God's Demands

God roars to 6 nations. Two of them are His people and the others are Not His People. He roars as the Lord of Zion. He is the sovereign Lord, the creator and the Almighty whether people believe in him or not. He is the Lord, YAHWEH, the one who WAS and IS and WILL BE for ever and ever. As the creator He has certain demands and expectations of people. That is not what we usually think- in a world were people look to their RIGHTS we can easily forget that God makes DEMANDS on all people. It was true then and it is still true today. God ROARS out His judgement as the Lion of Judah to all men. Let me repeat again, like the politicians and like the media men- When God created the world and everything in it and when he created the man, Adam, and the woman, Eve, He did so that they might know him. The shalom that the Jews speak of is a harmony between men and God and between men and men and men and women and even between men and nature. This Shalom has been broken and there is conflict all around Internationally Nationally And in families and communities Amos stands in unity with the other prophets and also the apostles who say that every person has the remnant of the image of God- while that image was marred at the fall when Adam decided to do his own thing, it was not totally destroyed- the doctrine of total depravity does not mean that every part of every man is depraved, it does mean that all men and all women have been thoroughly tainted because of sin but there is some hope, at the same time. Part of that image means that we are all born with is our conscience which helps us to know right from wrong. So, in Romans 1 Paul makes the point that there is no excuse for any man who rejects God- “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” So God makes His judgement on the grounds of conscience. The point is that whether or not a person is a Christian he is required, by God Himself, to live with certain agreed principles of conduct in regard for other people. He begins with the people that Israel regarded as her enemies and is very critical of them and declares His punishment for them and that makes Israel feel good but then he turns his attention to Judah and Israel herself and he is even more critical. Lets look at 6 principles of right living according to Amos: 1. PEOPLE ARE NOT THINGS Amos 1:3-5 The sins of Damascus or Syria are extensive- this phrase “For three sins…even four” is to give the idea that her sins have been many and God has given opportunities to repent and be forgiven so Peterson says, “I’m not putting up with her any longer” And what has her crime been that she is to be punished? “She threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth…” The point is that Damascus in the time of king Hazael had no mercy for its prisoners of war. Even though she was carrying out God’s will she has gone much too far. We have heard it before- in a time of emergency the normal rules and principles go out the window and in come the emergency powers- we heard Mr Bush saying that the prisoners at Guantanamo were not POWs but terrorists so they did not deserve the protection of the Geneva Convention and we have witnessed the charges brought against soldiers of Britain and the USA who dished out degrading treatment and we know that no trials have been given to the detainees . We know too that there have been suspicious goings on in our conflict over the thirty years of turmoil- these are not only wrong according to the laws of God but they are counter-productive, as they only build up further resentment so that the turmoil continue to destroy lives, on both sides. Amos said that this was a moral imperative that you should treat people as people and not as things and that is true for your friends and for your enemies. 2. GIVE PEOPLE PRIORITY OVER MONEY v6-8 Gaza “took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom.” Here we move from the battlefield to the boardroom. Money talks, does it not? All the slave owner wanted to know was how much he would get for his slaves. What they were doing was selling God’s people to Edom. – remember Edom was descended from Esau who had been cheated by his brother Jacob and now his descendants seize the opportunity to get revenge. Even given the truth of this grievance by taking their relatives into slavery they were breaking the covenant with Abraham and Gaza was aiding and abetting her and in ancient times that was just as bad. So they were to be punished- “til the last Philistine is dead” What do you do with your grievances? What does this community do with them? When we look at a person, what do we see? If we can only see their money or their power or some talent or ability we are in danger of being guilty also. If we only make friends with those who are wealthy in one way or another we are guilty In some congregations people are elected to positions of responsibility because of their business success or their money and that is wrong as far as Amos is concerned- we are to prefer people over money. 3. BE A PERSON WHO KEEPS YOUR WORD 9-10 they “disregarded a treaty of brotherhood” Like Gaza Tyre was involved in the buying and selling of human flesh but the difference was that Tyre could not be trusted to keep her word- she spoke with forked tongue. We all like those who keep their word, whose word is their bound. Sometimes, though it is not possible for us to keep our word and might even be wrong to keep it because it should not have been given in the first place. Take Herod as an example- he gave his word to Herodias and that cost John his head – he should NOT have given his word in the first place and he would not have been wrong to break his word in this situation- prefer people over things and even principles- tell that to our politicians also 4. DON’T KEEP HATRED IN YOUR HEART Edom had a long history of antagonism against Israel which later would come to a head when Jerusalem fell- Ps 137:7- -See also Numbers 20:18-21] “Remember. O lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down.” They cried, tear it down to its foundations” Hs anger against Israel raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked.” Remember that prayer which says- “As we forgive those….” The implication is that there will be no forgiveness for those who harbour hate and refuse to forgive. Matt 6:15 Those who cannot forgive have forgotten or have yet to learn that they too have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Motyer says “Those who allow old sores to fester proclaim that they are not interested in forgiving, they do not see it as having anything to contribute, it is not important to them: how then can they ask for it? This is something that our community will have to come to terms with so that we can be at peace, shalom, with God, with our enemies and with ourselves. 5. LIMIT YOUR AMBITION The desire to do well in life is a good thing but not at all and any cost. V13 “…they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend their borders” Naked ambition has wrecked marriages and families and even communities. There is nothing wrong in a business man doing all he can to make his business successful There is nothing but good in a minister who has great ambition for his ministry and church- but not at the cost of family life, not at the cost of other businesses in the area- slashing the price so much that other businesses can’t compete and then go out of business- that is a different matter- is there a warning for the big boys like Tesco? Is there a warning for the workaholic man or woman? I think so. Ammon was extending her borders at the cost of others and Amos says they are wrong and they will suffer for it. The unborn babies, never mind their mothers had done nothing against Ammon- no wonder God ROARS at them- we would expect him to. Even those who are critical of God for his judgements against the good people like them and give the impression that they would expect a loving God to suspend his judgement, would demand that he do something in a case where there is Ammonite ambition. 6. RENOUNCE REVENGE This burning of the king’s bones was an act of revenge by Moab on Edom. Edom was no innocent party- she was involved in the slave trade and she had been treacherous but no one deserves this kind of treatment- it was an act of sacrilege Moyter says “ could anything publicize more clearly the senseless irrationality of a nourished hatred than to see a venerable corpse [the King of Edom] dragged from its tomb to suffer pointless indignities?” 2Kings 3:26,27 is best understood in the light of the hatred between the two peoples- Moab was pinned down by a coalition of Edom, Israel and Judah- the battle was going against him and so he decides to plan to hurt Edom, at least, before defeat. So he attacks with 700 cavalry but that failed so he took Edom’s son and sacrificed him in front of everyone- this enraged Edom and also destroyed the coalition- Israel went home. This explains the reaction and action of Moab but does not excuse it. Hatred like this poisons the heart more than it hurts the object. Here we have an important lesson for people like us because he teaches us about the past- our history has divided us and continues to divide us, revenge only keeps the circle going and makes things worse. Drawing a line in the sand is not enough- we need to renounce the sins of the past and to look to the God of Grace to see us through and to allow him to deal with it- he is well able and he will, Amos tells us, deal with it, don’t let it fester- too late but God can still deal with it, IF WE WILL LET HIM. We need safe places were we can begin to talk over our past and allow God to deal with it. So the 6 lessons which set out God’s expectation for our society are: 1. PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS. 2. VALUE PEOPLE OVER MONEY 3. KEEP YOUR WORD 4. DON’T KEEP HATRED IN YOUR HEART 5. LIMIT YOUR AMBITION 6. RENOUNCE REVENGE