Shabbat Shalom, everyone. I hope you have your Bibles with you. We're going to open our Bibles to the prophet Amos today. Amos in English, Amos in Hebrew, chapter 2 in this ministry meeting. And we are reading today, Amos 2:4-16. And so please follow me as I'm reading these verses for the ministry, today's ministry meeting. So we read, verse 4: "Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, And for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof, Because they have despised the law of the Lord, And have not kept His commandment. And their lies caused them to err, After the which their fathers have walked. But I will send the fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, And for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof, Because they sold the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of shoes, That he pent after the dust of the earth, On the head of the poor, And turned aside the way of the meek. And a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, To profane my holy name. And they lay themselves down upon clothes, Laid to pledge by every altar, And they drink the wine of the condemned In the house of their God. Yet destroy I the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the ox.

Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, And his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you forty years through the wilderness To possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, And of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, Sayeth the Lord? But ye gave the Nazarite wine to drink, And commanded the prophets, Saying, Prophesy not. Behold, I am pressed under you, As a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong shall not strengthen his force, Neither shall the mighty deliver himself, Neither shall he stand that handleeth the bow, And he that is swift of foot, Shall not deliver himself, Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself, And he that is courageous among the mighty, Shall flee away naked, In that day saith the Lord.

Let's stop here, With the reading of Amos chapter 2, And verses 4, To verse 16. Beloved brothers and sisters, A study of the prophet Amos, Is not an easy study to do, Because, The vast majority of this book, The judgment that God is going to pour, Or planning to pour upon his people, Israel specifically, Judah as well as the nations, That surround the nation of Israel. I must remind you first of all, That Amos said of himself, In Amos chapter 7, In verse 14, Amos, Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, Neither was I a prophet's son, But I was an herdman, And a gatherer of sycamore fruit.

And the Lord took me, As I followed the flock, And the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. This is Amos chapter 7, Verses 14 and 15. Amos was not a prophet. Amos was actually living right south of Bethlehem, A little bit further south of the city of Jerusalem. And he was living according to chapter 1, In a location called Tekoa, Which is south of Jerusalem, Actually further south of the city of Bethlehem, About 10 kilometers. He was part of the nation of Judah. We can look at another map. If you remember, Here is the city of Jerusalem, In the center of Israel, Amos lived a little bit further, Right here south of the city of Bethlehem.

He belonged to the kingdom. That kingdom was the kingdom of Judah. We can look at another map in a moment. And you will notice, That there is a division here, Between the two nations. I think we should have another map, That will help us to see that. There was the northern kingdom, Which is right here, The nation of Israel. The northern kingdom, This is called Judah. We can look at the same one again. I think it is best, To look at the previous map, As well for today. Now Amos was called by the Lord, To come all the way from the south, And to go to preach to the people of Israel, In the northern kingdom.

The reason for that was simply, Because Israel had sinned, And Amos was raised to become, A servant of the Lord, Preaching the message, Of the judgment of God, Upon the northern kingdom. This is all the north, The people of Israel. Now Amos was not a prophet, Nor a son of the prophet, He was simply a herd man, He was a shepherd, He was collecting fruit, From the sycamore tree, And he was dividing it, Among the people of Judah, And yet God had raised him, To go to give a message, Of judgment upon the people of God.

But as he was going to preach, A message of judgment, Upon the northern kingdom of Israel, In the area called Beit El, Amos at the same time, As he was coming from Judah, Going to Israel, As he arrived to a place called Beth El, You can see it right here, In the middle of Ephraim, He began to speak, But you notice what he did, We learned this from chapter 1, And in the first three verses of chapter 2, He pronounced judgment, Upon six nations, That surrounded the people of Israel, You notice those six nations, This is Damascus, Syria, Then Philistia in Gaza, Then he went to Tyre, The capital city of the Phoenicians, And then

he spoke about Edom, Moab, and Amon, You notice that those six nations, Surrounding the nation of Israel, The promised land of Canaan, The promised land of Canaan, And these six nations, Constantly had an opposition, Against the people of Israel, So on the way, Or you might say, As he arrived to Beth El, And he began to pronounce the judgment, He began by dealing first of all, With those six nations, And I can assure you, When the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, In the city of Beth El, Which was a wealthy city, They had everything going on, The people of Israel have enjoyed all sorts of plenty, They've enjoyed, you might say, The pleasures

of this world, And they began to drift from the ways of the Lord, And the Lord is now challenging them, And beginning to pronounce the punishment that come upon the nation of Israel, Because their willful sins against the God of Israel.

