Amos 4: Enemies and Helps of Returning to God
Yesterday morning I was struck by the sheer other-ness of Amos 4. I was reading through the chapter during a time of prayer, and I felt like I finally saw the chapter in outline form. The short of it would be:
I. Enemies of returning to God…
- rebellion, as pictured by the women in 4:1-3.
- religion, as expressed in God’s sarcasm in 4:4-5.
II. Helps to returning to God…
- hunger and starving: I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me (v. 6).
- thirst and forced moving: I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain and the field on which it did not rain would wither; so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me (v. 7-8).
- no productivity in labor: I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me (v. 9).
- death and weakened defenses: I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me (v. 10).
- destruction and danger: I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me (v. 11).
III. The God to Whom we return: He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name (v. 13).
In each of the 5 “helps” God’s desire was ultimately for his people to return to Him. But they would not. Their rebellion and their religion had become their comfort and solace, even through times of famine, drought, economic depression, death, and destruction.
My natural mind would think nearly opposite of Amos 4 (except maybe for the rebellion part). I would think that religion would be a help to returning to God. But it wasn’t. Religion replaced God and led to all kinds of false worship and false security. Furthermore, I would naturally think that famine and drought and depression and death and destruction would be hindrances to returning to God. And, yet, these were given by God to his people for the purpose of them returning to Him.
Father, help me to despise false religion like you do. And help me to return to You. Grant me the grace to cast off all substitutes, all functional saviors, all false security. And please help me to learn well when you lead me into suffering for Your Name’s sake. Amen.
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, Quote 02
People in the middle usually discover that more work is involved than they ever expected. It is hard to hold onto the dream, and very often expectation becomes the desire to simply survive. Amidst the hard work, it is difficult to keep your standards high and your hope alive. You are tempted to settle and compromise. In the middle, thankfulness often degrades into complaint, and hope decays into resignation. It is hard to live in the middle of something, but that is exactly where all of our relationships take place.
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, Quote 01
I just started Relationships: A Mess Worthy Making, by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp. I was left spinning and asking Jesus for help already. One quote struck so hard I thought I would share it before finishing the book. Here it is:
The most dangerous aspect of your relationships is not your weakness, but your delusions of strength. Self-reliance is almost always a component of a bad relationship.
Time for me to keep asking Jesus to break me.
changing a city with average folks
I am in a posting mood today, I guess. I just was slammed by Larry Osborne’s article on average people. It is worth the read and heart-examination for any spiritual leaders out there. In the past few weeks, I have been repeatedly asking Jesus to show me the blind-spots in my character, the defects that I am certain just aren’t there, you know? I am thinking this article might be part of God’s answer to that prayer. We’ll see.
Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, by Ed Welch, #01
Over the past few months I have been reading through books that teach on sin. It all began with Ed Welch’s Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave. I had originally purchased the book a couple of years ago, but only recently read it – due to some recent circumstances in my family’s life. My first reason for reading the book was to understand and identify with what some friends of mine are going through. But as I read through the book, I found myself repeatedly asking God for mercy…for me! It did help me to understand my family and friends, but the Holy Spirit was also quite pleased to illuminate sin, sinful patterns, and sinful roots in my own life. By the end, I was actually enjoying the primer on sin and the expose on my sin. I will start at the beginning, though, and see if I make it through. The first parts deal more with definitions than practical application, but it it essential.
“As used in this book, addiction will be used to describe certain experiences and behaviors. At least initially, I will try to distinguish descriptions of behavior from explanations for behavior. …What is a description of addictions? How do addicts feel? Addicts feel as if they are trapped and out of control. …They feel desperate hunger and thrist for something. They feel like they can’t let go, clinging even when the addictive behavior yields very few pleasures and a great deal of pain. They feel like they are in bondage. Addicts fell out of control, enslaved, stuck, and without hope for freedom or escape. Something or someone other than the living God controls them, and the controlling object tells them how to live, think, and feel” (pp. 11-12).
When focusing on his particular subject matter, Welch explains, “What unites these and most other activities or substances described as addictions is that they deliver a bodily experience. With them we feel more alert, more calm, less shy, or more powerful. Furthermore, most addictions change our physical experience and they do it quickly, working within seconds or minutes rather than days or weeks” (p. 13).
