Presents
Pamphlet #1347
Amos
chapter 7
Presents
Pamphlet #1347
Amos
chapter 7
In the 7th chapter of the great Book of Amos, our Father shows the herdman from the town of Tekoa, which means trumpet, several "visions" of the last days, even of the time of trouble called the great tribulation. However, before we "see" Amos' visions, let's review some familiar scriptures concerning the time of that great tribulation and then this 7th chapter will be very easy to understand.
First of all, it is well documented that the time known as the great tribulation begins when Michael, the one who is now holding back Satan, the son of perdition (2 Thes. 7), stands up and casts that son of perdition along with his angels out of heaven to this earth (Rev. 12:7-9). Then there will be that time of spiritual trouble, great tribulation, such as never was since there was a nation even to that time:
Jesus Christ said exactly the same thing in Matthew 24 almost word for word from that which Daniel declared:Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
It is also written in Daniel that his words would be sealed until the time of the end when the wise would understand. Who are the wise? They are those Christians who build their houses upon the foundation of the Rock, the Word of God. They seek Him through His Word, not Bethel, i.e. church (Remember Amos 5:5?). Here is one of the things that the wise virgins who have the knowledge of His Word sealed in their minds, would understand concerning the days when Michael stands up and casts Satan out of heaven to this earth. Again, these are the words of Jesus Christ:Matthew 24:21
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
[22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
And when they get here, i.e. Satan (the abomination of desolation) and his angels, you listen to no man, but stick to God's Word and believe Him only, thereby "towing the line, even the plumbline we shall read of in this study", for the deception will be awesome as will the signs and wonders Satan as the spurous messiah shall perform in the sight of men.[23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Note: The word "false Christs" is a singular word in the Greek, pseudochristos, which means "spurious messiah"![24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Also, "If it were possible" is an expression meaning that it is not possible. You see, it is written in Rom. 11 that God's very elect will not bow a knee to Satan. But if it were possible, the false messiah and his band of merry angels disguised as angels of light would surely do so. However, God's elect shall remain as wise virgins and they shall make it through the hour of darkness, as it is written.
Additionally, the wise not only understand that the period of Satan's reign as the false-christ has been shortened, but they know from Revelation chapter nine that the shortened period of time for Satan and his angels, i.e. Apollyon and his devastating locust army, is five months. Rev. 9:5 "And to them [the locusts from the pit] it was given that they should not kill them [the people], but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man."
Now let's stop and consider that Amos' vision historically speaking was for the period two years before the great earthquake of Uzziah which we have shown from Zech. 14 is prophetic of that great earthquake two years "before the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zech. 14:5)." Therefore this Book of Amos changes from prophecy to current events before the sound of the 6th trumpet when Satan is cast out of heaven. How up to date are you on current events? Jesus said "Take Heed" as in stop, look, and listen, five times in Mark 13 concerning the events of these last days.
With that background in mind, consider now the following three "visions" of Amos the prophet. Do you know that it is recorded in the Book of Joel, which was quoted by Peter on that first Pentecost Day in Acts 2, that in the last days the young men would see "visions" which simply means they would "see" as in "understand" the "visions" of the prophets such as Amos and they would teach them to their brothers and sisters. May God grant you the spiritual "eyes to see" and understand these visions of Amos?
