Read Amos 5-10
 
Amos 6:1 & 3 What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help…3 You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.
 
THE fear of God seemed to always be less when Israel and Judah were comfortable. God’s chosen people became complacent. They apparently believed they could keep God at a distance, and he would still protect them. Kings told prophets to be quiet because their warnings disturbed the kings. God’s severe warnings fell on ears that didn’t want to hear. God’s people were smug in their sins. No fear meant no repentance, and one day there was no Israel.
   Complacency can quickly separate our hearts from loving relationships. It takes effort to be in relationship with our loved ones. We need to continually find ways to express our love. And we must be open to receive their love.
   This certainly is true of our love relationship with God. The evil one likes it when you are complacent as Israel was. He wants you to believe you don’t need God’s laws, or it takes too much effort to know and love God. Christians reject the means of grace such as reading the Bible, going to church and praying regularly because they have a complacent relationship with the One who died for them.  Satan is a great divider. He knows a complacent heart will find many ways to forget God’s love. He also wants us to ignore God’s judgment warnings, just as Israel did.
   One way Jesus came to save us was to warn us of the last days. Mark 13:33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!  
   Yes, be alert. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. But you do know that one day you will stand before God. Will God find you a complacent Christian who missed the full life he desired for you? Or will he reward you for your passionate pursuit of God?
 
The Hope to Tell
 
Amos 9:13-14 “The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! 14 I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine.”
 
THE LORD always points us through the judgment to the final days of his new creation. Amos’ prophecies close with that joyful promise.
   Here is the New Eden, which will come to earth in God’s eternal reign. Israel is the church, the nation of peace and prosperity gathered from the ends of the earth under Jesus’ rule.
   This is the hope we have to share with the world. Let’s continue to work to point people to Jesus.  
 
 

Read Amos 1-4
 
Amos 1:1-2 This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel. 2 This is what he saw and heard: “The Lord roars from his Temple on Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem! Suddenly, the lush pastures of the shepherds dry up. All the grass on Mount Carmel withers and dies.” (Archeological excavations have uncovered evidence of a violent earthquake in Samaria about 760 B.C.)
 
WHAT’S your job? Do you believe your work disqualifies you from being God’s messenger? Guess what?  It doesn’t.
   Amos was a shepherd. He was among the lowest professions in Israel. Who would listen to a shepherd? But then, God spoke. “Be my messenger, Amos. Speak what they must know.” Amos left the sheep in Judah to enter Israel’s court. And we’re reading this shepherd’s voice 3,000 years later!
   Amos began with the prophecy of natural disasters. Drought will dry the pastures and the fertile land around Carmel. This is one of Israel’s prosperous farming areas still today. God is striking his people in their best land.
   Do you notice God often uses drought as a means to judge? It’s an appropriate picture. Drought correlates with stunted growth and lost crops, vital for life.
   This also points to our physical relationship with the Creator’s many diverse plants. For example, trees produce oxygen into the air while absorbing the carbon dioxide we breathe into the air. Our lungs help give life to the trees, and the trees help give life to our lungs. A dry land with fewer, vibrant trees reduces the optimum breath of life. Well-watered land enhances all plant and animal life to its fullest potential.
   From the day God breathed life into the man, God’s will has been breathing full life into humanity. The LORD’s breath has spoken his promises to point us to a full life with him. He spoke his purpose to the patriarchs, his law to Moses and his justice to the prophets. The LORD God extended his life-breath to Israel, but they refused to inhale his words. They became dry in spirit. In response, the Holy God used Amos to breathe out a violent message that God’s patience was ending. He would come to breathe judgment. The Lord roars from his Temple on Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem! God’s life breath would sound in the heavens and shake the earth as he judged Israel from his Holy Mountain.
   When we consider God’s holy justice, we should be constantly in awe he now breathes his salvation into our souls. The gospels record how Jesus breathed out the Holy Spirit onto his disciples. And he spoke of the Holy Spirit being a wind to bring life. Then the Holy Spirit touched the apostles at Pentecost to give them salvation’s life breath to speak to the world. When God speaks, life changes.
   How wonderful it is to inhale God’s Word through the scriptures, sermons and teachings. Then we can breathe out his word back to him through prayer, praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, mercy and song. This is our breath exchange with God. Breathe in. Breathe out. And know a full vibrant life.
 

