Amos & Obadiah
The Focal Point
As we move on with our study of the Minor Prophets, we now come across Amos and Obadiah. Obadiah is much like Joel from last week in that it is the much shorter book out of these two. In fact, Obadiah is one of the shortest books in the whole Bible being only one chapter long! Amos on the other hand, is nine chapters long and focuses on all the sins of Israel and how they have fallen away from the Lord. Obviously, this point is very similar to all the other prophets’ messages, however, the language used in these books is what makes them so eye-opening. This is why the Bible project says, “Amos is called to announce God’s coming judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel. Though the kingdom has seen military success and prosperity, they are spiritually bankrupt.” Obadiah focuses more on the fall of Edom and how they must turn back to the Lord as well. One of the best aspects of this book is the focus on the Kingdom of God and how the Lord above will have a much better kingdom than any kingdom that the people of Edom have ever tried to be a part of. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again. It is very hard to read these warnings from these prophets and not feel like they are talking directly to you about how far this country has fallen away from God. With this in mind, let’s see what we have to learn from these two prophets.
Seek The Lord
To start, the book of Amos begins with God confronting many nations that have turned against Him, and at the focal point of it all are Judah and Israel. Amos 2:6-7 says, “This is what the LORD says: “For three offenses of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because the sell the righteous for money, And the needy for a pair of sandals. “These who trample the head of the helpless to the dust of the earth Also divert the way of the humble;” This is undoubtedly some tough criticism. To be confronted as a people group that sells righteousness for personal gain is rough enough, but then to be told that they mistreat the helpless is just sorrowful. These people haven’t just turned away from God, they have turned completely to evil. And in case you were wondering, this isn’t just some parts of Israel that are guilty, it is all of Israel that is guilty. Chapter three is titled ‘All Tribes Are Guilty’, and therefore leaves no excuse for any Israelite at the time. No one could look at their neighbor and tell God, ‘Sure I may not be perfect, but at least I’m not that guy’. God was sure to tell Amos that the whole nation of Israel stood guilty before God and it wasn’t just an individual problem, it was a nationwide problem. This leads us to the overall solution of the problem. How can Israel turn from their sin and prioritize God once more? Chapter five of this book gives us the answer.
Amos 5:6-7 tells us, “Seek the LORD so that you may live, Or He will break through like a fire, house of Joseph, And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel, For those who turn justice into wormwood, And throw righteousness to the earth.” This phrase is very vital to the overall point of this story and is something that I believe all of us can apply today. It’s one thing to say that the way to turn from your sin is to just simply turn to God, but how does one do that? This chapter tells God’s people to ‘Seek the Lord so that you may live.’ Such beautiful advice. We don’t overcome sin by simply trying to stop doing bad things, we overcome sin by seeking the Lord. As the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, we begin to notice that our desire to seek the Lord becomes stronger and stronger. And it is this exact point that God wants Amos to tell the nation of Israel. Seek the Lord in all you do, and you won’t end up like those who abandon God for their own personal gain. The rest of the chapters in this book reveal to us the visions that Amos receives that tell him of the future events that are to come to the people of Israel. We see a prophecy of fire, locusts, and even bad fruit that represents the people of Israel. All of these visions are used by the Lord so that Amos may warn and inform the people of God of the coming judgment that they will be a part of if they do not repent.
Escape Wrath
This same warning for the land of Edom is what the prophet Obadiah warns of as well. It may just be one chapter long, but the book of Obadiah packs a punch when it comes to the ways God will discipline His people and also when it comes to the coming return of the Lord. Look at what God tells Obadiah in Obadiah 1:17 “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their property.” Those who escape are those who turn to the Lord and will eventually escape the wrath of God. Another common theme that we see throughout most of the prophetic books is that God has always provided a way out for His people. God has not just let His people face His wrath simply because it’s what they deserve, He responds to His people with grace and mercy. This is what makes our God so holy. When we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. When we turn our backs to Him, He makes a way for us to come back. When we deserve to be shown wrath, He shows us His mercy. This is the God that Joel and Amos served and this is the same God that we serve today. So what exactly is there to take away from all of this? In short, when we seek God over our sinful desires, we escape the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin. And this is not a work of our own righteousness but of the grace of God. I hope and pray that as you live in this fallen world and a fallen country, you seek the Lord over all things and that you give HIm all the glory for saving you and providing escape from the punishment you deserve.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Amos. (n.d.). [Video]. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/amos/
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