In That Day…

“‘But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,’ says the Lord.” ­– Amos 9:8b NLT

Rebellion. Rejection. Restoration. Redemption. Remnant. These are the themes of the Old Testament. Over and over again we have seen the people of God reject the hand of God over their lives. They rebel against His authority. They replace Him with other gods. They respond to His blessing and provision with indifference and outright contempt. They disobey His Law. They refuse to observe His ordinances. The sin against His commands. They bring shame to His name, instead of glory. The very people who share His name, dishonor Him with their behavior. And so God is forced to punish their sins. He relents over and over again, forgiving them for their indiscretions, until the day finally comes when He can ignore their rebellion no longer. The book of Amos warns of His coming judgment. But it also reminds us of something else that is coming: That day! God tells the very people He is bringing His judgment upon, “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David” (Amos 9:11a NLT). God promises to bring judgment, but He also promises to never destroy the nation of Israel completely. He made a promise to David that a descendant of his would rule on his throne forever. In spite of exile, years of oppression at the hands of their enemies, genocide, famines, droughts, wars, military occupations, and divinely inspired punishments, Israel would survive. Why? Because God ordained it. He had a purpose behind it. From this rebellious, stubborn people would come the Messiah, the Savior of the world and the redeemer of all mankind.

Israel would be punished. But God was not done with them yet. He would send them into exile, but He would return them to the land He had given them. He would restore the Temple and reinstate the sacrificial system. Israel would be dwelling in the land of promise when Jesus was born. Though living under the rule of Rome, Israel would be enjoying a certain degree of autonomy. God preserved a remnant and returned them to the land. The line of David had been protected and preserved. And a son was born who would be the heir that God had promised so many generations before. Jesus, the son of David and the Son of God. He was the long-awaited Messiah – not a political or military ruler, but the one who would set up the spiritual Kingdom of God on earth. He would offer a way in which Jews and Gentiles might be restored to a right relationship with God. He would provide a final sacrifice that satisfied the just demands of God once and for all. And one day He is going to return to establish His Kingdom on earth forever. He will restore the fortunes of Israel. He will reign from Jerusalem over all the earth. “In that day…” God will finish what He began. He will complete what He started. He will restore what mankind and the enemy have worked so hard to destroy.

One day the trumpet will
Sound for His coming
One day the skies with His
Glories will shine
Wonderful day
My beloved One’s bringing
Glorious Savior this Jesus is mine

Father, thank You for the promise of that day. You are not done. You have not finished. You will complete what You have begun because You are faithful. You will redeem and restore. You will make everything right. Thank You for that reminder today. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

How Do You Measure Up?

“‘Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight.” ­– Amos 7:7 NLT

A plumb line is a simple construction tool that consists of a string with a weight on the end. It works off of gravity and is used to determine perpendicularity. A carpenter, bricklayer, or construction worker will take the plumb line and hand it next to a wall or other structure to see if it is straight or not. The plumb line establishes the standard for straightness. It becomes the measuring tool for rightness. And in our two chapters today, God Himself uses the image of the plumb line as a way to convey to the people of Israel that He is going to measure their spiritual straightness. God said to Amos, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins” (Amos 7:8b NLT). God has a standard. He has a non-negotiable measuring tool for determining rightness or rightness, and it is not up for debate. We don’t get to decide if we are okay or not. We don’t get to measure ourselves against some arbitrary standard that we establish. It is always the Lord’s standard. God had established Israel to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, set apart for His use (Exodus 19:6), but they had failed to measure up. They were regularly violating the Ten Commandments.

1.  They were to worship no other gods, but the one true God

2.  They were not to make idols of those other gods

3.  They were not to misuse God’s name

4.  They were to keep the Sabbath day holy by honoring and keeping it

5.  They were to honor their fathers and mothers

6.  They must not murder

7.  They must not commit adultery

8.  They must not steal

9.  They must not testify falsely about their neighbor

10. They must not covet

The people of God were guilty of breaking all these commandments. On top of that, they were abusing the poor, growing wealthy off the mistreatment of the needy, and ignoring justice in order to line their own pockets. They were greedy, self-righteous, covetous, idolatrous, lacking in compassion, materialistic, spiritually apathetic, and addicted to pleasure. God said, “I describe the arrogance of Israel!” (Amos 6:8b NLT). They had turned “justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness” (Amos 6:12b NLT).

