MEMORIZING GALATIANS

I am going to spend the rest of this month trying to memorize Galatians. We are studying that as a ministry right now and I want to meditate on it. I am excited about memorizing another book of the bible, it is so fun and profitable. Next month we will pick up again with 1 Chronicles as we walk through the alphabetical listing of the books of the bible. I am enjoying this and being deeply challenged by it. I hope you are too. I love you guys.

AMOS CHAPTER 9

HEART ISSUES
Today I am challenged again by a bigger view of God than I have so often. Many times “my God” doesn’t hate or get angered, nor does He deal that harshly with sin. He is very forgiving and kind of a pushover really. Then I find myself confronted with the one who touches the earth and it melts. I tremble before the one who holds the water back at the ocean from drowning all of human life. Our God is Holy and Awesome. He cannot tolerate our sin. It is encouraging today to know that I am a part of the righteous remnant of Israel that God still loves and cares for. I am also grateful today that He is a just God who does deal with sin and all wrongs will be righted. The world seems so unfair so often, but He reigns above all and is not worried as He sits on His throne. He is patient and wise, two attributes that I still long to have established in my life.

NOTES
-Begins with a very harsh view of God with His wrath ready to overtake and destroy the Israelites. It is also made abundantly clear that there is no hiding from God. He is omnipresent and omnipotent and against such a powerful being there is no escape.
-In verses 5 & 6 Amos declares a doxology proclaiming the magnificence of the Lord that He speaks for. This lends even more credibility to His prophecy as the people know from whom the words come.
-There are three doxologies in Amos: The first doxology praises God as the creator of the universe (Amos 4:13). The second begins with creation (Amos 5:8) and goes on to refer to God's control. In this third doxology Yahweh's creative power is turned into destructive might. We can learn a great deal about the presence of God through these. He is beyond our box of love that we put Him in so often.
-The promise and the seed of Abraham was not physical, it was spiritual God. Amos reveals in verse 7 that the Israelites are the same to Him as the Philistines and the Cushites. This is a slap in the face to “God’s people” as they thought they were. God has no more association with racial Jews or Christians for that matter than Germans or French.
-It appears in verse 8 to only apply to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, but the text says the sinful kingdom. Israel and Judah are a part, but all of the sinful kingdoms of the world will be wiped out as we know from the promises in Revelation. There is a difference between the true Israel and the other Israel, the first was the people who love and obey God (still true today) and the latter was/is the economic secular state of Israel. The latter means no more to God than Cush, Edom, or Philistia.
-The Church that Jesus Christ would establish as a descendant of David is prophesied here. The only land that we will never be taken out of or will be fully safe in is heaven. We long for the land that God has prepared for the true Israel, His righteous remnant.

AMOS CHAPTER 8

HEART ISSUES
It is shocking to me to think of God’s reasoning for destroying the Israelite people. The sins they committed are so commonplace in America that I do not know what causes Him to relent sometimes. The only thing I can think of is that He is patient and allowing for more people to come to know Him. I know that the wrath of God will not be pretty on the day that it is revealed to America. We have been the “Christian” nation that has prostituted Christ for His blessing. We run after what God gives and spend little time running after God. I want to continue to run after God himself and treat Him as the treasure, not the things that God does. I also am challenged again by the aspect of thinking that God sees everything, knows everything, and will not forget anything that I have done. My sin is such a huge pile before Him and I regret all the ones that continue to creep up in my life. I am so grateful for the blood of Jesus Christ when I stop to realize the amount of sin that has been covered by His blood. It causes me to strive for repentance and turn to my Holy and awesome Creator and personal intimate friend.

