2 Corinthians 1:12-14 - Godly integrity

The background to all this is that Paul had planned to make two visits to Corinth (1:16). This was a genuine intention. However, because of problems that had arisen within Corinth the first visit had proved very painful for all concerned. Therefore, Paul had decided that it would not be in anyone's interests for him to make the second visit so had changed his plans. Now some were stirring up trouble calling Paul fickle and unreliable. When people are being difficult, even rebellious, they will always find excuses to cause trouble. It does not matter what strategies you adopt, what "problem resolution" method you use, someone will find fault. This is the situation that Paul found himself in and it is worthwhile to see how he dealt with it.

First he refers to his own conscience. Our consciences are not totally reliable, nevertheless it is important not to go against our conscience. Elsewhere (Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8) Paul tells his readers to have proper regard for other people's consciences. For if we go against our conscience we feel guilty, we find it next to impossible to have peace and to act with confidence. So Paul had acted within integrity and in the best interests of others.

Then he made decisions relying on God's grace. We can make the best decisions we can, this does not guarantee success. Our security should never be in our getting everything right, for that is a useless foundation for we are bound to get something wrong at some point. No, our foundation is the grace of God who keeps us from stumbling.

Paul had spent a significant amount of time with the Corinthians (Acts 18), some eighteen months in all, so they knew who he was and what he was like. They had witnessed his life. Personal contacts are vital for overcoming all sorts of obstacles.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 - Put your hand in God's hand

When things happen all sorts of rumours start, and no doubt the Corinthians had various reports on what had happened in Asia, so Paul now puts the record straight.

The situation was truly desperate. Paul and his companions were under such pressure that they thought death was imminent. The pressure was "far beyond" their ability to endure, and they thought they were about to die. Remember that this is Paul we are reading about, the greatest apostle ever. 

Now we read what God's purpose was, He allowed these things to happen so that they would rely on Him alone. We need to understand that God is perfectly happy with putting us in situations which are way beyond our ability to cope with them. If you feel you are in such a situation just now do not worry, God has not lost control, He is in control. You see God's plan for all of us is that we live life in dependence upon Him, living not just out of our own abilities and resources, but together with His resources. This is what we are designed for, and what we walked away from when we rebelled against God. God knows that when we put our hand into His everything changes, every enemy melts away, every obstacle is overcome, every mountain moves. 

Our God is the God who raised Christ from the dead. Amongst many other things, the cross proves that no situation is final, no situation proves that God is defeated. In Christ we can overcome all things.

Paul then goes on to say "God has rescued us and will continue to do so". Often when God has got us out of a situation our reaction is "thank goodness that's over", and we learn nothing. Paul has reacted differently. He has learnt that God is able to rescue him from all situations, even when he feels utterly defeated. We need to learn from the things that God does in our lives.

Paul closes the section by drawing attention to the importance of pray. Our prayers are more important than we ever imagine.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 - God of all comfort

This opening section will focus the readers minds on what Christianity is really about, about how God really works in our lives. The church was being infected and affected by a false version of the the Christian life. Paul will argue on theological grounds, but primarily on the grounds of his own living experience of Christ. In fact the theology and the experience go together, each backing up the other.

First, God is the God of all comfort, of all consolation and encouragement. Whatever you are experiencing in life just now you can be sure that God is able and willing to provide all the sustenance that you need, whether that be practical, emotional, spiritual or whatever. And God does this so that we can then, in turn, comfort others. Freely you have received, freely give, said Jesus (Matt 10:8). The kingdom is about giving and receiving.

Just as we share in the sufferings of Christ. Part of the package is that we do share in the sufferings of Christ. But with the suffering comes God's help, and this in abundance. 

Patient endurance of suffering is a vital Christian virtue. Now look at the whole tenor of this passage: it is one of joy, thankfulness, praise and hope. It is not a case of poor little me who is suffering. It is suffering for a purpose, suffering in hope, knowing that eternal purposes are being achieved, knowing that God is working through us to bless others, knowing that we will know Christ all the more.

2 Corinthians 1:1,2 - Greeting

The letter comes from Paul and Timothy. Paul knew what his position in Christ was, and the role that Christ had given to him, which was to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Later in the letter Paul will talk about his weaknesses and what it was like being an apostle, as head done so 1st Corinthians. We have a habit of going to one of two extremes. Some boast about their position in the church, or about their ministry, in a self-aggrandising way. Others are too reticent about our position, effectively denying the authority that we have. If you want the truth, and a godly balanced perspective on anything, then the Bible is the best place to look. Paul knew the position and authority he had, and knew what it really meant to be an apostle of Christ. 

