The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgement, Part 1

calendar_today July 21, 2024
menu_book Amos 9:1-10
person Trey Russell
view_list Amos

Sermon 12 in Series

Amos 9:1-10

[1] I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:

“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.

[2] “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.
[3] 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.
[4] 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.”

[5] The Lord GOD of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;

[6] who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the LORD is his name.

[7] “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
[8] Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the LORD.

[9] “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
[10] All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1. 
 Why is it fitting for this final vision of Israel’s destruction to happen at the altar? What should happen at an altar versus what will happen at this altar?
2.   What does it mean that Israel’s problem is ultimately a worship problem? How does this principle help you understand the nature of your own sin and how to fight it?
3.   How does comparing Amos 9:2-4 with Psalm 139:7-12 shed light on an individual’s standing before God?
4.   Why does the Lord highlight his name in the middle of this passage? How does the divine name relate to the activity of the Lord in this chapter?
5.   How does the promised destruction of Israel (v.8) relate to God’s overall redemptive program? How does it affirm and illuminate God’s faithfulness?
6.   How do mercy and justice collide in vv.9-10? Why and how does the “dark cloth illuminate the diamond of mercy”?
7.   How will this collision of mercy and justice play out in the rest of redemptive history? What is its pinnacle?

References:
 Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 4:26-27, 30-31; 1 Kings 12:25-33, 13:3; 2 Kings 23:15-17; Psalm 139:7-9; Amos 4:13, 5:8-9, 3:2; Galatians 3:29; Romans 3:1, 9:5, 9:16; Exodus 12:12-13; 14:30; Genesis 3:21; Luke 23:26-49.
Back to All Sermons