“The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life.”
~ Amos 2:14
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you fear what your dad will do to you if . . . do you fear what God will do to you if . . . what is something that you have done that your dad has punished you for doing? Is there something that you have done that you know that God has punished you for doing? What is the worst punishment that your dad can punish you with because you have done something that was wrong for you to do – such as talking back to your dad and/or ma, not doing what your dad and/or has asked you to do or . . . per the words that God – as God the Spirit, breathed on Amos to scribe, God will not tolerate sin generated evil to keep taking place on planet Earth. Amos – in Amos 2, in his Amos Book, continues with the indictments that God – as God the Spirit, had him scribe against the different nations and people groups of guys and gals who thought that their ways of doing things were superior to listening to and obeying the ways/laws that God – as God the Father, dictated to Moses while Moses was on Mount Sinai. These ways/laws that God – as God the Father, mandated to Moses on Mount Sinai were for God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, to implement in their worship norms and living mores but . . . when Adam compromised obedience by doing exactly what he had been told God – as God the Father, not to do, the door was opened for sin to corrupt every single kid – except for an incarnated kid Whose name was Jesus, who would ever be born on planet Earth. The ultimate consequence of sin’s insidious inhabitance on planet Earth is that every kid who is born on planet Earth has an infected will and innate ability to do evil. But just as your earthly dad will at times give you a pass for having done something that was wrong for you to do – such as talking back to him and/or your ma or not doing what he and/or your ma has asked you to do, by not punishing you, God – as God the Father, at times when Amos was living on planet Earth, gave passes to His specially chosen guys and gals and to the various nations and people groups of guys and gals who were living on planet Earth, by giving them another chance to . . .
God – as God the Father, had this thing about maybe giving three passes without a punishment but come the next time when His specially chosen guys and gals or when one of the various nations or people groups of guys and gals kept on feeding vileness, LOOK OUT. When guys from Moab’s country of guys and gals burned the bones of the king of Edom’s country of guys and gals, the guys who were living in the country of Moab no longer had a pass that they could use. God – as God the Father, used fire to destroy the fortress that surrounded the city of Kerioth. Kerioth was where the shrines to Chemish were located. Chemish was the national god that the guys and gals who lived in the country of Moab worshipped. The ruler over the guys and gals who lived in the country of Moab and all of Moab’s officials would be destroyed – along with their pet god. When the guys and gals who were living in the land area of Judah rejected the ways/laws that God – as God the Father, had given them through Moses when Moses was on Mount Sinai, by being led astray by false gods, they no longer had a pass. God – as God the Father, would use fire to consume the fortress that surrounded the city of Jerusalem. When the guys and gals who were living in the land area of Israel sold good guys and gals for money and sandals, trampled on the heads of poor guys and gals like they were dust, denied justice to the oppressed guys and gals and lived immorally, they no longer had a pass that they could use. The guys and gals who lived in the land area of Israel would be crushed by God – as God the Father, just as a cart that is loaded with grain will crush a guy, gal or kid who gets in the way of the cart.
Do you like having your earthly dad angry with you? Do you like having God angry with you? Having your earthly dad angry with you is not like having God angry with you. The outcome of what was going to happen to the guys and gals who were living in the land areas of Moab, Judah and Israel when God – as God the Father, poured out His wrath on them is described in verse 14 “The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life.” You have two choices today. You can be intentional to live your lives in ways that you know will make God happy with you or you can live your lives in ways that you know will not make God happy with you. If you are committed to living your lives in ways that you know will make God happy with you, you will make your earthly father happy with you. If you are intentional about living your lives for God’s sake, you will defuse sin’s deviant influence. If you are going about living your lives to satisfy and build up your egos, you will inflame and stimulate sin to where sin will overrun and control your lives. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are not naïve; they know that there are going to be times when you are going to be tested by the sin spirit – just as they have been tested. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are hoping that when you are nudged by God – as God the Spirit, to alert you that you have done or are doing something wrong, that you will remember what God did to the guys and gals who were living in the country of Moab and to His own specially chosen guys and gals – who were the Israelite people group guys and gals, who were living in the land areas of Judah and Israel and in the city of Jerusalem when He burned, destroyed and crushed the guys and gals who were living in these land areas and city. Your grandmaa and grandpaa do not want to see you – as you are getting older, being unhappy and unfilled because of not listening to God – as God the Spirit, reminding you to be obedient and faithful to God. Because God – as God the Father, loves you, God – as God the Father, will never stop doing what He needs to do to remove all the evil that is in you.
Amos 2 (711)