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 3. So Amos, Amos, chapter 3. And I would like today to read that third chapter together with you. It is not a long chapter, 15 verses. And the prophet Amos was called by the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give a message to the northern kingdom of Israel and to charge them, to challenge them to repent. Otherwise, a judgment will come upon the northern kingdom of Israel. So in Amos, chapter 3, we read, beginning with verse 1: "Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth.

Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities." "Can two walk together except they be agree? Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he hath taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? "Surely, the Lord God will do nothing but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophet.

The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken. Who can but prophesy? "Publish in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say, "Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumult in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. "For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, "who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, "an adversary there shall be even round about the land, "and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, "the palaces shall be spoiled. "Thus saith the Lord, "as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, "or a piece of an ear, "so shall the children of Israel be taken out "that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, "and in Damascus and in Damascus in a couch.

"Hear ye and testify in the house of Jacob, "saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, "that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, "I will also visit the altars of Beit El, "and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. "And I will smite the winter house with the summer houses, "and the house of ivory shall perish, "and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord." And I am stopping here with verse 15 of Amos chapter 3. Beloved brothers and sisters, those of you that have been with us at the previous sessions, as we gave introduction to the man that is called Amos, we have learned a few important things.

That Amos, according to chapter 1 and verse 1, Amos was a herdman of Tekoa. Tekoa was a village south of the city of Beth Lechem, and I would like you to just see that one more time. Here is the area that is in Judea, and we have Hebron here, Beth Lechem somewhere there. Amos was really from the kingdom of Judah. Yehuda, Mamlechet Yehuda, we say it in Hebrew. Israel was divided into two kingdoms. You have the kingdom in the north called Mamlechet Yisrael, the kingdom of Israel, and we have a kingdom in the south called Mamlechet Yehuda, the kingdom of Judah, two separate kingdoms. Now, time that King Solomon died, his son Rehobam lost the kingdom, and now we have two separate kingdoms among our own nation, the nation of Israel.

Yehuda in the south, and Israel in the north. Ten tribes in the north, and one or two tribes in the south, Yehuda and Benjamin. Now, what happened is, that these two nations had friction with each other. One nation divided into two, and they were constantly fighting among themselves, and one by one, and slowly but surely, there was a departure from the way of the God of Israel, until it came a time that the Lord raised a man by the name of Amos. Amos, as we have mentioned more than once, was a herd man. He was a man that grew up actually in the southern kingdom, but he was called by the God of Israel to go to the northern kingdom, and to preach to them a message of judgment that will come upon the northern kingdom.

When Amos was presenting his message to Israel in the north, it was about 770, 760 BC, and in 722, all these northern kingdoms were taken captive by the Assyrians, and they were dispersed, as we know them today, as the ten tribes that are dispersed among the nations of the world. Now, what we want to learn today, that before Amos was even preaching to the northern kingdom, we have learned in chapter 1 and in chapter 2, that Amos pronounced judgment against the six nations that surrounded the whole nation of Israel. He began with Damascus, which was Syria, the capital of Syria. He continued with Gaza, today Gaza, which is the capital of the Philistines, today the Palestinians use that as the main state for them.

He continued with Tyre, and Tyre is present-day Lebanon, and there, of course, it was the capital of the Phoenicians. And then he concluded with another judgment to those three nations, Edom, Moab, and Amon. Now, it is extremely interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that some of these people were brother nations. Very well. The Edom was the brother of Yaakov by the name of Esav, whose name later on in his nation became the Edomites. Edom. Then we have Moab and Amon. Those are the two sons of Abraham's nephew Lot, whose daughters got pregnant by him, and they have brought to this world the two nations called Moab and Adom.

