Divine Judgment (Amos 6:8-14)

Introduction

• Amos’ judgment > lament > woe. Moral Reformation > Religious Reformation.
• Amos has been addressing a self-righteous people who are not hostile to the Word of God, but indifferent about its impact upon their morality.
• They have become unthinking in their worship and indifferent in their morality.

Read Amos 6:8-14

• Common theme: reversal of expectations (1:2; 2:9; 3:2; 3:12; 4:1-3; 5:3; 5:13; 5:18-23).
• The people are still not responding! God has, in no uncertain terms, made his condemnation of their moral and religious failures abundantly clear. But they continue to ignore his messenger, Amos.
• We see a bit of escalation of language in this passage.
• The Lord’s patience will not last forever. There is still time to repent if you can hear his voice.
  1. Declaration of Divine Judgment (8)
  2. Illustration of Divine Judgment (9-10)
  3. Explanation of Divine Judgment (11-14)

Declaration of Divine Judgment (8)

• Three verbs describe God’s sworn hatred (Abhor > Hate > Deliver).
• What does the Lord swear that he hates?
  1. Pride: Military and national. Jacob (all 12 tribes).
  2. Self-reliance: They built their strongholds so that they might be complacent. Summarizes condemnation of previous section (6:1-7).

• The very things that brought them pride disgusted God.

Alec Motyer When this God swears by himself. He commits the totality of His nature (the Holy One, the Redeemer, and Judge), the totality of His status as the World’s Sovereign Lord, and the totality of His effective power as the Omnipotent.

• Positive: God must be preeminent.
• Negative: God hates being replaced.
• Such severe language should have knocked the people off their feet. But, there is no indication they even heard.
• 1 Peter 5:5-6 If you want God’s grace (not opposition), humble yourselves!

The declaration of judgment is followed by an…

Illustration of Divine Judgment (9-10)

• Ten men in a single home? Possibly soldiers cowering together in an abandoned home only to die there.
• Some confusion about who’s talking:
  1. Relative and cremator
  2. Cremator and survivor
• It would be pointless to call on the Lord because everyone is already dead.

• “We must not mention the name of Yahweh” (“Voldemort, who shall not be named.”).
• Probably cuts off curse/prayer/lamentation.
• The last survivors want the Lord to stay away.
• As the bodies pile up the people are no longer able to invoke God’s name. They feel so alienated from God.

• No certainty about call for silence, but it reveals a distance between them and God (either one of bitterness or unbelief).
• Despite all of the ignored warnings, they want nothing to do with God.
• In their pride, they still blame God.

This illustration of divine judgment is followed by an…

Explanation of Divine Judgment (11-14)

• v.11 What? All houses will become rubble.
• v.12 Why? They reversed the purposes of justice and righteousness.
• v.13 Trusted in Jeroboam II’s short-lived victories. Lo-debar = “Nothing”. Karnaim = “Horns”
• v.14 How? The entire land would be defeated (North > South).

Alec Motyer Reverse natural laws, reverse national fortunes and the world takes note; reverse moral values and no-one thinks anything significant has happened.

• What’s happening today, where evil is called good and good is called evil, is nothing new.
• Men have been perfecting the art of redefining morality since creation.

• Why? Who caused it?
  1. Samaria (14)
  2. God (8, 11)
  3. Leaders (1-3, 4-7)
  4. Pride (8) <- Primary enemy
• Pride manifests itself in many ways:
  1. Making comparisons with other people.
  2. Riches and wealth.
  3. Security in things.
  4. Military pride.

Our response to the declaration, illustration, and explanation of divine judgment is humility.

Conclusion

• Summary:
  • Has the shock factor of the declaration of God’s judgment begun to fade?
  • We cannot resist God by stonewalling him. The illustration of the people’s inability to invoke God’s name in prayer/lamentation should cause us to consider what keeps us from pouring out our hearts to the Lord.
  • The explanation of God’s judgment helps us see the greatness of our own sin and seek to kill it.
• Jesus stood condemned, receiving God’s declaration of judgment upon himself. On the cross he endured the full weight of God’s wrath. Why? Hebrews 2:10 Bringing many sons to glory.