NOTES
-The summer fruit/ripe fruit was not fit for preserving. Other commentators that notate the fruit as being the last autumn harvest refer to this as Israel stocking up all their sins against themselves and there being no more fruit to gather. Winter is truly coming for the Lord will destroy Israel for their many sins.
-Joy turns to lamentation and finally to silence as wailing is even hard in the midst of such destruction.
-Isn’t it crazy what these people were destroyed for and how commonplace these things are for today. People longing to work on the Sabbath, exploiting the poor, and making dishonest money are a natural mark of our civilization and is even taught to our students in economics classes.
-God does not forget nor does He miss any of our sins. Verse 9 is a prophecy of the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is amazing how God implanted the coming of His son into the prophecies of destruction and death for the Israelite people. Amos probably did not even know the meaning of what he was saying at this time, but this was truly the Word of God coming forth from his mouth.
-The judgment was true against the Northern Kingdom of Israel as we do not know hardly anything about their continuance after this destruction. We know that none of these tribes went back to the land of Canaan and that we know very little if much at all about their further impact on history. Although, the tribes of Judah did remain, they later went through much judgment and wrath by the destruction of many Jews that we all know of.

AMOS CHAPTER 7

HEART ISSUES
I have longed for the spiritual gift of prophecy for quite a while now, but this chapter really challenged my longing. I have always thought of it being easy, good happy things to tell people. Here I see Amos having to deliver a very hard, horrible, condemning message. These messages were proclaimed not only in the streets, but face to face with a high ranking official, Amaziah. I know this chapter really makes me think about my view of God. Amos was a prophet who cared for the people he was prophesying to, and he even was an intercessor for them. This makes me check my heart as well, would I be obedient to God enough for Him to speak to me directly and me be able to talk with God like that. I also am challenged that Amos spent such time with God battling for His people before he went and delivered the message. He saw the justice and wrath of God through the plumb line, but seemed to agree with God concerning this judgment. I also was challenged to never become like Amaziah and speak to those doing the work of God from the government’s perspective. I want to be obedient to God and I pray that the prophecy of my life never coincides with the one proclaimed to Amaziah. What a horrifying mess of a future!

NOTES
-This could possibly refer to the retreat of Pul and the Assyrian army around this time period.
-A plumb line is used in both the construction and destruction of buildings. It reveals defects that would cause someone to tear down a building. The same line was used to promote the good of Israel and to reveal the wickedness and destruction of Israel. God’s people turned to God and were blessed and turned away from God and the destruction ensued.
-The priest was the one who spoke against the prophet for the king instead of speaking for God. Amos then prophesied that Amaziah’s wife would be a prostitute, his kids die by the sword, and that he would die in a pagan country. That is terrible, but the wrath of God is intense, and most intense against those who are put in a position of priest and turn their back on God in the search for approval.

AMOS CHAPTER 6

Heart Issues
-I changed from things I learned today to heart issues. I also want to begin there and place my notes at the end. I think that is the most important part of bible study, always letting it penetrate my heart and not just my head. I feel that I have been doing that, but I wanted to put it under another heading to keep myself focused and to encourage us to take to heart the things of the Lord.
-Today I am thankful that God does take us through hard times and through periods of needing Him. The main thing I noticed from the passage today is that the Israelites did not credit God with the glory, victory, or honor from their lives, but they credited themselves. They were judged for their complacency and false security. They thought that since they had so much and were so comfortable they were good to go, but God challenges that and points them to the other nations who served false gods as they were beginning to and their ruin. God is also found here abhorring their pride, which challenges me, knowing that my main vice that continues to creep up in my life is my pride. It is easy for me to think of myself more highly than I ought and to live a self-exalting life. It challenges me when I notice that God abhors that in my life. He is not okay with that and does not gloss over it, but it sets a holy God against me. I can very easily give myself the credit for things I do instead of giving glory to God when I know that it is only by His hand that I have accomplished the things I am so proud of.

OTHER NOTES
-Calneh, Hamath, Gath, and Philistia were all kingdoms that were destroyed for their worship of false gods.
-The Israelites were very rich at this time period, but there was still a great divide between the rich and the poor even in their own kingdom.
-There is a pretty big debate and a great source of controversy in verse 5. This is where a great deal of the debate over instruments in worship for today should be allowed or not. David invented his instrument to play with, sometimes to the Lord and many time with himself. It seems the idle use is condemned here for they waste time with it. This really makes me think about our use of time as well and how easy we have it in America. It leads us to use idle time as well to do nothing for God, but please ourselves. What is a better use of our time and what is the balance between enjoying life and all that God has for us and serving Him with all that we have? I have not yet found a sure answer for this difficulty.
-The great house was Israel and the small house was Judah, they are both descendant from Jacob.

