Amos Week 3
Amos outline review
Chapters 1-2 - God circles the map around Israel and then centers his message on them in the middle
Chapters 3-5 - 3 words
The Lord will devour Israel like a lion
The Lord desires Israel to return to him
Seeking the Lord is Israel’s only hope to live (I failed to share this one with you last week!)
The next section after the three words is the woes. Amos is going to give two or three woes to Israel.
Look at 5:18 - there’s a woe, put a box around it
Look at 6:1 - there’s a woe, put a box around it
Look at 6:4 - there’s the third woe, put a box around it. I’ll explain in a minute how it’s likely only two woes though the word is here three times.
First, What is a “Woe”? Because as you read the Bible you come across “Woes” every now and then.
In modern English the word woe is still occasionally used, but it’s used in two different ways. The first phrase you might hear commonly is “Woe is me”. Usually it’s only said in a sarcastic or dramatic tone now. But it carries the idea of, “I am so sad because I have endured so much suffering”. This phrase actually comes directly from the Bible, in Isaiah 6:5, when Isaiah famously sees a vision of the throne of God and the angels are singing “Holy, holy, holy” Isaiah’s response is “Woe is me! For I am lost”. That’s the first way to use it, but that’s not what is happening here.
The second way woe is used is to announce judgment to someone who thinks they are fine. A news article condemning someone might say, “Woe to the man who thinks he is above the law”. And the idea carried with it is, you are living in a way that is wicked and your day of reckoning is sure. This is exactly how it’s being used in Amos.
He’s going to state: [write this on the board]
who it is for, [underline]
what they have done, and [circle]
what the consequence will be. [squiggly]
But here’s what is often missed with a “woe”. A woe is an act of mercy and love because it is given in advance. It is a warning. It’s like when the police pull you over and instead of giving you a ticket they warn you, “If you keep this up then there will be certain consequences” only it’s significantly more severe than a small fine.
So let’s look at our first woe.
Read 5:18
Who is the woe for? It says very clearly that the woe is “To you who desire the Day of the Lord” - underline that phrase. Basically, he’s addressing people who say something like “I can’t wait for God to show up and make things right.” Now that seems like a very reasonable thing to desire. But Amos points out that these people should not desire that.
We’re familiar with the phrase the Day of the Lord from our time in Joel. And we learned there that the Day of the Lord has two parts to it - the destruction of the wicked and the salvation of his people.
I think Israel understands these two parts, but they have wrongly assumed that they are the ones who will be saved - and the nations around them on the map are the ones who will be judged. Amos has already highlighted that this is not true. So the Day of the Lord will not be salvation for them, but rather judgment.
Read 5:19-20
He uses some really clever analogies here. If you’re frustrated with the way things are and hope the day of the Lord will save you, it will be more like running from one problem and crashing into a new one. Like fleeing a lion to meet a bear. Like looking for rest in your house and finding a snake. The Day of the Lord is not salvation for you.
Read 5:21-27
You’ll notice there’s a quotation mark here at the beginning of 21 that isn’t closed until 27 and that’s because the Lord is speaking now instead of Amos. He’s using the personal pronouns I and me here.
This is the part of the woe where God will tell them what they’ve done wrong and what the consequences will be
First he says in quick succession, stop the feasts, stop the gathering, stop the giving, stop the songs. All of the visible expressions of your love for me need to stop.
Vs 24 tells us what they have done wrong that needs to be fixed. “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” Circle that verse. Write Lack of Justice next to it This verse was famously used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I have a dream speech”. And he used it in exactly the same way that Amos does. At that point, many white Americans were worshipping God outwardly with their songs, their giving, and their gatherings, but they were openly hateful and wicked towards black Americans
This is what Israel is doing to the poor of their day too. On one hand they’re claiming to love God. On the other hand they are actively hating the poor and needy. And God says “Woe to you” your judgment is coming
What will the judgment be? Vs 27 - “I will send you into exile” put a squiggly line under that one
Next woe, I’m going to read all the way to verse 7
6:1-7
Who is this woe for? Verse 1 underline all of that. Notice that Amos is now including both the northern kingdom Israel where he is and the southern kingdom Judah where he is from. Zion refers to Jerusalem. Samaria is the capital of Israel. They’re both supposed to be God’s people. They are both deserving a punishment.
