0:00

How firm a foundation ye

0:02

sakes of the Lord

0:04

is lay for your

0:06

faith in His excellent

0:09

word. Welcome to Through

0:11

the Bible with Dr.

0:13

J. Vernon McGee. I'm

0:15

your host Steve Schwets

0:18

and the Book of Amos is

0:20

all about a man called by

0:22

God to point out people's sin.

0:25

Tough job, right? But wouldn't you

0:27

want someone to show you what's

0:30

keeping you from having a close

0:32

relationship with God? I know I would. So

0:34

as you get ready for our study,

0:36

Greg and I have some letters to

0:39

share from our home groups around the

0:41

world. And Steve, this is a topic

0:43

that is very near and dear to

0:46

our hearts. We've had a lot of

0:48

personal contact with this amazing ministry, whether

0:50

it's in South Asia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal,

0:53

and now in Africa, Ethiopia. Yeah, yeah,

0:55

yeah, Ethiopia. Yeah, whenever we end up

0:57

talking about home groups, and especially when

1:00

I see the countries of Bangladesh and

1:02

India on there, it's like, oh man,

1:04

I know some of these people and

1:06

we've met them face to face and

1:08

Ethiopia as well. He says, I really like

1:10

to listen in my own language. I

1:12

am a Christian, but from a church that

1:15

practices rituals. I never understood

1:17

the Bible and no one

1:19

really teaches it. I am learning so

1:21

much. I really like to listen with my

1:23

group, at home, with my wife every day.

1:26

I encourage my grandchildren to listen and

1:28

obey the teaching that we learn

1:30

and apply it in their daily

1:32

lives. And Steve, we may never have

1:34

made this clear, but most of the

1:37

tens of thousands of home group leaders

1:39

we have are volunteers around the world.

1:41

We do have some people that are

1:44

on staff that help coordinate these massive

1:46

networks. But most of the people, they're

1:48

sacrificing personally their time, their energy, sometimes

1:51

they may be persecuted for leaving a

1:53

home group. But you can see the

1:55

effect on families and generations from what

1:58

you just read. I'm also so encouraged.

2:00

Bangladesh and home group I go back

2:02

to that 10-sided building that we went

2:04

in and participated in a home group

2:06

in and it was about the size

2:08

of two king-sized beds. One king-sized bed

2:10

was the living room couch and family

2:13

bedroom and everything else and just gathered

2:15

around there listening to the radio and

2:17

the fact that in Bangladesh at least

2:19

up to one-third of the people are

2:21

Hindu or Muslim and they're coming and

2:23

they're participating and they're learning about God's

2:25

word and it's so exciting because lives

2:27

are being changed. It's contrary to human

2:29

wisdom that in a country that's 98%

2:31

Muslim that you could have that. Yeah,

2:34

that's the truth. Yeah, it's wonderful. I

2:36

think we have time to share another

2:38

one. So this is a leader of

2:40

a Bengali group. My name is Amar.

2:42

I am the leader of a home

2:44

group. Before we began this study, my

2:46

family members didn't want to go to

2:48

church or hear about God. I asked

2:50

them many times and they refused. I

2:52

was getting discouraged. Once we began listening

2:55

to your studies, everything changed. Now we

2:57

study the Bible and attend church. We

2:59

fellowship together. I am so happy. We

3:01

have also been inviting community members to

3:03

join us. All glory. goes to God.

3:05

Man, we're almost out of time, but

3:07

I saw the same thing repeated in

3:09

the testimonies that we went to in

3:11

Liberia where there was a women's conference

3:14

for the day. Several women got up

3:16

and said this exact same thing. They

3:18

were losing their teenage kids to the

3:20

world. They had no interest in going

3:22

to church. She literally starts playing the

3:24

radio home group thing in the home.

3:26

The kids start listening and they end

3:28

up wanting to go to church and

3:30

they want to engage with scripture and

3:32

they're showing evidence of fruit and salvation

3:35

in their lives. It's so simple, but

3:37

it's so powerful. Yeah. Let me pray

3:39

for us, Greg, as we begin. Heavenly

3:41

Father, we praise your holy name for

3:43

the way you're moving in people's lives

3:45

and that you would use through the

3:47

Bible as a small part of that.

