“He said, “The LORD roars from Zion And from Jerusalem He utters His voice;...”
When I was in Africa, I heard a lion roar … Not in the zoo… a wild roar. I felt it more than I heard it, and it brought an immediate sense of dread. Amos uses the awesomeness of that encounter to illustrate the intensity of God’s response to sin.
In this book, Amos is delivering judgement from the Lord. There are five offenses in the first chapter that describe abuses of God’s chosen people … At the time they occur, God doesn’t send lightning, or unleash angels … But God is now preparing to roar His response. Amos is going to reveal a side of God we have conveniently disregarded today. God is Holy… His justice is unbending, and there is no terror like that of sinners in the path of His wrath.
Ezekiel, Joel, and now Amos – all bring the same message of The Warrior God and the terrible price exacted for our depravity. God’s fury is staggering…. His response is a Roar of vengeance… a clap of thunder signaling the coming storm of retribution. This Holy God of Armies is not the one we hear preached from the pulpit very often, and perhaps because of that, we have become comfortable and stopped working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
We call sin a mistake, recite a little prayer … and continue with our day. But sin is the most abhorrent, repulsive act a man can commit… We must get our heads around that. You cannot grasp the love of God until you understand the horrific stench of sin… You can’t understand grace until you comprehend what you have been forgiven of….
You didn’t make a mistake; you spit in the face of God. You arrogantly rebelled and declared yourself King . Your willful sin was the reason for the torturous death of His Son. You should recoil at the remembrance of your wickedness… you should spit the word “sin” out of your mouth like poison. It is important that you understand the lethalness of the disease - so you can appreciate the miraculous power of the cure.
"This day, my God, I hate sin not because it damns me, but because it has done Thee wrong. To have grieved my God is the worst grief to me."
- C.H. Spurgeon
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