Thursday, December 4, 2014

DBRP_Dec05_2014 Amos1-2 Is45 2Tim4


If you are new to reading the Bible, I hope that you will remember the events and expressions that Joel used. One or two ideas were repeated by Jesus in the Gospels, and we will soon see how important Joel’s predictions are in Revelation.

 

We turn now to Amos, whose name means ‘burden bearer’. Amos, like David and Gideon, started out as an ordinary guy going about his business as a shepherd and grower of sycamore figs. He was not a priest or a man with training as a prophet when God called him. Because of the mention of a great earthquake and king Uzziah, it is likely that Amos was working as a prophet around the year 760 BC. This makes him a contemporary of Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah.

 

Although Amos’ home town of Tekoa is only 12 miles south of Jerusalem, Amos prophesied primarily about the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He was wise in his delivery. First he prophesied judgment for Israel’s enemies before lambasting Judah and Israel themselves. Although from a humble occupation, Amos was very gifted as a writer, using very graphic and unique figures of speech. Amos would have had a difficult ministry because he prophesied horrible events that would have been unimaginable for his comfortable and prosperous listeners. The fulfillments were 50 years away, so he was quite ‘ahead of his time’. Mears quotes someone else in saying, “Amos proclaimed a message so far ahead of his time that most of the human race, and a large part of all Christendom, have not yet caught up with it.”

https://www.bible.com/bible/116/amo.1.nlt

 


 

 

Turning to Isaiah 45, yesterday we heard the stunning prophecy at the end of Isaiah 44:

25I expose the false prophets as liars

and make fools of fortune-tellers.

I cause the wise to give bad advice,

thus proving them to be fools.

26But I carry out the predictions of my prophets!

By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’

and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt;

I will restore all your ruins!’

27When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’

they will be dry.

28When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’

he will certainly do as I say.

He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;

he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”

Because this is so stunning as to mention Cyrus, 150 years before his birth, some claim that this portion of Isaiah was not written until 150 years later and by a different author. But what then? If you say something like that, are you going to claim that Isaiah 53 was written after Christ came and died?

https://www.bible.com/bible/116/isa.45.nlt

 


 

 

There are more than one wonderful 3:16 verses in the Bible, and we read one of them at the end of 2 Timothy 3 yesterday:

 

16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

https://www.bible.com/bible/116/2ti.4.nlt



5[Stay alert//But you shouldkeep a clear mind] in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

 

And [such a/the] prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.


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