Ed does an excellent job of building a solid understanding of sin, not giving in to the easy out of saying that an addiction is merely a sickness. Along those lines, he highlights that, “to ignore something wrong in ourselves would be to practice self-deception, and this, especially when we talk about addictions, is exactly what we want to avoid” (p. 20). Furthermore, on sin he says, “Sin is ultimately against God. It is any failure to conform to the law of God in either action or attitude. [Many addicts] have no awareness that what they are doing has anything to do with God. The problem, they believe, is simply within themselves. It is neither against God nor others. …[Scripture] teaches that we sin much more than we think, and it teaches that sin is our primary problem (p. 20).
Welch moves on to build his argument that the Bible actually has a lot to say about addictions. The many Scripture passages related to drunkenness apply strongly to all addictions. He sees drunkenness as a prototype for other addictions. After sharing multiple texts about the effects of drunkenness, he answers a probable question: “But this accumulation of proof texts [on the sinfulness and negative effects of drunkenness] is not persuasive to everyone. ‘You are talking about drunkenness, I am talking about alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease. The alcoholic has a disease, not a moral flaw, and the only hope is never to take that first drink again.’ The way we respond to this dilemma makes a huge difference in our own victory over addictions and in helping other gain victory over addictions. More than drunkenness is in view: also think of pornographic/sexual addictions, anorexia, bulemia, food addictions, relational co-dependencies, addictions to spending money, and many others. So Welch answers the questions carefully: “Is there a difference between a drunkard [as the Bible would view him/her] and an alcoholic [who would claim it is just a disease]? Scientifically, no. There are no medical tests or brain scans that distinguish them, and their behaviors are identical. Both terms refer to those who have been repeatedly intoxicated and show a loss of self-control with alcohol. The main difference is that drunkard is an old-fashioned word and alcoholic is a more recent word…” (pp. 24-25).
But still other might have push-backs even on this. (And I want to linger here because it seems to me that the relevance of the Bible is at stake here, and, therefore, a massively important argument to understand.) Even if someone agrees with Welch’s statements above, they might still say that “loss of control” is the primary issue, that is, “an addict is helpless before alcohol in the same way that a sick person is helpless before an invading disease.“ This is the crux of the disease-understanding of addictions. And this is precisely what Welch is urging his readers to not buy into. He goes on to explain: “In other words, how can we suggest that something is sin when we didn’t choose to do it? …The majority opinion [is that] if we do something wrong and we do it purposefully, self-consciously, and in control, then it is sin. If we do something that might be considered wrong, but we do it without apparent intent or even in spite of our intent, then it is a disease. Therefore, drunkenness, heavy drinking, or alcoholism – whatever we call it – is a disease.” (If you stick with me, I really think this will be helpful.) “The theological dilemma is this: how do we reconcile the out-of-control nature of addictions and the apparently self-concious, intentional nature of sin?” Welch maintains that disease-explanations are not sufficient. They’re just not comprehensive. Instead, he says, “The cravings and desires at the core of the addictive experience are not quite the same as an invading virus. If you catch a virus, you have no choice. You don’t want it, and you would be glad to be rid of it. Heavy drinking [and other addictions], however, doesn’t just happen to us. Instead, the drinker feels there are payoffs – however temporary – to drunkenness [or giving in to whatever addiction they may have]. …In other words, addicts make choices to pursue their addiction. …Their drinking is purposeful. …This is not to deny either the feeling or the reality of being taken captive by an addictive substance or behavior. It is just to say that, for the addict, slavery with the object of desire is sometimes preferable to freedom without it” (pp. 25-27).
That last line is huge. Slavery to the addictive substance or behavior is preferable to freedom without the addictive substance or behavior. The addict has chosen, is choosing, and keeps on choosing.
Stewardship: Dedicate It
Here is the second thing to do with your money.
2. Dedicate it.
Proverbs 3:9-10: Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. Did you catch the first word of this passage? Honor. That means to give weight to, set aside as the top priority, don’t forget it. Give honor to God with your money. As soon as you get it, remind yourself that it is not yours. When Proverbs mentions wealth it isn’t talking about the day you become a millionaire. It is just talking about your stuff – your paycheck, your apartment, your car, your DVD collection, your sweet video game suite, your computer, all your stuff. Give proper weight to God first.
Remember, it isn’t yours to begin with. God, your Master, is appointing you to distribute it according to his directions. So make sure you are honoring your Master by first dedicating all of it to Him.
Amos 4:1: when God called women cows
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ Amos 4:1.
