Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levitam. Shabbat Shalom everyone. I hope you have your Bibles with you. We're going to open our Bibles to the Prophet Amos today. Amos in English, Amos in Hebrew. Chapter 3. So Amos chapter 3, and I would like today to read that third chapter together with you. It's not a long chapter, 15 verses, and the prophet Amos was called by the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give a message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and to charge them, to challenge them to repent. Otherwise, a judgment will come upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel. So in Amos chapter 3 we read, beginning with verse 1, Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. Can two walk together except they be agree? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he hath taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no ginn is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He reveals His secret unto His servants, the prophets. The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken. Who can but prophesy? Publish in the palaces et ashdod. and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumult in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. Therefore, thus says 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. Thus says 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. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, 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. And I will smite the winter house with the summer houses, and the house of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. And I'm stopping here with verse 15 of Amos chapter 3. So, beloved brothers and sisters, those of you that have been with us at the previous sessions, as we gave introduction to the man that is called Amos, we have learned a few important things. that Amos, according to chapter 1 and verse 1, he was a herdman of Tekoa. Tekoa was a village south of the city of Bethlehem. And I would like you to just see that one more time. Here is the area that is in Judea, and we have Hebron here, Bethlehem somewhere there. Amos was really from the kingdom of Judah. Yehuda, Mamlechet Yehuda, we say it in Hebrew. Israel was divided into two kingdoms. You have the kingdom in the north called Mamlechet Yisrael, the kingdom of Israel. And we have a kingdom in the south called Mamlechet Yehuda, the kingdom of Judah. Two separate kingdoms. Now, time that King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam lost the kingdom. And now we have two separate kingdoms among our own nation, the nation of Israel. Yehuda in the south and Yisrael in the north. Ten tribes in the north and one or two tribes in the south, Yehuda and Benyamin. Now what happened is that these two nations had friction with each other. One nation divided into two and they were constantly fighting among themselves and one by one and slowly but surely there was a departure from the way of the God of Israel until it came a time that the Lord raised a man by the name of Amos And Amos, as we have mentioned more than once, was a herdman. He was a man that grew up actually in the southern kingdom, but he was called by the God of Israel to go to the northern kingdom and to preach to them a message of judgment that will come upon the northern kingdom. When Amos was presenting his message to Israel in the north, it was about 770-760 BC, and in 722, all these northern kingdoms were taken captive by the Assyrians, and they were dispersed as we know them today as the 10 tribes that are dispersed among the nations of the world. Now, what we want to learn today, that before Amos was even preaching to the Northern Kingdom, we have learned in chapter 1 and in chapter 2, that Amos pronounced judgment against the six nations that surrounded the whole nation of Israel. He began with Damascus, which was Syria, the capital of Syria. He continued with Gaza, today Gaza, which is the capital of the Philistines, today the Palestinians use that as the main a state for them. He continued with Tyre and Tyre is present-day Lebanon and there of course it was the capital of the Phoenicians and then he concluded with another judgment to those three nations Edom, Moab and Ammon. Now it is extremely interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that some of these people were brother nations. We know very well The Edom was the brother of Yaakov, by the name of Esav, whose name later on in his nation became the Edomites, Edom. Then we have Moab and Ammon, those are the two sons of Abraham's nephew Lot, whose daughters got, they got pregnant by him and they have brought to this world the two nations called Moab and Adom. They were nations that were still having a bloodline with the people of Israel. So in chapter 2 of the book of Amos, Amos presented judgment to all these six nations and then we have additional judgment that he gave upon the tribes of Judah and ultimately for the nation of Israel. But now we are moving ahead and it is very interesting in Amos chapter 3, 4, 5 and 6 Amos is now became, you might say, a preacher, one who proclaim a message to the Northern Kingdom. He stopped with the six nations surrounding Israel, he stopped to speak now to the tribe of Judah, and he centered the whole, you might say, the whole remaining book of Amos, directly speaking