Well, if you want to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Amos, we're going to be in chapter eight tonight. And Cody, you can pass out those handouts if you would, son. Hey. No worries, no worries. Everyone is getting their hands out, their handouts. I'd like for you to look first at verse 11. We are going to read through the whole chapter of chapter 8, but there is a point at verse 11 that sort of provides for us the the final condemnation. You know, those of you who have been here for the last several weeks, that from the beginning of Amos all the way till now, it has been a word of condemnation from the beginning. The southern prophet has gone to the northern kingdom, he has stuck his little pointy finger right in their face, and he says, you are unjustly treating the poor, you are unrighteously worshipping God, you are turned over to idols, you are turned over to debauchery, you are turned over to sensuality, you are turned over to licentiousness, and because of this, God is going to bring upon you swift and complete destruction. And yet his words have gone unheeded. Last week we noticed the priest Amaziah who came to him and said, stop preaching We don't wanna hear it anymore, go home. Go back to the Southern Kingdom, leave us be. We wanna hear good things. We wanna hear prosperity. We wanna hear positivity. We don't want your preaching of judgment, leave. So we come to verse 11 of chapter eight, and we see that the people will eventually get what they have asked for. Verse 11, Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. The judgment of God that is coming upon the people is a judgment that they probably have thought would be a blessing. I don't have to hear these words of condemnation anymore. I don't have to hear how bad I am anymore. I don't have to hear how much I need to repent anymore. Hooray! But when destruction comes, and when all around them have fallen, and now they realize there is nothing for them to turn to, and they turn to God, and He is not listening. He just turned them over to their sin. He said God wouldn't do that. Read Romans 1. For this very reason, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. For this very reason, God gave them over to a debased mind. There is a time when God gives a person over to their sin. gives them over to what they have longed for. Amaziah is, in a sense, the spokesperson for Israel. Because he came out and said, we don't want to hear this. And God says, well, there's coming a day when you won't. But it will be in that day when you will need it the most, want it the most, and it will be gone. It's amazing. Prophecy. It's an amazing, damning prophecy. Think about this. We have, as a nation, been through several hard times. Those of you who are maybe my seniors in age, can remember maybe some harder times. You don't have to giggle. I know. Maybe remember some harder times than I do, but very few of us were, you know, I don't know, none of us were alive in the 1800s, of course. In the early 1900s, we've gone through two world wars. And in those times, we have seen massive devastation. And yet, one pastor pointed this out. He said, and yet, with all the devastation that we have seen, there's been rebuilt. Even Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dropped an atom bomb. Look at a picture of Nagasaki and Hiroshima today. They're thriving cities. Just half a century after an entire civilization of city destroyed. Half a century later, we got it back. Right? Twelve years ago. Well, no, how many years ago was it? 9-11 is 2001. It's 2017, so 16 years ago. Buildings fell. But what did we say when the buildings fell? What did everybody say? Not that we'll rebuild, but that's true. That's not what I'm thinking about, but that's true. We said we'll rebuild. What did we say? We'll never be the same. We're the exact same. We change for half a minute. Everybody says we're gonna be more God conscious. You know how many more people go to church now than did before? Not that many. Because devastation and destruction like that doesn't last long in the mind. And that's the point God's making. Because the destruction that's coming is no longer just a famine in a field, or a tower falling, or a famine of food, or a famine of water, a drought of water. There's coming a time where God is going to step away. And that will change everything. So this is what's coming. Remember what I told you about the Northern Kingdom? The Northern Kingdom never gets restored. After they fall to Assyria, they never are restored. The Southern Kingdom falls to Babylon. They go into captivity and they are led to freedom under Cyrus. but the northern kingdom falls to Assyria and it's done. So let's go back to verse one and see how this all plays out. Because it says in verse 1, This is what the Lord God showed me. Behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, a basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel. I will never again pass by them. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day, declares the Lord. So many dead bodies, their throne everywhere, and silence. Here's the point of that. The summer fruit, we would probably see as a good thing. If I brought you a basket of fruit, usually as some type of a positive, you know, if you were sick and I brought you a basket of fruit, you'd say thank you. If you were new to my neighborhood, I might bring you a basket of fruit and you would thank me because that's a blessing. but the basket of fruit here is a symbol of the end because summer fruit was the last of the harvest. This is it. This is the ripe fruit. That's why tonight's lesson is entitled ripe for judgment. That's the picture. You've reached the end. You've reached the last of the fruit. Here it is. And after this, no more. It's over. And then verse four, from verse four of chapter eight, all the way to verse 10 of chapter nine, there's a lengthy explanation as to why it has come. But the point, again, if you think of verse 11, tied back into verse 1 and 2, the point of chapter 8 and 9 is it's over. The only thing we get at the end, five verses of hope at the end of nine chapters of condemnation. You get five verses of hope. But it's not hope for the nation of Israel. It's hope for the remnant. For