Journey with us through the captivating lessons from the book of Amos, where Dr. J. Vernon McGee unveils the hidden strengths of those laboring in faith’s quiet corners. From the judgment of ancient nations to the current societal pressures, discover the profound insights that remind us of the importance of staying grounded in God’s commandments. This episode highlights the enduring struggle against social injustices and presents practical applications for living a life of authentic faith today.
00:00:03 Introduction to Celebrity Culture in Churches
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
we live in a celebrity driven culture it’s no secret really famous names influence everything from the media we consume to the soap that we buy and it seems to be a part of human nature doesn’t it but things get dangerous when the same influencer mindset creeps into our churches and we start following one pastor or leader over another That’s not how it should be, even when we deeply respect them. The Apostle Paul gave us the right perspective in 1 Corinthians 11.1. Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. Welcome to Through the Bible with our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. As we continue our study in the book of Amos, we’ll hear from the country prophet who refused to bow to the celebrity culture of his time and boldly spoke God’s truth where it was most needed. Amos also reminded us to appreciate the faithfulness of those serving God in small and often unseen places, a lesson close to Dr. McGee’s heart. And he shares more about that in this special introduction to our study.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’ve heard so much today and I think all of us have a tendency to use it when some famous person either on television or in politics or in athletics or in some other field or an astronaut gets converted. My, we think that is great, don’t we? But I think the real heroes are not those folk today. I think the real ones are these little people that are out yonder today that are working for God. And there’s no one in the grandstand to applaud them. They are just doing it under the Lord. And here is a letter that reveals that. It comes from a little place in Oklahoma. And I lived in Oklahoma in a little place. And I know how little those places can be. Let me read just a few lines to let you know how much I appreciate and love you. You are a real inspiration to me. I thank God. that I came to know many years ago, not you personally, not personally by radio. I was new in preaching and blessed to be in bigger churches, but felt God leading to small rural churches. God provided that I would be able to do this by a disability that took care of my living expense. So now I devote my work to small rural churches. They are about able to take care of expense to pastor them. Sometimes it’s a battle because Satan still tempts me to go to larger congregations because of the monetary difference, but still feel it’s God’s will and plan for me at the rural church. I think that’s a very wonderful letter. And now here’s some more little people. This letter comes from Athens, Alabama. It says, and I’m reading it now, it’s quite interesting that the highlight of my day is to hear your broadcast. I say this because I’m 16 years old. This is the time of my life that I’m supposed to spend boozing it up and having all kinds of kicks of worldly activity. At least that is the norm at the high school I attend. I thank God he called me out of all that and has given me a much better life. As a Christian, I find contentment In the little things of life, I enjoy the steady progress of one moment at a time. Although I’ve been a Christian for almost three years, I’m uncertain of the exact date. I’m not the same person I was a year ago. I used to want glory and honor from everybody and often had great illusions of grandeur. Now I find contentment in being, then it mentions his name, let’s just say Joe Doakes, just in being Joe Doakes. I have gotten to know myself and know life better by giving up television and turning to the word of God. That’s marvelous from a 16-year-old boy. There’s still hope, I guess, for the country.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s take a moment to pray together as we prepare to study God’s word. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the quiet faithfulness of those who obey you and the courage that you give us to stand for your truth. Open our hearts and minds now as we listen to your word. May it take root in our lives and bear fruit for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. Let’s turn to Amos chapter 2 as we journey through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, I want today to back up just a little in chapter 1, because we’re in this section where we have the judgment on the surrounding nations, the nations that were contiguous to the nation Israel. And this man, Amos, though he came from the country and he’s a country preacher, he has a world view. And he is pronouncing, first of all, judgment upon these surrounding nations and for particular sins. He’s very specific about the sins. Now, we mentioned before, the last one we dealt with, was Ammon. The Ammonites lived across on the east bank of the Jordan River, actually along the Dead Sea. In fact, they were in that particular area that began about the Dead Sea and moved up north. And their capital, we are told here in verse 14, “…I’ll kennel a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces.” Now, this was a great city, and that city later on was called by the Greeks Philadelphia. It was named actually for Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt. And we know it today as Amman. It is the capital of Jordan. And the ruins are there of the great civilization that was there in the past. It’s been totally destroyed. Fact of the matter is why the modern nation of Jordan is really built on the ruins of that nation of the Ammonites. And then south of it were the Moabites. The Moabites now in chapter 2, beginning with verse 1. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Moab and for four. And that is the prophet’s way. And this man Amos, I consider him a great preacher. They broke the mold after they made him. There’s just one of him. He uses unusual expressions. He says, not for three and not for four. Well, how many? Well, he could list a great many. This is his way of saying there were many transgressions. But he’s specific with each one. He says, I will turn away its punishment because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. Now, that’s a strange thing to say, is it not? The judgment against Moab is for injustice. In fact, for an awful spirit of revenge. After the man has been killed, the Edomites were their enemies. And after they had destroyed, that is, got a victory over the Edomites and had killed the king, you’d think that would be it. But they even burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. That’s carrying their revenge, that revengeful spirit even farther than it should be carried. God says, “…because of that, but I will send a fire upon Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kiriath, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” and I will cut off the judge from the midst of it, and I will slay all its princes with him, saith the Lord.” You notice God says here that Moab shall die with Tumah. That is, they go out with a big bang and that will end the nation. And it’s interesting that this proud nation was brought to extinction by Nebuchadnezzar later on, and you haven’t seen a Moabite since then. But isn’t it interesting that out of this heathen country, there came that gentle, lovely, and beautiful girl by the name of Ruth that became the wife of Boaz. And it presents one of the loveliest books we have in the Bible. And she’s in the line that leads to Jesus Christ. She’s in that genealogy, by the way. And she came from Moab, of all places. They were really a heathen, pagan people with a sad and sorry beginning. and just as sad but tragic end as a nation. But it reveals the fact of what the grace of God can do in the life of a believer if the believer will let him do that. But here we have the fact that we’re coming now to a people that should have done better but did not do better. Now, these are the messages against the surrounding nations. That is, those that were around Israel. Now he’s going to take up God’s people. But he begins with Judah. And the first is against the southern kingdom. And he came from down there. And verse 4, I’m reading now. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Judah, and for four I will turn away its punishment. Now, in other words, again, God could enumerate many for which they were guilty, but here is the chief one. Because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies cause them to err after which their fathers have walked. Now, he says, but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Now, this is saying in a very brief way what Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel took quite a few pages to say. That is, that God would judge the southern kingdom of Judah that went into Babylonian captivity, that he would judge it for what? They did not keep the commandments of God. They despised God’s law. Now, Judah had the law of God and despised it. Temple was down in Jerusalem, and God now judges them according to the law. Have you noticed that God never judged any of these other nations on that basis whatsoever? that he judged them for certain specific sins they committed, sins that are common to mankind today that is in sin. But the other nations did not have God’s law, and therefore they were not judged according to God’s law. And he says here, I will send a fire upon Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Now, you will find that again and again, He mentions, as the other prophets do, the fact that there is to be a judgment By fire. And you’ll find that running, actually, not only through this prophecy, but you’ll find it running through the other prophets. And when Nebuchadnezzar came, he burned Jerusalem to the ground. Absolutely burned it. Nothing left but the stones that were there. And of course, there were plenty of stones in that particular place. Now, that is something that he’s delivering now. That is, Amos is delivering up in Bethel, and he’s speaking in the king’s chapel. Now, I think that probably every time he got up to speak, he’d take up one of these nations, and he would pronounce God’s judgment upon it. But he gets now to Judah. And that’s getting pretty close to home. Maybe a few squirmed in their pew when he mentioned Judah. But after all, the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes were at war a great deal of the time. There were several times when they made alliances, but they only made them because of fear and of necessity to stand against a common enemy. But most of the time, they were enemies. And therefore, when Amos gave his message of judgment against the southern kingdom, everyone was present and amened him for that because they were in agreement that God should judge Jerusalem and Judah. But now the northern kingdom. What about the northern kingdom? Now he’s going to speak to them. And beginning here with verse 6, he’s speaking to the northern kingdom. And Bethel, if you want it pronounced that way, Bethel is the capital. And the king was there. And this man was speaking in the king’s chapel. We’re told that later on. We’ve already seen that. And now he’s going to start meddling. He’s getting close at hand. It’s like the old story that we heard about the preacher one Sunday morning was preaching about different sins of drinking. And this woman sitting in the congregation, she amened him and preached about the sin of smoking. And she amened him for that and for the sin of cussing. And she amened him for that. And finally, he got around. He began to talk about gossiping. And she says, he started meddling now. And friends, Amos is starting to meddle now. He’s going to talk about his congregation that’s before him. Now, it’s not going to be the sins of the Moabites. This is the sin of the northern kingdom. They too had God’s law. They had the commandments of God. They had the word of God. Now, listen to him as he speaks in verse 6. Thus saith the Lord. And may I say to you, I personally have never felt that I have any right to stand in the pulpit and speak unless I can speak on the basis of, Thus saith the Lord. My feeling is that that’s the basis of all ministry. What does the Word of God have to say? Thus saith the Lord. Now, listen to him here. For three transgressions of Israel and for four, I’ll not turn away its punishment. But there are more than that. And believe me, he mentions more than that. Now he’s going to deal actually with the Mosaic law. He’s not dealing here with the commandments as he did with Judah, but he’s dealing with these commandments that have to do with a man’s everyday life. Now, first of all, he says, “…because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes.” Now, the interesting thing is that a great deal is said here about the poor. The ten tribes in the north now, they had the law, but they were committing the sins of the nations