to the Northern Kingdom, what we call the Nation of Israel, which by the time that Amos began to speak to them, they were worshipping idols, they had terribly departed from the ways of the Lord. So I want you to notice now, in chapter 3, in chapter 4, and in chapter 5, Amos began his messages by using two or three words in Hebrew, and it's simply in Hebrew, it says, Shema'u, et ha'davar. In English it is hear his word. You notice this? Chapter 3 verse 1, hear this word. Chapter 4 verse 1, hear this word. Chapter 5 verse 1, hear ye this word. The word hear ye Come from the Hebrew word Shim'o, it's a plural. Listen to what I'm telling you. Amos is now speaking to the northern kingdom of Israel. Malchut Yisrael, we call it in Hebrew. The kingdom of Israel which is in the north now. The divided kingdom who have turned away from the Lord. And here, beloved brothers and sisters, we have the three Hiri'i judgments. And in every hearing judgment, in every hearing judgment, He pronouncing or giving information for the reason whereby God is going to judge His people. Now to remind you, don't forget this, that these people were the people of God. These people were the chosen people of Israel. God have elected them from all other nations and brought them into a relationship with him. Very similar to those of us who are part of the body of Mashiach. We have been chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, and we have a link with the Lord, and we must have responsibility and accountability to the God who has chosen us in Christ, in the Messiah, and brought us unto Himself. And so in that third chapter, we have God appealing to Israel, here Israel, your punishment is surely going to come when you're not going to follow after my way. And I will eventually have to discipline you by dispersing you out of the land of Israel. So notice, I would like you to follow me as we go through those 15 verses of Amos chapter 3. And the first 10 verses, very interesting, in the first 10 verses Amos appeals to the conscience of Israel. And then in verses 11 to 15, Amos pronounced God's fourfold punishment upon Israel who did not respond to the appeal of the Lord to repent and turn back to Him. Very sad on the one hand, to see how God has to deal with the nation whom he has chosen and love so much. So you notice what Amos is doing here. In the first two verses, Amos is now showing to Israel their special relationship with Jehovah, with God. After all, there are many people in the world, there are many people, tribes and nations in the world, but there is only one nation in this whole universe that God made a special relationship with. Everyone belongs to God by creation. All the nations belong to the living God by creation. But there is only one nation that belongs to God by election and adoption. And this is the nation of Israel. And you notice this, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 1 and 2, we read, listen to this. Hear this word that the Lord had spoken against you, O children of Israel. against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, you, listen to verse 2, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, God is saying through Amos to Israel, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You see what God through the prophet Amos began right here in the first two verses. In verse 1 he is speaking to all Israel. All Israel, and you might say He's including, you might say, all the 12 tribes right now, because all the 12 tribes, though they were divided into 10 tribes and 2 tribes, though they were divided, in fact, as far as God was concerned, it was one nation that was brought out of the land of Egypt. Out of slavery. They were slaves in the land of Egypt. They were in bondage to Paror. They were building the cities of Pithom and Ramses. They were in desperate need, these Hebrews, these Jewish people of all, our forefathers of all. So he's speaking to them, he said, hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you. All children of Israel, Bnei Yisrael in Hebrew, the sons of Israel. Who was Israel? It was Yaakov. Who was Yaakov? It was Yaakov the son of Isaac, Yitzchak. Who was Yitzchak? Yitzchak was the son of Abraham. Abraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Yaakov's name was changed from Yaakov to Israel. And now the children of Israel were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And here he is telling them, you listen, all Israel, He said, against the whole family which I brought out up from the land of Egypt saying. Now he is taking them back years earlier. When they wept in Mitzrayim, in Egypt. When they were in bondage and they needed the mercy of the Lord, then they cry. If you remember in Exodus chapter 2, chapter 4, chapter 6, we read of our own forefathers, the children of Israel, crying for God for mercy. Seeking the help of the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. And God made a promise to them, that He will bring them out. that He will by a stretched out arm will bring our own forefathers out of the land of Israel and He surely did so. He delivered them out of the land of Egypt and made them a nation that will be a free nation no longer under the bondage of the Egyptians. In fact, in Exodus chapter 12, the last verse in Exodus 12 verse 51 says And it came to pass the same day that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies, by