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Scripture Reading: Amos 3; Amos 4; Amos 5
In this message we will begin to consider Jehovah’s contending with the house of Jacob.
The content of 3:1—5:27 is Jehovah’s three reproofs to Israel.
The first reproof is recorded in chapter three.
Amos 3:1 indicates that the word in this chapter is Jehovah’s word against the whole family of Israel, which He brought up from Egypt.
Verse 2 says that since Israel was the only family of the earth whom Jehovah has known, He would visit upon them (judge them for) all their iniquities.
Verses 3 through 8 indicate that the cause of Jehovah’s visitation (punishment) was that Israel was not one with God. They had their own intention, goal, and purpose, and God had His. But God revealed all His secrets to His prophets. Israel, therefore, should have listened to the prophets.
Verses 9 through 12 go on to speak of the oppressions, violence, and devastation in Samaria and Jehovah’s visitation.
In verses 13 through 15 we have the transgressions of Israel at the altars of Bethel and Jehovah’s visitation. Bethel had become a place for the worship of idols. The winter house and the summer house in verse 15 were luxurious retreat houses. Here, such houses and the worship of idols are regarded as one thing. Those who went to the retreat houses for enjoyment were also those who worshipped idols at the altars of Bethel.
Jehovah’s second reproof to Israel is in chapter four.
Jehovah reproved Israel for oppressing the poor and crushing the needy and for saying to their lords, “Bring, and let us drink” (v. 1). On the one hand, they oppressed the poor, crushed the needy, and indulged themselves in pleasures. On the other hand, they were under God’s judgment (vv. 2-3).
Verses 4 and 5 are concerned with Israel’s idol worship in Bethel and Gilgal.
In verses 6 through 13 the prophet speaks regarding Jehovah’s visitation with the expectation of Israel’s return to Him and their preparation to meet Him who is the Creator and Ruler of all things.
In chapter five we have Jehovah’s third reproof to Israel, the strongest of the three reproofs.
Verse 1 indicates that the third reproof is a lamentation taken up by Jehovah over the house of Israel.
“Fallen and no more to rise / Is the virgin of Israel; / She has been cast down upon her land; / There is none to raise her up. / For thus says the Lord Jehovah, / The city that sent forth a thousand / Will have a hundred left, / And that which sent forth a hundred / Will have ten left, / To the house of Israel” (vv. 2-3). This is a word concerning Israel’s fall and defeat in war.
In verses 4 through 9 Jehovah advises Israel to seek Him and live. They should not seek Bethel nor go to Gilgal, both of which would be under Jehovah’s visitation.
Verse 7 says, “They turn justice to wormwood / And thrust righteousness down to the ground.” This means that the leaders did not care for justice and righteousness and did not care for the people according to the law of God. Instead, they turned justice into something bitter and cast righteousness to the ground.
Verses 8 and 9 continue, “He who makes the Pleiades and Orion / And turns the shadow of death into the morning / And darkens the day with the night; / He who calls for the water of the sea / And pours it upon the surface of the earth, / Jehovah is His name, / Who causes destruction to flash forth upon the strong, / So that destruction comes upon the fortress.” Since God can do these things, Israel should be advised to seek Him and live.
Verses 10 through 27 describe Israel’s transgressions of injustice in spite of their hypocritical services with offerings to Jehovah, and Jehovah’s visitation. They hated him who reproved in the gate, the place where the leading ones exercised judgment, and they abhorred the one who spoke with integrity (v. 10). They took a forced gift (a bribe) from the poor (v. 11). Their transgressions were many, and their sins were mighty (awful). Eventually, the day of Jehovah will come upon them, a horrible day, and they will suffer woe, for it will be darkness to them and not light (vv. 16-20).
On the one hand, the people of Israel were evil; on the other hand, they still worshipped God with offerings. They liked to have the feasts and to assemble for the worship of God. Because of their hypocrisy, Jehovah said to them, “I hate, I despise your feasts, / And I will not delight in your solemn assemblies” (v. 21). He went on to tell them to take away from Him the noise of their songs and “let justice roll down like water, / And righteousness, like an ever-flowing river” (vv. 23-24). Instead of making noise and singing songs, they should exercise justice and practice righteousness.
All the Prophets are on the same subject, but each one gives a different picture from a different angle or with a different aspect. By reading all the Prophets we can realize how evil the children of Israel were and how loving God was toward them.
Beginning approximately two hundred years before the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, God sent the prophets to warn Israel, to advise them, and to call them to return to God. However, Israel did not listen to the prophets. This forced God to send the four kinds of locusts (Joel 1:4) to chastise Israel for twenty-seven centuries. From this we all need to learn an important lesson: God means business. For twenty-seven centuries God has been sending locusts to deal with Israel. Today the Roman Empire is still consuming Israel, and Israel continues to suffer.
In the midst of such a situation, God has done something marvelous. First, He came to be incarnated as a man, and He lived on earth to set up a model of how to have the divine life expressed in humanity, of how to have the divine attributes expressed in the human virtues. Then He died a particular death for our sins, and He entered into resurrection and ascended. Then He was poured out as the Spirit in His descension to be one with us to produce a corporate Christ, that is, the Body of Christ.
All these things are mysterious. No one can see them. But these are the things that accomplished God’s economy. The chastising of Israel and the judgment on the nations are the “shell”; they are not the “kernel.” The kernel is the mysterious things in the age of mystery, which began with Christ’s incarnation and will end with Christ’s second appearing. These are the governing principles that we should hold when we read the Old Testament, especially the Prophets.
Today three things are taking place on earth: the chastisement of God over Israel, God’s punishment of the nations, and the manifestation of Christ. Today we are enjoying all the conveniences invented by the Roman Empire for the manifestation of Christ. The chastisement of Israel, the punishment of the nations, and the manifestation of Christ are great matters, for they are the items of the universal history according to God’s economy.
