11: Minor Prophets - Amos 6-9:15

[Dunkle] Welcome, class, as we carry on in Minor Prophets. We finished Amos chapter 5, and we're getting ready to proceed in chapter 6. I've got to say, Amos just doesn't let up. He's a fellow from the country that has these simple ideas, but I hope you've seen he speaks with some power and wrote with some power. And he's continuing on. There's not much let up as we go into chapter 6, verse 1. The first word is woe. You've got to be careful when someone's telling you woe.

“Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria” (Amos 6:1).

 OK, Israelites trusted their cities, their fortifications. You know, Samaria, Zion, of course, was a peak in Jerusalem, so it could be looking both ways, but could have been God also making a call out to us in the future. As we've seen many times, Zion can be a symbol of God's Church. So it could say we in the daughter of Zion, we better be concerned if we're at ease and not taking care of things. So let's pay attention to this. Verse 2, he says:

“Go over to Calneh and see; go from there to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines” (Amos 6:2). 

So we're going to make a tour of these cities. By the way, Calneh was all the way over on the Tigris River off of this map. Hamath was up in Syria, and Gath, of course, is the Gath of the Philistines where Goliath came from. And these would all be kingdoms that are cities that will be conquered by the Assyrians and probably already had been at this time. So the point is, at the end of verse two, he says:

“Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory?” (Amos 6:2). 

In other words, if it happened to them, it can happen to you. Don't think you're any better. Look what they've done elsewhere. It can come here.

Verse three, “Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near” (Amos 6:3). 

I don't want to think about that. Just put it out of my mind. So you're paying attention to the bad things. It's like, yeah, I'm not going to think about Bible study and prayer. I'm going to play another round of Call of Duty or something like that. Well, that could be woe.

Verse four, “Who lie on beds of ivory,” (Amos 6:4). That doesn't sound very comfortable. I hope there's a mattress in there, but it's talking about luxury. You've got a nice Tempur-Pedic mattress or your Select Comfort. “Stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall.” You're eating the good stuff. “Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David” (Amos 6:5). So we're talking about music not to worship God, but music for the purpose of partying, enjoying life.

Verse six says, “Who drink wine from bowls,” (Amos 6:6). That sounds like a lot of wine. Want a glass of wine? No, I'll take this bowl of wine. “Woe to you, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.”

So you're not upset. Ezekiel 9:1-6 talks about God's people should sigh and cry over the sins of his people. Now hopefully we're not always sighing and crying. God wants us to be happy, but not partying and ignoring things that are bad. 

And verse seven, he says, “therefore, because of all this that we've read, they'll now go captive as the first of the captives.” (Amos 6:7) And the northern kingdom of Israel went first, well before the southern kingdom of Judah. So it wasn't avoided. They went in captive and I lost my place.

Oh yeah, there in verse seven, “as those who recline recline at banquet shall be removed.” (Amos 6:7) So it's like you're reclined at the banquet and they say, you, you got to get out of here.

Verse eight, “the Lord God has sworn by himself.” (Amos 6:8) “The Lord God has said of hosts, as I abhor the pride of Jacob, I hate his palaces. Therefore, I'll deliver up the city and all that's in it.” (Amos 6:8) So it's going to make a clean sweep.

It's worth noting there that the Lord God has sworn by himself. The Paul comments on that in Hebrews 6:13, where he's talking about another time that God swore by himself. And it says, “because he couldn't swear by anything greater.” (Hebrews 6:13) There's nothing greater to swear by. So God swears by himself. But it's a matter of when God does something like that, it's going to happen. It's a shut case. There's no room for maneuver. It's going to happen.

So he goes on to talk about some of the destruction, the punishment. In verse nine, “it'll come to pass if 10 men remain in one house, they shall die.” (Amos 6:9) Doesn't say one tenth, all of them. “And when a relative of the dead with one comes to burn the bodies to take them out of the house.” And by the way, before I proceed, I'll mention burning bodies. Cremation was not common in Israel. They buried their dead. So burning would be done generally if there's disease plague. So we get to stop the spread of disease. And that's not uncommon in modern times either. So it's a very abnormal situation.

So someone's coming to pick up the bodies. They've all died. Someone says, “Is there any more in the house?” It's like someone went in to say, check it out. “No, there's no one left.” He says, “Hold your tongue. We dare not mention the name of the Lord.” (Amos 6:10) Some scholars of the Hebrew say what this is saying is, don't even mention God. Don't praise Him because we're in the same boat. We could be dead next.

