Amos 6-9
Final Visions

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Psalm 109:1-31 Prayer of the Persecuted

Song of the Slandered
1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
 speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
 and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
 but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
 and hatred for my love.

6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
 let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
 let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
 may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
 and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
 seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
 may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
 nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
 may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
 and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the LORD continually,
 that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
 but pursued the poor and needy
 and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
 He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
 may it soak into his body like water,
 like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
 like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
 of those who speak evil against my life!

21 But you, O GOD my Lord,
 deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
 because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
 and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
 I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
 my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
 when they see me, they wag their heads.

26 Help me, O LORD my God!
 Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
 you, O LORD, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
 They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
 may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
 I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
 to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

Application

When afflicted by evil people, commit your case to God, who can pay them back far better than you can.

Prayer

God of justice and faithfulness, You see and know what I'm going through, and the justness of my cause; blast the evil speakers, and bless me, so the truth may be clearly seen, and You may be glorified. Thanks. Amen.

Proverbs 25:4-7 Refining Leadership

4 Take away the dross from the silver,
 and the smith has material for a vessel;
5 take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
 and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6 Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence
 or stand in the place of the great,
7 for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”

 than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

 What your eyes have seen

Application

Good leaders remove the unprofitable and unrighteous, and reward the performers; work on being profitable, and you'll be recognized.

Prayer

God who sees and rewards, help me do my work heartily as Your employee, knowing that it's You I serve, and my righteous labor is never in vain. Amen.

Amos 6-9 Final Visions

In this last section of the book, Amos announces the inevitability of the “Overdue Judgment,” and ends with God's promise to “save a segment” of the nation and to permanently plant them in the land (as in never get plucked out again). God particularly denounces those who live in self-gratification, insensitive to His will and the needs of others, whom they oppress. Amos bargains with God to relent from judgment, but eventually loses. The book ends with a great passage of how God will regather and bless His people in the land.

Amos 6 Lounging in the Lap of Luxury

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.”

The Pride of Israel
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 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.”

Application

Living for indulging your own pleasures without regard for God nor others, is a quick way to incur God's wrath.

Prayer

God, may I not be deceived into thinking that this world is all there is, and thus devote all my energies to self-indulgence and temporal gratification, but instead, may I care about what You care about, righteousness and justice. Amen.

Amos 7 Crooked Priest, Straight Prophet

The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line
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.”
Amaziah Accuses Amos
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.’”

Application

Those who seek to turn people to righteousness will be surprised to find their biggest hindrance is not the Devil, but the religious establishment distorting truth to do Satan's will.

Prayer

God, You are so gracious in not punishing those who rebel against You as their sins deserve, but long suffering; may I demonstrate a similar patience in proclaiming Your truth, and trust You to deal with the opposition. Amen.

Amos 8 Overdue Judgment

The Basket of Summer Fruit
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.”

Application

Why would we ever think that an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and just God doesn't see our sins, and won't respond negatively to our rebellion against Him, and harm of others?

Prayer

God, I want to be always sensitive to Your words and ways, so I might do what is pleasing to You and beneficial to others, and always be on speaking terms with You. Amen.

Amos 9 Segment Saved

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.’
A Promise of Restoration

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.

Application

God is faithful to all His promises, both to bless or curse; we experience one or the other based upon our faithfulness.

Prayer

God, thanks for being totally trustworthy, and faithful to fulfill all You've promised; may I be faithful to do all You demand and desire of me, so that I may both delight You and reap Your blessings. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God faithfully blesses and curses according to His promises. His justice demands that He punish those who oppress others unjustly and unrighteously for the sake of dishonest gain used for gratifying their own desires. God might relent and forbear, but will eventually discipline without turning back. He particularly opposes the proud and indulgent who engage in bogus religion.

Us in a nutshell: We will be paid back for all we've done by the infinitely just God, who knows, sees, and remembers everything we've done. Those who don't seek God will experience a famine of God's word, and starve. Those who do seek and obey God will be opposed by the religious institution which cares only for self interest/preservation rather than responding to what God has revealed. As God said: “All the sinners of my people will die” (9:10).

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