Monday, October 12, 2015

PT-2 Woe to the Indulgent (Amos 6:3-7)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/12/2015 10:19 PM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  PT-2 Woe to the Indulgent

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Amos 6:3-7

            Message of the verses:  “3 Do you put off the day of calamity, And would you bring near the seat of violence? 4 Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall, 5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves, 6 Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, Yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the sprawlers’ banqueting will pass away.”

            We have to begin this SD with a quote from Warren Wiersbe as he writes about how what we are looking at in this section of Amos applies to nations today and before our day:  “When nations get pleasure-mad, it’s a sign that the end is near.  Belshazzar and his leaders were enjoying a sumptuous feast when the city of Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians (Dan. 5).  The Roman citizens enjoyed free ‘bread and circuses’ as the empire decayed morally and politically and eventually fell to the enemy.  One of the marks of the end is the fact that people become ‘lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God’ (2 Tim. 3:4).  No wonder Jesus warned followers, ‘But take heed to yourselves, lest you hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly’ (Luke 21:34).”  A couple of things that I wish to add and that say and one is that I changed the chapter reference to Daniel chapter five and also the statement that Jesus makes in Luke 21 is a part of the Olivet Discourse, which speaks to the end times, but we surely can apply it to the nations today and to believers today too.

            It would probably be a true statement to say that there are not too many people today that worry about the sins of the nations that they are living in, and the sins of the church that they are going to, but they should be, for when a nation or a church becomes too sinful then the Lord will bring them down.  We saw this in our study of Revelation chapters 2-3 which are Christ’s words to the seven churches.  An example of when politicians and churches are not concerned about the sin in their nations or churches is the Samarian politicians and also the church at Laodicea as we see in Revelation chapter three.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Too many Christians are laughing when they should be weeping (James 4:8-10) and tolerating sin when they should be opposing it (1 Cor. 5:2).”

            Dr. Wiersbe continues with a story:  “Dr. Vance Havner told of having dinner in a dining room that was dimly lighted.  At first, he could scarcely read the menu, but then he found he could see fairly well.  He said to his friends, ‘Isn’t it strange how easy it is to become accustomed to the dark?’  That’s one of the problems in the church today:  we’ve gotten accustomed to the darkness, and our lights aren’t shining bright enough.”

            When we look at verse seven we see that since these wealthy exploiters of the poor thought themselves to be the first in the land Amos writes “Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the sprawlers’ banqueting will pass away.”  “7 But here’s what’s really coming: a forced march into exile. They’ll leave the country whining, a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings (Message).”  Why would this be so? Because with the greater responsibility they had then they will have the greater punishment.  Let us look at Amos 7:10-17 to show the truth of this statement:  “10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. 11 “For thus Amos says, ’Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’" 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! 13 “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence." 14  Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. 15  "But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ’Go prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 “Now hear the word of the LORD: you are saying, ’You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17 “Therefore, thus says the LORD, ’Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’"” 

10/12/2015 10:44 PM

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