I'm going to pause. I'm talking about death and destruction. This isn't a time for humor. But I've been calling out the beauty and the power of Amos's phrasing. I don't know if he meant to be funny here, but the English translation, I've always thought it comes across as they come to get the dead. Hey, is anybody alive in there? No, we're all dead.

Maybe the King James translators were playing a joke on us when they put it that way. I don't know. But I want to get back to being serious after I made a chuckle a little bit. I said, well, I'll connect this. There's a place, you know, the story of ancient Israel when the Assyrians surround Jerusalem and Hezekiah goes before the Lord and prays for God's deliverance. God sends an angel and it wipes out the army. The old King James translation said that when they woke up in the morning, “they were all dead.” (2 Kings 19:35)

And I like the King James, like you get up. Oh, man, we're dead. Might as well go back to bed. The new King James is a bit more accurate. So sorry, a little bit of levity here, but it's a heavy book. So, yeah, God is upset with the false religion. He's upset with the partying and He's going to bring destruction that is inescapable. Not a thing to laugh at.

Verse 11, He says, “Behold, the Lord gives a command.” (Amos 6:11) “He'll break the great house into bits, little house into pieces.” (Amos 6:11) This could be saying rich and poor throughout the land. Some believe it might be referring to the northern kingdom Israel, which is the great house. There we go. Israel is green. Jerusalem's purple. So this one obviously is bigger. So it could be a reference to that because Judah would later suffer their punishment.

Now we get into some more rhetorical questions in verse 12. “Do horses run on rocks?” Not if they can avoid it because it's bad for them. “Does one plow there and the rocks with oxen?” Now, rhetorical question, the answer is no, you don't do that. It's damaging. Yet you, Israel, “have turned justice to gall, the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.” (Amos 6:12) So you shouldn't be doing that any more than you should try to plow solid rock. “You who rejoice over low to bar.” (Amos 6:13) That's the Latin. It basically means you're rejoicing over nothing, over vanity. “Who say, have we not taken carneum for ourselves and by our own strength?” (Amos 6:13) 

Carnium, basically the Hebrew means horns. So we've taken horns for ourself. Horns were often a symbol of power. It was drawing on animals, horns, like a powerful bull or a ram that would butt. So it's taken, we've taken power for ourselves by our own strength. And obviously not relying on God's strength or God's blessing.

So you're rejoicing over nothing. You're seizing power. But in verse 14, he says, “I'll raise up a nation against you, O Israel.” And he doesn't specify the nation, but we know it's going to be Israel in the near term. “And they'll afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of Araba.” (Amos 6:14) Hamath was a city in the north and Araba to the south. So it's from top to bottom. One end to the other is what he's saying.

Oh, that's the end of the chapter. I think I would have noticed that. OK, in chapter seven begins what many scholars say is the third and final part of the book. So Amos himself doesn't divide it up. But we see he's going to have a new vision. Actually, he's going to see three different visions here of destruction.

So we see in verse one, “the Lord God showed me, behold, he formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop. It was the late crop after the King's mowings.” (Amos 7:1)

In an agricultural society, this is saying it's near the end of the time to harvest. But then the king comes in first and takes attacks, the King's mowings. So we get what's left, but swarms of locusts come in and eat it all. So there's nothing left. This is an utter, devastating plague if this happens. Now it's a vision.

So it says in verse two, “when they'd finished eating the grass or the land.” (Amos 7:2) So they destroyed everything. Amos offers an intercessory prayer for his people, and it seems to be very heartfelt. So God is showing Amos the vision. Amos prays to God for mercy.

“Oh, Lord God, forgive, I pray.” (Amos 7:2) “Oh, that Jacob may stand for he's small.” (Amos 7:2) He said, have pity on your people.

And it's important to note this. It says, “so the Lord relented.” (Amos 7:3)

The Hebrew word is nakam, which can mean comfort or relent. But I like relent. He changed his mind. If man will repent, God will relent. Here it seems the only person that's in a repentant attitude is Amos. But I like to point this out. It shows the power of one person praying. One person is praying and God relents.

Okay. He goes on to another vision.

Verse four, “the Lord God showed me conflict by fire.” (Amos 7:4) “consumed the great deep and devoured the territory.” (Amos 7:4)

Here, I wonder because it's a vision. It could be literal fire and brimstone, but often fire is a symbol of war. Either way, it's great devastation and destruction. And Amos prays the same prayer.

“Oh, Lord, God, cease. I pray.” (Amos 7:5) “Oh, that Jacob may stand for he's small.” (Amos 7:5)

He cries out for God's mercy for his people.

Again, I think our, our nation isn't what I termed to be real righteous at this time. But there's an example we can pray for our peoples, for our leaders, for our nations, you know, and ask God to have mercy.