Achaia was the Roman province of which Corinth was the capital. Corinth was an important city in the Roman Empire.

"His holy" people. This means the people set apart for God, or the ones called out for God. If you are a Christian then you have been called by God to a different life. This does not mean you should become a monk, for we are called to live this different life in the midst of the world as a witness, testimony and demonstration to the world of the difference that Christ can make to a life.

As in most of his letters, Paul declares grace and peace over his readers.

2 Corinthians - Introduction

In our Bible this is the second letter to the Corinthians. However, it was probably the third letter that Paul had written to them, the second one being the "severe" letter (2 Cor 2:3,4) that "caused sorrow" (2 Cor 7:8), this had followed a painful visit.
The first letter made it clear that there were many problems in Corinth. In this letter we encounter many more. It is also the letter that reveals most of Paul's character. There are several things going on:

• Paul's concern and love for the Corinthians
• The wrong attitudes of many of the Corinthians
• Personal attacks on Paul
• Wrong sorts of apostleship (the super-apostles referred to in the letter)
• Paul's understanding of the gospel
• Paul's personal knowledge and experience of Jesus Christ

Often in life we start to understand something about the Lord, or we experience something of His love and power. Then we experience some difficult situation in life, often the way that one or more individuals towards us, or to some situation, and our joy seems to drain away. Well in this letter we see how all these aspects work together, how Paul relied on his knowledge and understanding of the Lord to deal with a most difficult situation. So we have much to learn from this letter, and we will discover something of the true nature of spiritual power.

Psalm 70 - Come quickly, O Lord

Yet another cry for help. So if many of your prayers seem to be cries for help to God, then you are in good company. 

Verses 2-4 draw distinction between those who want to take David's life, and those who seek the Lord. Those who mock and delight in the downfall of others will end up in a bad place. But those who delight in the Lord will be filled with joy.

David puts himself in a different category, he is "poor and needy", and so calls on God to come quickly to his aid. There is nothing wrong in asking God to come quickly to help us.

Psalm 69 - Rescue me

David is in trouble again! He feels like the flood waters are completely engulfing him. He has been in this situation for some time, having called out to God and looked to God many times. When difficulties start sometimes we feel OK at the outset, believing that God will rescue us, but then His answer seems to be a long time coming, and  the stress of the situation starts to catch up with us. Suddenly God seems far away and to be paying no attention, while our problems seem to be getting worse.

In difficult time we become more aware of our own weaknesses, sins and failings. So it was with David. God was aware of all this long before we were. We come to a God who is fully aware of our sin, yet still loves us.

When we are struggling, those around us may suffer as well, such as our family, people in church etc. David prays that his difficulties will not lead to problems for anyone else.

David was an object of scorn. There are also references here to Jesus' sufferings on the cross. Of course, Jesus did not have any "folly" of His own, but all our sin was placed upon Him.  Many mocked Him on the cross.

David was in trouble now, but believed that a time of favour would still come. The same applies to us. Even if God seems far away just now, there will come a time when we are fully aware of His favour again. David reminds God of how difficult he is finding things.

He prays for his enemies plans to be all turned back on them. Sometimes we tend to skip over these sorts of verses, but we need to remember that we are in a battle, and we should pray for the defeat of our enemies. Yet at the same time we need to remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual forces. People are not the enemy, even if they are being used by Satan. On the cross Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him, as did Stephen when he was being stoned.

Psalm 68 - The majesty of God

This is another Psalm of David. He starts by calling on God to arise and His enemies to be scattered. There are times when it seems that God's enemies are triumphing and that God is doing nothing about it. David longs for the righteous to be glad, happy and joyful.

David knows the character of God. He is a father to the fatherless, and a defender of widows.  He sets prisoners free and looks after the lonely. 

When God set out the earth trembled, and He sent abundant showers of rain. So His people occupied and prospered in the land. From this abundance God provided for the poor.

We then get more on the majesty of God, and His concern for the people.

So what is this Psalm all about? It is about the majesty of God and the character of God. His people should and must rely purely on Him. Indeed the whole world should look to the Lord, for it is only from Him that salvation and justice come.

