- …that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. Amos 9:12 – Almost the entirely of the prophecies of Amos have been about the destruction that was to come on sinful Israel. This final chapter shows a final prophecy of destruction that was shocking. God tells them that they can’t dig deep enough, climb high enough, or hide well enough to escape His wrath. His eye was no longer fixed for their good but instead fixed on their harm. They had broken the covenant they made with Him and He was being just to carry out the condemnation attached to their disobedience they agreed to. Yet this judgement was not designed to destroy them, but to sift them. God was using this judgement as a sieve to rid His people of those choosing sin. Once that took place, we then see the Lord’s promise to restore and rebuild. Israel would possess again the land God gave them and no one would ever pluck them out again. Not only that, but any nation who chose to call on the name of the Lord would also find God’s blessing. We see this to be true in the new covenant, even James speaking about this in Acts 15:17, that the gentiles now are receiving the same blessing at God’s chosen Israel. How it was in Amos’ day and in James’ day is how it is today too. Any who call upon the name of the Lord can be saved. Those who choose sin over Jesus will find only destruction down that path, but those who choose Jesus find life. Refuse to be like the people who are being sifted out like chaff meant for the fire simply because they don’t want to let go of their sin. A life of blessing with the Lord is available, choose Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3297
- If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring the down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them, and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. (v.2-3) Hiding always seems to be our first response to our mistakes. We want to cover it up, hide it away, and pretend like it never happened. It’s all because we know what comes about when our mistakes are made known and clear. I can’t help but relate this to Adam and Eve’s sin and their initial reaction to hide when they heard God coming. I love God’s response though in Genesis 3:9 when He says, “Where are you?” It’s not like God didn’t know where they were, He knew everything. That question wasn’t for Him, was for them and it’s for us to. It’s so easy to run a hide when we make a mistake and fall short. What we see in these two passages is that hiding doesn’t make things any better. What God is seeking out is a response to come out of the hiding and come to Him. He already knows about the mistake, covering it up won’t help. He already knows where you are, hiding won’t help. Don’t take that as something to be fearful of though. Yes He knows everything in detail of what happened, but He’s saying to come to Him and open up. We have found forgiveness within Jesus, but our hiding from God won’t ever bring us closer to Him. Own your mistakes, come out of hiding, hand everything to Him, and allow God to bring healing to what you and Him have together. – Daily DEVO 52
- If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. Amos 9:2-4 – God is speaking judgement here over His people. He’s making sure they know wherever they may try to hide to somehow remove themselves from this coming judgement, it won’t work. We learn here that we can’t hide from God’s sight and we will never be in a place too far for Him to reach. When it comes to our sinfulness, maybe we would wish that truth wasn’t so true. Yet when it comes to us in our struggle, pain, and confusion, this truth about not ever being too far for God to reach us still rings true. In the good and bad, God sees us and is able to reach us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1200
- “I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God. Amos 9:15 – In this final verse of the book of Amos we see once again God’s desire for His people. To be restored back to a faithful walk after Him and where they are enjoying deeply the blessings that come from such intimacy with God. As we’ve read through Amos, we see God isn’t content leaving us in a state of sin when it comes to how we treat each other. He will speak, move, bring opposition, and even wrath if necessary to bring us back to a faithful pursuit of Him. What needs to be seen though by His followers is just how much more beautiful a life listening and following God is over following our sin. God wants to settle you in His blessings, never to be removed from that place again. How though is your sin interfering with that? God is inviting you to a better life with Him; once and for all set aside that sin to step more deeply into His blessing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2085
Daily DEVO 