that were round about them. Fact of the matter is, we’ll see that the very people that God put out of that land, why, they were committing the same sins. Now, first of all, you have here the mistreatment of the poor. And you’ll find out that he has a great deal to say about the poor. If you turn over to the fourth chapter, verse 1, “…hear the word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor.” who crush the needy. And then again in chapter 5 and verse 11, and will you listen to this, for as much therefore as your treading is upon the poor. Now, I’ve called attention to this time and again in the prophets, that the poor are not going to get justice. Nor will they be treated fair on this earth until Christ reigns. The only hope of the poor is the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m sorry to say that, but we are told today that certain political parties will take care of the poor. Well, they’ve been taking care of us, all right, friends. Every time another one comes along and tells how much he’s going to help me, I listen to him and then my taxes go up. And they’ve been going up and up and up. And I’ll be very frank with you. I find out that most of these men are rich men. We have too many rich men, not just lawyers today in Congress. We have too many millionaires there. And they don’t know my problem. They don’t understand me. They don’t understand the poor. And I’m thankful there’s one someday that’s going to take over for the poor. Now, God will judge a nation for its mistreatment of the poor. Now, somebody says, well, was there any law on this? There certainly was. Let me read you just one, and I could give several. In verse 19 of chapter 16 of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 16, 19, listen to this. Thou shalt not rest judgment. Thou shall not respect persons, neither take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. God put this law to protect the poor. In that day, a man might be absolutely innocent. But his adversary would slip something under the table to the judge. And by the way, that practice doesn’t seem to be out of style today. Styles change, but not this one. That thing is still done. And it’s difficult today for the poor, you see, to get justice when money today seems to be the determining factor. May I say to you, this man is speaking to a very pertinent problem of his day. And even a pair of shoes would pervert judgment and cause the poor to have to suffer. And then, not only that, by the way, but I come down here to verse 7, “…that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor.” And what does that mean? Well, it could mean several things. Personally, I think it means that these selfish, these greedy judges and rich even resented that the poor had enough dust left to throw on their heads. in mourning. Believe me, that is the modern idolatry also. That is covetousness today. And we see a great deal of that about. And God judges nations for that. That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn 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 apparently, he’s talking about a maid that’s a prostitute. And both the father and the son went in to them. And God says that adultery profanes his holy name. May I say to you, the new morality today wasn’t new at all. Israel was practicing the new morality. But God said that he hated it. And he had put down laws specifically concerning this type of thing. And they were breaking over these. You can see this preacher’s not going to be popular, friends. Amos was not really a very popular preacher in his day. He took the side of the poor. And he condemned unrighteousness. He condemned the injustice. He condemned the fact that the poor were getting a bad deal. And he condemned immorality. Not only that, listen to him, he’s not through. And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar. And did you know that God had a very lovely law in that particular connection? I think I have time to turn and read that. In Deuteronomy 24, verse 12, listen to this. And if the man be poor… Thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. In any case, thou shalt deliver him the pledge again, when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.” Now, a man very poor, he had nothing to put up, you know, for a very small loan. That’s collateral, except his outer garment. And that’s what he needed to keep him warm. God says, you can take it. But when the sun goes down, you let him have it back in order that he might not be cold and sleeping that night. Now, God says, you’ve been breaking over at that point. You have disobeyed me. And as a result, he says, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God. And this is by every altar. I should mention that, which means there was only one altar that God had established. In Jerusalem, in the temple, this speaks of they had turned to idolatry, and now he’s condemning drunkenness. Now, we’re coming back to drunkenness again, and I’ll not enlarge on that today at all. But these are the sins that God said in verse 9, yet destroyed I the Amorite before them. They did the same thing. Now, God is saying to his people, do you think you can get by with it? Well, we’ll see that next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
History shows us how God destroyed the Amorites for the very same sins the Israelites were committing. And as Amos predicted, Israel was led into captivity in 722 B.C. Is there a lesson for us in all of this? Well, absolutely. Hop aboard the Bible bus next time as we dive deeper with Dr. McGee. And to help you get the most out of our journey through God’s entire word, we’ve put together Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines. And we put it into a single downloadable book called Briefing the Bible. It’s available for free over at ttb.org. Now, if you prefer a paperback version, well, we got you covered there too. Just call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE or write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. in Canada Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. And for app users, you’ll find all the notes and outlines right there in the menu. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll meet you back here for more of this exciting journey through the Bible.
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All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
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Today’s study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Through the Bible, and it’s made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible bus all around the world.
