The river went on and on, growing dimmer, becoming a mere thread, to vanish in a blue haze out of which the Rocky Mountains rose, first obscure and like low masses of clouds, and then clear blue, to rise up and up magnificent reaches to pierce the sky with their snow-like peaks.”
                    –Zane Grey  (Wyoming)

       “For behold!  He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth–the LORD God of hosts is His name.”
                    –Amos 4:13 (NKJV)
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               “Life’s troubles can function as signpost warnings.”  –Lloyd Ogilvie

Amos, after dealing with the women and the apostates, now turns his attention to the people, the nation as a whole.  He speaks five oracles, or better–five calamities that the Lord has attempted to use to draw their attention back to Him.  I’m one who says that most natural calamities and disasters are just that–natural.  God created the law of physics and nature and put them in place so things just naturally happen.  Weather and climate are part of the natural course of things.  However!  God often uses His creation in various ways and for various purposes.  I remember when Katrina was heading for New Orleans.  I heard a preacher say it was not from God because God does not miss.  If you remember, the storm did not hit New Orleans straight on.  However!  Perhaps it was not judgment, but only a warning.  2001, the attack by terrorists, was it a warning or judgment?  Amos points to the warnings that have come from God and notes that each concludes with “Yet you did not return to Me.”
     Verse 6 — famine.  “Cleanness of teeth” means hunger, or empty stomachs.  There was famine in the land.  Not on everyone, but enough to bring hunger.  Ogilvie says that “no particular famine is focused, but a general period of hard times.”  Times were tough, the people probably grumbled.  As Wiersbe points out, “When farmers can’t grow crops, food is scarce, food prices go up, and people suffer and die.”  Hmmm, have you noticed in the recent year how high your grocery bill has become?
     Verses 7-8 — rain comes and goes.  Cities that received rain did not turn to the Lord in gratitude; those in drought did not connect it to God’s judgment.  “The people had become insensitive to Yahweh’s control of nature and their lives.” (Ogilvie)  This also shows that God is in control.  Rain or no rain; it is up to Him.
     Verse 9 — pestilence.  Blights, scorchings, mildew, locust came upon the land and the food supply.  Crops were destroyed, but it did not bring repentance.
     Verse 10 — plagues and war.  It would do us good to review Deuteronomy 28; there we see the results of obedience versus that of rebellion.  Sickness and disease were on the scene. (Hmmm, COVID possibly?)  War came upon them, enough so that there was death and that brought a stench.  I wonder if it was not just the stench of decay and death but of the system they were living in, a way of life that opposed God.
     Verse 11 — destruction.  Some cities were destroyed, others were saved.  In all of this the people maintained their “stubborn infidelity” to Him. (Ogilvie)  Warnings had been given, but were not heeded.  This shows “their ingratitude and hardness of heart was even more wicked.” (Wiersbe)
          YET YOU DID NOT RETURN TO ME
     These were all warnings.  These miseries and calamities were sent to bring the people to repentance and get their focus back on the Lord.  Since they ignored the warnings, God will “unleash full punishment of the whole nation.  If Israel will not meet God with humble repentance, she will meet Him in judgment.” (Ogilvie)  
          “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (Amos 4:12, NKJV)  
Too late to repent.  Today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)  Verse 12 gives a description of the Lord of Hosts.  “This is the God who was coming to judge His people, and they were not prepared.” (Wiersbe)  Craigie makes mention of the people singing, “O come, all ye faithful.”  Amos would blast and say that they were singing, “O come, all ye faithless.”
     As a nation we should look back at the message and warnings of Amos.  Do they fit our country?  Are we doing the same things?  Even more important, perhaps we should turn inwardly to ourselves.  “It never hurts, and frequently it helps, to reflect upon the dramatic events of our lives, to consider the road we are taking, to ask if it is still the road in which we walked when we first embraced the faith with joy.” (Peter C. Craigie)  Let each of us examine ourselves.  Ogilvie helps us along the way with these words, “Consistent fellowship with the Lord helps us know what He is seeking to give us in the ever-changing drama of our lives.  Daily, moment by moment, God-centered worship makes for worshipful living.  God is constantly calling us to worship Him.  This requires a contrite spirit and truthfulness about our lives.”

All a man could do was go on; but I had found that many a problem is settled if a man just keeps a-going.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Killoe)

       “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”
                    –Psalm 37:24 (NKJV)
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               “The root of all steadfastness is in consecration to God.”
                         –Alexander MacLaren

Most people want a “good life.”  But what is that in reality?  No matter how much God wills it, good doesn’t happen in the midst of turmoil and trouble unless the person also wills it; the right attitude must prevail. (Wood)  In this psalm of ascent, Psalm 129, the travelers are two-thirds of the way up to Jerusalem.  They are realizing that it is not an easy trek and that there are no shortcuts or easy solutions.  One writer calls it “long obedience.”  That’s life–long obedience, a lifestyle of endurance.