And verse six, “so the Lord relented concerning this.” (Amos 7:6) “this also shall not be.” (Amos 7:6)

Okay. But we're not done with the vision. The next one is interesting.

“He showed me the Lord stood on a wall with a plum line, with a plum line in his hand.” (Amos 7:7)

He said, “Amos, what do you see?” (Amos 7:8)

A plum line. Okay. It's obvious, except if you're not familiar with what a plum line is. How many of you are familiar? Okay. Several of you are. If you're not, a plum line is a very primitive device for in construction. It's basically a string with a weight on it. So you might have a specially designed, but okay.

So it has nothing to do with the plum like fruit. This one has a B at the end. But if you're, if you use a plum line, the weight goes down and it's pulled by gravity to what? The center of the earth. Now the string stops it from literally going to the center of the earth. And if it hit the floor, it'd stop at the floor.

But what it does is it's a straight line and it shows true vertical. So a construction crew is like, if I'm building a wall, I want to make sure the wall is straight. I can use a simple thing like a weight at the bottom of a string. It'll show me if my wall is straight or if it's a little bit off.

So it's a measuring device that measures if it's sometimes they use the phrase, is it true? If it's straight vertical, it's true. If it's not, no, it's not.

So God will use his law and himself as a type of plum line.

I'm going to measure the people. In verse seven, he says, “I'm setting a plum line in the midst of my people, Israel.” (Amos 7:8) I'm going to measure if they're true. Are they straight?

And “I won't pass by anymore.” (Amos 7:8)

Okay, he's not going to pass by anymore, it seems, because they're going to fail the test. They're not lining up with God's law.

Okay, and so “the high places of Isaac will be desolate.” (Amos 7:9) “The sanctuaries of Israel laid waste and I'll rise with a sword against the house of Jeroboam.” (Amos 7:9)

House of Jeroboam. Okay, Jeroboam, this is Jeroboam II. He's the king in Israel at that time. So the house would be the ruling dynasty. Let's put this in the context of history. If we look back in Israel's history, they changed dynasties. Changed dynasties. Say that slowly enough to understand. A number of times. And sometimes a new king comes in and kills off the old king and all of his family. That happened when God had a prophet, a fellow by the name of Jehu, spelled J-E-H-U. So he had to kill off the house of Ahab and all of Ahab's family. And he got a little overzealous. We mentioned that when we covered Isaiah. But the point is he did follow God's instruction.

So God promised Jehu, your descendants to the fourth generation will rule in Israel. So he promised, you know, you're going to stay king. Your son will be king, grandson, great grandson. Okay. Jeroboam is the third and he only promised four. So we're coming to the end. And by the way, Jeroboam's son, Zechariah, would reign, but only for six months. And then he'll be replaced. Okay. So God will bring a sword against the house of Jeroboam. Doesn't say against Jeroboam himself. And that's kind of important for what happens next. So we've got this prophecy. Israel is going to be laid waste. The nation's going to be conquered. I'm going to take down the dynasty of Jeroboam.

Now let's set aside the message and have a little bit of narrative. We don't get much narrative in the prophet, so it's nice to savor it when it comes. I like stories. So we see Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam. So Amaziah is a priest, but he's a priest of Bethel. What does that tell us? He's not a priest in Jerusalem. He's not descended from Aaron the high priest. He's not worshiping the true God. He's helping to worship that gold calf that's set up at Bethel. So he's a bad prophet, bad priest.

So he sends a message to Jeroboam saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel.” (Amos 7:10) “The land isn't able to bear all his words.” (Amos 7:10)

So he's tattling on Amos. Amos said these bad things about you, king. And he said, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword.” (Amos 7:11) That's not exactly what Amos said.

“And Israel shall surely be led away captive from their land.” (Amos 7:11) Well, Amos did say that.

So Amaziah now, he sends that message to Jeroboam. Jeroboam, this is what he's saying. Then he turns to Amos.

“Go, you seer.” That's another thing that they would call a prophet at that time. “Flee to the land of Judah and there eat bread. There prophesy. Never again prophesy at Bethel. It's the king's sanctuary and the royal palace, the royal residence.” (Amos 7:12-13)

So we don't want to have your words around here, Amos. We don't like your message. Get out of here. Go back home. If you had someone in charge tell you something like that, how would you feel? I'd be liable to say, fine, I'm out of here. Or I might slink away if the guards are coming with weapons.

Amos answers. And I kind of like in verse 14, Amos says, “I wasn't a prophet. I was no son of a prophet.” (Amos 7:14)

Son of a prophet seems to be referring to the schools that were set up for training people for religious purposes. We see the term son of the prophets come up in Kings and Chronicles. So it seems he's saying, look, I'm not a prophet. I didn't go to school. I didn't have the training.

