Amos 5 – 9
Verse 5:6 is great advice:
Seek the LORD and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
I read stuff like this and then it follows with destruction, I wonder if their worship is just a mechanical act and nothing is there spiritually. Or are they ignoring God altogether. Either way you read through and it implies that your heart does not matter and Israel will be destroyed.
At the same time we get verse 5:13 which implies some will be spared:
Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
for it is an evil time.
I read this I think of Ray Comfort and some series I have seen him on a soapbox preaching. I often wonder the effectiveness of this and if this verse applies today? I know many who had out “tracks” and try to convict people into a relationship with a loving God, but wonder the success rate. Ray seemed to have great success, but he was also very bold and did not hesitate when challenged. Unfortunately, to be there you need intense faith and knowledge.
I have given up preaching to some of my atheists friends because they are unwilling to listen. At the same time is that an instance where I need to brush the dust of my feet and move on?
Verse 7:14 shows Amos’ humble beginnings:
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.
In much of the Bible we find prominent people put in places of power. People say Moses had humble beginnings, but even he was raised in the Pharaoh’s palace. Paul didn’t just come to be, he was a well-trained Pharisee before he was chosen by Jesus. But Amos was a farmer with no apparent formal training. He just did what God told him to do.
Often times people want to come from the obscure and save the world, but think about how God tended to pick people of influence and knowledge before training them for years before their ministry worked. Jesus was the son of God and had God’s spirit within him. He was held off for 30 some years before he really hit the stage. Moses needed a longer time to prepare for what God had in store for him. So if you are a new Christian and want to set the world on fire, by all means do. But don’t get disappointed if it doesn’t happen overnight or over a decade.
Verse 9:15 end with hope for Israel:
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.
God will keep his promises; just make take a bunch of generations before He feels comfortable. I read this and think of Revelations and the destruction there. That makes me wonder if this is pre or post Revelations. Do the Israelites who inhabit the “land” Messianic Jews? The problem with prophecies is trying to figure them out, people study them for years to come up with conclusions that others who have studied the same disagree with. In the end all that matters is our relationship today with Jesus and God, there is nothing else we can really control!!