This is not a new vision if you are familiar with God's Word. We have encountered locusts (which is what grasshoppers should read here) in the books of Joel and Nahum and Revelation chapter nine and in others as well. Then too, verse three will document that the "latter growth" being talked about in this verse is the "grass", which is symbolic of the "people" who are susceptible to being eaten (spiritually) by the final stage of the locust army of Rev. 9:4. In other words, they are ripe with deception following the "king's taxation" (see note on verse 1 in the Companion Bible), which means they have already been clipped real good by the early stages of the locusts through their control of the Four Hidden Dynasties. God is showing Amos that He has formed (prepared) a locust army, hence it is called His army in Joel 2:25, to completely desolate the land which Amos sees happen in his vision and exclaims "Oh, my Lord GOD, don't let this happen! There won't be anything left of poor Jacob!"Amos 7:1
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
Here it is:
The point is that if the Lord God did give the locusts enough time, like 3 1/2 years, everyone would be deceived (spiritually devoured), even the elect if it were possible. So the LORD tells Amos that this isn't going to happen this way and we know from the words of Jesus Christ that He has shortened the time of the great locust army He has prepared to devour the land.[2] And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Next, Amos is shown the great spiritual fire which accompanies the locusts and spiritually burns up everything causing even greater drought in this valley of dry bones (Ezk. 37).[3] The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
This is symbolic of that great deception, the spiritual lies which spiritually scorch and burn up the great deep (the sea, i.e. people [Rev. 17:15] and even the "part", which means the "part of land" given to the 10 tribes, largest of which is the USA, the of Israel, i.e. His children of the House of Israel. Amos sees this great destruction and immediately cries "Arrgggg! O Lord GOD, STOP, PLEASE! I beg of You!"Amos 7:4
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
So Amos quickly interceded on behalf of his people after "seeing" that the deception by the fire breathing dragon, Satan, the false-christ, would spiritually consume all of the House of Jacob. And once again our Father lets Amos, and therefore us, know that it won't happen that way.[5] Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Thankfully, for the elect's sake, God's plan does not allow Satan and his locust army to completely consume and spiritually desolate all of His people. And you know what? He revealed this plan to Amos long, long ago, didn't he? In other words, it has been God's plan all along, even from the time of Amos the herdman, to shorten the time of the defacto reign of Satan. The wise understand.[6] The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
Let's recap:
So far we have learned that instead of allowing Satan and his locust army to consume all the grass (the people) and the fire to devour and dry up the sea, i.e. the people (Rev. 17:15), and the land (of true Israel), our Father has decided to hold back the sounding of the 6th trump and the release of the four winds (Rev. 7:1-14) and drop a plumbline right smack in the middle of His people Israel. He will confirm in verse 8 that He shall not pass by His people anymore, meaning they shall not escape their chastisement and the tribulation of the spurious messiah and his angels, the great locust army. He fully intends to release them in their fury when He is ready according as it is written in Rev. 9:13-21.Consider the VISION of the PLUMBLINE which the Lord showed to Amos.You see, our Father loves His children very, very much and because of that deep love He is very patient and "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). So we now will learn from Amos where our Father "stands" in relation to His children.
Can you visualize this? The Lord is standing upon a perfectly straight wall, perfectly straight because it was made using a plumbline, and He is holding a plumbline in His hand. A plumbline is a string with a weight attached that is usually egg-shaped with a sharp point at the base. When the weight is let down the natural force of gravity holds the plumbline, sometimes called a plumb bob, perfectly straight and perpendicular. For that reason it is used as a guide by builders and masons to construct houses and walls that are true, straight, and upright, never leaning.Amos 7:7
Thus He shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
God is no longer going to spare His people from judgment and the pouring out of the cup of His wrath upon this final generation. And when He does there will be two types of virgins, which is a symbolic term used to describe Christians, i.e. those who are waiting to be wed to the Bridegroom when He returns from the far journey (to the right hand of the Father). There will be foolish virgins and wise virgins. Remember, the picture Amos sees is one where the Lord stands upon a wall, which is a divider. The question is, "Which side of the fence (wall) will you be on?" Will you be on His side and protected from Apollyon and his locust army, or will you on the outside, exposed and vulnerable? It is each person's individual decision. The plumbline is there... use it or not, i.e. take it or leave it![8] 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:
Isaiah 28:16
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Now listen carefully to words of the Lord:[17] Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Some are going to be on the wrong side of the wall!Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
These are our Christian brothers and sisters who build their houses on sand, i.e. the traditions of men, churchianity, with no plumbline to keep them on the straight and narrow path. Many are good hearted people who mean well, but they shall fall in that great tribulation and worship Satan because they do not know the difference between the Holy and the Profane. In other words, they do not even know there are two Jesus Christs, much less have the knowledge from His Word to discern the true one from the fake one, i.e. that which does not align to the plumbline.[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
They became harlots, virgins who were seduced by the false messiah and his angelic host.[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Reach for the plumbline and get to work on your house, now, before it is too late and four winds are released to blow![24] Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
A house built tall and straight upon that Rock using the plumbline shall remain standing and endure until the end and "the same shall be saved"![25] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
We continue with Amos 7:9 following the Lord's statement in verse 8 that He will not pass by the sins and idolatry of His people anymore:
High places and sanctuaries are places of worship, i.e. churches. Unfortunately, most of them have already become Beth-avens, which means Houses of Emptiness because they are void of God's Word.Amos 7:9
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.
