Pray Psalm 81.11, 12.
“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.”

Sing Psalm 81.11, 12, 8.
(St. Petersburg: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
“My people would not listen to Me, but hardened their hearts most hideously;
I cursed them for their hard-hearted ways to wander in darkness all of their days.
Refrain (v. 8)
“O Israel, hear, admonished now be; My people, repent, return to Me!”
Read and meditate on Amos 3.1-14; meditate on verses 12-14.

Preparation
1. What would be left after the lion of Assyria “devoured” the nation of Israel?

2. What would happen to the pagan altars at Bethel?

Meditation
Wait a second. All along here we’ve been saying that the nation of Israel was going to be completely destroyed, taken into captivity, ethnically admixed and compromised, and never allowed to return to the land of promise. Yes, and this is precisely the judgment God inflicted on those living in Samaria and the kingdom of Israel.

OK, but today’s passage seems to imply a remnant. Small as a lamb’s ear or a sheep shank, perhaps, but a remnant nonetheless (v. 12).

Hold that thought. The northern kingdom of Israel was indeed going to suffer the punishment due her transgressions (v. 14). Beyond that, God would also destroy the altars where sacrifices were given to false gods (v. 15). In doing this He showed that His judgment was not only against His people but also those false deities—demons, really—which had captured their devotion. And Bethel was where this heinous religion had started (1 Kgs. 12.33), so here (v. 14) it stands for the destruction of it all. Their destruction would be complete.

But a remnant of Israel would indeed remain. Recall that certain people from the kingdom of Israel had relocated to the southern kingdom so that they could live under rulers who worshiped the Lord (cf. 2 Chron. 15.8, 9; 30.18). This faithful remnant had established itself long before the Assyrians came down on Samaria and all Israel.

This small “remnant” found deliverance in Judah, just as all who flee the idols of our age find refuge in Jesus. So, yes, there would be a remnant of the tribes who inhabited Israel, but it would be small as a lamb’s ear or a sheep’s shank compared to those who were permanently lost.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God is always ready to save a remnant, if indeed, a remnant exists.

Let’s consider the situation written about in Genesis 18.16-33 between God and Abraham concerning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God had plans for Abraham and his family: “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

But then there was this outcry against the unrighteousness found in these cities. Abraham had family in Sodom and thus found the impending destruction troubling. The outcry to God was great because their sin was very grave. Most worthy of certain destruction.

Abraham posed this question to God: Will You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Then he began his somewhat ridiculous countdown with God. Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous? Suppose there should be forty found there? Suppose thirty should be found there?
Suppose twenty should be found there? Suppose ten should be found there? And to all those numerical queries God answered that He would spare it for the fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and even the ten.

But Sodom couldn’t even muster ten righteous and we all know what happened next: “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground…and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

But praise God and His mercy and grace, He is willing to save a country, a city, a church, or a family for just a small remnant of the righteous!

The Church worldwide needs people who are willing to take a stand for righteousness. As the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, so it comes to us: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” God also commanded him to warn the righteous—fellow believers—when they fell into sin, with the same outcomes for obedience and disobedience (Ezek. 3.17-21).

Time-out for our children was but for a moment. It was never meant to be done in perpetuity. Our great desire was that something positive might be learned in the quiet time. God keeps giving His people a time-out to learn to obey Him. He hopes that we will learn from others’ mistakes, and our own. He wants us to be in His Word, to read about the failures of the disobedient. As Solomon pointed out, “Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge” (Prov. 19.25). Or as the philosopher-poet, George Santayana said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Amos is read and studied so we will learn and not repeat the mistakes found therein.

Let us, as God’s “fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten” remnant people of today, be the obedient, righteous, watchmen, speaking words of truth to those in our Personal Mission Field.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (Jn. 3.16, 17).  God continues to provide deliverance (Rom. 5.8).

“All who flee the idols of our age find refuge in Jesus.”

Reflection
1. How did Israel come to fall under God’s judgment? Was this a sudden or gradual thing?

2. How can you know when you might be drifting away from God’s path for your life? What should you do then?

3. Whom will you encourage today to continue to pursue holiness in Jesus Christ?

[I]ncidentally he says that some would remain, yet his object was to show that the whole kingdom was now given up as a prey to lions, and that nothing would be saved except a very small portion, as when a shepherd carries away an ear when the wolves and lions had been satiated. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 3.11-14

Pray Psalm 81.13-16, 8.
Pray that all who truly know the Lord and desire to live under His rule would repent of their sins and begin daily seeking Him for revival, renewal, and awakening.

Sing Psalm 81.13-16, 8.
(St. Petersburg: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
Now let us all abandon our ways and listen to God, and offer Him praise!
Our foes He will so quickly subdue, extending His hand to save and renew.
Refrain (v. 8)
“O Israel, hear, admonished now be;   My people, repent, return to Me!”

Then even those despising the LORD would falsely obey and follow His Word;
in vain they seem to follow His way, yet judgment awaits on God’s chosen day.
Refrain

The finest foods for us He will buy, and furnish us an abundant supply.
How sweet our lives can be in the LORD, when only we heed His glorious Word.
Refrain

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.