3:49

We pray that you would continue to

3:51

bless the ministry as it goes out,

3:53

not for the glory of through the

3:56

Bible, Lord, but for your glory alone.

3:58

In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Open

4:01

with me to the book

4:03

of Amos as we go

4:05

through the Bible with Dr.

4:08

Jay Verna McKee. Now friends,

4:10

last time we had come

4:12

to the little book of

4:14

Amos and I had gone

4:17

over to the seventh chapter

4:19

to begin with. I've never

4:21

done this before, but I

4:24

wanted us to get acquainted

4:26

with this man Amos. He

4:28

was a herdman from Tekoa.

4:30

Tekoa was the last stop.

4:33

before you dropped off into

4:35

that awful wilderness and desert

4:37

that leads down to the

4:39

dead sea. And this man

4:42

knew that area. And he

4:44

was a herdman and also

4:46

a pincher of sycamore fruit.

4:48

Well, that sycamore fruit was

4:51

a type of very small

4:53

desert fig. And he was

4:55

a migrant worker, you can

4:58

see. And God called this

5:00

man. to go out of

5:02

the southern kingdom of Judah,

5:04

up to the northern kingdom,

5:07

to baffle the capital, and

5:09

to speak there. Well, may

5:11

I say to you, he

5:13

was really a country boy,

5:16

come to town, and they

5:18

rather ridiculed him at first,

5:20

they did, and they found

5:23

out this man had a

5:25

message, and he reached the

5:27

heart of many people, that

5:29

were to God. transform many

5:32

and it disturbed the liberal

5:34

element. It disturbed them and

5:36

they plotted against them. Liberals

5:38

always talking about brotherhood. Now

5:41

the worst demonstrations of brotherhood,

5:43

I have received less brotherhood

5:45

from them than any group

5:48

on the earth. I think

5:50

the bartenders have been nicer

5:52

to me than the liberals

5:54

have been. And so they

5:57

plotted the games. This man,

5:59

they sent Amaziah the priest.

6:01

He was the... clever politician.

6:03

He went to the king

6:06

and poison Jerry Boyam the

6:08

second against Amos. Then he

6:10

went to Amos and practically

6:13

insulted him. I say practically

6:15

he did. And we begin

6:17

today with verse 13 of

6:19

chapter 7 here where Amazias

6:22

come to Amos and he's

6:24

told him in verse 12,

6:26

O thou seer, go flee

6:28

away into the land of

6:31

Judah. In other words, get

6:33

lost, go home. We don't

6:35

want you here. And there

6:37

eat bread and prophesy there.

6:40

In other words, you're just

6:42

out for the money that's

6:44

in it, and therefore we

6:47

don't want you here. And

6:49

now, verse 13, I tell

6:51

you, it's the crowning insult

6:53

of all. He says, but

6:56

prophesy not again anymore at

6:58

Bethel, for it is the

7:00

king's sanctuary. And it is

7:02

the King's Court. Now that's

7:05

the height of this man's

7:07

insolence and his arrogance. And

7:09

he uses here the satirical

7:12

method and a satire that's

7:14

not only biting but is

7:16

poisonous. He says, remember, you

7:18

have been speaking in the

7:21

leading church here in Bethel,

7:23

the King's Chapel. And you

7:25

have been in the king's

7:27

sanctuary and he's dissatisfied with

7:30

you. And the king attends

7:32

there and your message disturbs

7:34

him. And there's a lot

7:37

of people that don't like

7:39

you. You don't use a

7:41

very diplomatic method. You don't

7:43

flatter them. You don't pat

7:46

them on the back. You

7:48

don't tell them how wonderful

7:50

they are. You do not...