“I was a sheep breeder, a tender of sycamore fruit.” (Amos 7:14)

I talked about that when we covered the five W's. He's a shepherd. Maybe he's allowed to graze in certain areas if he goes and pokes holes in these sycamore figs. You know, so that's my job.

But in verse 15, it says, “the Lord took me as I followed the flock.” (Amos 7:15)

“The Lord,” this is the L-O-R-D capital, all LORD and all caps, YHWH, the eternal one, the Yahweh, it might be pronounced, “said to me, go prophesy to my people in Israel.” (Amos 7:15)

So God told me to do this. Look, it's not me. You can chew me out. You can dislike me. But, you know, I'm just doing what God said to do.

And then in verse 17, he starts giving what I call a personal prophecy of doom. It sounds impressive when I say it that way. But OK, now he turns back to this Amaziah. It says, “therefore thus says the Lord.” Amaziah, “your wife is going to be a harlot in the city. Your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided and you will die in a defiled land.” You're going to be defiled land either means here in Israel that's defiled or you're going to be taken to Assyria. “Israel shall surely be led away captive.” (Amos 7:17)

That's kind of bold. You're telling me to get out of here. You're threatening me. Let me tell you something. And the only way Amos has this strength of mind and character is because he's saying, look, God told me to do this. God called me. I'm doing his job. And I get the feeling Amos is willing to suffer if that's what God wants for him. Oh, that I would be so courageous if and when that happens to me. You know, I don't know if someone ever say the police march in here and they've got guns and they say, don't go, you stop this preaching. Don't teach that Bible.

I hope I would have the courage to say, hey, God called me to teach and I'm doing it. You're going to be the ones that suffer. I'm saying, I hope I would. It hasn't happened. I hope it doesn't happen. But I'll see Amos as an example. I want to stand up to evil if I ever have to do that. And I hope that for all of us. At any rate, we don't see what happens after that. I'm guessing maybe they were dumbfounded and Amos just picked up his stuff and left.

So we move on to another vision, apparently.

And verse chapter eight, starting in verse one, “the Lord God showed me, behold, a basket of summer fruit.” (Amos 8:1) Some visions are really impressive. Here, Amos, here's a basket of fruit. What do you see? A basket of fruit. But it's summer fruit.

Okay, what is summer fruit in vision? It's the last fruit of the season. You know, some things you can get early, like in this part of the country, we can get apples pretty early. And then later, trying to think, plums come a bit later. Oh, say it's pumpkins. Okay, when the pumpkins are ripe, it's near the end of harvest season. So I don't think Amos is seeing pumpkins. He's seeing summer fruit. But what I'm saying is this represents the end of the season.

And the Lord said to me, “the end has come upon my people Israel.” (Amos 8:2) “I will not pass by them anymore.” (Amos 8:2)

So I'm showing you this fruit that symbolizes the end, and I'm telling you, times up. Times up.

Matter of fact, there could well be a little bit of a play of words on this, because the word for summer fruit is translated as Q-A-Y-I-T-S, Qayits the word for end is translated as Q-E-T-S. And they're pronounced almost the exact same. So, Qets, the summer fruit, Qets, it's the end. And that's more than the extent of my Hebrew. But I think God appreciates a good pun, and at least perhaps Amos and God both do. So he seems to be using the phrasing to show, maybe to double the underline, the end is here. It's the time of the end.

Okay. And verse three, “the songs of the temple will be wailing in that day. Many dead bodies everywhere.” (Amos 8:3)

Since he's talking to Israel, he's probably talking about not Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. And I mean the temple that Solomon had built. It's God's temple. But maybe the false pagan temple that was built there at Bethel. And there's going to be dead bodies and they'll be thrown into silence.

“Hear this, you who swallow up the needy make the poor of the land fail.” (Amos 8:4)

And this is what people are saying. “When will the new moon be passed that we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath be passed we can trade the wheat?” (Amos 8:5)

So we want to get past times when we're not allowed to work because it's commemorating the start of the month. Or it's the Sabbath. Don't sell on the Sabbath. As though these people are really keeping the Sabbath. But the point is they want to discard that, get to business.

And it's crooked business. It's not just, let's open the shop and I can make a living. It's saying “making the ephah small and the shekel large.” (Amos 8:5)

Okay. I'm going to, this is shrinkflation. Okay. I'm charging you a high price, but I'm shrinking the package I put it in.