within all of Israel, there's a remnant of true believers. but not the nation. The nation, this northern kingdom is done. It's not the kingdom that will be saved and we'll see that. And it's under the Messiah that salvation will come and we'll see that as we get there. But the point of this is the utter devastation. Why? Verse four. Hear this you who trample the needy and bring the poor to the land, excuse me, poor of the land to and end saying when will the new moon be over that we may sell grain and the sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale that we may make the ephah small the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat Alright, we'll stop at verse 6 for a moment, because this is a warning against what they have done. And let me explain, because this really has an interesting interpretation and understanding, because he says, you trample the needy, we've already talked about how they do that. You bring the poor of the land to an end, we've sort of addressed that over the last few weeks. But verses 5 and 6 address something sort of new that he hasn't really touched on yet. Because verse 5 says this, he says, you say when the new moons will be over, when will the new moons be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small, the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances. The reference there is the reference to the fact that they are very religious, and they're still practicing their religion, but they're doing so in a way that is not pleasing to God. because they celebrate the new moons, which is one of the festivals. They observe the Sabbath, which was commanded of Israel, that you not work on the Sabbath. But the whole day that they're observing the Sabbath, they're looking forward to nightfall. Because as soon as that sun goes down, I can get back out there and cheat people. I can get back out there and get back to the work. You see, culturally, Israel was religious. I'm going to say something, again, for those of you who are my seniors, this may come as, not necessarily as a shock, but something that you may not have thought of. Oftentimes I hear people say, you know, America used to be very Christian in their behavior because we didn't go to work on Sunday and we didn't do this on Sunday. And we would, people didn't use, you know, bad words in public. And, you know, we were more Christian because we behaved morally. Behaving morally does not make you more Christian. And I'm gonna tell you why. Because you can behave morally and be lost. because that moral picture that you put on front of your face, all it is is the picture. You are just what the Pharisees were, which were the whitewashed walls, Jesus said. You were like tombs that had been cleaned, but inside you're filled with dead men's bones. There were people who took Sundays off because that was the Lord's day, but then they got up on Monday and went and cheated people at their jobs all week long. They went to church on Sunday, but from Monday to Saturday, they broke their arms, twisting other people's arms. You see what I'm saying? This is what's happening in Israel. They have a facade of religion, but it means nothing to them. All it is, is meeting their social checklist. They're doing what they need to do to meet that social requirement of religiosity. I've kept the New Moon Festival, I've kept the Sabbath day, but now I can go back out in the latter part of verse 5 when he says, you make the ephah small, the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances. Basically what it's saying is you cheat people. You make that which is valuable not valuable and you take that which isn't valuable and you pretend it is valuable. Sort of the way we do with money. You know, we artificially inflate money. I look at Dale because Dale's a man who understands stocks and things and we talk about this sometimes. Don't businesses do that? Artificially inflate stocks and things like that? And then Enron happens and people lose their entire lives because of cheating the system. It's what it's saying here. So you go to church on Sunday and then you live like Satan on Monday. I mean, that's the modern expression of this. They have a cultural religiosity that doesn't matter. In fact, it's worse. It's worse to be culturally religious than to just be non-religious. Because Jesus said, I would rather you be hot or cold. But because you are what? Luke warm. I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. It's worse to pretend. And that's what they were doing. They were pretending. And so... Verse 6 just follows that up. It says, We may buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals, sell the chaff of the wheat. The chaff of the wheat was the useless part of the wheat. It wasn't good for food or anything, but they would sell it as part of it. You know, you've heard of maybe a modern example of that, of somebody weighting like a piece of fish or something, or some type of something that's only supposed to weigh this much, but they put weights in it to make it weigh more, so they have to pay more. Right? You've heard of people doing that. Maybe fish is a bad example, but you understand what I'm saying. You've got a piece of fish that's 20 pounds. You put a 10 pound weight in its mouth, so it's 30 pounds. And then you sell it, but you can't eat the weight. You know, and you don't know it until you've already cut it open. You know, there's other examples. Maybe you have a better one in your mind, but that's just one that's in my mind. But you understand, they're cheating people. They're taking people into slavery. They're buying people for the price of a pair of sandals. You know, what if somebody said your life is worth what the shoes you're wearing? I was given these for free, and I think the person who bought them got them at a yard sale. So my life would be really worth very little. My mom gave them to me. I'm pretty sure they came from a yard sale. That's okay, I don't mind. But if somebody says, you're worth what your shoes, probably less than $5. And that's what people were doing. They were treating the lives of others with so little value. And you know, I imagine, and I can't promise this to be true, but I imagine some of those poor people are part of the