Pastor Scott Jonas
Amos 1-2: Judgement against the Nations
12/5/21 GL
Imagine if I
started a sermon going on a rant about evil in the world. I say, look at China’s human rights
abuses. They have taken freedom from
Hong Kong. They’ve enslaved the Uyghurs. Now they’ve even kidnapped their own top
women’s tennis player because she accused a high party member of sexual
assault. China better watch out because
what goes around, comes around.
Then imagine I go
off on Russia saying, Putin is a dictator.
He murders journalists. He rigs
elections. There will be a price to pay
for Russia’s acts of Evil.
Then Imagine I
continue chastising five other nations for their atrocities which include
slavery, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes.
Then imagine I say
“Now let’s talk about the United States, the country that we love.” You’d expect me to opine on all of the good
things about the US. You’re anticipating
that I will show America to be the complete opposite of the other evil
examples.
Then imagine that
I invert your expectations. Instead of
extolling America I call America to repent and I list all of the current
injustices that God sees. And I warn of
the coming wrath of consequences.
That is exactly
the tone of the book of Amos.
Amos tears into
seven foreign nations for their atrocities and then he adds Israel and Judah,
the people of God to the list. It was a
shock for them just as it is a shock to us.
What we know about
Amos is only from this letter. He was a
flock owner, a middle class man with a blue collar job 700 years before Christ. He was not a priest nor professional
clergy. But he was faithful and he
listened to the Lord. So God gave him a
vision which he shared. The vision was
the horrific injustices of the nations and the destructive consequences that
are coming. Judah’s first injustice
listed is that they have rejected the law of the Lord. Israel’s first injustice listed is that they
trample the heads of the poor.
Amos is one of those
books that is hard to read. It’s all
about an ancient time that is hard to understand. It’s about people doing the worst to each
other. But the core reason why it’s hard
to read is because we don’t want to apply it to ourselves. That would be too painful.
If we apply the
words of Amos to our situation we would have to admit some hard truths. The
first one would be that all nations have a history of atrocities, even the best
countries. There is something inside of
us that only wants to romanticize the past.
Unfortunately the past is just like the present, it’s complicated.
Romans says “All
people have fallen short of the glory of God.”
The same is true for nations.
When we were in Hawaii, Ann and I went on a road trip to Hana which is a
remote but beautiful end of the Island. On the road to Hana we listened to a App which
told us about the attractions along the way but also the history of
Hawaii. It informed us about the
overthrow of the Queen of Hawaii in 1893.
The Big five American agricultural companies hired outsiders to capture
the Queen and force her to sign an agreement.
That coerced agreement led to the annexation of Hawaii.
I didn’t like
hearing about this. It made my heart
sick. I wanted to just turn off the app
and enjoy the scenery but I couldn’t do that.
Once I knew about this atrocity I had to recognize it, internalize it
and pray about it.
Just as all people
are called to repentance so are all nations.
Amos shows us that prophets are told by God to tell it like it is. Amos points to the injustice in foreign
nations and his own. We are not to allow
our citizenship to cloud our faith.
It’s easier just
to say, “That may have been wrong but it’s the distant past. There’s nothing we can do about it now.” But the Bible talks about distant atrocities
all the time and the wrath that can flow hundreds of years into the
future.
In Luke 11 Jesus chastises
his enemies saying, “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom
your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of
your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore
also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of
whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets,
shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,
51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the
altar and the sanctuary.” In other
words, Jesus is saying “Hundreds of years ago men killed God’s prophets. You will kill me because you are the by
product of those atrocities. Evil
infects the future. All Nations receive
the judgment of natural consequences.
Thankfully Jesus
can heal the past. He can heal the past
of an individual and he can heal the past of a nation. The first step towards personal healing and
national healing is to admit your sin. Describing
something accurately allows for real repentance. We can ask God individually and collectively
to forgive our atrocities. This opens us
up to his forgiveness. Amos’ nations did
not repent. Not Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom,
Ammon, Moab nor the Philistines. Neither
did Judah nor Israel. They disconnected
themselves from the forgiveness of God by not recognizing their injustice.
We don’t have to
be like them. Christians should be the
first ones to admit our nations failings and ask God to restore us. We know that God is faithful and he loves to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We don’t have to
dwell on our past. Once we recognize our
sin and repent then we can move on. Daily
we ask God for forgiveness and we move
on. The same is true as a nation.
This topic may
have upset you. I don’t enjoy upsetting
you. But I have an obligation to give
you the words of God. Reading Amos is
upsetting. A good sermon is supposed to
upset you and soothe you. An honest look
at sin makes our stomach turn. But the
forgiveness of God makes everything right.
Jesus came to earth to make everything right.
Isaiah prophesied
about the coming Messiah saying
Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my
Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry
aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed
he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow
faint or be discouraged till he has
established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them
out,
who spread out the earth and what comes
from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord;
I have called you[b] in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as
a covenant for the people, a light for the nations”