YET YOU DID NOT RETURN TO ME - AMOS 4

 

Amos 4

1. Indictment of Social Oppression (4:1–3)

It was not just the men who oppressed the poor. Here, God addressed the women of Samaria as oppressors who were obsessed with drinking parties. He used a derogatory term, “cows of Bashan”, when addressing them. 

Bashan was an area of good pastureland where the cattle ate well and grew fat, having a nice life. It was east of the Jordan River in the area originally allotted to Manasseh. The area is now partially in the Golan Heights of Israel and partially in Syria.

As a result of this oppression, God swore that the women would be taken away from their land and exiled somewhere else. (3)  The city would be conquered and the all torn down. The women would be tied or chained together and make to walk straight ahead, in a single file line, through the breaches in the wall, all the way to Assyria. 

II. Condemnation of Empty Worship (4:4–5)

It turns out that God can be sarcastic. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony, characterized by stating the opposite of what is actually intended, typically with a mocking, critical, or humorous intent. It is designed to insult, amuse, or convey irritation, often utilizing a specific, drawn-out, or lower-pitched tone of voice to signal that the words should not be taken literally. 

God called the people to worship at Bethel, the site of one of the golden calf idols. He said bring those sacrifices, tithes, and offering. Let people know you did it (publish it). Because this is what you love to do. 

The people were engaged in public displays of worship of these idols. They did all the things they were supposed to do in the worship of God at the temple in Jerusalem. But, they had perverted the proscribed worship with idolatry. We can see that the idea “it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe” is false. God actually finds it abhorrent. 

In the New Testament, Jesus condemned the Jews for some of these same things. They did not worship idols, but they deed all their deeds to be seen by others. (Matthew 23:5) Like the Israelites of Amos’ time, they had a lot of ritual, but failed to practice justice, mercy and faithfulness. (Matthew 23:23)

III. Discipline Rejected: “Yet You Did Not Return to Me” (4:6–11)

In this passage, God lists the covenant curses he imposed on them to bring them to repentance. (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). But they did not repent. After God recites each covenantal curse imposed on them, he concluded with “Yet you did not return to me”. (6,8,9,10,11)

First, God brought famine (cleanest of teeth) to them. But, that did not bring repentance.

Next, he brought drought (withholding the rain) during the months before harvest. (7-8) They did not have enough water to drink and their fields dried up, killing the crops. Yet, they did not return to God.

He struck them with blight and mildew in their gardens, vineyards, and orchards. He sent locusts to eat their fruit trees, a pestilence. (10) Yet that did not make them repent.

God then brought war to them. Their young men were killed and their horses taken. Yet, they still did not repent. 

Finally, God overthrew some of their cities just as he had overthrown Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, they still did not repent and return to the Lord.

God’s judgment was not just punitive. It was corrective. He did it to bring them to repentance. It was discipline to bring restoration.

In the New covenant, God delegates corrective discipline partially to the church. In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus set out the process for church discipline. If a person sinned, the one harmed should speak to him. If he does not listen, the person takes others with him to speak to the one who sinned. If he refuses to listen to them, the matter is to be taken to the church. If he still refuses to listen, he is to be removed from the church and treated as an outsider.

Paul urged the Corinthian church to impose disciple on a member who was living in sexual immorality by removing him from the congregation. (1 Corinthians 5:1-2) 

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians deals with the follow-up to excommunication. In 2 Corinthians 2:5–11, Paul seems to be talking about the very same person he had instructed the church to excommunicate. 

The sinner had repented, and Paul writes, “The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him” (verses 6–8). 

As soon as the excommunicated believer repents, he should be welcomed back into warm relationship with the church community. Once repentance has been established, the excommunication should be fully reversed. The goal has been accomplished.

However, God also reserves the right to judge and discipline churches. We see this in the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. For example, God called the church in Ephesus to repent and do the works they did when they first came to faith. If not, God did he will come to them and remove their lamp stand. (Revelation 2:4-5)

God may also discipline individual believers. The book of Hebrews addresses this. The writer quotes Proverbs 3:11-12:

My son, do not regard lightly the disciple of the Lord,

Nor be weary when reproved by him.

for theLord disciplines the one he loves

and chastises every son whom he receives.

The writer goes on to say that God disciplines us for our good, to move us toward holiness. (Hebrews 12:3-10) 

IV. The Climactic Warning: “Prepare to Meet Your God” (4:12–13)

Because of Israel’s refusal to repent, God says he is coming in judgment. The Israelites may have looked to the Day of the Lord as rescue or vindication, but God says it will be judgment instead. 