their hosts. It had been said that because there were about 600,000 men And perhaps women about the same amount and children, perhaps there were 2 or 3 million Hebrews, Israelis, Jewish people who came out of the land of Egypt. And to them and their descendants God is now speaking through the prophet Amos. Because by the time that they have arrived to the promised land. And by the time that had been established a nation in the land of Canaan, the land of Canaan, they departed from the will of the Lord. They worshipped idols. They followed after the Gentile world. They have adopted things which the Lord warned them not to follow after that, and that by that time Look at the condition that is existing in these days in the land of Israel. So he's speaking about to the whole family which the Lord brought out of the land of Egypt. And look what he's telling them in verse 2 of Amos chapter 3. He says, you only have I known of all the families of the earth, you Israel is the only nation that I know and I have a relationship with you. Now, of course, God knows about all other nations. In fact, if you look at this map again for a moment, you will notice that there were all nations surrounded Israel. And in chapter 1 and chapter 2, He talked about Damascus, Syria. He talked about the Philistines, Gaza. He talked about Tyre and the Phoenicians. He talked about Edom, Moab, Ammon. There were many nations who were surrounded. And God knows every nation whom He had created here in this world. But there was only one nation that he knew intimately. You know, that expression, only you have I known, comes from the Hebrew word Yadati. Yadati. And the Hebrew word Yadati, it's an expression that speaks about intimate relationship between God himself and the nation of Israel. That word, Yadati, or to know, is mentioned earlier already in Genesis chapter 4, where we read about Adam and Eve. We find out in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1, we find this verse, and Adam knew his wife, or Eve his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. It speaks about an intimate relationship between husband and wife. Adam knew his wife does not say Adam knew about Eve He knew her physically which brought a relationship with them which brought about a child in this case is a person by the name of Cain And you can see that throughout scripture this expression, notice in verse 17 of Genesis chapter 4, it says there, And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived. It speaks much more about knowing about a nation, but knowing the nation intimately God have selected and have chosen the people of Israel to be a people that belong unto him. If you notice a little bit further in verse 25, Adam knew his wife again and she bear a son and call his name Sheth. This is the son that was born to Adam and Eve after Hevel, Abel died. But the point is, beloved brothers and sisters, that God is speaking to Israel. He says, you know what? You are the only nation that I have a relationship with. While there are many people around the world, many nations around the world, but you only have I known of all the families of the earth. What an appeal that God is appealing to the children of Israel. Now brothers and sisters, think about it in our condition today. There are many people in this world, but the vast majority are unsaved. They do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. You and I who have accepted Him, we have our sins forgiven. We have eternal relationship with the Lord. We belong to Him for time and eternity and it cost Him. It cost Him His precious, precious blood. You remember when we just recently had a Bible class, we read in John 10, My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I'll give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. And no one is able to pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. If you are a believer here today, in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, you have a relationship with God. You belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and you have an eternal relationship with Him. You see, Israel is a chosen nation. According to what we find out in the scripture, God made with humanity eight covenants. Five of these covenants he made with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Genesis chapter 1 we have the Edenic covenant. In Genesis chapter 3 we have the Adamic covenant. In Genesis chapter 8, we have the Noahic covenant. God made covenant with humanity in the early days, but by the time we arrived to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from there on God made specific covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Genesis chapter 12, He made a covenant with Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant. In Exodus chapter 20, He made with Israel the Mosaic covenant. In Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30, He made with Israel the land covenant, promising to give them the land. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, He made the Davidic covenant with our forefathers. And in Jeremiah chapter 31, he made the new covenant upon which blessing will flow to the world when the Messiah's blood will be shed once and for all. And we will have what he called the new covenant, Brit HaChadashah. Five of these covenants he made with Israel, the nation. Israel is told here, only you have I known of all the nations and all the families of the earth. In fact, in Exodus 4, God called Israel, my son. In Jeremiah chapter 3, God called Israel, my wife, and that he is the husband of the nation of Israel, and Israel is the wife of Jehovah. In fact, as we read later on in Israel's history, Israel is called a chosen nation. And David was amazed. He said, what nation is like us, like unto our nation, that have been so blessed by God himself? So, on the basis of God's election to Israel, He's appealing to the nation and He's charging the nation with their sad spiritual condition when they violated His Word. And you notice what He says here, beloved brothers and sisters, in Amos chapter 3 and verse 2b, He says, Therefore, only you have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. In other words, the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. The greater privilege that we have, we have greater responsibility before the Living God. And it's the same principle for you and I today. You and I, I trust, are believers in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Because He saved us, He paid for our sins when He died for us on a Roman cross, we have a responsibility to respond to Him for all He has done for us. That's why you remember when we again and again read this passage in 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 17, that we read these words, and I'm reading, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it began at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? Privilege comes with responsibility. And you know, beloved brothers and sisters, we find out throughout Israel's history that Israel was punished more than any other nation in the human race today. Isaiah said in chapter 40 and verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, why is it that the Jewish people suffer more than any other nation in the world? It's because the Jewish people are the chosen people of God and here on earth there is a principle that God will deal with his people first in judgment, greater privilege bring upon the nation greater responsibility. Let me read to you one more verse in Romans chapter 2, just listen to this. In Romans chapter 2 and verse 9 and 10, Paul is explaining this to the Roman believers. And He sang to them tribulation and anguish upon every soul of men that do evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentiles. He continued in verse 10, He said, But glory, honor and shalom, that is peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first. and also to the Gentiles. In other words, there is a principle that God has established here in this universe. The elected nation of people of Israel were called to represent Him before the nations of the world. When Israel disobeyed the Lord, Israel will receive double punishment than any other nation upon the face of this world. Israel will be first not only in glory, but also in punishment upon the face of this earth. So back to Amos chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2, Israel is a special nation, but Israel gonna receive the punishment for all its iniquity, because only you have I known of all the families of the earth, Therefore, when you sin and disobey me, you are going to be punished first, even before any other nation will be punished. Amos continues, and in verses 3, 4, 5 and 6, Amos is a question Israel. In a sense, Israel is being questioned by a parable-like kind of questions. Amos, of course, being a herdman, been from the area called Tekoa. He is speaking the word Tekoa comes from the word to blow the shofar, to give a message from God for all the nation of Israel. And now in verses 3, 4, 5 and 6, Amos is asking Israel in a parable-like He asked them various questions that I would like you to follow me as I'm reading these verses. Notice that what he says, can two walk together except they be agreed? Verse 4, will lion or will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing? 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? And verse 6, shall a trumpet be blown in a city and the people not being afraid? And finally, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? See, he's asking Israel questions. In other words, what he's really saying, there is consequence to anything that one is doing. You know, you and I in our life don't even realize that. But the Bible teaches us in Galatians 6, Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. This is a principle. In fact, we all know that if you throw something up, It will come down. There are various laws and principles that God placed here in this world and there is a law, there is a principle of activity and its consequences. You and I as parents, and we know our own parents always warn us when you cross the street. Make sure you look left, and then right, and then left again. Otherwise, if you will not be careful, you may fall into an accident. Something may happen. Every parent knows very well to seek to warn our families, our children, hey listen, you better make sure that you are making good friends, that you are having good company, because bad company will ultimately bring bad results. And God is telling this to Israel throughout its history. Israel realized that there are activities and there are consequences to all what one