Amos 02: Justice Comes Home

Justice comes home in Amos 2 as we explore how God holds His own people to a higher standard than the surrounding nations because they should know better.

• God pronounces judgment on Moab, then turns to Judah and Israel with the same formula: "they have sinned again and again"
• Israel had rejected God's instruction despite witnessing His deliverance and provision
• Specific sins include selling the righteous for silver, trampling the poor, sexual immorality, and silencing God's prophets
• We cannot compartmentalize our faith – living like the world while expecting God's blessing
• Don't mistake God's patience for God's acceptance of sin
• God's judgment begins with those who claim to know Him

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Chapters

• 0:48 Welcome to Justice Comes Home
• 1:58 God's Judgment on Surrounding Nations
• 5:39 Israel's Special Accountability
• 9:20 You Can't Live Like the World
• 11:55 Prayer and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, amos, chapter 2, and today's title is Justice Comes Home Justice Comes Home. This is going to be one of those chapters, as we dive in deeper, where he is going to continue this narrative of they know what to do but they're doing something else and they really ought to know better, which, to be honest with you, when I was growing up up, was one of the worst things that my parents could ever say. But we're going to get to all that in just a moment. So we're going to get your Bibles out, get your coffee out, get your popcorn out, because this is going to be awesome. While we're doing that, make sure you take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. It's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job, and you can get links to all of that by going to thebiblebreakdowncom.

Speaker 0: 1:20

Well, if you were with us yesterday, we talked about the overall idea of the book of Amos and that is, let justice roll. And I got it from the old Garth Brooks song Let the Thunder Roll right Like let it. It's coming on in and let it come on in. And that's really what Amos is saying. Remember, we talked about how Amos was one of the oldest prophetic books that was actually written down and it was by a guy who wasn't even a prophet he was a farmer, a shepherd. But he sees what's going on. We talked about how there's this very interesting dynamic in that he is not from the northern kingdom and if you're looking on the YouTube channel, you've got little Judah right here and he is just. He sees what's coming. He sees the massive Assyrian empire and, who knows, at that time Jonah is probably with the Assyrians. He's at the capital of Assyria and he's talking to them about what's going on and all this kind of stuff. But we know, because in about 30 years' time after Amos was written, they invade Israel because Israel will not change their ways. And so throughout the book of Amos, he's going to talk about Edom, moab, ammon, these different tribes, these different areas that are not part of Israel, and saying how all these different people are doing all of this, sinning and turning against God. But when it comes to the kingdom of Israel, they should know better, and so they're going to be judged if they don't change, because they should know better.

Speaker 0: 2:39

And what it really reminds me of is when I was a kid. You know, just like all kids, I got in my share of trouble. But one of the things that I hated is I would get in trouble and my parents would say something like this and times are different, I know people don't say this to their kids anymore, but I would do something that I had done wrong, you know a hundred times and one of my parents would say are you stupid? I just, are you stupid. I know some of y'all are clutching your pearls right now. How could they say that it's just a different time? Okay, are you stupid? I know some of y'all are clutching your pearls right now. How could they say that it's just a different time? Okay, because this is what would happen, is they would say are you stupid? And I would say no, and they would say, well, they don't act like it, right? Well then, every once in a while, I thought I'd get smart, you know, and they'd say are you stupid? And I would say yes, and they go no, of course you're smart, you know what you're doing. I've told you about this. That's why it bothers me. It's because you should know better. And that was the worst thing they could have said, because it was right, I did know better, I just didn't want to.

Speaker 0: 3:36

You know what I mean, and that's what we're going to see in Amos, chapter 2 is he's going to continue this narrative from yesterday where he's saying Moab be sinning and all these other places be sent in and all this other kind of stuff. And when it comes to Judah and Israel, remember he's from Judah, but he's talking to both northern and southern kingdoms. One of the things he's going to be talking about is justice is coming home. So he's been saying it's going to go out to these other nations, but it's coming to your house because you should know better, and that's extremely convicting.

Speaker 0: 4:06

So let's jump into this and read Amos 2, verse 1 says this this is what the Lord and let me pause real quick, we don't talk about this enough, but anytime you see capital L-O-R-D, you are looking at the covenant personal name of God, yahweh. Yahweh means the unique one I am, that I am. There is no other like me, the God. And what God is consistently telling them is there is no God like me, yahweh. Okay, so here we go. This is what Yahweh, this is what the Lord says.

Speaker 0: 4:37

The people of Moab have sinned again and again. I will not let them go unpunished. They desecrated the bones of Edom's king, burning them to ashes. So I will send down fire on the land of Moab and all the fortresses in Kiriath will be destroyed. The people will fall in the noise of battle, as warriors shout, the ram's horn sounds, and I will destroy their king and slaughter all their princes, says the Lord Yahweh.

Speaker 0: 5:05

Next, he says this is what the Lord says. The people of Judah have sinned again and again. Notice how he's been using this same kind of thing. He's been saying Edom, moab, again and again. Well, now he's saying even you, judah, who are supposed to know better, have sinned again and again. I will not let them go unpunished. You have rejected the instruction of the lord, refusing to obey his decrees. They have been led astray by all the same lies that deceived their ancestors. So I will send down fire on judah and all the fortresses of jerusalem will be destroyed. This is what the lord says.

