Amos 7 - Separation of Church and State

by Lance Ponder⁽⁸⁶⁾
http://fkiprofessor.xanga.com

Locust Vision
Amos 7:1-3 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord God, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this: “It shall not be,” said the Lord. This is the first of three consecutive visions given to Amos. Amos cried out for forgiveness and God grants mercy.

Fire Vision

Amos 7:4-6 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, “O Lord God, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this: “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God. This vision is very much like the one before it. Amos witnesses a judgment of destruction, pleas for forgiveness, and receives mercy from God. In both cases one righteous man begs the Lord on behalf of the people. In both cases the request of the one man saves many.

Plumb Vision

Amos 7:7-9 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” This is the third in a series of three consecutive visions. This time Amos does not intervene to beg forgiveness. It appears that this judgment is final. A plumb line is a string with a weight tied on one end. When hung from the top of a wall it is easy to see if the wall is perfectly vertical. A wall that leans will eventually fall. In this case the Lord is standing by a wall build using a plumb line to ensure it is straight and sturdy. The wall built by the Lord will not fall. Everything God builds is perfect, including walls. God is holy and He demands holiness (Lev 11:44). When He says He is putting a plumb line in the midst of Israel, He is saying He is measuring how straight are the people. They fail the test. Just as a wall that is not straight will fall, so will a people that is not straight. If we measure our own lives with God’s plumb line, our flaws are exposed. Exposing flaws – sin – is only a bad thing if we refuse to return to our Lord and let Him heal and renew us. He will make us upright, able to stand against the world, if we submit fully. In our submission and love we are purified – not by our works or words, but by the divine power of our sovereign Creator. In this case an entire nation is being judged. God deals with individuals, but He also deals with entire nations. When individuals submit to a leader and that leader is judged, the followers are subject to the same indictment. Public sentiment in support of the spiritually failed leadership of Israel indicts the people along with their leaders. God may spare individuals or use certain individuals in the midst of national judgment, but as a whole the people who turn from God will fall as surely as a wall that is not plumb. This example of judgment of judgment is a common theme in scripture and nowhere is there any suggestion God deals in any other way with those who are determined to turn from Him in sin and corruption. In modern American culture we see a church in serious decline, denial of God from the public forum, and acceptance of all manner of sin in our culture. Should we expect any different result than that of ancient Israel?

Separation of Church and State

Amos 7:10-11 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’” Religion is a perfectly fine thing until God intervenes with an unpopular truth. At the time Amos spoke his prophecy the city of Bethel had become one of two main centers for pagan worship in the land of Israel. The king not only tolerated paganism, he and his court actively supported pagan rites and rituals in society against the well known yet well ignored Torah. Over the course of about two centuries the nation turned from its founding faith in a single Creator to a watered down religion including only elements of the former faith among many lies. The parallels between the moral degradation of Israel and that of America are as frightening as they are vivid. A faith that speaks out in judgment against the sinful course of political leadership is seen as a threat to be eliminated rather than a concerned warning to return to truth and righteousness. The politically popular pagan priest, like the humanists and atheists and scientists of our day, sought to warn the political leader of a dangerous threat not only to his personal security, but to the nation.

Amos Silenced

Amos 7:12-13 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” Such a response to Amos could only be construed as an attempt to silence him. The priest did not care where Amos went so long as he went away. Compared with the fates of other prophets, banishment was actually not so bad. The priest’s suggestion of going to Judah was probably intended to be something like sending Amos from the frying pan to the fire. If Judah reacted like Israel, Amos would be in real trouble. In much the same way Herod tried to excuse himself from the guild of Christ’s crucifixion by sending him to Pilate.

Amos Breaks the Silence

Amos 7:14-15 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ This passage offers a rare glimpse into the history of one of the “minor” biblical prophets. Much more importantly, it sounds a great deal like the words Jesus spoke to Peter just before ascending. The great commission of Mt 28:19-20 instructs Peter and the disciples to go and make more disciples. The book of John closes with different words, but much the same idea: “He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.” Like Peter, Amos was pulled from among the flock and given divine instructions from the Lord to go and feed his sheep. In a general sense all believers are called to share their faith, testifying to the truth and grace of Christ as Lord and Savior. We are called to speak the truth with love, to love God and one another. We find our ultimate fulfillment for existence when we love and are loved. Jesus demonstrated the greatest act of love in dying for us and showing us his victory over death – a victory believers share. We cannot die to save the souls of others, but we can obey the Lord as Amos did and speak the truth as God reveals it to us. Jesus warned us there would be a price to pay and Amos, like many of the prophets, was made to suffer in the worldly sense for his obedience to God. Even so, Amos obeyed. We, too, are called and we either believe and obey or disbelieve and disobey.

God Gets the Last Word

Amos 7:16-17 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore thus says the Lord: “‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” There are consequence both for obedience and disobedience. The priest refused to heed the command of God and here Amos spells out God’s judgment against the priest for his disobedience. It is to the glory of God that He reveals this judgment so that when it later comes to pass Amos is vindicated and God is exalted. There may be no way to prove the specific prophecies against this priest came to pass, however we know that Israel was exiled. Given the accuracy of Amos’ other prophecies there is no reason to doubt these things did happen to this priest’s wife, children, and land. The points to be remembered are these: the Lord does what He says He will do and obedience resulting from faith is rewarded and disobedience, the fruit of disbelief, is punished (Jn 3:36).

Majoring in the Minors

Amos Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9

Article submitted Monday, September 13, 2010 & read 156 times.

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