Amos didn’t exactly make a lot of friends with this message. That kind of sermon didn’t resonate then any more than it would today. We don’t like to be scolded. We hate being told that we don’t measure up. Amos was told to go home to Judah and take his prophecies of doom and gloom with him. He was no longer wanted. If he didn’t have anything good to say, he needed to leave. But Amos was speaking the word of God. He was telling the truth. It wasn’t fun to hear, but it was what they needed to hear. Today, we have the written Word of God. It is the plumb line for our lives. It is full of the truth of God and it contains the message of God for His people. Sometimes what we read is condemning and convicting. Sometimes it is encouraging and comforting. But we cannot afford to pick and choose the message we want to hear. We can’t use the Word of God to justify our sins or excuse our inaction. “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are” (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). The Word of God is powerful, insightful, revealing, convicting, exposing and cleansing. It is the plumb line that measures our rightness. It is a rock-solid standard by which we can determine our spiritual straightness. It reveals to us Jesus, who is the gold standard of righteousness for all men. The fact is, I can no more measure up to the standard of Jesus than the people of Israel could keep the Law of God. But God has given me His Word and the indwelling presence of His Spirit to make it possible for me to become increasingly more like His Son. As I die to my own self-effort and learn to rely more on His power available to me through the Spirit within me, I can be transformed. I can be made straight. I can be brought increasingly more into line with His standard. But I first have to admit that I don’t measure up. I miss the mark. I am crooked and in need of straightening. What about you?

Father, thank You for the plumb line of Your Word. Forgive me for the many times I have chosen to ignore what it reveals about me. I so want to believe that I am OK. I want to see myself as spiritually straight. So when Your Word reveals that I am not, I tend to want to reject it and go with my own standard of righteousness. But that’s not how this works. You are a holy God and You have chosen us to be Your holy people, set apart for Your use and to live lives that bring You glory. Thank You for providing Your Word and the presence of Your Spirit to make it possible for me to line up more and more with Your righteous standard – Your Son. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

“I hate all your show and pretense – the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.” ­– Amos 5:21 NLT

The book of Amos is NOT politically correct. Anytime you start out a chapter addressing the wealthy women of the community as “fat cows” you have pretty much made a decision to offend any and all. These two chapters are intense. They contain a scathing indictment from the lips of God concerning the people of Israel – the northern kingdom. These people had turned from Him a long time ago, choosing instead to worship false gods. They still considered themselves Yahweh worshipers, but had simply added a few other gods to their religious menu. They were highly religious and because they seemed to enjoy a certain degree of affluence and material success, they thought they were being blessed by God Himself or one of the many other gods they worshiped. So God has to make it clear that it is not He who is blessing them. In fact, He is about to bring judgment on them unless they repent and return. God had already brought a number of punishments on them over the years, from drought and famine to crop failure, plague and wars. But they had refused to return to Him. They had grown fat and happy. They enjoyed their wealth and loved practicing their religious rituals.

But all the while they were failing to do what was right. Their greed and insatiable desire for more drove their behaviors. As a result, they oppressed the poor by charging them exhorbitant rent. They twisted justice and hated those who told the truth. They trampled the poor by taxing them relentlessly and mercilessly. All the while building fancy houses for themselves. So God warns them to “do what is good and run from evil” so that they might live (Amos 5:14). He told them to “hate evil and love what is good, turn your courts in to true halls of justice” (Amos 5:15). If they did, God would spare a remnant of them. He would show mercy. Otherwise, “the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope (Amos 5:20).

Come back to me and live!

God has no desire to destroy them. He wants them to return. He wants to bless them. But their stubbornness will not allow them to admit their sins and return to Him. They saw themselves as religious and right. Their own affluence was a testament to their righteousness. They were religious, keeping a long list of religious observances. But in God’s eyes it was all show and pretense. Their offerings and sacrifices meant nothing to Him. Their hymns of praise were nothing but noise in His ears. Their worship was more about them than Him. It was all a matter of pride and pretense. It was all a show for others to see and admire. But what God wanted was something completely different. He tells them, “Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living” (Amos 5:24 NLT). God wanted to see true righteousness lived out in right behavior and the just treatment of the poor and needy. He wanted to see religion that resulted in right behavior and a godly lifestyle. He wanted to see compassion, mercy, justice, kindness, and a true appreciation for who He was and all that He had done for them. He wanted His people to understand and appreciate His compassion, mercy, justice, and kindness and share it with those around them – an endless river of righteous living. And He still wants to see the same thing today.

