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678. Bible Study: Amos 4 and 5 (Idolatry then and now, Turning to God or Judgement?)) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 4 of Amos Dear God, please be with us as we read
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through this chapter. Give us wisdom, insight and
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revelation through the Holy Spirit.
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We ask for this in Jesus name, Amen.
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So just to for this setting to take place so that we know the
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background of what's happening at this time.
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The there are two different kingdoms of Israel.
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There are two kings of Israel. There's the northern Kingdom and
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the southern Kingdom of southern Kingdom of Judah with Benjamin
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and the northern Kingdom of the other 10 tribes.
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And so Amos is from Judah, but he's, he's prophesying about,
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he's just a regular shepherd. But God is speaking with him and
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warning him and telling him to warn others.
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So this warning that he is giving is interesting because he
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was warning if they didn't make a change, if they didn't repent,
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these things would come upon them.
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And because this is historical, we know that they didn't make
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the changes and these things did come upon them.
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But what we can learn from this chapter and see in this chapter
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is the way God does things and why?
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Because it says, like, here's what's going to happen and then
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it gives the purpose of it. And so I think from that
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perspective, we can apply it to us today.
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Anyway, we'll get started on this.
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Israel has not returned to God. Hear this, Hear this word, you
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cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria. Samaria was the capital of the
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northern 10 tribes. You women who oppress the poor
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and crush the needy and say to your husbands, bring us some
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drinks. So they're just living in luxury
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and they're what's on their mind is nothing about the poor and
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needy. But where's my next drink?
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And I think in our world we can relate to that too.
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There are times in life or people in certain seasons of
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life where they're not thinking about anybody else.
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They're thinking about where's my next drink, you know, where's
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the fun? The Sovereign Lord has sworn by
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His Holiness. The time will surely come when
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you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fish
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hooks. So he's talking about captivity.
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These people are completely unaware.
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They're just thinking about their next drink.
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They're celebrating, they're in comfort, they're not concerned
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about the poor or the needy. They're spending their money on
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self indulgences. So that I think we can all apply
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to our own lives and evaluate how are we spending the
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resources that God ultimately gave us.
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You will go, you will each go straight out through the
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breeches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,
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declares the Lord. Go to Bethel and sin, go to
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Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every
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morning, your ties every three years.
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Now when I read that, I thought every three years, I thought
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they tithes every year. So I had to look that up.
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In an ancient, he ancient Israelite tradition, every three
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years was called a tithe. And that was for the people it
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would it would be a 10% of what was produced and it was done
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every three years and it went to the Levites to sustain them.
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And this was an offering that was given by women, orphans,
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foreigners, strangers. So everybody was supporting
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Levites, which you know, who were the servants of the temple.
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And that's how they they weren't, they didn't have an
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inheritance. So they had to survive based on
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the tie that the ties that were received.
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The normal population did it every every year, but the first
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people had the poor ties, which was every three years.
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And maybe I'm misunderstanding this because I'm thinking that
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they probably had an additional maybe tithe for the people who
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were poor or were it was at the that were actually contributing
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this. That is the question.
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I don't know. I did look this up before this
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podcast, but it was a special, it was a different tithe.
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And when I started thinking about tithing, we think about
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that in terms of people, you know, today, they think about
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people giving money to a church. But if you think about what was
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the original intention of tithing, it was to give food and
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shelter basically to the the people who were servants of God,
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who were servants of the temple, the Levites.
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They were, they were working on quote, the Lord's house, the
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temple. And so they didn't have a
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regular job because they were really dedicated to working on,
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you know, what the temple needed.
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So they needed some way to have food and support and that was
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how the community supported them.
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Then also, perhaps what this is saying is the, the poor tithe is
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that they were asking for money for the women and orphans, the
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ones who didn't have anything in addition to the Levites.
