This evening I want us to continue our journey through this book. Once again Amos is preaching to the nation of Israel but he again includes the nation of Judah as well. We find three important facts about Israel and their relationship with God in the opening verses.
- First, we find God’s decision in choosing Israel. Please do not think of God as a bigot or racist or anything this world would try to push. God did not choose Abraham because he was superior to anyone else. God did not choose Abraham because of his skin tone. God did not choose Abraham because he came from a rich family. God chose Abraham because of his faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Please do not continue to consider the lies of Satan in this idea of God being a bigot. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
- Secondly, we find God’s deliverance. Not only did God choose Israel but he delivered them. We are told that he brought them out on Eagle’s wings. Through his power and might he delivered them.
- Thirdly, we find God’s destruction, “I will punish you”. This is direct and given with reason, “for all your iniquities”.
Now through this God begins to ask them 7 questions:
- Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
- Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?
- Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
- Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him?
- Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
- Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
- Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
In the first question we are asked about communion and agreement. In truth we can take this verse alone and discuss the spiritual aspects of it. However, in the context Amos is asking a simple question, can two individuals in disagreement walk together. Can they get along and journey? The answer is NO, these individuals cannot walk together in disagreement. Of course the question is posed to a nation that was to walk with the Lord and now they are not in moral agreement and so God begins with letting them know that he cannot walk with them.
The next two questions deal with a lion. We read of the older lion and the cub. Will the older lion make noise before he has made a kill. Will the cub make noise before his mother has brought back his meal? The answer to both of these is NO. If we look down we are told that God will take out of the mouth of a lion the remnants of the sheep or of the nations. We are not told exactly what the lion is but it could be their iniquity and it could be the enemies that await them. What we find here is the quiet before the storm.
The second set of questions deal with the trap. A bird cannot fall in a trap if one isn’t set, and the trap does not go off without something being caught. Israel is caught in a trap. A trap of sin and iniquity. Iniquity or sin is a trap that you will find no release from. It is a snare that you cannot get out of.
The third set of questions has to do with the coming calamity and the warning. Are the occupants of the city worried when a trumpet is blown? Does anything trying happen without God knowing allowing it.
This is the progression that is taking place in the nation of Israel. It begins with a moral disagreement. They are not walking with God, they are out of fellowship. As they continue they do not realize the enemy is tracking them, it is quiet it would seem that all is fine. However, they have fallen right into the trap of iniquity. The trumpet is blown, you are in sin and finally the destruction and judgment of God. I began to think about this and I was reminded of a verse in Romans.
- Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
I thought about the apostles getting arrested in Acts 5. They are brought before the religious leaders. They are told to refrain from preaching Christ. Peter and the others answer, “we ought to obey God rather than men”. Because of this the group wanted to kill these men, when Gamaliel stood up and made a bold statement.
- Acts 5: 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest happy ye be found even to fight against God.
There is a truth given in these two portions of scripture and found all through scripture and history. If God is for you and on your side then there is not a single thing that can stop you.
- God was with the three Hebrew Men in the fire and the flame could not hurt them.
- God was with Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh could not stop them.
- God was with Gideon and the Mideonites could not stop him.
- God was with Daniel and the wicked princes could not stop him.
- God was with the Apostles and Jerusalem, and Rome could not stop them.
I think one of the greatest truths an individual can experience is when God shows himself so big that he solidifies what that individual is trying to do for him. There is not a single event in that person’s life that can compare. When God stepped into the flames for those men, there was a joy that was overwhelming. I would venture to say that Daniel had the best nights sleep in the den than he had ever had. You see, knowing that God is for you is one of the most reassuring things in the world. However, I read in my Bible some other verses.
- Deuteronomy 2:15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.
- Judges 2:15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
- I Samuel 12:15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
- Psalm 34:16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
- Jeremiah 44:11 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
- I Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
In each of these verses we do not have the confidence of God being for us but rather we have the story of God being against you. Apparently God can be against you just as he can be for you. Preacher, I am a Christian God can’t be against me. Remember these people were chosen, and delivered. You were chosen in Christ, and delivered from sin. God can be against you. Preacher, can God be against a church? Sure God can be against a church. God can be against a family, an individual, an organization, a nation, God can even be against a preacher. There are two truths to this however.
First, A difficulty or an ease does not indicate the displeasure or favor of God in your life. I can give you two examples. If we were to take the life of Paul, we would say he did more for God than any other man. He probably saw as a result of his ministry more people come to Christ than any other. Paul had no doubt that God called him to do what he was doing. He had no doubt that God was for him, and I have no doubt that God was for him. However, the Apostle’s life was filled with difficulty after difficulty. Even the beginning of his ministry is one failure after another. He goes into a city and is run out of town. He goes into the next city and is run out. He goes into the next city and is stoned to death. None of us would have stood there and proclaimed, God must be against me. You cannot look at a difficulty in one’s life and say oh, I must be wrong I must be out of his will. Secondly, you can take the life of Jonah. Jonah is fleeing from God and yet somehow has great ease in finding passage and even finds rest while in the belly of the ship. I imagine evangelist Jonah writing out his praying letter. “Pray for us we are in the midst of a wonderful work of God. We battled on our next city to take the message to and as we were at the shipyard we found that God had already worked out passage for us on a ship to Tarshish. What an awesome God we serve in that he provided, #where he leads, he will provide”. I hear from some Churches and some individuals and they say, I am in the midst of a battle and I am in the midst of a difficulty. In truth the difficulty could be God molding and forming, or it could be the judging of God. I see the opposite. The church or the individual could say, I was praying and something wonderful happened. It could be of God for good, or it could be of God to correct.
Secondly, God will never send judgment without first sharing through his man or his men. In Amos we are told, “The Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy”. I find that all through the Old Testament whether it was in the days of Moses, the judges, or of the kings, God would always send a man to declare what is taking place. Does God still work like that today? Sure he does. Without fail God will use his word to declare even to a church, this is not right, to an individual, you are in sin, to an organization, this is wrong. God even went as far as to declare the judgment to the nations of this world. God is a long-suffering and loving God, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
So, if we can have good or bad and still have him against us or for us, how can we know? I think there are three signs God is against you.
First, God will be against you, when you are against his men. Without a doubt one of the greatest sins that Israel committed was when God sent a man to warn them and they refused to listen. Now look, I am not Elijah, or Moses. I am just a man, a simple human being. I live a life just like you. However, I do my best to make sure that you get the word of God correctly divided. Now regardless of what you may have in your mind or heart against me personally, when the word is given and you do not respond to it you are against the spoken word. Don’t stand against the word given to you.
Secondly, God will be against you, when you are living in unrepentant sin or sin that has not ever really been dealt with. Preacher, I prayed about it. Can I say that some sin must be openly dealt with? Some sin, must be openly repented of. If you never repent and deal with the sin in your life, I do not care if it is 30 years in the past, you need to deal with your sin.
Thirdly, God will be against you, when you are living in ease in the midst of sin and coming judgment. We will deal with this in depth next week but they are trusting in their flesh and their system and not in God. God is against us when we do not rely upon him.
If God be for us who can be against us, but if God be against us, who can be for us?
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