sigh. Another occasion when I hit "save" rather than "publish". And never noticed. Must have been one of the eeeevil cats distracting my attention or something like that.. Now, it's not like I'm getting paid for this, the intention is something else. But one does like to be efficient and all that, and this does not make that standard. Apologies.
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Our reading assignment in the Old Testament takes us into the Minor Prophet, Amos, chapters 1, 2, and 3. Now, note that this takes place back in the time of King Uzziah, so the destruction has yet to occur and that is a major part of the warnings and prophecies here.
I always get a bit nervous when I read the passages we've been in, starting back in Isaiah and continuing here and after. Doom. Destruction. Death. Punishment. Judgment. Gruesome examples of loss of life, including, one suspects, to those who were not guilty of anything, like children including the pre-born. Nasty. Yet, looking around our land, the offenses being judged and punished, are little better, little different in fact, from the day-to-day world. So, can it happen again?
Amos 1
1 The words
of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning
Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam
the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, The
LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the
habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall
wither. 3 Thus
saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed
Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
4 But I will send a fire into the house of
Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.
5 I will break also the bar of
Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him
that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria
shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three
transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the
punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole
captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,
which shall devour the palaces thereof:
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from
Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn
mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall
perish, saith the Lord GOD.
9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus,
and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they
delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the
brotherly covenant: 10
But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the
palaces thereof. 11
Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his
brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did
tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
12 But I will send a fire upon
Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
13 Thus saith the LORD; For three
transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn
away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with
child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
14 But I will kindle a fire in
the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with
shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the
whirlwind: 15
And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,
saith the LORD.
Amos 2
1 Thus saith
the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the
king of Edom into lime:
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the
palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and
with the sound of the trumpet:
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof,
and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
4 Thus saith the LORD;
For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away
the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD,
and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err,
after the which their fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it
shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three
transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the
punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the
poor for a pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the
poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will
go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon
clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the
condemned in the house of their god.
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose
height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks;
yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought
you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the
wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up of your sons for
prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye
children of Israel? saith the LORD.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and
commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a
cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the
swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the
mighty deliver himself:
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that
is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth
the horse deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee
away naked in that day, saith the LORD.
Amos 3
1 Hear this
word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel,
against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt,
saying, 2 You
only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will
punish you for all your iniquities.
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 4
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion
cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the
earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the
earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the
people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath
not done it? 7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets.
8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD
hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the
palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the
mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof,
and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith the
LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus saith the
Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he
shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be
spoiled. 12
Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion
two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be
taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus
in a couch. 13
Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God
of hosts, 14
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him
I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar
shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter house with
the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great
houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
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Our reading in the New Testament is chapter 5 from the Revelation. More hard reading. And will become far more so.
Revelation 5
1 And I saw
in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the
seals thereof? 3
And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able
to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4 And I wept much, because no man was found
worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5 And one of the elders
saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the
Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. 6
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been
slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of
God sent forth into all the earth.
7 And he came and took the book out of the right
hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8 And when he had taken the book, the four
beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the
prayers of saints. 9
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; 10 And
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
earth. 11 And I
beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and
the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and
glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto
the Lamb for ever and ever.
14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty
elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
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