Famous Amos
One Year Bible: Dec. 10
Amos 1:1-3:15
Famous Amos
Famous Amos tells us how the “cookie is about to crumble!”
The message of this book is all about Judgment, which is not a popular topic in our world today. It was not popular in his time either…
Sharing a message of gloom and doom is not popular in a time of plenty which is when Amos lived. He was an Old Testament prophet from around 787 BC. Israel had been at its height of fame and glory with the rule of Solomon and his expanding glory and opulence. He was wealthy and wise!
About 200 years later, this same wealthy, celebrating kingdom was in serious decline.
Into this very setting, God sent Amos, the shepherd.
Isn’t it interesting how God often sends the lowly and humble to deliver his most important messages?
The imagery associated with a shepherd should not be lost on us either. God sent David as a lowly shepherd to deliver his people from Goliath, and it also pictures Jesus as a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go and look for the one lost sheep.
Once again, God needs someone with the heart of a shepherd because these people are seriously “lost in the woods.”
Amos' message was to remind Israel of the great privilege it had in being brought out of slavery in Egypt. However, the Israelites had forgotten about God’s salvation for them and ceased to praise or honor God. Instead, they gave honor where honor was not due.
God warns them, “I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:1-2)
When God is not honored or followed, unity goes “out the window.” A people not united in mind and purpose will not walk together in love and peace.
Amos 3:3 asks this question, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
Amos’ warnings go from nation to nation, and they all have the same warning, “The people have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They have rejected the instruction of the Lord, refusing to obey his decrees.”
Same song. Different verse. Sing it again. It only gets worse!
Do we see the progression here?
They were out of a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God, and then they were out of a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with each other.
“Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
When they took their eyes off of the GLORY of GOD, the GLORY of God left them!
Judgment follows a people who turn on God. Shortly after that, they turn on each other. God’s presence and power are no longer upon them to protect them!
My father was “a shepherd” in a church for all of his life, and he has shared some pretty interesting stories with us about his years in the ministry…
One of the more memorable stories he shared was of one of his very first pastorates. He was in a small church as their new pastor and was sitting in one of their “BORED Meetings” (Truth intended!)
They were trying to make some “big decisions” about the carpet or the coat racks (where they hung their winter coats), and they all got into an argument. It got quite loud, and then they picked up the church hymnals. Perhaps you are wondering what hymn they sang at such a time of disunity…
Well, they didn’t sing at all. One of the elders threw the hymnal at another, and then others picked up hymnals and threw them!
Hard to fathom. Right?
I have always thought of my dad as a modern superhero. So, I asked him what he did “to save the day.” He said, “Well, I crawled under the table until they quit throwing them!”
Wise man! Then, he decided to go on the road as a traveling evangelist and get out of that little church!
Friends, when judgment comes, we, too, had better get out of the way. That is God’s job to judge and our job to share the warning as a shepherd who cares for the sheep. We are to love, pray, share, and sometimes get out of the way!
When we are not in a right relationship with God, we will also be out of sync with our brothers and sister. “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
Famous Amos reminds us that “the cookies are going to crumble” when our eyes are not firmly placed on God!
