Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20100725.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Amos: Heeding The Word Of The God Of The Whole World
Part XV: Our Need To Respect God's Inevitably Severe Punishment Of Sin
(Amos 9:1-10)
  1. Introduction
    1. The vacuum for a respect for God comes from a lack of fear that He will inevitably severely punish sin.
    2. Accordingly, Amos 9:1-10 reminds us of our need to respect God's inevitable punishment of sin that we repent of it, confess that sin and depart from it (as follows):
  2. Our Need To Respect God's Inevitably Severe Punishment Of Sin, Amos 9:1-10.
    1. Amos 9:1-4 reveals God was angry enough to punish Israel with inescapably severe judgment:
      1. Amos 9:1a records how Amos saw the Lord standing by the syncretistic altar of Israel as its king approached it in the autumn festival sacrifice, Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 1449; 1 K. 12:25-30, 31-33.
      2. Infuriated by such idolatry, the Lord directed the tops of the pillars holding up the roof be struck so that the hard, huge foundation stones would shake, collapsing the roof on the worshipers, Amos 9:1b; Ibid.
      3. Those who survived this destruction God promised to slay with the sword so none would escape, 9:1c.
      4. Indeed, if they dug down to Sheol, the place of the dead that was considered to be far underground, God claimed His powerful hand would take hold of them there, Amos 9:2a ESV.
      5. If they climbed up to heaven, from there the Lord would bring them down in judgment, Amos 9:2b.
      6. If they hid themselves in the "dense forests" that covered Mount Carmel, or in its limestone caves, God promised to hunt them down and seize them there, Amos 9:3a; Ibid.
      7. If they were to hide in the bottom of the sea that Mount Carmel bordered, a humanly impossible feat in Amos' era, God would still command the poisonous sea serpent to bite and to kill them, Amos 9:3b.
      8. Even if such survivors would be led into captivity by their foes, even then they would not enjoy protection from death, for God would command the sword to kill them there, Amos 9:4a,b.
      9. Thus, God's anger was so great He would set Himself against them for calamity and not for good, 9:4c.
    2. Amos 9:5-6 reveals God was strong enough to punish Israel with inescapably severe judgment:
      1. When this God merely touches the land, it melts (Amos 9:5a), making all men in it mourn, Amos 9:5b.
      2. After all, God is the One Whose judgment is like the perennial flooding of Egypt by the Nile, which flood arranges the whole surface of the land, destroying everything in its wake, Amos 9:5c with 8:8B.
      3. This God built His heavenly palace in the heavens and controls the waters of the seas, pouring them out on the surface of the land for destruction in judgment, Amos 9:6a,b.
      4. Thus, as God is God Almighty of the universe, including land, heavens and sea, there was no place in the universe where anyone could hide from His severe judgment!
    3. Amos 9:7-10 reveals God was objective enough to punish Israel with inescapably severe judgment:
      1. Contrary to her idea she was too valued of God for Him to punish, He held Israel's sinners were as the Cushites to Him, people Israel thought trivial as they lived at the ends of her world, 9:7a; Ibid., p. 1450.
      2. God then noted that just as He had brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, He had also led the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir, Amos 9:7b NIV. These peoples, great enemies of Israel, had God led to Israel's part of the world only later to judge them for sin, so certainly Israel's sinners would be judged regardless if the Lord had led them out of Egypt to Canaan, Amos 9:7b!
      3. Indeed, God declared His eyes were upon any sinful kingdom, Israel or otherwise, and that He was prepared to destroy that nation from the surface of the ground, Amos 9:8a.
      4. However, due to His Abrahamic Covenant, God would not let Israel be annihilated, but would shake her among the nations as in a sieve to winnow out the apostate sinners from the repentant to slay all the sinners who complacently thought God's judgment would not reach them, Amos 9:8b-10. [It appears that the sieve here may be the coarse-meshed sieve used at the start of the winnowing process that was used to let the grain fall through but to catch unwanted stones and clods (of apostate sinners)! (Ibid.)]
Lesson: God promised those in Israel who felt He was not angry enough, strong enough or objective enough to judge them severely for their sin would face the devastating shock of His severe judgment!

Application: May we fear God's inevitable punishment for our sin so as to repent and depart from it!