READINGS FOR JUNE 19-25

JUNE 19

Hosea predicts captivity for Israel because the more prosperous they became the more love they lavished on "idols".   How about us today?  Any connections with our prosperity and our turning away from God?

Hosea uses illustrations of fields and crops. “…like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.”“…break up the ground.”

Plowed fields are ready to receive seed. They are as circumcised hearts. They are no longer stony and hard, but are prepared and available.  We break up our own unplowed ground by acknowledging our sins and receive God's forgiveness and restoration. For the spiritual leader, plowed ground is ready to receive the word of God, ready to receive seeds of righteousness. Are spiritual leaders planting those seeds of righteousness and preaching and teaching the truth of God’s Word? Or are many of them as the poisonous weeds in a plowed field? If the truth of God’s Word is not taught and compromises are made, “Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars.”

Sounds a bit like the apostate church in THESE LAST DAYS.

“They will twist and distort God’s word. Many innocents will believe this distortion and be led astray by the errors of false teaching. Some people within the church will be lulled into a feeling of contentment as they listen to false teaching because that is what they want to hear. It will seem right to them because they have not been taught about the monument of truth, God’s word. They will not recognize any talk about sin and the consequences of sin. They will not understand the need for repentance. The leaders will not have taught the people the difference between good and evil. The leaders of the apostate church will place value only on feeling good about themselves as they occupy their time with worldly involvement and not about a relationship with God.”
Quote from the book THESE LAST DAYS
(Reference these verses: Matthew 24:5, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 7:15, Jeremiah 23:25-26, I John 2:18, Hebrews 3:12, II Peter 2:1-3, II Timothy 4:3-4, I Timothy 4:1, Galatians 1:6-8, II Peter 3:17).

"But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception."

Again, this sounds like an apostate church.  People feed on the fruit of deception and false teaching instead of the fruit of righteousness.

"Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.  Your sins have been your downfall."  

We can add "church" to Israel (not that the church has replaced Israel - just that we can add church into the passage) and we can put our own names in place of Israel.  We are told to "return".  We can't return to something unless we've been there before and left.  We as a church and as individual believers in Jesus need to return to the Ways of the Way, return to the ways of the early believers in Jesus. When we return to Him, we come with these words, "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruit of our lips."  

Hebrews 13:15  

By Him, then, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, confessing His name.

While we can't demand that God will forgive our sins, we can be confident that He will!

There are many thorns, thistles and poisonous weeds in our lives and in the church today.  So what can we as believers do? According to Hosea, once we turn from our sinful ways and back to Him, we can, “…blossom like a lily, send down roots, flourish like the grain, blossom like a vine…”

We can do all this in the midst of thorns and thistles. Why? Because… “The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”

Wouldn't it be better to walk in the ways of the Lord than to stumble in the ways of the world?

JUNE 20

What must Amos have thought? Here he was just an ordinary shepherd minding his flocks in the rugged sheep country in Judah. And God calls him to prophesy against the nations. What do they think of him when he rebukes Israel and Judah for the meaninglessness of their worship? He is, after all, just a lowly shepherd. What does he know about worship?  Isn’t that just like God, He calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things!

Amos makes reference in the first verse to an earthquake.  Evidence of earthquake debris in several sites in Israel places the date of the earthquake in the middle of the eighth century B.C. at the time when Uzziah was king in Judah and Jeroboam II was king in Israel.  The epicenter of this earthquake was likely in Lebanon on the plate boundary called the Dead Sea transform fault. This fault likely ruptured in a line for about 250 miles as the ground shook violently for over 90 seconds. Damage by earthquake was discovered in archaeological digs to the south of the Dead Sea - so this was a sizeable earthquake.  Using the pattern and the intensity of damage throughout the region of the earthquake the magnitude is estimated to have been at least a magnitude of 7.8 to as much as 8.2.  The panic created by this earthquake would have been legendary.  This specific event is written in Zechariah 14:5.  Amos refers to the earth trembling and resulting damage inflicted by such in Amos 1:1, 6:11, 8:8, and 9:1.  In fact, in the first two chapters, the listing of the results of sin could be the after effects of an earthquake activity. 

