SERMON: Amos (Hunger and Thirst for the Word)
TEXT: Amos 8:1-14 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 3-14/15-20
It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this weekend. And one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.
And we’re in week 3 of our Finding Jesus series where we’re looking at the first six books known as the Minor Prophets. This year we’re hoping to look at six of them — who knows what’s gonna happen with the coronavirus shutting things down — but next year we’ll finish the Minor Prophets no matter how many we have left to get through. And this Finding Jesus series is something we’ve done for the past few years now — looking at different books in the Old Testament to help you see how the whole Bible is telling the story of Jesus.
And here’s a quick idea of what the sermon will be like today. I’m going to introduce you to a book of the Bible that may or may not be one you’re familiar with. I’ll give you an overview of the book. Then we’ll focus on one section of the book. And finally — and this is what I hope will be most beneficial to you — I’ll show you how to find Jesus in our book. I’ll show you how to find the one story that the whole Bible is telling — the story of Jesus. Because the whole Bible is pointing us to him — so I’m going to show you how to find Jesus.
And the book we’ll be looking at today is the book of Amos. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Amos chapter 8.
So let’s get our bearings in the book of Amos. First, what do we know about Amos? First, we know that Amos was a prophet — which means he spoke on behalf of God. He lived in the 8th century BC during Jeroboam the second’s reign over Israel. Now an interesting thing about Amos is that his story begins with him being a shepherd living right on the border between the nations of Judah and Israel — though he lived on the Judah side of the border.
Now if you’ve been with us in previous weeks, you know that the Jewish people began as one nation — the nation of Israel — but then split into two nations. The nation in the north kept the name Israel and the nation in the south took the name Judah. That all took place around 150 years before Amos.
And at this point in history — things are not going well in Israel. Jeroboam the second was a successful military leader — he won lots of wars — conquered new territory — brought in lots of wealth to the nation — but all of this wealth had led to social apathy. The conquering of new lands led to the worship of false gods. And the result was injustice throughout the nation and a neglect to care for the poor among them.
So here’s Amos living a peaceful life as a shepherd when he’s given the task of taking a special message from God to the people of Israel. So he made his way to the city of Bethel — an important city in the nation of Israel — to share God’s message to the people.
And the book of Amos is a collection of his messages — you can think of them kind of like his sermons — with some visions of the future thrown in. And the book can be divided into three sections. Chapters 1-2 contain messages to the surrounding nations and to Israel. Chapters 3-6 are messages to Israel and its leaders. And chapters 7-9 contain Amos’ visions of the future. Let’s take a closer look at each of these sections.
The way to think of the first two chapters, is to picture a target. Like one you’d shoot an arrow at. And Amos begins by accusing the nations surrounding Israel of all of their injustices. Here are some examples from the first two chapters.
“This is what the Lord says: “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges. 4 So I will send down fire on King Hazael’s palace, and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed. 5 I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter the people in the valley of Aven. I will destroy the ruler in Beth-eden, and the people of Aram will go as captives to Kir,” says the Lord 6 This is what the Lord says: “The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sent whole villages into exile, selling them as slaves to Edom. 7 So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. 8 I will slaughter the people of Ashdod and destroy the king of Ashkelon. Then I will turn to attack Ekron, and the few Philistines still left will be killed,” says the Sovereign Lord 9 This is what the Lord says: “The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel, selling whole villages as slaves to Edom. 10 So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. 11 This is what the Lord says: “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords, showing them no mercy. In their rage, they slashed them continually and were unrelenting in their anger. 12 So I will send down fire on Teman, and the fortresses of Bozrah will be destroyed. 13 This is what the Lord says: “The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they ripped open pregnant women with their swords. 14 So I will send down fire on the walls of Rabbah, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. The battle will come upon them with shouts, like a whirlwind in a mighty storm. 15 And their king and his princes will go into exile together,” says the Lord. 1 This is what the Lord says: “The people of Moab have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They desecrated the bones of Edom’s king, burning them to ashes. 2 So I will send down fire on the land of Moab, and all the fortresses in Kerioth will be destroyed. The people will fall in the noise of battle, as the warriors shout and the ram’s horn sounds. 3 And I will destroy their king and slaughter all their princes,” says the Lord.” (Amos 1:3-2:3 NLT)
Now imagine you’re living in Israel. You’re blind to the fact that you’ve abandoned God to worship false gods. You’re blind to the way you’re oppressing the poor. You’re blind to the injustices that you’re responsible for. All you’re thinking is, “We’re the Israelites. God’s chosen people. The ones he rescued out of Egypt. And all those people — the people living in Damascus and Moab and Edom and so on — well they’re the bad people.”
