Amos 2 (4)

Pray Psalm 78.1-4.
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

Sing Psalm 78.1-4.
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Give ear, O my people, attend to my word,
dark sayings and parables sent from the LORD,
things we have before by our Fathers been told,
which we would not dare from our children withhold.

Read and meditate on Amos 2.1-12; meditate on verses 9-12.

Preparation
1. What had God done for the people of Israel?

 2. How did they respond?

Meditation
Through Amos, God reminded Israel of His mighty works on their behalf. Despite the odds against them, Israel was able to drive the Amorites out of Canaan because God “destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath” (v. 9). That is, God destroyed them utterly.

Before that, however, God had delivered Israel from Egypt and sustained them forty years in the wilderness (v. 10). Then he enabled them to take possession of the land of the Amorite, that is, the land of Canaan.

Then God gave prophets to Israel to guide them in the way of His commands and promises, that they might know how to love and serve Him, and that they might realize the blessings He was preparing for them. He even called some of their young men to lifelong service as Nazirites, men set apart to serve in the tabernacle and, later, the temple of God (v. 11).

And how did the people of Israel respond to all this divine largesse? They corrupted those who had set themselves apart for God, so that they could no longer serve, and they commanded the prophets not to preach the Word of God to them (v. 12).

They might have been more thankful. So might we. Consider the mighty work of Jesus on our behalf. Do we betray that work by our sinful lives, deny it by our silence, minimize it by our lack of daily thanksgiving and praise? “Remember My works!” is a constant refrain throughout the Old Testament. And that refrain continues through the New. Let it be a constant refrain in our lives as well.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Hannah was grieved because she had no child. In fact, “she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head” (1 Sam. 1.10, 11). Hannah’s child was the prophet Samuel.

Manoah’s wife, too, was barren. “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please by careful no to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines’” (Judg. 13.3-5). This child was the Nazirite Samson.

These are the children that the world would have missed out on if they had been treated to the Israelites’ contempt.

God said it was:
“I Who destroyed your enemies.”
“I Who brought you out of Egypt.”
“I Who led you for forty years in the desert.”
“I Who raised up some of your sons as prophets and Nazirites” (Amos 2.9, 10).
“But it was you who ruined the Nazirites.”
“It was you who told the prophets not to prophesy” (Amos 2.12).

It makes one wonder, does it not, how many “Nazirites and prophets” have been set aside or ruined because we tainted them or would not listen to them? And how many churches have failed because God’s people have not kept His Law?

Church people have been selling the “righteous for silver” (Amos 2.6) for a very long time—Jesus being Judas’ vindictive bloodlust sale for power and prestige. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him” (Matt. 26.14-16). Those hideous sales started before Jesus and will continue until the end of time.

Those ingrates were not thankful for God’s care, His love, and His deliverance from sin.
The online definition for ingrate is: 1. An ungrateful person. 2. An ungrateful person. And 3. A person who shows no gratitude. Think they are ungrateful and unthankful? I think, yes.

As God’s people, we do not want to be those who keep God’s Nazirites and prophets from doing their job. We do not want to be those who defile God’s holy Name. We do not want to be those who despise the law of the LORD and do not keep His commandments. (Amos 2.4, 7, 12).

What we do want is to be those people of God whose lives are so filled with His Spirit that all who observe us give glory to God and wonder about the hope that is within us. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5.16).
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…” (1 Pet. 3.15).

Never ingrates—always thankful for God’s salvation and the work we have been given to do—always promoting and grateful for the Nazirites and prophets among us.

Reflection
1. Why is it important to remember the works God has done and is doing for us?

2. What are the best ways to do this?

3. Whom will you encourage today to remember the works of God done on their behalf?

God expostulates here with the Israelites for their ingratitude. He records the benefits he had before conferred on that people; and then shows how unworthily and disgracefully they had conducted themselves; for they forgot their many blessings and proudly despised God, and acted as if they were like other nations, and not bound to God for the singular benefit of adoption. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 2.9-12

Pray Psalm 78.5-17.
Pray for a great worldwide awakening to Jesus in all the nations of the world, and that God would spare His wrath and multiply His mercy and grace.

Sing Psalm 78.6-16.
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
LORD, let all our children arise and declare
the truth of the LORD every day, everywhere,
and set all their hopes in God’s wonderful Word,
and never forget all the works of the LORD.

Our fathers were stubborn; they would not obey;
when faced with their foes they in fear turned away.
God’s work of redemption they wholly despised,
forgetting the pow’r He had shown to their eyes.

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).

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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.