So after pronouncing, And we have covered it already, The judgment that's going to come upon these six nations, Now, beloved brothers and sisters, In the chapter that we read today, Chapter 2, verse 4 to verse 16, He pronounced additional two judgments, But this time, Not on the nations anymore, But this time he pronounced judgment upon Judah, The southern kingdom of Israel, And then later on upon Israel, The northern kingdom of Israel, And the vast majority, The rest of the prophecy of Amos, Specifically deal with the judgment, That are going to come upon the people of God, The people of Israel, The chosen nation of Israel. Now when Amos preached his message, It was about 765 B.C.

The nation of Israel, The northern kingdom, Were taken captive at about 722 B.C. Later on at about 586 B.C. The people of Judah were taken captive by the Babylonians. So the judgment of God surely came to pass, So now I want you to realize, If Amos arrived all the way to Bethel, Beit El we call it, The house of God, And instead of our own people Israel living for God, Living to obey God, To submit to God's authority, Instead of doing so, They have turned away from his law, They have turned away from the temple, They have turned away from the commandments of the Lord, Which made it necessary for God to discipline his people.

So before he is pronouncing judgment about the northern kingdom of Israel, Still he deals with the tribes of Judah, Which are in the south here. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, With them God did not let them go by, By using Amos to share with them, The reason that he is going to discipline them as well. But you notice that Amos used a formula, That he used for all the other nations. You remember he says in verse 3 of chapter 1, For three transgressions of Damascus, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment. Notice the formula. Look at verse 6 of chapter 1. Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.

Notice a little bit further in verse 9 of chapter 1, Amos 1 verse 9, Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Tyre, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. He continues in verse 11, And we read of chapter 1, Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Adam, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. In verse 13, Speaking about Amon, We read, Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of the children of Amon, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. And then in chapter 2, Speaking about Moab, We read, Thus says the Lord, Chapter 2 verse 1, For three transgressions of Moab, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, Because, And he gives us the reason.

You notice that Amos was using a figure of speech, Three transgressions, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. He's like a, You might say it was a figure of speech, Which simply says this, The number three, You have a multitude of sins that you have committed, One after another, Three, One, Two, Three, Transgression, And the fourth one, In other words, The cup ran over, And the time of judgment is at hand. If you don't mind, Please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 30 for a moment. You will notice, That in Proverbs chapter 30, Agur, Who gave us this 30th proverb, That we have in the book of Mishle, Proverbs, He, The same man, By the name of Agur, Gave us the same formula.

But in a different way, Of course, He was not speaking so much about judgment, But he was speaking about that figure of speech. Number three, Is very high, But number four, Cover it all, It's gone over the top. Notice in chapter 30, In verse 15, In the middle there, There are three things, That are never satisfied. Yeah, Notice that, Four things say not, It is enough. You notice, He's using the same formula. Notice further down in verse 18, Proverbs chapter 30, Verse 18, There'll be three things, Which are too wonderful, For me. Yeah, Four, Which I know not. You see, It's a figure of speech, It's a way, It's a way to present something, You have done so many things, And now it's gone over and above, And the time of judgment will come.

This is how Amos is using this expression, This figure of speech, In the first two chapters of the book of Amos. Look at verse 21 of Proverbs chapter 30, For three things, The earth is disquieted, And for four, Which it cannot bear. In other words, He's using a figure of speech, Which would say to, Certain things have happened, But the fourth is beyond, Over and above. In a case of the six nations, Surrounded Israel and Judah, And in the case of Judah and Israel, He's speaking about the transgressions, And the sins of humanity. And now in the verses in which we read today, Is the sins of Judah and Israel, Which came risen to God, For a time that judgments must fall.

As we read in 1st Peter chapter 4, Judgment must begin at the house of God. So back to Amos chapter 2, In verses 4 and verses 5, Amos is pronouncing by the word of the Lord, The judgment that will come upon the tribe of Judah, The southern kingdom of Israel. And notice what he says, In verse 4, The Lord is charging Judah, In things that Judah did not do. And you notice what it says in verse 4, Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, And for four will I not turn away the punishment thereof. And here he's telling them why. In verse 4 gives us the reason. Three things we find out here.

Number one, It says, Because they have despised the law of the Lord. Number two, They have not kept the commandments. And number three, Their lies cause them to err, After the which their fathers have walked. You notice what God is saying specifically to the tribe of Judah? He didn't say to the other six nations, That he already pronounced judgment, Because they were not the chosen people of God. Judah in the south, And Israel in the north, Were the chosen people of God. They were the one whom God had given them the privileges, To be a nation that had been blessed by God, And to them he had given the law on Mount Sinai, In Har Sinai.