AMOS CHAPTER 5

-This is the best chapter of the book!
-He begins chapters 3, 4, & 5 with this phrase. It is to draw attention to the upcoming song/lament. A lament is like a dirge, a song of grievance or used when a prophet speaks of calamity to come. He mourns that Israel is fallen with no one to lift her up.
-Amos goes on to speak from the Lord of the destruction of the armies of Israel. After this he goes on to tell them why the Lord has issued this prophecy on behalf of Israel. They have an alternative, they can seek the Lord and live, or He will continue with this judgment. We see the same thing in Jonah as the people are called to repentance and they do. God then spares them and He relents issuing His wrath.
-He again declares that the Jews are unjust, liars, greedy, etc. In v. 12 the Lord reveals that He knows all of their sins. Nothing is hidden before the Almighty. God hates their religious feasts, sacrifices, assemblies, songs, etc. He declares that justice will roll on.
-We get a great picture of God’s presence in this chapter. He is an amazing creator vv. 8-9 show that He controls everything and can do whatever He wants. Nothing can hold back God, he can make dark light and vice versa. He can make the water pour out on land. His presence is dreadful as well. (vv. 18-20) The day of the Lord will be intense and destructive not a pleasant graceful time.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS CHAPTER
God is not pleased with ritual or what we can do for Him. He is pleased with our devotion and our genuine heartfelt praise. What are some things in our churches today that God despises and that He has no regard for? What is He not listening to? How does God feel about our assemblies? I think the main thing to ask behind all of these is, what is our motivation behind our sacrifices and songs? Are we truly caught up in God or in looking for others approval? I long for the presence of God to a degree, but this chapter helps me look more truthfully at His glorious presence to know that there are still things in me that would cause me to fall prostrate like Isaiah and declare that I am an unclean man. The presence of God is powerful and holy, not something I can just waltz into and say Whats Up?!?

AMOS CHAPTER 4

-Cows of Bashan – women who led their husbands and threw lavish parties and sent their husbands to get more, they didn’t care how, just get more
-The fishhooks and hooks in their noses was a barbaric practice to lead those conquered away and introduce them to servitude. It was a way of humiliating them. The Assyrians depicted this practice, and the deal with holes in the wall is pretty significant. The people in that time period drew great security from their walls. That was their main source of protection since their entire city was built inside the walls and if someone was going to attack a city, they would first lay siege to its walls. The fact that they would be taken out through holes in their walls meant that they would be attacked and destroyed. Their walls would be brought down and they would be carried over the rubble of their walls.
-The people were falsely being religious and were “worshipping” in Bethel. Jerusalem was the only place true worshippers of God would worship and really they were not worshipping God at all. They were worshipping Baal and indulging in fornication and drunkenness like crazy. That is pretty terrible, I wonder what Gilgal was like.
-Amos mocks their religious rituals that they still do that are an abomination to a Holy God. The people had the Law of Moses and it was clear that unleavened bread was to be sacrificed, not leavened. They were not following God no matter how much they had convinced themselves that they were. They loved to boast about their good deeds too. How does God tolerate such things in His name? We wonder why bad things happen, I almost wonder how good things still happen.
-God tried to reveal himself to them repeatedly, but they did not see God in the midst of the plagues. Hunger, lack of rain, mildew, locusts, young men killed, destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, this sounds to me a lot like Egypt. Those people knew it was the hand of God delivering these things, but only because there was a messenger declaring it all because it happened. It seems that the Israelites would always turn their back on God and then wonder why the bad things were happening. They would not attribute it to God as discipline because that would mean something needed to change.
-Wow! He said prepare to meet your God, Israel. He is hardcore, He knows that His presence is incredible and will cause great distress and destruction when He comes to dwell with His people who do not follow or revere Him as God any longer.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS CHAPTER
This chapter made me wonder about a lot of things. Why don’t we attribute the huge acts of God in nature to His discipline? Why are we so quick to dismiss it as just random chance? What are ways that we “worship God” that are an abomination to Him? How is God trying to get our attention today? What is God’s presence really like? How would I prepare to meet God? Why do people not turn back to God in the midst of the terrible or why do they so easily turn away from the God who wants to give them the best? There is really so much to unpack in this chapter for us today.