Psalm 67 - May the peoples praise you

God's ways are made known on the earth, and His salvation among the nations when His people receive grace and blessing from God. Arguments are important, but unless people see the blessing of God on God's people few will believe. Conversely, the revelation of God's blessing can overturn a thousand arguments, the reality of His goodness. Now this is not an argument for cheap prosperity teaching, but the fundamental truth is that God is good, and the fundamental lie put about by the devil is that God is bad. This is what the serpent did in the Garden of Eden, and if you listen to any of the new atheists, or the humanists, it is what their arguments boil down to.

So we need to praise the Lord, Praising the Lord is one of the best ways of releasing the blessing of God. Praise and receiving the blessing of God are key tools in evangelism. They are also key tools in spiritual warfare. Sometimes we can find all sorts of opposition to praising God, but we need to fight with all that we have and to insist on praising the Lord. Ultimately, no one can stop the praises of God being heard.

Psalm 66 - Praise the Lord

The psalmist calls on all the earth to praise the Lord. All of creation was made to bring glory to God, every human being was created to praise the Lord. When we praise the Lord we are fulfilling our God-given function, we live as we are really meant to be. This applies to unbelievers as well. They will only find out who they really are when they turn to the Lord.

Next the Psalmist declares the greatness of His deeds. God demonstrates who He is by His deeds, and His deeds spring from who He is.

And these deeds are done for mankind (verse 5). God acts on behalf of men.

The Psalmist then refers directly to the passing through the Red Sea, followed by more general references to His works. God watches over us and rules over us. So we should not rebel against Him.

God has mercy on us , protecting us from slipping, testing and refining us. Even when we go through tough times it is for a good purpose (v11 & 12).

So we bring praise and offerings to God. Our hearts need to be inclined towards God, instead of harbouring sin within our hearts.

Psalm 65 - Our God is great

These next series of Psalms are focused on praise. God is worthy of praise. This is the most fundamental fact. When you wake up in the morning the one thing we can be sure is that God is worthy of praise today. Whatever the circumstances, whether things are going well or whether we are facing trials, we can be sure that a good thing to do is to praise the Lord.

This Psalm lists a number of things for which God is to be praised:

• He answers prayers
• He forgives our sins
• He gives us good things from His house.
• He answers us with awesome deeds.
• He created all things and has power over all things
• He makes abundant provision for His people

Our God is truly worthy of praise. Note how many of these are done for us. Our God is for us. We should praise Him for what He does for us. People sometimes say we should worship God for who He is, not for what He can do for us. The intention behind this sort of talk is good, but it is fundamentally flawed. Who is God? He is the God who made us, who cares for us. It is fundamental that God is good and loves us. Things go wrong when we stop believing that God is for us, that God's plans for us are good.

We have a wonderful God, let's praise Him, and let's expect Him to do great things for us.

Psalm 64 - Trust in God

Yet another Psalm that was penned (OK, I know pens weren't invented then) under adversity. None of us like adversity, but it can drive us to a deeper and more complete trust in God, and when it does so our faith is strengthened and we end up being stronger than before.

David was under threat from enemies and conspiracies. People were plotting to do him harm. As is the case in many Psalms, their tongues were a crucial weapon. The tongue is very important, the words of our mouth can be a force for good or for evil. They can give life or sap life. We need to guard our own tongues, being careful about what we say.

Those who plot evil become deluded. They imagine that they will never be found out, never be brought to justice, but this is not so. God is God, He is the Lord of All, and everyone will be brought to give an account at some point. Absolutely everything will be brought to judgement on the last day, but judgements also come before that as well..

So, like David, we should take refuge in the Lord. We should not cower in fear, nor should we join in using the same weapons that the world uses (2 Cor 10:3-5), even "in the name of Christ". We fight with spiritual weapons of warfare. These include praise, trust, love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness. Most of all prayer. For our God is living and active, and it is He who will take the deciding action.

Psalm 63 - Hold on to God

Tradition has it that this Psalm was written when David was on the run from Abasalom (2 Sam 15:23-28).

In the midst of trouble his soul thirsted and longed for God. When we face difficulties what is our deepest longing for? There may be all sorts of other emotions and thoughts swimming around, but if our deepest longing is for the Lord, then we are in a good place, regardless of the circumstances.

David remembered the times he had known the glory of God. When in trouble one of the things we should do is look back to the times when we were wonderfully aware of God's presence. These times were not mirages, but a foretaste of what is to come. No matter what we are going through just now, times will come again when we know His presence again, and in an even deeper way than we knew before.

Like David, we need to make God our refuge. He is the one who will rescue us. Those who follow evil ways will come to nothing. 