God then identifies himself as the creator of the earth, the one who knows all things, and as God of hosts, (Sabaoth).“Hosts” refers to vast angel armies. Some translations, such at the New International Version, use the term Lord God Almighty instead of LORD of Hosts.

This is the one who will impose judgment against them. He is not weak or incapable, rather he is powerful and sovereign. 

Takeaways

God’s Holiness - he is holy and expects his people to be

Social Justice Matters to God

Religious Activity ≠ Repentance and worship

Divine Discipline Aims at Return

God’s Patience Has Limits

Repentance

 

Bible knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light men to hell. 

Thomas Watson

COVENANT ACCOUNTABILITY - AMOS 3

 Privilege and Accountability

Amos 3:1-2

Chapter 3 begins a series of 3 prophecies. Each starts with the words “Hear this word”. When Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, put he chapter divisions into place in the 1200s, he divided these prophecies into 3 chapters (3, 4, & 5).  

God begins this message again referring to himself as the one who brought Israel out of Egypt. God’s act of redemption established the basis for his covenant with Israel. Remember that God prefaced his giving of the law by saying “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery”. (Exodus 20:2) 

God chose the people of Israel to have this relationship with him. He knew them. 

Because Israel took this special relationship for granted and violated the covenant by worshipping other gods, he now has the right to enforce the curses of the covenant and punish them for disobedience. 

So, the privilege Israel enjoyed as God’s chosen, covenant,  people was accompanied by the requirement of accountability. As Jesus said, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more”. (Luke 12:48) 

Since God says his word is against the whole family he brought out of Egypt, this prophecy applies to Judah and well as Israel. 

Since all of Jacob’s descendants, his family, are in covenant  with God, he has a duty to punish them in accordance with the terms of the covenant. If he did not, he would not be faithful to the covenant. And God is always faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:9) 

What are the relevant terms of the covenant? 

First is the prohibition of idolatry. Israel may have no other gods besides the LORD (Yahweh). A corollary to that is, Israel cannot make images of anything and cannot worship them. (Exodus 20:2-4) 

Second is the proscribed progressive punishments for violating the covenant. God details the punishments in Leviticus 26, ending with devastation of the land and being scattered among the nations (exile). (Leviticus 26 27-33; Deuteronomy 4:23-28; Deuteronomy 28:15-68)

The Inescapable Logic of Judgment 

3:3-6 

Amos uses seven vivid analogies to show that God's warning through the prophet signifies that judgment is coming.

Two people walking together means they agreed to meet. (3) A lion roaring signifies that he caught his prey. (4) A bird caught in a snare means there was a trap set for it. (5) If a trumpet is sounded from the city walls, the people become afraid because it signals an attack. 

Also, when disaster comes, it means the Lord has done it. (6) That is a word for us in a time where many Christian people say the Lord had nothing to do with it when a disaster strikes. 

The Prophetic Call 

3:7-8 

God vouches for his prophets here. When he is going to do something for or to his people, he tells it to his prophets. The prophets are his servants in these matters. 

God thus warns his people through prophets to provide an opportunity for repentance before judgment. So they should fear these warnings as one would fear the lion roaring before it attacks.

God also affirms that prophets must prophesy when he speaks to them and through them. This will be relevant later in the book when a priest tells Amos not to prophesy.

We have examples of this in the Bible. Jeremiah, upon being called to be a prophet, tried to beg off for being too young. God said do not say that, you will go where I send you and say what I tell you to say. (Jeremiah 1:7) Jonah tried to flee. God caught him in the ocean and sent him back in the right direction. 

Balaam tried to curse Israel, but God made him bless them. (Numbers 22)

The Sanhedrin told Peter and John not to speak about Jesus. Peter and John said “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”. (Acts 4:13-22) 

Social Justice and Corruption 

3: 9-10

God called Ashdod, the Philistine city, and Egypt, a perennial enemy, to witness the sins of Israel. Samaria was the capital of Israel which was built on a high hill. The nation is condemned for storing up violence and robbery in their palaces. They were so far gone into sin they did not know how to do right. (10)

Decree Of Invasion And Defeat

3:11-12

Because of their sins, God decreed an adversary to defeat and plunder Israel. We know this to be Assyria. There would only be a small remnant left. (12)

That remnant intermarried with gentiles who were resettled into the area by the Assyrians as they conquered other nations. They became known as Samaritans. 

Destruction of False Worship 

3:14 

God said he would destroy the altars at Bethel, the golden calves, representing the corrupt religious system established by Jeroboam I. 

