When the ancient Israelites turned their collective backs on God, they entered into a dark pagan degradation. Seeking to save His children, Jehovah sent the prophet Joel to Judah to try to get them to return to Him (see Bringing Hope to the Darkness). Unfortunately, they did not listen to his message, and chose to be ruled by a succession of three additional pagan kings as they continued to wallow in paganism themselves.
The northern region of Israel fared no better, as they allowed the reign of three pagan kings of their own. Now, the approximate date is 760 B.C. Again, God tries to save the people by sending a prophet to Israel by the name Amos, who came to warn them that He was going to administer some serious discipline to both Israel and Judah.
He first addresses the southern kingdom:
“The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They have rejected the instruction of the LORD, refusing to obey his decrees. They have been led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors. So, I will send down fire on Judah, and all of the fortresses of Jerusalem will be destroyed.” Amos 2:4, 5. NLT
God’s hands are tied. He is a God of justice. Thus, He must keep His word. This ‘fire’ will be the conquering Babylonian army that will appear in approximately 200 years.
Next, Amos speaks to the fate of the northern kingdom of Israel regarding the consequences for their moral mortification; but it is not without anguish that He delivers His sentence. We can hear His tender heart:
“From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins.” Amos 3:2 NLT
But deliver it He must:
“Therefore,” says the Sovereign LORD, “an enemy is coming! He will surround them and shatter their defenses. Then he will plunder all their fortresses.” Amos 3:11 NLT
“The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses.” Amos 4:2 NLT
This prophecy would be fulfilled in only 40 years, when they would be defeated by the Assyrians, who were known to lead their captives away by piercing them with fishhooks through their noses or lips.
Well now, you might be thinking, ‘How is this bringing hope to the darkness?’ First, God is trying to scare them (with the truth) into right behavior. Secondly, He follows the sentence of discipline with a compassionate plea:
“Come back to me and live!…For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions…Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper…” Amos 5:4, 12 & 14. NLT
Now, just as God spoke through the prophet Joel to Judah about being in right relationship with Him, both immediately and at the end of time, He delivers a similar message through Amos, to Israel:
“You dismiss any thought of the evil day and bring in a reign of violence.” Amos 6:3 CSB
God does not beat around the bush. The immediate application is the threat of the Assyrian invasion. The eschatological (end times) implication, is that the time to get right with God is now! Why? The reason is one that I feel duty-bound to reiterate over and over: and that is that either before you die, or before Christ returns, (whichever comes first), you must already have that God-connection firmly in place, or you will never have a chance to have one.
And just to help us to understand the urgency, Jehovah gives us a glimpse of the state of the world just before His Son comes:
“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12. NLT
One could look around in present time, and conjecture that this is happening. Just saying. You have to faithfully marinate in His word to avoid the fate of those with their focus on all things worldly.
God gives them one more reminder that His discipline will be severe for those who won’t turn their lives around:
“I, the Sovereign LORD am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,” says the LORD. For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost.” Amos 9:8, 9. NLT
So, you see, God metes out punishment, but offers compassion to the repentant. The true kernels. Indeed, God left His children a promise that was finally kept in 1948, when Israel was reestablished as a nation:
“I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.” Amos 9:15 NLT
He initially scattered His faithful children to other nations, in order to save them from further moral dilapidation, and ultimately brought them home.
God cherishes His children. He left us the accounts of His rebellious children in the past, so that we could learn from the consequences of their behavior. If you look around, you will see that the world today is not much different, and we have our own rebels living amongst us.
The Bible is timeless. Jehovah’s pleas for your salvation are still ringing out today. God is always faithful. He will bring you home to Him as well, if you keep the faith. And when you don’t, come to Him in repentance, and He will make things right again…
Goodnight and God bless.
