Amos "The
Northern Kingdom, "House of Israel" This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and made available with written permission by http://www.theseason.org Amos 4:1 "Hear this word, ye kine of Ba'-shan, that are in the mountain of Sa-ma'-ri-a, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink." God is commanding you to listen to what He is going to say. The "kine of Bashan" are "the fat cows", or today we say the "fat cats" that have robbed and stolen from the poor. To be wealthy with ill-gotten gains takes away any position you may have had with Our Heavenly Father. God will bless men in their business if they follow His ways; and this is not to be confused with gains made with shady practices. God is directing His criticism to those people in the "Mountains of Samaria" who oppress the poor. Just where are the Mountains of Samaria? "Mountains" in prophecy are "nations", and "Samaria" was the capital of the ancient "House of Israel". Those nations of Samaria are scattered all over the world, for they are the nations made up of the offspring of the ten tribes that comprised the ancient "house of Israel". This is not speaking of the Jews for the Jews are made up of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and today they have parts of the Levitical tribe, as well as many Kenites mixed amongst them. This prophecy of Amos is for a time at the end of this earth age, just prior to Jesus Christ's return. So this "House of Israel" are the off-spring nations. The Christian nations in the world today, including the United States, England, Canada, Australia, and so on. God is directing this warning to all those who grew fat in wealth on the backs of the poor in these nations. Amos 4:2 "The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks." The Lord can swear by none other than Himself. You can count on it friend, a time of accounting is coming, and will be fair. All the wealth you have gained by suppression of others will put you in bondage. The "hooks" represent your breaking; while your posterity, or children will suffer the change with "fishhooks" (much pain). Amos 4:3 "And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord." God is going to throw them out of their possessions, and into their houses. Then bring their houses down upon them. Our Lord is angry with anyone who takes advantage of His little ones, anyone who steals and tricks God's children into bondage. Amos 4:4 "Come to Beth'-el, and transgress; at Gil'-gal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:" "Bethel" is "The House of God". God is warning those that come to church and use it as a stepping stone to fleece His sheep, to steal and rob from them, and promote their Godless acts. They smile as they bring the tithes of robbery and usury after "three years" (meaning - sacrificial pilgrimages). In time their wealth has grown, and they want to see if they can please the Father with their tithes and offerings. Amos 4:5 "And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God." This refers to heathen sacrifices and traditions that make void the Word of God. The your leaven bread [gifts and tithes] is putrid in His sight, when it is offered by you. This is given in irony! You steal what you have in secret, then you stand and publish what you give in public where every one will see. The tithe you do give is stolen from God's poor children, and you want Him to bless you for it. How dumb do you think God is? God said, you like to do this, but I don't like it. Love offerings are from the heart. Amos 4:6 "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." This is referring to the many times that God has brought famine on a nation, to try to bring the nation back to Him. Yet that nation continues right on with their evil ways. When men confess and cry out to the Lord in repentance, and the Lord hears the cries, and prosperity returns; However so does the evilness of men's hearts. Amos 4:7 "And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered." Does this ring a bell in your mind? The heavy rains came to get the crops started, and then the drought. We saw it in our nation. The heavy rains in the Midwest, but not a drop in the west. Friend, Amos is talking to our generation, to those living in the time of the end. Remember Amos 3:7? "God will tell you what He will do before He does it." The "fruit of the rain" is your profits. God is saying that He is cutting your profits off. Do you get it? God's telling us that He controls this rain; He does what He wants to do and the rain goes where He says it goes. Amos 4:8 "So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Take the spiritual aspect to this verse. In these final days new doctrines and spiritual ideas are springing up all over. As each new idea hits one church, all other churches run to that church until that new religious teaching grows still and dies. Then in time it happens all over again. People are starved for the truth of God's word; seeking their emotional highs, and something to satisfy, and even with these new ideas they are left with a spiritual void. The preachers are not giving them what they need in these end times. God's sheep will be defenseless when the adversary (Satan) arrives with his lies and deceptions. God's Word gives us all that we need for these times. Yet people seek the traditions of men rather than the Word of God. Stop chasing the false Christ's for they are many. Matthew 24:4,5. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For Many shall come in My name, saying, `I am Christ;' and shall deceive many." Get off the milk, and into the meat of the Word. Amos 4:9 "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerwood devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Again God is showing us that He is in control. Amos 4:10 "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and I have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned me, saith the Lord." When all the problems came even back in Egypt, His people didn't take Him seriously. Amos 4:11 "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Go-mor'-rah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Have you caught on to what God is telling us? He is telling us He manipulates our lives to get our attention, and we just don't get it. Our Lord is trying to get you to say, "Father, I love you". He is trying to get you to repent and come to Him. So what is God trying to save you from? Zechariah 3:2 "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" You are the remnant of God and God will save (pluck) His own out of the fire. He is trying to save you from the deceptions of Satan. This book of Amos is written to our generation, for it is Satan coming to trip up this final generation. He will use every tactic you could imagine, and Satan will know your weakness. Have you taken inventory of your strengths and weaknesses? Is it your hair, or your home, or even your job? What would you not give up? Fame? How about friends or family? Could it be a habit, smoking, drinking, drugs, or even sports? You have many weaknesses and they must be purged or brought under control if you are to stand. Just as Satan tested Christ, if you're living on earth, shortly you will be tested also. Is there anything you put between your soul and Christ? The scriptures give us the protection we need for this time. It instructs us how to identify Antichrist; to know how he operates, as well as what the events surrounding the time are and the lengths of those times. It's all in God's written Word. Amos 4:12 "Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." When? With the one world political system will enforce, the House of Judah back within it's borders, and sodomy and deception getting out of control, I would say, it's very close. Well, surely we have another couple of years? Don't bet on it. Russia collapsed in three days and restructured in two weeks. The monetary system of the world came within hours of falling apart, while the aligning of nations of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is already come to pass. The problems that the world is facing seem to need some supernatural mind to bring it all under control. Nations are willing to submit their authority to a unified government, even in the old Communist world No, we're at the doorstep and the world is blind to it, for they simply don't believe God's Word. Amos 4:13 "For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name." God is saying that He created the earth, the spirit of man, and man. Our loving God created each of us in His image, with the ability to think, reason, and make a choice to serve Him. Our loving Father seeks our love, devotion, and worship. However, He cannot force that love from you, for then the choice would be gone, and we would be as cloned robots. No, we have free choice (will) to choose or not to choose, and this choice will control the destiny of our souls. Eternal bliss with the Lord or ashes after judgment. Is our Lord a fire-breathing God or a loving God? He is a just and loving God who will be fair in His justice. If you are judged with Satan, it is because you freely chose it. God created your soul for one purpose - - to worship and follow him, to seek His help and forgiveness, and that is as easy as saying, "I'm sorry". Repentance is knowing you have sinned against God and asking His forgiveness. He created your mind, and He knows what is in it. But you control that mind, and it takes you to seek His forgiveness in repentance.
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