Yeah. “Falsifying the scales by deceit.” (Amos 8:5)

You know, the old adage, like you go to the butcher and he's stacking up the meat, you're going to buy a pound of bologna, but he puts his thumb on and pushes down. So you're only getting three quarters of a pound. It's simple things like that. But God is saying you're cheating each other.

It's worth noting God is offended by false worship. Worshiping a false God. God is also offended when his people cheat and lie to each other. You know, remember the first, the great commandment is love you God, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might. But the second he says is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. We see in the prophets, God is offended by both. So we move on from where was I? Yeah. Falseifying the scales.

Verse six, “that we may buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals, sell the bad wheat.” (Amos 8:6)

We're going to take advantage of people, take them for all they got, and we're going to sell them rotten produce.

So in verse seven, “the Lord is sworn by the pride of Jacob.” (Amos 8:7) “I will never forget any of their works.” (Amos 8:7)

You know, “that won't the land tremble for this?” (Amos 8:8)

Isn't this going to bring punishment? Yes, it will.

He goes on in verse nine, “it'll come to pass in that day, says the Lord God.” (Amos 8:9) “I'll make the sun go down at noon, darken the earth in broad daylight.” (Amos 8:9)

Okay. Again, that sounds like the heavenly signs that we see come up at the end time. So, and by the way, I'll mention it says it will come to pass in that day. Throughout the Old Testament prophets, that's one of the phrases that very often indicates it's an end time prophecy. When we see in that day, think of the day of the Lord that day. It doesn't always have to be, but very often it is.

“I'll turn your feast to morning and your songs of lamentation.” (Amos 8:10) So yeah, it's going to be rough. You know, feast to mourning. “I'll make sackcloth.” (Amos 8:10) “bring sackcloth and every waist baldness on every head.” (Amos 8:10) “like the sound of mourning.” (Amos 8:10)

Okay, that's again the same type of punishment we've been describing. So I'll move on instead of elaborating. But verse 11 is a, well, verses 11 and 12, a prophecy that we've talked about in the Church for many years, because it leaves us wondering.

Verse 11, he says, “Behold, the days are coming that I'll send a famine on the land.” (Amos 8:11) We've talked about famine a lot of times, but this one's different.

“not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They'll wander from sea to sea, from north to east, they'll run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they won't find it.” (Amos 8:12)

A famine of the word of the Lord. How many of you have heard that before? Mentioned, okay, many times. And we've looked at it and said, well, what does it mean? And there are various proposed interpretations.

One that I'll mention, many have said, we right now in the world are suffering from a famine of the word of the Lord. Because even though we're making our best effort to teach God's word and preach the gospel, we're small and we're only getting out so much.

Okay, that's one possible interpretation. Now, some would say, well, look, we're on the Internet. We're reaching the whole world. Maybe that's not it. Maybe it's a specific event in the course of the end times when the Church is going to be made unable to preach the gospel. That's one we pay attention to. We can't do anything about the other, but will there come a time when our Internet connection is shut down? We're not, we don't have access to printing presses. You know, they won't let us get on TV and radio. And so there's a famine in the world of preaching the truth.

Maybe, I wouldn't be surprised. I kind of look for that. And then people ask, okay, is that going to be in association with the Church being in a place of safety? You know, we're not preaching the gospel if we're off, you know, wherever it is. Is it going to be connected to the work of the two witnesses that we see in Revelation, Chapter 11? You know, because they're going to preach the gospel, you know, or will there be a famine until God raises them up?

Notice I'm asking question after question. I'm not giving answers because I have my standard answer. I don't know. Don't know for sure what will happen. When or how exactly there will be a famine. And that leads to a conclusion that we should pay attention to. Because if there is a time coming when we might not be able to preach the gospel, what should we do now? What should we do now?

We should preach the gospel. Okay, if we're not restricted now, we got to do it. We still have access to the Internet. We can buy airtime on radio and TV. We can print magazines. We need to be about our Father's business, so to speak.

I think. In John 9:4 Christ said something that I think could fit this prophecy.

Jesus said, “I must work the works of him who sent me while it's day.” “Night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4)

So maybe this famine of the hearing of the Word is what Jesus said, night is coming. So now I got to work the works of him who sent me. We've got questions about this prophecy, but I think it should lead us to a resolve of what to do now. And as the United Church of God, we are doing that, right? We're striving to preach the gospel as much as we can. And as individuals, we're letting our light shine. We're giving an answer. We're preparing. You're preparing by studying God's Word to know what in the world is in this book.

So to me, that's a fascinating thing. I'd like to know more. There will be a time when we do know more. But for now, I say, if there's coming a famine, let's prepare. Let's do the work now.

