Amos
The Minor Prophets 6 – Amos
Amos' oracles, addressed to the pagan nations and to Israel, conform directly to the Mosaic covenant. God's universal justice is the predominant theme of this minor prophet.
The Return of the King
Jesus has come to save a people for Himself from every tribe and nation. The incarnation gives us a philosophy of history: the sovereign God of the Bible has come into history as Lord and King.
Spoiled Fruit
God brings comfort to His people even when delivering words of judgment; this is because we already know and expect His covenant promises. Judgment begins with the household of God, because we have known mercy, but rejected its practice in our own lives.
Being a Man of God
I. To be a man of God means we’re to be intercessors (people of prayer). II. To be a man of God is to be a man or woman of the covenant. III. Being a man of God is to be a man or woman of courage.
At Ease in Zion
The cross highlights the moral necessity of God's wrath against sin and His sacrifice to show sinners His mercy.
Seek God and Live
Our God is not weak. He governs the heavens and all of creation.
Prepare to Meet Your God
Natural man hates God's warning of judgment because it threatens our moral autonomy. But our God is in control of all of history and He is near.
Appeals and Apologetics
The concept of covenant is basic to all of the Bible. God sovereignly establishes a special relationship with His people, promising them benefits and requiring obedience. If a covenant is to be meaningful, there must be a penalty for breaking it. The gospel of Jesus is something we are to obey, not merely something we receive or believe. The blessings and judgments of God are real, and still apply to us today.
Home Truths: God has No Favourites
God judges gentile nations not only for harming His people, but for violations of His covenant standards. In Amos, the latter is the emphasis. Israel had begun to understand their election as arbitrary favouritism, abandoning the significance of God's covenant.
The Certainty of Judgment
Amos spoke against Israel's sin at a time of religious decline, emphasizing the universality of God's reign over the nations. He warns of the absolute certainty of God's judgment.
The Lion of Judah
Amos insists that the church loses the centrality of the Word of God to its eternal peril.