Specifically he addresses the ease they feel and their complacence towards there even being a problem. They simply don’t notice anything wrong.
Vs 2-3 are almost like a parenthesis where he almost sarcastically calls out to Israel. Do you think you’re better than these other nations who have already been destroyed?
Verse 3 highlights the sin. Remember in a woe we see who it is for, what they have done, and what the consequence will be. Here’s what they have done - circle verse 3. Write ignorant and unrepentant next to it.
I told you earlier that it was either 2 or 3 woes, but I think it’s just two really for a couple of reasons.
First, in the Hebrew there is no word “Woe” in verse 4. That was a translator’s interpretive choice to help you see that this is still part of the woe section. I think it’s helpful, but perhaps a little misleading
Second, you’ll notice our second woe didn’t have all three parts of a woe. It’s missing the consequences. But if we keep reading the consequences will arrive and we’ll complete our woe
So, we’re still in our second woe, but he’s gone back to telling us more specifically who the woe is for. Honestly if you wanted you could underline all of vs 4-6b, but that’s kind of big I would just underline the major premises here by underlining the verbs- “to those who lie” underling - “and stretch” underline - “and eat” underling - “who sing” underline - “who drink” underline - “and anoint” underline
Then he tells us again what they have done wrong at the end of verse 6 “are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph” - circle that. And write next to it “ignorant and unrepentant”. You see that’s the same problem addressed above which is another reason this is the same woe.
This sin is pretty scary because they don’t recognize they are doing it. It’s one thing to be committing sin that is obvious to you and everyone around you, but it’s another to be sinning and not even see it. Have you ever had that experience when your eyes are opened to a wrong way you’ve been acting and suddenly you’re hit with that “Oh no… I can’t believe I haven’t noticed this before” The fear of this will drive you to your knees, “God I pray that you would make my sin obvious to me and that you’d grant me repentance to turn from it.”
This again is why the woe is gracious gift from God in pointing out what is wrong. It would be horrible for God to say, “I’m angry at you and there will be consequences” but never point out why exactly he is angry and what for. We men who tend to be super oblivious really appreciate this aspect of God.
And what is the consequence here vs 7 “they shall now be the first of those who go into exile” put a squiggly line under that
Now I haven’t done this before, but there’s a lot to get through in Amos and I don’t want to get stuck for too long on one part of it. So I'm just going to read the rest of chapter 6 without making any major comments. He’s basically condemning them again for their lack of justice and highlighting what their consequences will be.
Read 6:8-14.
You can put a line under verse 14 because we’re going to begin a new section.
This next section will be 3 visions. So we saw 3 words. 2 woes. And now the rest of the book will be visions that Amos has with one small story in the middle of the visions. The book is pretty neatly organized which is why I mentioned a few weeks ago that it’s likely these sermons from Amos were arranged by him or a secretary after they occurred and they didn’t likely occur all in chronological order.
Let’s look at these first 3 visions right in a row. You can see each of the visions introduced by the same phrase “This is what the Lord God showed me” You can put a box around that phrase, it’s in 7:1, 4, and 7
7:1-3 - the first vision
Here we see God forming a locust army (it’s always locust) that’s going to destroy the crop of Israel.
“The latter growth after the king’s mowings” that refers to the fact that the first of the harvest was always sent as a tax to the king, the next bit of harvest was for the people to eat. In the vision the locust are sent out and they eat all of the harvest that the people would have gotten
Amos pleads for God to relent. Underline “Oh Lord God please forgive”
God does relent. Circle “The Lord relented”
7:4-6 - the second vision
In this vision God calls down a fire on the land and it destroys everything
Again, Amos pleads for God to relent. Underline “Oh Lord God, please cease!”
