Amos 1-2

Amos 1-2

Justice

I.                    Who God is must affect how we live our whole life, because only He can use the least likely of people to accomplish the most amazing things when they trust faithfully in Him (1:1-2)

a.        Amos wasn’t a prolific and notable figure in Judah. He was a shepherd and sycamore fig farmer from Tekoa. However, around 750BC, in a time of geographic peace, great economic prosperity, and religious revival, God burdened Amos with a message for Israel. Not everything was truly as it appeared on the surface, and Amos came with a message of warning and judgment which God roared from Jerusalem to His wayward people. His message declared that He was the same God, from the same place, who had the same expectations for Israel, but they had drifted, strayed, and began to “worship” Him in unauthorized places, depraved means, and idolatrous ways. God and His expectations for His people are still unaltered, but today many who profess to belong to Him worship Him in substitute temples of success, comfort, achievement, material gain, fame, power, influence, and self-worth. Others attempt to follow Him through mechanical and legalistic religious activities, or the pursuit of comfort and self- service under the guise of personal piety, separating them from the world to whom God calls us to declare Him, and which He calls us to serve in His Name. God still sees what’s really going on, and He’ll hold everyone accountable. He’s roaring out a warning to the world today as well, calling people to turn to Him. God is sovereign over all human leaders, but they aren’t to be our first source for determining how to govern our lives. We live in a culture which aggrandizes people with talent, wealth, power, and privilege, promoting them and their opinions to levels of status and influence which they shouldn’t have, taking their opinions at face value, and following their positions without question. We “small people” often feel as though we’re helpless to do anything about the tides of society which seem to be flowing in the wrong direction, and we’re correct! But God isn’t helpless, and He very often chooses to prove the might of His power by working through the weakest and most unlikely people to accomplish His purposes. We need only be faithful to trust God, trust His Word, and act on it! (Vv. 1-2; Exod. 3:10-14; 4:1-12; 1 Sam. 16:1-13; 1 Kgs. 12:26-33; Isa. 53:2-3; Amos 7:14; John 17:9-19; Acts 4:13; 1 Cor. 1:26-29)   

II.                 Who God is must affect how we live our whole life, because His just nature and expectation is unchanging and treats everyone equally (1:3-2:16)

a.        God’s just requirements for humanity extend to all people, He alone knows the hearts, minds, and actions of all people, and everyone will be held accountable at God’s discretion and according to His timing. God moves Amos to begin his message of condemnation and judgment by calling out the Gentile nations around Judah and Israel for their repeated, sustained, blatant, brazen, and unremorseful wickedness toward others. The nations around Israel demonstrated heartless cruelty in war, enslaved and sold off an entire nations, even those with whom had a peace treaties, mercilessly pursued brother nations with unchecked anger and murderous intent, savagely murdered mothers, and unborn children merely to acquire lands, and desecrated the graves of kings. The actions of these Gentile nations are examples of offenses against basic humanity, and the fundamental moral conscience written on all hearts. God judges according to the light received, but He is sovereign, just, and equitable to hold all people accountable for showing basic mercy and compassion. If people continue to move away from compassion and towards selfishness, cruelty, mercilessness, and murder, God will faithfully and justly judge them in His will and timing; no one is exempt. But to those who’ve received much, much is required, and Judah had rejected God’s Word, ignored His commands, and been led astray into idol worship. God proclaims that He will faithfully and justly send the fire of His judgment on all these peoples, and history proves that He did. God’s judgment has now zeroed in on Israel. They were guilty of bribery, greed, adultery, sexual perversion, idolatry, selfishness, ingratitude, and rejecting God’s Word. They had received the light of God’s law and His covenant relationship, but it wasn’t affecting their lives. They professed God as Lord, but they lived for themselves. Much of the church professes Jesus while rejecting large parts of His Word, and living with greater concern for themselves and their own comforts, instead of seeking the lost and serving others. Amos was burdened under their sin. Israel was comfortable not convicted, but there would be no escaping God’s judgment. Are we crushed under the burden or our sin and moved to repentance? We must live lives that testify to the unchanging truth of God’s Word and just nature because He treats all humanity equally. But praise God that His full revelation, His salvation, and His new life is equally available to all through the Person and work of Jesus Christ! (1:3-2:16; Gen. 15:13-16; Exod. 22:26-27; 34:6-7; Deut. 10:12-22; 11:16-17; Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 12:48; John 3:16-21, 36; 14:6; Act 10:34-36; Rom. 1:18-32; 2:1-16; 3:19-31; 8:1; 2 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 10:26-31; 12:28-29; Jas. 1:22-27; 2:1-17)