No matter what you are going through, hold on to God. He will prove Himself to be more faithful than you ever imagined.

Amos 9 - Judgement and restoration

Israel was about to come under terrible judgement, from which there would be no escape. No matter where they went they would not escape. Even if circumstances seem to have spared them, this would be proved to not be the case.

It is significant that God is pictured as standing by the altar, for the altars and temples had become places of false worship. God is reminding them that He cannot be mocked. 

Then we are reminded that all creation belongs to God. He is Lord of all.

Israel had become presumptuous. She took pride in the fact that she had been brought out of Egypt. But other nations had come about by being transferred from one place to another. This was not the unique feature of Israel. The identifying feature of Israel was supposed to be her relationship with the Lord. 

Judgement would come, but some would be spared. However, those who said disaster would never come would perish. So it is today. You can say there is no God, you can say there will be no judgement, but then do not complain when you find out you are wrong. Far better to listen to Jesus, far better to repent and believe.

Amos has been a book of almost unremitting judgement, but finally it closes on a more positive note. Some see this as evidence that the last few verses were not written by Amos. This is nonsense and is in fact only evidence of the short sightedness of such critics. First it fits in very well with the message, for Amos has just said that a remnant would be spared, so it makes perfect sense to say what will happen to the remnant. Secondly it is in keeping with the whole repeated message of the Bible. Sin is a very serious problem, sin leads to death, but there is a way out.

There will be complete restoration for the remnant. They would rebuild and restore. We should also pay attention to these verses when considering the place of Israel in history. She has and does suffer judgement from God, but even so, there will come a time when she is restored completely.

Amos 8 - A famine of the word of God

The sin of Israel was not a one-off aberration. It was not as thought they had not been warned. Rather, it had developed over years. They had been rebellious from the very beginning, and their rebellion had only increased. They had received warning after warning from various prophets, Amos was only the latest. They had the Law. So they were without excuse. They were now ripe for judgement, they had had ample time to put things right, ample time to repent, but had refused to do so.

The songs of joy in the nation would turn to wailing, and there would be much suffering. Mistreatment and exploitation of the poor are singled out as particular sins.

They saw religious observance only as a burden, eager to get back to their dishonest ways. 

As well as the destruction, there would be a famine of the word of the Lord. Then the people would realise that they actually need the word of God. In the West there is increasing hostility to the Word of God, with society increasingly wanting nothing to do with it. They do not want to hear God's word on sexual morality, they do not want to hear it on the sanctity of life. They increasingly seek to shut the voice of God up. The worst thing that could happen to this society is that it gets what it wants. We need to pray for God to have mercy on this land.

Amos 7:10-17 - Prophets not welcome here

Amos then encountered opposition from the religious and political powers. This was nothing new, and the prophets of the Old Testament regularly encountered opposition from the powers that be. This, of course, continued, with John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles.

Amos was accused of raising a conspiracy among the people. The prophet was seen as executing his own agenda and seeking to upset the current political status quo. Now, how accurate was this claim? At one level it was nonsense, for Amos was in no way seeking to further his own ends, but was acting as the servant of God. But at another level it was partly right, for the word of God does strike at the foundations of current power structures. Men build their own little kingdoms, seeking to enhance their own power and influence. This doesn't just apply to leaders (whether religious, political, economic or whatever), but to all mankind. For the human condition is to seek to want to live life on our own terms. The word of God comes in and says (i) we cannot do this; (ii) it is leading to disaster; (iii) it will incur the wrath of God; and (iv) we can only live life on God's terms, not our own. So God's word sharply reminds us of these truths and truly does seek to upset "normal" life. In New Testament times the claim that Jesus is Lord struck at the heart of  the Roman Empire.

Jeroboam sought to scare Amos off, telling him to get back to Judah and keep out of Israel. Amos responded by  declaring even more judgement, and judgement personally affecting Jeroboam. It was the word of Amos that came to pass.

Amos 7:1-9 - How can a God of love send people to hell?

There is now a discussion between Amos and God. Several times in the Bible we read of discussions between God and His prophets, examples include with Abraham, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah.

When God speaks He is looking for a response.

So what is He doing here? Why doesn't God just get straight to the point? He wants Amos to understand. He first shows Amos two pictures of judgement, first by locusts, then by fire. Amos reacts by calling on God to stop for Israel will not be able to withstand it.

Then God shows Israel a plumbline. Now Amos can see what is really happening. Israel is going to be judged, she is going to receive what she deserves. The events that would happen would be terrible, but they would be a results of judgement, they would be the consequence of Israel's actions, her repeated actions.