So — to help us all get out of the 21st century AD and into the 8th century BC — how about a little fun? I’m going to play the part of Amos and you all will play the part of the Israelites. So your role is to ignore all of the bad stuff you’re doing and celebrate wildly the fact that God’s pronouncing judgment on the surrounding enemy nations.
OK. So I’ll be Amos and predict the coming judgment on an enemy nation and I want you to cheer in response — say something like, “Yeah!” or whistle or do whatever you do when you see a Michigan fan the day after they’ve lost to Ohio State.
“God’s going to get those wicked peopleliving in Damascus!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Gaza!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Tyre!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Edom!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Ammon!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Moab!” (CHEER)
“God’s going to get those wicked people living in Judah!” Now — before you cheer — that one should make you pause because — one — we haven’t read about Judah yet — and two — you should recognize that Judah is about as close to being your people as any nation can get. Remember — they were your people before Israel and Judah split. Here are God’s words to Judah.
“This is what the Lord says: “The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They have rejected the instruction of the Lord, refusing to obey his decrees. They have been led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors. 5 So I will send down fire on Judah, and all the fortresses of Jerusalem will be destroyed.”” (Amos 2:4-5 NLT)
Now that’s getting a little too close for comfort, right? It’s like the old circus act where the person has an apple on their head and they let someone shoot an arrow — way too close for comfort — at the apple. Well...the apple’s on our head now.
But have you noticed the area of the target that’s lacking a nation’s name? The center, right? The bullseye. The spot you aim for when you shoot at a target — because ultimately — that’s the spot you want to hit. And guess which nation’s name gets placed dead center in God’s crosshairs? Israel.
“This is what the Lord says: “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished!” (Amos 2:6 NLT)
Now the other nations get two or three verses of God’s judgment spoken against them — including Judah. But Israel — well — Israel gets four and a half chapters — talk about being blind to your sin. Which leads us to the second section of Amos — chapters 3 through 6.
Early in chapter 3 God says to the nation of Israel, ““You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”” (Amos 3:2 NIV)
And here’s what we learn. Great calling plus great responsibility equals great consequences. (Bible Project Amos) Their great calling — “you only have I chosen” — plus great responsibility — they were to be a blessing to all nations — equals great consequences when you’re unfaithful — thus they’re the center of the bullseye.
Some of us want a great calling from God. But — let me remind you — that a great calling comes with great responsibility. And with the calling and responsibility comes a great consequence for unfaithfulness. And now — I’m gonna let you in on a secret: If you’re a believer in Jesus — guess what? You have a great calling and a great responsibility. The calling? To be a witness of Jesus Christ. The responsibility? To make disciples of all nations. And there’s a great consequence for our unfaithfulness. People will spend eternity in Hell separated from God. And not just people who live in foreign countries — but people who are close to us.
And — a theme of Amos — is that the worship of God should always lead to justice, righteousness, and loving our neighbor. (Bible Project Amos) We’re told that God wants “to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living...”(Amos 5:24b, NLT) in the land. That’s why evangelism — sharing the gospel — and social justice — meeting physical needs — are both to be done by God’s people
And then we come to the final section of Amos — chapters 7 through 9 — the visions of the future. A vision of the Day of the Lord — a great day of judgment — a day to be feared. And there’s a vision that offers a glimpse of hope. That God’s King will one day come and establish the Kingdom of God — a Kingdom that will be over all nations.
And what Amos shows us — in this final section — is the relationship between God’s judgment and his mercy. Because God is just — he must confront the evil among the nations — including Israel. But because he is merciful, God’s ultimate purpose is not destruction — but is restoration — the making of a new people of God who live in a new Kingdom ruled by a Just and Merciful King.
So there’s an overview of Amos. So let’s turn to our passage — Amos chapter 8 — to discover a way to find Jesus in the book of Amos — and in all of the Bible. And there are four parts to our passage. There’s a vision. Then a reminder about God’s memory. A promised day of mourning and sorrow. And God’s explanation of it all. So a vision. A reminder. A day. And an explanation.
Let’s begin with the vision in verse 1.