Verse 13. “In that day, fair virgins and strong young men will faint from thirst.” (Amos 8:13)

Okay. So your good looks, your strength, not going to matter in that day.

“Those who swear by the sin of Samaria. Who says, As your God lives, O Dan.” (Amos 8:14) Okay, that's the golden calves. One was at Bethel near Samaria, one up in Dan.

“and the way of Beersheba lives.” “They'll fall and never rise again.” (Amos 8:14)

Ah, this is the reference I mentioned in the previous class period that we believe this is talking about destruction for the idols. And if people die in that process, they die a physical death, but they do have the resurrection to come again.

It was Romans 14 verse 10 that I wanted. Romans 14, 14:10 says, “we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” (Romans 14:10)

All includes these people referenced here at the end of Amos chapter 8. So they will rise again in that sense.

And it's Revelation 19 verse 12 says, “the dead, small and great will stand before the throne.” (Revelation 20:12)

Whew! Boy, I'm getting all excited about this stuff. Okay, chapter 9.

Here's another vision. Amos says, “I saw the Lord standing by the altar.” (Amos 9:1)

Okay, so he has a vision of God being at the altar. And you could say in a sense showing it's not a place to escape from the coming destruction, because it goes on to say, “strike the door post that the thresholds may shake.” “Break them on all the heads of them all.” “I'll slay the last of them with the sword.” (Amos 9:1)

Whew! So yeah, God standing by the altar, not for to save people, but to bring that destruction.

“He who flees from them will not get away.” “He who escapes shall not be delivered.” (Amos 9:1)

This actually reminds me somewhat of a prophecy that's more detailed in Ezekiel. It's in Ezekiel, I believe, chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11. It's a bit long, but in Ezekiel 9:6, well, let me give the bigger story, because they're there at the holy place, and God calls for those who have watch.

And these, we believe, angels show up with weapons of destruction. And one has a writer's inkhorn, and he tells the one with the ink, go mark the foreheads of those who sigh and cry for the sins of Israel. And implying they're going to be spared. And he tells the others, go after him and slay. And he says, “and begin at my sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 9:6)

So I'm tying this together, begin at my sanctuary. Here, he's standing by the altar. It goes to show that, okay, the time of judgment for God's people is now for us. And I thought I had that written down. I believe it's in 1 Peter. Someone finds it. They can let me know. But, okay, so being close to God means you're more apt for the judgment. You're there at the temple. You should be worshiping God, not the opposite. And we who are called into God's Church, God's spiritual temple, have that responsibility.

Now, it can seem fearful, except we also have the potential for much greater blessings. So we don't need to be fearful. We need to think there's wonderful opportunities and blessings that come with our responsibility. We just can't relax about it.

Okay, moving on.

With this happening, verse 2, “though they dig into hell, from there my hand will take them.” (Amos 9:2)

This is not ever burning hell fire. The Hebrew there is sheol, which means a pit, or digging into the, you know, they're digging down into the ground. You can't get away from God.

“Though they climb up to heaven.” (Amos 9:2)

So they're getting up to the sky. Down in a hole in the ground, up in the sky, even from there “I'll bring them down.” (Amos 9:2)

Mrs. Roland, did you find that scripture? 1 Peter 4-17. Thank you. I am going to write that down, so next year's class won't have to have me say, I thought I had that written down. That's first Peter. Okay. Anyways, we see going from there with this destruction, there's no escaping.

Verse 3 says, “though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I'll search and take them. Though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, I'll command the serpent to bite them.” (Amos 9:3)

There's no getting away from God. The reference to Carmel might be especially vivid because Carmel was up here near the Mediterranean Sea. So it was near sea level, but it climbs up to 1800 feet above sea level. Now, if you're from the Pacific Northwest, 1800 feet is nothing, right? You got 14,000 foot mountains. But if you're right by the sea, something that's almost 2000 feet up seems dramatic. And that's what it's meant to be. It's a dramatic rise and it's covered with thick forest, easy to hide with lots of caves around there. But God is saying, even there, you can't hide from me.

You know, verse four says, “though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I'll command the sword.” (Amos 9:4)

So their enemies in this case will be Assyria with Israel, but later on, of course, Babylon for Judah and others in the future. So the responsibility goes on, even if you leave your homeland.

Verse five, “the Lord God of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts.” This we're again introducing God's power, describing who and what He is. You know, “all who dwell there mourn. All of it shall swell like the river and subside like the river Egypt.” (Amos 9:5)

God, “He who builds his layers in the skies.” (Amos 9:6)

The word that's translated as "layers” could mean chambers or rooms, dwelling places, also could be translated stairs. But it's saying He created the heavens and the earth.