When we think of hell a common reaction is "how can a God of love send people to hell?" We ask this because we are focusing only on the events that are happening, just as Amos would have focused only on the locusts and the fire, and think "this is too terrible". We forget about the judgement, we forget about what we deserve. When the end comes there will be judgement. Judgement will be seen, there will be an open court, and all actions and thoughts will be laid bare. The verdict will be guilty and hell will be the sentence. At that point all mankind will see that the verdict is right, and the sentence fully deserved. There will be no shock about how can a God of love send people to hell, the only shock will be how could God have been patient for so long. 

When Jesus speaks about hell He is giving a warning, a warning that that is where we are heading. And God is looking for a response, for us to repent and turn to Jesus so that we do not go to hell, but receive eternal life instead.

Amos 6 : Complacency and Pride

These words are directed primarily against the leaders of the nation. They felt very comfortable and secure. Economically and politically things were going well, so they were complacent. The people of the nation looked to them with respect.

Jereboam II had conquered Kalneh and Hamath. Gath had earlier been destroyed by Assyria, so Amos is warning Israel that the same things will happen to them. All that Israel is doing is putting off the day of destruction.

The leaders were living in luxury while the moral fabric of the nation was collapsing. So they would be among the first to suffer. Leadership implies responsibility. We all have some responsibility for others, whether it be for members of our family, neighbours, people in our churches, people at work, or wherever. It is vital that we take that responsibility seriously.

Pride is one of the most serious sins. Pride is saying that we are self-sufficient, that all our successes are a result of our actions and abilities alone. Pride is so serious because it is a lie. It is a lie at two levels. At the first level none of us has anything apart from what God gives us. We would not even be alive in the first place if it was not for God. All the good things we have come from Him. At the second level we all need each other. There is no one person on this earth who has achieved anything without the help of others. Maybe you are the most competent and skilled person in the world, but who made the roads that you travelled along to get to work?  Who made the power that you use? Who made the food that you eat? Pride is the ultimate lie.

So terrifying destruction would come upon the nation.

Amos 5:18-27 - True Worship

"The Day of the Lord" is a common term in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament prophets. It does not necessarily refer to a single day, but to a time when the will and purposes of the Lord are brought to fulfillment. 

The people of Israel claimed to long for the Day of the Lord, but they should in fact fear it. For their actions and their hearts were far from the Lord, so when His Day comes they would be among the first to suffer. They would then receive the consequences of their actions. There would be no escape on that day, no clever legal arguments would carry any weight, there is no one who could be bribed.

There was an ostentatious display of religion in the land, but all of it was worthless, for there was no truth and no justice in it. Verse 24 was quoted by Martin Luther King in one of his famous speeches. Every rich society needs to consider these words.

God then points out that they did not bring sacrifices in the desert. They were given plenty of instructions on what the sacrificial system would be, but they did not bring sacrifices themselves. It was the heart of the people that God needed to change. 

While they had the pretence of worship, in reality they were worshiping a god they had made themselves, not the one true God. Whether or not we are truly worshiping God will be shown by the fruit of our lives.

Amos 5:1-17 - No justice

This is the third chapter that starts with "Hear this word ..." Israel needed to hear the judgement against her. This is true of the whole of humanity. As long as we continue in our own sweet way, proudly proclaiming that we know what we are doing and that God has no right to tell us what to do there is no hope for us. 

Israel would come to nothing. She would march out with a large army, but the army would be decimated. 

Now in verse 4 we get the reason for the words of judgement. They are given that Israel might repent. This is always true of God. Through Jonah he gave Nineveh a word of judgement, but she repented and so was saved. When God speaks it is with the hope that men will turn to Him.  

They needed to seek the Lord, not any pretence of religion (signified by Bethel, Gilgal etc). They needed to seek the person of the Lord. When we truly seek the Lord we will find life, if we do not seek the Lord, then judgement will indeed come.

Justice had become a joke in Israel. The courts were no longer interested in truth and justice. This is true of much of our legal system. Winning the case is all that counts, justice counts for nothing.

God urges the people to seek good and not evil, yet knows that they will not do so.

Amos 4 - Disasters are a sign from God

"Cows of Bashan" is a reference to upper class women in Samaria, perhaps Amos was the Alf Garnett of his day!

