AMOS' TEACHING ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
(Amos 5:18)
The people of Israel were eagerly waiting for the day of
the Lord because they thought that the Lord would help them punish their
enemies that day.
Besides, the people were expecting the day of the Lord to
be that of victory in their military encounters.
The people of Israel thought that they would rejoice with
the Lord and be with Him on that day.
The Israelites had the idea that their chosen status was
enough to make them rejoice on that day.
The Israelites thought that the day of the Lord would be
characterized by external happiness and peace especially after having defeated
their enemies.
The people of Israel expected to live in prosperity on that
day for they thought that the Lord would provide 'for them abundantly as was in
the past.
They expected the vines and olive gardens to produce
plenty of wines that day.
The people thought that the Lord would make them reign
over other people. Thus they would be powerful as the chosen people.
They expected blessings from the Lord as He had promised
their ancestors.
However, Amos declared that it was terrible that people
of Israel were expecting such a day to come their way.
The prophet said there would be cries of sorrow on the
day of the Lord thus the happiness that they expected would not be there.
Amos saw that the day of the Lord would be full of
darkness more than the people expected for the towns and streets would see the
sun go down at noon.
To Amos it would be a day when Israel would be defeated
by her enemies. The Lord would no longer offer them protection as He had done
before.
It would be like a man who runs away from the lion and
meets a bear. Each human being would face the bitter consequences of life.
The day would also be like a man who comes back home
tired but to put his hand on the wall only to be bitten by a snake.
Amos said that there would be wailing, grieving and
sorrow on the day that the Lord would appear.
It would be a day for total disaster to the extent that
their songs of praises would turn into cries of anguish.
The day would be like parents mourning for their only
child and therefore, the people would experience bitter feelings.
On the day of the Lord Israel would be taken into exile
for having taken the Lord for granted.
The Baal and idols that the people worshipped would be
destroyed on that day as a punishment so that they realize their mistake and
turn to God.
There would be hunger on that day that the people would
move from place to place but without getting anything to eat or drink.
The people of Israel would fail to realize the good
things they expected even when they would offer sacrifices because their
religious festivals had lost meaning.
The day of the Lord is unknown to anybody thus everyone
would be taken unaware or by surprise.
It would be a day of victory over Satan and thus God's
kingdom would reign.
It would be a day of judgement in which the righteous
would inherit the heavenly kingdom and sinners condemned to hell.
The day would delay to come in order to give time to
people to realize their mistakes and repent.
On that day, Jesus would be exalted and everyone would
know him as the Lord and son of God.
On that day, each and every person would be required to
give an account of his or her deeds before the Lord.
On that day the Lord would humble the arrogant and proud
and instead would raise the humble.
All people would live as brothers and sisters on that day
and even marriages would be dissolved.
The dead would come back to life and they would enjoy the
presence of the Lord.
It would be a day for the resurrection of all the
believers thus they would share In resurrection.
It would be a day of forgiveness and those who truly
repent would be put right with God on that day.
There would be a loud trumpet on that day to warn the
people that the day has finally come.
It would be a day of destruction that would see strange
things like earth quake, thunder and lightening happen.
Some people would faint with fear as they would be
waiting for what would be coming over the world (Luke 21 :26)
Countries and nations would be in despair, afraid of the
roar of the sea and the raging tides.
On that day everyone would be equal before the Lord and
therefore, given equal treatment.
As part of his message of hope, Amos came up with the
theme of the remnant. Despite the looming disaster, he saw that the Lord would
spare and save some of His people and continue with them
Amos said that some few Israelites who kept faith in God
would survive and continue with His work.
The remnants would comprise those individuals who paid
attention to the warnings of the Lord and turned back to him.
He said that the repentant people would be spared and
they would be the ones to carryon
God's
purpose in future.
Amos urged the Israelites to repent their sins so that
the Lord would spare them.
He showed the people of Israel that Yahweh was a just God
and would only punish them after first giving warning.
Amos observed that Yahweh was only interested in the
repentance rather than the death of sinners. Therefore, he urged them to repent
of their sins so that they would achieve salvation.
All Israelites who would be subjected to a sieve and in
this way, the Lord would determine the righteous and sinners.
Amos talked of a shepherd who recovered only two legs and
an ear of a flock that had been destroyed by a lion.
Amos gave reference to a burning stick that had been
saved from a great fire like that of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Amos revealed that Yahweh was asking the people of Israel
to be ready for judgement and on that day the righteous would be saved.