There are many connections today with the prophecies against the nations, including many current events that have taken place recently.  The selfish religious establishment (in the days of Amos) had led the people into an institutionalized and meaningless form of religion. (from the commentary)  Any connections with the religious establishment today?

Amos repeatedly mentions "for three sins, even for four" which could be a reference to the number three as symbolic of completeness or fullness and the number four as symbolic of an overflow of sin that is the tipping point for God's judgment.  Or this phrase could refer to the first three commandments concerning sins of idolatry and worshiping false gods and the fourth commandment concerning not honoring the Sabbath day (as in the weekly Sabbath as well as God's commanded feast days). God will tolerate, tolerate, tolerate...but then there comes a time when He will no longer tolerate.

“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”
God doesn’t pull a “sneak attack” if people are watching and listening.  He forewarns of impending judgment through the prophets and the prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past and will be fulfilled in our future. See Jeremiah 9. See Isaiah 3 pg. 795.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-6
For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief. You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night, or of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be calm. 

God tells us in His word what His plans are.  "The Sovereign Lord has spoken - who can but prophesy?"

In the books of the prophets, there is most often a literal prophecy and a figurative prophecy, sometimes of things yet to come in our future. Even though they warn of future doom for unbelievers, they were constantly reminding the people of all the good things that God had done for them. And yet no matter how God warned the people they still ignored Him. Often the people returned to God during the low points, however during the time of Amos they did not return.

In today's reading, God warns the people about bringing offerings to the altar and then bragging about it. The people then were wealthy, powerful, greedy, and unjust. They only pretended to be truthfully religious.

Amos delivers a prophecy against the Ammonites and the Moabites both descendants from Lot and his daughters. (see Genesis 19).  The prophecy against Judah is a warning of an adulterous relationship, while the prophecy against Israel is a warning against prostitution.

At the end of each warning of impending disaster, the people are given opportunities to repent and return to Him and yet each time they refused.  If they had repented and returned to Him, He would have relented.

Amos was just an ordinary person until God called him. Since God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things, what things has He asked each of us to do?

JUNE 21

"Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again."
Virgin means pure. Israel will not be reunited until the Millennium begins.

Seek me and live…” Almost as simple as John 3:16, isn’t it? But how often do we instead “seek Bethel” or “go to Gilgal” or “journey to Beersheba” seeking fulfillment in all the wrong places, instead of seeking the Lord?  Only God offers us an abundant life here and an abundant everlasting life later. The ways of the world only offer the temporary and the illusion of abundant. Sin seeks to destroy but hope is found only in God.

Amos mentions a couple of constellations. As is written in the book Diving into Deep Things of God, the consistency and orderliness of the heavens and all their host challenges us to look beyond them to our Creator.

You "...despise him who tells the truth."  
Many times we want to turn a deaf ear to the truth and want to hear only lies that make us feel good.  But, of course that is not what God wants of us.  That's why He sends us prophets.  They may be telling things the people don't want to hear but they are bringing warnings from God.  "Cotton candy" preaching and teaching may taste good momentarily but it is not nourishment and leaves people feeling unsatisfied. This is an example of “…a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”  People die eternally for lack of spiritual nourishment.

Hosea 4:6a My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 

DAY OF THE LORD asks the question, "Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light."

It seems to be a contradiction. Shouldn't we as Believers long for the day of the Lord and the return of Jesus? This verse is for the non-believers. We as Believers have no fear of that day that brings darkness because we are children of the light.

EMPTINESS OF RITUAL asks the question, “What is the attitude of our heart in worship?” The religious feasts that are being spoken of are those that are not God-ordained, but "traditions of men", most often tied to pagan festivals. Do we have any of those in our churches today?  God says, "I hate, I despise your religious feasts."  Does that mean that God hates our man-made holidays that take the place of His God-ordained Holy Days?  Scripture says He does!

