There are 12 minor prophets in the Bible: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. This week we are focusing on Amos.
Prophets were people called by God and were filled with God’s Spirit. These prophets revealed God’s plan for mankind. “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” – Amos 3:7. God gave them authority to speak for Him. These prophets were not professionals, but ordinary people. They spoke God’s Word to people who had turned away from God. In a sense a prophet is a preacher. In Israel’s history the priests often became corrupt and turned away from God. Prophets arose to teach God’s law to people and kings who worshipped many gods. God calls these false gods, idols.
The prophet Amos didn’t come from a family of prophets and didn’t consider himself one. He was a shepherd and farmer the southern kingdom of Judah. He was an ordinary person just like you. In Amos 7:14-1 God called him into service. God used ordinary people such as shepherds, carpenters, and fisherman throughout the Bible. Whatever you are in this life, God can use you.
Amos prophesied judgment on the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel and the surrounding nations. He specifically condemned Israel for rejecting God and refusing to repent. They worshiped false gods, they refused to live by God’s standards, and they abused their wealth and power. He prophesied about imminent judgment and the day of the Lord (the final judgment at the second coming of Jesus). He ended his prophecies with the restoration of Israel and people from all nations. His message was: “Seek the Lord and live.” – Amos 5:6. He declared, “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” – Amos 5:15.
God actively reveals Himself to us.
In the past God spoke through the prophets and in various ways. God also speaks to us today. All we have to do is to look around at His creation. The heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1-6). He speaks to us through His Word (Psalm 119:105). He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus (John 14:27, 17:17). He spoke to us through His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7; 2 Peter 1:20-21). He spoke to us through the prophets and also through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2; Isaiah 30:21). Since the creation of the world He has made it plain to us through His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature so men are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).
When Israel rejected God, He sent prophets calling them to return to a life He had chosen for them. The prophets often spoke difficult messages in troubling times. Kings of that time were supposed to guide their nations to live in obedience to God. Many of them did not. So God sent prophets. “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” – 2 Chronicles 36:15.
Some prophets spoke to the kingdom of Judah, some to the kingdom of Israel, and some to foreign nations. They spoke about current events as well as prophesied about future events. The entire Bible points to Jesus. It tells us all He is, all he has done, and all He will do.
God called His prophets in different ways.
Isaiah was called by giving him a vision. Isaiah found himself in the awesome presence of a holy God and became aware of his own imperfections. Then a seraph touched his lips with a live coal and took away his guilt. After being purified a voice said, “Who shall I send and who will go for Us?” Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me!” His answer was immediate and without hesitation. He realized that God’s judgment would fall upon His people and he wanted to warn them before it was too late. God gave him a message of warning and also a message of hope. (Isaiah 6:1-8).
Jeremiah was called by God speaking to him. He told Jeremiah that He was the Lord of life. God formed him in the womb. Jeremiah had biological parents, but God fashioned him and knit him together in his mother’s womb. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5. God uses the natural processes He designed to plant human life in the womb. A fetus is a person and a person is a human being, created in the image of God. Our birth is not our beginning. Conception is not our beginning. We began before the foundation of the world. “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” – Ephesians 1:4.
Through these OT prophets we learn the truth about God, we learn the truth about people, and we learn principles to live by today. Nothing has changed. People are still rebellious and sinful. They ignore God, think they know more than God, think they don’t need God, think they have more time to live for God, or think there is no God.
We learn a lot about God, too. He is holy and has standards that we are to live by. When we don’t live by His standards, we will be judged and punished. But there is hope. He is merciful and has love for all people. He cares for us and gives us chance after chance to turn away from sin and turn to Him. He is sovereign and has divine power over our enemies. God continues to reach out to us with His love and grace.
God put you where you are so you can speak for Him in your own specific way. Whether you go out into the work place each day or not, you influence the people around you. They see your actions and hear your words. You are a witness for God whether you know it or not.
God made promises to His people and called them to live holy lives just as He calls us to live holy. In Jeremiah 30:22, “So you will be my people and I will be your God.”
God's involvement throughout history.
It is important to study God’s involvement in Old Testament history. First the Old Testament is part of God’s Word. It is the foundation for the New Testament. To understand the NT we need to know the OT prophecies and Israel’s history. We learn from the lives of the people in the OT. God was involved in their lives and He is involved in our lives. He actively revealed Himself throughout history and does so today. The OT shows us just who God is and what He expects from us. It shows us He means business! He is our Creator and we are to worship Him and only Him.
We should wholeheartedly give our devotion to God, because He will teach us His ways and give us a new spirit. “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” – Psalm 86:11. “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” – Ezekiel 11:19-20.
What is keeping you from wholehearted devotion to God?
Romans 15:4 is encouraging because the Bible both Old and New Testament was written to teach us that there is hope. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Principles:
This week’s attribute of God is He is Merciful. When Israel rejected God, He sent prophets to remind them that God calls people to worship and obey Him alone. Because He is merciful, He even sent prophets to the enemies to warn them. This message is for us today – repent and turn to God. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” – Acts 3:19
Key verses:
“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” – Amos 3:7
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” - Romans 15:4
“The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again,, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” – 2 Chronicles 36:15.
Next time we will continue our study of Kingdom Divided in the book of Jonah. Until then I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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