JUNE 22 READINGS...Amos 7:1-9:15 & 2 Kings 14:28-29 & 2 Kings 15: 8-15:29 & 2 Kings 15: 6-7 & 2 Chronicles 26:22-23 & Isaiah 6:1-13
Amos continues his prophecy against Israel…the judgment of Israel is sure, and their destruction is on its way. The Lord would use the Assyrian king and armies to bring his judgment. It was not an easy or glamorous task to be an Old Testament prophet…because of the wickedness of the people there was hardly any good news. The Lord gives Amos two terrible visions of locust and fire…that would utterly destroy the land and the people of Israel…Amos cries out to the Lord on behave of the people and the Lord withholds his judgment. Finally, God give Amos a vision of a plum line….He would drop a plum line down among His people Israel and see how they measured up. God said He would no longer ignore their sins, and all the pagan shrines would be destroyed. Amaziah the priest at Bethel sends a message to Jeroboam about what Amos has been saying…and though Amaziah pressures Amos to quit prophesying against Israel, Amos makes it clear that he must speak what the Lord gives him. God gives Amos another vision of ripe fruit…it is God’s message that Israel is ripe for judgment. Of all the horrors that would come upon Israel, one of the greatest is mentioned in verse 11 of Chapter 8…”a famine of the Word of the Lord”, would come upon them. Can you imagine not hearing from the Lord any longer? There are those who in their ignorance claim to want this in our day…they want to silence the Word of the Lord from going out…they have no idea what they are asking for. Amos final prophecy is that all the wicked will die by the sword, even those who think their position and power will save them. At the end of Amos, he gives a message of hope…that God would one day bring them back into the land, and that they would NEVER again be uprooted!
Jeroboam’s evil reign comes to an end…he is replaced by his son Zechariah who only rules for six months before he is assassinated and deposed by Shallum. Shallum rules only one month before he too is assassinated and deposed by Menahem. Menahem was also an evil king who ruled for ten years in Israel…He made the wealthy of Israel give of their wealth to appease the king of Assyria, in an ungodly alliance. Pekahiah, Menahem’s son replaced him, to rule only two years before he is assassinated and deposed by Pekah, who would rule twenty years over Israel…he was an evil king…and under his reign the king of Assyria would begin to take land away from Israel, by conquering major cities. In Judah Uzziah’s long reign comes to an end…and God is about to raise up a mighty prophet, by the name of Isaiah. Isaiah’s prophecy begins with God bringing him up to the throne room of heaven. In that place Isaiah answers the call of God, but not before he is brought to a place of recognition of his own sin, and the sin of the people. From a place of brokenness, the Lord raises this mighty prophet to speak His message to His people…for that time and for generations to come. The people of God would not listen then…oh how I pray we will listen now.
Please share any thoughts you have from today’s readings. Keep your ears open to the Lord…listen to what He is say…and obey. For the judgment of the Lord is at hand.
TOMORROW’S READINGS…2 Kings 15:32-38 & Chronicles 27:1-9 & Micah 1:1-16 & 2 Kings 16:1-9 & 2 Chronicles 28:1-15 & Isaiah 7:1-25
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