Read Hosea 10-14, 2 Chronicles 26
 
Hosea 10:1 How prosperous Israel is – a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
 
AS people consider the decline of Christianity in America today, the general mindset is that our nation’s mind is set on accumulating material wealth. We have much “stuff” we call it. And people with much stuff worship the stuff while keeping God into the closet. This is not a new problem. Mankind’s mind has been set on “more stuff” since Adam and Eve. The first couple in effect said to God, “We want that one more fruit. You didn’t give us all your stuff.” The devil stirred up a deadly desire in the Garden, and mankind’s mind has been set against God’s ample provisions since that day. Hosea warned Israel’s riches had become their pagan altars.
   What might be the “pagan altars” in your life? What do you desire that you don’t need? I know many of you reading this struggle to care for your household, your family and your community. But setting our minds on “not enough” can turn our minds from God’s providence. As we consider our needs, let’s remember who provides. Use your mind to learn skills and know the work God gives you. Use your skills to accomplish the work. Understand good work is God’s will for you. Knowing God’s Word is the foundation to material provision and life satisfaction. We must all want God more than anything else.
    
 
God Weeps
 
Hosea 11:1-3 The LORD’s Love for Israel 1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. 2 But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. 3 I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him.”
 
DO you hear God weeping? He mourns the missing son he loves so much.
   Yes, his son is Israel, 10 tribes of the people he chose to form from Abraham’s and Sarah’s bosoms. He saved them in Egypt through Joseph. Then he saved them from Egypt’s physical and spiritual bondage. He’s the father who rescues his son from the drug gangs and drunken party. He’s the father who stands by his children when they are bullied and battered. He protects his children and shows where they can be safe.
   God is also the father who doesn’t know why his bruised and battered son will sneak out of the house to risk his life with those who want to destroy him. God’s the Father, who repeatedly, lovingly, firmly, says to his son, “Live right. Obey the rules. Be safe. Listen, and I’ll take care of you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
   But still the son refuses. “Then go,” the Father says. “Go to your hard life. You must know separation before you truly know reconciliation. I love you and will always welcome you home when you are willing to come.”
  

Read Hosea 4-9
 
Hosea 4:1-3 The LORD’s Case against Israel  1 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. 2 You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere – one murder after another. 3 That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.”
 
THE LORD is the husband desiring his unfaithful wife to return to him; yet, his people turn their backs as if to say, “We have no Husband.” Their sins even affected the natural world. “That is why your land is in mourning.”   
   Original sin brought curse on the land: Genesis 3:17 & 18: “The ground is cursed because of you…It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.” The apostle Paul revealed this, too, in Romans 8:22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 
   How about you? Do you groan in your soul, longing for release from trouble? Then turn your face to your soul’s Husband, the LORD God. He has made a way through the curse and into his salvation. As marriage is to be a one-flesh relationship between a man and a woman, your relationship is to be one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
    
Lead for the Lord
 
Hosea 5:1 The Failure of Israel's Leaders 1 “Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.”
 
WHEN God called Hosea, Israel’s civil and religious leaders had led God’s chosen nation for generations to Mizpah and Tabor for Baal worship that included child sacrifice. They led Israel to destruction. God needs true leaders to guide his chosen to salvation.
   Has God called you to be a leader? If you’re a Christian, he has, indeed, called you to lead for the Lord in the Spirit of the Lord. What, then, does this look like? Perhaps the simplest description is Jesus’ Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19a) This is God’s purpose for your life. When you say, “Yes.” to Jesus, your life belongs to him. You are to know his Word and lead others to know him, too. Leadership in the Jesus’ church is not merely being in charge of some group or ministry. True spiritual leadership is pointing people to Jesus. This type of leadership occurs at home and away from home, in church and in a non-Christian environment. Most of the world does not know where to find Jesus. Lost sheep need a good leader. Read, study and know the Word of God because your nation, your community, your church and your family need true leaders for life.
  
