SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2015
9:24 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 of
Judgment on Israel
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Amos 2:6-16
Message of the
verses: “6 Thus says the LORD,
"For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke its
punishment, Because they sell the righteous for money And the needy for a pair
of sandals. 7 "These who pant after
the very dust of the earth on the head of the helpless Also turn aside the way
of the humble; And a man and his father resort to the same girl In order to
profane My holy name. 8 “On garments taken as pledges they stretch out beside
every altar, And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who
have been fined.
“9 "Yet it was I who destroyed the
Amorite before them, Though his height was like the height of cedars And he was
strong as the oaks; I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below. 10 “It
was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, And I led you in the
wilderness forty years That you might take possession of the land of the
Amorite. 11 “Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets And some of your
young men to be Nazirites. Is this not so, O sons of Israel?" declares the
LORD. 12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, And you commanded the prophets
saying, ’You shall not prophesy!’ 13 “Behold, I am weighted down beneath you As
a wagon is weighted down when filled with sheaves. 14 “Flight will perish from
the swift, And the stalwart will not strengthen his power, Nor the mighty man
save his life. 15 “He who grasps the bow will not stand his ground, The swift
of foot will not escape, Nor will he who rides the horse save his life. 16 “Even
the bravest among the warriors will flee naked in that day," declares the
LORD.”
We are looking again at Amos chapter two and verses six
through sixteen as we look at the charges that God through Amos charges Israel
with. Our next charge is sexual
immorality and is found in 2:7b where we read about a man and a son visiting
the same prostate. I have to say that
this reminds me of the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians where read of a man who
has had relations with his father’s wife, which would be his step mother. It also reminds me of Reuben who had
relations with one of his father, Jacobs hand-maids who would have been
considered Jacob’s wife. Sexual sin is
very tempting to both males and females as God has given to all of us a sex
drive, but when He created man and then women His plan was for one man to live
with one woman for life and of course that plan has gotten put aside in recent
days in our country to the disgrace of our country.
The third sin that Amos brings up is open idolatry as
seen in Amos 2:8 where we read “8 “On garments taken as pledges they stretch
out beside every altar, And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those
who have been fined.” Dr. Wiersbe
explains “Wealthy men took their debtors’ garments as pledges but did not
return them at sundown as the law commanded (Ex. 22:26-27; Deut 24:10-13, 17). Instead, these rich sinners visited pagan
altars, where they got drunk on wine purchased with the fines they exacted from
the poor. Then, in their drunken stupor,
they slept by the altars on other people’s garments, defiling the garments and
disobeying the law. The officials were
getting rich by exploiting the people, and then were using their unjust gain
for committing sin.” I for one am glad
he explained all that.
In our next SD we will look at the glorious past that Israel
had which Amos writes about after their sinfulness he has just explained.
8/27/2015 9:44 PM
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