King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, July 10, 2023
Chapters: AMOS 5-9
Study: The Wise Fools
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
To the Christian who walks with Christ daily, there is something comforting in knowing that we are protected by God Himself. Oh, we may face some trials, some of which we bring upon ourselves, but we know that He never leaves nor forsakes us. To the world, who rejects God, there is something tormenting even in the mention of His name. For deep down they know there is a hell and do not want to be in it any more that we do, but they are full of so much pride that they would rather die in their sin than live by admitting they need Christ, [Romans 1:22-25 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.]
As we come to the end of the reading of Amos, God, has something to say to the entire house of Israel, not the nation of Israel, which are God’s people, but the children of Jacob, the ones He had set aside from the rest of the world and gave the land of Israel.
[Amos 5:1-6 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. 6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.]
[Seek ye me, and ye shall live:] There are so many people trying to find God in worship centers, religions, or inheritance, but fail to understand that God can only be found through Christ. It is the people whom have Christ in them already that lead those seeking God through their example. This is why it is important for every saved born again Christian to live their lives of Christ and not of the world, if we are living like they are then they will not see the need for Christ in their own, [Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.]
[lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,] God, is addressing the house of Joseph due to the fact that Jeroboam who led Israel into idolatry and away from God came from the descendants of Ephraim who was Joseph’s son. God, does not want anyone to end up in hell, which is why He works so much on the ones whom have some faith in Him, but have not quite figured out that they need to come to Him through Christ. God, actually tells the house of Joseph that He will have mercy on them if they return to Him.
[Amos 5:14-18 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.]
[and they shall call the husbandman to mourning,] Until we afflict ourselves we will never see Christ for who He is as that is what humbles us, [James 4:8-10 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.]
[Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD!] As much as we all would love to see Jesus return so that we will never be afflicted again, we really should not be so willing to see it happen. Why? Total destruction of the world. God, really does not want to destroy the world, but He has had it with all the fake worship an goes on to tell us that, [Amos 5:20-24 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.]
[Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;] What good does it do to praise and worship God when there is no desire to live as He wants us to live. God, is not at all pleased with the singing, praise, or any other works with His name attached to it for that matter unless some true repentance comes into play. Do I always understand God’s plan? No. Nevertheless, I do need to trust Him as that is the only option sometimes, [Psalms 56:3-4 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.]
God, did not create the moon for man, nor Mars, nor Jupiter, or any other planet, He created earth for man so that they can live. If He wanted us to be on other planets, then He would have made them there as well. It is no wonder why He is so angry, and that includes worldly Christians. One can blame God or even Satan all they want for the evils in this world, but they are the only ones to blame. God, has something to say to those who are at ease with all evils.
[Amos 6:1-3,6-7 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! 2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? 3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.]
[Woe to them that are at ease in Zion,] Women conceiving babies in their lusts, then aborting them. People turning to drugs or alcohol to fix their problems, getting marrying to someone of the same sex, using drugs and cosmetic surgery to alter their gender. These are all sins of the flesh that the people are so at ease about, they not only destroy the body, but the earth itself because we all suffer while they remain in their sin. The only person able to fix our problems is Jesus, but we must understand that He will not intrude in our lives, we must invite Him in, [Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.]
God, takes pride in a nation that prospers under Him because He built it from the ground up, but He is a jealous God, and He will destroy that nation that rejects Him just as fast as He built it. Remember, these were not people who had no knowledge of God, they down right rejected Him. Most of Israel prided themselves on what they had made out of the kingdom, including their false gods. All that Amos was saying to them was not new news, they had this warning several times, but this was the last straw, yet they did not want to hear it, even a priest tried to silence Amos.
[Amos 7:8-13 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.]
[I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel:] A plumb line is a symbol of judgment according to righteousness. God, was about to measure the ten tribes, pass by them one last time, with the line drawn there will be no crossing over. In other words, God, will bring the people of Israel to the trial, would discover their wickedness, and the time will come, when those who, have been spared often, shall be spared no longer, [Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.]
[But prophesy not again any more at Bethel:] The world, and quite frankly, many churches try to ignore the fact that God will judge any nation that turns His back on Him. The wicked do not want to hear they are sinners and will die and end up in hell for their sin. The saved do not want to hear that God is going to judge them for their living in sin well before Jesus gets here. There will come a time though when it will be too late, and no one will hear the Gospel at all, which is why we cannot stop preaching about it now. Count it a great blessing that we are in the midst of a nation that still knows of God, there will come a time when people are going to be so desperate that they will seek His Word, but it will not be found. Through Amos, God speaks of a famine like not other, a time when people will wander the world in search of His Word, but not be able to find it.
[Amos 8:1-2,8-11 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. 11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:]
[that I will cause the sun to go down at noon,] While this may be referring to one of the other times when God did darken Israel during the day under some judgment, it has a significant resemblance to the time when Jesus was crucified, [Luke 23:44-46 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.]
[not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,] This actually did happen once already, Malachi, was the last prophet to speak the words of God until John the Baptist, which was about four hundred years later. How sad it must have been during that time, a time where they had no communication with God whatsoever. Let me tell you, that day is coming again, in many countries we are not even allowed to have a Bible in our possession, and it is against the law to preach Jesus. Count it a great blessing that we are in the midst of a nation that still has that opportunity, there will come a time when people are going to be so desperate that they will seek His Word, but it will not be found, [Revelation 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.]
Yes, there will come a time when people will be in so much pain and oppression that they will seek death and not even receive that. And this is not something that they never knew about before Christ came here in the flesh. Through Amos, God speaks of this very day.
[Amos 9:1-4 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: 4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.]
[and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil,] This is where Satan comes in, God, will allow him to let wicked evil loose like we have never seen before. Sometimes when I read about the prophesies concerning God’s judgment upon Israel I tear up because the people were so consumed in their sin that they not only refused to listen, they down right attacked anyone who attempted to tell them what was about to happen. Imagine a time so dark that they wish to die? Well, we are not far from that right now and that makes me grieve over my own nation. God, does not even recognize Israel, at this point.
[Amos 9:7-8,10-12 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. 11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.]
[the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,] Can you imagine the thousands of souls who are in hell right not that actually walked the earth and saw Jesus face to face, even fought with Him? I bet they would be the first to tell us to believe? The Jews have this mentality to think that they can do whatever they please, and get away with it because they are God’s chosen. A lot of people misread God’s Word when He says that all of Israel will be restored. What God means by this is that the nation of Israel itself will be restored, and that means all believers, of Christ, including a remnant of the house of Jacob.
[Romans 9:6-8,26-27 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You, for making a way for our soul to be saved from hell. It was Your sinless sacrifice on the cross that saved me, and I will forever proclaim that I have trusted You as my Saviour and are the one who saved me. There will come a time, and You even warned us of this, that we will not be able to preach the Gospel, and may even lose our lives for doing so. And while the world remains silent on Your judging them soon, we cannot remain silent to the lost who are seeking You right now. Lord, Give us Your mercy, grace, Holy Spirit power, and the boldness to preach the Gospel, even if they try to stop us. You are our judge, and the only one we answer to, I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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