Amos 3:7-4:1 – From Ancient Prophecies to Modern Lessons

SPEAKER 02 : 0:02

No one likes bad news.

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We often call those who share stories of impending doom pessimists, killjoys, gloomcasters, or even worse. Okay, how about this one? This one only makes me laugh. Negative Nellies. Well, the prophet Amos traveled a long way to the palace of Israel to deliver a message of warning. But the people there, living in luxury, just didn’t want to listen. Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’m so glad that you’re here for another important and timely message from our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Before we begin, let’s share a few messages from our fellow passengers that are listening around the world. First, we hear from a listener in Thailand who calls herself Auntie. She shares, including chemotherapy. Sometimes I feel tired and weary. Therefore, I’m not always able to go and worship at the church. But when I received the MP3 player from you, I was very happy. It is such an easy way to study the word. I am truly encouraged by your teaching. Here’s an email. This is from a listener in India who listens in her language of Punjabi. My name is Imran, and I recently received the MP3 device. It has taught me significant lessons, particularly the story of Abraham. Abraham’s unwavering faith in God and his obedience, willing even to sacrifice his son Isaac, reminds us to walk faithfully with God and trust Him completely. I am profoundly inspired to emulate Abraham’s faith and obedience in my own life. I am sincerely grateful for this study that enriches my spiritual journey. I am praying more people may hear it. May God bless you abundantly for your dedication. And then here’s a good word. This is from a friend on the Bible bus in Portugal. I always wanted to know more about God, but I went into churches empty and left empty. Now it’s different. I feel confident and accompanied even if I’m alone. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. It makes me feel dependent on Christ and less pride in myself. Thank you. May God always enlighten this program and bless you for your work. And then our last notes from a listener in Pakistan who says this. My name is Shamim and I received your Cindy language programs. Listening to the messages and the word of God has been transformative. I have learned how to pray and gain a deeper understanding of faith. This light of faith has profoundly changed my life. I have also received baptism. which marked a turning point in my spiritual journey. I’m deeply thankful to the pastors and representatives who guide us on the right path through the Word of God. Well, isn’t that incredible? Pakistan. It’s often described as the heart of the unevangelized world, with less than 2% of the population identifying as followers of Jesus Christ. And those who do face immense challenges and often endure significant persecution for their faith. Well, if you’d like to join us in thanking God for the faith of these believers and then praying for others in places like Thailand, India, Portugal, Pakistan, and beyond, then you need to sign up for our World Prayer Team today at ttb.org forward slash pray. And if God’s Word is transforming your life or maybe challenging your beliefs, you know we’d love to hear from you. Share your story by calling and leaving a message at 1-800-65-BIBLE. And who knows, we might even end up playing it here on the program. And you can also submit feedback through our app. If you haven’t done so already, I can recommend it highly. That’s the way I usually consume through the Bible myself. You can find it in your favorite app store. You can reach us by email at BibleBus at ttb.org or by mail at Box7100.com. pasadena california 91109 or in canada box 25325 london ontario n6c 6b1 let’s pray heavenly father thank you for the privilege of studying your word and as we grow in understanding would you help us to shine your light into this dark world and then help us to stand tall and talk straight about the things that you are teaching us as you provide the opportunity help us to reflect you and express your heart to those that we meet in jesus name amen Well, we’re off to Amos chapter 3 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