 
 

Read Hosea 1-3
 
Hosea 1:1-3 The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” 3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.
 
MARRIAGE is God’s most holy institution. He created this intimate relationship between a man and a woman, so two could live together in harmony to love, encourage and help one another. Out of marriage would come the sons and daughters to be a family. God formed the family to bear his image into the world. Marriage is the foundation of our human existence. A culture weak in marriage commitment is a culture destined to fail because I lacks direction. God’s method to use an adulterous marriage as an illustration of Israel’s disobedience was surely a deep sorrow in God’s heart.
   Imagine this assignment. The prophetic office is always very difficult. Sinners hate hearing the truth. And then God makes it more difficult for Hosea when he tells him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution.” Yes, Hosea, you’ll have children with her, but she will be unfaithful to you. God would use this public display of infidelity to show to Israel and Judah that they have prostituted his grace. They have “sold” his love, grace and law for the sake of self-pleasure. God’s people are smitten with evil, and God’s purpose is to dramatically use Hosea to say, “Faithfully come home to me, the One who loves you.”
 

Read Jonah
 
Jonah 1:1-2 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
 
WHAT do you think? Would Jonah have said something like this?
 
“Oh, LORD! What are you doing to me? You wanted me to go to Ninevah to tell those heathens, “Repent!” But didn’t want to give them any opportunity for you to save them!. So I boarded a ship at Joppa to sail to Spain, as far from Ninevah as I knew to go. Then came that wicked storm. I felt sorry for the sailors. They didn’t know what to do. When they cast lots and learned I was the reason for the storm, they still refused to throw me into the sea!   
   But you got your way. I wonder what they thought when the storm stilled while I was sinking into the sea. I imagine, LORD, you made quite an impression on them. 
   You can make quite the impact when you have a mind to do so. You certainly made an impression on me with that fish. Oh, LORD! Was I so disobedient you had to put me inside that fish?  How long was it? Eternity? That’s a rough estimate from my point of view. I rolled around in that fish’s belly, not knowing up or down, day or night, left or right, and mostly not caring. All I wanted was to die. 
   But you wouldn’t let me off that easily would you, LORD? You kept me alive until the fish spit me out. And again you sent me to tell Ninevah, “Repent”
   Yes, LORD, I finally did what you said. And look, you have saved Ninevah. How can I be pleased such a good thing has happened to such a bad city?
   Now here I am in the blazing heat. You teased me, LORD. You gave me a nice vine to shade me. But now you’ve sent a worm to kill it! Wasn’t the fish enough? Now I have no shade. I, Jonah, your prophet, have  suffered more than the Ninevites! Sometimes I don’t understand what you want or why you do the things you do. 
   You allowed people to form the great city Ninevah. You then let them sin to the point you wanted to destroy them. Then you gave them the time to repent. And when they did, you say, “You’re spared.” Just like that.  
   The sailors…the citizens of Ninevah…me…what are you trying to tell us?    
   What’s that? 
   Why, you did, Lord. You created the world. Everybody knows that.
   Oh, they don’t? Well, come to think of it, everybody I know believes that. But yes, you’re right. Those sailors thought some god of the seas was controlling the storm until I told them you are my God. I’m sure they now believe you are Creator!  
   Yes, people put limits on you. I did that, too, didn’t I? I thought I could get away from you. And I did – in the fish. You took me away. And you brought me back. You caused the wind to blow, the vine to grow and the worm to cut it down.
   Yes, Lord, I see your point. If I truly understand your great mercy, I could have come to Nineveh and celebrated with them as you forgave them. But my anger and disobedience limited my life to loneliness, anger and self-pity.
   Help me, LORD God, to repent, to rejoice with you over saved souls and to consider your great love extends to all.
 