Wealth Won’t Save

3:15

The wealthy might have thought they were insulated from trouble. But God dispels that notion, saying their many houses and their expensive houses will not be spared when he strikes.

Takeaways

As God chose Israel, redeemed them, and knew them, God chose believers, redeemed them, and knows them. (Ephesians 1:4) Like Israel, believers (the church) are called to holy living. Holy living reflects the holiness of God. (1 Peter 1:16)

PUNISHMENT OF ISRAEL - AMOS 2:6-16

 Judgment Against Israel - Introduction

2:6-8

The judgment against Israel is much longer and more detailed than the others. It goes all the way to the end of chapter 6. It is the climax to the other judgments, showing Israel is the most guilty of the nations. Because of its idolatry and rebellion, it has effectively become a non-covenant country, a foreign nation. 

God’s first complaint is their treatment of the poor. (6-7) They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a sandal. This seems to mean the rich sell their fellow Jews for money when they are enslaved for inability to pay their debts. Sometimes they bought and sold these slaves for a ridiculously small price, symbolized by the “sandal”. That would also mean the debt that enslaved them was also small. 

The rich were assisted in this by the courts. A judge favoring a rich person could impose a heavy fine on the poor person. When the poor person was unable to pay, they were sold into slavery. This was a perversion of justice and it violated the covenant. 

Exodus 23:6 says “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit”. Proverbs 17:6 says “To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.”

God said, if a person could not pay his debt and wanted to work it off, he must be treated as a hired servant, an employee, and not a slave. (Leviticus 25:39-40) He could not be sold as a slave. (Leviticus 25:42)

The Old Covenant law forbid the selling of any slaves, not just Jewish slaves. Exodus 21:16 (ESV says): "Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death." This verse explicitly makes the kidnapping and selling of humans a capital offense.

Deuteronomy 24:7 (ESV): says further that "If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die."

Second, the wealthy Israelites trampled the poor and refused to help the afflicted. (7) Justice in the Old Testament most often refers to how the poor are treated.

God said this about the poor: “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner and he shall live with you.” (Leviticus 25:35) 

Next, God accused them of sexual immorality. Specifically, a father and son having sex with the same girl. (7) This is similar to Paul’s disgust at find the Corinthian church was proud that they had a man who was living with his father’s wife, that is, his stepmother. (1 Corinthians 5)

The Old Covenant law forbade this conduct. (Leviticus 18:8) So, Paul here applies the Old Covenant moral law to the church. 

It is also possible that men were engaged in pagan worship rituals, which sometimes included temple prostitutes. That would certainly profane God’s name.

To further show the trampling of the poor, the rich people used the cloaks of poor people taken as pledges of debt payments. (7) In contrast, the law required a person to return a pledged cloak to the debtor by nightfall so that he could sleep in something warm. (Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:12) The cloak might be all the poor person had to keep warm at night.

A further indication of idolatry is the idea that there were many altars. (8)

The wine referred to in verse 8 was probably given as restitution or pledge. But, rich people used it to party, participating in the drunken rituals like pagans did. This was inappropriate worship at best and idolatry at the worst.  

God Takes Offense

2:9-11

God took offense at Israel’s behavior.  He recited the things he had done for Israel, how he destroyed the Amorites in Canaan on their behalf, how he brought them out of slavery in Egypt, and how he led them through the wilderness. (9-10)

These statements form the basis for the very identity of Israel. The Israelites were a people God redeemed from slavery in Egypt. They were a people he led through the wilderness. And they were a people to whom he had given a land occupied by other people. They were the recipients of God’s grace. 

These statements also invoke the prologue to the covenant. Before setting the terms of the covenant with Israel, God identified himself. He said “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery”. (Exodus 20:1)

God also said he had helped them spiritually, raising up prophets and calling some people to be Nazirites. Nazirites were men and women who took special vows to dedicate themselves to God. (11)

The word Nazirite comes from the Hebrew nazir, meaning "consecrated" or “separated". During the time of their consecration, they could not eat or drink anything made from grapes. They could not cut their hair. They could not go near dead bodies and get defiled. (Numbers 6)

Sampson and Samuel are the only Nazirites identified in the Old Testament. (Judges 13:5-7; 1 Samuel1:11) 

Normally, prophets and Nazirites would be revered as holy people. Instead, the Israelites commanded the prophets not to testify. 