AMOS CHAPTER 3

-The whole family refers to Judah and Israel, all 12 tribes. God has brought all of them out of Egypt. He took care of them, gave them food, protected them, did everything for them, and now they are turning their back on God. They are worshipping false idols and running after monetary gain. Because God has chosen them and they turned away He must punish. They are His chosen people and even they did not choose Him. What a hard position to be in for God. God loves and it is returned with an affair with other gods. How would you respond if the object of your love had an affair? Especially if you are the all-knowing, all-powerful God?
-Walk together is an illustration of God walking with His people and that they could experience the presence of God. This cannot happen any longer with their sin before a Holy God.
-God will not call out, or roar without executing His judgment.
-God continues to talk about His judgment and His execution of it. He will send natural evil to punish the moral evil. This is how God executes His judgment many times, not just to be mean, but to draw His people back to Himself. It is not crazy wrath, but solid discipline.
-God did execute this judgment later by the Babylonians and they did kill most of the people and only left a small remnant. God promised that here by His talk about the lamb and only its bones being left.
-God will come back to the land later through Josiah, but for now He will punish not only the poor, but primarily the rich that have summer homes and winter homes. He will destroy their magnificent houses and bring them to ruin. How quickly God can do this whether it be through battle or a natural disaster like Katrina.

Things I learned from this chapter
God’s wrath is not like my wrath at all. He has a Holy wrath that is rooted fully in discipline and bringing about restoration where it is possible. His judgment and wrath is much more direct than mine, I am way too worried about what people think than I am about their end goal. I should be more worried about people’s holiness than about how they perceive me. I also am challenged to not be like the Israelites and lay up my treasure here on earth and desert God so easily. This is a temptation every day that I must battle and stay true to the God who has called me out as His son and knows what is best for my life. I am thankful to God today for His discipline and for keeping me on the right track.

AMOS CHAPTER 2

The warnings and prophecies continue against Moab. I am not really sure why they put Moab in the same chapter with Judah and Israel. They are such a different type of judgment and relationship to God.
-Notice God does not hold the outsiders to the same standard of His people, but He also cannot tolerate their sin. Judah was the southern part of Israel, they split off of Israel during the period after David’s reign as king and when his son became king and was much harsher than his father. The people of Judah had turned away from God and followed idols, rejecting the law of the Lord and His decrees. Remember also how important Jerusalem was to this people, and I am sure that this prophecy did not make them happy.
-The Nazarite vow (Numbers 6:2-21) is pretty interesting. There are only three people in the bible that held a lifelong Nazarite vow – Sampson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. Most were between 30 and 100 days. The declarations of the Nazarite vow is that they would not drink wine, would not cut their hair, and not have contact with a dead body. This institution was a symbol of a life devoted to God and separated from all sin, a holy life. It says that the Israelites were trying to get them to break their vow by drinking wine. It seems that “God’s People” are the quickest ones to trip us up some times on our commitments and vows to God. I think it is a mixture of jealousy and lack of devotion on their part. Have you ever experienced a “church person” bringing you down in your walk with God?
-The Israelites did not care for the poor or show any mercy to them. They were on the pattern of the rich get richer and the powerful gained power and just the opposite for others. Remember that the powers of government in Israel were the religious officials. Isn’t it sad what happens when religious leaders are given political power? It would be great if they used to help the poor and serve the people, but they often use their position for their own pleasure. How would you handle power and money if it were given to you? Would you continue to live as you do and help others, or take the elitist role and get all that you can for you?
-When God brings judgment there is no getting away. This chapter ends with showing that God cannot be ran from and that His judgment is full. How do you view the justice of God?

