July 15, 2007am      Now Hear This!     Amos 7:7-17

By Ronald E.  George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

One of the characteristics of God is that we know He is love.  Then how do you rectify the following story of God’s judgment and wrath with God’s love. 

            Once while sitting on my Grandmother-in –law’s front porch I observed a mother dealing with her son.  It seems that the boy wanted to go to someone’s house for a visit.  The mother was flustered with the continual begging and pleading from her son, so she finally said:  Go on get out of here.  I don’t care what you do.  Just get out of my hair.  Well, that mother through frustration or disgust showed her true feelings toward her son who was just another problem in her life. 

            One thing we know for sure is that God cares.  He cares enough to do what it takes to correct his children if he things they are going the wrong way.  He doesn’t want to get you out his hair.  He wants to get you into his life.  How is God going to get our attention and cause us to stop and look up to him if he doesn’t chastise us?  This is what happened time and again to the children of Israel .  They would go astray and he would cause them to stop and look up.  In this message we get the message that God wants us to hear.  So, Now Hear This!   God showed Amos his true feelings toward his children who had gone astray and faced death. 

Scripture Text:  Amos 7:7  Now this is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. ^8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel ; I will spare them no longer. ^9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amos and Amaziah

^10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel : “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel . The land cannot bear all his words. ^11 For this is what Amos is saying: “‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’” ^12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah . Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ^13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel , because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.” ^14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ^15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel .’ ^16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say, “‘Do not prophesy against Israel , and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.’ ^17 “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 pagan^a country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land.’” ^[1]

Some of the themes of this passage are:  Answering God’s call.  Giving God’s message.  Receiving and believing.  Turn off the preacher.  Stand up for the truth.  Obeying the Lord and caring for the people.  Answering the call to give the word.  Amos changed and the people of Israel could have changed but they chose not to change themselves but to change the preacher.  God’s warning.  Turn the volume down.  Do you believe?  Have you heard? 

Hear God’s Word/Message to you. 

1.      God is watching and measuring our lives with a plumb line.  He wants us to go straight.  Why?  Because he loves us and wants us to live. 

2.      God’s patience has a time limit.  Our time will be up one day.  How are we measuring up? 

3.      God says don’t have any Gods before me and do not make any graven images.  What are some of today’s graven images?   Could we be putting things (the church) before God? 

4.      God will judge us all and punish us if necessary. 

5.      Amos:  Was called to prophecy.  Could God be calling you into his service in preaching, teaching, and leading the people?

6.      Amaziah, the priest was told that he had been leading the people in the wrong direction.

7.      Jeroboam, the king was told that he would be punished for his disobedience to God.   He had led the people into idolatry. 

Did you hear that?  How did they respond?  How will we respond? 

1.      Amos heard God’s message and obeyed the Lord.  He preached it to the people. 

2.      Amaziah got rid of the messenger and thus you will get rid of the message.  So they kicked Amos out of town.  He said this was the King’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.  It wasn’t God’s temple or sanctuary. 

3.      Amos gave the final word from the Lord.  God is not mocked.  He will judge the people because he loves them and wants them to live.  In order to save the people then those who led them astray must repent or suffer the consequences.  God wants you to live if you will, but if you won’t then it is your choice. 

4.      Amaziah and Jeroboam had an opportunity but they rejected it. 

5.      What will we do?  

Now hear this?  This is the time.  God cares enough to get out the plumb line and measure us up.  Are we crooked or are we straight?  Are we straight up with the Lord?