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That's what I'm thinking. I misunderstood it at first, but
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that's what I'm thinking is the, the, the, the three-year tithe,
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because he's, this is written to those in luxury that are not
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caring about the oppressed and not caring about the widows or
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the needy. They're just looking for, you
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know, bring me some drinks. Let's have fun so burn leavened
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bread as a think offering and brag about your free will
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offerings. Boast about them.
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You Israelites. This is what you love to do
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declares the Lord. So people are just, you know,
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sinning because he says go to Bethel and sin, go to Gilgal and
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sin yet more. So they're just like doing, you
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know, it's like there's something in scripture that says
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that they are far from me. You know, they're close to me
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through their lips, but far from me in their heart where they can
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speak it and they can look like it on the outside, but it's like
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it's fake. It's not.
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Their hearts are far from them. They're not getting the
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intention like God has said many times in Scripture that I don't
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want your sacrifices. I want mercy and compassion and,
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you know, caring about other people and justice.
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And that's what he wants. It's not the sacrifices.
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The sacrifices were there when we fall short or when the
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Israelites fell short so that their lives were not gone.
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I mean, it was like a substitute.
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It was not. That wasn't the ultimate goal.
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The ultimate goal was to change your behavior and not, you know,
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not be like that and they're missing the whole message.
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So instead they're just sinning and then giving and and they're
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thinking everything's great. I and then here's what God says
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I I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in
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every town, yet you have not returned to me declares the
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Lord. So famine, and that's from God.
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And there was a purpose to have people return to God.
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I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three
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months away. I sent rain on one town but
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withheld it from another. Our field 1 field had rain,
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another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to
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town for water but did not get enough to drink Yet you have not
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returned to me, declares the Lord.
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So God does use weather events and the purpose to return people
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to Him. A lot of times in the good
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times, people are satisfied with everything.
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There's no quote need for God, but there truly is.
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But people don't think they have a need for God, and so they
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forget about God. But then when things get really
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bad, when things get really tough and there's nothing else,
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then they call upon God. But even in this situation, like
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God's giving them these warnings and he's, you know, famine, He's
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got weather either giving rain or withholding rain, and they're
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still not turning to him. It goes to say further, verse 9,
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many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them
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with pride and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and
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olive trees, yet you have not returned to me.
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So there's crop failure and that's also another indication
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to turn to God. We know like in the in the end
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times that there will be a famine across the whole world,
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but it also talks about a famine of his word.
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So there's like a a metaphor for that.
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So, but ultimately the purpose of all of this is that God, what
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he wants is for people to turn to him.
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I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt.
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So even God will allow plagues to come over a group of people
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just like he did to eat. There's a purpose, though.
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I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured
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horses. I filled your nostrils with the
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stench of your camps. Yet you have not returned to me,
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declares the Lord. So plagues and war are allowed
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by God, and the purpose is to shake people up, to turn people
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to God. Yet people don't often turn to
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God, and that's what he's saying.
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Yet you have not returned to me. I overthrew some of you.
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I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick
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snatched from the fire. Yet you have not returned to me.
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So he overthrew. I don't know exactly what that
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would mean, but saving them from the snatch, from the fire, I
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mean, that could be eternal and keeping them from that, but they
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still did not return. So when God can save us from
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destruction, that still happens today, but then do we turn to
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God or do we just momentarily say, oh, thank you, God?
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And then when life gets good again, ignore God and forget
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about him. If that's happening, we're doing
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the same thing that the ancient Israelites did to God.
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Therefore, this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I
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will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.
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So he's giving them a warning. He who forms the mountains, who
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creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind.
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That's like prophets who turns dawn to darkness and treads on
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the heights of the earth. The Lord God Almighty is His
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name. That's the end of chapter 4.
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So we will get into chapter 5, but I'll go through the
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questions and answers of chapter 4 first.
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So it says, how would Israel be like a burning stick snatched
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from the fire? As a result of God's judgement,
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Israel had been burned but not completely destroyed.
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However, Israel had not taken this close call seriously and
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therefore was to be judged again.