And we find out in verse 4, That in the second half of verse 4, We find out that they rejected God's law. In fact, The word here in verse 4, Despised the law, The Hebrew word is ma'asu, Ma'asdem. Lim'os means, You are just kind of, You're almost, You can say sick and tired of the law of the Lord. Imagine to come to a point, Where God's people are no longer satisfied, With the word of the Lord. What a privilege. It is to receive the law of the Lord, The word of the Lord, And to have it in their hands. What a privilege the nation of Israel come. In fact, We read that the time will come, When there will no more, The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, There will no more induce sound doctrine, In the church age in which we live in today.

But in Israel's days, Before the Messiah Yeshua came and died, And was buried and rose again. Before the Messiah, They have been taken captive by the Assyrian, And later on by the Babylonian. Already then and there, Many among our own nation, The nation of Israel, Already, as it says here, Despised the law of the Lord. A person who will despise God's law, Eventually going to find himself or herself losing out. And this is exactly what God is speaking to the people of Israel. And he said to Judah, To the tribe of Judah, They have rejected God's law. There was no nation like Israel, There was no nation like Israel, Who had the law of God, Who had the direction from the living God.

While the rest of the nations of the world worship idols, There was one nation that had the word of God in their hands. And the instruction of the Lord, The living God, The creator of the universe, Who has instructed them, And yet, Now they have despised the law of the Lord. But not only that, You know, When you despise it, You might say, I don't want to read it, I don't want to hear about it, I don't want to, I don't want to even anybody tell me about it. But you notice he's going further, In the same verse, In verse 4, And he said, Not only that they despised it, But it led them next to, That they rejected God's law, But also they didn't keep God's commandments.

You see that in verse 4, At the end there, It says, They despised the law of the Lord, And have not kept his commandments. You know, God gave instruction to Israel. God gave instruction to the people of Judah, Of Yehudah. And the instruction was to guide them, And to help them in their lives. And this is exactly for us today, We have instruction in the Bible, In the word of God, To help us spiritually, Because we live in a world, That is filled with messages, That come from everywhere. And unless we subject ourselves, To the word of the Lord, And get his instruction, We will not know how to handle life, How to be led in the right way.

That's why things have gone so bad, In the spiritual condition of Israel, That it made it necessary for God to say, For three, Transgression of Judah, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. The cup ran over. It's gone overboard, You have gone beyond what God would even be able anymore, To allow the people of Judah, Not to be disciplined by him, Because the time would come, And he will have to discipline them. And you notice brothers and sisters, At the end of verse four, Because they did not keep the commandments of the Lord, It says in verse four, That their lies caused them to err, After the which their fathers have walked.

You know what happened? When we despise God's word, And then violate his commandments, And his instruction, It will lead us to err, In such a way, That we will not going to be able anymore, To discern between what is right, And what is wrong. What is from God, And what is for man. And that's why, This is the accusation, That God have said, Concerning the people of Judah, That it made it necessary, For judgment to come shortly. If you will just for a moment, Turn to Isaiah chapter nine. And in Isaiah chapter nine, Isaiah himself was speaking to the people of Judah, And we are studying the prophet Isaiah, In our Bible classes, Now for quite a while.

In chapter nine, We read these words in verse 13. "For the people turn not unto him that smitheth them, Neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, Branch and rush in one day. The ancient." This is the elderly, The elders of Israel. "And the honorable. He is the head and the prophet that teaches lies. He is the tail." And then he continued in verse 16. "For the leaders of the people caused them to err, And they that are led of them are destroyed." In other words, The leaders who should have led the people of Israel, In this case the people of Judah, In a way that will give them clear direction, In the written word of God, In the Torah and through the prophets.

Yet Judah ended up going in a wrong direction. And Amos is mentioned this in chapter four. They despise the law of the Lord. They have not kept the commandments of the Lord. Their lie, teaching false teaching, Teaching about false gods, Have led them to err. It says here in verse four, Which after they went in the ways of the fathers, Their forefathers, As they walked in past days. And that tells us, When you look at the history of our very own nation, The nation of Israel, How many times God had to restore them back to himself, When the spiritual leaders led Israel astray, Away from the things of the Lord.

And we know that very much in the days in which you and I live in today, In the present day, Because when false teachers arise, And false doctrine is being brought forth, The assembly, the church, the ecclesia do not know where to go, How to handle situation, Who to believe in, what to do, How to handle things in our lives as believers in this present day. But in 765 BC, when Amos was speaking, These things have already existed among the people of Israel, And in the context, he's speaking about Judah, Where he said to them, For three transgressions of Judah, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.

