Good morning, we're on number 65 and it does not mean we can retire. Anyhow, let's begin our reading and we're going to start in Hosea chapter 14!
1O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
The Lord tells Israel how to come back to Him; by simply speaking the words that confess your sins and keeping His commandments. Repent first, and then return. It is not like you can come as you are, you must confess with your lips and He will have mercy on you.
In the latter days, the children of Israel will say, what business do they have with idols. The wise will understand that the Lord's ways are right and the just will walk in them; but sinners, breakers of His laws will fall.
We're going to move right into the book of Joel.
Joel is speaking to Israelites and telling them to pass this information to their children from generation to generation. A harsh nation has come up on Israel, they are strong and have destroyed the Lord's vineyard. It is time to lament, it is time to howl, it is time to weep, ministers because the Lord is getting ready to do a thing on the earth.
What the Lord is getting ready to do upon the earth; even the cows will suffer at having no pasture. What is this? It is the day of the Lord; it is at hand where destruction comes from the Almighty God.
1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
A trumpet is blow in Jerusalem and everyone that lives there at this time will certainly be trembling; because the day of the Lord is getting closer and closer. Verse two tells us what kind of day it is; it is dark, gloomy, clouds, thick darkness; the way it will be has never been and will never be again. I do not like clouds period; so to have a dark gloomy thick darkness day is not going to be pleasing.
Verse three expands on the Armageddon war and when Gog and Magog and her allies deploy against Babylon the great in Jerusalem. When the approach Jerusalem, in front of them it will be a fruitful garden, as the Garden of Eden, but when they finish with it; it will look like a desolate wilderness and nothing will escape from them.
They are going to come down quick, and will not have any mercy.
The time of this is right before the Lord returns because the heavens will tremble, the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will appear to fall to the earth. Then the Lord will speak to His army, all the holy angels in heaven to prepare for a big war. If the day of the Lord or the Lord's day was Sunday, then according to Joel, it is a great and terrible day that no one can abide in.
The Lord knows what's going to happen on this day; and urgently commands that we repent and be humble before God on this day especially, who knows if He will repent of His evil and leave you a blessing?
15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Priest and preachers are suppose to pray for their people and pray the Lord has mercy, especially ministers and priest of the children of Israel. If this is done by many preachers, the Lord will have pity on His people that He has scattered and peeled.
27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
The Lord is going to restore Israel. All through our sixty-five day reading we have seen the same story; Israel transgressed the commandments of God; and did not teach the law to the other nations; He has destroyed and scattered them into slavery in every nation, but in the end will return them and treat them better than they were ever treated. That's the story on Israel by every prophet and when we read it in the New Testament, every Apostle.
The Lord will pour His spirit on His people as His second coming approaches and who ever calls on the name of the Lord (in truth) will be delivered. The deliverance comes out of mount Zion and Jerusalem, where the Lord will be on this earth (v29-32).
1For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
During the time that the sun and moon and stars go through a big change, that is when the Jesus Christ will return to the earth; it is at that time He will bring again the captivity of Judah. It is also at this time He will gather all nations and bring them on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means the valley where Jehovah will judge, and He will war with the nations for His people and for Israel who they scattered and parted their land after scattering them.
The Lord is going to deal with these people; all of them, all nations are guilty for being over zealous in their chastisement of the children of Israel. People have sold them, sold a boy for a night with a prostitute, and sold a girl for a bottle of wine and the Lord ask can anyone repay Him for their evil?
The nations have taken all of the children of Israel's substance and took them out of their temples and brought to their own pagan temples and sold them to the Greeks; far from Jerusalem; but the Lord is going to bring them back.
9Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The Lord is going to sell the children of the nations into the hand of Judah, who will then sell them to a people called the Sabeans, and they are far off; and it must be told to the Gentiles; because the Lord wrote to proclaim it to them. So to the Gentiles, prepare for war, turn your social programs and farming instruments into spears and weapons of war. Let weak nations tell the world they have nuclear weapons and let all nations come on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat and let the Lord kill you.
Bundles, and bundles, multitudes and multitudes of people and nations will be in the valley of decision; the valley of decision is where it will be decided who will run the earth, man or God.
