Amos 4 Bible Study
AMOS TIMELINE:
A commonly agreed date for the writing of the Book of Amos is between 760-750 B.C. The first verse of the book informs readers that Amos‘ book opens during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel, two years before the earthquake. The earthquake must have been a significant one because it was also mentioned by the prophet Zechariah in his writing (Zec 14:5) around 250 years later.
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS:
Amos 1 – Amos is introduced and God condemned several of Israel’s neighboring nations, including Syria, Philistia, Edom, Tyre, and the Ammonites.
Amos 2 – God condemned Moab and the southern kingdom of Judah before turning His anger against Israel. They were guilty of trampling the poor, worshiping idols, and ignoring God’s law.
Amos 3 – Amos asked Israel a series of obvious questions and told them Israel’s destruction would be equally obvious as the work of God. Israel was portrayed as a sheep devoured by a lion.
OUTLINE:
THE COWS OF BASHAN (4:1-5):
Amos addressed the indulgent and wicked women of Israel, calling them drunken cows (cows of Bashan, 4:1). These cows crushed the needy to feed their appetite for sin and luxury.
God foretold a day when He would drag the evildoers of Israel out of their land with hooks. He would do this when the “adversary” (the Assyrians, 3:11) conquered Samaria (Israel’s capital).
God mocked their false devotions. He sarcastically encouraged them to continue on offering their sacrifices and giving their tithes at their idol Temples. They were meaningless rituals, and they would hasten the day of Israel’s judgement.
“PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD” (4:6-13):
In this second section, God lists a number of disciplinary actions He took against Israel in order to bring them to repentance, but through them all, the people remained stubbornly fixed in their sins.
God caused Israel to have “cleanness of teeth” (lack of food), but they didn’t repent.
God withheld rain from certain parts of the country to dry up the crops, yet Israel didn’t repent.
God sent “blight and mildew” to ruin the vineyards, but Israel didn’t repent.
God sent locust to devour the olive trees, but Israel didn’t repent.
God sent diseases, like those He sent to Egypt during the plagues (Deu 28:60), but Israel didn’t repent.
God caused their young men to fall in battle, but Israel didn’t repent.
God overthrew some of them like He did Sodom and Gomorrah, but they still didn’t repent.
Many of the people of Israel were about to meet the One who “forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the height of the earth,” and this great Being’s mercy towards Israel had run out!
God declared, “prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (4:12).
APPLICATION:
It’s interesting how much impact the posture of our hearts will have on the temperament of God when finally meet Him.
Israel was about to meet a fierce omnipotent Being who was determined to judge them harshly because of their refusal to submit to Him.
But Jesus told a story about a prodigal son who, though he had sinned in great ways, was welcomed with open arms by his father because the posture of his heart was humble and repentant.
Many people fear the type of God they will meet on the other side of death, but we can remove a lot of that fear by simply putting aside our pride and rebellion and high-handed sins, and submitting ourselves humbly to God’s leading.
We may not be perfect, but one thing the Old Testament teaches us is that God never expected perfection from His people, He just wanted them to try. When the nation of Israel was trying to do what was right, God blessed them and talked highly of them.
If we can just try to do what is right, try to seek God, try to follow His instructions, try to live in humility, then I think we can comfort ourselves in the confidence that the Judge on the other side of death will approach the bench with a merciful temperament.
