IN ANGER REMEMBERING MERCY

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The Greek philosopher Aristotle once wrote this: “Death is the most terrible of all things – for it is the end.” Tragically many still think like that.

So what do you really believe about the afterlife? And what do you believe about that clause in the Creed that says of Jesus Christ, “he will come again to judge the living and the dead”? I hope that Amos 9, and this concluding study in the book of Amos, will be of some help as we think about how the Bible deals with those questions. And my headings this morning are very simple, first, WHAT DOES AMOS TEACH? and secondly, CAN YOU BELIEVE HIM?

But by way of introduction may I just say there are three things you can expect from the Old Testament according to Jesus and the Apostle Paul: one, in Luke 24.27, Jesus says it points to himself; two, in 1 Cor 10.11, Paul says it warns that sin leads to judgment; and, three, in Rom 15.4, Paul says it is a book of encouragement and hope. And Amos 9 doesn’t disappoint. It contains all three. It points to Jesus, it warns and gives encouragement and hope.

So first, WHAT precisely DOES AMOS TEACH?

For those of you who have missed the previous studies, let me summarize Amos so far. He is an 8th century prophet and fundamentally teaching about the nature of God. As today, so many in Israel were claiming to believe in God but had lost all idea of what he is really like.

One vital area they got wrong was this. They believed that you could be idolatrous, cruel to the poor, sexually immoral and selfish and think God doesn’t mind. They had lost all consciousness that God was a holy and righteous God who hates all evil. Like many today they thought of God in terms of a laid back Father Christmas.

The fundamental understanding of God’s character had been revealed to the Israelites in Moses’ time, centuries earlier. Exodus 34:6-7 says that God

“…passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’

But in their idolatrous multi-faithism the people of Amos’ day seemed to remember the first half of that revelation, but completely forgot or ignored the second. For they were cruel to the poor, sexually immoral and selfish and thought all would be well. But Amos is saying all will not be well. He says that unless you repent and there is a change of heart and life, things will be terrible. People will face the judgment of God. The guilty will not go unpunished in terms of natural and supernatural disasters, invasion, exile and death.

Think of what is happening in that same part of the world at this very moment – in Syria. And then multiply that many times over. Well, that is what Amos was warning it would be like if there was not a turning back to the true and living God of Israel.

So here we are now in chapter 9 and the last of the prophet’s visions of the future. And this one again is of coming judgment Look at verses 1-4:

“I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: ‘Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.’”

Amos is here saying that the people’s central religious building, their cathedral, the source of much false teaching and decadence, will be destroyed by an earthquake killing those inside. And any survivors will be killed in warfare. The disaster will be total and inescapable. Nowhere in the universe will there be a place to hide - from the depths of the sea to the realms of outer space – from God’s judgment. Wherever they are, they will experience evil and not good. But, you ask, how is all this possible?

Amos answers, it is possible because the Lord is the creator of the universe and also because of his preserving or, as the theologians call it, his “providential” work. Look at verses 5-7:

“The Lord, the LORD Almighty, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn - the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt - he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land-- the LORD is his name.

Amos believes that the creation of the universe, of the heavens above and earth and sea below, came about through a unique work of divine supernatural energy. Yes, it is quite beyond our comprehension but that doesn’t mean it is not true.

But Amos also believes, as the Bible elsewhere teaches, that if creation refers to an initial exercise of divine energy, there is a continuing exercise of divine energy, which we call “providence”. This continuing work means that God controls all that goes on and keeps our universe, our world and us in being. And Jesus Christ, the pre-incarnate Lord, but now the risen and reigning Saviour and Lord, has been, and is, the agent in this providential work. Colossians 1.16-17 says of Jesus Christ:

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

And Hebrews 1.3 says the same. The Bible teaches that God is completely in charge all the time. He knows the future and controls it. He upholds the world and can directly intervene in it.