How sad, beloved brothers and sisters. And notice, Immediately in verse 5, is the judgment itself. Look at the judgment. Verse 5, But I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. And sure enough, In 586 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar came, He burned the temple in Jerusalem, He burned all the city of Jerusalem, And the Jewish people, The tribe of Judah was taken captive, To the land of Babel. Sadly to see all those who've been there in the palaces in Jerusalem, All those that have enjoyed the presence of God, Now no longer could enjoy the presence of God, When the judgment of God had arrived at 586 BC, And they were taken captive by the Babylonians.

You can read about it in 2 Kings chapter 25, And how the Lord had promised that judgment will come, And soon and very soon, Indeed it came a little bit later than the northern kingdom of Israel, The judgment indeed came upon the tribe of Judah as well. So if you look again, At what we have just been covering earlier already, Up to this point, The judgment has been promised about, For all the six nations that surrounded Judah and Israel, The two kingdoms. But by the time that Amos was speaking right here in Bethel, He was speaking to the people of Israel, So the people of Israel in the northern kingdom said, "Wow!

We are happy the judgment is going to come about, And upon this nation, So far we are okay." And then it got a little closer to them, Because now Amos is speaking to them about Judah, The nation, The southern kingdom from which he came, You remember he came from Tekoa, Which is south of Bethlehem. So they said okay, Well judgment is going to come upon all these six nations, And now the judgment is going to come upon the tribe of Judah, And they perhaps satisfied, Well everything is fine, For us we can continue on in our own way. And so Amos says no. If God is going to judge the enemies of Israel who surrounded them, And if God is going to judge the people of Judah, Who have departed from him, Israel, the northern kingdom, You can be assured that God is going to judge you as well.

In the remaining whole book of Amos, From verse 6 of chapter 2, All the way to the end of chapter 9, God is appealing now to the northern kingdom of Israel, Headed up by, You remember it starts with Jeroboam, The first king of Israel, And by the time that Amos is speaking here, He is speaking to the next Jeroboam, The second, Which was one of the kings of Israel in the lineup, A little bit further on in the history of the northern kingdom, And to him, He is promising the judgment that will come now, Upon the northern kingdom of Israel. Now please, in your Bibles, Look with me at the next verses, Verses 6 to 16.

These verses, Amos chapter 2, verses 6 to 16, Specifically deals with the pronouncing of God's judgment upon the northern kingdom of Israel. In verses 6 to 12, The Lord points to Israel's sins. He is listing the sins that have been multiplied by his very own chosen people Israel. And there are four things that he is pointing to here in these verses. Look at them, one by one. First of all, verse 6. And you notice we begin in verse 6 and he says, For thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. And the first reason for the punishment to come upon the northern kingdom of Israel, Began in verse 6b to verse 7a.

In the second part of verse 6, he says, They sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes, They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor and turn aside the way of the meek. You notice that, brothers and sisters. The first reason why God will punish the northern kingdom of Israel is because they oppressed the poor. When God observed the men that were by the people of Israel in the north have treated the people that were poor and needy in their midst, He said to them, Look, look what you have died. You are selling the righteous.

The righteous here are those who are believers in the God of Israel, Who because of their faith in the God of Israel became poor and rejected by their very own people. They were not righteous in themselves. They were righteous because they believed and they trusted the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the vast majority of the nation have sold the righteous for silver. And notice, and the poor for a pair of shoes. In other words, they had no value for the people who were poor and needy in their midst. In fact, in verse 7, he says, They pant after the dust of the earth on the head.

In other words, the poor have put dust of the earth on their head because of the treatment whereby they were treated by their own brethren. They were actually mourning and weeping because they were treated in a wrong way. And you notice what he even read, he said, And they turned aside the way of the meek. They were called meek, those individuals, those righteous because they believed in God. But because of their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their brethren treated them in a wrong way. And they ended up to be sold. Sold, as it says here, the poor were sold for a pair of shoes.

The treatment of those poor individuals were rather bad. You remember what Yeshua, the Messiah said in Luke chapter 14. And I want to read that verse so we'll have this before us. And Yeshua was here among the nation of Israel. In chapter 14, we read the words of the Lord in verses 12 to 14. Yeshua said, Then said he unto him that bade him, When you come or when you make a dinner or supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. Verse 13. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, and the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Yeshua has trained and has spoken to the rest of the nation. When you're making a feast and making a party, don't only be concerned with those that will benefit you, but make sure that you're bringing in and you're inviting the poor and the maimed, and those that have a need. But look what happened here. According to Amos, in chapter 2 and verse 6, they sold the poor for a pair of shoes. They did not care for them. In fact, brothers and sisters in Deuteronomy, and I'm going to read that verse as well, in chapter 15, the Lord said to Israel how to treat the poor in their midst.