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What does it mean to prepare to meet your God here?
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It means to get ready for judgment.
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God had warned Israel repeatedly, but to no avail.
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Israel would now have the unenviable, the unenviable
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position of meeting God face to face in judgment.
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For this generation of Israelites, the judgment would
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be final and complete. The specific way they would meet
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God through judgment is not revealed.
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How does God reveal His thoughts?
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One way is through calamity, as in the preceding verses.
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When people are devastated by a flood, hurricane, or war, they
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start thinking about what's really important in life.
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In that frame of mind, they are often better able to hear what
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God has to say to them. What are the heights of the
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earth? This phrase is wedged into a
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series of statements about God's control over all the earth, so
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it may refer to His presence as revealed in the sky.
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Countless stars, Mile High clouds, and lightning storms are
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just a few of the dazzling reminders of humanity's relative
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weakness and transiency when compared with God's awesome
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power and permanence. OK then chapter 5, A lament and
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call to repentance. See this is always what the
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prophets say is repent. Hear this word Israel, this
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lament I take up concerning you. Fallen is virgin in Israel,
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never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to
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lift her up. This is what the sovereign Lord
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says to Israel. Your city that marches out 1000
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strong will have only 100 left. Your town that marches out 100
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strong will only have 10 left. This is what the Lord says to
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Israel. Seek me and live.
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So this is His message. Seek me and live.
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I think this is a message to all of us today.
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Seek God and live. Do not seek Bethel.
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That's where false gods were. Do not go to Gilgal.
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And he was just saying before in the verses, that's where they're
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going to sin. Don't do those things.
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Do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile
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and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.
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Seek the Lord and live. In other words, repent, turn to
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God, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a
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fire. It will devour them, and Bethel
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will have no one to quench it. These are those who turn justice
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into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
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He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into
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dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the
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sea and pours them out over the face of the land.
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The Lord is his name. With a blinding flash, he
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destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to
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ruin. There are those who hate the one
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who upholds justice in the court and detest the one who tells the
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truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor
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and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built
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stone mansions, you will not live in them.
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Though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink
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their wine, For I know how many are your offenses and how great
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your sins. These are those who oppress the
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innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in
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the courts. I'm sure we have a lot of that
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right now where people are taking bribes to do something of
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an enemy of God, and this is kind of what it's talking about.
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So that could apply today. If you are doing anything or
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taking money and you're doing against what God would want, you
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could fall into this. Therefore the prudent keep quiet
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in such times, for the times are evil.
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This threw me off. Therefore, the prudent keep
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quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
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So I was thought like, shouldn't the people speak up or they're
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supposed to be quiet? This seems like different
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information to me. So the study Bible actually
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addresses this. It said why would the prudent
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keep silent? Because nobody would listen
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anyway. There is a time for silence, a
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time when speaking up is futile. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 7
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says this. At such times, the only thing to
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do is wait for God to bring his judgement.
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So sometimes I guess that's discernment.
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That's why we need the Holy Spirit.
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That's why we need to have a good relationship with God so
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that we hear the Holy Spirit and we know when to keep our mouth
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shut and when we're supposed to speak up.
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Seek good, not evil. So that's reportance.
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That's seeking good, not evil. Why?
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That you may live is what it says.
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So the verse actually says seek good, not evil that you may
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live. Then the Lord God Almighty will
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be with you just as you say he is.
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So there's I think that's OK. First of all, if we are seeking
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good doesn't say that we have to 100% do good because God gives
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us, he does give us grace and but seek good like have your
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heart set on good, not evil, not sin, not things that you know
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that God doesn't want you to do. Seek the good things that you
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may live and the Lord will be with you just just as you say he
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is. So this is interesting just as
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you say he is. So a lot of times people are
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right in their sinful state and they're saying the Lord is with
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them. There might be some good things
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in their life, but the Lord is not with someone who is
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unrepentant in their sin that just keeps on sinning.