Jeremiah is a good example of a prophet that the kings tried to silence. Jeremiah 32 records King Zedekiah of Judah imprisoning Jeremiah to keep him from prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and exile of its people. King Jehoiakim burned the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophesy. (Jeremiah 36) Later, Jeremiah was kept at the muddy bottom of a cistern. (Jeremiah 38) 

Things got so bad in Israel that people even interfered with Nazirites keeping their vows, making the drink wine. (12) 

This is that thing people do when believers try to holy lives, trying to get them to do something unholy either by persuasion or force.  

What God Will Do In Response

2:13-16

In response to the sins and disrespect of Israel, God said he would make them “road kill”. They would be flattened as if a heavy cart ran over them.

There would be no escape from God’s punishment. No one could escape by fleeing, no matter how fast they ran. Physical strength would not matter. Skill at weapons or riding horses would not help them. 

All of this reinforces God’s statement that the punishment he decreed was irrevocable. 

AMOS - INTRODUCTION

 

Amos

1:1

The prophet Amos was a shepherd, or sheep breeder, before becoming a prophet. He was from Tekoa, a small town in Judah south of Jerusalem. 

By the time Amos came along, the kingdom of Israel had split into Judah, the southern kingdom, and Israel, the northern kingdom of 10 tribes. 

Amos prophesied during the overlapping reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel (793–753) and Uzziah (Azariah): 767–740 BC in Judah (792–740). His ministry is believed to have occurred sometime between 760 and 755 BC, but there is no conclusive evidence of that in the text. He would have overlapped for a short time with the prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 1:1)

His prophecy was “two yers before the earthquake”. This must have been a major earthquake to become a time marker. It is also mentioned in Zechariah 14:5, which speaks of people fleeing from it. Unfortunately, no date is attached to it other than during the reign of King Uzziah.  

Amos’ prophecies are directed primarily against Israel although he was from Judah. God may have given him visions, as the text said he “saw” them rather than heard them. 

Amos prophesied at a unique time in the history of the divided kingdom. From approximately 780 to 750, Egypt, Syria, and Assyria did not pose a serious threat to Israel. 

During this time, Jeroboam II was able to expand the borders of Israel, and his successes created economic prosperity for many and a sense of security as well. 

During these years, Israel prospered, and a powerful and wealthy upper class emerged who exploited the poor and perverted justice. These wealthy Israelites were confident and secure. So, Amos preached to an affluent society that was deeply involved in false worship, sexual immorality, and mistreatment of the poor, all of which were violations of the covenant.

The Lord Speaks

 1:2

The opening proclamation of the prophet’s message serves as a theme verse for the entire book: “The LORD roars from Zion”. This imagery depicts God as a roaring lion, signifying that judgment is approaching and that the land itself will tremble due to the sins of the people. 

This is a “curse announcement”. It is a reference to the covenant curses of wild animals being released against them when they rebel against God. (Leviticus 26:22; ; Deuteronomy 32:24) Here, however, the curse will be carried out by God himself, making it even more terrible. 

Notice also that God speaks from Zion\Jerusalem. That is where the temple was located, where God’s presence resided. It was the place God designated for worship. 

But Israel did not worship in Jerusalem after the tribes split. The first king of the northern kingdom, Jereboam I, built two altars, one in Bethel in the south and Dan in the north. He made two golden calves, one for each location, and proclaimed them to be Israel’s gods. (1 Kings 12:28)

Jereboam also built temples on high places and appointed priests that were not levites. He created a new, but false, religion and priesthood to serve it. He did all this to prevent his people from going to Jerusalem to worship and wanting to reunite with Judah. 

Upon making the Golden calves, Jereboam said something terrible. He said: “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt”. (1 Kings 12:28) These were almost the exact words of Aaron after he built the original golden calf. (Exodus 32:4) You would think, knowing this story and the wrath Israel incurred as a result, the people would have revolted. But they did not. 

Thus, he plunged  Israel into idol worship. 

Amos, the prophet of God, immediately shows that the one and only true God still resides in Jerusalem and speaks judgment from there.

Next, the Lord speaks a series of judgments, first against the nations around Israel and Judah for the things they have done against God’s people. There are six oracles against the nations. He concludes then with judgments against Judah and Israel.

Each of these judgment begins with the words “Thus says the LORD”, meaning that Amos is acting as a messenger, speaking the exact words spoken by God. 

Each judgment also has a formula saying the countries are judged for three transgressions and for four. Amos uses this rhetorical, numerical phrase to indicate that the sins of the nations have overflowed, making punishment inevitable. So, it is not exactly four transgressions, but many transgressions.

 And the declaration of punishment is irrevocable.