Major Lessons from the Minor Prophets

1. Major Lessonsfrom the Minor Prophets Amos  Hosea  Zephaniah  Zechariah

2. Theme of Amos Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit.  And He said, "Amos, what do you see?" So I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me: "The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.” Amos 8:1-2 Israel was ripe for God's judgment of doom

3. Outline of Amos • Judgment on Eight Nations, "For three transgressions and for four“ (1:3‑‑2:16) • On Damascus (1:3‑5) • On Gaza of Philistia (1:6‑8) • On Tyre (1:9‑10) • On Edom (1:11‑12) • On Ammon (1:13‑15) • On Moab (2:1‑3) • On Judah (2:4‑5) • On Israel (2:6‑16)

4. Outline of Amos II. Three Sermons Pronouncing the Judgment of Israel (3:1‑‑6:14) • Sermon to the "whole family" of Israel ‑ A sermon of present warning (3:1‑15) • Sermon to the "cows of Bashan" ‑ Past judgments have gone unheeded (4:1‑13) • Sermon of "lamentation" and "woe" ‑ The future judgment of God on Israel would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) III. Five Visions of the Judgment of Israel (7:1‑‑9:10) • Locust (7:1‑3) • Fire (7:4‑6) • The plumb line (7:7‑9) [Historical Parenthesis] (7:10‑17) • The summer fruit (8:1‑14) • The door posts of the sanctuary (9:1‑10) IV. Promises of a Bright Future for Spiritual Israel (9:11‑15)

5. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) • Each of the 3 sermons in this section begin with “Hear this word…” (5:1, cf. 3:1; 4:1) • “Israel has fallen” (5:2-3) • She was once like a pure “virgin” • The past tense indicates future certainty • Only a tenth will remain in each city (perhaps a reference to the remnant, 5:15) • They could seek God and live or seek their idolatrous cities and experience captivity and destruction (5:4-6; Isaiah 55:6-7) • Note: Though far to the south, Beersheba was renowned as a city of idolatry (cf. 8:14; 2 Kings 23:8)

6. Gilgal

7. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) God’s power and justice contrasted to the unrighteousness and vulnerability of Israel’s rulers • They made justice a bitter thing and buried righteousness as one buries something dead (5:7) • God is the all-powerful Creator (5:8) • He has made Orion and the Pleiades and controls nature for His purposes (cf. Job 9:9) • He rains ruin on strong men and their fortresses (5:9)

8. “He made the Pleiades and Orion…” - Amos 5:8 NOTE: These constellations are visible from every part of the globe. (Psalm 19:1-3)

9. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) Additional charges of sin (5:10-13) • They hate the one who rebukes and speaks uprightly (5:10; Proverbs 9:8; 15:31-32; 29:1) • They oppress the poor (5:11; Proverbs 14:31) • The Lord would not allow Israel to enjoy the fruits of this oppression (5:11b; Proverbs 22:16) • They had afflicted the just, taken bribes, and perverted justice for the poor (5:12) • In such an evil time, the prudent would not even complain or seek justice (5:13)

10. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) Additional call to repent and seek God’s grace (5:14-15) • What do we learn from the prophets about the availability of God’s grace even to the vilest sinners who repent? (Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 4:2) Lamentation will permeate the land when the Lord passes through (5:16-17) • From the city streets to the highways, from farmers to professional mourners, and in all the vineyards.

11. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) Woe to those who desire the Day of the Lord (5:18-27) • It will be a day of grave misfortune & darkness (5:18-20) • The Lord despised their hypocritical worship; it would not benefit them (15:21-26, Isa. 1:11-15) • “Let justice roll down like water…” • The words “Sikkuth of Molech” (“tabernacle of your king,” ASV) and “Chiun” are difficult to translate, but plainly refer to false astral deities (in contrast to the God of hosts who created Orion and the Pleiades) • Israel would be sent into captivity “beyond Damascus” (15:27)

12. “I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus” says the Lord

13. “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24)

14. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) Woe to those secure in luxury (6:1-14) • Woe is pronounced on the rulers of Jerusalem and Samaria who lived in false security. (6:1-2) • Were they any different from neighboring cities? • By denying their impending doom they were actually hastening it (6:3) • They enjoy lives of ease and luxury “but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph” (6:4-6) • Prosperity may lead to false security, mixed-up priorities, and doom (Deut. 8:11-20; Luke 12:15-21; 1 Tim. 6:6-19) • The Lord had “sworn by Himself” that He would utterly destroy Israel (6:8-11; Heb. 6:13-17)

15. “Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood” (Amos 6:12)

16. A Sermon of Lamentation and WoeFuture judgments would be overwhelm­ing (5:1‑‑6:14) Woe to those secure in luxury (6:1-14) • Israel had wasted her strength in vain and useless pursuits, all the while boasting that she had gained power by her own strength (6:12-14) • “Lo-debar” (NKJV, ESV) literally means “thing of nought” (ASV) or “nothing” (NKJV margin) • “Taken Karnaim” literally means “taken horns”. • God would raise up a nation that would afflict Israel from “the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of the Arabah"  (beyond the northern and southernmost borders)

17. “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of the Arabah.” (Amos 6:14)