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They're they're going to have judgement come against them and
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they're going to have some suffering occur because God is
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holy and he wants us to be holy. And if we are still going
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towards sin, we are not turned to God.
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We are still like half in, half out.
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And if you're half in, half out, essentially you're, you're with
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God's enemy because you haven't rejected the enemy yet.
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The enemy still has access to your life.
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And, and you know, is God going to protect?
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I don't know. That's up to God.
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God has mercy. But do you want to really chance
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that? But it does say that if we are
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seeking good, not evil, God will be with us.
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That's a promise. So hate evil, love good,
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maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty
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will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
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God often does show mercy. That's the thing that He is
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compassionate. He is love first and foremost.
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So He does show mercy to people who have done wrong when they
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are repentant. And not all people will repent,
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so God will not show mercy to all people.
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Therefore, this is what the Lord God the Almighty says.
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There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in
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every public square. The farmers will be summoned to
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weep and the mourners to wail. There will be wailing in all the
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vineyards. For I will pass through your
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mist. God will be there, says the
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Lord. Now here it starts to talk about
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the day of the Lord in verse 818.
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Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord.
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Now I think of this as like, is this talking about the second
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coming or is this say you know the day of the Lord?
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I mean, this sounds like the day that the ultimate judgement will
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be coming forth when Jesus returns.
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Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
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That day will be darkness, not light.
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It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear.
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And I'm gonna pause right there because this made me think of
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the Daniel prophecies, which we haven't read yet in this Bible
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study podcast. But the the lion was symbolic of
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Babylon and the bear was like the meaty, the Medes and the
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Persians. So there was this, this
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governmental overtaking of the land of Israel, and Babylon had
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it at 1 conquered that, and then the Medes and the Persians
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conquered it also, and that was a bear.
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And so I wondered if these were references to that.
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So it will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a
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bear as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the
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wall only to have a snake bite him.
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Then I'm thinking the snake is that Satan will not the day of
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the Lord be darkness, not light, pitch dark without a ray of now
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when I read that I actually put a note in my Bible because I had
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a dream. I had actually three different
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rapture dreams and in the three different dreams that occurred
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at different times, I mean, I forgot the sequencing of them,
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but my first one was, I think it was in April of 22.
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Anyway, I had a couple, I had three dreams and, and the one
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thing that was consistent in all dreams was that everything went
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black and then the rapture occurred.
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So when I read this, I think about what the scripture says,
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will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light, pitch dark
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without a ray of brightness. So I wonder honestly, this was
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before I was like knew any knew a lot about the rapture or
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anything. This this was something that I
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started after I had the three dreams.
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I was like, does this say anything in the Bible about
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everything going dark before this happens?
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And it is like before the day of the Lord comes, it says the the
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moon will turn to blood, the sun will not give its light and the
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stars will fall from the sky. So that just sounds.
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I don't know. It could be interpreted a lot of
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different ways, but in my like I said, I had three dreams and
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they had different scenarios and they were about the rapture.
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And in every single one of them it went black first.
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Like there was darkness first. Now, whether that's a literal
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darkness or this is a metaphorical darkness, I'm not
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sure. But it, I felt like that dream
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revealed something to me and then I found it in scripture
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where that supports what happens.
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Like, I didn't know that until I started seeking like, is this,
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you know, what's significant about this dream Anyway, going
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back, I, I hate, I despise your religious festivals.
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So God is not about religion. If we feel like we're, you know,
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these perfect, we do these religious acts, even like Jewish
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or Christian. If we're like thinking that
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we're, we, you know, go to church on Sunday for Christians
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or you know, honor the Sabbath, but yet we are far from God.
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He doesn't, He doesn't care about the acts that we do.
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He cares about our actions and our heart, our actions towards
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others, what is in our heart. And if we are caring about
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thinking about God, if we care about him or if we're just going
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through the motions just to say we did it or just to check the
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box and feel like if we're a Christian, like we're a good
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Christian because we went to church, well, God doesn't care
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about that. He doesn't, I mean, he does want
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us to meet with other believers, but, and church is a way to do
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that, but there are other ways to do that as well.