However, something else, absolutely essential, has to be said at the same time. And that is this: somehow, while all this is true, we as human beings are still free agents. How God does not violate freely chosen human decisions, but ensures that his will is done through them is another great mystery. But it is a fact that we can choose to do wrong. Yet God can overrule things for good.

The Bible tells us, again centuries before Amos, that Joseph was cruelly sold by his brothers as a slave to some Egyptians. But then he became Prime Minister and helped his family in a time of famine. Therefore, when in later life Joseph met up with his brothers, he could say, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen 50.20). So God’s sovereignty does not destroy human freedom but (and it is a big “but”) it also does not destroy human responsibility and guilt.

All that is why Amos can say that God’s judgment for sin in this world is possible. For God is our creator as verses 5-6 teach. But also, in his providence, he is totally involved in it, witness the migrations showing free choice, not only of Israel out of Egypt, but even the migrations of Israel’s enemies, such as the Philistines and the Arameans. Look at verse 7:

Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?" declares the LORD. "Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?

His control was, and is, not just of Israel but of the whole world. And this is of great encouragement for faithful believers when things go wrong. But it also means God sees all the wrong that we freely do. You cannot hide from God. And, says Amos, sin and wrong leads to God’s judgment. Look at verse 8:

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth.”

But someone says, “isn’t all this so cruel?” The answer is “No!” Correct warnings are so valuable. I was warned last Tuesday, literally just before leaving home, by Colin Hart also wanting the train, that there was no 8.25 to London because of the floods. So plans were immediately changed and we went by car. We arrived earlier than Jonathan Pryke who was not warned and actually caught the 7.55 and arrived very late for our conference! Amos is talking about judgment because he wants people to repent and change. So God will then have mercy on the nation. And there is hope down the tracks. Look at verse 8 and following:

“‘yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’”

There need not be total destruction – grim as everything said so far has been sounding. For Amos is making a distinction between “the sinners” and others. And who, here, are the sinners? Verse 10 says they are “those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’” They are the people who ignore God’s holiness and righteousness and say, “Of course, he will not punish anyone.” And they go on sinning regardless.

Amos insists God doesn’t smile at the likes of Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot and their sins. What sort of God would that be? Nor does he smile at lesser sins. But Amos says, for those who genuinely seek God, there will be a wonderful future. Even if initially there is some experience of punishment, that will lead to the mercy of God, not his anger. You read about that in verses 11-15. There will be a wonderful new age – for example, verse 14 says:

“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”

All that is what Amos is teaching, or implying, in chapter 9.

We must now move on to our second heading, CAN YOU BELIEVE AMOS and how do you apply what he says today?

Well, first of all, Amos’ prediction of God’s judgment was true. It was certainly fulfilled in 721 BC. That was when the capital city of Israel in the North, Samaria, fell to the Assyrians, the regional super power. God, in his providence, was using that cruel pagan army as, in Isaiah’s words, “the rod of my anger” (Isaiah 10.5). But, you say, can you believe in, and really apply, Amos’ teaching today? The answer is, “Yes!”

Ofcourse, the Old Testament prophets first must be interpreted in terms of their immediate future and their own culture, as with Amos and the Assyrians. But then you can apply the principles involved to later history and other cultures.

Acts 15.17 shows how it applied positively in New Testament times. Our verse12 talks of “all the nations that bear my name” being incorporated into the renewed community of God’s people. But in Acts 15.17 that is seen to apply to all races and not just Jews coming into the Church of Jesus Christ, which also actually happened.

And in this series we have seen how Amos applies to the 21st century in terms, one, of our use of money and giving and not least aid to poorer and oppressed Christians; two, in terms of hypocrisy and heresy in the church; and, three, in terms of sexual immorality. And you need to apply these warnings to yourself and not just other people. It is too easy to apply the words of the prophets to others. But then you need to hear the encouragement too.

The good news is that those promises of the last verses (11-15) can also be applied today as you see how they are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For verse 11 refers to “that Day” and verse 13 refers to “the days [that] are coming”. But we can now see how that refers to when God finally is going to restore all things to perfection.