may do in his life. And I want to emphasize here one verse that is found in Numbers chapter 32. Before Israel entered into the land of promise, the land of Canaan, God warned Israel as they were walking in the wilderness. He says to Israel in Numbers chapter 32, listen to this very interesting verse, chapter 32 and verse 23. He said, but if ye will not do so, in other words, if you will not obey my word, behold ye have sinned, you disobeyed me. And then he continues and he says, you sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out. In other words, you cannot carry on in your own ways and you carry on in denying the God who have brought you out of the land of Egypt. In other words, reject him and carry on to follow of that thing which is told in scripture that you ought not to follow and don't forget because you be sure that sooner or later your sins will find you out. We know it in our own personal life that when we make decisions that are not right and not healthy and not spiritually good for us we find ourselves eventually later on paying the consequences. And we look back and we said, I played the fool, I was wrong in making these decisions. And therefore, the Lord is speaking through Amos and He said, there is what you call consequences to anything that one is doing in his life. And He's speaking of course to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and He said to them, Can two walk together except they be agreed in verse 3? How can I, God, Jehovah, He is speaking to the nation, walk together with you, Israel, my chosen people, and you don't agree and we don't have any agreement with each other? I am your God, you are my creation. I am divine, you are human. I am the one who makes the decision, you are the one who should submit. I love you so much, I've chosen you, I've delivered you from the punishment that you deserve, but you must agree with me so we can walk together. What a principle to learn, beloved brothers and sisters! We have studied together in various Bible classes about what John the Apostle said to the early believers in his letter to the local assembly. He wrote to the early believers and he said to them, you know, he said, if you want to have fellowship with God, You have to be in agreement with Him. You remember 1 John 1, He says, if we say that we have no sin, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1 and verse 10. And even earlier we read, this then is the message, verse 5, which we have heard of Him and declared unto you that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and we do not the truth. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah, His Son cleanses us from all sin. You see what we learn from this, one is speaking of Israel and the other is speaking of the body of Messiah, the body of Christ, and it is the same principle. Can two walk together except they agree? It's not possible. Even in a human level, it's not possible for two friends to walk together if they don't agree. Even in a marriage relationship it's so difficult when there is no agreement between husband and a wife. Can two walk together except they be agreed? And you notice he continues in verses 4, 5 and 6 and he's kind of giving them the same, as I mentioned, a parable-like kind of questions. He says in verse 4, Will a lion roar in the forest for no reason? The lion roaring in the forest because he's ready to take a prey or he's already received or have captured the prey. Can a bird be trapped without a snare? You know, a bird that flies, you can never trap a bird unless you are somehow causing a snare to catch the bird in order to be captured. Otherwise, you will never catch the bird. Can a trumpet give a sound and the people be not afraid? In other words, if you hear the sound of a siren. I remember when I was a little boy how many times I've heard the siren sound in Jerusalem and we were fleeing, running. When a war broke, my sister and I in 1967 held our hands, my dear older sister, she held my hand and she took me quickly home and we were hiding there in our apartment building because the siren came and everybody ran away from school back home to find shelter. Here he's speaking about a trumpet. He says, can a trumpet give a sound and a people be not afraid? Notice the last thing in verse 6b says, can calamity come to a city unless the Lord will allow it to happen? The word here for evil in verse 6 does not speak of sin, but it speaks of calamity. The Hebrew word is ra'a, that which is evil and calamity will fall upon a city. God is the one who is in control and he is allowing things to happen. Can a calamity come and unless God will allow it to happen? You see, there is a principle, beloved brothers and sisters, there is a cause and there is an effect. Something brings about an effect. And so we learn from this passage that this is the reason that Amos came to the northern kingdom of Israel to pronounce judgment. There was a reason and the reason was sin and disobedience. The reason was iniquity by the northern kingdom of Israel that made it necessary for God to raise Amos. to bring him all the way from the south, from Yehuda, and to lead him to go to the north of Israel, to the city of Bethel, and to pronounce judgment. Here, Yisrael, your punishment is sure to happen. Your sins have risen to God's to God, and by this time the judgment of the nation of