Notice this, Deuteronomy chapter 15 and verse 7. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth. In other words, you've got to learn how to treat the poor in your midst, God is saying to the people of Israel. But sadly, when the nations departed from the will of the Lord, it doesn't take too long.

When we find in Amos chapter 2 and verse 6 that they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes. The heart was not open for the needs of those that were in the midst. In fact, even furthermore, not only did they close their hearts, but they abused the ones that are poor and needy. And how sad it is. That's not the character of the God of Israel. That's not the character of the Messiah of Israel. That's not the character of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the God of our fathers who always show concern for those that have a need. And here we see the people of God have sold the righteous for silver, and the poor they sold him or her for a pair of shoes.

Sad. Secondly, notice that. In verse 7b, not only that there was improper treatment of the poor, but there was also immorality in the midst of the nation. Sexual immorality. Notice in verse 7b, it says here, that a man and his father will go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name. See, the second problem that existed there is that a father and a son would go to the prostitutes in the temples of the pagan world to have sexual relationship with the same maid. Immorality that existed in the midst of the nation. Which brought about, you might say, as we have just read, for three transgressions of Israel and for four will I not turn away the punishment thereof.

In other words, the sin of the nation have risen and risen and risen and the iniquity of the nation have overflowed, that God is now preparing the judgment to come. Thirdly, in verse 8, we find the third thing that Israel was accused by the Lord himself using Amos to share this truth with the nation. Notice it says in verse 8, Israel participated in idolatry and in the feast of all the idols, the celebration of the idols, worshippers in their various temples. Israel participated in it. It says, and I'm reading verse 8. It says, "And they lay themselves down upon clothes, laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their gods." You see what they have done also?

Now, they have actually took the upper garment of a person that lended money from them, and they should have returned to them those garments as it's read in Exodus chapter 22, but instead of returning the garments to the people from whom they have, people who lended money from them, they took those garments and they laid upon them. And where did they lay upon them? Verse 8 tells us, "By every altar." "And they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their gods." In other words, what did they do? They went to worship, you might say, and participate in the parties and the celebration and the feasts of the idols.

Instead of celebrating the feast of the Lord that was given to Israel, in the law, Leviticus chapter 23, they ended up taking the garments of somebody who lended from them something. They should have returned this to them. And they used these garments to lay down while the other ones were uncovered, outward uncovered. It was used for them to be warmed, but they took it from them because they couldn't pay them back. They took their garments, laid there, worshipping and celebrating the feast of these gods by the altar. They're drinking the wine, getting drunk. And notice it says here, they drink the wine of the condemned. You notice in verse 6, they sold the righteous, but they followed the condemned one, the unrighteous.

In verse 6, they sold the poor and the righteous for silver and for a pair of shoes, but in verse 8, they ended up following those who were condemned and guilty because they were living a life of sin. In other words, they willfully made a decision, you might say, instead of following the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they ended up to get drunk, to go by all these altars of the idols, enter into the house of their, the pagan world's God, and celebrate their feasts. Now, how do you think the God of Israel would have felt? When God said to our people already, to the people of Israel in Exodus chapter 20, the first verse, he said, "Thou shall have no other God before me." In Hebrew, "Lo yihiyelachem Elohim acherim." "You will have no other gods." But look what happened here.

They lay near every altar, and they drink the wine, getting drunk, celebrating and partying, in a world which rejects the God of Israel, and despised the things of God, God's very own people, have ended up to participate. And you notice, it reminds me of the verse that John, Yohanan said in 1 John chapter 2, "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father." James Yaakov said, "Whosoever loved the world is really an enmity against God." It doesn't mean that we should not love people.

It doesn't mean that we should not love the plant kingdom. It doesn't mean that we should not love the animal kingdom. It means that not to love the world and its system that hates God, and hate the Messiah, Yeshua, and deny the word of God, headed up by Satan himself. The believers in Yeshua should love God, and not the world and its system that hates God, that despise the Messiah, that rejects the one who loved us and gave himself for us. And how sad. The chosen people, the people that belong to God, who have chosen, you'll see in a moment, they find themselves, instead of worshipping in a temple in Yerushalayim, they're worshipping now in places, in the house of the gods, small g of the nations, the pagan world.