7:52

cultivate the rich and the

7:55

affluent and that crowd and

7:57

you're not very reverent. You

7:59

tell funny stories. every now

8:02

and then. You're not dignified,

8:04

you pound the pulpit and

8:06

you lack graceful gestures. You

8:08

do not use a bosso

8:11

profundo voice as if you

8:13

were thundering out of heaven.

8:15

What you need is a

8:17

course in homiletics and you

8:20

don't seem to have read

8:22

the latest book. By the

8:24

way, have you read the

8:26

latest book? Bale goes to

8:29

Yale. Have you read that

8:31

book? Poor Amos hadn't read

8:33

that. latest book. Now, I

8:36

want you to listen to

8:38

the answer of this great

8:40

prophet of God, this man

8:42

that preached the righteousness of

8:45

God and the judgment of

8:47

God, and there are those

8:49

that like to call him

8:51

a hell-fired prophet. Will you

8:54

listen to his answer? And

8:56

notice how gracious it really

8:58

is. I'm reading now, verse

9:01

14. Then answered... Amos and

9:03

said to Amaziah, I am

9:05

no prophet, neither am I

9:07

a prophet's son, but I

9:10

am a herdman and a

9:12

gatherer of Sycamore fruit. And

9:14

the Lord took me as

9:16

I followed the flock, and

9:19

the Lord said unto me,

9:21

Go, prophesy unto my people

9:23

Israel. And then he has

9:26

some pretty harsh words to

9:28

say to this man, Amazon,

9:30

that he had to give.

9:32

I'll just read verse 16.

9:35

Now, therefore, hear the word

9:37

of the Lord. Thou say's,

9:39

prophecy not against Israel. And

9:41

drop not by word against

9:44

the house of Isaac. And

9:46

then he has some pretty

9:48

harsh words to say to

9:51

this man, Amazon. But now

9:53

we're going to come back

9:55

to that here, because... This

9:57

is very important. Now, I

10:00

ask you a very fair

10:02

question. Does his answer sound

10:04

like that of a fanatic?

10:06

Frankly, I have one criticism

10:09

of Amos. He's too naive.

10:11

He's rather artless. He's rather

10:13

simple. Now, down in the

10:15

desert of Tekoa, he knew

10:18

his way around. He could

10:20

avoid dangers at home in

10:22

the jungle that was filled

10:25

with wild beasts. But on

10:27

the asphalt jungle of Bethel,

10:29

he was rather helpless. And

10:31

by the way, there is

10:34

a jungle in this world

10:36

today. The world is a

10:38

real jungle. The world of

10:40

flesh and the devil. And

10:43

today, you'll find in church

10:45

circles sometime in the liberal

10:47

circle. It's a little dangerous.

10:50

It's a little dangerous in

10:52

the fundamental jungle at times.

10:54

You're not really safe today.

10:56

There will be some one

10:59

there that will want to

11:01

tear you to pieces. There'll

11:03

be the roar of some

11:05

big lion. Mr. Gutrocks. And

11:08

he's on the board of

11:10

deacon. And I tell you,

11:12

you better pat him on

11:15

the back. You better play

11:17

up to him. And then

11:19

there's the hiss of a

11:21

serpent in the asphalt jungle

11:24

today. That's Mrs. Joe Doats.

11:26

She's got a poisoned tongue.

11:28

You remember, James said something

11:30

about poisonous under their lips?

11:33

Worse than a rattlesnake bite

11:35

to have some of these

11:37

criticize you today. It'd be

11:39

better if you were bitten

11:42

by a rattlesnake. And this

11:44

man Amos, he's very gnaw.

11:46

He says, I know it.

11:49

You say I'm no preacher.

11:51

I know it, I'm no

11:53

preacher. You say that I'm

11:55

not a prophet? Why, I'm

11:58

no prophet? I'm not... even

12:00

a prophet's son. I'm a

12:02

country boy, but God called

12:04

me. But listen to him

12:07

at verse 15. And the

12:09

Lord took me as I

12:11

followed the flock and the

12:14

Lord said under me, go

12:16

prophesy under my people Israel.

