Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20100606.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Amos: Heeding The Word Of The God Of The Whole World
Part VIII: Our Need To Heed God's Repeat Experiential Signals Explained In Scripture
(Amos 4:6-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though our final source of truth is written Scripture as illumined by the Holy Spirit, this is not to say God may not use experiences in our lives that Scripture explains to signal He wants us to heed His Word.
    2. Such is graphically illustrated for us in Amos 4:6-13 as follows:
  2. Our Need To Heed God's Repeat Experiential Signals Explained In Scripture, Amos 4:6-13.
    1. When God had entered into covenant relation with Israel, He had promised in His Word that He would send specific experiential trials their way if they violated His Word, cf. Deuteronomy 28:15ff.
    2. Israel had fallen into apostate idolatry in the days of the prophet, Amos, so God had sent her such specific experiential trials in keeping with His written Word, but Israel had failed to heed them, Amos 4:6-11:
      1. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:17, 48 to send Israel famine, so, due to Israel's sin, Amos 4:6 explains the people had nothing to eat ("cleanness of teeth" KJV) in all of their cities, yet they had not returned to the Lord, Amos 4:6; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1436-1437.
      2. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:22-24, 48 to send Israel drought, so, due to her sin, Amos 4:7-8a reports He had caused some cities to have rain and others to have none so people "staggered" in thirst from city to city, finding insufficient water, Ibid., p. 1436. Yet, they had not returned to God, 4:8b.
      3. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:18, 22, 30, 39-40 He would send blight and mildew on Israel's crops, so, due to her sin, Amos 4:9a NIV reports God had sent these, but she had not repented, Ibid.
      4. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:38, 42 that He would send locusts to harm Israel's vegetation, so, due to Israel's sin, Amos 4:9b NIV reports God had sent them, but Israel had not repented, Ibid.
      5. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:21-22, 27, 35, 59-61 to send disease epidemics on Israel similar to what the Egyptians had suffered, so, due to Israel's sin, Amos 4:10a reports God had sent them similar to how the Egyptians were afflicted, yet Israel had not repented, Amos 4:10d; Ibid., p. 1436f.
      6. God had promised in Deuteronomy 28:25-26, 49-52 to cause Israel to suffer military defeat before her Gentile foes to where their bodies would be left unburied and become food for the birds. Due to Israel's sin, Amos 4:10b adds that God caused her young men to be slain in battle by the sword and to have her horses used to defend the nation taken by the enemy. [This reference to the horses following a reference to Egypt hints at Israel's wrongful turning back to Egypt to acquire horses to defend herself versus trusting in God militarily in direct violation of Deuteronomy 17:16!] God had thus even caused the stench of their unburied slain to horrify and oppress them, but they had not repented, Amos 4:10c,d.
      7. God had promised in Deuteronomy 29:23-28 to cause Israel to suffer devastation similar to the devastation of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim in their sin, so, due to Israel's sin, Amos 4:11a reports God had overthrown some of Israel's cities like He had overthrown Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nation would have become as extinct as they were except that God had salvaged them from certain disaster in grace. Nevertheless, the people of Israel still had not returned to the Lord, Amos 4:11b.
    3. Thus, Amos 4:12-13 reveals God planned to punish Israel severely as foretold in Amos 3:11-15 (Ibid.):
      1. Since Israel had persistently refused to heed God's experiential warning trials predicted in Scripture for sin, the Lord promised the judgments announced back in Amos 3:11-15 would come on her, Amos 4:12. The call to "prepare to meet thy God" warns of "awful confrontation" with God, Ibid., p. 1437.
      2. God is seen in Amos 4:13 as the Sovereign Lord Who forms the mountains and the wind, who declares to man what he even thinks, making the morning like darkness and treading on the heights of the earth much like an approaching thunderstorm of judgment, Ibid., p. 1437-1438. The message warns that Israel cannot escape Almighty God's evaluation or His sure, terrible judgment for failing to repent!
Lesson: For persistently failing to heed God's experiential trials to repent, trials predicted in Scripture, Israel was bound to face an Almighty God's overwhelming, terrifying discipline!

Application: If we face trials in our lives that Scripture clarifies we must heed for realigning with God's will revealed in His written Word, we MUST make that adjustment in accountability to Almighty God!