15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Verse fifteen again tells us the time this all will happen; because we see the sun every day shining in strength, and the moon, and stars; so this has not happened yet. The Lord is going to roar out of Jerusalem, being hope to His people; and will do a lot of killing, it will actually be a world wide killing tour. Egypt and Edom will be a total wilderness when the Lord is finished with them because of their violence against the children of Judah.
I fret that regular church-goers do not know of such a violent Jesus; if you do not read the bible; you won't know of such a violent Jesus. It is good to find out now while you have time to sanitize your house (your behavior), and learn the ways of God. It is better to clean your house before the guest arrive than to do it as they ring the door bell.
We are moving into the book of Amos.
1The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen 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.
2And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
Amos was a prophet of the Lord and his book as you will find spoke against many nations along with Israel. He prophesised during the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the big earthquake. He picks up where Joel left off concerning the Lord roaring out of Jerusalem. Here is that world wide killing tour every prophet spoke of concerning the return of the Lord. Amos will go into details of each country or nation. He starts with Damascus and Gaza (v3-6).
11Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
Next up, the inhabitants of Ashdod and the Philistines. They will perish and many of these "middle eastern" nations have a hand in delivering the children of Judah, who escaped, to the children of Esau. The Lord speaks against the children of Edom because they pursued their brother Jacob with the sword and had no pity, and has kept his father's wrath for ever. Whose next? We see the children of Ammon in verse thirteen; they did some bad evil in ripping the child right out of the belly of a pregnant woman.
In chapter two, we move on to the children of Moab for their evil to the children of Edom. It's not just for what people did against Israel; it is for all the evil they have done. In verse four, the Lord is punishing Judah, because they disregarded the law of the Lord, ignored His commandments. Then we move right on along to Samaria or Israel, they were evil in selling their own people for a pair of shoes, a man and his dad will sleep with the same woman, just wickedness.
This is stuff that is going on now and that went on in the past.
The Lord especially did well by Israel, destroying the Amorites from before them, and these were a mighty people, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt. People think this is a light thing; but image for a moment the Lord torpedoing a nation by the hand of two men who speak destruction against lets say the United States.
These two men tell President Barack Obama to all the Filipinos to return back to their native land with riches and substance of the US; and if not plagues will fall on the US. Finally, the US gets beat up with things like Hurricane Katrina, and other like disasters until the US is flying every single Filipino out on first class jets, first class cruise ships. That is unheard of and amazing. That is what took place in Egypt; and Israel turned their back on such a God.
1Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
The first three verses are worth marinating and really letting it soak in for all people and not just the children of Israel. The Lord says that the children of Israel are the only families on the earth that He has known. The Lord may address individuals of other nations; but He has never met an entire nation on a mountain and passed down His laws to them with His own mighty voice. Because He has done this with them; He is going to punish them for all of their sins.
They can't get away with as little as a "white lie" without someone grabbing them and snatching their job from them. Then He asked a rhetorical question; can two people walk together except the agree? No they cannot because of the one person says he does not want to walk and the other says he wants to walk, they won't take one step together until they agree to both walk.
Today we have this thing called, "agree to disagree" and we think it is all good. Even if you agree to disagree, you still disagree. Israel couldn't walk with the Lord because they disagreed with His laws.
6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
The Lord makes more rhetorical questions to make another point that people do not think the Lord does. He ask can evil come on a city and the Lord have not done it? The answer is no. Even evil comes from the Lord. But He warns you before any evil comes; we just have to be wise enough to adhere to it. In verse seven; He will surely do nothing but reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets.
You want to know what the Lord is doing; read the books available by His prophets as we have been doing the last 65 days.
8The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
If you are bathing and a lion comes up about 20 yards from you and roars, who will not fear that? Likewise, if the Lord has spoken, of true servants, who can but prophesy?
6And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
This is addressing the ten tribes of Israel; Samaria for their oppressing of the poor and other sins. The Lord lets them know He has had enough of them and is ready to take them out of the land. He has already given the clean teeth because they don't eat but they will not return to the Lord and serve Him.