12:18

He says you want my

12:20

credentials? Here they are. And

12:23

may I say to you?

12:25

If you give out the

12:27

word of God today, you're

12:29

going to be challenged. It's

12:32

quite interesting that... The very

12:34

day that I'm making this

12:36

tape a letter came in

12:39

from Salt Lake City, Utah,

12:41

and it has a very

12:43

devious argument here, but he

12:45

concludes. He says, I'm interested

12:48

in knowing how you got

12:50

your authority. Well, may I

12:52

say to you? I can

12:54

answer that very easily. When

12:57

I was in my teams,

12:59

God call me. And I

13:01

knew he called me. Now,

13:04

somebody says, then you had

13:06

great faith, and as a

13:08

poor boy, I had no

13:10

faith at all. I never

13:13

believed the Lord had ever

13:15

let me get through school,

13:17

even. Be very frank with

13:19

you. I had no faith

13:22

at all. I just had

13:24

a tremendous and overweening desire.

13:26

I want to do the

13:28

thing. And that's the thing

13:31

that prompted me to go

13:33

on. But I'm now toward

13:35

the end of the end

13:38

of the journey. and I

13:40

have snoozed for you. I

13:42

know now I was caught

13:44

and so I don't need

13:47

to give you my authority

13:49

by the way and I

13:51

want to be just as

13:53

naive as this man is

13:56

but he's a little too

13:58

naive the way I look

14:00

at it but the Lord

14:03

was leading him. Now he

14:05

wasn't giving the message of

14:07

man. He was giving a

14:09

message from the word of

14:12

God. He preached against against

14:14

sin. He was no mealy

14:16

mouth preacher. He was not

14:18

giving out sacrin sweetness, an

14:21

artificial light, and her sat

14:23

bread. He wasn't spraying the

14:25

perfume of synthetic human goodness

14:28

over a lot of foul-smelling

14:30

garbage. This man knew that

14:32

you could not take a

14:34

gallon of Shalomar perfume and

14:37

pour it on a pile

14:39

of manure and make it

14:41

any sweeter than it was.

14:43

He made it very clear

14:46

that God was not saw.

14:48

He was not sentimental. He

14:50

was not shallow. And he

14:53

did not indulge in random

14:55

speaking and entertaining. He did

14:57

not deal in vague generalities.

14:59

Someone put it like this

15:02

concerning a preacher several years

15:04

ago. He says the way

15:06

he preached was, you must

15:08

repent, as it were, believe

15:11

in a measure. or be

15:13

lost to some extent. Now

15:15

there are three areas in

15:17

which this man spoke and

15:20

we are going to note

15:22

them as we go through

15:24

this little book of Amos

15:27

when we get to them.

15:29

Now to me, the most

15:31

amazing thing about this man

15:33

is this. He was practically

15:36

an unknown when he arrived

15:38

in Bethel. He's still rather

15:40

unknown, but Amos in our

15:42

day is a name that

15:45

is associated with another name,

15:47

Andy. That is those of

15:49

us of the older generation.

15:52

Remember, Amos and Andy. Well,

15:54

actually, in Amos' day, back

15:56

in Bible times, it was

15:58

Amos and Hosea. They went

16:01

together. They were contemporary prophets.

16:03

They were contemporary prophets. They

16:05

were contemporary prophets. I am

16:07

sure knew each other and

16:10

as we've already seen Hosea

16:12

emphasize the love of God

16:14

but that a God of

16:17

love intended to judge sin.

16:19

Now Amos, he speaks of

16:21

the lofty justice and the

16:23

inflexible righteousness of God that

16:26

causes God to lead to

16:28

judgment. And then I'm presented

16:30

here at the beginning now.

16:32

I go back to chapter

16:35

one and start here that

16:37

we might see the message

16:39

of the man. I think

16:42

now we know a little

16:44

something about this man. He's

16:46

a fearless man, an outstanding

16:48

man, and he is giving

16:51

out a message. But the

16:53

thing that really startles me

16:55

is that this man has

16:57

a world view. He has

17:00

a global conception. He speaks

17:02

first here to the nations

17:04

that were contiguous to and

17:06

surrounded the nation Israel. and

17:09

he spoke to the great

17:11

world powers of that day.