Jeroboam, whose name means "the people become numerous" was the king of the 10 Tribes of the House of Israel. During his reign the "golden calves" of idolatry were set up and the Bethels (churches) became Beth-Avens. And you should know what the "sword" is from Rev. 1:16. It is the Word of God, even the plumbline by which judgment for all shall be measured. The question is, "Where do you stand right now in relation to the plumbline". Are you on course, strait and true, or are you swinging like a pendulum with the traditions of men?
Next we shall see a mainstream idolatrous priest, one named Amaziah, who does not like to hear what Amos the herdman has to say from the Word of God.
Now there's a surprise!
We saw that Amos the Shepherd from Trumpetville (Tekoa) was shown several "visions" directly from the Lord GOD. If you are a student of the Book of Revelation and know what the 7 Trumpets are you should have recognized that the first two visions, which were the locust army consuming the grass of the land and the fire burning up the sea and the land of His people, were visions of the events of 6th Trump when the desolator, Satan posing as Jesus Christ, is cast to this earth with his angels (Rev. 12:7-9) to deceive the whole world and spiritually consume it. Of course Amos saw that the desolation was going to be a total desolation and he cried out to God who told him that it would not happen that way
We are going to take a little break from our Amos study to learn what Jesus had to say about these Locusts and Scorpions and what they really represent.
See Luke 10 and 24 and Mark 11
Luke 10:18 "And He said unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
This now is a new subject that Jesus is teaching us. This is Jesus speaking to His followers and it is prophetic, and refers back to the time of the garden of Eden, and Satan's fall from the first earth age. It also applies to Revelation 12: 7-9, when Michael will cast Satan out onto the earth, and his fallen angels with him. So in the word "fall" indicates that Satan will be here in person, because he was kicked out of heaven, and not on his own accord. The plan is set in motion, and it will take place exactly as it is written. Satan came in the first place, in the "Garden of Eden" as a deceiver, to destroy the seed line that the Christ would come through. The second time he will come as the false Messiah, to deceive all the people of the earth. It will happen exactly as it was prophesied.
Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
In the Greek text, it is "Behold I have given you the power..." The enemy is Satan, the one that will "fall as lightning from heaven onto the earth". The serpents are the Kenites, the children of Satan, through his son Cain from the garden of Eden. The Scorpions are the fallen angels, that will be booted out of heaven on to the earth right along with Satan. Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." This next time takes place at the sixth trump, and we will see these fallen angels of Satan here on earth in our generation.
Remember in the prior verses Jesus had stated that "I send you out as sheep among the wolves." Yet God will give those lambs that He sends out, power over all the wolves that come against them, but they must know how to attain that power and authority. It isn't valuable to them until the know how to use it. Jesus gave His lambs "power over all your enemies." then Jesus said; "And nothing shall by any means hurt you." If you say you are a Christian; and Jesus gave you a promise like that, how can you have any fear of any enemy that is on this earth. We will see in Luke 21 that "not one hair on your head can be hurt", and just because you will be delivered up to death, which is the devil (one of his names), to give account of yourself, doesn't mean that you will die. But you will be given the opportunity to witness to the world, and have the Holy Spirit of God be placing the words in your mouth and the thoughts in your mind.