11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
12Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
They have been hit with a famine; remember the 3 year drought on rain that Elijah called on Ahab? Ahab still did not repent of his evil. The Lord slaughtered 70,000 in three days in the days of David; Israel just shook it off; and the Lord has sent pestilence like those in Egypt to them; but they still have not repented and sought the Lord their God.
He has even done some of them like He did Sodom and Gomarrah; but it did not matter; so the Lord tells them to prepare to meet their God, O Israel, in a way that will make not just your ears tingle; but your entire body.
4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
It is almost tiring to read over and over how horrible Israel has been and how the Lord is going to severly punish them; but this is a message from the Lord that hopefully wakes up His people. They may realize first who they are, why they are being punished, and that will give them the opportunity to correct themselves. Search for the Lord and His ways and live. That is a common theme through out the bible.
8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
If the Lord is telling the children of Israel this; others should jump the gun and get a leg in on doing right by hating evil and loving good.
Many people at times wish for the Lord to return; but to wish for that means a great deal of things must happen; such as, the great tribulation, the war of Armageddon, the Lord sitting in the sky watching, and then the massive killing all around the world. That is a lot to want to come down on the earth. So the Lord tells us in verse 18 not to desire the day of the Lord, because you don't know what it is going to be like to you. It will be a frantic day; like a man running from a lion and turns and sees a bear, then dived into his house and leaned on the door and a snake jumps up and bites him. In that day something is prone to get you; so do not desire it; just wait on the Lord.
18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Warnings of trouble to those who are at ease in Jerusalem and Samaria; they will be the first to go captive when the Lord brings trouble on the land.
8The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
I just found out that the Lord can abhor or hate. He hated His own people because of their unlawful behavior. The God of the Universe can hate because He put in motion a plan to make more powerful beings like Him; yet His people want to be destroyed and hardheaded.
Amos is asking the Lord to repent of His evil toward this people, Israel.
11For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
14Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
16Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
The Lord is not trying to hear it; He has given them chance after chance. The faithful are going into captivity with the faithless. Why is this? Because those who knew better should have revolted against kings who set up an evil administration.
Amaziah, a priest, told Amos to scram out of town prophesying against Samaria. He told him to go talk that "nonsense" in Judah. However, Amos let him know he is doing the work of the Lord and cannot help be on the job and do the Lord's will, which was to speak to the children of Israel.
Amos further told him his wife will be a harlot in the city and his children will be killed and he will die in a polluted land and Israel is still going into captivity. I wonder if he kept talking against Amos then?
The Lord showed more visions to Amos, a basket of summer fruit. The Lord said the end is on His people Israel; there will not be songs in the temple; but instead people howling and dead bodies will be everywhere. People would see the Sabbath and couldn't wait till it passed so they could get back out there and sell their stuff in the market. The Lord is watching this, even today.
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
The Lord will cause the sun to go down at noon and will darken the earth on a clear day. He will turn their feast into mourning and the songs sung will be lamentations, you know like the blues. He will make it like it is the morning of someone's only son; a very bitter day (v9-10).
Soon enough, the Lord will send a famine in the land and it won't be for bread or water, but of the hearing of the words of God. People will wonder from nation to nation, looking for the word of the Lord and won't be able to find it at that time. Believe that this all has happened. The Lord caused the sun to go down at noon and it was completely dark in the earth, when Jesus died on the cross. We'll read about it later. And since Jesus died on passover, the feast immediately after the passover (Leviticus 23) was the unleavened bread, was a feast full of mourning, instead of joy. It was like the mourning of the death of an only son; and it was the death of an only son; the only son of the living God.
4And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
Amos saw the Lord standing on the altar telling the fate of His people and how no one is going to get away. He'll go into the earth to get them, in heaven to bring that back. But no one is getting away scotch free; even if they go into captivity He will chase them with violence in the countries they go to and will look over them to do evil and not good.
7Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
The Lord compares His children, the Israelites, physically to the Ethiopians. Ethiopians are Cush, Cush was a son of Ham, the land of Ham was renamed by a Roman General, to Africa. The name Ethiopia ʾĪtyōṗṗyā and its English cognate are thought by some recent scholars to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Aithiops 'an Ethiopian', derived in turn from Greek words meaning "of burned face." The would mean they are dark skinned people.