Father, may my life be an endless river of righteous living. I want live in such a way that I am a conduit of Your compassion, mercy, justice, and kindness to those around me. I want to extend to others what You have given to me. Give me eyes to see others as You do. Give me a love for the poor, needy, lost and helpless. May your church and the presence of Your people on this earth be like a mighty flood of justice washing over those in need. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

The Inevitability of Accountability.

“‘My people have forgotten how to do right,’ says the Lord.” ­– Amos 3:10 NLT

Amos was just a lowly shepherd, an ordinary layman. He wasn’t a priest or a prophet, or the son of a priest or a prophet. He was a common Hebrew laborer. But God chose him to deliver a message to the people of Israel regarding their sin and His coming punishment. One minute Amos was tending sheep, the next minute he is the spokesman for God accusing the people of God of spiritual complacency, abuse of the poor, and empty religion. His is a message of judgment – on the surrounding nations, but on Israel itself. God makes it clear that they were His chosen people. He had hand-picked them, not because of anything they had done. Not because they were special or deserved His recognition. God had set them apart as His own. He had privileged them with His presence and given them a position of prominence among all the other nations. And how had they treated His favor? With unfaithfulness. They had received His special revelation in the form of the Ten Commandments, then proceeded to disobey the very commands they had been given. He had graced them with His presence and provided them with the sacrificial system as means to maintain their own holiness and deal with their own sin. But they had abandoned it for the worship of other gods. They treated God as just another in a long line of gods. He was not special. He was not unique. He was just a means to an end – their end. They worshiped Him only as long as He delivered what they wanted.

In these opening chapters of Amos, the people of Israel hear a message they longed to hear. It starts out with God’s plans for the nations surrounding them, including the southern kingdom of Judah. God is going to punish them all. This had to be music to the ears of the Israelites living in the northern kingdom of Israel. All of their enemies were going to be punished by God. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Amon, Moab, and Judah. God said that they had all sinned again and again and He would not allow them to go unpunished. This is just what the Israelites wanted to hear. Then Amos drops the bombshell. He includes Israel in the list. He accuses them of the very same sins AND MORE. They were selling their own poor into slavery in order to make a profit. They lacked compassion on the poor and needy. They were guilty of gross immorality. They were taking advantage of the poor and needy. They were idolatrous. And they were unrepentant. In spite of the fact that they were God’s chosen people.

“From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins” (Amos 3:2 NLT). God had to hold them accountable. His justice demanded it. His holiness required it. He could not deal with the sins of the pagan nations and turn a blind eye to the sins of His own people. His people had forgotten how to do right. They had grown fat and happy, rich and prosperous, by ignoring the very laws God had given them. Somehow they thought they had become immune to the consequences of sin. They seemingly believed that their position as God’s chosen people was going to protect them from reaping what they sowed. They were counting on God’s justice delivering their enemies the punishment they deserved. But they were special. They were privileged. They could get away with murder – literally. Or so they thought. Not only had they forgotten how to do what was right, they had forgotten the holiness of God. They had become complacent about His righteousness, power, and passion for holiness. They feared men more than God. They desired wealth more than God. They sought after ease and comfort more than God. They loved themselves more than they loved God. Could the same thing be said of us today? As God’s chosen people, are we just as guilty of spiritual complacency and apathy. Can we justify our sins and somehow think we can somehow escape the consequences of a lifestyle that is devoid of God? The warning from Amos is just as real today as it was then. God has not changed. He is just as holy now as He was then. His expectations have not changed. He has provided a means for us to deal with our sin. He has offered us a way to receive forgiveness. But God expects us to hate our sin and confess it regularly. He wants us to turn from sin back to Him. He wants us to obey. We are His special people, but He wants us to live like it. He has even provided us with the means to do so through the presence of His indwelling Holy Spirit. But have we forgotten how to do what is right?

Father, refresh my memory today. Help me remember how to do what is right, what You desire of me. Don’t let me become complacent, cocky and self-assured just because I have a relationship with Your Son. I want to live like who I am in Christ. I want my lifestyle to reflect the life change You have made possible.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org