These women had become pampered and spoilt things, seeing the poor as people to be oppressed so that their own wants could be satisfied. They saw their husbands as there to meet their "needs". But an end would come to their lifestyle. They would be "led away with hooks", this is a reference to the way that Assyrians dragged off their prisoners.

Bethel and Gilgal were centres of worship in Israel, and had great historical importance (Gen 35, Joshua 4:20-24). God is mocking their false worship. For they had the pretence of being religious and dedicated, but their actions, their oppression of the poor, showed that it was all a sham.

God had used various natural difficulties and disasters to try and discipline the people: famine, drought, blight and plague. It is unpopular today to say that natural disasters are a judgement from God, but these verses should cause us to think again about this. Now it is right that we are wrong if we gloat over others who suffer misfortune, it is wrong if we look down on them with a morally superior attitude, and it is absolutely right for us to seek to help people who suffer tragedy. However, at the same time we should take these as a warning to look at the way we are living, to see what areas we need to repent of, and where we need to change our ways. Note also that these things happened to the Israelites, and it was the Israelites who should should have considered their ways.

If we all lived in obedience to God then there would be no disasters at all. Indeed, it says in Romans 8 that all creation is waiting to be set free. So the Bible is clear that disasters are a sign from God, the recent earthquakes are a sign from God. Our response should be twofold: first to look at our own lives asking what we need to put right; and secondly to see how we can help those who are suffering without any hint of judgementalism on our part.

Amos 3 - Responsibility and Consequences

The opening verse indicates that the prophesy was aimed at all of Israel, not just the northern kingdom.

1 Peter 4:17 says that judgement begins with the house of God, and here we see that principle working out. Israel was a chosen nation, and so she would be punished for her sins. Being chosen by God includes responsibilities. We do well to bear this in mind when considering our own lives, we have responsibilities as children of God. This also needs to be taken into account when viewing modern day Israel. I believe that Israel is still God's chosen nation and will one day turn as a nation to Christ. However, this does not mean she can act however she likes, for up until now she is not fulfilling her responsibilities as God's chosen nation.

Verse 3-6 expand on this theme of responsibility and consequences. Israel viewed her relationship with God as a kind of good luck charm, because God was on her side she would be safe. We need to be wary of doing the same . Verses 3-6 are referring the fact that there was a covenant relationship between God and Israel. For Israel to "enjoy" the benefits of the covenant she needed to walk in obedience.

God then declares what He will do, first reminding them that He always warns them beforehand. And the prophesy is now more specifically about the northern kingdom. Previously Ashdod and Egypt had been subjects of judgement, now they are called to see what will happen to Israel. When God's people are judged the world needs to learn from it, rather than gloating about it. Israel will be punished for her sins.

Amos 2 - Judgement comes close to home

Next is Moab. Moab, too, was descended from one of Lot's sons. Remember that they were also responsible for hiring Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-25), and then for seducing the Israelites. However, the sin given special attention here is one not against Israel, but against one of the other recipients of judgement, Edom. Just because someone is under God's judgement does not mean that we can treat them how we like.

Attention then turns to Judah and Israel. Judah comes first. Judah's sin is to have rejected the Law of the Lord, but instead worshipped false gods, "the gods their ancestors followed". All of us, as individuals and as people groups, will have a history of some sort. That history will include some wrong attitudes, some trusting in wrong things. We need to be wary of this and to make sure we are not worshipping the "gods of our ancestors".

Israel is the primary focus of the prophecy, and at last attention turns to Israel, and much greater detail is given.

First to be mentioned is their treatment of people as mere economic commodities. In the pursuit of economic "success" they were ready to trample on the rights of people, they were prepared to put profit before the well being of people. This is something that we in the west need to be particularly careful about.

Sexual immorality and drink come next. This together with economic exploitation, could equally well apply to the west.

All this was despite the wonders the Lord had performed on their behalf, including rescuing them from Egypt. After that He frequently sent prophets to them to bring warnings. Yet they had ignored all this. So when judgement came there would be no escape, all their skill and wisdom would count for nothing. When the Lord does things for us it is imperative that we learn from them.

Amos 1:3-15 - Judgement on the nations

The prophesy starts with a series of judgements against Israel's neighbours. Why is this when Israel is the real target of the prophecy? Maybe it is to help Israel understand. For they will readily agree and see that these nations truly deserve the judgement that the prophet declares, then they maybe they will better realise that they themselves are equally deserving of judgement. Nathan used a similar tactic when he confronted David with his sin.

Damascus was the capital of Aram and had engaged in persistent warfare with Israel. Gilead was a region of Israel that had fallen to Aram. Aram would suffer for her treatment of Israel.