They were nations that were still having a bloodline with the people of Israel. So, in chapter 2 of the book of Amos, Amos presented judgment to all these six nations, and then we have additional judgment that he gave upon the tribes of Judah and ultimately for the nation of Israel. But now we are moving ahead, and it is very interesting, in chapter, Amos chapter 3, 4, 5, and 6, Amos is now became, you might say, a preacher, one who proclaimed a message to the northern kingdom. He stopped with the six nations surrounding Israel, he stopped to speak now to the tribe of Judah, and he sent there the whole, you might say the whole remaining book of Amos, directly speaking to the northern kingdom, what we call the nation of Israel, which by the time that Amos began to speak to them, they were worshipping idols, they had terribly departed from the ways of the Lord.

So, I want you to notice now, in chapter 3, in chapter 4, and in chapter 5, Amos began his messages by using two or three words in Hebrew, and it's simply in Hebrew, it says, shimau et hadavar. In English, it is, hear his word. You notice this? Chapter 3, verse 1, hear this word. Chapter 4, verse 1, hear this word. The word hear ye come from the Hebrew word shimau, it is a plural. Listen to what I am telling you. Amos is now speaking to the northern kingdom of Israel. Malchut Yisrael, we call it in Hebrew. The kingdom of Israel, which is in the north now, the divided kingdom who have turned away from the Lord.

And here, beloved brothers and sisters, we have the three hear ye judgments, and in every hear ye judgment, every shimau et hadavar, in every shimau, in every hear ye judgment, he pronouncing or giving information for the reason whereby God is going to judge his people. Now, to remind you, don't forget this, that these people were the people of God. These people were the chosen people of Israel. God have elected them from all other nations and brought them into a relationship with him. Very similar to those of us who are part of the body of Mashiach, we have been chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, and we have a link with the Lord, and we must have responsibility and accountability to the God who has chosen us in Christ, in the Messiah, and brought us unto himself.

And so, in that third chapter, we have God appealing to Israel, "Here, Israel, your punishment is surely going to come when you're not going to follow after my way, and I will eventually have to discipline you by dispersing you out of the land of Israel." So, notice, I would like you to follow me as we go through those 15 verses of Amos chapter 3. And the first 10 verses, very interesting, in the first 10 verses, Amos appeals to the conscience of Israel, and then in verses 11 to 15, Amos pronounced God's four-fold punishment upon Israel who did not respond to the appeal of the Lord to repent and turn back to him.

Very sad, on the one hand, to see how God has to deal with the nation whom he has chosen and love so much. So, you notice what Amos is doing here. In the first two verses, Amos is now showing to Israel their special relationship with Jehovah, with God. After all, there are many people in the world, there are many people, tribes, and nations in the world, but there is only one nation in this whole universe that God made a special relationship with. Everyone belonged to God by creation, all the nations belong to the living God by creation, but there is only one nation that belonged to God by election and adoption, and this is the nation of Israel.

And you notice this, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 1 and 2, we read, listen to this. Hear this word that the Lord had spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, you, listen to verse 2, only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore, God is saying through Amos to Israel, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You see what God, through the prophet Amos, began right here in the first two verses, in verse 1, he is speaking to all Israel, all Israel, and you might say he is including, you might say all the 12 tribes right now, because all the 12 tribes, though they were divided into 10 tribes and 2 tribes, though they were divided, in fact, as far as God was concerned, it was one nation that was brought out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery.

There were slaves in the land of Egypt. They were in bondage to Paro. They were building the cities of Pitom and Ramses. They were in desperate need, these Hebrews, these Jewish people of all, our forefathers of all. So he is speaking to them, he said, hear this word, that the Lord has spoken against you. O children of Israel, Bnei Israel in Hebrew, the sons of Israel, who was Israel? It was Yaakov. Who was Yaakov? It was Yaakov the son of Isaac, Yitzchak. Who was Yitzchak? Yitzchak was the son of Abraham. Abraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, Yaakov's name was changed from Yaakov to Israel, Israel. And now, the children of Israel were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And here, he's telling them, you listen, all Israel, he said, against the whole family, which I brought out, up from the land of Egypt, saying. I'm, he's taking them back years earlier. When they wept in Mitzrayim, in Egypt. When they were in bondage, and they needed the mercy of the Lord, then they cry. If you remember in Exodus chapter 2, chapter 4, chapter 6, we read of our own forefathers, the children of Israel, crying for God for mercy, seeking the help of the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. And God made a promise to them, that he will bring them out, that he will buy a stretched out arm, will bring our own forefathers out of the land of Israel.