Amos urged the Israelites to go to the Lord so that they
would live.
The prophet said that all the descendants of Jacob would
be spared after the Lord's destruction.
Amos said that only sinners in Israel would face the
Lord's sword for having taken Him for granted.
Amos prophesied that a few soldiers would return from the
front-line after a great majority had been killed. Out of a thousand, only 100
would return and out of a hundred, only ten would return.
Relevance
of the book of Amos to Christians today
•
Should worship only one true God
•
Should be fair to each other and treat
everyone equally
•
Should take care of the disadvantaged
like orphans and the poor
•
Should repent their sins
•
Should be ready for God's judgement
•
Should be united with each other
•
Should obey God's command
•
Should spread the good news of
salvation
•
Should take part in missionary journey
•
Should be exemplary
•
Should be faithful in marriage
•
Should preserve human life
•
Should respect each and every person's
property
•
Should maintain justice in the courts
•
Should listen to religious leaders
• Should speak the truth
Amos
Who wrote the book?
The prophet Amos lived among a group of shepherds in Tekoa, a small town approximately ten miles south of Jerusalem. Amos made clear in his writings that he did not come from a family of prophets, nor did he even consider himself one. Rather, he was “a grower of sycamore figs” as well as a shepherd (Amos 7:14–15). Amos’s connection to the simple life of the people made its way into the center of his prophecies, as he showed a heart for the oppressed and the voiceless in the world.
Where are we?
Amos prophesied “two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1; see also Zechariah 14:5), just before the halfway point of the eighth century BC, during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel. Their reigns overlapped for fifteen years, from 767 BC to 753 BC.
Though he came from the southern kingdom of Judah, Amos delivered his prophecy against the northern kingdom of Israel and the surrounding nations, leading to some resistance from the prideful Israelites (Amos 7:12). Jeroboam’s reign had been quite profitable for the northern kingdom, at least in a material sense. However, the moral decay that also occurred at that time counteracted any positives from the material growth.
Why is Amos so important?
Amos was fed up. While most of the prophets interspersed redemption and restoration in their prophecies against Israel and Judah, Amos devoted only the final five verses of his prophecy for such consolation. Prior to that, God’s word through Amos was directed against the privileged people of Israel, a people who had no love for their neighbor, who took advantage of others, and who only looked out for their own concerns.
More than almost any other book of Scripture, the book of Amos holds God’s people accountable for their ill-treatment of others. It repeatedly points out the failure of the people to fully embrace God’s idea of justice. They were selling off needy people for goods, taking advantage of the helpless, oppressing the poor, and the men were using women immorally (Amos 2:6–8; 3:10; 4:1; 5:11–12; 8:4–6). Drunk on their own economic success and intent on strengthening their financial position, the people had lost the concept of caring for one another; Amos rebuked them because he saw in that lifestyle evidence that Israel had forgotten God.
What's the big idea?
With the people of Israel in the north enjoying an almost unparalleled time of success, God decided to call a quiet shepherd and farmer to travel from his home in the less sinful south and carry a message of judgment to the Israelites. The people in the north used Amos’s status as a foreigner as an excuse to ignore his message of judgment for a multiplicity of sins.
However, while their outer lives gleamed with the rays of success, their inner lives sank into a pit of moral decay. Rather than seeking out opportunities to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, they embraced their arrogance, idolatry, self-righteousness, and materialism. Amos communicated God’s utter disdain for the hypocritical lives of His people (Amos 5:21–24). His prophecy concludes with only a brief glimpse of restoration, and even that is directed to Judah, rather than the northern kingdom of Israel (9:11–15).
How do I apply this?
Injustice permeates our world, yet as Christians we often turn a blind eye to the suffering of others for “more important” work like praying, preaching, and teaching. But the book of Amos reminds us that those works, while unquestionably central to a believer’s life, ring hollow when we don’t love and serve others in our own lives. Do you find yourself falling into that trap at times—prioritizing prayer over service?
The prophecy of Amos should simplify the choices in our lives. Instead of choosing between prayer and service, the book of Amos teaches us that both are essential. God has called Christians not only to be in relationship with Him but also to be in relationships with others. For those Christians whose tendency has been to focus more on the invisible God than on His visible creation, Amos pulls us back toward the center, where both the physical and the spiritual needs of people matter in God’s scheme of justice.
- See more at: http://www.insight.org/resources/bible/amos.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/#sthash.261IVpy5.dpuf