Egypt was conquered in 6th century by Arabs and today Arabs inhabit Egypt. This is why Amos compared them to Ethiopians because they have stayed in their land and complexion has not changed much.
9For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
The Lord sprinkled Israel like wheat into all nations, just sifted them like a woman would do cereal grains. Sinners will die by the sword.
14And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Just as God sent them into captivity; He will surely bring them back out of their captivity; and as in Isaiah 61 they will build the old waste cities and live in them. The children of Israel will no longer study pagan gods, nor pollute the Lord's Holy name.
--
Peace & Grace
2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
The Lord tells Israel how to come back to Him; by simply speaking the words that confess your sins and keeping His commandments. Repent first, and then return. It is not like you can come as you are, you must confess with your lips and He will have mercy on you.
In the latter days, the children of Israel will say, what business do they have with idols. The wise will understand that the Lord's ways are right and the just will walk in them; but sinners, breakers of His laws will fall.
We're going to move right into the book of Joel.
Joel Chapter 1 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
What the Lord is getting ready to do upon the earth; even the cows will suffer at having no pasture. What is this? It is the day of the Lord; it is at hand where destruction comes from the Almighty God.
Joel 2
A trumpet is blow in Jerusalem and everyone that lives there at this time will certainly be trembling; because the day of the Lord is getting closer and closer. Verse two tells us what kind of day it is; it is dark, gloomy, clouds, thick darkness; the way it will be has never been and will never be again. I do not like clouds period; so to have a dark gloomy thick darkness day is not going to be pleasing.
Verse three expands on the Armageddon war and when Gog and Magog and her allies deploy against Babylon the great in Jerusalem. When the approach Jerusalem, in front of them it will be a fruitful garden, as the Garden of Eden, but when they finish with it; it will look like a desolate wilderness and nothing will escape from them.
They are going to come down quick, and will not have any mercy.
The time of this is right before the Lord returns because the heavens will tremble, the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will appear to fall to the earth. Then the Lord will speak to His army, all the holy angels in heaven to prepare for a big war. If the day of the Lord or the Lord's day was Sunday, then according to Joel, it is a great and terrible day that no one can abide in.
The Lord knows what's going to happen on this day; and urgently commands that we repent and be humble before God on this day especially, who knows if He will repent of His evil and leave you a blessing?
15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Priest and preachers are suppose to pray for their people and pray the Lord has mercy, especially ministers and priest of the children of Israel. If this is done by many preachers, the Lord will have pity on His people that He has scattered and peeled.
27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
The Lord is going to restore Israel. All through our sixty-five day reading we have seen the same story; Israel transgressed the commandments of God; and did not teach the law to the other nations; He has destroyed and scattered them into slavery in every nation, but in the end will return them and treat them better than they were ever treated. That's the story on Israel by every prophet and when we read it in the New Testament, every Apostle.
The Lord will pour His spirit on His people as His second coming approaches and who ever calls on the name of the Lord (in truth) will be delivered. The deliverance comes out of mount Zion and Jerusalem, where the Lord will be on this earth (v29-32).
Joel 3
2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
During the time that the sun and moon and stars go through a big change, that is when the Jesus Christ will return to the earth; it is at that time He will bring again the captivity of Judah. It is also at this time He will gather all nations and bring them on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means the valley where Jehovah will judge, and He will war with the nations for His people and for Israel who they scattered and parted their land after scattering them.
The Lord is going to deal with these people; all of them, all nations are guilty for being over zealous in their chastisement of the children of Israel. People have sold them, sold a boy for a night with a prostitute, and sold a girl for a bottle of wine and the Lord ask can anyone repay Him for their evil?
The nations have taken all of the children of Israel's substance and took them out of their temples and brought to their own pagan temples and sold them to the Greeks; far from Jerusalem; but the Lord is going to bring them back.
9Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The Lord is going to sell the children of the nations into the hand of Judah, who will then sell them to a people called the Sabeans, and they are far off; and it must be told to the Gentiles; because the Lord wrote to proclaim it to them. So to the Gentiles, prepare for war, turn your social programs and farming instruments into spears and weapons of war. Let weak nations tell the world they have nuclear weapons and let all nations come on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat and let the Lord kill you.
