Dr. J. Vernon McGee leads a passionate study into Amos chapter 4, unveiling the bracing rebukes delivered by the prophet. With a dose of biting humor and poignant satire, Amos challenges the moral standards of his time. This episode presents a call to reflection, urging both religious leaders and followers to examine the sincerity of their worship and the true condition of their hearts, inviting a transformative confrontation with faith.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
SPEAKER 03 :
Turn from sin. Judgment is coming. That’s the message that Prophet Amos was sent to tell Israel. And man, did he tell them. In fact, Amos was anything but subtle. And as we study, we’ll find out that Amos even used biting sarcasm to get his point across. Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, your host, inviting you aboard the Bible bus as our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, takes us deeper into the Old Testament book of Amos at chapter 4. But first, here are a few great letters from fellow travelers on the Bible bus who turned from their sin and have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. The first one’s from a listener in Angola. I used to be addicted to pornography, masturbation and adultery. I fought against all these sins in my life, but I could not win at all. And he says, And then here’s one. This is from Marissa who listens in Spanish. Thank you for this much needed program. It has been a great help. Through you I have clarified doubts and gained understanding and wisdom. For many years I felt invisible and unimportant. I’ve turned to the Lord and am now a child of the Most High, a daughter of the King. You make my existence much better every day. Thank you. And then our last email is from a listener in India who says this. Previously, I followed Hindu beliefs, but my life changed after hearing your programs. Listening to the Bible in my language, I came across John 14, 15, which says, If you love me, keep my commandments. This verse resonated deeply with me and inspired a transformation in my heart. I am sincerely thankful to the pastors and the team for providing these MP3 devices, which allowed me to explore and embrace God’s Word freely. It has been a blessing on my journey of faith. Please pray others in my village hear this good, good news. And yes, as we begin our study, let’s pray. Let’s pray for the people in our communities as well. Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace that saves us from judgment. And we pray for this community in India and for our own cities and neighborhoods, that your word will reach them so everyone can learn of your very good news. In Jesus’ name, amen. Here’s our study of Amos chapter 4 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, as we begin here in chapter 4, I need to remind you we have a series now of three chapters that deal specifically with Israel, the northern kingdom, the ten tribes in the north. And in chapter 4, we have this subject, God punished in the past Israel for iniquity. And then in chapter 5 that we’ll be coming to, Israel will be punished in the future for iniquity. And then chapter 6, Israel admonished in the present. That is, their day at the time that Amos was writing and speaking to them, admonished in the present to depart from iniquity. In other words, you see the practicality of this book. It has that practical application. Now, we have here in chapter 4, verse 1, and we come to that. Let me read. 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. And there were several things we noted here, and it’s written to the cows of Bashan. They were actually a sleek, well-fed group of cows, because that particular area up there, it’s in an area where the grass is unusually lush and green, and they have rainfall there, and the cattle there revealed it. But that’s not really what this man Amos is talking about. And there’s always been a problem to know just who he’s talking about. Because actually, it’s been obvious to everyone, as it was in that day, that he was talking to a certain group of people that were in Israel. And there are some that, since it’s in the feminine gender here, ye cows of Bashan, it’s not the bulls of Bashan, that what he has reference to are to the women And generally, a nation reveals its moral position and its economic standard by the way women dress. When women are well-dressed, well-groomed, and have diamonds and pearls and rubies, then that denotes That is the time of affluence in the nation. If they are well fed, that reveals it also. So that actually it could refer to them. But we also know that when a nation goes down, Homosexuality comes to the forefront. That was the thing that started the downfall of Rome, as we noted. Nero was a homosexual. Mad, yes, but may I say mad in a very unnatural way. And our nation today is beginning to go down. And what is the evidence of it? This very thing is the evidence of it. And this man calls attention to it. Now, he tells them, these rulers that are given over to unnatural appetites. And the first chapter of Romans reveals that when a people reach this place, God gives them up. And that they came when God gave these people over to be delivered into captivity. And I personally think that’s the primary meaning that we have here. And in order to maintain their standard of living, which was a standard in luxury, of course, but very low morally. It took money, and the poor were oppressed. Isn’t it interesting that even in our nation today that the one who pays the taxes is the middleman? He is the one today that pays for everything. When we have a depression, the middleman pays for it. When prices go up, the middleman pays for it. When there is any increase in taxes, who is the one that gets it? It’s the middleman. And he is the one that the politicians and leaders are always referring to, that we are the people. We are wonderful. We are great. You bet we are. We are the ones that have been paying the bills all the way along. And here, things were not any different in that land. And it’s not any different today. Now, verse 2. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness that lo, the day shall come upon you that he will take you away with hook. and your posterity with fishhooks. Now, we’ve seen that used before. Back in the 38th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, God said concerning Gog, which we have identified as Russia, God says, I’ll put hooks in your jaws and bring you down into that land. And he intends to do it. There are certainly some strong hooks in the jaws of Russia today that cause them to look to the south. But we’re not going into that here. I just call attention to the fact God says to these people, already you’re hooked. Not hooked maybe on drugs, but you’re hooked on iniquity and on sin and disobeying me. And I have already put hooks in your jaws and I’m ready to take you out of the land. Judgment is coming. Now, verse 3, “…and ye shall go out at the breaches every cow at that which is before her, and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.” Now, God says, if you think because you are rich or you are a ruler and you’re living in a palace, that somehow or another you are going to be saved. Well, you’re not. God says, I intend to reach in there and take you out into captivity. And when Assyria finally came and took them into captivity, the king went along also. And that was true also of the southern kingdom. Now, verse 4. Now we’ve come to a most interesting verse here. It’s a tremendous verse. Verses 4 and 5. He says, “…come to Bethel and transgress.” At Gilgal multiply transgression and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven and proclaim and publish the free offerings for so ye love to do. O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. Now, I’m sure that you recognize that this man here is using biting and bitter sarcasm. And he actually is inviting them to come to Bethel, a place of worship. That was the place where they went to worship the golden calf. And he says, come on up to Bethel and transgress. And a Gilgal. Now, Gilgal, it means circle. It means to roll along. And it was the place, the first place Israel came to when they crossed the Jordan River under Joshua. And that became a sacred place to them. And later on, it became a center of idolatry. Now, again, it’s the center of idolatry. And he says, and also, come to Gilgal. And you multiply transgressions there. Now, you’re not supposed to go to church in order to sin. That’s the very opposite of that. And here he’s saying, come to Bethel and transgress. And I trust that you recognize that this is pungent satire, that it’s a taunting rebuke. that it is indeed an ironical and ridiculous statement that he is making here concerning these people. And he’s saying, come on up to Bethel. He’s inviting them up there and saying, and when you get here, you sin, you transgress. You know that it is sometimes dangerous to go to church. The devil goes to church. You say, you sure about that? Yes, I think he’s up bright and early on Sunday morning and where these men are teaching and preaching the Bible. He’s doing everything he can to get in there and wreck their work, by the way. That’s the reason you ought to pray for a Bible preaching and Bible teaching pastor today. He already has taken over certain churches. Liberalism has taken over and he doesn’t worry about those places anymore. Naturally, he doesn’t at all, but he does worry about these places where they’re alive, where the Word of God is being given out. And there’s a danger of you going even there and sinning. You say, how do you know that? Do you recall that when our Lord took those 12 men yonder in the upper room, and if there ever was a sacred spot, If there ever was a sacred moment, and do you know who was there? And he wasn’t even invited. Satan having entered in the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him. The devil got into the upper room. Now, he had to walk in on the legs of Judas Iscariot, but he got there. And sometimes he walks into our so-called conservative fundamental churches on the legs of some deacons. or some Sunday school teacher, or some member. May I say to you, it’s tragic not to recognize our enemy and to be ignorant of his devices today. And so they were coming. They were very pious. And when they got there, they offered up a thanksgiving with leaven. Now, you may think it’s strange that they offered up a thanksgiving with leaven. But some of you will recall when we were back in the book of Leviticus, I called attention in two places to the fact that leaven was used in offerings. Actually, on the day of Pentecost, the meal offering had leaven in it that day. And you know why? That offering in Pentecost represents the church. And there never has been a church yet that there wasn’t just a little leaven in it. And leaven is always the principle of evil. Our Lord made that clear. It’s evil doctrine, wrong doctrine, evil life. It can be any of these things. And it gets into the church. And you find leaven in that offering. And then when they made a thanksgiving offering, In Leviticus, the seventh chapter, and I think I ought to turn and read verses 12 and 13 here. He says, if he offer it. For a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour fried. Now, this is the Godward side of the offering. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ has made peace with God for us. So here in this peace offering, why we find that there’s no leaven in the first offering that’s made. Paul says in Romans 5, 1, being justified by faith, and not by our works, because we’d never be justified, but by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that’s that side of it. Now, here is the manward side. Here is where I come and offer myself, where you come and offer yourself to God. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering now. This is for the man. that he is offering himself leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. So you and I, when we go through this ritual of the dedication of our lives to God, we sometimes call it a consecration service, which is a misname. But actually, we never present ourselves perfect. That’s just something out of the question. Now, if you think that you can present yourself perfect to God and you’re waiting for that day, you’re going to wait a long time because you’ll never reach that. Levin was included in that. And I think it’s significant that Levin is mentioned here. And you know why? Because this prophet Amos, and say for a country preacher, he has a lot on the ball, don’t you think, friends? He is an outstanding minister of the gospel for that day, but his was judgment. And he says with great emphasis, you come with a thanksgiving that has leaven in it. He doesn’t even mention the unleavened. Why? Because they are totally removed from the living and true God. Therefore, the only