Today’s post comes to you from the first half of Amos, Revelation 2, Psalm 129, and Proverbs 29. Read in your own Bible to find more than what I write to you here, for it is the charge of everyone who believes to love truth (Zechariah 8:19), and we are to store up the word of God in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11).
Amos is a startling book. Instead of a national sermon, the prophecy God gives to Amos is for many of the nations in the area, telling of the consequences they will face because of repeated sin. From the first few chapters it is clear that God despises not just sin, but sin that is repeated again and again. The Hebrew text translated to again and again is literally something like “three times, even four.” If that was literal, on just four sins the world powers of the Middle East were getting ravaged in judgment. And how many times do people today, even Christians, unthinkingly or knowingly stay stuck in repetitive sin? It is by the grace of God that we do not face punishments half as destructive as what happened in Amos. The people of Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel were all charged with this repetitive sinning, and each faced severe punishment. Amos 1-3 can really get you thinking about how unpleasing to God a repeated sin is.
Amos 3:3 says “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” When I read this verse, I thought of how I’ve heard this and verses like it used for things like weddings. Two people walking together in the same direction, what a cute picture. This is wildly out of context. The words of God in the verse before this, Amos 3:2, set up the story: “From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins.” The verse refers not to people, but is a metaphor for our walk with God. How can we walk together without agreeing on the direction, and going the same way together? God is unchanging and his way is perfect, so we need to agree to follow God’s direction all the time if we are to walk with him. Otherwise, our “walk” is more like a game of hide and seek, a game we won’t win.
One more point I want to make today from Amos comes from Amos 3:8, which reads, “The lion has roared — so who isn’t frightened? The Sovereign Lord has spoken — so who can refuse to proclaim his message?” Earlier in Amos 3:4, Amos makes mention of how lions do not roar unless they have found their victim. So now, the lion has roared, and someone nearby has been found in the thicket of this world. This lion is the Sovereign Lord, and we are the ones who should fear Him and proclaim his message. Some churches tend to ignore evangelism, but in this light it makes all too much sense. If a wild lion roared next to you and someone didn’t hear it, you would warn them so that they could be saved from being eaten, right? In the same way, the Lord roars his message in such a way that the heavens and the earth shake (Joel 3:16). We should want to tell those around us so that they are saved and do not face being eaten up by the world.
Revelation 2 also has a line that repeats throughout to make a strong point. In Revelation 2:7,11, and 17, it says, “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” His promises are that everyone who is victorious will be given fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God, will not be harmed by the second death, and will be given manna from heaven. But, we must listen to the Spirit, and that is done by practicing spiritual disciplines, such as prayer (especially listening during prayer), and reading the Word of God.
Finally, let me close with a challenging proverb that shook me when I read it. I hope it makes you think about your walk also.
“Words alone will not discipline a servant; the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.” (Proverbs 29:19).
Let us be doers of the word, and not hearers only, (James 1:22)
-Zachariah