Amos rebukes the people for their pride and complacency. "Woe to you who are complacent..."
Are we as believers complacent or apathetic concerning God's warnings to us as individuals, to us as the established church, to us as a nation?  

The people in Amos' day had built luxurious homes to flaunt their achievements. Sound like today? It's not wrong to live in comfortable houses, but not as a source of pride and self-glorification.

“Look, I am setting up a plumb line among my people…”

What a great visual He has given us. His Word is our plumb line that helps us to be aware of our sin. It shows us how far off we are.

Romans 7:7a
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Let it not be said! But I did not know sin except through the law. 

In the visions of Amos, God illustrates the figurative and symbolic with the literal.  There was great hope in some of the visions, when Amos interceded on behalf of the people God relented and did not send the disasters. Does that mean there is hope for us in the midst of sin and complacency? 

UNETHICAL RELIGION lays out a description of what happens with the people once their man-made holidays are over.  They continue in their dishonest ways.

VISION OF THE ALTAR
God definitely makes things clear that He will allow His people to suffer the consequences of their actions. We in effect punish ourselves. It's as if a doctor diagnoses a person with a malignant tumor and tells the patient that he needs to have the tumor surgically removed or the cancerous cells in the tumor will spread throughout his body.  If the patient chooses not to have the tumor removed and the cancer spreads until death occurs, it isn't the doctor who is to blame. It is the patient.  Same thing with our sins.  If we do not remove the sins, they spread throughout our lives. When we suffer the consequences we can't blame God.  The blame rests entirely on us.  

Very sad words, “…a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”

Spiritual famine -sad words, but so true for today. We are experiencing a “falling away” as we head toward these last days. But there is hope. If we witness to our circle of influence, if we encourage our acquaintances, friends and family to read and study God’s Word, if we share with them what we understand, then we will be doing our part to give them “food for thought” and end the famine of hearing the words of the Lord.  This is what keeps the remnant alive and thriving!

One thing comes through loud and clear in the prophecies of Amos. No one can escape God's judgment.  Good news for the faithful. Bad news for the unfaithful.

Today’s reading ends with a very positive note. No matter how far away we stray we have the hope of restoration. Praise God!

JUNE 22

Too bad the leaders and the people in Israel did not respond to Amos the way Nineveh did to the preaching of Jonah.

Amaziah, the priest displays his true character when he orders Amos to leave the area as Amaziah claims the sanctuary for the king. The Hebrew word for sanctuary is the same word used to describe the sanctuary of the Lord. So it seems that Amaziah, the priest was claiming for the king (or himself) what belonged to the Lord.

As the book of Amos comes to a close, he ends with one last prophecy concerning the exile of Israel.

Amazing how God used the prophet Amos, a shepherd on the lowest rung of the social ladder, to speak to kings. Do you think Amos left the area feeling defeated that the leaders and the people didn’t listen to him? Or did he leave the area confident in the knowledge that he had done what the Lord called him to do - no matter what the outcome?

King Uzziah’s pride…oh, what an ugly thing! Leprosy…what an ugly thing… an outward manifestation of an inward sin.

What courageous priests! They were not afraid to confront the king because he was doing wrong. Only the priests were to burn incense in the sanctuary. God is very strict in His commandments concerning worship. It’s all right there in THE BOOK for us to read.

Are we as courageous as the priests? Are we unafraid to confront our leaders? Or do we cower down, shrink back, and look the other way?

Better take a deep breath, tomorrow we go deep-sea diving into the words of Isaiah!

JUNE 23

Did we say that we were going deep-sea diving into Isaiah? Oh, so much to say! 

There are so many connections literally to our world today and so many connections spiritually in many of the religious establishments and churches today - groups of people professing to be godly when they are not.

While Isaiah condemned Judaism in his day, he also condemns the apostate church today. Yet, in keeping with the message of the prophets, Isaiah too tells us to repent, be renewed and rejoice that we’ve been redeemed.  The Savior has come and He's coming again.