Gaza was a Philistine city and she too is judged for her cruel treatment of people. Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron were also important cities in Philistine. Later they were all to fall to Assyria.

Tyre too came under judgement for her selling communities of captives. As an aside, it is worth noting that the judgements in Gaza and Tyre indicate that the picture painted by atheists of the OT God being pro-slavery is simply not true. 

Edom was a nation descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. She was frequently hostile towards Israel, engaging in barbaric treatment of people. Note that God singles out her slaughtering of women.

Ammon too comes in for similar judgement. Ammon's ancestry could be traced back to Lot.

Amos 1:1,2 - Roaring from Zion

As mentioned in the introduction, the word used for shepherd implies that Amos was actually quite wealthy. Israel was divided into Israel, the northern Kingdom, and Judah, the southern kingdom.  Jereboam II was king of Israel. He had succeeded Joash. 2 Kings 14:24 that he did evil in the sight of the Lord and continued in the ways for his forefather, Jereboam I. However, 2 Kings 14 also tells us that God gave some relief to Israel, and allowed them to restore their borders. This is an example of prosperity definitely not being a sign of the Lord's approval of the land. Rather it was given because of what previous prophets had said, and because of the Lord's mercy on Israel. A human reaction to mercy can often be to think "phew, we have got away with it" and to continue sinning in our old ways. The correct response is to take the opportunity to repent. We must always assess ourselves in the light of the word of God, not in the light of circumstances. 

Uzziah was king of Judah. He was also known as Amaziah, and he was quite a good king.

Amos begins his message by declaring that the Lord roars from Zion and Jerusalem. Note that Jerusalem was not the capital of Israel because it was part of Judah. However, while Israel was split for a time, it was always God's intention that one day it would be reunited. In the same way, although the church is split into many denominations and groupings, it is the Lord's intention that one day it will be united.

Amos - Introduction

Amos was a shepherd from Judah. However, his prophecy was directed primarily at the northern kingdom of Israel. The term used for shepherd is not the most common one and probably indicates he was a reasonable wealthy shepherd, rather than a poor one.

Israel had become quite rich, but in the process had moved increasingly away from God's Law. In particular she had become rich in trade, and a byproduct of this was that land wealth in particular had become concentrated in the hands of a few, rather than being distributed among the people as a whole (which was the intention of the Law). 

At the same time, the wealthy people had expanded the religious centers of Bethel and Dan, so there was a veneer of religion in the land, but the practice was far from what God wanted. This is the reason for much of what Amos has to say against the kingdom.

God probably chose a wealthy man, Amos, to speak to the wealthy people of Israel. Amos spoke only for a few months, probably around 760 BC.

The book is a warning that material prosperity is not necessarily a sign of God's blessing. 

Matthew 18:21-35 - Giving and receiving mercy

Mercy is not just something we receive, it is something we must give. In the Lord's prayer we say "forgive us as we forgive others", this is a constant theme of Jesus' teaching. 

Human teaching puts a limit on forgiveness, Jesus puts no limit on forgiveness. Seven times seems a lot to Peter, but Jesus says seventy seven, or seven times seven. The number does not matter, the point is that we are to forgive without limit.

Jesus then gives a parable to illustrate the reason, and to reveal the sad state of the human heart.

A man was hopelessly in debt, so in debt that there was absolutely no possibility of him paying off the debt. So he and his family would be sold in to slavery. The man begged for mercy and the master took pity on him. When we are in deep trouble we plead for mercy, whether it be from God or from men. This is a typical human reaction.

The servant went off, but then one of his fellow servants owed him a hundred denarii. Now I have heard this equated to owing a few pounds. Teachings on this parable based on that sort of thinking are rubbish. This was not a "few quid", it was not a trivial amount. Compared to the gold that the servant owed it was a very small amount, but it was by no means trivial. A denarii was a days wage. So we are talking about 100 days wages. So, if we express this in terms of the minimum wage we are talking about something not far short of £5000. 

This puts the parable in much better context. The amount the servant was owed was highly significant, it was nothing like the amount he had been forgiven, but it mattered. If you were going to gain or lose £5000 it would make a difference to you! We need to forgive significant offences. The things we have to forgive are significant, but however much we forgive, God has forgiven us much, much more.

The man was thrown in jail and tortured. Then Jesus closes by saying that this is how our Father in Heaven will treat us if we are not merciful. Now some may want to get in to debates about whether or not we can lose our salvation. This is not the point of the parable, the clear message is that we must be merciful, so we should resolve to be merciful.