There hasn't been one soul or spirit, since the beginning of time, that has died yet, for the time of death, if it is to be so, comes at the end of judgment day. Satan is not after your physical body, but your soul and spirit, and he will try to deceive you, or buy it at his price. What is your soul worth? Is there a price that you would accept to sell out to Satan? It is time to wake up spiritually, and open our eyes and ears to the truth. Stop and think on this: Satan's power and that of his angels are limited. in Revelation 9:4 we see that it goes; "...only to those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." If you have studied the Word and know the truths that we will face from Satan, there is no fear or deception that can sway you.
Revelation 9:5 "And it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man."
The time that Satan and his one world system will rule is for five months.
So how is "the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man?" The first thing to understand is that because a scorpion has no stomach, its digestive process is outside its own body. It grabs hold of the subject, paralysis it, and vomits its digestive juices on the subject. While the subject lies helpless, the juices dissolve the subject's body and then the scorpion sucks that food back into itself. The person "man" that has been struck lies helpless through the entire process, unable to think or defend himself.
So notice first that those with the seal of the truth in their mind from verse four are not affected by Satan and his realm, but the sealing must be prior to the coming of Satan. The truth in a person's mind of the Word is the protective barrier from the poison of that scorpion Satan's deceptions. Once Satan has arrived, then God turns, or gives the men, women and children over to Satan, and this torment comes upon them. Their ignorance of the truth from the Word is their protective barrier, for this act of following Satan in ignorance, not knowing who Satan is, will allow them to enter into Christ's Millennium age kingdom here on earth for the teaching and instruction. So why can't they get the word at that late time when Satan is on earth? Amos 8:11 tells us that; "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." The Spirit of our heavenly Father Himself has closed their minds to the truth, and will turn them over to Satan.
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."
So this is how Satan and his angels will react when they come to this earth. Sure, men will seek the truth but they will not find it. When you have God's Word in your mind and soul, you will not be turned to mush at the striking of Satan's deception. Satan's time of rule will happen for a five months period, and it shall happen in our generation, just as it is written in His Word. So when Jesus gives you power over all your enemies, and if you have faith strong enough to believe, you have nothing to fear today. You will be in charge and in control over anything that will come against you, and be a strong Christian for Almighty God.
Luke 10:20 "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
SORRY
FOR THE LONG SIDE TRIP BUT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND
WHAT THESE LOCUSTS AND SCORPIONS ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF!
NOW BACK TO AMOS:
God then showed Amos that although the locusts He had formed should come (i.e. the 6th Trump was ready to sound) He would first stand on a wall and hold a plumbline in the midst of Israel by which those who were wise could see the truth and build upon that wall of His protection using that plumbline, the Word of God. This is the period of the 5th Trump, the Trumpet of Grace, the time of teaching and the "sealing" of the truth in the minds of the 144,000 in Rev. 7:4-8 and the multitudes as well in Rev. 7:9
What needs to be pointed out, however, is that Amos did not learn "eschatology" from a school for prophets nor obtain a degree from a Theological Se,minary, nor did he have a big church building. This is very important because there has been much said in this Book of Amos concerning the churches, the Bethels, and it has not been favorable by any means. Remember we were warned in chapter 5 to "Seek not Bethel", church, but to "Seek the Lord God, and ye shall live". You seek Him through the "Word of God", i.e. your Bible.
Do you recall in Mat. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, when the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him what would be the signs in the last days just before He returns to destroy the temple in Jerusalem where the false messiah will be standing?
Editor's note: Be careful with this Jerusalem statement! Yes, it was in Jerusalem that Christ said this. Yes, the physical temple was also there. But was Christ talking about destroying a physical structure or was He talking about Religion, Satan's form of religion!
