Monday, November 24, 2014

Amos


AMOS
Verses
2:10 I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites.
3:2 “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
3:7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
3:8 The lion has roared who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken who can but prophesy?
5:4 - “Seek me and live;
5:14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
6:8 - “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
6:12 - But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness
9:11 “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be,”
9:14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
 
What It’s About
Amos is about God destroying the Israelites in order to bring them back to Him. In Amos 2, God tells us “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites.” This verse says so much to me. First of all, God is showing what He’s already done for the Israelites. What has God already done for us?! God saved me from a stepfather who could have murdered me. God saved me from STDs when I left him and was careless. God’s given me the strength to survive some crazy things and to overcome obstacles. God’s given me guidance in amazing career field. God has done SO MUCH!! This verse also shows that God didn’t work immediately. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt for forty years in order to give them the Amorites. What is God trying to give you? What is your wilderness. God is walking me through loneliness. God took me out of a sinful relationship and now I am wandering through loneliness. I want an immediate fix out of this, but what is God leading me too? God isn’t leading me through this for nothing, He has plans!
Further through Amos, God tells us about the Israelites being chosen, they were the ones chosen for Him, but they are falling into sin and He knows he will have to destroy them. God keeps telling them to seek Him, to seek Good, yet they choose to be prideful and go their own ways. God knows it’s time to destroy them, but God also knows He will raise them up. Amos 9:11 says “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be,” God tells us again in Amos 9:14 “and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.” God isn’t going to leave you destroyed and broken. God breaks us to bring us back, to restore us, to be even stronger. We are God’s chosen people, we are God’s children and He loves us. God breaks us in order to restore.