land." Actually, Amos had declared that Jeroboam’s dynasty--not the current ruling king--would die by the sword.

Did Amaziah actually believe his conspiracy theory? He was intensely loyal to his king, and Amos’ preaching in Bethel was a thorn in the priest’s side. No doubt Amaziah was proclaiming that God was pleased with Israel and thus had granted the land peace and prosperity. Amos had come from Judah into Israel, declaring the opposite: God was displeased with Israel and in judgment would strip the people of their wealth, their freedom, and in many cases their lives. Perhaps Amaziah’s message was sent to encourage the king to send soldiers to execute a man whom the priest viewed more as a personal irritant and embarrassment than as a foreign insurrectionist.

Amaziah’s message had two implications. First, Amos had become well known in Israel, for the priest did not have to identify him to the king. Second, Amos’ messages had spread throughout the land. Even if Amos had done all his preaching in Bethel, pilgrims there had gone home to report what they had heard. God’s message through His prophet had reached its intended audience.

Either Amaziah did not wait for a response or, less likely, the king ignored the message. Amaziah evidently had no authority to take official action against Amos. Thus acting in his authority as official priest of the king’s sanctuary, he confronted the prophet. He pompously addressed Amos as "you seer!" Seer was an older term for a prophet. Amaziah may have used the term because of the visions Amos had reported. Or he may have used it sarcastically to refer to Amos as an empty-headed visionary.

As far as Amaziah was concerned, Amos was the problem, not the people’s sins against which Amos spoke. Thus the solution was to get rid of Amos, not to repent of sins. Having no authority to deport Amos forcibly, Amaziah merely ordered Amos to go home to the land of Judah. Amaziah said, "Earn your bread" or "make your living" there and do your prophesying there." The implied accusation was that Amos preached for money, that he was a prophet for hire. The priest wanted Amos to go back home and take his preaching with him. Because the words translated ‘go back’ mean "to flee," he may have been telling Amos to flee for his life before the king acted against him.

In vs. 13 Amaziah commanded Amos, "Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom." One of God’s charges against the people of Israel was that they "commanded the prophets not to prophesy." Amaziah’s point was that to speak against the nation or its ruler was a special affront to the king.

To do that in Bethel, the location of the temple the king patronized, supported, and perhaps even owned, made the offense even worse. Amaziah was more concerned with defending his king and maintaining the status quo than with spiritual truth and obeying God. Ironically, the priest’s primary loyalty and accountability were to the king, not to God.

3. PLEASE READ AMOS 7: 14-17.

If Amaziah thought he would see an alarmed Amos heading south as fast as he could, he was terribly disappointed. Amos did not even flinch in the face of official bluster. He stood on the courage of his convictions. His words to Amaziah show the two men’s conflicting loyalties. The priest was loyal to the king; Amos was loyal to the King of Kings.

Amos responded first to the charge that he earned his living by preaching. He declared: "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son." Amos explained that he was not a prophet by vocation, not even a "son of a prophet"—or a prophet’s disciple. Amos did not belong to a school of prophets—he was not a professional prophet. He had not chosen to become a prophet, and he did not view prophesying as a means of material gain. He prophesied solely because God had called him to do so.

He could have said, "Shucks, I’m just a country farmer." Amos intended to identify himself as one who had no financial reason to prophesy at Bethel or anywhere else. Amos said that the reason for his prophesying in Bethel was that the Lord called him to do that. By training and background he was a shepherd and also took care of sycamore-fig trees. He had no official human authority for being in Israel or for preaching in Bethel. His authority came from a far higher source: "The Lord took me from tending the flock."

Amos was moved by that kind of inner compulsion that comes from a clear call of the Lord. He was like Jeremiah who, when he tried to be silent, was not able to do so because there was a fire in his bones. He was like the apostles who, when ordered in Acts 4:20 not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus, said they could not fail to tell the things they had seen and heard. In speaking of this compulsion Amos had written in Amos 3: 8: "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? "The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophecy?" Faced with threats from Amaziah, Amos stood up and spoke out. He even dared to pronounce judgment on his attacker.

God would act in judgment against Israel, sending the Assyrian armies to conquer the nation. When that happened, Amaziah and his family would experience God’s judgment firsthand. The priest’s wife would become a prostitute in the city. Perhaps she would be treated as a prostitute by the victorious enemy soldiers, when they over ran Bethel and were destroying it. Afterward, deprived of the support of husband and children, she would prostitute herself in order to survive. Amaziah’s sons and daughters would die in the Assyrian conquest. His land would be parceled out to others. Amaziah, priest of the royal sanctuary would suffer the humiliation of dying in a pagan county. He who had been a guardian of ritualized correctness and cleanliness would end his days in an unclean land. Amaziah’s fellow citizens, who had joined him in scorning God’s warnings through Amos, would certainly go into exile, away from their native land.

In the face of great opposition, Amos’ message remained the same: God’s judgment was coming on Israel. Amos told Amaziah that he not only would see it but also would experience it.

The lesson here is the "Life impact" of standing alone for God in the face of opposition. Although all those about us attack us, we should have the courage of our convictions and call from God. Just as the Bible and history are filled with examples of people of faith who were people of courage, who stood up and spoke out for God--Jeremiah, the three Hebrew young men, Daniel, John the Baptist, Jesus, Stephen, Paul, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, William Carey, John G. Paton, Roger Williams and many more.

Roger Williams came to Massachusetts Bay Colony seeking religious freedom. Ironically, the Puritans, who had come to be free from the restrictions of the Church of England, founded a repressive government in the New World. Williams, by contrast, believed that no civil authority could dictate faith or religious practices. He taught that faith is a matter between God and the individual. The state should not demand or control religion. He was brought before the civil authorities and asked if these were his beliefs. He affirmed that they were. Thus he was exiled from Massachusetts, and he went and began a new colony where people were free to worship. He founded Rhode Island and the city of Providence.

John G. Paton was an 18^th century missionary to the islands of the South Pacific. Cannibals lived there, and they had killed several missionaries. They repeatedly threatened to kill Paton, but he did not leave. He stayed and continued to preach, eventually leading some to Christ. Then these converts and the missionary were all under constant danger of being killed. Paton claimed the Lord’s promise of His abiding presence at the end of the Great Commission.

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,

O’er mountain or plain or sea:

I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord,

I’ll be what you want me to be."

NEXT SUNDAY FROM AMOS 9 "THE LORD OFFERS HOPE THROUGH A PROMSE OF RESTORATION." A.V. DAUGHERTY 4-21-02