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Amos 2:4-3:3 Bible Study
1) Together 5 mins. What sinful patterns do see most prevalent in the
American Christian church? [List on board] Which of these are
historical patterns of sin within the church in America?
2) Read Amos 2:4-3:3 [3.17-5.12]
3) Small Groups 30 mins. Amos continues his denunciation of the nations
surrounding Israel by calling out the sin of Israel’s sister nation,
Judah.
a. Describe the sins that Judah has committed against God. Rejection
of his law through disobedience, following apostasy of forefathers,
etc.
b. How are their actions similar or different from the other nations’?
How does their punishment compare with other nations? Their actions
are contrary to God’s direct revelation, their punishment the same
4) Describe the different types of sin that God implicates Israel for
pursuing in 3.29-4.24. Clarify the following:
a. What do we learn about Israel’s treatment of the poor? Their view
of worship?
b. Who were the Amorites? The Nazirites? What was Bethel? (assign to
students fm. notes)
5) Contrast God’s actions towards Israel and their actions towards Him? He
has faithfully delivered them from their enemies (Amorites & Egyptians)
when they were poor & enslaved, He raised up Nazirites for them.
a. Why does God bring a reminder of His actions up in the midst of His
condemning Israel? He is warning Israel about destroying them like
the Amorites.
6) How would you describe Judah and Israel’s commitment to God’s Word?
Reject it by disobeying it (3.21) or quieting those who speak it 4.23-24.
How does their rejection of God’s Word effect how they treat others and
God? They are uninformed, so they neither can recognize evil nor are
concerned about doing so.
7) Together 5-7 mins. How do the sinful patterns listed for #1 betray our
lack of trust in God’s mercy on the cross? What sort of responsibility
accompanies God’s grace according to Amos 5.7-12?
8) Read 3:4-15 [5.13-6.28]
9) Small Groups 12-13 mins. What do you notice about the form of the
questions in 5.13-6.4? Is there any pattern to them? Why does the
question in 5.13 not have a “partner” like the rest? (Why does a lion
roar? What makes a snare spring up? Note: questions contain two levels
of meaning. The first is strictly metaphorical: the “rhetorical’ness”
of the questions points to the inevitability of the consequences. The
second is that most of the questions are suggestive of disaster.)
a. Thinking back to the first part of Amos, we learn that God is the
roaring lion. What sort of warning is God giving Israel in 5.27 to
6.4? Israel is like a lion’s prey or a bird in a trap. When
disaster falls, there will be no doubt who brought it about. Listen
to the prophets (.i.e. Amos)
10) What sort of people does God raise up to judge Israel? What is ironic
about God using the Philistines (or Assyrians) and Egyptians to judge
Israel? These are Israel’s and God’s historical enemies, yet they will
listen to God before Israel.
11) Together 10 mins. Why does he focus in on the “horns of Bethel” and
their luxurious houses as being worthy of destruction? What do they
represent? Luxurious living, disregard for people around them,
insensitivity towards God’s people
a. What will be the results of His punishment? Complete destruction,
eradication of religious hypocrisy and sensuous living
b. What would aptly represent our own inclination towards conspicuous
consumption and materialism? [read Quotes 1 & 2 from Motyer]
12) Small Groups 15 mins. Have you ever experienced God using a non-
Christian to rebuke some sinful behavior? How did you react? Looking
again at our list from #1, are there ways that God is challenging the
Church through non-Christians pointing out our sin?
13) Respond in prayer by asking God to free the Church of the sins we’ve
identified tonight (from question #1.) Also pray that we would not
become enslaved to the sinful heritage of the American church (see 3.23 &
6.20). Pray that the Lord would raise up non-Christians to further shame
our disobedience.
Quote #1
It is wholly ironic. The law (Ex. 22:12f.) required an under-shepherd to
furnish proof that an animal had been snatched from the flock: he must
retrieve enough to show that it had been torn as prey by a marauding beast;
otherwise he would be assumed to have appropriated the animal for himself
and must pay compensation in full. Such a rescue was no rescue at all; it
was only the evidence of what once was but now is no more.
The Message of Amos-J.A. Motyer (pg. 84)
Quote #2
Here, then, is the irony. The remains of the people of God, the rescue
which is no rescue, the surviving proof of what once was, consists of the
corner of a couch and part of a bed. We may pose the question: if two
legs, or apiece of an ear point to the former existence of a sheep, what
sort of people are represented by the rescued evidence of parts of beds and
couches?9 Imagine that these are the vestiges of the people of God! In
spite of the abundance of their religion (4:4, 5) it is not in temple ruins
or shattered altarstones that Amos finds evidence of the character and
concerns of the people who once lived there. Beds, couches, pillows
summarize their life and habits. Sensuality, luxury, idleness, bodily care-
but no evidence of religion, never mind spirituality. Amos writes no
`therefore’; he leaves us to draw our own conclusions. Why would God
withdraw from such a people? Because there was nothing in their lives
corresponding to a heart-concern for spiritual things; their character-
reference could be written without mentioning God, or prayer, or holiness;
their legacy to the future was wholly a testimony to a life lived for the
body. And these claimed to be the people of God 1 Here then is the second
reason for the alienation of God, the second reason why His people lose
touch with Him and His power: personal spirituality had disappeared from
their lives. Sleep and ease, luxuriousness and body-care, indolence and
indulgence-but not prayer and the Word of God, no self mortification, no
dying to sin, no armour of God, no discipline or battle for holiness 1 Thus
God departs and the people of God go down in defeat
The Message of Amos-J.A. Motyer (pg. 84-85)———————————-
Songs
“What a Mighty God”
“Oh, Magnify the Lord”
“We Exalt Thee”
“I Will Give You All My Worship”
“What E’re You Will”
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