Later Old Testament history makes it clear that there was a foreshadowing of that restoration when the Jews returned from their exile in Babylon in the reign of the Persian King Cyrus.

But the New Testament makes it clear that there was a beginning of the ultimate restoration, Amos is pointing to, with the first coming of Jesus. And the New Testament also makes it clear that the complete fulfillment will come only when Christ returns for the second time. Then there will be final judgment and the establishment of “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3.13). Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ will “come again to judge the living and the dead” and there will then be for believers “life everlasting”?

Bertrand Russell, an early 20th century, anti-Christian atheist and immoralist, found Jesus’ teaching about his Second Coming one of the main reasons for his disbelief and his depressive nihilism.

By contrast Lord Shaftesbury, a little older than Russell, was, yes, depressed, but by the social conditions of the 19th century. However, his belief in Jesus’ Second Coming and final judgment became the supreme motive for his wanting change and his becoming one of the greatest social reformers ever. The text, in Greek, “Even so come Lord Jesus”, was embossed on the flaps of his envelopes. And in the church where he is buried, the memorial tablet (at his own wish) had nothing but his name, title and dates and these three texts: one, “What hast thou that thou has not received?” two, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed that he fall,” and, three, “Surely, I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” [the last but one verse of the whole Bible].

And Amos is describing this future when Jesus comes (in verses 13-15) as a renewal of creation with the curse of Eden removed, cities rebuilt for human flourishing, no more famines but bumper harvests, and verse 13 …

“ … new wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.”

Undoubtedly this is an attempt to describe the indescribable. The Bible says,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

That is Paul in 1 Cor 2.9, quoting Isaiah 64.4. However, he goes on to say in the next verse:

“But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”

Then later in 1 Corinthians (chapter 13.12), he says:

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then [that is, when Christ returns] we shall see face to face.”

That all means what we know is the truth. But you should not be too dogmatic about the details regarding the end of history, in the same way as you should not be too dogmatic about the details regarding the beginning of history. We have, however, a clear outline of the truth. And that is this: we are now in a time of grace following Christ’s first coming when he came to be our Saviour, not our Judge.

So now is the time for salvation, through trusting and then obeying Christ. Who this morning has not yet put their trust in Christ who now offers salvation but who will come, one day, as our judge?

And this is believable, as Paul told the intellectuals of Athens (Acts 17.30-31):

“In the past God overlooked … ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

Christ’s Resurrection with an empty tomb confirms so much. Yes, he is coming this second time not to save but to judge. At that final judgment Romans 2.6 says:

“God will give to each person according to what he has done.”

Romans goes on to say that those who as servants of Christ have wanted righteousness and God’s glory, will receive the eternal life they want. But for those who are selfish, reject the truth and do evil, Paul says in Romans 2.8, there will be “wrath and anger”.

I must draw to a close.

Amos has been teaching that God’s wrath or anger is real. It is not a primitive religious idea that 21st century people can forget. For another great proof is that it explains Christ’s death on the Cross. When you realize that on the Cross Jesus was engaging with God’s righteous anger on your behalf, it starts to make sense. You see God in anger remembering mercy. For Christ, the perfect divine Son, is dying an excruciating death to bear the punishment – the eternal punishment – you deserve for all these sins Amos has been highlighting.

In some measure, to a greater or lesser extent, you will have committed these, or some of these, sins. In addition there are all your many sins of omission – the good you have failed to do. So you should not only truly thank God for his mercy and forgiveness instead of his anger and punishment which Christ has born in your place. You should also want to please him by trying to live a good life and doing good in obedience to him, as the Holy Spirit helps you. Even though you still may falter and fail, that trying proves your faith as a Christian is real and not sham.

But remember, your good works are not the basis of your acquittal and acceptance by God at that judgment day, when works are judged. You are accepted only because of Christ’s good works and his death for you. It is simply the genuineness of your faith and trust in Christ which is evidenced and judged by your desire to serve and obey.

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