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Thursday 7/8/21
Ungodly Influences

 1Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
 2But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
 3And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
 4Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
 5But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
 6Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
 7That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
 8And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
 9Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
 10Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
 11And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
 12But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
 13Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
 14Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
 15Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
 16And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.
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Today's Scripture Meaning 

Written By: God through Inspiration
Penned By: Amos
Date Penned: BC 760-750
Overview: Everyone Answers to God (c 1-9)
Theme: Announcement of Judgement (c 1-2)
Message: God will Punish the Surrounding Nations (v 1-16)

Amos: Chapter 2 Commentary
   
(2:1) Then Moabites descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter (Genesis 19) Balak, king of Moab, tried to hire the seer, Balaam, to curse the Israelites so they could be defeated (Numbers 22-24) Balaam refused, but some of the Moabites succeeded in getting Israel to worship Baal (Nuumbers 25) The Moabites were known for their atrocities (2 Kings 3) An archaeloogical artifact, the Moabite Stone, reveals that Moab was always ready to profit from the downfall of others. 

(2:4-6) After Solomonn's reign, the kingdom divided, and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin became the Southern Kingdom (Judah) under Soloman's son Rehoboam. The other 10 tribes became the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and followed Jeroboam, who had rebelled against Rehoboam. God judged other nations harshly for their evil actions and atrocities. But God also promised to judge both Israel and Judah because they ignored the revealed Word of God. The other nations were ignorant, but Judah and Israel, God's people, knew what God wanted. Still they ignored him and joined pagan nations in worshipping idols. If we know God's Word and refuse to obey it, like Israel, we will carry a greater guilt. Amos must have won his audience as he proclaimed Gods' judgment against the evil nations surrounding Israel. He even spoke against his own nation.

(2:6) God condemns Israel for 5 specific sins (1) Selling the poor as slaves (Deuteronomy15) (2) Exploiting the poor (Exodus 23) (3) Engaging in perverse sexual sins (4) Taking illegal collateral for loans (Exodus 22) (5) Worshiping false gods (Exodus 20)

(2:7) Amos spoke to the upper class. There was no middle class in the country - only the very rich and the very poor. The rich kept religious rituals. They gave extra tithes, went to places of worship, and offered sacrifices. But they were greedy and unjust, they took advantage of the poor which reminds us to take care of the poor in our community.

(2:9-10) The prophets were constantly challenging people to remember what God has done. When we read a list like this one we are amazed at Israel's forgetfulness. But what would the prophets say about us? God's past faithfulness should have reminded the Israelites to live for him.

(2:11) The Nazarites took a vow of service to God. The vow included abstaining wine and never cutting their hair. But instead of being respected for their discipline and temperate lives, they were being urged to break their vows. If the Nazarites were corrupted there would remain little influence of good among the Israelites.

(2:13) This verse means God would cause Israel to groan as wagon groans that are loaded with wheat. Their sins were leading to God's punishment. 

(2:16) That day refers to when Assyria would attack Israel. Destroy Samaria, and take the people captive (722 BC) This military defeat came only a few decades after this pronouncement. We should fear and reverence the Lord.
Today's Scripture Application

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue with the book of Amos with Chapter 2. In our text today we see the Moabites influencing Israel to worship Baal even though they new God's Word concerning this issue. In making application we see the importance of not yoking or being influenced by the ungodly but to simply trust the Word of God. How about you? Do you see the how the ungodly try to influence the redeemed through their actions? Let us learn from our text today and the life Amos to see that the wicked will attempt to influence those who serve the Lord so let us hold fast to the Word of God so we will receive the blessings of God.
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ο»ΏSincerely,
Dr. Dave Burnette
Director, The United States Bible Society, Inc.
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