Isaiah gives a very descriptive image in the PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD. As Believers we are responsible for bearing a crop of good fruit. God has given us everything we need to produce this good crop, and yet too often bad fruit is the result. Meaningless rituals, empty offerings are wearisome to the Lord. Look what God says that He will do

Isaiah 5:5-6
Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it."

Sounds like Hosea who spoke of “…like poisonous weeds in a plowed field,” and “Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars.”

And who does He call to account for the ruin of His vineyard? It tells us in Isaiah 3. It is the guides, elders and leaders of the people.  The leaders have ruined the vineyard.  They plunder, crush, and grind the people.  Sounds a bit like bad shepherds or hired hands. In Isaiah 5 "the great houses will become desolate". Europe has many great cathedrals that sit empty.

The people do not escape His accounting either. God calls the people to account for their sins of idolatry, pride, greed, revelry, arrogance, rationalization, drunkenness and injustice.  

In SIN OF RELIGIOUS FORMALISM Isaiah mentions "...your appointed feasts, my soul hates..."  These could be the feasts and festivals that were not God-ordained but were of pagan origins. Or Isaiah could be referring to the act of going through the motions of honoring God, giving Him only lip service, worshiping Him in vain. God warns that if the people continue in this sin, "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen."
In SIN OF IDOLATRY mention is made of superstitions, divination, and clasping hands with pagans. God says we cannot embrace religions whose "god" is not the one true God.  We as Christians cannot clasp hands with any other religion, not even with the idea of "getting along".   While we must coexist with the people of other religions, we cannot embrace their religion or compromise our beliefs to accommodate their beliefs.

Very sobering words for us as Believers today.   If my people... We must humble ourselves, repent, turn, and seek His face, and pray.  Only then will He listen and hear our prayers.

Isaiah points out that the faithful city (Jerusalem) had become a harlot where once righteousness dwelt. Interestingly, Melchizedek was called King of Righteousness and He dwelt in Jerusalem.  Sounds as if He no longer dwells there.

In SIN OF THE LEADERS is this verse, "their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.  The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it."

An example of  "they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it." took place in New York in early 2019 after the decision concerning late term abortions was legalized.   Another example would be the various "Gay Pride" parades. Per capita, the biggest Gay Pride parade is in Tel Aviv.

How can anyone defy God's glorious presence?  It seems unthinkable.  However, compare this to Gay Pride Parades.  Are they not defying the Lord's glorious presence when they flaunt their homosexuality, and every conceivable sexual perversion, which is an abomination to God?  (Leviticus 18:22)

Isaiah gives a descriptive depiction of the false church in Isaiah 3:16-26.

In SIN OF REVELRY there are several descriptions that remind us of the revelry at Belshazzar's feast in Daniel Chapter 5.

The promise of restoration for Judah, for the church today, for us as individuals is found in the following:
Isaiah 1:26b
Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."

We have the responsibility as the Christian church, as Faith Fellowship and as Believers in Jesus Christ to be a fruitful vineyard, producing good and abundant fruit. He has given us everything we need. What good fruit are we as Believers bearing for the kingdom?

JUNE 24

Isaiah writes in a similar line of thought as Joel did concerning the wrath of God. Compare Isaiah Chapters 1, 2, and 5, with Joel (especially Joel 2).  In the last days the wrath of God will be directed at unbelievers, not Believers.  Isaiah warns of the captivity of the people as a foreshadowing of the eventual Day of the Lord (the wrath of God).

"Therefore the Lord's anger burns against his people."

There are consequences for God's people rejecting His command and His Word.  Notice it says, HIS people.  What were the people doing to cause God's anger to burn against them?  Isaiah tells us in chapter 2 verses 19-21.  They were worshiping their silver and gold, just as we today, worship our "gods" of money, possessions, etc.

What did God say would happen to the people of Israel?