Israel will come to pass. So, as Amos is presenting this before the Northern Kingdom, he is now in verses 7 and 8. Amos chapter 3, verses 7 and 8, he shares with Israel the reason that he himself came to give them the message from the Lord. Remember, According to Amos chapter 7, Amos was not a prophet. He said to the people of Israel, he answered and he said, I was no prophet. Verse 14 of chapter 7, Neither was I a prophet's son, but I was a herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, And the Lord said unto me, go and prophesy unto my people Israel. And imagine Amos leaving the flock there, leaving his homeland, and if we can one more time look at this traveling all the way from around this time from Tekoa and going all the way to a place called Bethel and right here in the center of of the Northern Kingdom, he is presenting the word of the Lord to the nation, to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And I want you to notice what he says about himself, or what he says about the fact that he's there. He didn't come there because he hated the nation, he loved Israel. But he came there because God is now call him to give a message, a harsh message to the kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom. And now notice verse 7 and 8, he share with Israel the reason that he came unto them. Verse 7, He says, surely the Lord God will do nothing but He reveals His secret unto His servants, the prophets. In other words, if God is going to do anything and to speak to the nation of Israel, He first of all, share the message that He has with His servants. And then He sends His servants to give a message from the Lord. Now this is also interesting. You know, sometimes people go to share something without being called by the Lord. They are going to, you might say, to give a message, but they were never raised by God to be called the prophets or messengers of God. That's what happened in the day of Jeremiah. that there were those who were reasoned to claim to be a prophet of the Lord, but they were not at all sent by the Lord. Had they listened to the Lord and waited upon Him, their message will be from Him. Otherwise, the message that they gave was totally human message, not from God at all. And how... Amos is saying, listen, God will do nothing but He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophet. Somehow God told me to come to you, to give you this message. And then in verse 8, Amos is saying, God has spoken, notice, and the prophets prophesy to the nation of Israel throughout Israel's history. Look at verse 8. As the lion roared, who will not fear? The Lord has spoken, and who can but prophesy? God had a message for you, Israel. I cannot do anything but give you this message because God has a word for you. He appeals to you to turn around and to repent and return to the Lord. But if you will not, a judgment is going to come upon you. So it is interesting that in verses say 7 and 8, He is sharing with the Northern Kingdom of Israel that God will share His secrets with His messengers, with His prophets and they in turn will go to the nation and speak unto them. Now listen to the verse please in 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 verses 15 and 16. And the Lord God of their fathers, speaking about the father of our own people Israel. He sent to them by His messengers rising up bedtimes and sending because He had compassion on His people. And on His dwelling place, this is the city of Yerushalayim. But they mocked the messengers of God. They despised His words and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people until there was no remedy. God sent messengers to our forefathers Israel again and again to warn them and to cause them to turn back to the Lord. But in many generations, they despised the prophets, they despised the messengers until there was no more remedy and the time of judgment would come. And sure enough, beloved brothers and sisters, as we're going to see it in a moment, The time has come, and the Assyrians came, and they took the whole northern kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes, and they devastated the people, the nation. They destroyed and they've killed so many of the Hebrews of the northern kingdom, and many of them have been taken captive by the Assyrians. And up till today, beloved brothers and sisters, many of our own Hebrews from the 10 tribes are still scattered among the nations of this world ready one day to be restored back to the land and to establish the promise as a nation, the nation of Israel in a coming day to be part of the Kingdom of Israel. So, we have covered up to this point the first eight verses. Now, verses 9 and 10, God called even the pagan nations to show them to be witnesses to Israel's evil activities. So, notice in verses 9, 10. Publish in the palaces of Ashdod, and in the palaces of the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumulets in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. For they know not to do right, says the Lord, who stir up violence and robbery in their palaces. You see what God is saying? He says, look, I want to show you that you have been wrong, you have done evil, you have turned away from me, God is saying to the Northern Kingdom, and I'm going to call Ashdod, which is one of the cities of the Philistines, and I'm going to call Egypt, the