September 7th, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

God of the Nations

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Opening Prayer

Sovereign Lord, You worked to bring about creation. You are working today, bringing Your purposes to pass. All praise to You.

Read Amos 1:1-10

[1] The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa-the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. [2] He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.” [3] This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, [4] I will send fire on the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. [5] I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD. [6] This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, [7] I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses. [8] I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines are dead,” says the Sovereign LORD. [9] This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, [10] I will send fire on the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate

“[God] rules for ever by his power, his eyes watch the nations” (Psa. 66:7). Do you ever think of that as you watch or listen to the daily news?

Think Further

Imagine the situation: a man stands in the royal Temple at Bethel in Israel and declaims words of judgment against Israel’s old enemies. Clearly he is a prophet, but his accent shows that he is a southerner from Judah. A crowd gathers, some showing delight and urging him on as he condemns the crimes of these nations. Such spiritual warfare against enemy nations was not uncommon in the ancient Near East. The more thoughtful in the crowd would have realized that there was something different about these oracles against foreign nations. The prophet spoke in the name of YHWH (the personal name of the God of Israel, expressed as “Lord” in the NIV). However, the nations were not being condemned for things they had done specifically to Israel, or for idolatry or their false religions. They were being condemned for general acts of inhumanity.

Israelites thought of the Lord as “their God,” who would always act in their favor. Amos presents him as God of all the nations. He targets nations to the northeast (Damascus), southwest (Gaza), northwest (Tyre) and southeast (Edom, Ammon, Moab)–the world that encircled Israel. They do not worship the Lord, but he treats them as accountable to God for crimes that, both then and now, would be widely recognized as crimes against humanity.

Although all humans are fallen and sinful, they are still made in God’s image and have an innate sense of right and wrong, a conscience, which gives them some sense of the law of God (Rom. 2:14-15). Therefore, even without special revelation, humans are not without moral responsibility and are still accountable to God. Amos shows no nationalistic glee as he utters his condemnations. He simply shares and expresses God’s abhorrence of immoral behavior and is sure that somehow, sometime God will act in judgment.

Apply

How big is your view of God? If God is interested in the way all nations behave towards one another, how should that affect what you pray about?

Closing prayer

Mighty God, I need the faith to see Your magnificent glory. You are the creator of all that exists. You are the Lord of all the nations.

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