"...the LORD Almighty is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support; all supplies of food and all supplies of water."

God did just that to Israel. Nebuchadnezzar cut off supplies of food and water from the people who had taken refuge in the city of Jerusalem.  If we continue in our wicked ways, major catastrophes can happen.  If a coronal mass ejection from the sun hits the earth today with electromagnetic pulse accompanying it, electronics will no longer work, and civilization will be ruined.  An electromagnetic pulse can also be accomplished by a high-altitude thermo nuclear explosion. Time is short and getting shorter.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.

Indeed, let us reason together.  He tells us in His Word to follow His commands and to turn away from other "gods" and back to Him. Repent, so that times of refreshing may come.  We can read about times of refreshing in Isaiah 4 and Isaiah 2. This is how things will look in the Millennial Kingdom.

The Branch of the Lord is mentioned in A SPIRITUAL RESTORATION.  The Branch?  Is this the remnant, the Believers?  As in John 15:5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches..." Or is the Branch Jesus Himself?

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD."

Come, O believers in Jesus, let us walk in His light."

Oh, what an unbelievably compelling ending to today’s reading. The imagery is incredible! Isaiah was allowed to see the throne of the Lord in the heavenly temple. Isaiah knew he was in the presence of the Lord and he knew he was unworthy. He lamented, “Woe to me!” and “…my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

He no doubt was very familiar with this Scripture:

Exodus 33:20
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Isaiah knew he would not be able to look upon the face of God and live. But he wasn’t looking upon the face of God, the Father. John identified the glory that Isaiah saw. He saw God, the Son!

John 12:41
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

I (Patti) have always been drawn to the verse, “Here am I. Send me!” As a teen-age Christian I thought God was speaking to me about being a missionary in a foreign land. Some 50 years later I have come to understand just what being a missionary really means and it has little to do with going to a foreign land (at least for me).

Contrast Isaiah's response to God's question to Moses' response to a similar question.  Isaiah responded immediately with the answer God wanted to hear.  Moses tossed out excuses.

Did you attach yourselves to the oxygen tank as we have been deep-sea diving in Isaiah?

How about these verses..."a tenth remains in the land..." and "as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

What a wonderful thought...a tenth remains...as in the remnant...left as stumps, as holy seed only to spring up again.  Takes us back to the reading  in John 15 concerning the vine and the branches.

One final note on today’s reading.

2 Chronicles 27:6
Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.

Jotham lined up his will with God’s will. Pretty good advice for us today!

JUNE 25

Interesting words in the commentary for today's reading.  He says that the prophet Micah wrote that God "desires righteous thoughts and deeds and not just a show of traditional formal worship."

It seems pretty clear from the writings of the prophet Micah how God feels about “high places”.   High places were associated with pagan practices where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense to pagan gods.  However, sometimes the people listened to the prophets, came to their senses and did the right thing, what naturally followed was a return to godly worship and honoring the God-ordained holy days.

II Kings 23:21  The king gave this order to all the people: "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant."

“…disgrace will not overtake us.” is an example of the sin of rationalization. It could be a substitute for “There’s nothing wrong with abortion. It's a woman's 'choice'.” Or “Homosexual marriages are okay, they’re not really hurting anyone. Or “An affair isn’t so bad. We’re consenting adults. Everybody does it.” We could fill in the blank with a multitude of sins in our world, our church, our lives.

"If a liar and deceiver comes and says, "I will prophecy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people."

In other words, the people didn't mind hearing prophecy as long as it was something they wanted to hear and just an example of cotton candy teaching and preaching.

Judah will be condemned because of the sins committed in Jerusalem.  Even though those sins are not specifically named, we can be certain that they were definitely not godly things.

A foreshadowing of the ultimate restoration and deliverance is found here:
Micah 2:13
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head."

Who is it that opens the way? What is the way? What does it mean to break through the gate? Do you think it has anything to do with Jesus and the Millennium?

Remember, Jesus’ followers were called Followers of the Way.