7 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
3 The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,
“O Lord God, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
6 The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said,
“ ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’ ”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”
The Lord shows Amos the destruction of the Land of Israel by Locusts, but Jacob is to small. The Lord then shows Amos the destruction of the Land of Israel by Fire, but Jacob is to small. The Lord turns from destroy the Land of Israel in a way that will not allow someone to survive. The will have his remnant of God's people. God will preserve the Nation of Judah, but the nation of Israel will be destroyed.
Amaziah is the great politician. He stands up to be politically correct and tell people, "Everything will be alright." Amos stands up and tells his fellow countrymen and King, "God has shown me that you will be destroyed." What is the message the Church brings to a fallen world? Does the Church tell people that everything is going to be okay? Does the Church tell them no matter what God is going to bless you? Amos stands up and says what the Lord has shown him.
God has promised to destroy the wicked. God has promised to purge the evil from our midst. God did not save his chosen people Israel nor his chosen people of Judea. God judged his people for their sins. God sent his chosen people into exile, but does not destroy them completely.
God does not destroy Israel by Locusts nor by fire nor for that matter by a Flood. God has chosen his way to judge his people. God has even chosen a way to judge all who believe in him. Those who trust in him, have been judged in Jesus Christ's death upon the cross. God killed his only son for you. God did not spare his only son but sacrificed him for the sins of the world.
God judged Israel for their sins, in order to call Judea to repentance. God judged Judea for their sins, in order to call us to repentance. If we don't repent, who will God call to repentance through us? Christ has died for your sins, repent of your sins and know you are forgiven.
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