I know the title of this post might be shocking, but that is kind of what happened to me when I first read this verse. I must admit that when I was in high school and I came across this particular verse, I was first amused. I laughed. I told my friends about how God called some women cows. I thought it was interesting, entertaining, and cool. Yes, cool. Back then, I sunk my teeth into any sort of goofball, sarcastic passages of Scripture as though they were the hope of the world. You, too, would have to admit that this passage is funny, especially for a 16 year old.
In the first 3 chapters of Amos, it is already clear that God is upset, angry, and demanding repentance. There is no question about that. The sins of the nations have disgusted him, and the sins of his own people have disgusted him. His disgust is so strong that he has used sarcasm before, pointing out the blatant obvious in a pointed way so that his people might get a clue of what they are doing. God’s disgust is so strong that he has even used unconventional methods, such as bringing in unholy nations to confirm his judgment of his own people. God’s disgust has led him to paint word pictures that would shock the Israelite of the day.
But this one still stands out.
God just called the wives of Israel cows. What is going on with that? The specific Hebrew word refers to a young, female cow before she has had any calves – basically, a virgin cow. This really is shocking. The only other time God comes close to such a statement is Hosea 4:16, when he says, “Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?” (Interestingly, Hosea was a contemporary of Amos.) The type of cow God refers to are those that are raised in the mountains of Samaria where they get really fat eating off of the land. They were big, strong, and stubborn. Really big. Really fat.
Furthermore, they were unruly and wouldn’t stay in their own field. They would break over hedges and fences to get food from others. To get really big, really fat. They weren’t like sheep who – though unintelligient – could be led and kept within boundaries. They were big, stubborn, fat cows who ran around eating everyone else’s food.
And that is why God calls them cows. Not because they are literally fat, but because they are oppressing the poor, crushing the needy, and demand that their husbands get them some more beer. They are getting bigger by squelching others. Whether they are physically obese or not, they are acting like cows who just eat everybody else’s food all the time. So God calls them on it using stark language: Hear this word, you cows of Bashan. And they would do well to hear.
Stewardship: Earn It
So what do we do with money? If all of it belongs to God, and he has established us as his stewards, what does he tell us to do with it? He has not left us without instructions. He has given us careful, detailed directions for how to handle his money in a way that honors Him. Here is the first of those directions.
- Earn it. We have to get money if we are going to steward it, and to get money we should earn it. It isn’t wrong to make money; it isn’t wrong to make lots of money. In fact there are men and women in Scripture who are noted as people of wealth, both from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here is how the father in Proverbs tells his son to make money:
- Earn it through faithfulness. Proverbs 28:20: A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 13:11: Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. For many of you in my parents’ generation you are thinking in your minds right now, “Amen! That’s true!” And for many of us in my generation you are thinking, “Ahhh, crud. Even the Bible says that. I thought it was just my grandma.” I know I definitely don’t like to read that in Scripture. I want it to say, “Be faithful to God and he will suddenly give you millions of dollars.” Bing! Bang! Boom! I am done with work and toil and waking up to go to the office. But God tells us that we must earn our money through faithful, ongoing work.
- Earn it through hard work. Proverbs 14:23: In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Furthermore, consider Proverbs 13:4: The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Talking about getting a job doesn’t get you a job. Talking about your dream self-started business that is going to make you millions doesn’t make you millions. Hard work leads to profit. Hard, tenuous, toilsome, tough, painful, laborsome, back-breaking, sleep-missing, sometimes-wish-you-could-fire-your-boss, sometimes-wish-the-lottery-odds-were-better kind of work is what leads to profit. The soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Be diligent and work hard.
- Earn it with great caution. Proverbs 23:4-5: Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. We have all experienced this, right? You get a paycheck and it is gone in a moment to this bill, that bill, that debt, this debt, this meal, that meal. It seriously took wings and flew away.
This is the balance to the hard work described earlier. Don’t kill yourself or your family because you work too hard. Your paycheck will be gone soon. Do not put your trust in your money or your paycheck.
Stewardship: Intro
[Recently, I had the opportunity to preach for our church, again. This time I was charged to share about stewardship, specifically financial stewardship. I will post the transcript from that message in the coming days. Please note: it was a very practical message.]
Introduction: I don’t know if you realized it when you woke up this morning, but today is a workday…kind of. We are talking about stewardship this morning. Before you immediately check out, though, please know that this isn’t about you giving more money to our church. God has been very gracious to our church; we are financially stable for our stage of life. We aren’t preaching on money because we need you to rescue us from a crisis we are in. So we aren’t after your checkbooks for church’s sake. We are after your checkbooks for Jesus’ sake.