“This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them. 3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," declares the Lord God. "So many dead bodies!" "They are thrown everywhere!" "Silence!"” (Amos 8:1-3 ESV)
So we’ve got some summer fruit and some dead bodies — I’m sure that all makes sense to you — so we’ll just keep moving on.
Here’s what’s going on. There’s a play on words happening in the original Hebrew language that doesn’t translate well into English. The Hebrew word for “summer fruit” is qayits and the Hebrew word for “the end” is qets. And these two words sound similar. So God — through Amos — is taking something that’s usually a good sign — summer fruit — a harvest — food to eat — nourishment — and suddenly slams the brakes by slightly changing the word being used and says — “Israel, I’m gonna take you out. Bodies will be everywhere. You won’t even have time to give them a proper burial.” And ominously, the vision ends with a demand for silence. Don’t even respond. Don’t cry. Don’t weep. Just...be...silent.
That’s the vision. Next God reminds us of his memory. Verse 4.
“Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, 5 saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, 6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pairof sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?" 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: "Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?"” (Amos 8:4-8 ESV)
So here’s a picture of the blindness I was mentioning earlier — the wickedness going on in Israel. They’re trampling on the needy and poor. They’re desperate for the religious festivals and their day of worship to be over so they can get back to doing what they want to do — making money — I mean — “time is money” right? And it’s money they make deceitfully, by the way. I hope you caught the human trafficking in verse 6 — where people are being sold for a pair of shoes.
And I know it’s hard to imagine people showing up to church — only to be worried about when the service is gonna be over — or especially when the sermon is gonna be over — man can that guy just talk and talk and talk — cause you gotta beat everyone else out of the parking lot to get to the restaurant, right? Like I said — hard to imagine — but our — I mean their — totally the Israelites — their behavior disgusted God.
God says, “I’m never gonna forget this.” Their behavior so disgusts him that the earth’s going to shake. But even more will happen. Verse 9.
“"And on that day," declares the Lord God, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.” (Amos 8:9-10 ESV)
God’s judgment is coming and the day of his judgment will be one of mourning and sorrow. No more singing and celebrating the latest business deal. Instead there will be lamentation — and weeping — wailing and sobbing. It will be like the death of your only child — a bitter day for all in Israel. So what does all of this mean?
“"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. 13 "In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst. 14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' and, 'As the Way of Beersheba lives,' they shall fall, and never rise again."” (Amos 8:11-14 ESV)
“A famine is coming,” God says. But unlike in the days of Joseph — in the land of Egypt — this won’t be a famine of food and water — this will be a famine of hearing from God. A famine of his words. A famine of him. And people are going to search far and wide and high and low — seeking to find the word of God — but they won’t find it. They’ll hunger for the word of God and won’t find nourishment. They’ll thirst for the word of God and won’t find replenishment.
No “seek me and you will find me” here. Instead it’s seek and you won’t find. “That’s how far you’ve wandered away,” God says. “That’s how blind you’ve become. That’s why you’re in the center of my crosshairs. Instead of being a blessing to the nations — you will be a lesson for the nations. A lesson of what happens when my people stop listening to my words.”
So let’s find Jesus is this wonderfully encouraging text. When it comes to the idea of hungering or thirsting for something — meaning to desire something — our culture basically says, “If you don’t desire something, then you shouldn’t pursue it — and no one should expect you to pursue it either.” Because you either desire something — which means it’s something you should pursue — or else you don’t desire it — which means you shouldn’t pursue it.
Now — obviously our desires can lead us to pursue some things that are good for us — our desires don’t always lead us astray. Maybe you’ve met with your doctor — and after your latest bloodwork — you’re now pursuing healthier food choices. That’s a good thing.
But the problem with our culture’s view of desire is that it offers no criteria to help us determine if something we desire is good or not. The argument is usually circular. A thing is good because you desire it. And you desire it because it is good.
But instead of a circular argument, the Christian faith teaches us to pursue what God desires because he is good. In fact, Amos shows us this earlier — in chapter 5 — where we read, “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live...” (Amos 5:4, ESV) And then a few verses later God says, “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live...” (Amos 5:14a, ESV)To seek God and to seek good — here at least — is the same thing. Why? Because God is the definition of goodness. And so — when we hunger and thirst for the Word of God — we hunger and thirst for the One who is good — Jesus Christ. I’ll prove this in a moment, but first...an important question.