17:13

Now, that wasn't something new.

17:16

Later on the other prophets

17:18

did it also. You find

17:20

that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and

17:22

certainly Daniel, but the method

17:25

of those men was first

17:27

to speak of God's judgment

17:29

of the nation, Israel. Then

17:31

they would take up the

17:34

different nations. Now Amos reverses

17:36

that method. He speaks of

17:38

God's judgment of the nations

17:41

round about. Now when he

17:43

spoke at first there at

17:45

the King's Chapel, God was

17:47

going to judge Syria. And

17:50

God was going to judge

17:52

these other nations that were

17:54

round about. Felicia. and Edom

17:56

and Ammon and Moab, why

17:59

everybody fairly... Chapel. He really

18:01

was drawing a crowd because

18:03

they were very glad for

18:06

him to preach on the

18:08

sins of the Moabites, you

18:10

see. But not on their

18:12

sins. They're great many people

18:15

today. They like for the

18:17

preacher to preach on the

18:19

sins of the Moabites, which

18:21

they committed 4,000 years ago,

18:24

even longer. And that's all

18:26

right. Don't step on our

18:28

toes, or you're in real

18:31

trouble. Well, this man, this

18:33

is one place. He exercises,

18:35

it seems to me, a

18:37

great deal of diplomacy. And

18:40

he was an eloquent man,

18:42

although he was out under

18:44

from the desert, and he

18:46

was a country preacher, he

18:49

had the language of a

18:51

Shakespeare. And some of his

18:53

statements are eloquent statements. And

18:55

he was, in my judgment,

18:58

a great preacher. I disagree

19:00

with Amaziah, who told him

19:02

that he ought to get

19:05

out of town. I disagree

19:07

with Amaziah. Now I'm reading

19:09

verse one of chapter one.

19:11

The words of Amos, who

19:14

was among the herdsman of

19:16

Ticoa, which he saw concerning

19:18

Israel in the days of

19:20

Asaya, King of Judah and

19:23

in the days of Jeroboam,

19:25

the son of Joeash, king

19:27

of Israel, two years before

19:30

the earthquake. I'll not go

19:32

into detail about the date.

19:34

That earthquake is mentioned by

19:36

Zachariah nearly 200 years after

19:39

this. It was according to

19:41

Josephus, took place during the

19:43

reign of Isaiah. Be that

19:45

as it may, that is

19:48

really not the important thing

19:50

other than it does. help

19:52

us to see that he

19:55

was a contemporary with hosiah

19:57

and he's one of the

19:59

first of the prophets, and

20:01

he is a prophet to

20:04

the northern kingdom. Now will

20:06

you note it? And he

20:08

said, the Lord will roar

20:10

from Sion, and utter his

20:13

voice from Jerusalem, and the

20:15

inhabitants of the shepherd shall

20:17

mourn, and the top of

20:19

Carmel shall wither. Now this,

20:22

of course, is very figurative

20:24

language in many ways. and

20:26

very eloquent, the Lord will

20:29

roar from Zion. Now you

20:31

will recall that Joel used

20:33

that expression later on. It

20:35

suggests the roar of a

20:38

lion as it pounces upon

20:40

its prey. And believe me,

20:42

this is some way to

20:44

begin. The Lord will roar

20:47

from Zion like a lion,

20:49

and it speaks of the

20:51

coming judgment of God. upon

20:54

the nations that were round

20:56

about, and the habitations of

20:58

the shepherds shall mourn in

21:00

the top of Carmel, shall

21:03

wither, and that speaks apparently

21:05

of a drought that was

21:07

coming, and of a famine

21:09

that would come upon the

21:12

land. It would be a

21:14

famine that would extend throughout

21:16

the entire land. I came

21:19

over Carmel. where Haifa is,

21:21

and I noticed how beautiful

21:23

it is there, and the

21:25

wonderful shrubbery they have today,

21:28

and the lovely flowers that

21:30

are there, must have been

21:32

that way in the day

21:34

of Amos, also in the

21:37

day of Elijah. But now

21:39

there is coming this drought,

21:41

that Carmel, that was so

21:44

beautiful, shall wither. Now we

21:46

have in verse three. a

21:48

section and I think probably

21:50

ought to give you something

21:53

of the outline to understand

21:55

the book of the Bible,

21:57

you ought to outline it.