Stewardship is a big church word. You might be wondering what that word means and where it comes from. Let me explain briefly and then zoom in especially on money. A steward comes from the Greek word oikonomos. It specifically refers to the manager of someone else’s property and stuff. In the Roman world – which included masters and slaves, large estates and people to run those large estates – the masters of a household would set up someone who actually ran the place. While the master would be working at work, the steward would be responsible to take care of paying the bills, distributing an allowance to kids, making sure other slaves finished their jobs, keeping the house in excellent condition, and in many ways calling the shots. Paul said it was absolutely essential for stewards to be trustworthy (1 Corinthians 4:2). Why is that? Because stewards were entrusted with all that the master had. Their decisions had a large impact on the success of the master’s family, house, and business. They basically managed life for their masters. It wasn’t their own stuff; they didn’t own anything. But they were responsible for just about everything.
So when God begins to talk about how we handle the green stuff, the cash, the checkbook, the paychecks, our purchases and expenses and bills…when God begins to talk about that stuff, what word does he use to describe us? Stewards. His stewards. God is the benevolent, kind, loving Master who owns everything, and we are the servants he has appointed to manage his resources. We are God’s stewards. Today we want to look specifically at how we steward money.
Money is one of the biggest parts of your life. I don’t have to tell you that it literally affects everything you do or don’t do. It affects how you feel about your job, your family, and your future. It affects what you buy or don’t buy. It affects where you move or don’t move. It affects what house you live in, what car you drive, when you get married, where you go on dates, how long you stay at your current job, what kind of degree you get. It affects so much of our lives. But most importantly, money affects our worship of Jesus Christ. Let me say that one more time: money affects our worship of Jesus Christ. It does. Jesus himself said, “No man can serve two masters, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can not serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). That is shocking. Jesus, in essence, is saying that money wants to be your master, but God must be your master. Money makes a painful master. So we must see ourselves as stewards who use God’s money in the way God, our Master, wants us to use it.
So what do we do with money? If all of it belongs to God, and he has established us as his stewards, what does he tell us to do with it? He has not left us without instructions. He has given us careful, detailed directions for how to handle his money in a way that honors Him. I want to point out 6 of those directions.
Amos 3:13-15: what God punishes
“Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts, “that on the day I punish israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great house shall come to an end.” Amos 3:13-15
God calls Egypt and Philistia once again to testify against Israel. God’s witnesses to Israel’s crimes are stubborn, rebelious nations, but they can point out the crimes of Israel well. God tells his witnesses what he will punish. Of all the mistakes Israel has made, of all the ways they have lived, of all the deeds they have done, what is God going to make sure he punishes?
(1) their false religion. He is going after their altars. Their worship is infuriating to Him (Amos 5:21). It isn’t real worship of the true God. It isn’t birthed out of a passion for the true God. Instead it has been shaped and tweaked to accommodate their own desires, many of which are blatantly sinful. And their worship is another expression of their oppression of the poor. So God is going after their alters. He is going to tear them down. The horns of the altars, which are a symbol of strength and pride, will be smashed and broken, laying on the ground. Their false gods will be proved impotent. Their man-made creations will be put away. God hates this false religion, and he will see to its destruction.
(2) their riches that oppress the poor. He is going after their extra houses. The winter and summer house. One would face one direction to be warmer in winter, and the other would face another direction to be cooler in summer. Israel was beginning to have more of these…by oppressing the poor. They had even built some houses of ivory, which would have been massively expensive…by oppressing the poor. They had sections of great houses, nicer homes, luxurious homes that stood in contrast to the smaller, simpler homes of the poor. These neighborhoods were built by oppressing the poor. In fact, this is an early glimpse of a sociological problem we will fight today. Neighborhoods mainly for the poor and neighborhoods mainly for the rich, with a thick separating wall between them. This leads to resentment, superiority, crime, pain, glass-ceiling upward mobility, and all sorts of other problems. Consider how Israel contributed to this problem:
In the age prior to Jeroboam II, the houses in Israel’s cities were roughly the same size. But archaeologists find a change starting in the eighth century b.c. – ancient cities like Tirzah have a neighborhood of large, expensive houses and another neighborhood of small, crowded structures, smaller than the houses from previous years. The larger houses are filled with the marks of prosperity, and the oppressive rich of Israel thought they could find safety there – but God’s judgment came against those houses as well, just as Amos promised.