Do you think that you and I are not in danger of this? We are just the same in danger of this today. You remember John, 1 John chapter 5, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Keep yourselves from idols. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, the very same thing in verse 14. He said to the Corinthians, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." It's the same principle. What applied to our forefathers, the nation of Israel historically, applied to us today, for whatsoever things have happened unto them, we read in 1 Corinthians and in Romans, that applied to us, it was written for our learning, that we also will learn from these things that are taught about our forefathers, the nation of Israel.

But here, Amos is charging by the word of the Lord, the nation of Israel, oppressing the poor, having sexual immorality with pagan prostitutes, and then participating with the feasts of the pagan world, and ending up despising the things of the Lord, not realizing that Israel is not to have any other God before the nation, only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But now notice that in the fourth thing that he is accusing them and he is kind of describing clearly, notice it's a lengthy portion from verse 9, 10, 11, and 12. Here you notice this lengthy portion that speaks about Israel, that Israel despised God's provision for them.

How sad! How sad for God's people not to appreciate what God had given unto them, and in this case, what God had given unto us. And he is listing these in verses 9 to 2, verse 11, a few things that they have despised, and they did not appreciate the provision of the Lord. And so you notice, in verse 9 he says, yet, in spite of what they are doing, yet, he says in verse 9, destroy I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the ox, yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. You see, the Amorite, in Hebrew is the Amori, there were seven nations that were dwelling there in the land of Canaan, and God have fought against the Amorite, brought the nation of Israel to dwell in the land of Canaan.

The Amorite was one of the seven nations, according to Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 1. I destroyed the Amorite. I destroyed the Amorite. Verse 9, I destroyed his fruit from above, and his root from beneath. In other words, Israel, don't you forget, that I brought you here into this land of Canaan, and I have destroyed your enemies, the Amorite. Secondly, verse 10a, God brought Israel out of slavery, out of the land of Egypt. Don't you remember this God saying to Israel? In verse 10, also I brought you up from the land of Egypt. You remember, when our own forefathers were in the land of Egypt, they were slaves to Pharaoh.

They were crying and weeping, because they needed to be redeemed and delivered from slavery. And God sent Moshe, Moses. And Moses said to Pharaoh, let my people go. And God led the people of Israel outside of the land of Egypt. Slaves were hopeless and helpless in the land of Egypt. They built Pitom and Ramses, the huge city for the Egyptians, cry to God, for mercy and for help. And that's when we celebrate the Feast of Pesach. And we look back to the Passover lamb, that by the blood of the lamb, God had delivered our forefathers out of the land of Egypt. And God is reminding Israel.

He says, "Listen, I brought you up from the land of Egypt. Don't you remember that?" Think about ourselves. We were slaves to sin. We were heading into eternal judgment, but God saved us and brought us out of Egypt, this world. And he saved us and he redeemed us and brought us into heaven, relationship with himself. Don't we remember that? We ought to, of course. He continued in verse 10b, and he reminded Israel how he led them for 40 years in the wilderness. Notice this, verse 10b says, "And led you 40 years through the wilderness." And you remember, for 40 years, God had been so faithful to the people of Israel.

Their shoes did not rack. He sustained them as they walked. He fed them in the wilderness with man. He provided the bread from heaven to our people, of all the people of Israel. He's reminding them of all this. Look at where they are now. Yet I was the one who brought them out of Egypt. I was the one who led them through the wilderness. Not these idols, these gods. He continued in verse 10c, and he said to them, "I brought you out, but I also brought you in." Notice in verse 10c, at the end he said, "And I led you for 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite." In other words, "I brought you into the promised land of Canaan." To give you the promised land that had been promised by the Lord to Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, to our forefathers.

Don't you remember that? You know, we are so, Israel, us as well, so quickly forgetting what the Lord have done for us. And we neglect to ponder this in our lives so it will sink into our hearts and it will help us to make decisions that are better spiritually honoring the Lord in their life, in our life as well. But look, God is charging Israel in this. And now notice, in verse 11, God reminded Israel that He even raised leaders in their midst to bless them and to instruct them in the things of God. Look at verse 11. "And I raised up of your sons for prophets." "Nevim" in Hebrew.

"And of your young men for Nazarite." "Nezirim" in Hebrew. "Is it not even thus all ye children of Israel," says the Lord? You see, it's like appealing to them. "Is it not true that I have done this for you?" You know, sometimes, when we talk to our own children, that they don't appreciate perhaps things that they have been provided by their own parents. And we kind of say to them, "Don't you realize that you live because your mom gave you life? Your dad provided for you home, food to eat. He took care of you, clothes to wear. He watched over you, they watched over you, they sent you to school, provided for you so many things.

