Amos 6:1-14

Relativity is one of the key components of today’s society.  Relativity is the belief that there is no objective standard for truth.  It gives everyone the right to determine what is true for them but would never admit that this truth could be imposed on someone else.  That almost sounds like a good way to live, but we must understand that relativity is a lie from the pit of hell.  Amos writes to a group of people who are convinced that they are right but he is striving to demonstrate to them just how wrong they are.  This is the task of every preacher of God’s Word.  We must confront the lies of a relativistic society with the truth of what God’s Word reveals.

FALSE HOPE: The children of Israel were living under the delusion of false hope.  They had placed their trust in many things that were not in line with God’s Word.  First of all they thought that they were secure because of their geographic location.  The mountains surrounding them afforded a protection from invasion that they thought was impenetrable.  They were wrong.  They thought that God’s delay in judgment was a sign that He was unaware or unconcerned about their idolatrous and immoral life style.  They were wrong.  They thought that their prosperity was proof of God’s blessing on their sinfulness.  They were wrong.  Protection, peace and prosperity were their sources of hope but these are all false sources of hope.  They did not work for Israel and they will not work for us today.  Jesus is the only true source of hope and the only means of escaping God’s coming judgment.


TRUE HATE: The truth is that God hated the pride of the nation of Israel.  God was very angry that they had decided to trust in their walls and weapons and turned their backs on Him.  Amos says that God abhorred their pride.  This hatred would lead the Lord to deliver the nation up to be conquered by a foreign nation.  God swore by His own name that this captivity and destruction would take place.  He makes it very clear that entire families would be killed.  The walls and houses of the cities would be torn down and the fields would be destroyed.  The people had perverted justice all of their lives and now they were going to pay the price in judgment.  God was going to rise up an enemy that would haul Israel away.  God continues to hate sin and He has promised to judge today’s world.  We must not trust in our own protections, the peace of our day or our own prosperity.  We must trust in Christ alone as the only true hope for salvation. 

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