Do you hunger and thirst for God’s Word? Ask yourself, “Do I feel a longing and passion for being a Bible person?” And the temptation is to reply with, “Well — to be honest, Josh — not really. At best it comes and goes. But I think I’ve figured something out. Maybe God didn’t give me the desire to be a Bible person. And that’d mean I’m off the hook — that I can just wait until he gives me a passion to read the Bible, right?”
Parents, what would you do if your child said, “Hey mom and dad. You know, if God wanted me to eat broccoli, well I think he would’ve given me a desire for it. So here’s what I’m thinking. Since I lack a passion for eating broccoli, I think you need to respect my decision to not eat it. And definitely respect my passion for double desserts.” I’ll tell you what you’d say to your kid. You’d say, “Eat your broccoli.”
You see the problem with this kind of thinking of — “if God wanted me to be a Bible person he’d have given me a passion for the Bible” — is that it makes God out to be someone who doesn’t really care about your passions and desires. Do you really think that God doesn’t care if you’re a Bible person? Especially when in the past — like in Amos’ day — it was a sign of his judgment when people had no passion for his Word. God wants his people to hunger and thirst for his Word. And we can’t blame him if we’re so full on other things — eating our own version of double desserts — that we have no appetite or thirst for his Word. Especially when God’s telling us, “Hunger and thirst for my Word.”
And here’s how hungering and thirsting for God’s Word helps us to find Jesus — in fact — this is why a lack of hungering and thirsting for God’s Word should be a shock to your system when it comes to your relationship with Jesus.
The apostle John begins his gospel by describing Jesus in this way. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4, ESV)And a few verses later we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14-17, ESV)
Here we see that Jesus is called the Word of God. Yet the Bible is also called the Word of God. And though the Bible isn’t Jesus and Jesus isn’t the Bible — the two are inseparably linked. Where — to not desire one is to not have a desire for the other. To not hunger for one is to not hunger for the other. To not thirst for one is to not thirst for the other.
And this shows us the danger of blaming our lack of hunger and thirst for being a Bible person on God — for Jesus — who is God — is the Word of God we hunger and thirst for in the pages of the Word of God — the Bible. And we find nourishment for our hunger in Jesus. For “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35, ESV) A few verses later Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."” (John 6:48-51, ESV)
And though this confused people who heard him — as they thought Jesus was meaning some kind of literal cannibalism — what Jesus meant was a spiritual nourishment — a spiritual feasting on him — who is the Word of God.
And on another day, “Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"” (John 7:37b-38, ESV) Jesus tells us to come to him and to drink — to have our spiritual thirst quenched — and as we do so out of us will flow a river of living water — meaning the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit flowing out of us — bringing this all back to Amos — will cause a “mighty flood of justice to flow in the land and an endless river of righteous living among God’s people.”
And this spiritual feasting and drinking is something we both celebrate and participate in as we take the Lord’s Supper. But because Jesus — the Word of God — is so connected to the Bible — which is also the Word of God — we feast on and drink Jesus as we feast on and drink the Word.
I was recently asked, “Don’t you wish God used prophets today like he did in the Bible times? You know — where God was always speaking to his people.” And my face probably gave away what I thought of the question. Because I picked up my Bible. Looked the person straight in the eye. And said, “I’ve got this whole book full of God’s words to us that I’m still learning from.” My point. Don’t think you’d care about words coming from a prophet sent from God if you have no interest in this book.
So what about you? Are you hungering and thirsting for more of God’s Word? Do you long to be a Bible person? Do you see the connection between Jesus — being the Word of God — and the Bible also being the Word of God? You can’t have Jesus without being a Bible person. And you don’t have to wait until you have a desire to be a Bible person to pick up God’s Word and start feasting on it.
God has been so gracious to us in giving us his Word. My prayer is that we would all hunger and thirst to know his Word so we know Jesus and allow him — through us — to shake up our land. As his justice and righteousness flows in us — and through us out into the world — like an endless river.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, help us to hunger and thirst for your Word. To be Bible people. And to be Jesus following people. And to see how the two are inseparably linked. And may your Spirit fill us and flow through us so a flood of your righteousness goes out like an endless river into our communities, our nation, and our world.
Father, these are tumultuous times in our world. Many are anxious — wondering what in the world is going on. The land is shaking because of our fear instead of your righteousness flowing through your people. May your people turn to you and ask “how might God want us to bring peace and justice in these days?” And may we — in faith — do all that you ask us to do.
And we pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go hungering and thirsting for the Word of God and find your satisfaction solely in him. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
You can find the sermon notes here.
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