Amos 4 (4)
Pray Psalm 7.9-11.
Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
But establish the just;
For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.
My defense is of God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.
Sing Psalm 7.9-11.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
Bring to an end the evil of the wicked,
but let Your righteous ones established be.
You are my shield, my soul will not be stricken;
test heart and mind, my true Defender be.
You are a righteous Judge in every way,
angry at wicked people every day.
Read and meditate on Amos 4.1-11; meditate on verses 9-11.
Preparation
1. How did God warn Israel?
2. How did Israel respond?
Meditation
God recalled further warnings that He brought upon His people. Blight, mildew, and locusts attacked their gardens, vineyards, and olive trees when they were at the point of bearing fruit (v. 9). Here again we see that the sovereignty of God reaches even to spores and bugs. He commands them to do His bidding in taking away the blessings He had given His people, so that they might look to Him, repent of their sins, and be delivered. But not even blight and plague could move the hard hearts of Israel to return to the Lord.
So God brought warfare against His people, and many of Israel’s young men fell to the sword. The armies of Israel were attacked in their tents, and horses and men were slain and left to rot (v. 10). Yet not even the horror, disgrace, and savagery of war would lead Israel to seek the Lord.
Then God struck certain cities in Israel with fire, which appears to have fallen from the sky, as perhaps lightning (v. 11). Whole towns were reduced to ash, yet not even those who managed to escape, like firebrands rescued from the firepit, would turn their hearts to the Lord.
When the prophets of God called the people to see His hand of judgment in these matters, the people put them to silence. They didn’t want to hear the Word of the Lord. Their false gods were no help to them, but their hearts had become so hardened to God that they would not heed His warnings and refused to return to Him.
Beware any hardness that might be settling in your own heart.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God spoke:
I blasted you!
I blasted you with blight and mildew (Amos 4.9).
I blasted you with locusts and plague (Amos 4.10).
I blasted you like I blasted the Egyptians (Ex. 7.20-12.30).
And yet.
You did not—would not—return to Me (Amos 4.9, 10).
Even God’s use of the hyperbolic did not reach into their hearts. He tried everything to get their attention.
And ours. Are we looking around? Has He also blasted us, and yet we don’t return to Him?
Jesus spoke:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I AM gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11.28-30).
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22.37-40).
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk. 21.34-36).
Paul spoke:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12.1, 2).
“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly…” (1 Thess. 5.14).
Stephen Stills spoke, For What It’s Worth:
It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down.
Peter spoke, on what’s going down:
“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God…” (1 Pet. 4.17).
Are we listening?
Reflection
1. Does it seem to you that God is sending warnings to the Church in this country? Explain.
2. How would you counsel a new believer to keep from falling under the discipline of the Lord?
3. Whom will you encourage today in their walk with and work for the Lord?
Though one kind of punishment may not convince men, they are yet thereby proved with sufficient clearness to be guilty before God. But when in various ways he urges them, and after having tried in vain to correct them in one way, he has recourse to another, and still effects nothing, it hence more fully appears that they, who are thus ever unmoved, and remain stupid whatever means God may adopt to lead them to repentance, are altogether past recovery. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 4.9, 10
Pray Psalm 7.1-8.
Pray that God will lead His Church to repentance, revival, and renewal, and that the enemies of God’s people may be humbled and many of them brought to salvation in Jesus.
Sing Psalm 7.1-8.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
O LORD, my God, I trust in You: O save me!
Deliver me from all who seek my life.
If in my hands, You find iniquity,
or any evil, any wicked strife,
then let my foe pursue and overtake me,
and without honor I shall surely be.
Arise, O LORD, rise up in wrath to save me!
Let rage and judgment fall upon my foes!
From all who know You let abundant praise be;
rise up on high; the wicked curse with woes.
O Judge of all, judge now my righteousness
and my integrity, approve and bless.
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.