Things I learned from this chapter
I learned that I cannot run from God and that He does hate sin. It doesn’t matter who the individual is, but sin is detestable to Him and His holiness cannot tolerate it. God cannot first be loving or first give grace and set aside His holiness. His holiness is fundamental to His character, the first attribute that penetrates all of His other attributes. God does hold His people to a higher standard it seems. Of course He would since He had given them so much and revealed Himself to them time and time again. It disgusts me to see the Israelites turn away from God so easily, but that in turn makes me look at my own life so often in disgust as well. How quickly I can forget my first love and betray my God for the immediate.

I FIXED THE COMMENTS

Sorry everyone, I had the wrong setting on my blog to allow comments to post right away. Now all of the comments that you made on the blog are showing up. Sorry for the confusion, lets keep walking through this together and sharpening each other as we go. I was wondering why no one was commenting!?

AMOS CHAPTER 1

Scripture goes to such great detail, it must be true. In verse 1 we see Amos notating all of the different aspects of the time period he was writing in. This lines up with our historical records and puts him beginning no matter what with truth. This chapter has five of the oracles against nations outside of Judah and Israel. This teaches us that God is concerned with sin, even the sins of the outsiders. He is a just God and His wrath comes against the people who sin against Him. He does not deal with sin lightly, the fundamental attribute of God is His holiness. Verse 2 says that the Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem. I am sure God is not playing when He says that He will rain down fire on their fortresses. Remember here that Amos is a herdsman, and the sound of a lion would be to him one of the most fearful sounds on the earth.

-Three & Four sins – refers to repetitive sins and very, very exceedingly. The Lord’s judgments against these nations was not due to three or four sins, or that same judgment would apply every day to every nation. Still sin is serious before a holy God. One historian described it as using a finite number to more likely apply to the infinite.

-Jeroboam II’s army did execute the judgment that Amos predicted later as they threw open the gates and destroyed the fortress.

-Ezekiel 26 recounts the destruction of Tyre and its desecration.

-The treaty of brotherhood between Tyre and the Jews was very tight nit, in that they were descendants of Jacob and Esau.

-The Edomites and the Jews were always enemies, and this probably refers to the time when Jerusalem was sieged by the Chaldeans and they continued to exploit the Jews.

Things I learned from this chapter:
It helps me get a better view of God and His holiness. He is a just God and His wrath is unbearable. What God wills to happen will happen, sometimes his justice is delayed, but it will come. It was amazing to see how history accounted for the follow through of these warnings issued by God. It also made me look and think of our nation and the sins that would be very, very, exceedingly prevalent. I want to walk in the way of the Lord and allow Him to use me to proclaim truth to our generation in the way of Amos.

AMOS Background

Background

Who? – Amos was a shepherd, herdsman, and cultivator of sycamore figs. He traveled a great deal with these jobs and learned much of the rich and poor alike. Amos was not a “professional” prophet, but the Lord called him out from his shepherding and told him to prophesy to the people. He was not even a citizen of Israel, but of Judah and still took the Lord’s message to the people of Israel. This was all to show that it wasn’t Amos who was important, but the message of the Lord was important. We need to watch how quickly we attribute great things to great prophets, for if it were not for the grace of God they would have followed the world as well. There was not in Amos the sympathy, warm love, and feeling of the statesman or citizen, but a cold sense of justice and right. He was the stern prophet of justice and righteousness. Some last descriptions of Amos – rugged convictions and an iron will; sturdy moral fiber and fearlessness; a layman molded in the harsh terrain of the wilderness of Tekoa.

When? – 760-755 BC – It happened during the reigns of King Uzziah (792-740 BC) and King Jeroboam II (793-753 BC). It is more precisely dated two years after the earthquake, that is when he began his mission to Bethel.

What was going on? – Israel was at one of its peaks of prosperity and peace again, with the borders almost spread as far as the Davidic Kingdom. Israel and Judah had long warred against each other, but were now working together and even trading with each other. The people were rich – they had summer houses and winter houses; ate and drank their fill; Amos 6:1 characterized them by being “at ease in Zion”. The problems here were that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. There was great corruption in the legal system and the basic cause of all of this was the appearance of religion in all people, but the lack of spirituality. Amos rejected the idea that quantity, numbers, and external show was really religion. Religion flourished, but it was not the true religion that God had called His people too, it was based upon legalism, pride, and lack of spiritual devotion with an increase in ritual.