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The Lord roars

Can a God who really loves His children leave them without discipline? Is judgment just for outsiders?
A daily blog on Christianity.com
Published Dec 05, 2012
The Lord roars

 

Can a God who really loves His children leave them without discipline? Is judgment just for outsiders?

An ordinary man

Read Amos 1 v 1 and 7 v 14-15

  • - You have been asked to introduce Amos. What would you say?
  • - Is Amos a likely candidate for being a prophet, do you think? Why/why not?

An ordinary time

At this time in history (around 750BC), Israel is divided into two. In the south there is “Judah”, consisting of two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) with Jerusalem (aka “Zion”) as its capital. In the north there is “Israel”, consisting of the other ten tribes, with Samaria as its capital. Antagonism exists between north and south. Amos comes from the south, but largely preaches to the north.

  • - Who are the kings of the two kingdoms at this point?

 

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TIME OUT

These were flourishing days for the north. For more information about these two kings and their times, read 2 Kings 14 v 23-29 and 2 Chronicles 26

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Dealing with the disobedient

Read Amos 1 v 2

Some background: (1) Mount Carmel is a place full of luxuriant growth in the north; and (2) lions roar over their prey (3 v 4).

  • - Where is God roaring from?
  • - What will be the impact of His action?

The people of Israel were in covenant with God—blessed by Him as they lived in His land in obedience to Him. But they had broken covenant. And God acted in judgment because He hates sin.

We Christians are also covenant people, bought with the blood of Christ, God’s Son (see Luke 22 v 20). How much more must God hate the sin that creeps back into our lives?

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APPLY

God's kindness is not an excuse for corruption.

  • - Reflect on the ways you show contempt for the riches of God's kindness by sinning complacently.
  • - What is more important to you: living in relative prosperity, or in increasing obedience to your Lord?

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PRAY

Confess the sins you reflected on in Apply.

Thank God for the unbreakable covenant He has established with us through His Son's death. Thank Him that Jesus' death covers all your sins.

Thank God for the book of Amos. Ask Him to excite, encourage and challenge you from it.

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This devotional is taken from Explore—a daily Bible-reading devotional from The Good Book Company which enables you to engage with Scripture and which will encourage, equip and inspire you to live for Christ. Explore features contributions from pastors such as Dr Timothy Keller, Mike McKinley and Tim Chester.

Click here and enter the code bstexplore60 when you check out to get the next quarter’s Explore for $5.84, a 10% discount.

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Keep a record of what God is teaching you with "My Bible" at BibleStudyTools.com

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