Read 2 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 24
 
2 Kings 12:6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple.
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2 Chronicles 24:8-10 So now the king ordered a chest to be made and set outside the gate leading to the Temple of the Lord. 9 Then a proclamation was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem, telling the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God, had required of the Israelites in the wilderness. 10 This pleased all the leaders and the people, and they gladly brought their money and filled the chest with it.
 
JOASH became king when he was a child. His aunt had saved him from his murderous grandmother Athaliah when he as an infant. When Joash was eight years old, the priest Jehoiada and others anointed Joash king. Athaliah received her just reward for her sins. And Joash followed his father King Ahaziah. Joash’s survival and then anointing indicates he was not a king only because of his lineage. This demonstrates God’s special hand on him to be king.
   Joash began well. Early in his reign he called for the temple to be repaired. As with most buildings, it needed some updates. But years went by, and the Levites still had not repaired the Temple. Perhaps there was only enough money for the Levites’ care. So Joash then commanded Jehoiada to put an offering chest at the Temple’s gate entrance. And he commanded the Levites to use all those offerings for the Temple. It is good to see the people gladly brought their money and filled the chest with it.
   This may be a classic case of a church struggling with its use of offerings – pay the pastor or remodel the church? Fund missionaries or get a new sound system? All things are needed, but what is most needed at the time? Generally the care of the pastor should be foremost. God commands this throughout the Bible. And he also says to bring your tithe to the Tabernacle – Temple - Church.  
   In the law, God had given Israel two commands regarding the Tabernacle and the priests. There was to be a tax called the sanctuary shekel (Exodus 30:11-16) to fund the care for the Tabernacle. This law, as all others, remained in force and was ignored. Remember, too, that the Levites were not given land as the other 11 tribes. The 11 tribes were to provide places for them to live, raise crops and care for their needs. God wanted his priests to be available to fulfill the specific commands for worship.
   Joash saw a problem. The offerings were insufficient for both the Temple and the Levites. So he went to the law to solve the problem. When people obeyed God’s laws, the Temple was fixed. And the Levites had what they needed.
   Here’s a very real way each church must trust God’s commands. When your church has insufficient funds for its needs, perhaps it would be good to trust God’s Word.   

Read Joel
 
Joel 2:10-11 The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. 11 The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?
 
 JOEL is a poetic and vivid display of God’s power. We generally read this as an end-time prophecy. It certainly is that in its description of the LORD’s destruction on earth and then his salvation. This pattern is given in Daniel, Isaiah, Psalms, Revelation and Matthew: The repeated image of the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine also points to the beginning of the new creation. This is also an image of God’s work to end an era of his salvation plan to begin a new time of his work and revelation.
   We can then see it is possible Joel spoke as many prophets. He pointed to events soon to happen, events to happen in a century or so into the future and events to occur on the final day of the Lord – of final judgment and salvation. The image of The Lord is at the head of the column also appears in Psalm 77:18, describing God leading his people through the Red Sea. Joshua 5:4 records Joshua receiving commands from the LORD of heaven’s army.
   What we must know is the power of the Day of the Lord does not wait until the final day of judgment. God has shown his magnificent virtue, majesty and holiness as he conquered Israel’s enemies throughout the Old Testament’s history. We know, too, God has judged Israel with drought, warfare, famine and disease. And then he has held stretched out his hand to restore them. All of this is to continually underscore the LORD God Almighty is sovereign over all the earth. He will choose his day. He will act at his time to judge, to renew and to save.
   Let’s consider this hope: Joel 2:13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead. Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before.
    Joel assures there is salvation for those whose hearts break over their sin and turn to the LORD for their redemption. This is a prophecy of renewal of God’s will on earth. The LORD promises his power to come onto his own: Joel 3:14 Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.16 The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel.
    God has done this through Jesus’ resurrection. He has done this through the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost. His power shakes the world with his truth. All who believe find refuge in him. No enemy will touch God’s own. The day of the LORD is the believers’ joy.
  

Read 2 Kings 11, 2 Chronicles 22-24
 
2 Chronicles 22:7 But God had decided that this visit would be Ahaziah’s downfall. While he was there, Ahaziah went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had appointed to destroy the dynasty of Ahab.
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1 Kings 16:1 This message from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani.
 