“He founded His strata in the earth.” (Amos 9:6)

God created it all. The lowest depths, the highest heights. He's this powerful God “who calls for the waters of the sea, pours them on the face of the earth.” (Amos 9:6)

“The eternal, it's the YHWH is His name.” (Amos 9:6)

You know, we often say YHWH and I'm not opposed to that, but with the understanding that that may or may not be exactly how it's pronounced. Well, you know, it's Him and it means the self-existing one, the one who is. That's who He is. He has all this power.

He says, “Are you like the people of Ethiopia to be, oh, children of Israel? Didn't I bring Israel up from the land of Egypt? Those things from Kaftor.” (Amos 9:7)

God's saying, I've done all these things. I'm in charge of where the peoples are.

Verse eight says, “behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” (Amos 9:8)

I want to pause there. There's an important prophecy, but I love that turn of phrase because over and over God says, yet I will not. I'm going to destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not destroy all. Okay. The, the yet I, I like to think if we had a mascot for God's mercy, the fact that even though He punishes, He's saying, yet I still love you. Yet I will be merciful.

I would say it's what I like to call the great yet I or my friend here, the Yeti. Okay. I made this up on my own. Mr. Armstrong never taught about the great yet I, but if we could think of a symbol of God's enduring mercy, there is a happy ending. Even though I punish you, yet I love you. Yet I won't make a complete end.

I'm hoping I can make a connection. If you ever see a Yeti, you'll think of God's enduring mercy and His love that never fails. The great yet I. It's a God who could destroy every last one forever. Yet He doesn't. Yet He has love. He has compassion that's always there. He's always going to be merciful.

We'll see the Yeti come back a time or two because it's a phrase God uses and I just, I like to remember it because I think I've deserved destruction and punishment myself, yet God is patient and merciful with me.

But let's look at verse nine. He says, “Surely I will command and will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve. Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.” (Amos 9:9)

Okay, we've looked at this a number of times because we see something pretty powerful here. Okay, sifting the house of Israel through the nations. We know Israel is going to go into captivity, right? They're going to be taken away to Assyria and we know eventually we lose sight of them. They become known as the Ten Lost Tribes.

You know, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with most of Levi, when they go to Babylon, they're allowed to come back, but Israel disappears. But guess what? God never loses track of them. It might sift them through the nations. They pass along with others. They forget who they themselves are. But it's like God saying, not one grain is going to fall. Not one descendant of Israel is going to be lost to God. He'll know exactly who they are and where they are.

We connect this to interpretation of prophecies for the promises to Abraham. That God promised these things to Abraham and He removed the blessings for a time, but it seems that they are restored. And that fits in our, we could say, our received prophetic scenario.

I do like that phrase. It goes, you know, whether we believe it or not, whether we recognize it, and whether it is the English-speaking peoples, as we've commonly believed, or if God's fulfilling it another way, He never lost sight. Never will. He will fulfill those promises.

And that's an important thing for us to remember. This is an important thing for us to help have confidence that God does fulfill the promise.

And one of the things I say, you know, whether it, as I said, our common belief has been that these promises to Abraham have been fulfilled through the English-speaking peoples that are His descendants. And it's fashionable these days to say, I don't believe that. That's a racist theory that I don't buy into.

Well, I don't think the theory is racist, but we could say if it's some fulfilled some other way, you know, the thing I would say is for God to do it exactly the way we think or another way requires miracles. God would have to perform miracles for it to happen.

I don't have a problem with that. I don't deny that it would take something totally miraculous to fulfill those promises to Abraham and have them be fulfilled in the end time. I believe that God works miracles. I have no qualms at all about saying it would take a miracle.

God will do a miracle. He might perform a miracle different than the way I think or expect, but I believe He can perform miracles.

So, sorry, I feel like I'm saying more on this than I meant to, although it's a powerful prophecy.

Keep Amos 9:9 in your mind as one that does relate to God's giving promises to Abraham somehow. And we could debate about it and see different ways to have it fulfilled, but it's a promise that we can count on.

And he goes on, of course, “all the sinners of my people will die by the sword.” (Amos 9:10)

I guess that's a promise too. That's not as encouraging.

“The calamity will overtake them.” (Amos 9:10)

Verse 11, “on that day.” (Amos 9:11) That's another phrase that often means end-time prophecy. “on that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down.” (Amos 9:11) “and repair its damages.” (Amos 9:11) “raise up his ruins, rebuild it as in the days of old.” (Amos 9:11)

Okay, tabernacle of David. We've pondered because normally if we're talking about David's family, it would say house of David. Am I right? What is a tabernacle?