Matthew 18:15-20 - Church discipline

Immediately after dealing with lost sheep, and as if to emphasise that this does not imply "going soft" on sin, Jesus  explains how sin is to be dealt with.

Humanly we know how to either condone sin or to condemn sin, we are not very good at dealing with sin in a godly manner, neither as a society (which swings wildly between the two) or as churches. The Jesus way is to deal with the sin and sinner with a view to restoring the sinner. 

The first step is to point out the sin to the brother or sister, privately. The goal is that the person realises their error, and repents. If this can be done quietly without fuss then so much the better. 

If this does not work then take one or two friends along. This will mean that there is someone else there to test whatever you say, and whatever the "sinner" says. 

If this still fails, then it can be made an "official" church matter. If the person still fails to repent, then they are to be treated as a "pagan or tax collector". What this means is that they are no longer part of the church. Paul talks about handing someone over to satan. If the person does not want to live in obedience to God, then they take the consequences. Hopefully this will bring them to their senses and they will repent, but that is between them and God.

We now get a reiteration of the binding and loosing promise, and the promise that whenever two or three are in agreement. Note the context, it is given in the context of church discipline. This is the primary application of these promises.

Matthew 18:10-14 - Sheep and Angels

Jesus continues the them of having proper concern for all. we must not despise any individual child of God. All of us have a guardian angel. Now we must be careful not build an unfounded theology on this. The truth is that angels exist as servants and messengers of God. They appear at various points in both the Old and New Testaments, and they serve the people of God by carrying out the will of God. So angels exist, are real, and have an influence on our lives.

At the same time the New Testament is full of warnings against worshipping angels, particularly in the books of Colossians and Hebrews. And in Revelation the angel repeatedly instructs John not to worship him, but only God. Angels are sometimes the means that God uses to express His love and to fulfil His purpose, but God Himself is the only one we must worship.

Jesus then points to the personal nature of God's care for individuals with the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus is not saying that the ninety nine are not important, but that each individual is important. The church is made up of individuals, not just numbers.

Matthew 18:6-9 - Avoid sin like the plague

This whole chapter deals with the attitudes we have towards people. The previous section dealt with who we consider to be important. This theme continues in this section about causing people to stumble. The way that we act, the things that we say, can have a big effect on others. 

Causing people to stumble means causing them to sin. Jesus refers to those who believe in Him as "little ones", ie ones who the world holds to be of no account. There are no prizes in the world for believing in Jesus. But to cause one of Jesus' believers to sin is a most serious matter, and people will be judged severely for it.

Things do happen that cause people to sin, but the one in most trouble is the one who brings these things about. Jesus then talks about dealing drastically with things that cause us to sin.

So what is Jesus doing here? He is first of all addressing those who cause others to sin. It is easy to cause to others to sin. You can tempt them with sex, money, greed, resentment, strife, all sorts of things. It is easy to stir up trouble, but anyone who does so is opening themselves up to severe judgement from God.

However, saying "he made me do it", or "the circumstances" made me do it is no excuse. We must not sit back because someone is worse than us. Instead we must do all that we can to avoid sinning. Sin is a matter of life and death, and sin leads only to death, so we must avoid it like the plague.

Matthew 18:1-5 - Unless we change

The disciples asked Jesus "who then is the greatest in the kingdom". Why did they ask this? Maybe because it had become clear to them that the religious leaders, who people would have presumed to be the "greatest" in God's sight, did not rank very high in Jesus' estimation. 

Perhaps they were hoping that they would assume the exalted place that the Pharisees and Sadducees had. If so they were in for a shock. The kingdom of God is not like any human kingdom, it operates on very different rules.

Jesus calls a little child, someone regarded as of no account. Then, before answering there question directly tells them "unless you change". This is a principle that applies to us more often than we like. We frequently encounter situations and circumstances in life that cause us to question, that we do not like or do not understand. God's answer often is that we need to change. The disciples needed to have a change of attitude, a change of heart.

If we are to enter the kingdom we need to become like children.

To be "great" in the kingdom we need to become humble. In fact we need to rid ourselves of all thoughts of greatness, they will only lead us astray. Instead we need to focus on love, trust and obedience. And we need to change our attitude towards other people. We need to stop treating people differently depending upon whether or not they have status in the world (including status in the church). Only when we do this will we truly find the kingdom of God, and truly get to know Jesus.