Bundles, and bundles, multitudes and multitudes of people and nations will be in the valley of decision; the valley of decision is where it will be decided who will run the earth, man or God.
15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Verse fifteen again tells us the time this all will happen; because we see the sun every day shining in strength, and the moon, and stars; so this has not happened yet. The Lord is going to roar out of Jerusalem, being hope to His people; and will do a lot of killing, it will actually be a world wide killing tour. Egypt and Edom will be a total wilderness when the Lord is finished with them because of their violence against the children of Judah.
I fret that regular church-goers do not know of such a violent Jesus; if you do not read the bible; you won't know of such a violent Jesus. It is good to find out now while you have time to sanitize your house (your behavior), and learn the ways of God. It is better to clean your house before the guest arrive than to do it as they ring the door bell.
We are moving into the book of Amos.
Amos chapter 1
2And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
Amos was a prophet of the Lord and his book as you will find spoke against many nations along with Israel. He prophesised during the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the big earthquake. He picks up where Joel left off concerning the Lord roaring out of Jerusalem. Here is that world wide killing tour every prophet spoke of concerning the return of the Lord. Amos will go into details of each country or nation. He starts with Damascus and Gaza (v3-6).
11Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
Next up, the inhabitants of Ashdod and the Philistines. They will perish and many of these "middle eastern" nations have a hand in delivering the children of Judah, who escaped, to the children of Esau. The Lord speaks against the children of Edom because they pursued their brother Jacob with the sword and had no pity, and has kept his father's wrath for ever. Whose next? We see the children of Ammon in verse thirteen; they did some bad evil in ripping the child right out of the belly of a pregnant woman.
Amos 2
This is stuff that is going on now and that went on in the past.
The Lord especially did well by Israel, destroying the Amorites from before them, and these were a mighty people, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt. People think this is a light thing; but image for a moment the Lord torpedoing a nation by the hand of two men who speak destruction against lets say the United States.
These two men tell President Barack Obama to all the Filipinos to return back to their native land with riches and substance of the US; and if not plagues will fall on the US. Finally, the US gets beat up with things like Hurricane Katrina, and other like disasters until the US is flying every single Filipino out on first class jets, first class cruise ships. That is unheard of and amazing. That is what took place in Egypt; and Israel turned their back on such a God.
Amos 3
2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
The first three verses are worth marinating and really letting it soak in for all people and not just the children of Israel. The Lord says that the children of Israel are the only families on the earth that He has known. The Lord may address individuals of other nations; but He has never met an entire nation on a mountain and passed down His laws to them with His own mighty voice. Because He has done this with them; He is going to punish them for all of their sins.
They can't get away with as little as a "white lie" without someone grabbing them and snatching their job from them. Then He asked a rhetorical question; can two people walk together except the agree? No they cannot because of the one person says he does not want to walk and the other says he wants to walk, they won't take one step together until they agree to both walk.
Today we have this thing called, "agree to disagree" and we think it is all good. Even if you agree to disagree, you still disagree. Israel couldn't walk with the Lord because they disagreed with His laws.
6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
The Lord makes more rhetorical questions to make another point that people do not think the Lord does. He ask can evil come on a city and the Lord have not done it? The answer is no. Even evil comes from the Lord. But He warns you before any evil comes; we just have to be wise enough to adhere to it. In verse seven; He will surely do nothing but reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets.
You want to know what the Lord is doing; read the books available by His prophets as we have been doing the last 65 days.
8The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
If you are bathing and a lion comes up about 20 yards from you and roars, who will not fear that? Likewise, if the Lord has spoken, of true servants, who can but prophesy?
Amos 4
This is addressing the ten tribes of Israel; Samaria for their oppressing of the poor and other sins. The Lord lets them know He has had enough of them and is ready to take them out of the land. He has already given the clean teeth because they don't eat but they will not return to the Lord and serve Him.
11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
12Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
They have been hit with a famine; remember the 3 year drought on rain that Elijah called on Ahab? Ahab still did not repent of his evil. The Lord slaughtered 70,000 in three days in the days of David; Israel just shook it off; and the Lord has sent pestilence like those in Egypt to them; but they still have not repented and sought the Lord their God.
