http://countrysidechurchofchrist.sermon.net/main/main/21454412
Chapter 2:4 “Judgements against Judah and Israel” by Pastor Reggie Webb
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
http://countrysidechurchofchrist.sermon.net/main/main/21454412
Chapter 2:4 “Judgements against Judah and Israel” by Pastor Reggie Webb
thedailylily.com 
In this lesson where Judah and Israel get nailed, Pastor Reggie clearly points out many charges against them.
One particular charge that stood out to me was against Israel…Israel who lived in the very Northern Kingdom where Amos was delivering all his oracles. The charge was that the rights of the poor were totally ignored. These were the poor working class…those who worked hard, but didn’t have that much; who had a just and righteous cause. The rich, the prestigious, the corrupt judges; creditors, etc were exploiting them. There was collusion; a rigged legal system; the rich wanting everything the poor had, etc. Pastor Reggie cited Ex 23:6 and Deut. 16:9 and said that God demands that justice should not be denied to the poor and he then very deliberately asked the question, “Is it still going on in our country?” He answered his own question by saying, “You know it is.”
The charge against Israel reminded me of a scripture of how the cries of the poor reach the ears of the Lord in the NT and how the Lord continues to view this injustice. I found this in the Message translation:
“You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment. All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. James 5:1-6
Debi, did you just watch 3 different new’s channels and give us your notes?📗📝Or was this Reggie from the Book of Amos and direct Bible quotes? “Oh my” Lot of “you’s” guess I’m going to play dodge ball and dodge the you and say not me!😱
I must say Amos is in the moment!
“Debi, did you just watch 3 different new’s channels and give us your notes?”
This was my notes from listening to Pastor Reggie and quotes right from the Bible. I agree with you that Amos is in the moment. Sure seems relevant for today’s happenings.
Sure need to make friends with this word to help build plain the lesson! “debauchery”….
I just read Gloria Gaither’s online newsletter and look:
“The prophet Amos lived at a time not unlike our own. It was a time of control freaks, self-sufficiency and affluence, yet a time when the poor were too often oppressed and injustice was an accepted practice. Religious performance was common but spiritual integrity and real obedience to God was uncommon. Here in his own words Amos said: “The Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, checking it with a plumb line to see if it was straight”.
And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I answered, “A plumb line.”
And he replied, “I will test my people with a plumb line……” (Amos 7:7-8a)
Sounds like that between Pastor Reggie and Gloria Gaither the Lord is really talking and emphasizing the importance of Amos for this hour.
In newsletter written by Gloria Gaither, she responded to the Book of Amos. As we have been studying Amos also, it is interesting to see our responses are very much the same. Our nation is falling into the same rut. Has God’s gavel fallen yet 😱
We can pull the cable and shut down news sites on our Tech devices, but disrespect for human rights and broken Commandments of God are plastered with each news clip which can not be silenced.
Looking up, “What is a plumb line spoken by God in the Book of Amos”
( which Gloria Gaither brought to our attention) says it has a lot to do with righteousness, that is living in right relationship with God and neighbor.”
In reading Haggai this week, God asked the people : “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house (god’s Temple) remains a ruin?” He said of the people – you have planted much but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. He says what you brought home, I blew away. …because His house remains in ruins.
The people listened and did as God asked. They came, gathered materials, and began work. This was a remnant that had the fear of the Lord and refocused on what God wanted. They met the plumb line test.
However the ones who chose not to be apart of the remnant, God said there would be a shaking of the earth and the heavens. He would overrun royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. Those who didn’t choose to walk God’s Highway suffered God’s judgement.
Choices- we all face them. Serve the LIVING GOD or serve gods of wood/brick/gold/silver falling into the weaknesses the enemy knows that will destroy: power, pride, lust of money/stuff, disobedience, and debauchery.
Upon opening up Praying with Smith Wigglesworth, this morning, these words opened to me the plumb line.
“God never intended His people to be ordinary or common place. His intentions were that they should be on fire for Him, conscious of His divine power, realizing the glory of the cross that foreshadows the Crown.”
Not Ordinary (from the Book)
Lord, help me to be extraordinary,
To leave behind commonplace for the fireplace;
To blaze with Your glory;
To receive the crown of life;
To proclaim for eternity the wonder of Your cross.
Amen!!!
Rena mentioned one group of people that she read about in Haggai that did make some changes to serve the Lord and please Him and walk in His ways.
Pastor Reggie also mentioned someone who apparently did likewise. He said that when Nehemiah (Nehemiah Ch 5) returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he found out that a lot of things need to be “set in order”. One of those things was that that the rich were taking advantage of the poor and it made him very angry. So, he “changed what was happening and he made those things right.”
Encouraging to hear there were a few changemakers.
In Gloria Gaither’s newsletter, she responded to the Book of Amos. As we have been studying Amos also, it is interesting to see our responses are very much the same. Our nation is falling into the same rut. Has God’s gavel fallen yet 😱
We can pull the cable and shut down news sites on our Tech devices, but disrespect for human rights and broken Commandments of God are plastered with each news clip which can not be silenced.
Looking up, “What is a plumb line spoken by God in the Book of Amos” ( which Gloria Gaither brought to our attention) says it has a lot to do with righteousness, that is living in right relationship with God and neighbor.”
In reading Haggai this week, God asked the people : “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house (god’s Temple) remains a ruin?” He said of the people – you have planted much but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. He says what you brought home, I blew away. …because His house remains in ruins.
The people listened and did as God asked. They came, gathered materials, and began work. This was a remnant that had the fear of the Lord and refocused on what God wanted. They met the plumb line test.
However the ones who chose not to be apart of the remnant, God said there would be a shaking of the earth and the heavens. He would overrun royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. Those who didn’t choose to walk God’s Highway suffered God’s judgement.
Choices- we all face them. Serve the LIVING GOD or serve gods of wood/brick/gold/silver falling into the weaknesses the enemy knows that will destroy: power, pride, lust of money/stuff, disobedience, and debauchery.
Upon opening up Praying with Smith Wigglesworth, this morning, these words opened to me the plumb line.
“God never intended His people to be ordinary or common place. His intentions were that they should be on fire for Him, conscious of His divine power, realizing the glory of the cross that foreshadows the Crown.”
Not Ordinary (from the Book)
Lord, help me to be extraordinary,
To leave behind commonplace for the fireplace;
To blaze with Your glory;
To receive the crown of life;
To proclaim for eternity the wonder of Your cross.
Amen!!!