And he surely did so. He delivered them out of the land of Egypt, and made them a nation, that will be a free nation, no longer under the bondage of the Egyptians. In fact, in Exodus chapter 12, the last verse in Exodus 12, verse 51 says, And it came to pass the self same day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, by their armies, by their hosts. It had been said, that because there were about 600,000 men, and perhaps women about the same amount, and children, perhaps there were 2 or 3 million Hebrews, Israelis, Jewish people, who came out of the land of Egypt.

And to them, and their descendants, God is now speaking through the prophet Amos. Because by the time, that they have arrived to the promised land, and by the time, that had been established a nation, in the land of Canaan, the land of Canaan, they departed from the will of the Lord. They worshipped idols. They follow after the Gentile world. They have adopted things, which were, where the Lord warned them not to follow after that, and that by that time, look at the condition that is existing in these days, in the land of Israel. So he speaks about to the whole family, which the Lord brought out of the land of Egypt, and look what he's telling them in verse 2, of Amos chapter 3.

He says, "You only have I known, of all the families of the earth, you, Israel, is the only nation that I know, and I have a relationship with you." Now, of course, God knows about all other nations. In fact, if you look at this map again for a moment, you will notice that there were all nations surrounded Israel, and in chapter 1 and chapter 2, he talked about Damascus, Syria, he talked about the Philistines, Gaza, he talked about Tyre, and the Phoenicians, he talked about Edom, Moab, Amon, there were many nations who were surrounded, and God knew every nation whom he had created here in this world.

But there was only one nation that he knew intimately. You know, that expression, "Only you have I known," comes from the Hebrew word Yadati. Yadati. And the Hebrew word Yadati, it's an expression that speaks about intimate relationship between God himself and the nation of Israel. That word Yadati, or to know, is mentioned earlier already in Genesis chapter 4, where we read about Adam and Eve, we find out in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1, we find this verse, "And Adam knew his wife, or Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." It speaks about an intimate relationship between husband and wife.

Adam knew his wife, does not say Adam knew about Eve, he knew her physically, which brought a relationship with them, which brought about a child. In this case, is a person by the name of Cain. And you can see that throughout scripture, this expression, notice in verse 17 of Genesis chapter 4, it says there, "And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived." It speaks much more about knowing about a nation, but knowing the nation intimately, God has selected and have chosen the people of Israel to be a people that belong unto him. If you notice a little bit further in verse 25, Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son and call his name Shet.

"This is the son that was born to Adam and Eve after Hevel, Abel died." But the point is, beloved brothers and sisters, that God is speaking to Israel. He says, "You know what? You are the only nation that I have a relationship with. While there are many people around the world, many nations around the world, but you only have I known of all the families of the earth." What an appeal that God is appealing to the children of Israel. Now brothers and sisters, think about it in our condition today. There are many people in this world, but the vast majority are unsaved. They do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah.

You and I who have accepted Him, we have our sins forgiven. We have eternal relationship with the Lord. We belong to Him for time and eternity, and it cost Him. It cost Him His precious, precious blood. You remember when we just recently have our Bible class read in John 10, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me and I'll give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. And no one is able to pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." If you are a believer here today in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, you have a relationship with God.

You belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and you have eternal relationship with Him. You see, Israel is a chosen nation. According to what we find out in the scripture, God made with humanity eight covenants. Five of these covenants He made with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Genesis chapter 1 we have the Adamic covenant. In Genesis chapter 1 we have the Adamic covenant. In Genesis chapter 3 we have the Adamic covenant. In Genesis chapter 8 we have the Noahic covenant. God made covenant covenant. God made covenant with humanity in the early days. God made covenant with humanity in the early days. But by the time we arrive to Abraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, from there on God made specific covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In Genesis chapter 12 He made a covenant with Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant. In Exodus chapter 20 He made with Israel the Mosaic covenant. In Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30 He made with Israel the land covenant promising to give them the land. In 2 Samuel chapter 7 He made the Davidic covenant with our forefathers. And in Jeremiah chapter 31 He made the new covenant. Upon which blessing will flow to the world when the Messiah's blood will be shed once and for all. And we will have what He called the new covenant. Brit HaChadasha. Five of these covenants He made with Israel the nation. Israel is told here only you have I known of all the nations and all the families of the earth.

In fact in Exodus 4 God called Israel my son. In Jeremiah chapter 3 God called Israel my wife and that he is the husband of the nation of Israel and Israel is the wife of Jehovah. In fact as we read later on in Israel's history Israel is called a chosen nation and David was amazed. He says what nation is like us like unto our nation that have been so blessed by God himself. So on the basis of God's election to Israel He is appealing to the nation and He is charging the nation with their sad spiritual condition when they violated His word. And you notice what He says here beloved brothers and sisters in Amos chapter 3 and verse 2b He says therefore Only you have I known of all the families of the earth.

Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. In other words the greater the privilege the greater the responsibility. The greater privilege that we have we have greater responsibility before the living God. We have the same principle for you and I today. You and I I trust our believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah because He saved us. He paid for our sins when He died for us on a Roman cross. We have a responsibility to respond to Him for all He has done for us. That's why you remember when we again and again read this passage in 1st Peter chapter 4 and verse 17 that we read these words and I'm reading "If the time is come the judgment must begin at the house of God and if it began at us what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God." Privilege comes with responsibility.

And you know beloved brothers and sisters we find out throughout Israel history that Israel was punished more than any other nation in the human race today. Isaiah said in chapter 40 and verse 1 "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your God speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." You see beloved brothers and sisters why is it that the Jewish people suffer more than any other nation in the world? It's because the Jewish people are the chosen people of God and here on earth there is a principle that God will deal with His people first in judgment greater privilege bring upon the nation greater responsibility.

let me read to you one more verse in Romans chapter 2 just listen to this in Romans chapter 2 and verse 9 and 10 Paul is explaining this to the Roman believers and he's saying to them tribulation and anguish upon every soul of men that do evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentiles he continues in verse 10 in other words in other words there is a principle that God has established here in this universe the elected nation of people of Israel were called to represent Him before the nations of the world when Israel disobeyed the Lord Israel will receive double punishment than any other nation upon the face of this world Israel

will be first not only in glory but also in punishment upon the face of this earth so back to Amos chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2 Israel is a special nation but Israel going to receive the punishment for all its iniquity because only you have I known of all the families of the earth therefore when you sin and disobey me you are going to be punished first even before any other nation will be punished and now Amos continue and in verses 3, 4, 5, and 6 Amos is a question Israel in a sense Israel is being questioned by a parable like kind of questions Amos of course being a hered man being from the

area called Tekoa he is speaking the word Tekoa come from the word to blow the shofar to give a message from God for all the nation of Israel and now in verses 3, 4, 5, and 6 Amos is asking Israel in a parable like question he asked them various questions that I would like you to follow me as I am reading these verses notice that what he says can two walk together except they be agreed verse 4 will lion or will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing nothing can a bird fall in a snare upon the

earth where no gin is for him shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all and verse 6 shall a trumpet be blown in a city and the people not being afraid and finally shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it see he is asking Israel questions in other words what he is really saying there is consequence to anything that one is doing you know you and I in our life don't even realize that but the Bible teaches us in Galatians 6 whatever man soweth that shall he also reap this is a principle in fact we all know that if you throw something

up it will come down anything there are various laws and principles that God plays here in this world and there is a law there is a principle of activity and its consequences you and I as parents and we know our own parents always warn us when you cross the street make sure you look left and then right and then left again otherwise if you will not be careful you may fall into an accident something may happen every parent know very well to seek to warn our family their children hey listen you better make sure that you are making good friends that you are having good company because bad company will ultimately bring bad results and