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But he wants a relationship, communication with people.
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He doesn't want us just to go through the act of going to
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church and incantations and then we're finished.
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You know, like that's not what God wants.
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He wants a real conversation, real communication with us.
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I hate, I despise your religious festivals.
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Your assemblies are a stench to me.
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Even though you bring me burnt offerings and green offerings, I
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will not accept them. Though you bring choice
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fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
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Away with the noise of your songs.
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I will not listen to the music of your harps, but let justice
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roll on like a river, righteousness like a never
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failing stream. Did you bring me sacrifices and
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offerings? 40 years in the wilderness,
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People of Israel, you have lifted up the shrine of your
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king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your God,
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which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will send you into
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exile beyond Damascus says the Lord whose name is God almighty.
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That's the end of chapter 5. So when I read that I I really
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went down a rabbit hole because I read the star of your God that
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is also translated or lifted up the the lifted up Sakuth, your
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king and Herahim your idols, your star gods Septuagint lifted
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up the shrine of Molech and the star of your God Reffen and
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their idols. So Reffen and Molech, there were
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these like symbols and stars that somehow also I found that
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it relates to Saturn, which I know is like a Greek God, but it
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all ties together. And then there's something like
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Kiyun, KIYUN. So this is all this idolatrous
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worship and it's not worshipping God, it is worshipping something
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else. And I believe that that is
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something else is Satan or his other fallen angels.
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That's what I believe it potentially is because of the
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book of Enoch, which I know is not in the Bible but just
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search. Go on even Wikipedia and search
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Saturn and just find our Refan REPHAN and Molech and just see
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what this stuff is. It's like child sacrifice.
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It's this idolatrous stuff. And people are not connected to
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God at this point. And even today, I mean, think
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about, Oh my gosh, it's it's just so disheartening.
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I saw a reel of a soccer match where it was, it was like the
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team, but it was like some they were called the devils and it
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had this like Satanic or Baphomet symbol out in the crowd
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of people and it raised up this devil thing.
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And I just thought, you know, we need to stay away from this kind
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of stuff because it just, you know, I, I know there's probably
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like innocent people who aren't thinking anything of it, But
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what does that say to God? What do you think God thinks
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when he sees that? Do you think he's happy about
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that? Do you think it's a slap in
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God's face? Like God created all of us.
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He sent his son to die for us on the cross so that we could be in
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his Kingdom and have the inheritance.
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And then we are naming teams of, you know, as his enemy.
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It doesn't really make sense. It seems very dark and it's just
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showing us how ignorant we are in this world.
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And I think even at this time with Israel, I bet there were a
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lot of people that they were just going along with the crowd.
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They didn't even like think about what they were doing.
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They were just thinking about their fun, like, hey, bring me
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another drink, you know, and not even thinking about the
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metaphorical or symbolism or what the effect, what they were
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just like gradually being LED into this manipulative deception
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where they are actually like worshipping some, you know, like
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they're celebrating God's enemy when that team wins and it you
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know, it's called the Devils or whatever and they're cheering
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that on you. Do you think, you know, OK, put
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this in like, I don't know how to do it because the Bible talks
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about like relationships a lot about adultery and about
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marriages and stuff. And those are metaphors for the
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relationship with God and the sacredness of it.
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So think about this like it if you had a just even a boyfriend
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or a girlfriend or a husband or a wife, and then you got
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separated from that person and you got separated from that
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person because of another person.
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So another person came into the you know, the mix.
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A third person came into the mix and caused the separation of
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that boyfriend, girlfriend or husband wife.
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And then after that, there you, that person that was separated
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then has a team that's named, you know, that's or starts
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celebrating the name of the person who separated everything.
