Visible destruction
Amos 5:1-17; 12/11/2022; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
Amos’ warning was urgent. In forty years time, Israel would be destroyed. From this, it can be inferred that this time was the time when Jeroboam II, the son of Joash, ruled Israel. I remember when I visited Pastor Lin Xiangao of Guangzhou Dama Station in 1992, he said that he said ten years ago (1982) that China’s reform and opening up would not last more than forty years. This year is exactly 40 years old. Now that I think about it, I am terrified to think about it. It turns out that God has always been ahead of us. Look at the first point:
Impotent power
What is impotent power? It is seeing the power that should be there, but can’t live it out. There is a sense of powerlessness everywhere, and there is always a scene of emptiness. First, fall and never get up again. This is the sorrow of the prophet Amos, for in the vision he saw the fall of the Israelites. Falling is not a big deal. Who doesn’t fall? However, at this time of the fall, Israel must not rise again! For this reason, Amos was not a poet, but he also imitated the prophet Jeremiah to compose lamentations. Aren’t we also lamenting today for those who have fallen and never got up again? If you have sinned against God, repent! Persuasion, do not listen; warning, invalid; discipline, useless! How to do it? Maybe God will let you go, you know? Judas’ betrayal was a serious sin, but it was still a sin that could be repented and forgiven! But did he repent? No, he chose death in the end. How about you? Are you willing to repent? Whether a person can recover from his fall depends on whether we are willing to repent!
Second, lie flat with no one to support you. Lying flat is the continuous extension of falling, expressing the despair and choice deep in the heart of the person lying flat. The Bible says: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: “Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.” (Amos 5:3) This verse reminds me of Putin and Russia today. The army he sent out murdered and set fire to Ukrainian civilians, raped and looted, stole and kidnapped, but also killed themselves. It seems powerful, but it is actually a scene of lying down and playing tricks. He also compares himself to Peter the Great on TV and opened up territories for Russia. China’s three-year epidemic prevention and dynamic clearing have led to a blank paper revolution. So, this “Zero-COVID man” who was “unsupported” in the world made a 180-degree turn and chose to lie flat. Seemingly powerful, he can carry two hundred catties of wheat and walk twenty miles on a mountain road without changing his shoulders. In reality it is weak!
Lastly, being taken captive and turned into nothing. At this time, Gilgal, Bethel, and Beersheba were centers of idolatry. Think about our Vatican, cathedrals in Europe and America, and the Three-Self Church in China today. Have they become centers of alternative idols? Or simply look at the church we belong to, is there any element of idolatry? See if we also have the tendency or hidden worries in our own hearts to worship idols? Then Amos prophesied: “For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” (Amos 5:5)” Forty years later, the prophecy has come true. The Assyrian Empire first attacked Gilgal, and then took the entire northern kingdom of Israel captive. The idol center Jeroboam established at Bethel is gone! Because by the time Nehemiah led the returned elect, most of them were Southern Jews. The Israelites of the Northern Kingdom were scattered all over the world, and it was not until 1948 that scattered Israelites from various tribes returned. Let’s look at the second point:
Probability of seeking
Why is it the probability of seeking? Because seeking is not a necessity, but a response to God’s grace. First, seek and you will live. Seeking God is a grace and an invitation from God to man. Amos declared directly on the matter: “This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; (Amos 5:4)” Since Adam sinned, man has become forgetful of seeking God. When things happen, people seldom think of seeking God. Instead, relying on people, money, feelings, technology, rationality, philosophy, and logic! The same is true for the Israelites. Moses and Joshua brought them to Canaan, the promised land given by God. However, God’s chosen people turn a blind eye to God’s invitation and ignore it. First, they got lost in the process of the Book of Judges, coveted Canaanite women, and fell into the trap of Samson’s fall. Then they were greedy and envious of the kingship of the Gentiles, and demanded Samuel to establish a kingship.
Second, seek, to seek the true God. After the establishment of the monarchy, the Israelites seem to have learned to seek in everything. But it was not God that they were seeking. What King Saul asked for was the support of the people. For this reason, he sacrificed himself without waiting for Samuel to come. The people of Israel also treated the king as an idol. When David came back from the victorious battle, they shouted: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. Such idolatry led to a life of mutual killing and hatred among the Israelites. Among them, the struggle between David and Saul is particularly fierce and thought-provoking. By the time of the prophet Amos, the original United Kingdom had long been divided, and the divided northern and southern kingdoms had been fighting for years, and the people were in dire straits. However, God is looking for those who seek Him in this generation that has gone astray like sheep. Among them, David was called by God as a man after God’s heart.
Lastly, seeking, life changing. A person who is after God’s heart is not necessarily a person with perfect morality. David’s crimes of adultery and murder were very serious. But when the prophet Nathan came to point out his sin, David repented. David submitted, accepted and respected God’s sovereignty when God took the life of his Son. By the time of Amos, the judgment was a foregone conclusion. However, God still issued a life-changing invitation to the Israelites through the prophet: “Seek the Lord and you will live”! Today, Satan is also sending out death invitations to people: Come, bow down to Me, and you will have food to eat! Give me twenty years, and I will give you a different Russia! Let me be re-elected for life, and I will definitely keep our red country! I, Biden, promise to supply you Zelensky with HIMARS, and you come to fight for us, wear down and kill these Russians! Let’s look at the third point:
Incompleteness of mercy
Whenever I think of Van Gogh, his paintings and himself are full of a taste of incomplete beauty. Looking at the Israelites at that time through the eyes of Amos, there seems to be a similar feeling. First, how many sins there are! Amos saw the Israelites trampling the poor, extorting money, afflicting the righteous, taking bribes, and wronging the needy at the gates of the city. The Prophet was so sad that he sang a lament: “The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. (Amos 5:16)” As this dirge is sung, it reminds people of the walls that have been erected over the past three years due to the lockdown. There are water horses, iron chains, and white guards who came back from the Cultural Revolution. The stocks of nucleic acid companies have risen, and the money in the pockets of the people has been emptied. The covenant of those in power to “be good to the people” was torn, and God said through the prophet: “For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. (Amos 5:12)”
Second, good and evil are still optional. Even so, God still said through the prophet Amos: “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. (Amos 5:14)” Just as Putin can still choose to cease the war immediately, pay compensation for war losses, and accept war criminals to stand trial today. Otherwise, its ending is tragic. Either a nuclear war breaks out, and all mankind will be buried together. Or, instead, Russia was dismembered into several small countries, so that it no longer has the ability to invade other countries. It sounds like a fantasy, and impossible. However, there is God’s word today that says: “With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. (Amos 5:9)” In history, there are many examples of small countries defeating big countries!
Finally, break the contract and pass through it. People must have a basic common sense, that is, because of creation, man has a covenant with God. The prophet Micah said: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)” When people think they are powerful and are blocked by a high wall like the Great Wall of the Internet, they deceive the ignorant citizens internally and practice wolf-warrior diplomacy with a guilty conscience externally. Then, you are a covenant breaker both to God and to man! Then the words of the prophet Amos will come to you: “There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. (Amos 5:17)” When people in the ancient Middle East made a covenant, they split the animal in half, and the covenant passed through the middle, indicating that the violator would be punished like the split animal.
Conclusion
Alright, dear brothers and sisters, may I ask, have you heard the lament for the last days composed by Amos? Do you see the “Visible Destruction” revealed by the Prophet? The power of pride will be struck by God, humility in seeking will transform probability into assurance, and mercy, although flawed, can triumph over judgment.
Let us pray……
Amos 5:1-17
1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: “Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live;
5 do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says: “There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