God is telling this to Israel throughout its history Israel realized that that there are there are activities and there are consequences to all what one may do in his life and I want to emphasize here one verse that is found in Numbers chapter 32 before Israel entered into the land of promise the land of Canaan God warned Israel as they were walking in the wilderness he says to Israel in Numbers chapter 32 listen to this very interesting verse chapter 32 and verse 23 he said but if ye will not do so in other words if you will not obey my word behold ye have sinned you disobeyed me and then he continued and he says

you sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out in other words you cannot carry on in your own ways and you carry on denying the God who had brought you out of the land of Egypt in other words reject him and carry on to follow of that thing which is told in scripture that you ought not to follow and don't forget because you be sure that sooner or later your sins will find you out we know it in our own personal life that when we make decisions that are not right and not healthy and not spiritually good for us we find ourselves eventually later on paying the consequences and we

look back and we said I played the fool I was wrong in making these decisions and therefore the Lord is speaking through Amos and he says there is what you call consequences to anything that one is doing in his life and he is speaking of course to the northern kingdom of Israel and he said to them can two walk together except they be agreed in verse 3 how can I God Jehovah he is speaking to the nation walk together with you Israel my chosen people and you don't agree and we don't have any agreement with each other I am your God you are my creation I am divine you are human I am the one

who makes the decision you are the one who should submit I love you so much I have chosen you I have delivered you from the punishment that you deserve but you must agree with me so we can walk together what a principle to learn beloved brothers and sisters brothers and sisters we have studied together in various Bible classes about what John the apostle said to the early believers in his letter to the local assembly he wrote to the early believers and he said to them you know he said if you want to have fellowship with God you have to be in agreement with him you remember 1 John chapter 1 chapter 1 he says if

we say that we have no sin we make him a liar and his word is not in us 1 John 1 and verse 10 and even earlier we read this then is the message verse 5 which we have heard of him and declare it unto you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him we walk in darkness we lie and we do not the truth if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah his son cleanses us from all sin you see what what we learn

from these one is speaking of Israel and the other speaking of the body of Messiah the body of Christ and it is the same principle can two walk together except they agree it's not possible even in a human a level it's not possible for two friends to walk together if they don't agree even in a marriage relationship it's so difficult when there is no agreement between husband and a wife can two walk together except they be agreed they agree and you notice he continue in verses 4 5 and 6 and he's kind of giving them the same as I mentioned a parable like kind of questions he says in verse 4 will a lion roar

in the forest for no reason the lion roaring in a forest in the forest because he's ready to take a prey or he's already received or have captured the prey can a bird be trapped without a snare you know a bird that flies you can never trap a bird unless you are somehow causing a snare to catch the bird in order to be to be captured otherwise you will never catch the bird can a trumpet be give a sound and the people be not afraid in other words if you hear the sound of a siren I remember when I was a little boy how many times I heard the siren sound in Jerusalem and we

were fleeing running when a war broke my sister and I in 1967 held our hands my dear older sister she held my hand and she took me quickly home and we were hiding there in our apartment building because the siren came and everybody ran away from school back home to find shelter here he's speaking about a trumpet he says can a trumpet give a sound and the people be not afraid notice the last thing in verse 6b says can calamity come to a city unless the Lord will allow it to happen the word here for evil in verse 6 does not speak of sin but he speaks of calamity the Hebrew word is ra'ah that

which is evil and calamity will fall upon a city God is the one who is in control and he is allowing things to happen can a calamity come and unless God will allow it to happen you see there is a principle beloved brothers and sisters there is a cause and there is an effect something bring about an effect and so we learn from this passage that this is the reason that Amos came to the northern kingdom of Israel to pronounce judgment there was a reason and the reason was sin and disobedience the reason was iniquity iniquity by the northern kingdom of Israel that made it necessary for God to raise Amos to bring him all