His first warning to them was to watch out for deception from Christian preachers. "Take heed, let no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many (Matthew 24:5)." So according to the words of Jesus Christ, preachers, who say they come in His name, but then deceive their congregation are a big problem in our land. In fact in the concluding verse of this chapter, Amos will lay charge to the idolatrous priests for the great harlotry of our people because they reject the true teachings of God's Word and His prophets and even go out of their way to prevent His servants from teaching the truth. To that end, we are going to learn what you can expect from many of the leaders of the religious community.
Hint: You can expect that they will turn on you and bring false charges and misrepresent what you teach from God's Word. In fact, some of you have already had experiences such as these.
We are also going to see why it is our people are starved for truth. Their church leaders are not only not interested in teaching truth, but some of them, like the preacher we are going to read about today, cannot even correctly quote a prophet of God. No wonder our people are ignorant of God's Word. With leaders like that, whose spiritually blind congregations believing they are truly God's ministers, our people are in Big Trouble. Remember, Christ warned us about them.
So open your eyes and let's see a prominent minister of a Big Bethel in action. This priest's name is "Amaziah" which means the "strength of Yah", which is not what he actually is but rather what he thinks he is. Nevertheless, Amaziah has heard what Amos prophesied in verse 9 here in chapter 7. Here is what he does about it:
Let's see what we have here. Amaziah is the chief priest of the royal court, a renown and prominent minister who performs and oversees all the religious and ceremonial functions in the king's royal sanctuary. I'm sure he must have some really nice religious looking robes in his closet and he looks real holy in church. The only problem is, Amaziah is an idolatrous priest, a priest of the golden calves, not to mention a liar and a hypocrite as we just witnessed, but his congregation does not know it.Amos 7:10
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.
So what does Amaziah do when he hears Amos the herdman teaching the TRUTH directly from God's Word? First and foremost, he REJECTS the Word of God from the mouth of His prophet, and then falsely accuses Amos of "conspiring" against the king and tries to get the political leader to shut him up... all for the good of the people of course because they cannot bear all Amos' words, not because good old sweet tolerant Amaziah has anything against Amos! Of course not! Just look at Amaziah! He's a holy man of god!
Now let's see what else Amaziah has to say about the prophet of God. Again, the false priest has already LIED twice and accused Amos of an evil conspiratorial motive while implying that his own motive is pure and honorable, i.e. for the good of the people. You see, Amaziah the big preacher is representative of a lot of preachers today who believe that you tell your congregations what they want to hear, like nice stories and anecdotes, and get them feeling real good with pretty mood music and make them believe they are making great sacrifice to God when they fill the collection plate and sign up to help with the annual fund raising chicken barbeque. Am I being unkind? Well, teaching the truth of God's Word straight on, which sometimes steps on everyone's toes, including the teacher's, is not popular with the majority. It never has been.
Amaziah continues:
Oh, another big lie! Did you catch it? There is a HUGE lesson in this 7th chapter of Amos. You MUST watch carefully what religious leaders, i.e. Christian ministers, pastors, evangelists, bishops, popes, etc., say especially when they quote the Word of God and His prophets. That is why you are instructed to "study to show yourself approved (2 Tim. 2:15)" and admonished to check out what they say in the Word of God to see if what they say is true! Why? Because Jesus Christ warned us that there would be MANY preachers who teach the traditions of men which are contrary to the Word of God! Do not be deceived by appearances! Check out what they say in the Word of God.[11] For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
You go get the plumbline and hold it up to what men say and see if their words are straight and true. If not, reject their words! You see, it is really tempting for people to believe some prominent religious leader who looks and sounds like he knows what he is talking about. The FACT IS Amos NEVER said "Jeroboam was going to die by the sword". Check it out in verse 9: Amos said that the Lord "will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword"! This was fulfilled historically in 2 Kings 15:10.1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Slightly twisting God's Word and His words to make it appear that God said something which He did not, or did not say something which He did, is the age old subtle MO of Satan which he first used in the garden of Eden when he misquoted God's words to Eve. He also misquoted scripture to Jesus Christ when he tempted Him in the wilderness by omitting the words and adding the words "to keep thee in all Thy ways" to "lest at any time" Psalms 91:11-12. Check it out. So is it any wonder then that his ministers do likewise in twisting and misquoting scriptures?
