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: Saturday, July 10, 2021
Chapters: Amos 5-9
Message: The LORD is His name
Hello My Friend,
I was walking through this house yesterday and up on the wall was the phrase, “Let Go and Let God”, if you saw the people that owned the house you would understand why it was a shocker. It made me think about what Jesus said, [Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.]
While there are several books in the Bible that talk about Judgment Day, Amos stands out as an eye opener to the fact that all of the signs of Jesus returning are coming quicker than we think. There is a reason why the Bible says, [Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:] When Jesus does return those who are not saved will not be able to find Him, [Luke 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:]
As I was reading through the rest of Amos I kept thinking about how it much it must grieve God to see so much evil in the world, especially after the flood. He does not want to destroy the earth that He created, but the truth is they are destroying themselves. You know, they can try to eliminate cows or get rid of coal and fuel with their ridiculous ideologies, but they will never stop the earth from being destroyed because they will never stop doing what they are doing. While God is speaking to Israel about the judgment that was about to take place, the same message is clear for all nations, repent, seek the LORD now while He is still able to be found. Through Amos, God pleads with Israel to seek Him so that they can live through the judgment.
[Amos 5:4-8,14-15 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. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 14 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.]
[The LORD is his name:] While God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one in the same, but also in the form of each person as the Father, Son,and Spirit, we must never lose sight of the fact that Christ is the LORD. It is only through the name of Jesus that God may be gracious to save us from the judgment, [Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.]
[the LORD God of hosts] [Hosts; An army; a number of men embodied for war. Any great number or multitude.] Christ is also God of an army, a great multitude of believers, those whom have not forsaken His warning of the judgment and were not cast into hell, but faithfully turned to Him, and were saved. And since we are a part of His army that means we are sent out to search and rescue lost souls by leading them to Christ. We must be careful when we give someone the Gospel that we literally do not scare them to the point that they run from Him instead of turn to Him. How can we run them off? By going into great detail about their sin and how it will send them to hell. Yes, we are all sinners and must address them with that fact, but in a way that brings personal conviction, not an attack on them for their sin. Since we are all sinners we have our own crosses to bear, what is important is that they know that we have all sinned and only Jesus can save them. Regardless of their sin, God does not want to see the world end, even He is angry toward those who waiting to for it.
[Amos 5:18-24 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. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 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.]
[I will not accept them:] There is only one way to God and to be saved from judgment and that is Jesus Christ, God will not accept any other sacrifice. Sin is what destroys everything good that God has created. One can blame God or Satan all they want for the evils in this world, but man has done that all by themselves. How? Prime examples are: Women conceiving babies in their lusts aborting them; people turning to drugs or alcohol to fix their problems; men or women marrying of the same sex; people using cosmetic surgery to alter their gender. These are all sins that bring evil all on its own, yet each and every one will be forgiven if they turn to Jesus Christ, and accept Him as their Saviour, [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]
We must understand that salvation is not just a free ticket out of hell card, there will be judgment, I know it is sad to think about, but God cannot stress the importance of us knowing that Judgment Day is coming for all, but we can be saved from it. The judgments that God placed on Israel were to show us that He is not messing around, what He allowed to happen in Israel He will allow to happen to any nation that refuses to heed His warnings. Through Amos, God continues to warn Israel of the judgment coming to them, He also stresses His anger for their not only ignoring Him, but their not being concerned about the judgment that was coming.
[Amos 6:8-10,12-14 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein. 9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. 10 And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD. 12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: 13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? 14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.]
[I abhor the excellency of Jacob,] God is not against His people prospering, but He wants them to be faithful. This reminds me of what Jesus said, [Luke 17:33-36 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.]
This is exactly what is going to happen when Jesus returns, those who died before He returns will resurrect and rise up to the clouds, then those who are still alive in the flesh will join then while the earth gets destroyed, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.] The world, and quite frankly, many churches ignore the fact that God will judgment us coming. There will come a time when it will be too late to call on Christ, in fact, no one will hear the Gospel at all, which is why we cannot stop preaching about it now. Through Amos, God speaks of a famine like not other, a time when people will search for His Word, but not be able to find it.
[Amos 8:9-12 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: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.]
[that I will send a famine in the land,] This actually did happen, Malachi was the last prophet to speak the words of God until John the Baptist, which was about four hundred years. 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 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, [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. Through Amos, God speaks of this, [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.]
[I will search and take them out thence;] 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? We are not far from that right now. And even though God’s faithful are in the midst of this wicked world, we can rest in the hope of knowing that Jesus is coming to get us, and that includes Israel too. God may have judged Israel, but He knew not all of them rejected Him.
[Amos 9:8-9,13-15 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. 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.]
[and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,] 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 too have the 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 all believers, including us will be of Israel, [Romans 9:6-8 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.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:]
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. You tell us that if we ask anything in Your name that You will do it, and I for one will never be ashamed to say Your name. Lord, lead me and guide me, keep my heart tender, my ears open, my eyes on You, my mind learning in Your Word, and my mouth teaching it. Let me never be ashamed to mention Your name, let me be mindful to give thanks to You for everything and acknowledge You as the source for all my prosperity, and let me not become proud in my own abilities. I love You, and need You, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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