the way from the south from Yehuda and to lead him to go to the north of Israel to the city of Bethel and to pronounce judgment here Yisrael your punishment is sure to happen your sins have risen to God to God and by this time the judgment of the nation of Israel will come to pass so as Amos is presenting this before the northern kingdom he is now in verses 7 and 8 Amos chapter 3 verses 7 and 8 he shares with Israel the reason that he himself came to give them the message from the Lord remember according to Amos chapter 7 Amos was not a prophet he said he said to the people of

Israel he answered and he said I was no prophet verse 14 of chapter 7 neither was I a prophet son but I was a herd man and a gatherer of sycamore fruit and the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto me go and prophesy unto my people Israel and imagine Amos leaving the flock there leaving his homeland and if we can one more time look at this traveling all the way from around this time from Tekoa and going all the way to a place called Beit El and right here in the center of of the northern kingdom he is presenting the word of the Lord to the nation to

the northern kingdom of Israel and I want you to notice what he says about himself or what he says about the fact that he is there he didn't come there because he hated the nation he loved Israel but he came there because God is now called him to give a message a harsh message to the kingdom of Israel the northern kingdom and now notice verse 7 and 8 he shared with Israel the reason that he came unto them verse 7 he says surely the Lord God will do nothing but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets in other words if God is going to do anything and to speak to the nation of

Israel he first of all shared the message that he has with his servants and then he sends his servants to give a message from the Lord now this is also it is interesting you know sometimes people go to share something without being called by the Lord they are going to you might say to give a message but they were never raised by God to be called the prophets or messengers of God that's what happened in the day of Jeremiah that there were those who were reasoned to claim to be a prophet of the Lord but they were not at all sent by the Lord had they listened to the Lord and waited upon him their

message will be from him otherwise the message that they gave was totally human message not from God at all and how Amos is saying listen God will do nothing but he reveals his secret to his servants the prophet somehow God told me to come to you to give you this message and then in verse 8 Amos is saying God has spoken notice and the prophets prophesy to the nation of Israel throughout Israel's history look at verse 8 have the lion roared who will not fear the Lord has spoken and who can't but prophesy God God had a message for you Israel I cannot do anything but give you this message because God has a word

for you he appeals to you to turn around and to repent and return to the Lord but if you will not a judgment is going to come upon you so it is interesting that in verses 7 and 8 he is sharing with the northern kingdom of Israel that God will share his secrets with his messengers with his prophets and they in turn will go to the nation and speak unto them now listen to the verse please in 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 verses 15 and 16 and the Lord God of their fathers speaking about the father of our own people Israel he sent to them by his messengers rising up bedtimes and sending because he had

compassion on his people and on his dwelling place this is the city of Jerusalem but they mocked the messengers of God they despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no remedy God sent messengers to our forefathers Israel again and again to warn them and to cause them to turn back to the Lord but in many generations they despised the prophets they despised the messengers until there was no more remedy and the time of judgment would come and sure enough beloved brothers and sisters as we're going to see it in a moment the time has come and the Assyrian came and they took

the whole northern kingdom of Israel the ten tribes and they devastated the people the nation they destroyed and they have killed so many of the Hebrews of the northern kingdom and many of them have been taken captive by the Assyrian and up till today beloved brothers and sisters many of our own Hebrews from the ten tribes are still scattered among the nations of this world ready one day to be restored back to the land and to establish the promise as a nation the nation of Israel in a coming day to be part of the kingdom of Israel so we have covered up to this point the first eight verses now verses nine and ten God

called even the pagan nations to show them to be witnesses to Israel's evil activities so notice in verses nine and ten publish in the palaces of Ashdod and in the palaces of the land of Egypt and say assemble yourself upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumult in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof for they know not to do right says the Lord who store up violence and robbery in their palaces you see what God is saying he says look I want to show you that you have been wrong you have done evil you have turned away from me God is saying to the northern kingdom and I'm going