Again God does relent. Circle “The Lord relented”
7:7-9 - the third vision
In this vision God holds a plum line next to a wall. A plum line is a long string with a weight tied to the end of it. It’s used for determining if something like a wall is straight or not. You hold the plum line at the top of the wall, let the weight fall down next to it while you hold the string and compare. Is this wall straight or not?
The metaphor is clear. He’s measuring Israel to see if they are “straight” or if they are “righteous”. Amos knows that if a plum line is held next to Israel, they will be found lacking.
The Lord states he’s never again going to pass by them. Circle that. They are like a wall that is clearly crooked that he has passed by again and again, but now he must do something about it.
This highlights perhaps the biggest theme in the book of Amos. How many times should God relent and forgive before he finally acts? We often think of the God of the Old Testament as being mean and violent, but here he shows us he forgives so frequently. He passes by so often. He relents regularly. How many times should he relent before he punishes? Should he never punish and let evil go on forever?
In chapters 1 and 2 we heard that phrase over and over “For three transgressions and for four I will not revoke the punishment…” I’ve been patient for a number of transgressions but now the number is up. In chapter 4 he said over and over, I did such and such, but you did not return to me. Then I did such, but you did not return to me. He keeps working towards people’s repentance. He keeps overlooking sins. He keeps offering opportunities and they keep turning him down. Eventually the time for relenting runs out and God says, I will never again pass by them.
That’s the end of this section of visions. You can put a line underneath verse 9. In the last part of this chapter we get an interesting little story about Amos. The story is told here because it pairs up with what we just saw in those visions. I’ll read a little bit at a time.
7:10-11
So if you’ll remember Amos is from Judah, but he has gone up into Israel and we see he has come to Bethel to prophesy. Remember Bethel is where one of the golden calves that Jeroboam I had built was. It was a false temple. So naturally it had its own false priests too.
Amaziah is one of those false priests and he basically sends a message to king Jeroboam II to tattle on Amos saying that he is a spy or a conspirator who is trying to take down the throne of Israel.
He’s been listening pretty well because he quotes Amos as saying “Jeroboam shall die by the sword” that was in verse 9 right above this. And he quotes where Amos had said, “Israel must go into exile” which he said twice, once at the end of each of our woes. Put a squiggly line under “Israel must go into exile” Our squiggles represent the consequences
7:12-13
Amaziah then speaks to Amos and tells him to leave and go back to Judah.
“Eat bread there and prophesy there” is basically saying, go make money prophesying down there. Your services aren’t wanted here. We only want people who bring good news because this place belongs to the king.
Being a prophet was actually a paid position in this kingdom. The king hired prophets and asked them to say what the king wanted them to say, to make him feel like he was pleasing to the Lord.
There are Christians today who are only interested in hearing good and encouraging news and will respond by closing up their wallets if they don’t hear what they want to hear
7:14-15
Amos responds by saying, “Look. I’m not in this for the money. I never planned on becoming a prophet or making a career out of prophesying. As a matter of fact, I had a pretty good thing going with sheep and fig trees. I’m here because the Lord sent me.
7:16-17
Amos stands firm. The Lord sent me so you’re going to get the Lord’s message.
You say “do not prophesy”. Amaziah is representing Israel and he’s telling Amos, we don’t want your message. We aren’t interested in these calls to repentance you have given us.
Can you imagine saying these words to someone’s face? Your wife will become a prostitute. Your children will be killed. And you’ll die far from here.
Because Israel has rejected the prophecy of Amos through Amaziah. Amos knows that there will be no relenting from God. He has offered repentance over and over. He continued to offer it through Amos. But the people want none of it and reject his offers.
That little word “surely” in the last sentence is Amos coming to terms with the fact that God is done relenting. Their consequence is a sure thing. Put a squiggle line under “Israel shall surely go into exile”
God is patient. God is merciful. And God is good. He waits and waits, calling on men to repent. And because he is good, eventually he stops waiting and deals with sin.
There are two chapters left in Amos which God willing we will cover next week.