SPEAKER 01 : 4:28

Now, friends, today we return to the seventh verse of the third chapter of the prophecy of Amos. And we saw last time that this man, Amos, asked seven questions that actually pertain to what we would call the natural world, the world of nature. And they illustrate the fact that for every effect there is a cause, and that the judgment of God that’s coming is not accidental, or it’s not a whim on his part, nor is he being peevish at all, but it is a result that has been caused by the sin of the people. Now, verse 7, he makes this statement. He says, “…surely the Lord God will do nothing…” but he revealeth his secret unto his servants, the prophets. Now, the fact of the matter is that God will not move in judgment until he gives his message to the prophets. He’ll let them know what he intends to do. And the prophets have been given the message, and they’re to give it. Verse 8 says, The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy. Now, this has been the method of the Lord, that he has spoken always. He’s given a warning concerning judgment that is coming. Now, today, those things are revealed in the Word of God. I feel that this book is as up to date as tomorrow morning’s paper, because tomorrow morning’s paper will be out of date by noon when the afternoon edition comes out. But the Word of God then will be good for the next day and on and on. God’s method has been this way. Now, you will recall that during Noah’s day, God had this man Noah preach for 120 years about a flood that was coming as a judgment from God. And the world did not heed that message. Now, you remember, let Abraham know ahead of time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it’s a good thing that he did that, because if he hadn’t have done that, there’d have been a great deal of misunderstanding. And as a result, Abraham would have got a wrong viewpoint of Almighty God. It’s been God’s method to reveal things like that. He told his own, yonder in the upper room, he says, Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I’ve called you friends, for all things that have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. That’s John 15, 15. In other words, the Lord Jesus himself says that the Spirit of God is going to tell you about things to come. And he gave forewarning to Joseph of the years of famine that were coming down in Egypt that has been God’s method. Elijah walked into the courts of Ahab and Jezebel and said, you’re in for a drought because there’ll not be rain or dew these years except by my word. And I’m not saying anything, I’m leaving. And he walked out of the courts. So that our Lord could tell his apostles yonder when he was gathered with him on the Mount of Olives in the Olivet Discourse, he told them about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, that it would be destroyed, not one stone would be left upon another. So it’s been God’s method to do that. And that’s all that Amos is saying here. You see, they’ve been highly critical of it. He says, I want you to know that the Lord reveals his secrets. He lets you know the judgment is coming and you wouldn’t feel bad. Well, you’d feel bad, but you’d appreciate it if your doctor would tell you what your physical condition really is. I have a very wonderful cancer specialist that I went to and he told me I had cancer and what I should do. And I still go for x-rays, and then I’ll wait for his report. And he’ll tell me the truth, what it has to say. It’s strange that people today want to do like the proverbial ostrich, stick our heads in the sand, and we don’t want to hear the bad news of judgment that is coming. They say, you’re a pessimist, you’re a killjoy, you’re a gloomcaster. But may I say to you that God follows a certain principle that for every effect there’s a cause, and God never sends judgment unless there has been the sin of the people. Now, he makes it also very clear that the prophet is obligated to. In fact, he ought to be in fear. Be very frank with you. I feel sorry today for the liberal who’s refusing to declare God’s message. He makes it clear here, the lion hath roared, who will not fear? God has spoken. Now let’s give his word out. Let’s speak what God has to say. And let’s get off of this social gospel. Well, it’s sort of like being on dough. We’re on a trip of sweetness and light, rose water and sunshine. Everything’s going to work out nice today. Well, I’ve been told that all my life. by politicians and preachers, that the pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow, and we’re going to arrive shortly. Well, I’ve been on this trip a long ways most of this century, and we haven’t arrived yet. It gets worse and worse, and they won’t face up to what the real problem is. Now, notice as he moves on, he says, “…publish in the palaces at Ashdod.” Now, Ashdod… is down in Philistia in the country of the Philistines. By the way, today Israel has it. They’ve built apartments there like mad. And they have built a harbor there. It’s a man-made harbor. A big refinery is built there. And they’re bringing the oil into Ashdod today. It’s rather amusing. I remember that A friend of mine who teaches prophecy, he likes to find fulfillments of prophecy today, and I don’t think it’s being fulfilled. You remember Moses said that Asher would dip his foot in oil. Well, Haifa, way up in the northern part of Israel, that place was where the oil pipeline came in. And there was a refinery there, the big oil tanks. And the tankers were out there loading up. A friend of mine says, see, that’s a fulfillment of prophecy. Well, today, that pipeline has been cut. No oil is coming into Haifa at all, except that which is brought in by tankers. But down now in Ashdod, they have a pipeline across the Negev, and it is brought by tankers on the other side into the Red Sea side. And then it is piped across to this refinery in Ashdod. And it looks like it would be the tribe of Dan that dipped his foot in oil today. And my friend, quite interestingly, he’s forgotten all about this fulfillment of prophecy. You see, that’s the foolishness of today, of being rather picayunish and picking out these petty things as if they’re fulfillment of prophecy today. I personally do not think prophecy is being fulfilled in that land at all. I do see the setting of a stage that will later on bring the fulfillment of prophecy, but not today. So that what we have here… is Ashdod, but not as it is today. Ashdod was then a prominent city in Philistia among the Philistines. And he says now, let this word go out to them and also in the land of Egypt and say, assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst of her and the oppressed in the midst of her. Now, Samaria, it’s in a most beautiful location. I know of no more wonderful spot to build a palace than there was there. And that’s where Ahab and Jezebel were. And Omri had really been the one to build the city, and he was the father of Ahab. And sin had become so rampant, so out in the open. You see, they had the new morality going there, great guns, and there were hills all around. I’d call them hills. They’d call them mountains. But now God says, all right, all of you people from Ashdod, all of you from Egypt, come up and watch these people, how they are sinned and turned from the Lord. Verse 10, for they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. In other words, they’re bringing in the booty there of that which they’ve been stealing. 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, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. and the palaces of Samaria. They’re in ruins today. We’ll say more about them in just a minute. Now, notice verse 12. 