AMOS
1:1-2:16 - ‘The Lord
roars’. ‘The Lord thunders’ (1:2). God’s Word comes to us from above -
‘The Lord will roar from on high’. He speaks to us from heaven - ‘He
will thunder from His holy dwelling’. We dare not ignore the Word of the
Lord. His Word comes to us as a Word of warning - ‘He will shout
against all who live on the earth’ - and a Word of judgment - ‘He will
bring judgment on all mankind’. God is calling for our attention: ‘Look!
Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth’. God speaks to us about His ‘fierce anger’.
He calls us to turn from our sin. Let us return to the Lord and hear His
Word of salvation: ‘I will forgive their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more (Jeremiah 25:30-32,37; 31:34).
3:1-5:5 - ‘You only have I chosen... therefore I will punish you for all your sins’ (3:2). Along with the privilege of being ‘chosen’ to belong to the Lord comes the responsibility
of living as the servants of the Lord. God’s Word is not to be taken
lightly - ‘The lion has roared - who will not fear?’ (3:8). God speaks
to us very directly about the way we are living - ‘You have not returned
to Me’ (4:6,8-11). We must take Him seriously: ‘Prepare to meet your
God’ (4:12). God calls us to ‘seek Him and live’: ‘Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake
His way and the evil man his thoughts, Let him turn to the Lord, and He
will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon’ (5:4;
Isaiah 55:6-7).
5:6-6:14 - ‘Seek the Lord
and live’. ‘Seek good, not evil...’ (5:6,14). Those who truly seek the
Lord are to live a godly life. God sees right through hypocritical
religion. He is not pleased with it: ‘I hate your show and pretence -
your hypocrisy of ‘honouring’ Me with your religious feasts and solemn
assemblies... Away with your hymns of praise - they are mere noise to My
ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is’
(21,23). God is looking for true obedience: ‘a mighty flood of justice -
a torrent of doing good’ - ‘Let justice flow like a river and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream’ (24). God speaks to us about
our sins - ‘Many and great are your sins. I know them so well’ - so that
we might learn to ‘hate evil’ and ‘love good’ (5:12,15).
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