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I mean, if you just put it in your own human terms, like how
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would you react if you were the one who had a third person come
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in to split up a relationship that you had?
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And then afterwards, not only did that happen, so there's pain
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along with that, but then there's like the celebration and
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they're using the name of that person who separated.
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I think everyone, if you can apply it to yourselves, can
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relate to this. Like, how would that make you
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feel? Well, think about how does that
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make God feel? Because God does feel things and
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God does see things and God wants that relationship.
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He wants that intimate relationship with us, and yet
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when we do ignorant things like we do in the world and don't
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think it has any significance, it does to God.
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It's very clear because he points this out when he's
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talking to Israel. So I will do the questions and
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answers for chapter 5 and then we will conclude this podcast.
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So chapter 5 says what is a lament?
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This suggests 2 ideas. 1A. Musical or poetic dirge, A song
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of sorrow or two, A recognition of judgment which seems to be
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primarily implied here. Why call Israel a virgin?
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This word picture shows how radically Israel has changed.
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Once pure and chosen by God, Israel has had lost her
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virginity by committing prostitution with other lovers.
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Israel was unfaithful to the Lord and worshipped idols.
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Several prophets pictured the nation as female, some sometimes
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using the more descriptive word virgin, perhaps to accent
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Israel's fall from purity. What attracted people to these
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places? Each of these places had
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historical significance. It was at Bethel that Israel's
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ancestor Abraham built his first altar in Canaan.
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Gilgal was where Israel set up camp after Joshua LED them
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across the Jordan River. And Beersheba was the place
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where Abraham had found a deep well and where the Lord had
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appeared to Isaac and Jacob. Despite God's command to worship
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only in Jerusalem, the people of Israel traveled to these places
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to worship. Worse, they worshipped Pagan
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gods as well as the Lord there. What are the Pleiades in the
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Hawaiian? These are constellations seen in
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the night sky, and they refer generally to God's creation of
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the stars. God's majesty, sovereignty over
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heaven and earth is being emphasized.
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What kind of court system did Amos know?
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In the Old Testament, the Royal Court of the king included a
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functioning judicial system. For example, Solomon was
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revealed as an ideal king whose role contained A judiciary
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element. Priests also performed the role
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of judge as they sought to apply the Torah or the Law of Moses to
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various situations in Israel's life.
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The prophets often lamented the corruption of the courts and
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their deprivation of the poor and marginalized.
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Why would we read this before? How could ordinary people
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maintain justice in the courts? Infidelity had infected Israel
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from top to bottom. The courts and their judges were
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thoroughly corrupt. But the defendants and
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plaintiffs who appeared in the courts were no better.
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They were unfaithful to God, and God held them all responsible
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for what happened in the courts. Why would they wail when the
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Lord passed through their midst? Because this time God's presence
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would bring judgement, not blessing.
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Perhaps the lack of rain or the armed invaders would destroy
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their great vineyards, a symbol of their affluence.
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The drought devastated the agricultural landscape, causing
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famine and starvation. Why did they want the day of the
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Lord to come? A popular sort of preaching that
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denied the problems Amos was denouncing had arisen throughout
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the land. The essence of this preaching
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was that everything was all right, prosperity lay just
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ahead, and God would deliver them from their enemies on the
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day of the Lord. What they thought would be a day
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of reckoning for their enemies, however, actually turned out to
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be a day of reckoning for them. Why did God hate the customs He
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himself had established? God set up these customs as
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tangible outward expressions to be practiced by His people to
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demonstrate their faith in and love for God.
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But many of the Israelites of Amos's day were hypocrites.
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They attended feast and offered sacrifices, but their love for
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God had long gone, long ago died.
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They worshipped to appear respectable, but their hearts
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had grown cold and empty. Their religion was insincere.
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It had form but no substance, and their religion was even used
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to worship idols. It wasn't the customs that God
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hated, it was their hypocrisy. It was a great way to explain
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it. And that's the end of the
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questions and answers for Chapter 5.