Well, typically we use the Hebrew sikuth, like when we have the Feast of Tabernacles, booths, temporary dwelling. Sometimes we refer to tents. So the Feast of Tabernacles could be kept in tents.

What I'm getting at is when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Remember the Philistines had captured it, then it's at this guy's house, and it's not in Jerusalem, but David makes Jerusalem his capital. Then he is able to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and they set it up a tent. And it's there not on what later we'll call the Temple Mount. It's established at the city of David.

The city of David, which when we were going through Joel, we showed the Scripture show, that's Zion. The peak of Zion is where the tabernacle of David was set up. What I'm getting at is this could be a prophecy of rebuilding David's family, but if the tabernacle of David is a reference to Zion, it could be referring to the Church. And this prophecy has been interpreted that way, to say that I'm going to raise up the ruins of the Church of God.

That seems especially significant in our era, because we've seen the Church of God raised up in the 20th century and become a powerful force for preaching the Gospel, and then be shattered, broken into a bunch of small parts. But it seems like at times God raises up those ruins.

And I've heard that eloquently and powerfully taught by other ministers that this could be a prophecy. It could relate to Jesus Christ saying, “on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

If Zion could be related to the tabernacle of David, and that could be relating to the Church, it could be saying, I'm going to raise it up. No matter how many times it falls down. Believe me, I've had camping trips where my tent came down more than once. Boy, that makes me want to tell a story that I don't have time for. Another time, Highlander, I'll tell you that story. Anyway, so keep that in mind. This might be another prophecy of God enduring and preserving His Church, as well as He sifting Israel as grain through the sieve. Going on in Amos 9:12.

“That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name.” (Amos 9:12)

Boy, Edom's getting called out. That seems a little bit out of place here. Some have speculated that Edom, remember that's the nation down here, south of Judah, is it representing all of the foreign nations?

Or knowing that ancient Hebrew was written without vowels. Remember, consonants only, backwards and upside. I don't know how they ever read that. If they got the wrong vowels in, some have said maybe it should say Adam, A-D-A-M, which is not just the name of the first man, but it means man in general, mankind. So it could be that this is saying they'll possess the remnant of mankind. And that does seem to fit in the context a little better.

“And all the Gentiles who are called by my name.” (Amos 9:12)

And then we move in, we're going to close out the book with a wondrous millennial prophecy.

“Behold, the days are coming.” Behold, pay attention to this. “The days are coming when the plowmen shall overtake the reaper.” (Amos 9:13)

Okay, the harvest will be so bounteous. I never say the word bounteous, but I just did. It was such a great harvest. We want to finish harvesting it before it's time to plant again.

“The treader of grapes him who sows seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine.” (Amos 9:13)

If you don't hear this read at the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles, I'll be a little disappointed. But it often comes up showing what a wonderful time it will be when Christ establishes His Kingdom. That time is coming. And verse 14 says, 

“I'll bring back the captives of my people Israel.” (Amos 9:14)

Okay, Israel never returned from Assyrian captivity, but we could be looking at a time in the future. This could be one of the many references to after Christ returns Him bringing back the remnant of Israel in what's called the Second Exodus.

Bringing them back and “they'll build the waste cities and inhabit them. Plant vineyards and drink from them. Make gardens.” (Amos 9:14)

You know, I love that imagery. And sometimes I wonder, whenever I read this passage, I think I'm going to bring them back to the waste cities. If the descendants of Israel are the English-speaking peoples, well, some of the land that God gave us is this land. You know, I'm from Ohio and I think of it as the best place in the world to live. I'm allowed to have that bias.

But imagine that the calamity at the end of the age, the trumpet plagues and all that devastates our cities, and this becomes a wasteland. And what's left of Israel, God brings those peoples back to Palestine. But the millennium is going to be a thousand years long. The people will build families, they'll have children. What if sometime into the millennium we start sending peoples out to rebuild wastelands?

Maybe some get to come back to the Ohio River Valley and build the ruins and re-establish a wonderful place to live. You'll notice I said, “What if”, a number of times. I'm not saying this is definitely what this means, but it'd be really encouraging. Wherever there are going to be waste places, God will cause them to be rebuilt.

And in verse 15, “I'll plant them in their land.” When God plants, call back to the start of Hosea, Jezreel. God can scatter, but God can plant. “No longer will they be pulled up from the land that I've given them.” God's going to establish something that endures. What he establishes endures, and it's worthwhile, and it's a blessing. “Says the Lord, your God.” (Amos 9:15)

Great way to end the book. And I'm going a little bit long, so I appreciate you bearing with me. So next time, we'll start taking a look at Obadiah.