remnant that we're going to talk about in a little while. Some of those people that were being oppressed were crying out to God, why? You know? So verse 8, or verse 7 rather, the word of judgment. The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of your deeds." Now that phrase the Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob There's two ways to take that, and if you want to argue interpretation, you can, because I think that it's a little, to me, a little difficult to come down on one side of the other and say, absolutely. The pride of Jacob could be, say, God himself. He is their pride. But it could also be their pride, their actual, the wrong. And he said, I'm swearing by what is so obviously true, your pride. So it's kind of a, he's either saying I'm swearing by myself or I'm swearing by your attitude, which is obviously true. But either way matters really not because both are the same. He's telling the truth. I will never forget any of your deeds. Why? Because they're not repenting of their deeds. You realize the Bible says God takes our iniquities from us, and he removes them from us, as far as the East is from the West, and God chooses not to remember our sins against us? That's a gift of God, but these people, because they are lacking in repentance, they are lacking in a contrite heart, God says, I'm not going to forget what you've done. I'm not going to forget your sins. shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again like the Nile of Egypt." This again is just the judgment of God. It's going to flow like the Nile. The Nile would rise and would fall, and when it would rise, it would cause some havoc, as any flood would cause some havoc, and when it would go back down, you'd see the results of it. And that's sort of the picture of God's judgment. It's going to come up, and when it finally desists, you'll see all the destruction that's happened. On that day, declares the Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. That is the first of four I will statements. This is God making a point, and I want to make this point to you. Because He says, I will, verse 9. He says, I will, verse 10, three times. Four I will statements. And the reason why I want to point this out to you is that often times we like to remove from God the action of judgment and place it on something else. And I'll give you an example. We think about the The Passover, right? And the Bible talks about on the night of the Passover. He says the Lord will pass through Egypt and execute judgment. But oftentimes you hear people talk about the death angel. The Bible never mentions a death angel. It does mention a destroyer, but the one who says he will walk through and execute judgment is the Lord. God says, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth on every waist, baldness on every head, and I will make it like mourning for an only son at the end of it, like a bitter day. I'm going to do these things and you won't even be able to understand the devastation that's coming. And then verse 11. Behold, the days are coming. I'm going to send a famine on the land. Not for bread or water, but for hearing the words of the Lord. Let me ask you a question. Is God required to offer anyone salvation? No, everybody. Yeah. Everybody's saying this because you're right. No, God's not required to offer anyone salvation. If the if the word of God is not being preached in the land, then salvation has been withdrawn. And let me explain. How are people saved? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ, but you could say by the Word of God. If the Word of God is removed, so too is the preaching of salvation. I have seen churches that have powerful pastors, men of God, who love the Lord, who love the Word of God, and who proclaim the Word of God with power. And the churches, in their hatred of that man, send him out. And they rather hire someone else who will tell them what they want to hear. And it's almost as if a black cloth is laid over the church. because you are no longer hearing the word of God. Churches can die. The church can't die. As Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That's the universal church that will never pass away. But churches do die. I mean, we've seen it. And there are churches that live on life support. And there are other churches that just live in heresy. The Word of God, not preached in the land, is the worst of judgments. And the people will one day long for it and not have it. And it says in verse 12, they will wander from sea to sea, from north to east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. It will not be preached. In that day, The lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst, those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, and say, as your God lives, O Dan, and as the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again." You see, 13 and 14 is referencing the fact that these people have trusted falsely and in a false God. They faint for thirst. They thirst for the Word. But the whole time they had the Word, they didn't want it. Instead, they were swearing by the guilt of Samaria and say, as your God lives, O Dan, and as the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again. They had trusted in the idols they had trusted falsely. And as a result, they would themselves fall. Now, chapter 9, I do want to turn there. We got a few more minutes, so we're going to look at chapter 9. We see a vision of destruction. I saw the Lord standing beside the altar. And what we see basically from verses 1 through 10 is all of the destruction that's about to take place. Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake. and shatter them on the heads of all the people, and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword. Not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape. If they dig into Sheol, which is the grave, from there shall My hand take them. If they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, which was a mountain, and there I will search them out and take them. And if they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them. If they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword and it shall kill them and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good." This is harsh language from God and really it should cause us to think because God is making a point here that when He brings judgment, it is inescapable. He said, on that day, I'm going to strike the land and you won't be able to run. Last year, we had a hurricane headed this way. And it seemed like it was going to be a pretty big deal, and it was. I mean, it flooded all of St. Augustine, and Haiti was just really hit hard. And when it did make it here, thank God, it sort of turned out to the east, and at least we didn't get as bad as we could have gotten. But when we knew it was coming, a friend of ours said, hey, why don't you come out and stay with us out in Valdosta? And we knew that was far enough inland. And we lived near an inlet. And we were like, well, if there was a rising tide, it could come into our house. And then we'd be stuck and danger, disease, and germs, and things. So we said, you know what? We will. We'll come on over to Valdostan." We did. We went out to Valdostan. We stayed for three days. Watched the storm go through. Thankful that it didn't hurt our house or anybody else that we knew right away. Prayed for those who it did hurt. And came back home. No worse for the wear. Paid for gas. Got to spend some time with good Christian friends. And ultimately it wasn't that bad. But on the Day of Judgment, when God's judgment falls, There won't be a Valdosta to run to. There won't be a city of sanctuary to go run and hide. And he says, you can go down in the grave, you can dig a hole, cover yourself with dirt, God's still going to find you. You can try to climb into heaven and hide in the clouds, God's still going to find you. You can get on a submarine and go into the ocean. He didn't say submarine because they didn't have submarines. But basically he said you can swim down into the ocean and God will send a serpent to bite you. You're not going to get away. The last thing he says, oh, and he says also, he says, and even if the captivity comes for you, even if you come and they take you into captivity, God will find you in the dungeon and kill you. That's bad. You're already in bad shape. You've been taken captive and he's still gonna find you. You are not getting out of this, but The verse for the last part is really the part that should get our attention because he says, I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. I really think, I really think that the part that people will not realize is that God is capable of that. We have been convinced. And I want to tell you something. Recently, I've become quite convicted about something. Actually, today I was praying and thinking about how in reformed teaching and reformed as a pastor, you know, who identify myself as reformed and preacher and all. I do think that there are times when we don't. express the love of God as much or as thoughtfully or as deeply as we should. I think sometimes we get fascinated with theology and theological paradigms and principles and teaching, and I think sometimes we should just stop back and say, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I mean, I think sometimes we need to get back to the simple and realize there are simple truths about God's love. But I think the reason why Reformed pastors like me maybe haven't done enough of that is because we feel like we're cleaning up the mess that so many have laid before us who have refused to preach the other side, the wrath of God. The fact that He would look on someone for evil and not for good. This is God speaking. and I will look at them for evil and not for good." My God wouldn't do that. You're right, because your God doesn't exist. You're worshiping an idol. That's why your God wouldn't do that. But the God of the Bible will do that, because He says He will. And so there must be a balance. Do we need to think and meditate on the love of God? Yes. Do we need to spend time just... Enjoying the love of God? Absolutely. And I want to better do that myself. Because understanding and appreciating God's love for me helps me to better love y'all. It helps me to better love the people who don't love me back. It helps me better to love the people who hate me. Because I didn't love God back, and I hated God at one point, and He loved me still. So that is important, and I don't ever want to forget that. But we must always maintain the balance of the fact that there is judgment in God because He's righteous and holy. The holy God is a loving God, and He's both. And so, that's important. In verse 5, he talks about the insurmountable nature of His power. He says, "...the Lord God of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and sinks again like the Nile of Egypt, who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth, who calls for the water of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth. The Lord is His name." What is all that? It's simply to say, this is a powerful God. He can do anything. Not only can you not go where He can't find you, but you cannot stand against what He will do to you. That's the point. Not only can't you run away, but you can't stand and fight. You know, sometimes if it's no good to run, you stand and put your dukes up and hope it turns out for the best, right? Not with God. Not with God. Verse seven. He compares them to the wicked and he says, are you not like the Kushites to me? Oh, boy. Oh. This is powerful stuff. He says, Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel, declares the Lord? Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Kaptar, and the Syrians from Kerb? Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon this sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord. Ultimately, this is what he's saying. He's saying, At this point, you are just like all the other sinful nations. At this point, how are you different than the Kushites? How are you different than the Egyptians? I brought you out of the land of Egypt not to be like them. And I brought you out and here you are being just like them. Verse 8, we start getting the first inkling of The promise though, he says, but I will not utterly, utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord, because God made a promise with Abraham. God did make a promise with Abraham that a Messiah was gonna come and all the nations would be blessed through the Messiah. And so there will remain a remnant, albeit a small remnant, there will always be a remnant because I made a promise. And even though you break your promises, I ain't gonna break mine. For behold, I will command, shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say disaster shall not overtake or meet us." Very simply. The shaking of the sieve is actually an illustration used in Isaiah as well of the remnant. Because the sieve takes out the bad and leaves the good. You know what that is. And basically what he's saying, he says, there's coming judgment. And I'm going to keep the remnant and the rest are going to fall through, but none of the pebbles will fall through, meaning none of the remnant. I won't lose any of mine. Jesus promises that. If all the Father gives me, I will lose none of them. That's a promise. Not one righteous person in Israel, and by righteous I mean justified by grace and faith, not one righteous person in Israel experiences the ultimate justice of God. Now they might experience temporal punishment because they're in a nation that's being punished, but that's not the same as experiencing the eternal justice of God. And so, he says in verse, beginning of verse 11, In that day I will rise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old. that they may possess the remnant of Edom. And all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord who does this. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed. And the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted. out of the Lamb that I have given to them, says the Lord." Here's the part that makes that part so difficult. There's even some commentary writers that believe Amos didn't write that. Because that is so different than the rest of the book. There are some who don't believe necessarily that that Amos was the one who put all of these words, actually I don't believe Amos wrote it, I believe these are collections of his sayings. That's different and we can talk about that another time. It's different between saying, because there are times when Paul didn't write Romans. Paul dictated Romans. It was written at the end, it says who wrote it. I forget the name right off, but it says who wrote it. Paul is dictating it and it's being written by someone else. That's not a problem for me to say that I don't necessarily think Amos sat down and wrote these things out. But, I do believe Amos said this. I believe this was part of his prophecy. That's important to say that I do believe this came from the prophet. I do believe this is part of Amos' message. And I believe the message is simply this. In the paradigm of God, the justice has fallen, the judgment has come, and it will be an eternal judgment on those who have failed to repent, but God is not done. Because there's coming a day when I will rise up the booth of David that has fallen. Now let me point something out to you, verse 11. The Booth of David is not in the northern kingdom. David is from what tribe? Judah. The Booth of David that's fallen, the whole picture here is that when the northern and the southern kingdoms split, the vast majority, the ten of the twelve tribes went after that false god. And the Booth of David, that southern kingdom, Even though they're in Jerusalem, the majority went after the false god. David's kingdom will rise again, but who will it rise through? Christ. Jesus is the Son of David. That's what He's called, right? Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! Isn't that what the person yelled who needed Salvation, the leper, Jesus, Son of David. You know, who is it? Jan Hus, the reformer, was burned at the stake and he died singing, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. That was his singing that hymn as his body was burned. Why do we stress the Son of David? because Jesus fulfills the promises God gave through David to his people. David was the king, Solomon was his king, and then the kingdom divided and it will be reunited under the Messiah. So that's the promise, and that's why the gospel is the promise of Amos. The gospel is the promise of hope for all of Israel and ultimately all of the world. Israel is not saved simply by being Jewish. Israel is saved when they turn their eyes to their Messiah. If I meet a person who says they are a Jew, and they're outside of Christ, They don't get a free pass to heaven. Paul said, I wish myself to be accursed if it meant the salvation of my brethren according to the flesh. He said, I would go to hell if it meant all my Jewish brothers would be saved. But they won't be saved unless they come to the Messiah. That's Romans 9. He says the Messiah is necessary. If there is hope for salvation for Israel, it will come through Christ. and that is the hope of Amos. There is coming a day, and in that day, there's gonna be so much blessing, there's gonna be so much planting and reaping, and the plowman won't be able to outrun the guy behind him, because there's just gonna be so much blessing, but it's not going to come without Christ. He is the promise. He's the Messiah. Here's the answers to the blanks. I hate to leave you with blank lines, so let me give them to you. The most profound judgment a people can receive is not the lack of food or water, but the lack of the Word of God. Amos teaches us, the second blank, that God's judgment will not tarry forever. And He teaches us that there is always a remnant of God's people cared for during times of judgment. Beloved, there is so much here, and I'm sorry I felt like I hastened the end tonight, but I wanted you to see the promise. I wanted you to see where this was all going to. It's pointing to Jesus. He is the One. who raised up the Booth of David. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for this Word. I thank You for the truth. I pray that it's been an encouragement. I pray that we will understand that though Your words are harsh, You didn't end Your Word harshly. You ended Your Word with the promise of salvation. And the promise of salvation is not in military might. The promise of salvation is not in political expediency or victory. The promise of salvation is in Christ. And it's in His name we pray. Amen.