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 on a couch. In other words, they were going up to Damascus And I have a notion what he really means. They go up there to commit adultery because of the fact that was a very sinful nation. And God says, just as a shepherd, he kills a lion, like you remember David said he did. A lion that got into the flock and he killed a sheep. And all that’s left is a couple of legs there and an ear of the lamb. It’s been killed and eaten. God says, that’s the way I intend. to destroy the northern kingdom. You see, their responsibility was great because they had light from heaven. Verse 13, Hear ye and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall judge the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also judge the altars of Bethel. That is, where the golden calf. God said, I will judge it. and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. God says, I intend to remove that. Now, will you listen to verse 15, the last verse here of chapter 3? And 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. Now, what does he mean by the houses of ivory? Well, Ahab and Jezebel had built there in Samaria, which is the city on top of this hill, most beautiful location. They had built there a tremendous palace. You can see the ruins of it today. It covers a great deal of ground, and it was built in a place, and I particularly noticed that this time. I didn’t the first time, that that palace covers the very brow of of the hill, the very top of the hill, the tip top of the hill, so that from their palace they could look in every direction. If they looked toward the west, they could see the Mediterranean Sea on a clear day. And if they looked to the east, they could see the Jordan Valley. If they looked to the north, they could see the valley of Azdraelon and Mount Hermon in the distance. If they looked to the south, they could see Jerusalem. What a view! Now, they built there a palace of ivory. Of course, the enemy in days gone by has carted away that beautiful ivory that went there. But excavations have been going on there recently. In fact, Israel is excavating there. And our guide told us that they have found several very delicate vessels of ivory. Apparently, one of them was for perfume and other vessels probably for wine. So that ivory was the color scheme, if you please, of the palace. Everything was done in ivory. Apparently, Ahab and Jezebel had the best interior decorator of the period to come up and decorate for them. It was a place of luxuries. But God says it’ll perish and I will destroy it and bring it to an end. And I do not know of a more desolate spot than the ruins of Samaria on top of that hill today. I say to you today, friends, that God has certainly fulfilled prophecy. You will not see prophecy being fulfilled in that land. But you can see prophecy that has been fulfilled in that land. And you can see prophecy that’s going to be fulfilled in that land and the stage being set. But I still insist we’re not seeing the fulfillment of prophecy over there today. Now, that brings us to the fourth chapter. And we have here, Israel is punished for past iniquity. And we are going to see then in chapter 5, Israel will be punished in the future for iniquity. And the warning is given to them. Now, this man Amos directs his message. And it’s scathing denunciation and judgment of the northern kingdom of Israel. Will you listen to him here? This is sarcasm that was really cutting and biting. This man now is really speaking to this nation, trying to call them back to God. He says, “‘Hear this word, ye cows, instead of kind.'” It should be cows. A kind is a cow. Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan. that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, bring and let us drink. Now, here again is the third mention of drink being one of the sins that caused the downfall of this people. But not only that, what does he mean by ye cows of Bashan? And will you notice this very carefully now? Bashan, by the way, is that territory that’s east of the Jordan River. It’s between Mount Hermon and the mountains of Gilead. That is the land of Gilead where the three tribes were. This is where the northern kingdom is part of their territory. Now, the kind of Bashan, the cows, they were noted actually for their strong appearance and sleek appearance. They were well fed because the area in that section of the country, it was very lush, by the way. Now, what does he mean? Who’s he calling cows of Bashan? There are those that believe that he’s speaking to the women who were living in luxury, well fed, well taken care of. well-groomed, and because they could enjoy this wealth and luxury, why, it meant that the poor was oppressed and that the needy were crushed down. And this was done to satisfy the luxury of these women. Well, it is feminine. I grant that. But I think he’s also speaking to the rulers. Now, somebody says, why does he use the feminine? Well, don’t you know? This crowd up here were a group of homosexuals. Read the first chapter of Romans. This is the thing that God judges. And we are living in a nation today that are now making laws that permit homosexuals to get married, of all things. Did you know that Nero, they call him a mad king? Nero was not mad. He was a homosexual. He had a palace of over a hundred rooms, and one separate room in that palace was given over to the basest kind. of deviation of sex that is imaginable. It was given over to the satisfying of his homosexual craving. May I say, when a nation starts down, homosexuality becomes a very prominent sort of thing. I’m going to hear from this, but I don’t mind that. We’ve been hearing recently that across this country today, there is a ring of this type of thing, and it will bring in a nation down. And I think that’s what he’s talking about here. And believe me, he calls them a bunch of well-fed cows. And they were the ones that were ruling these people, the rich that were pressing these people down. What a horrible, awful picture this is. And my friend, you can bring it up to date if it was true in Israel. It’s certainly true in our land today. We need an Amos today in this land. Now, this is the first verse of the fourth chapter. And he’s just now getting started. You wait till next time. I tell you, this man is giving that nation ample opportunity to turn to God before they go into captivity. God gave them warning. He always did that. And I think our nation is getting a warning today. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

SPEAKER 03 : 24:27

As Dr. McGee mentioned, Amos is just getting started. So join us for more in this fascinating Old Testament book. If you haven’t already downloaded Dr. McGee’s free notes and outlines for this study in Amos and all the studies on the Bible bus, now is a really good time. You’ll find them in one convenient book that we call Briefing the Bible. To download your copy immediately, visit ttb.org, or to have an abbreviated paperback copy sent by mail, call 1-800-65-BIBLE. And when you’re in touch, be sure to tell us how you listen. Is it by app or radio, online, YouTube, Alexa? There’s so many different ways. Tell us your favorite way to hop aboard the Bible bus. Your feedback helps us to be good stewards of the resources that God provides through faithful friends like you. Now as we go, I’m Steve Schwetz. For all of us at Through the Bible, we’re grateful for your company on the Bible bus and your partnership in taking the whole word to the whole world.

SPEAKER 02 : 25:27

All to him I owe. Sin had left the prince unsaved. He washed it white as snow.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:52

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