Egyptians, to bear witness and to see what kind of life you have had, Israel. And in a sense, he's publishing it in the palaces of the Philistines, in the palaces of the Egyptians, and he called them to assemble. And when he's calling them to assemble, again, when he's calling them to assemble, he's calling them to assemble upon the mountains of Samaria. And again, beloved brothers and sisters, you will notice that Samaria, this is the area of Samaria, right here, right here in the center and in the middle of the area of Samaria, you have the mountain that is called the mountain of Shomron, but there are many mountains around Shomron. Go back to the previous map and you will notice that the mountains around Samaria are higher than the mount itself, Mount Har Shomron. So he called them to the mountain of Samaria. So from the top, they look at that one single mountain, Samaria, which was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom. And they are observing to see what kind of behavior Israel have behaved. And what does he say in verse 10? They know not how to do right. says the Lord, they store up violence and robbery in their palaces. So even the nation, the pagan nation themselves, who do evil themselves, who are not better than Israel, but they became like witnesses to the evil activity that have happened among the people of Israel on the Shomron in Samaria. And what do they see? That they do not know how to do right, and that they store up violence there they store up robberies, they were oppressing the poor they were wrong treatment among the people of Israel they were abusing that which they should not have abused what a condition have existed there so God point to Israel's sins and that that the nation surrounded Israel could come, in this case he is mentioning the Philistines and the Egyptians, to come and behold the reason why he has to judge his chosen people, the nation of Israel. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, verses 1 to 10, of Amos chapter 3. Amos appeals to the conscience of Israel revealing to them their condition. Sad, sad condition which made it necessary that the punishment of God will surely come. So now notice the punishment itself. In verses 11 to verse 15 there is fourfold punishment that Israel will receive that will surely come. And it was fulfilled at 722, 721 BC when the Assyrian came and took captive the 10 northern kingdoms. So let's look at those fourfold punishment that Amos is presenting before Israel by the word of the Lord. The first punishment that Israel will experience from the Lord is that God will bring an adversary, an enemy against Israel in order to bring down Israel's strength. You see, sometimes, we don't realize that, but sometimes the Lord sends someone or something into the life of his people in order to break them down, to show them that they cannot trust themselves. They cannot trust in their own ability and their own strength. You remember what we read through the King of Israel in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6? Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path. But we, as God's people, many times don't trust the Lord. We trust ourselves. I'm able to do that. I can do it. I'm going to go my way. God, just for the time being, I don't need you in my life. I'm carrying on in my own way, and I realize later on, and I'm looking back at the 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years that have gone by, and I see, boy, what have I done? I didn't accomplish anything. I find myself in a worse condition than before. Well, look at this. He says in verse 11, therefore, because of what you have done, says the Lord, God, He says, an adversary there shall be even round about the land, and he shall bring down the strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. You know, God is saying to Israel, look, there will be an adversary, in Hebrew, Oyev, Enemy, I will send an enemy to come against you. And I will show you what that enemy is going to be. He is going to go and surround you, the whole Samaria. He will surround the Shomron, the northern kingdom of Israel, and he will bring down all your strength. Oh, you thought that you are strong. And I want to show you that you are weak. You know, Paul, Shaul sets a good principle before. He says, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. I know, he says, Paul, I know that in me dwelleth no good thing. I cannot trust myself. My strength is in the Lord. You remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6? Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Don't be strong in yourself. And every time we trust ourselves and we trust our strength, we find ourselves stumbling and falling. And sometimes, beloved brothers and sisters, God sends an adversary into our lives to cause us to lose many things that we thought we gained. and he sent that adversary and you know apparently when the armies of the Assyrians surrounded the land of Israel, 2nd Kings chapter 17 they besieged Samaria for three years and the purpose behind it according to verse 11 is to bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled God sent The enemy against the people of Israel. What an amazing things to learn. The Lord will send into our life some things to happen in our life to cause us to learn to turn back to Him and not to trust in ourselves. That's