Amos 4

[Drought of the Heart]

What great timing God can have . Amos became one of my favorites when putting the book together. Amos did not go to Seminary and so he was rejected and ignored by the system of man, nothing has changed. Amos picked fruit and was a herder God chose him to bring a message no one wanted to hear. From the beginning humans have not changed we only want to hear good things, remember Micaiah in 2 Kings .

Someone ask why is the old testament so violent. We only have to remember John the Baptist , all the babies killed trying to kill baby Jesus , Jesus on the Cross ,Stephen so on and so on to answer that question. I always wonder what movies , games and sports these people watch that ask this???

Jesus suffered all that violence for us to have the Holy Spirit and trust and rely on all Three ,on a very violent planet. They where in a war in Amos and we are today but Jesus left us Armor in Ephesians 6 to wear.

God never did things as humans do them read Job.

Amos 4 is my favorite chapter … 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 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. 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 . 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 palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and 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 unto me, saith the Lord . 11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord .

What was done to John the Baptist and Jesus was violent, what God does in Amos 4 is love , grace and mercy but we turned love into something else as well.



We are in a time of seeking refuge. From the boats in all seas around the world full of people to Mexico to a different kind in Hawaii , refuge is the cry.

This world was unkind in Amos and it is today but there is only One place to seek refuge and One place to teach others to seek it.





It was all about turning to God in Amos and today is no different. Mathew 24 , Mark 13 and Luke 21 tells us we will all be in those boats , in those camps but this is what we are to know about those times … Luke 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.



Those things in Amos 4 God used to speak to His people , He has always used and will use. Turning to Him in Amos was all He ask then and all He ask now. Not sure we know how to really turn to Him as He called them to do in Scriptures anymore...Maybe read Jonah 3 that God loved ...

 

[brinny]

What great timing God can have . Amos became one of my favorites when putting the book together. Amos did not go to Seminary and so he was rejected and ignored by the system of man, nothing has changed. Amos picked fruit and was a herder God chose him to bring a message no one wanted to hear. From the beginning humans have not changed we only want to hear good things, remember Micaiah in 2 Kings .

Someone ask why is the old testament so violent. We only have to remember John the Baptist , all the babies killed trying to kill baby Jesus , Jesus on the Cross ,Stephen so on and so on to answer that question. I always wonder what movies , games and sports these people watch that ask this???

Jesus suffered all that violence for us to have the Holy Spirit and trust and rely on all Three ,on a very violent planet. They where in a war in Amos and we are today but Jesus left us Armor in Ephesians 6 to wear.

God never did things as humans do them read Job.

Amos 4 is my favorite chapter … 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 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. 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 . 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 palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and 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 unto me, saith the Lord . 11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord .

What was done to John the Baptist and Jesus was violent, what God does in Amos 4 is love , grace and mercy but we turned love into something else as well.



We are in a time of seeking refuge. From the boats in all seas around the world full of people to Mexico to a different kind in Hawaii , refuge is the cry.

This world was unkind in Amos and it is today but there is only One place to seek refuge and One place to teach others to seek it.





It was all about turning to God in Amos and today is no different. Mathew 24 , Mark 13 and Luke 21 tells us we will all be in those boats , in those camps but this is what we are to know about those times … Luke 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.



Those things in Amos 4 God used to speak to His people , He has always used and will use. Turning to Him in Amos was all He ask then and all He ask now. Not sure we know how to really turn to Him as He called them to do in Scriptures anymore...Maybe read Jonah 3 that God loved ...

Thank you. I must admit i have not read much of Amos. I'm inspired to delve into it now. What a precious man of God he was.

Thank you for sharing this. Your enthusiasm is evident.

God bless you.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

What great timing God can have . Amos became one of my favorites when putting the book together..........................

Amos 4 is my favorite chapter … 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samarimya, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink...........
...

Than you for posting that as I have not read thru Amos in awhile.
I never realized how important Samaria was in the NT until I saw Amos 4, so that drew my interest.

1st time used:

1King 13:32
“For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines[fn] on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

Here we have the beginning of Samaria:

1Kings 16:
24 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.
25 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill,
and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill.

Last time used in OT:

Micah 1:6
“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,
Places for planting a vineyard;
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
And I will uncover her foundations.

Samaria is also mentioned in the NT. Now this is fascinating.

He tells the Apostles not to go into a city of the Samaritans.

Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

Matt 10:5
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

Jesus however went and ran into the woman at the well, and eventually converted many of them.
[Just as Jonah did with Ninevites,Jonah 3:7, Matthew 12:4 Luke 11:32 ]

John 4:
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that Thou, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him
because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”

However after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them Samaria:

Acts 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me[fn] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 8:
4 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Then they ran into the pesky Simon the Sorcerer, who also wanted the Holy Spirit

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

But it was the miraculous conversion of Saul/Paul that rallied the all the followers of Jesus

Acts 9:
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.
29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
31Then the churches[fn] throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Judea and Samaria Area - Wikipedia

The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by the ancient names Judea and Samaria. Samaria corresponds to part of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, also known as the Northern Kingdom. Judea corresponds to part of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom.

After the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel in about 721 BCE, the previous inhabitants were deported and replaced by forced resettlement by other peoples, which eventually became Samaritans, at the hands of the Assyrians.

As a direct consequence, a central part of the former Northern Kingdom of Israel was renamed Samaria (Shomron in Hebrew). During the Hellenistic and Roman periods the name of the former Southern Kingdom of Judah was hellenized to Judea.

In modern times, Samaria was the name of one of the administrative districts of Mandatory Palestine. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, adopted in 1947, referred to "Samaria and Judea" as part of a proposed Arab state to be carved out of the Mandate of Palestine but the boundaries of "Samaria and Judea" did not precisely coincide with the current Judea and Samaria Area