to call Ashdod which is one of the city of the Philistine and I'm going to call Egypt the Egyptians to bear witness and to see what kind of life you have had Israel and in a sense he's publishing it in the palaces of the Philistines and the palaces of the Egyptians and he called them to assemble and when he's calling them to assemble again when he's calling them to assemble upon the mountains of Samaria and again beloved brothers and sisters you will notice that Samaria this is the area of Samaria right here right here in the center and in the middle of the area of Samaria you have the mountain that is called the mountain

of Shomron but there are many mountains around Shomron go back to the previous map and you will notice that the mountains around Samaria are higher than the mount itself Mount Har Shomron so he called them to the mountain of Samaria so from the top they look at that one single mountain Samaria which was the capital city of the northern kingdom and they are observing to see what kind of behavior Israel have behaved and what does he say in verse 10 they they know they know how to do right say as the Lord they store up violence and robbery in their palaces so even the nation the pagan nation themselves who do evil themselves who are

not better than Israel but they became like witnesses to the evil activity that have happened among the people of Israel on that on Shomron in Samaria and what do they see that they do not know how to do right and that they store up violence there they store up robberies they were oppressing the poor there were wrong treatment among the people of Israel they were abusing that which they should not have abused what a condition have existed there so God point to Israel sins and that they the nation surrounded Israel could come in this case he is mentioning the Philistines and the Egyptians to come and behold the reason why he has to judge his

chosen people the nation of Israel and so beloved brothers and sisters verses 1 to 10 of Amos chapter 3 Amos appeals to the conscience of Israel revealing to them their condition sad sad condition which made it necessary that the punishment of God will surely come so now notice the punishment itself in verses 11 to verse 15 there is fourfold punishment that Israel will receive that will surely come and it was fulfilled at 722 721 BC when the Assyrian came and took captive the ten northern kingdoms so let's look at those fourfold punishments that Amos is presenting before Israel by the word of the Lord the first punishment that Israel will experience from the Lord is

that God will bring an adversary an enemy against Israel in order to bring down Israel's strength you see sometimes we don't realize that but sometimes the Lord send someone or something into the life of his people in order to break them down to show them that they cannot trust themselves they cannot trust in their own ability and their own strength you remember what we read through the king of Israel in Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy path but we as God's people many times don't trust the Lord we

trust ourselves I'm able to do that I can do it I'm going to go my way God just for the time being I don't need you in my life I'm carrying on in my way and I realize later on and I'm looking back at the 5 10 15 20 25 years that have gone by and I see boy what have I done I didn't accomplish anything I find myself in a worse condition than before well look at this he says in verse 11 therefore because of what you have done says the Lord God he says an adversary there shall be even round about the land and he shall bring down the strength from thee and

thy palaces shall be spoiled you know God is saying to Israel look there will be an adversary in Hebrew enemy I will send an enemy to come against you and I will show you what that enemy going to be he going to surround you the whole Samaria he will surround the Shomron the northern kingdom of Israel and he will bring down all your strength or you thought that you are strong and I want to show you that you are weak you know Paul Shaul said a good principle before he says when I'm weak then I'm strong I know he says Paul I know that in me dwells no good thing I cannot trust myself my

strength is in the Lord you remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6 be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might don't be strong in yourself and every time we trust ourselves and we trust our strength we find ourselves stumbling and falling and sometimes beloved brothers and sisters God send an adversary into our lives to cause us to lose many things that we thought we gained and he sent that adversary and you know apparently when the armies of the Assyrians surrounded the land of Israel second king chapter 17 they besieged Samaria for three years and the purpose behind that according to verse 11 is to bring down thy strength from thee and