thing they can do is offer evil to God, and God won’t accept that at all. And I think this is one of the most tremendous statements, and don’t miss it. Now, I find that a great many people miss satire and a little sarcasm. Now, I’m sorry that I indulge in it. My wife thinks I ought not to, but I enjoy indulging in it from time to time. Now, some time ago, when we were in the epistle to the Hebrews, You will recall that I offered a little book, and we’d still offer it to anyone that wanted it, on the authorship of Hebrews. Now, it’s a little book I attempted to write as a seminary student in a scholarly manner, but that’s when I thought I knew it all, and I found out since I don’t. But at that time, why I took the position and do today that Paul wrote Hebrews, and I felt like I offered some good reasons for it. In fact, I thought I solved the problem, but apparently I didn’t because they still argue about who wrote Hebrews today. And then on the radio, I gave a very facetious answer. I said, I don’t have time to go into the details of it, but I said, I will give you this one. I said, now, if Paul didn’t write Hebrews, that would mean he only wrote 13 epistles. And do you think he would stop with that unlucky number? He must then have written Hebrews to make it 14. Well, do you know that several people took me seriously? And I got a letter from a man. It was about 12 to 15 pages, closely typewritten, not only rebuking me, but trying to show me that that was a very unscriptural answer that I gave, and that I was dealing in superstition, that I ought to go back on the radio and explain to people that I was leading many astray. May I say to you, if you took me seriously, I want to correct that. I was merely being facetious. Now, I hope you’ll understand that. The prophet Amos, when he says to come to Gilgal to transgress, he’s not asking people to sin, but in the most bitter and biting sarcasm that is imaginable, he says, that’s what you do when you come up to Gilgal and up to Bethel. You come up to sin, not really to worship God. And today… It might be well next Sunday morning when you put on your Sunday go-to-meeting clothes to get out on your knees and ask God about the condition of your heart. Are you taking a new heart to church? Are you taking a clean heart to church? Are you taking lips that are not going to speak anything that would hurt the cause of Christ? May I say to you, this is something that’s very important and very pertinent even for our day. You know, this man Amos, I hope you’re falling in love with him. If I was still a pastor and he was still around, I’d invite him to my church to preach. Because I think the church today needs ministers like this. There are some men that just preach on comfort, nice little messages on how to comfort and work out your problem. Somebody needs to say something very strong about sin in people’s hearts today. And that is true out of the church. It’s true in the church. It’s true with your heart and my heart. The biggest problem you and I have to overcome today is the matter of sin in our lives. And there’s no use going to church and try to cover it up and go through some little course or attend some little conference and come back. And so, oh, we were blessed. We’re walking on the mountaintop. Well, wonderful if you are. But my friend, did you really come back to the Word of God? Did you have a confrontation with the Lord Jesus Christ that was meaningful? Those are the things that are important. Now, let’s move on. In verse 6, he says, And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Now, cleanness of teeth doesn’t mean that he had given them, I panic, or gleamed toothpaste, nor had he sent them to a dentist. The reason they had clean teeth was they didn’t have anything to eat. God had judged them with a famine that had not waked them up. And he says, “…and lack of bread in all your places. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.” Again and again, God repeats this phrase here, and you have not returned unto me. Now notice, and he says, and also I have withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest. And that is fatal if it didn’t come at that time. And I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon and the piece upon which it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water. In other words, they had to go away to another city to get water. But they were not satisfied. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Again, he says, I’m the one that controls the rainfall. And some of us think the weatherman does it, but he doesn’t. God still controls the rainfall. And he says, I judged you. And you didn’t listen. You didn’t get the message. You didn’t return to me. And now he says in verse 9, I have smitten you with blight and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increase, the palm of worm devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. God says, I sent that to you as a judgment. hoping that it would cause you to turn back to me. And it didn’t. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young man have I slain with a sword and have taken away your horses. And I’ve made the stench of your camps to come up under your nostrils. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Again and again, God repeats this. And he says, these are things I sent to you. I accept responsibility. I judge you with these things that are light. They weren’t too severe. They were enough, though. They were serious. They were enough to cause you to return to me, but you didn’t return to me. We’re going to have to leave off right there, pick up there next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. In our study, Dr. McGee mentioned his paper that explains why he believed Paul was the author of the book of Hebrews, and it’s called The Authorship of Hebrews, and you’ll find it over at ttb.org. And while you’re there on our site, be sure to check out the many resources that we make available that we think will help you deepen your study of God’s Word, from Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines to Bible companions and so much more. There’s information just waiting for you to dig into. Our study of Amos is going to continue next time, so hop aboard the Bible bus and maybe invite someone to join you. Through the Bible is a five-year study of God’s entire Word, and together we discover God’s purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know Him yet?
