AMOS' words to us!!

From "Thy Kingdom Come" - a publication of The Association of the
Covenant People - Burnaby, B.C. Canada.

AMOS' WORDS TO US

Editor's Comments: In his September offering, Mr. Robson, our
senior correspondent, has presented us with a message that should
be circulated far and wide. Why, oh why, we refuse to see the
punishment being meted out upon our once great nations is so
very, very puzzling. You know, after warning that the end is come
(four times), that the time is come and the day of trouble is
near, the prophet Ezekiel made this prophetic statement that has
sadly come to pass, "Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon
thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee
according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine
abominations. " Yet, here we are, our nations being battered by
all forms of natural disasters and instead of turning back to
God, we are, as Mr. Robson points out, seeking other reasons.
Well, God's words, as written by Ezekiel, "ye shall know that I
am the LORD," will someday soon be fully understood. In the
meantime, our Israel nations will undergo more senseless pain.
.......


by Don Robson

Lately I have been reading material from various sources and I
realized that I was not read ing the Bible nearly enough. I
started wondering what gems of truth were tucked away in the Word
that are meant for me. For some reason, I decided to start by
reading the short book of Amos. Although he wrote centuries ago,
he had a message for our times and I shall bring it to your
attention in this article.

Chapter 2 details the Lord's complaint against Israel and after
saying that the trans gressions cannot go unpunished,
he finishes by describing the punishment that was to be assigned
to them. Then, at the beginning of the next chapter we read these
words, "Hear the Word that the Lord hath spoken against you, 0
children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up
from the land of Egypt, saying, you only have I known of all the
families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your
iniquities."

"You only have I known......" God sees the little sparrow fall;
therefore, He is aware of all the life on the planet.
So what is the meaning of, "You only have I known"? Throughout
the Bible, the verb "to know" is used in relation to marriage. An
example might be, Jacob knew Leah and she bore him a son Reuben.
In my own opinion, I am suggesting that the Lord is here
referring to the marriage arrangement He concluded with Israel at
mount Sinai where the Lord delivered the law through Moses to the
people and they said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."
By this oath, the marriage contract was consummated and the Lord
was King of the Kingdom that was founded. They were to be a holy
people, a servant people, precious to the Lord.

Verse 3 asks the question, "Can two walk together, except they be
agreed?" Amos is asking the obvious! So, because the Israelites
disobeyed God's law, He was forced to divorce them. We know now
that the Lord had provided redemption for the Israelites through
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and that through His death
re-marriage could occur. But, even that process required
repentance on the part of the Israelites.

Without detailing the calamities that have befallen the
Anglo-Saxon nations, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia,
Canada and the United States, we are deeply concerned about these
tragedies and explain them by the term, "global warming" to which
we see no relief in the near future. Amos has another answer.
After announcing their exile in spite of the offerings which are
according to their likes (not God's) he says the following in
verse six," And I have also given you cleanness of teeth in all
your cities, and want of bread in all your places; AND YET HAVE
YE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD.

And also have I withholden the rain from you, when there were yet
three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one
city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was
rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So
two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but
they were not satisfied; YET HAVE YE NOT RETURNED UNTO
ME, SAITH THE LORD.

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; when your gardens
and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees
increased, the palmerworm devoured them; AND YET HAVE YE NOT
RETURNED UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD.

I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away
your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps come up unto
your nostrils; YET HAVE YE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME,
SAITH THE LORD.

I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning;
YET HAVE YE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD.

Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, 0 Israel; and because I will
do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, 0 Israel."
Now this leads to a very big question. Do we believe that
the Creator of the universe has power over the elements? Wasn't
it Jesus who calmed the raging storm by saying, "Peace, be
still."? Didn't God discuss His storehouses of snow with Job?
Didn't Jesus say in His revelation to John that He would subdue
resisting nations by withholding rain? If we are of this world,
it is easy to agree with the scientists that the unusual in
nature is a result of global warming, but Jesus told Pilate that
His followers were not of this world. We believe and love Jesus.
We try to implement His commandments in our daily living. We
trust in Him.

Five times Jesus asks us (Israel) to return to Him. He is
pleading with us! Now how do we encourage our leaders to call for
a national day of prayer of repentance? God is anxious to bless
us and is weary of trying to coax us to repentance as a nation.
Must we wait until Jesus comes? Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
..........