After Amos tells the Israelites their status as God’s chosen people actually puts them in more danger than the pagans, he tells them their impending judgment is the logical outcome of their behavior. This is a continuation of his defense of the sentence he prophesied in 2:13-16. 3-6 He begins by asking several rhetorical questions. […]
Amos begins his second series of oracles. Remember that the Israelites listening to Amos are likely shocked to hear they are in danger of judgment. Times are good, they worship Yahweh as they have for almost two centuries, God’s blessing is clearly in their lives, and their behavior has been rationalized for so long that […]
Amos has finished his prophecies about the surrounding nations and now reaches his main message – his proclamations against Israel itself. Interestingly, his initial condemnations are similar to the charges made against the pagans. The people of Israel are no longer distinguishable from the people without the law. As noted before, Amos’ listeners could very […]
Amos has prophesied against the pagan nations around Israel. He began with those who are not related – Aram, Philistia, Phoenicia – and moved to the ones who share a blood relation to Israel – Edom, Ammon, Moab. Now he speaks against the closest nation both geographically and relationally – Judah. He is slowly coming […]
Amos proclaims judgment on seven nations surrounding Israel. He prophesies against Israel’s neighbors before finally working his way back to Israel itself. Six of the seven countries are pagan – the seventh is Judah. The purpose of these prophecies seems to be to show God as judge over all the earth, not just Israel. It […]
Jesus concludes His sermon with a final application comparing those who look saved with those who truly are. He already discussed people who go through the wide gate and travel the wide way versus those who go through the narrow gate and travel the narrow way. He explained that there are false teachers who bear […]
There are two ways to go about discussing the authenticity and trustworthiness of the Bible. There’s the apologetic view, which seeks to prove the reliability of the Bible through external proofs and historical evidence. Things like: Not one major doctrine of orthodox Christianity rests on a disputed or uncertain translation of the Bible’s original languages. […]
In this text Jesus takes a break from outlining the precepts of the Kingdom and encourages us to get help from the King to obey the King’s commands. He’s at a point in the sermon where He essentially says to His listeners, “If you’ve been paying attention you should realize by now that you stand […]
When a man is speaking to God he is at his very acme. It is the highest activity of the human soul, and therefore it is at the same time the ultimate test of a man’s true spiritual condition. There is nothing that tells the truth about us a Christian people so much as our […]
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God This Beatitude may perhaps seem less weighty than the others. It doesn’t seem to compare to being poor in spirit, or being meek and merciful. But peace between men in this world isn’t common or easy, and the believer who’s characterized by peace […]
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