the first thing that is going to happen. Samaria will fall. Notice in verse 12, the second thing, the children of Israel will be taken out of Samaria. Look what it says here in verse 12. It says here, Thus saith the Lord, As a 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, and that dwell in Samaria in a corner, or a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. You know what's going to happen? It's not only that the Assyrians are going to come and weaken you and will take all your strength away from you, but they will remove you. And you notice it says like, as a shepherd takes out of the mouth of a lion two legs or an ear. In other words, when a shepherd or his sheep have been captured by someone, that shepherd might try to save the two legs of a sheep or the ear of a sheep, but the remaining of the sheep have been eaten up by the lion. And that's what happened, beloved brothers and sisters, in 721-722 BC, where the kingdom of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrians. And they were sent for years after they were there like slaves, and they were dispersed from among their own homeland. I just want to read in 2nd Kings chapter 17, and I'm reading just one verse, verse 6. In the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Hala and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the city of the Medes. Israel were taken captive, they were carried away by the Assyrians to Assyria. And the word Assyria is Ashur in Hebrew. It's more than Syria, it is Assyria, the greater area that the dispersed Jewish people have been carried by the Assyrians. So, the first thing, the first judgment, God will weaken the strength of the nation of Israel. The second thing, He will allow Assyrians to come to take them captive. Notice the third punishment that Israel will experience in Amor 3 verses 13 and 14. He said, "...hear ye and testify in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon them, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. In other words, the third punishment that Israel will experience is the destruction of the altars which Israel have established in the city of Bethel. Again, look at this area here in the map. Here is Bethel, right here. And here's another place called Dan. In Dan and in Bethel, Israel have established two golden calves. And then they have also established altar to offer sacrifices for these golden calves. Idols! So God is saying, listen, not only that you're going to be carried away, but I will destroy the altars upon which you, Israel, have sacrificed sacrifices for these false idols, false gods, these golden calves. I will destroy it completely, God is saying. And notice He used the word, Beit El. The Hebrew word bait, El, comes from two Hebrew words. Bait means house, bite. El is God, the house of God. It was a place that was supposed to be the house where God is being worshipped, and instead of the place becoming the house of God, it became a house of idols that Israel had followed after, rather than worshipping the true and living God of Israel. So, judgment number three will be the destruction of the altars in Bethel. And now finally, beloved brothers and sisters, judgment number 4 is found in the last verse of Amos chapter 3, this is verse 15. And what is this final judgment? God will destroy Israel's wealth. And notice what it says here, 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. In other words, what God was going to do, all what they built for themselves. They had a winter house, and a summer house, and a house of ivory, and many, many palaces that they built. They were wealthy, but no God. Wealthy in the world, but no Jehovah. They had everything that one would want, all kind of palaces, winter house, summer house, ivory house, all kind of things, but they did not have a relationship with the God of Israel. You know what he did? He removed all their wealth from them and he took it all away. And they were carried by the Assyrians to Assyria. And when you see a picture, The people of Israel, the chosen people, are now being carried by the Assyrians as captives. No wealth, no altars, no country, no pleasures. Everything was taken away from them and they now became captives, dispersed, no home to live in. What a sad condition has existed when Israel turned away from the Lord. So, beloved brothers and sisters, what a lesson it is for us to learn today that we cannot live our lives as believers without to have God in our life. We cannot accept the Lord Jesus, the Messiah as a Savior and Lord and say to Him, listen, I don't need you for the rest. I thank you that you gave me a ticket to go to heaven, but don't bother me in the rest of my life here and now. We can't. Can two walk together, except they agree? It's not possible. So God eventually brought the judgment upon Israel just as he will bring upon his own people today. Whomsoever the Lord chosen He will also deal with His own people whom He loves, He chastens and He scourges every son whom He has received. May the Lord help us to internalize this message and to apply this to our own life and to learn from the message to Israel in Amos 3. Hear Israel, your punishment is sure is going to come when you disobey the word of the Lord. May the Lord help us and bless his word. Can we say amen to that? You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom. StSq2 2.60