He has even done some of them like He did Sodom and Gomarrah; but it did not matter; so the Lord tells them to prepare to meet their God, O Israel, in a way that will make not just your ears tingle; but your entire body.
Amos Chapter five (5)
5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
It is almost tiring to read over and over how horrible Israel has been and how the Lord is going to severly punish them; but this is a message from the Lord that hopefully wakes up His people. They may realize first who they are, why they are being punished, and that will give them the opportunity to correct themselves. Search for the Lord and His ways and live. That is a common theme through out the bible.
8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
If the Lord is telling the children of Israel this; others should jump the gun and get a leg in on doing right by hating evil and loving good.
Many people at times wish for the Lord to return; but to wish for that means a great deal of things must happen; such as, the great tribulation, the war of Armageddon, the Lord sitting in the sky watching, and then the massive killing all around the world. That is a lot to want to come down on the earth. So the Lord tells us in verse 18 not to desire the day of the Lord, because you don't know what it is going to be like to you. It will be a frantic day; like a man running from a lion and turns and sees a bear, then dived into his house and leaned on the door and a snake jumps up and bites him. In that day something is prone to get you; so do not desire it; just wait on the Lord.
18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amos 6
8The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
I just found out that the Lord can abhor or hate. He hated His own people because of their unlawful behavior. The God of the Universe can hate because He put in motion a plan to make more powerful beings like Him; yet His people want to be destroyed and hardheaded.
Amos 7
11For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
14Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
16Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
The Lord is not trying to hear it; He has given them chance after chance. The faithful are going into captivity with the faithless. Why is this? Because those who knew better should have revolted against kings who set up an evil administration.
Amaziah, a priest, told Amos to scram out of town prophesying against Samaria. He told him to go talk that "nonsense" in Judah. However, Amos let him know he is doing the work of the Lord and cannot help be on the job and do the Lord's will, which was to speak to the children of Israel.
Amos further told him his wife will be a harlot in the city and his children will be killed and he will die in a polluted land and Israel is still going into captivity. I wonder if he kept talking against Amos then?
Amos 8
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
The Lord will cause the sun to go down at noon and will darken the earth on a clear day. He will turn their feast into mourning and the songs sung will be lamentations, you know like the blues. He will make it like it is the morning of someone's only son; a very bitter day (v9-10).
Soon enough, the Lord will send a famine in the land and it won't be for bread or water, but of the hearing of the words of God. People will wonder from nation to nation, looking for the word of the Lord and won't be able to find it at that time. Believe that this all has happened. The Lord caused the sun to go down at noon and it was completely dark in the earth, when Jesus died on the cross. We'll read about it later. And since Jesus died on passover, the feast immediately after the passover (Leviticus 23) was the unleavened bread, was a feast full of mourning, instead of joy. It was like the mourning of the death of an only son; and it was the death of an only son; the only son of the living God.
Amos 9
Amos saw the Lord standing on the altar telling the fate of His people and how no one is going to get away. He'll go into the earth to get them, in heaven to bring that back. But no one is getting away scotch free; even if they go into captivity He will chase them with violence in the countries they go to and will look over them to do evil and not good.
7Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
The Lord compares His children, the Israelites, physically to the Ethiopians. Ethiopians are Cush, Cush was a son of Ham, the land of Ham was renamed by a Roman General, to Africa. The name Ethiopia ʾĪtyōṗṗyā and its English cognate are thought by some recent scholars to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Aithiops 'an Ethiopian', derived in turn from Greek words meaning "of burned face." The would mean they are dark skinned people.
Egypt was conquered in 6th century by Arabs and today Arabs inhabit Egypt. This is why Amos compared them to Ethiopians because they have stayed in their land and complexion has not changed much.
9For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
The Lord sprinkled Israel like wheat into all nations, just sifted them like a woman would do cereal grains. Sinners will die by the sword.
14And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Just as God sent them into captivity; He will surely bring them back out of their captivity; and as in Isaiah 61 they will build the old waste cities and live in them. The children of Israel will no longer study pagan gods, nor pollute the Lord's Holy name.
--
Peace & Grace
