Virtual Bible Study: Amos 7

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 4. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“‘Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive! He is so small!’
So the Lord relented.” Amos 7:2-3a

“Denial is NOT a river in Egypt!”

They say that much of life is determined by the attitude you take. See things negatively and you’re more likely to wide up miserable. See things in a positive light and you’re likely to wide up happier in the end. Attitude is everything!

So what attitude should you take when faced with these news items?

• U.S. Poverty Rate Hits 11 Year High
• More than 1 in 5 Kids live in Poverty
• Georgians Could Face Hungry Winter
• Large Percentage of Children Work in Yemen
• Pakistan Flooding Could Bring Health Problems

The list goes on and one. Every day more new items are added.

But what is our response? What is our attitude? As we enjoy these last days of summer, as we spend money that could feed hundreds of people in other countries, what should our attitude be? How should we approach the poor and the needy?

Our chapter in Amos shows us two different responses to predictions of poverty, disease, destruction.

The first response is Amaziah’s. Listening to Amos’ ranting, Amaziah does not repent or say he did anything wrong. Instead, Amaziah tries to shut Amos up. “Get out you seer! Go back to the land of Judah! Earn your bread there and do your prophecying there! Don’t prophecy anymore at Bethel because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.” (Amos 7:12-13)

Amaziah takes the classic “don’t talk like that here” approach! He doesn’t admit that he did anything wrong. He certainly doesn’t repent! Instead, Amaziah tries to get that nay-sayer to leave!

We find this to be true even today! An article in the New York Times entitled “Congregations Gone Wild” talks about how congregations today want entertainment and comfort. In fact, people today will leave their church if their church isn’t preaching the message they want to hear!

Sound familiar? Sounds like Amaziah all over again. And we can have that response too. We can respond to the poverty of the world with denail. We can assume it is someone else’s problem. The homeless poor living at the park down the street are someone else’s problem, not ours. They deserve to live there, right? And so do the impoverished poor in Africa too? And so do all who have fallen on hard times? We don’t want to hear about caring for the needy. We have enough to worry about with our own families.

This response though garners judgement. Amos’ response to Amaziah is severe!

Therefore this is what the LORD says:
'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagancountry.
And Israel will certainly go into exile,
away from their native land.'

But there is another way.

Amos himself in today’s lesson shows us this different response to poverty. When faced with the eminent destruction of Israel because of their misdeeds, Amos doesn’t deny or dismiss the problem...he repents! When faced with the destruction to come, twice Amos repents on behalf of his people. Once before the Lord releases locusts to destroy their fields, Amos cries out: “Lord forgive!” And again when the Lord prepares judgement by fire, Amos cries: “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How long can Jacob survive! He is so small!”

And what is God’s response to this? Look for yourself. He relents! God relents and doesn’t do what he was going to do. God changes his mind concerning the destruction he was planning!

God is indeed “...a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”(Jonah 4:2) God doesn’t rejoice with evil, but rejoices with the truth. God never gives up. His faithfulness is from generation to generation! God is patient and kind. He takes no joy in the destruction of anyone! He’s not only willing, he’s anxious, to show mercy! He’s hungry to, in fact! God takes any excuse you can offer to show mercy. “Jacob is so small...” Amos says, and God relents. Elsewhere in Scripture, God relents too, for weaker arguments than these!

God is indeed a God of mercy and compassion. A God who doesn’t take joy over another’s pain. A God who never gives up! And arises out of the simple admittance of guilt. The mere act of repentance. Choosing the attitude that leads to change of heart and mind, rather than the one that leads to hardness of heart and soul. Choosing to see the poor and the needy at our doorsteps and beyond and, working together, improve their situations, rather than ignoring them or dismissing them.

This is what God is calling you to. This is YOUR problem. Are you going to admit to it, to repent of it, or are you going to continue to ignore and deny it? You can’t continue to raft down De-Nial forever! Amen!

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. Where are your blind-spots? What are the things you shutter to think or to talk about?

2. What is your attitude toward the needy poor? Toward the impoverished in this and other countries? How has that attitude shaped your behavior?

3. What areas of your life do you need an “attitude change” in?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Caring and Compassionate God, I have so often ignored and avoided the poor that stand all around me. Forgive me. Open my eyes with your Holy Spirit. Give me a repentant heart and infuse me with your compassion as I live as your child redeemed by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.