IF you are as I am, you are confused about Jehu and even Jehoshaphat. It seems these men are in Israel and Judah, king and prophet at different times. Let’s first look at Jehu, who was the 11th king of Israel.
   2 Chronicles refers to Jehu son of Nimshi. “Son” sometimes meant a man in the lineage of a grandfather or even patriarch. Jehu’s family is clarified more precisely in 2 Kings 9:2 “and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends.” Elisha was preparing Jehu to be king of Israel. His father is Jehoshaphat, but this is not the king of Judah.
   Nimshi, Jehoshaphat and Jehu lived in Israel. Jehu was one of Ahab’s guards. God had earlier instructed Elijah to anoint Jehu to his calling: 1 Kings 19:16 Then anoint Jehu (grand)son of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! Jehu brought an end to Jezebel’s life and fulfilled God’s anointing to destroy Ahab’s family. Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi of Israel, was a king of Israel who came as close to obeying God as any king there. But old sins still blocked his full faith in God: But Jehu did not obey the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. (2 Kings 10:31) Jehu did what had always been done.
   Now we turn to Jehu, the prophet. He was the son of Hanani, the prophet. Jehu spoke doom to Israel’s king Baasha in 2 Kings 16. He also was a prophet to King Jehoshaphat of Judah to denounce Jehoshaphat for his support of King Ahab. So Jehu, the prophet, spoke to the kings of Judah and Israel. Jehu is also credited for writing the history of King Jehoshaphat: 2 Chronicles 20:34 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Jehu Son of Hanani, which is included in The Book of the Kings of Israel. (The entire nation under God.)
   Why does this matter? It does so because the more we understand God’s Word, the more closely we connect God to our lives. Paying attention to the details enlarges our knowledge to know the great power of God’s Love Story. See how God used two different men to do his work. This enlarges our understanding of God’s grace. He has chosen multitudes of people throughout the ages – most we never hear about – so the world will know who he is. What has he given you to do?  
 

Read 2 Kings 7-10, 2 Chronicles 22
 
2 Kings 7:3-5 Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. 4 “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.” 5 So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!
 
YOU may have heard people say, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.” In other words, if you want to change something in your life, you need to change either what you do or how you do it – or both.  
   The four lepers in this Scripture illustrate the power of change. Considering the conditions of Samaria, Israel’s capital city, in the midst of great starvation, we can wonder how the lepers have survived to this point. Apparently they are resourceful men. Now they look at their circumstances - starving Samaria behind them and the deadly enemy Syrians before them. What do they do to survive - or perhaps have less chance of dying?
   At this point, their only hope is a dim hope to go to the Syrians to get some food. Who knows? Perhaps the Syrians will feed and not kill them. Hope’s light is dim, but at least it is visible.
   That’s when the men decide to do something different. Instead of sitting and suffering, of staying and wondering, “What will happen?” they got up and went to Syria’s army encampment. But behold! The enemy was gone from this camp. Not only that, God had opened heaven’s gates to provide food for Samaria’s starving people.
   Do you feel the despair and tension in the lepers’ heart turn to relief, then to anticipation, then to excitement? Acting into the smallest light of hope, they experienced the overwhelming joy of physical salvation pouring over them. Because they got up to go, they discovered God has saved them from hunger and from their poverty. Never again will they have to beg for money or food.   
   This change in their lives is another is a series of ongoing revelations to Samaria – Israel, the Northern Kingdom – of God’s power to provide for his people.  
   God’s mercy moved the Syrian army to get up and go home. His authority also moved the four men to get up and go to God’s provision. Samaria was saved. People no longer had to do despicable things to stay alive.
   God is LORD of all the details. He renews and changes our minds to know what he we must do to go to him. It’s true, isn’t it? So often we can become starved of Jesus’ salvation because we do what we have always done. Our daily habits can easily keep us from Jesus’ table. But we thank God he has prepared a table before us – even in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23). Get up and go to the feast of his love, joy, faith, and hope.
   You will miss so much if you stay where you are.