Amos 2 (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 14.1-3
The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

Sing Psalm 14.1-3
(St. Anne: O God, Our Help in Ages Past)
The fool within his heart proclaims, “There is no God at all!”
His deeds are wicked, filled with shame who on God will not call.

No good in such as these is found; corruption fills their breast.
God from His heav’nly throne looks down, their hearts and ways to test.

Read Amos 2.1-16; meditate on verse 13.

Preparation
1. What phrase did God use to show that Israel’s sins were as bad as those of the nations?

2. Why is the section on Israel longer than the others?

Meditation
The people of Judah and Israel had become fools. Like the nations around them, they did not believe in God, protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. Indeed, by their conduct they showed their confidence He did not exist, and that there was nothing to be gained from His Word and Law and no need to fear anything He might do. And now God was weighed down with such sin.

All the beautiful teachings of God’s Law on loving God and neighbors had been set aside. In their place, pagan practices ruled; and pagan deities allowed the people of Israel and Judah to justify whatever morality suited their pleasure or whim.

Israel had defiled the holy Name of God, forgotten His works of deliverance, scorned His promises, received His blessings without gratitude, and assimilated the pagan ways of those whose rank ungodliness had been the reason for God driving them out of Canaan in the first place. Israel chose to imitate the immoral and wrong-believing people of their day, and God would remove them from the land of promise as well.

Cue the Assyrians.

God declared that He was weighed down, weighed down, with Israel’s sins. He refused to bear with them any longer, for it was time for judgment to begin from within the household of God.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
As we are busy casting aspersions and a judgmental eye on the people of God in Amos’ day, we need to take a careful look at the similarities to the Church today. Those people of old showed their disbelief in God by their poor conduct, by living like “there was nothing to be gained from His Word and Law and no need to fear anything” about Him.

What about us? How popular are the “Five Minutes with God” devotionals? Do God’s people even spend five minutes in the Word? How many merely listen to a podcast on the way to work and count that as their special time with God? Are we a people of prayer? How does the Church look at God’s Law today? Askance, perhaps? How does the behavior of church people stack up against non-believers in the world? If you were to sit on a street corner, in a store, at work, at school, at a restaurant, or anywhere really, and played “I Spy” with a friend would you be able to pick out the people of God?

God created us to know Him. What is the chief end of man? The catechism says that it is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” God is always thinking about us. Wouldn’t we do well to do the same regarding Him? And His Law? And His Word? And His amazing love and grace?

“For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant.
He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness.
He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, and they inherited the labor of the nations,
that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the LORD!” (Ps. 105.42-45)

Please note that He didn’t just save them, or us, so we’d all have fire insurance against hell. He remembered His holy promise to all of us so that we would “observe His statutes and keep His Laws.”

We raise our children with some hope of a future for them. We do not feed and house and teach them so that they can sit on the couch for the rest of their lives doing nothing. We want what is best for them. God wants the same for us and from us.

Solomon wrote these words to his children, but surely God thinks the same way about us: “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself; yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off. Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way” (Prov. 23.15-19).

“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways” (Prov. 23.24-26).

Paul wrote these words to his children in the faith, but surely God is saying the same to us: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain” (Phil. 2.12-16).

What we should long for most of all is to be pleasing to the LORD, then we can cherish these precious words given by God to the prophet (Zephaniah 3.17):
“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Love His Word and keep His Law—and instead of being weighed down by us—
He can rejoice over us with singing.

Reflection
1. What would you say to a new believer about getting started in a devotional life with the Lord?

2. How would you help that new believer accomplish that?

3. Whom will you encourage today in their walk with and work for the Lord?

[Amos] wished to set before them, as in various mirrors, the judgment of God, which awaited them, that he might the more effectually awaken them: and he wished also to exhibit in the Jews themselves an example of the extreme vengeance of God…  John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 2.6

Closing Prayer: Psalm 14.4-7
Pray that God will call His people to repentance, and that Christians everywhere will be revived and renewed, so that the Gospel “comes out” of the Church more powerfully and more consistently unto a great worldwide awakening of faith.

Sing Psalm 14.4-7
(St. Anne: O God, Our Help in Ages Past)
None understands, none seeks the LORD; they all have turned aside.
Deception leads them from God’s Word who have His grace denied.

The workers of iniquity consume God’s sheep like bread;
they trust not in the LORD, and He shall fill their hearts with dread.

For Jesus with the righteous stands, though they be put to shame.
He holds them safely in His hands who shelter in His Name.

Restore Your Church, let Zion sing; our captive hearts release,
that we may Your salvation bring, rejoicing and in peace.

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.