          1 — “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” let Israel now say–
          2 — “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.
          3 — The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long.”
          4 — The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.
          5 — Let all those who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back.
          6 — Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up,
          7 — With which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.
          8 — Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessings of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD!”  (NKJV)

     When I read this Psalm, I think of the words of the hymn by Esther Kerr Rusthoi:
                    Oft times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear;
                    We’re tempted to complain,
                    To murmur and despair…
                    It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus;
                    Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ;
                    One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase,
                    So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
At times it seems like it is a battle for survival, and, in fact, it is.  Endurance, steadfastness, keep plodding onward.  Steven Lawson writes, “Resilience marks the determined drive of God’s people to be faithful to God’s calling.  An overcoming perseverance causes them to bounce back from defeat.  The person who trusts God may be knocked down but never knocked out.”  Get up, dust yourself off, and continue the journey.  Lawson continues, “Christianity is not the subtraction of all problems but the addition of God’s grace to overcome those problems.”  
     Look at the agony of the psalmist:  “My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.” (NLT)  Don’t despair my friend if that seems to be your cause.  Keep your focus on the journey ahead; keep your eyes upon Jesus.  There may be real or spiritual lashes upon your back inflicted by the hand of the enemy.  Deep welts that cause pain, but…now verse 4:  the Lord is on the scene.  He cuts the cords, He stops the swinging of the whip, He soothes the wounds that have been inflicted.  I recall the words of Paul, “We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, HCSB)
     Focus, attitude, and fortitude are required if we are to finish our trek.  The road is often hard, the obstacles may be many.  There may be foes along the way, the devil may be doing his best to hinder our progress.  However, the Lord is with us.  We must trust, we must have the attitude that we will make it.  As the old missionary Charles Greenaway often said, “We may not look like much when we enter heaven’s gates, but we’re going to make it.”  Then all will be worth it all!
                    “Thou are my hiding place, thou shalt
                    From trouble keep me free;
                    Thou with songs of deliverance,
                    About shalt compass me.”
                              –Old Scottish Psalter

Art comes from the man, not the material. The man of mastery, of genius, not only meets but exceeds the standards of excellence; he sets higher standards, opens new ground, and that man is an artist be he writer, painter, grave digger, bull-fighter or bronc rider.”

Take the hats off your flea-bitten heads and listen up, and I will instruct you in the word of the Lord.”
                    –John Deacon  (The Provider–2)

       “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”
                    –1 Timothy 6:17 (KJV)
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               8 — My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother;
               9 — For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck.
                               –Proverbs 1:8-9 (NKJV)
               8 — Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.  (HCSB)

HEED!  That’s the key word for today.  

               Now the sons of Eli (Hophni and Phinehas) were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.  –1 Samuel 2:12, NKJV
               Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.  So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.  –Leviticus 10:1-2, NKJV)
 
     Being “corrupt” literally means, “sons of Belial,” in other words in cohorts with the devil, therefore, persons of no value.  Sons of the high priest, sons who had performed their duties before the Lord at other times knowing the right way, became corrupt and decided to do things their own way going against the teachings of their father and more importantly their heavenly Father.  They did not heed their father’s instructions and they rejected their mother’s teachings and paid the price.
     There is a tremendous responsibility as parents to train up a child in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord.  As go the parents and their teachings, so goes the child.  Look around and you can see the results of what is happening in the home.  Chaos all around, hmm, chaos in the home, or perhaps an apathetic, too permissive homelife.  Parents would do well to instruct and teach their children rightly.  As J. Vernon McGee says, “May God have mercy on the parents who are not instructing their little ones in the things of God.”
     There is a tremendous obligation of the child to listen; to pay attention to the teaching of their parents (and others).  They are to be dutiful and respectful in their attentiveness.  They are to heed what is being taught!  There is an implied warning here–do not abandon what he’s been told.  Just like Paul said in Timothy, do not abandon the faith.  As evil and wicked times come, more and more will abandon the faith, however, those who heed the teachings, the instruction of their parents and other leaders will be stable and confident in the days of trouble.
     To hear means to “receive with readiness.”  This teaching is never to be “forsaken” or forgotten.  It is to be heeded throughout the journey of life.  We see then in verse 7 from last week’s study the first requirement:  fear and worship God.  Now, we are looking at the second requirement:  honor parents by obeying.  This teaching will be like an ornament or gold chains.  In other words, value the teaching that has been given and show it in your lifestyle.  Matthew Henry relates, “Those are truly valuable, and shall be valued, who value themselves more by their virtue and piety than by their worldly wealth and dignity.”
     Much more in Proverbs will be referred back to these verses.  Do not scoff at instruction.  Do not scorn the discipline that is handed out with love.  The instruction, if properly given, and properly adhered to will save multitudes of problems in life.  “The instruction and discipline of wisdom do at first seem difficult and hard, and are like fetters or iron restraining the corruption and rebellion of nature; but at length they are like chains of gold, worn like ornaments and no burden at all.” (Michael Jermin)