Speaker 0: 5:41

The people of israel have sinned again and I will not let them go unpunished. They sell honorable people for silver, poor people for a pair of sandals. They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way. Both father and son sleep with the same woman. That's terrible, corrupting my holy name. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does. At their religious festivals they lounge in clothing, their debtors put up as security In the house of their gods. They drink wine bought with unjust fines.

Speaker 0: 6:20

But my people watched. But as my people watched, I destroyed the Amorites, though they were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. I destroyed the fruit on all their branches and dug out their roots. It was I who rescued you from Egypt. I led you through the desert for 40 years so you could possess the land of the Amorites. I chose some of your sons to be prophets, others to be Nazarites.

Speaker 0: 6:46

But pause, nazarites were people that were set aside for God in a special way. They didn't cut their hair, they didn't drink any wine. They did all of this just as a sign of their commitment to God. Samson had a Nazarite vow in his life. Many times Nazarites would have just like temporary times. He was for his entire life. There's some thought that Jesus may have been a lifelong Nazirite. There's no proof, but there's a thought.

Speaker 0: 7:10

Here we go. Can you deny this? My people, israel, ask the Lord. But you caused the Nazarites to sin by making them drink wine. You commanded the prophets shut up, so I will make you groan like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain. Your fastest runners will not get away. The strongest among you will become weak. Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves. The archers will not stand their ground. The swiftest runners won't be fast enough save themselves. The archers will not stand their ground. The swiftest runners won't be fast enough to escape. Even those riding horses won't be able to save themselves. On that day, the most courageous of your young men will drop their weapons and run for their lives.

Speaker 0: 7:52

So what we see here is is we see this, this phrasing that's coming up over and over again. Let me show it to you again how he says this. Over and over, he's been saying to the other nations Moab has sinned again and again and they will not go unpunished. Well, this time he's looking at Judah and Israel and he's saying you also have sinned again and again and you will not go unpunished. He even brings up the fact a little further down when he says that you guys were the ones that I brought up from Egypt. There it is verse 10 and 11. You are the ones I've had a covenant with for such a long time, but yet you are doing the same thing that these other people are doing. And so justice isn't just going to come to the surrounding nations of people. It's not just going to come to Moab and to Ammon and to all these other Philistine tribes and all these other places. It's coming to you guys, because you should know better, you should be the ones that are actually doing something different, which is where it gets to.

Speaker 0: 8:52

We talked about yesterday, where one of the things he's calling them to is this idea of we don't compartmentalize our relationship with God. You imagine how they? Probably because, remember, we talked about yesterday that this is a time when Israel is very economically blessed and it's because of the different trade agreements and different things, where they have other nations, and so it's this idea of business is business. We'll go and we'll worship God on the Sabbath day, but then every other day we're going to live like the other kingdoms, and what God is saying is that's not gonna work, that I'm gonna judge you just like all the other nations. If you want to act like the other nations, then you get to be judged like all the other nations.

Speaker 0: 9:33

And here's the challenge for all of us. We can't live like the world and expect to be honored by god. I'm gonna say that for the people in the back row again okay, we can't expect to live like the world but then expect to be treated like a son or a child of god. If we act like the world, we will be treated in kind, but to be so very careful that we don't fall into this idea of what is fair. Well, it's not fair, god, that all these people that don't know you are living according to the rules of darkness and they're getting ahead. Why can't I do that? Why am I not getting ahead? Because we have such a short-term framework to realize they're not getting ahead.

Speaker 0: 10:16

You remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. For a long time in the race, the rabbit, the hare, looked like he was getting ahead, but it was the consistency of the tortoise that won the race. Many times we have to realize that in this world it will look like, as Christians, we are not getting ahead because we're not cutting those corners. We're not making those backroom deals. We're doing the thing of integrity, but when? Of course not.

Speaker 0: 10:43

And so what Amos is doing is he's really flying in the face of what everybody else would say. They would say wait a minute. God must be with them because they're prospering. God must be with them because he's not judging them. And what Amos is saying, you don't get it. Judgment's coming. I'm waving the white flag and saying it's on its way. Don't mistake God's patience with God's acceptance. Let me say that again for the people in the back row Don't mistake God's patience for God's acceptance. God is patient with us to lead us to repentance, not to wink at our sin. And that's what Amos is saying. He's saying I'm willing to not be nice in order to be kind and say fix yourself Before you wreck yourself. Remember, the whole overall idea is justice is about to roll. Let's pray together right now.

Speaker 0: 11:31

God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you that it's powerful, it's true, it's worthy and that we bow before it. I pray today, God, that you'll give us, lord, the ability, lord, to take seriously what you are doing in our life and to realize that your patience does not equal your acceptance of what we do. We don't live according to what we feel and what we see. We live according to your word because it stands supreme. God, that's hard in the world we live in, especially when we have bad actors telling us the opposite, but I pray that we will stay close to your word and that your word be what guides us. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. What God's word says in Amos, chapter 5, verse 24,. It says Instead this is God talking. I want to see a mighty flood of justice and an endless river of righteous living. Let that be our heart. Cry too, that we want to live righteously and do justice. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Amos, chapter 3.