How can you forget what your parents have done for you?" And God's saying to our own people, the people of Israel, "Look where you are now, but don't you remember what I have done for you? I brought you out of slavery. I've led you for 40 years in the wilderness. I brought you into the promised land, the land of Canaan. I have raised from your midst leaders to give you instruction in your life. How can you forget it? How can you turn away from me to such an extent that you're treating the poor in such a way? immoral life? You are going ahead and worshiping in an idle house, and you ended up offering sacrifices and celebrating the feast of the pagan world.

How can you do this? God is challenging the nation of Israel. And you notice, sadly, in verse 12, God said, "Yet." In spite of all this, look, verse 12, "But he gave the Nazirite wine to drink and commended the prophets saying, prophesy not." In other words, you know what they have said? The Nazir, in Hebrew, Nazir, Nazir, was a man that was raised by God to live a separated life unto God. He should have a long hair. Today, a long hair represents rebellion, but in those days, it represents devotedness to the Lord. Secondly, he was not to touch a dead man, a dead body which speaks of sin because the wages of sin is death.

He was never to touch a dead man, but he also not to drink wine because wine will incline to get him intoxicated and influence by wine rather than to be influenced by God. So you know what they did? They gave the Nazirite wine to drink so he will not live a separated life unto the Lord. It caused them to stumble. Can you imagine when somebody wants to live for God in our days today and he or she is saying, "Listen, I want to live a life for the Lord." And we will influence them not to live a life for the Lord. How sinful it is.

God raised men and women in those days to be a people of God, to live for Him, to be a godly influence for the people of Israel, but some among the nations said, "No, no, no, Nazirite, drink wine." Be influenced by something else rather than to be influenced by the Lord. live a separated life. And you notice what they did with the prophets? They said to the prophets, "Don't prophesy." "Don't prophesy," they say to the prophets, sadly. In fact, if you just turn to chapter 7 of Amos, in the very same chapter 7, in verse 12, we read, Amaziah, the priest in Bethel, in the northern kingdom, he said unto Amos, verse 12, "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there.

but prophesy not again anymore at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court." Amos, Amaziah, the false priest of Israel, in Bethel said, "Don't, don't, don't come here. You better go back to your own land, to the land of Judah in the south, if you remember. Don't come to preach to us. Go there. Don't preach to us here. it still belonged to the king of Israel in the north. It really not belonged to you. Don't come and preach and prophesy here." What a sad, you might say, commentary that brought about the necessity for the Lord to say about Israel, "Thus saith the Lord." Verse 6, "Three transgressions of Israel, and for I will not turn away the punishment thereof." And he began to list the reasons whereby it made it necessary for a holy and a righteous God to bring the judgment upon the nation of Israel.

And you remember that we once and again work from that verse is found in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 17, "For the time is come the judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey nor the gospel of God?" Verse 18, "For the righteous, scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinners appear?" God is holy and judgment going to have to come even upon His beloved nation who have turned away from Him. "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and He scourges every son whom He received." Now finally, at the end of our chapter, Amos chapter 2, there verses 13 to verse 16 we see the actual punishment that the Lord will bring upon the northern tribes of the people of Israel.

And so we read, notice, and I'm reading verse 13 now. In verse 13 on, God is describing what's going to happen. And so He said in verse 13, "First of all, the Lord will crush Israel as a load, as a loaded cart under its load." Notice that? He says in verse 13, "Behold, I am pressed under you as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." God is saying, "Behold, I am pressed under you." In other words, God has been so pressed by Israel's behavior that it made it necessary now for Him to crush the nation to discipline His own people as a cart that is filled, as it says here in verse 13, filled with sheaves, full of sheaves, so heavy that eventually it will crush.

It will be pressed under. Secondly, in verse 14, "The strong and the mighty in Israel will not be able to help themselves and to stand when the judgment will come." verse 14, "Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift and the strong shall not strengthen his force neither shall the mighty deliver himself." You can't trust yourself, you can't help yourself whether you are mighty, whether you are strong, you will not be able to sustain yourself when the time of judgment is going to come. You cannot depend upon yourself when God is going to come in judgment upon the nation of Israel. God will allow them to experience the consequence of their sin.