thy palaces shall be spoiled God send the enemy against the people of Israel what an amazing things to learn the Lord will send into our life some things to happen in our life to cause us to learn to turn back to him and not to trust in ourselves that's the first thing that is going to happen Samaria will fall notice in verse 12 the second thing the children of Israel will be taken out of Samaria look what it says here in verse 12 it says here thus saith the Lord as a shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear so shall the children of Israel be

taken out and dwell in Samaria in a corner or a bed and in Damascus in a couch you know what's going to happen it's not only that the Assyrian is going to come and weaken you and will take all your strength away from you but they will remove you and you notice it says like as a shepherd taketh out of the mouth of a lion two legs or an ear in other words when a shepherd or his sheep have been captured by someone that shepherd might try to save the two legs of a sheep or the ear of a sheep but the remaining of the sheep have been eaten up by the lion and in

721 722 BC where the kingdom of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrians and they were sent for years after they were there like slaves and they were dispersed from among their own homeland I just want to read in 2 Kings chapter 17 and I'm reading just one verse 6 in the ninth year of Hosea the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Chala and in Chabor by the river of Gozan and in the city of the Medes Israel were taken captive they were carried away by the Assyrian to Assyria and the word Assyria is Ashur in Hebrew it's more than Syria it is Assyria greater area

that the dispersed Jewish people have been carried by the Assyrian so the first thing the first judgment God will weaken the strength of the nation of Israel the second thing he will allow Assyrian to come to take them captive notice the third punishment that Israel will experience in Amos 3 verses 13 and 14 he said hear ye and testify in the house of Jacob say as the Lord God the God of hosts that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon them I will also visit the altars of Beth El and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground in other words the third punishment

that Israel will experience is the destruction of the altars which Israel have established in the city of Beth El again look at this area here in the map here is Beth El right here and here is another place called Dan in Dan and in Beth El Israel have established two golden calves and then they have also established altar to offer sacrifices for these golden calves idols so God is saying listen not only that you're going to be carried away but I will destroy the altars upon which you Israel have sacrificed sacrifices for these false idols false gods these golden calves I will destroy it completely God is saying and notice he used the word bait

El the Hebrew word bait El comes from two Hebrew words bait means house bite El is God the house of God it was a place that was supposed to be the house where God is being worshipped and instead of the place becoming the house of God it became a house of idols that Israel had followed after rather than worshipping the true and living God of Israel so judgment number three will be the destruction of the altars in Beit El and now finally beloved brothers and sisters judgment number four is found in the last verse of Amos chapter three this is verse 15 and what is this final judgment God will destroy Israel's wealth and notice

what it says here I will smite the winter house with the summer house and the houses of ivory shall perish and the great houses shall have an end saith the Lord in other words what God was going to do all what they built for themselves they had a winter house and a summer house and a house of ivory and many many palaces that they built they were wealthy but no God wealthy in the world but no Jehovah they had everything that one would want all kind of palaces winter house summer house ivory house all kind of thing but they did not have a relationship with the God of Israel you know what he did he

removed all their wealth from them and he took it all away and they were carried by the Assyrian to Assyria and when you see a picture the people of Israel the chosen people are now being carried by the Assyrian as captives no wealth no altars no country no pleasures everything was taken away from them and they were now became captives dispersed no home to live in what a sad condition has existed when Israel turned away from the Lord so beloved brothers and sisters what a lesson it is for us to learn today that we cannot live our lives as believers without to have God in our life we cannot accept the Lord Jesus the Messiah

as a Savior and Lord and say to him listen I don't need you for the rest I thank you that you gave me a ticket to go to heaven but don't bother me in the rest of my life here and now we can't can two walk together accept they agree it's not possible so so so God God eventually brought the judgment upon Israel just as he will bring upon his own people today whom soever the Lord chosen he will also deal with his own people whom he love he chastens and he scourges every son whom he has received may the Lord help us to internal this message and to apply this to our own life

and to learn from the message to Israel in Amos 3 here Israel your punishment is sure is going to come when you disobey the word of the Lord may the Lord help us and bless his word can we say amen to that