Here is something else you need to be aware of concerning preachers in this final generation. They do not want you teaching God's Word anywhere in or near their churches.
Hit the road, Jack! Your teachings are not welcome here.Amos 7:12
Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
That's right, do not teach God's Word in this church. Scram! This is the king's sanctuary and the king's palace. Hmm, shouldn't it be God's house?[13] But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
Amos is now going to address the Reverend Uppity, PhD, ThM, BRE. (Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Theology, Bachelor of Religious Education).
There were schools for prophets but Amos did not attend them and was therefore not credentialed by them. He was just a simple hardworking man, a shepherd and a gatherer of sycomore figs!Amos 7:14
Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
Amos let old Amaziah know that he didn't choose to become a minister or preacher by profession. He just loved the truth and to study God's Word and when the LORD was ready, He called upon him to teach His truth to his brothers and sisters and show them where the plumbline is. Hey, they weren't getting any truth taught to them in the Bethels they were attending with the likes of Amaziah presiding in the pulpits![15] And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
Amos now has a few choice words for Amaziah and they are not His own. He will do as we are all instructed to do and that is speak in the manner of "Thus saith the LORD!" First, Amos repeats the charge Amaziah gave to Him to STOP teaching the truth:
Here is what the Word of God says about you preachers who withhold the Word of God from your congregations, Amaziah!Amos 7:16
Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
Your whole church, Amaziah, is going to jump right in bed with Satan when he comes to that city of Jerusalem, the city of harlots (Rev. 17:5, 18), pretending he is the Bridegroom. Your sons and daughters whom you have spiritually raised in your Bethels turned Beth-Avens are going to fall by the sword. In other words they shall be spiritually slain by the false-christ, the Assyrian, when he comes and takes captive the whole world, including the majority of the children of Israel. And you shall die in a polluted land, which means a land full of idolatry because of the likes of you idolatrous preachers in your Beth-Avens who teach the traditions of men instead of God's Word. Here is the definition of "polluted":[17] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
Yes, the Book of Amos has been quite rough on the churches. But then again, we are warned to "Seek not Beth-el" (church) and to stay away from false preachers. That's right! Jesus said in these last days "go ye not therefore after them"!polluted = àîÅèÈtÖaòmeò�taw-may' Strong's #2931
From H2930; foul in a religious sense:—defiled, + infamous, polluted (-tion), unclean.àîÅèÈ tÖaòmeò�taw-may' Strong's #2930
A primitive root; to be foul, especially in a ceremonial or moral sense (contaminated):—defile (self), pollute (self), be (make, make self, pronounce) unclean, X utterly.
Here also is a reminder of the instructions the LORD gave unto our people a few chapters back in Amos 5:4-5?Luke 21:8
And He said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
Better take heed in this final generation if you value your soul and Seek the Lord God through His Word and do not follow after preachers. Now where do you suppose you can find all the MANY preachers who claim to be Christian ministers? That right, in the Bethels, the churches!Amos 5:4
For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
Do not put your trust in any man or in any church. We are not condemning churches nor advocating not going to church. If you find a good Bible teaching church to attend then that is great. But Amaziah-type preachers you can do without. However, whether you attend a church or not, either way, you get the plumbline and you build your house upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, the Word of God! Or else you may find yourself naked and ashamed and standing outside the door to the wedding of the true Bridegroom along with Amaziah's whole congregation, all spiritual harlots, saying:[5] But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
Matthew 25:11To which He will reply:
... Lord, Lord, open to us.[12] But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
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