21:59

That's what we send out

22:02

for every book of the

22:04

Bible, outlines the notes on

22:06

it. Now we have here

22:08

judgment on the surrounding nations,

22:11

that is the nations that

22:13

surround Israel. And that begins

22:15

here now with the very

22:18

first verse here, and it

22:20

goes down in chapter two

22:22

through verse three. And there

22:24

are certain nations that... are

22:27

taken up. Now the first

22:29

nation that is considered is

22:31

Syria and Damascus was the

22:33

capital of it. Now will

22:36

you notice? Thus saith the

22:38

Lord. For three transgressions of

22:40

Damascus and for four I

22:43

will not turn away its

22:45

punishment because they have thrashed

22:47

Gilead with threshing instruments with

22:49

threshing instruments of iron. Now,

22:52

what are we talking about

22:54

here? Well, may I say

22:56

to you, when he says

22:58

not for just three and

23:01

not for four, he's not

23:03

attempting to give you a

23:05

list of them. He means

23:08

not three and not four,

23:10

and he could have said

23:12

not five, not six, for

23:14

many transgressions. In other words,

23:17

the cup of a niquity

23:19

was filled up and nothing

23:21

now could hold back the

23:23

judgment of God. that was

23:26

coming upon that land. Now

23:28

he says that the thing

23:30

that they have done, they

23:33

have used these thrashing instruments.

23:35

Those thrashing instruments were sharp

23:37

and they were to beat

23:39

out the grain. And that's

23:42

the way that they had

23:44

treated Gilead. Now what does

23:46

he mean by Gilead? Well

23:48

Gilead was on the east

23:51

bank of the Jordan. It

23:53

was the land that actually

23:55

came up as far. is

23:57

the sea of Galilee and

24:00

you have Reuben and Manassah,

24:02

rather the half-tribe Manassah, and

24:04

Gad, the tribe of Gad,

24:07

they stayed over on the

24:09

wrong side and Syria that's

24:11

right north of there, came

24:13

down. Now they had come

24:16

down against God's people and

24:18

just thrashed them and he

24:20

is judging them for their

24:22

cruelty, for their... brutality and

24:25

for their cruelty. Now we're

24:27

going to see that that

24:29

has a record in the

24:32

historical books of the Bible

24:34

and we'll have to wait

24:36

until next time to see

24:38

that. Then we'll see the

24:41

judgment against these other nations

24:43

and there's always a different

24:45

reason that God judges these

24:47

other nations. We must leave

24:50

off there until next time.

24:52

May God richly bless you

24:54

my beloved. You

24:59

know Amos may have been

25:01

a country preacher but he

25:03

spoke the word of God

25:05

with authority Be sure to

25:07

join us next time as

25:10

the journey continues until then

25:12

if you want to be

25:14

in touch just contact us

25:16

through our app It's super

25:18

easy. You can also call

25:20

one eight hundred sixty five

25:22

Bible or email Bible at

25:25

ttb.org I'm Steve sweats and

25:27

I'll meet you back here

25:29

as together we go through

25:31

the Bible Well ride the

25:33

Bible bus for five years

25:35

and you'll watch with white

25:37

and snow. Well ride the

25:40

Bible bus for five years

25:42

and you'll be amazed at

25:44

what God teaches you from

25:46

his word about what it

25:48

means to believe on the

25:50

Lord Jesus Christ and you

25:52

will be saved. It's a

25:54

blessing that keeps on going.

25:57

That's what we believe at through

25:59

the Bible.