And when you think about it, beloved brothers and sisters, about 40 years later, in 722, 721 BC, when the Assyrians came, and they have done terrible deeds to the people of Israel and these 10 northern tribes were carried by the Assyrians and dispersed from 722 BC until today. They were scattered abroad and you find out people on all over the nations of the world that are, you might say, descendants of these 10 tribes. Sometimes people call them the 10 lost tribes. We know that they are not lost to God. God knows his own people. Revelation chapter 7 and the Revelation chapter 14 we have the 144,000 that God will restore and will raise in the tribulation period and they will be out of every one of the 12 tribes of the people of Israel.

But God will scatter them and he surely has scattered them in 722, 721 BC. Look at thirdly in verse 15 the military equipment will not deliver Israel even with military equipment it will not help them. notice it says in verse 15 neither shall he stand that handles the bow you have those who have bow and arrow you handle the bow you can fight back but even your bow and arrow will not help you. And he that is swift on foot shall not deliver himself even if you can run as fast as you can you're going to be captured you're going to be catched and eventually will be scattered taken by the Assyrian.

and then verse 15 see at the end neither shall he that riders the horse deliver himself even if you are able to ride military maybe horse and chariot and you'll be able to ride as fast as you can it will not avail you and the judgment of God will come upon you and you remember what God said to Israel later on as well through the prophet Zechariah he said to him listen now you got to listen to this verse this is a very important verse Zechariah or Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 6 Zechariah Zechariah said to the tribe of Judah of course he says chapter 4 and verse 6 he said not by might nor

by power but by my spirit saith the Lord in other words nothing will sustain you except my spirit God himself will be able to sustain the nation of Israel but at this time he will allow the Assyrians to come and they will take Israel captive and Israel will not be able to sustain itself even the one that handled the bow even the one that is swift in running even the one that rides a horse he will not going to be able to be sustained he will be captured and eventually will be either killed or will be taken away by the Assyrian and be dispersed among the nations of the world and look at the final

verse here in chapter 2 and verse 16 Amos 2:16 2 16 the courageous among Israel will flee in that day of judgment even though fearless and courageous they will not be able to maintain themselves they will end up to flee in that day of judgment as we read in verse 16 Amos 2 and verse 16 and he that is courageous or brave Amits in Hebrew the Amits the brave the courageous among the mighty shall flee and in order to ease himself he will flee away naked in shame and notice how it concludes verse 16 at the end in the day in that day saith the Lord the day of vengeance the day of judgment will

come upon a nation that rebelled against God and that God have done so much for that nation of Israel what is the lesson beloved brothers and sisters for us as we study the prophet Amos together there is a great lesson for us to learn that we must learn it for ourselves here he is not speaking about the world Amos is not speaking about the unregenerated world Amos is speaking to his very own nation the nation of Israel in chapter 2 verses 4 to verse 16 he is speaking to Judah on the one hand and to Israel on the other hand And the lesson is very simple you might say yet so profound that God's people

are called to submit to God's authority God's people cannot continue on in their own way because ultimately God will judge even his own people whom he loves so much and he will discipline Judgment must begin at the house of God And God is appealing to Israel as he is appealing to us don't forget I have led you out of this world and I have saved you I watched over you these 40 years this time that you and I walking in the wilderness I ministered to you I watched over you I took care of you I will brought Israel into the promised land Yeshua Yeshua Yeshua In my father's house there are many mentioned I go

to prepare a place for you If it were not so I would have told you and I Come back I will return and I will receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also There is a promise to take us to be with Yeshua for time of eternity And then God raised in the midst of Israel leaders Godly men The Nazarite The prophets and he wanted to use them for the blessing of the people of God And you and I are called to learn from our godly brothers as well as godly sisters who walk with the Lord And live for him we should learn counsel, godly advice and apply it to

our lives So we will be blessed and continue to walk here in this world We are not to stumble others and give wine to the Nazarite Or tell the prophet don't speak the word of the Lord As I mentioned earlier Paul said in 2 Timothy the time will come They will not endure any more sound doctrine But they will seek preachers That will tickle their ears They will give them a message to soothe them But they don't realize that eventually this message that is not from the word of the Lord Is not a blessing for God's people And so beloved brothers and sisters May the Lord help us To realize what he spoke to Amos

Through Amos to Israel That Israel you will have eventually to bear the consequence of your sin Turn around Repent and turn back to me And as you will notice in the next chapter He is going to continue to pronounce additional judgment But he is appealing to Israel to recognize How they were wrong in their behavior And that they should have turned away back to the Lord Well may the Lord help us and speak to us as well And then when we are wrong When we turn away from the Lord That we will confess our sins And turn back to him He promised that he is able to restore us And to bless us If we

only repent and turn back to the Lord Well may the Lord bless his word for today Can we say amen to that?