Be faithful. Amos review.
Amos Review (7)
Pray Psalm 138.7, 8.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Sing Psalm 138.7, 8.
(Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
Your Right Hand will save and keep me; all I need You will supply.
For Your love is everlasting reaching from beyond the sky.
You will not forsake or leave me; You will save me when I cry.
Read Matthew 25.14-30; meditate on Amos 3.1-8.
Preparation
1. How does the parable of the talents apply to Israel in Amos’ day?
2. What was the main reason for God’s judgment of Israel (Amos 3.2)?
Meditation
Israel in the time of Amos—the northern and southern kingdoms—might have been the subject of Jesus’ parable. The servants in that parable included some who were concerned for increasing the master’s endowment, and one who was only concerned about himself. In the same way, Israel was a mixed bag of people, some who sought to live for God and honor Him, others who had their own ideas about how to make their way in the world.
But God had richly blessed all the people of Israel. He delivered them from Egypt. He brought them into His covenant so that He knew them, and they could know Him. He gave them the land of promise and a righteous Law to guide them. He provided judges and prophets and kings to oversee and defend them. In short, God invested Israel with grace abounding—a people who deserved nothing from Him but whom He chose to bless and increase.
Some received those blessings and were faithful in serving Him. Others, not so much. Most of the people in the northern kingdom of Israel, from Jeroboam I to Jeroboam II, seemed only to care about themselves. They squandered and despised the gifts of God and sought to please false deities and pagan neighbors instead. And when God came for a reckoning, Amos and others declared, they would be cast out, and even what little sense of God or His blessings they had would be taken away.
Ultimately, as God promised, a time of great abundance would arrive. But only after Messiah appeared to bring near the Kingdom of God and spread His grace to Jews and Gentiles alike. Now God is once again distributing gifts and blessings to His people (1 Cor. 12.7-11; Eph. 4.8-10). Let us learn the lesson of Amos: Know the Lord Who knows and loves you, and give yourself entirely to increasing His Kingdom and glory. Be faithful, and you and He will walk together along the Jesus Path all your days.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God’s sovereign care, concern, and choreography of the greatest escape ever—out of Egypt, out of bondage, away from cruelty and hatred—into a land of promise, was a foretaste of His eternal plan of escape for all His people through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, His Beloved Son.
So, if He was angry because they spurned unappreciatively that enormous act of grace—the flight from Egypt (Amos 3.1, 2)—imagine His rage because people spurn the gift of His only begotten Son. “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Ps. 2.12).
“The LORD roars from Zion…A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken” (Amos 1.2; 3.8) “If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?” (Amos 3.6). “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things” (Is. 45.7).
But the gift of all gifts, the grace that supersedes the anger, is the amazing gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life with Him, beginning right now. “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? …And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief…For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Heb. 3.14-16, 18, 19; 4.2).
But we have joyously heard it, and received it, and long to go forth as God’s people, grafted into His glorious Kingdom of love and light, following Him, obeying Him, loving Him, and serving Him daily. Going in the power of the Holy Spirit to “seek the LORD and live” (Amos 5.6), and for those in our Personal Mission Field to “let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5.24), because we are “grieved for the affliction of Joseph” (Amos 6.6). We will pray for the lost, that God will give them time to repent: “O Lord GOD, forgive, I pray!” “O, Lord God, cease, I pray! That Jacob may stand, for he is small” (Amos 7.2, 5). And we will pray for all pastors, everywhere, that their sheep, their congregations, will not experience a “famine of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8.11) but will be filled to the full of hearing God’s Word and seeing it lived out in their lives (Jn. 6.35). That Word, obediently coming from us as well.
“Now to Him who is able
to keep you from stumbling, and
to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy,
to God our Savior,
who alone is wise,
be glory and majesty,
dominion and power,
both now and forever.
Amen” (Jude 1.24, 25).
Reflection
1. What “talents” has God entrusted to you? How are you using those gifts for His glory?
2. If we truly hear God’s Word, how will that affect our relationship with Him? With the people in our Personal Mission Field?
3. Whom will you encourage today to be faithful in their walk with and work for the Lord?
The distinguishing favors of God to us, if they do not restrain from sin, shall not exempt from punishment. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Amos 3.1, 2
Pray Psalm 138.1-6.
God will be glorified in all the earth. Praise and thank Him for the many gifts He has entrusted to you. Call on Him to show you how best to serve Him today.
Sing Psalm 138.1-6.
(Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
I will give You thanks and praise You, God of gods, with all my heart.
I will bow before Your temple, grateful praise to You impart.
For Your Name and for Your glory, You have magnified Your Word!
On the day I called You answered, made me bold within my soul;
when I walk in troubled places, You revive and make me whole.
For Your hand will gently shield me, and my fearsome foes control.
All the kings of earth will praise You when Your words of truth they hear;
of Your ways, of Your great glory gladly they will shout and cheer.
For the proud shall not approach You, yet You hold the lowly dear.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
