DECEMBER 12
You can
celebrate today. You will finish Amos and in Revelation you will read the last
letter that Jesus ever wrote to a church. This is a big day of big truths and
amazing messages for disciples who have been left to follow Christ in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples.
Amos
7-9
Amos 7
Vs. 1-9 God gave Amos three visions.
What do you notice that is the same in
the first two visions? The third vision provides a measure or standard of
judgment.
God was willing to "repent"
of His actions in the first two visions. That was mercy, and it showed His
willingness to listen and to save. Yet He gave them a standard by which to
measure the people. That was mercy too. They could have obeyed.
Vs. 10-17 This is an example of why God
would judge the northern kingdom and why the plumb line wouldn't work to rescue
them. In spite of God's willingness to show mercy, the leaders, as personified
in this priest, would not listen. This looks like an example of what God said
in Amos 2:11-12. Amos was a little guy compared to Elijah and Elisha, yet even
those two great prophets were ignored by the leaders and people.
Often, the only thing that prophecy and
miracles do is to show that God's actions of judgment are just.
Amos 8
Vs. 1-2 The vision was a basket of summer fruit, that is, the
final fruit of the summer. This signified that the time of the end for the
northern kingdom was coming. What is interesting to me, even as Amos told of
these visions, there was grace mixed in. The final day of the northern kingdom
would not come for another 60 years. For those with faith, they took this to
heart, picked up and moved south. For those without faith, they stayed and
died. What a God of patience and forgiveness.
The rest of this chapter is a
description of God's judgment. I think that the upcoming earthquake from Amos
1:1 was about to happen. I don't know how you would break down the themes in
this chapter, but I'd do it like this.
Vs. 3-8 Notice the two mentions of
their oppression of the poor. Also, I think v. 9 is a reference to the upcoming
earthquake. The imagery of this section makes you think of an earthquake.
Vs. 9-10 This might be the physical and
the emotional state of things after the earthquake. It will certainly be the
emotional mood of the country when it is overrun by the Assyrians.
Vs. 11-14 What is surprising here is
the mention of God's silence. After everything that Elijah and Elisha did and
said, then came Amos, Jonah and Hosea. The people were fed up with prophets.
They would get their wish. God would stop talking. That might sound great for
them, but in their need, it would be like turning out a light in a cave. Total
darkness and loss of identity.
If you want to see a biblical, personal
example of this, look at King Saul in 1 Samuel 28:6. After chasing David for
ten years, after killing the priests of God and acting against God in every
honest way, the still religious King Saul sought God in his need and God
wouldn't answer. So where did Saul go to contact God? He went to a medium. Saul
was totally confused and corrupt in his heart and God was tired of throwing His
pearls before swine. That is the same as what happened over the century God
tried to help these people.
Amos 9
V. 1 This vision shows God standing
beside the altar at Bethel, not Jerusalem. Notice again the earthquake imagery.
It appears that God was about to destroy their buildings of worship in Bethel.
It would still be 100 years before King Josiah would come and destroy the altar
at Bethel.
Vs. 2-4 Just as there is no place to
hide in an earthquake, there will be no place to hide from God. That is an
obvious truth, and scary too. When God finally is moved to judgment, it is with
focused determination.
Vs. 5-6 The God of creation can cause
an earthquake. They should have believed that God could and would do this.
Vs. 7-8 The people should have been
sons to God, but instead they made themselves foreigners to God.
Vs. 9-10 God would literally shake the house of Israel.
Vs. 11-15 So, Amos ends on a happy
future note.
Vs. 11-12 We have seen references to
David. Raising up the booth of David is
to raise up his lineage and fulfill God's promise that a son of David will
reign. That Son is the Messiah, who we are reading about in Revelation. The
reference to nations gives me the
sense that this is for the Millennial Kingdom.
Vs. 13-15 Verse 15 shows that the
fulfillment of this will be when Jesus returns.
Revelation
3:7-22
Vs. 7-13 To the church in Philadelphia.
V. 7 Note how Jesus introduces Himself. The key of David seems to refer to Isaiah
22:22, referring to Eliakim the
son of Hilkiah receiving the
stewardship and authority of David's house and possessions. In short, there
were two men in authority under King Hezekiah. Shebna (Isaiah 22:15-19), who
abused his position, misused Hezekiah's property and did not help the people or
honor God as the Assyrians came against the city. Eliakim the son of Hilkiah (Isaiah 22:20-25) was the
opposite. Eliakim honored God, was faithful in his service to Hezekiah and he
strengthened the people. Both looked good from the outside; in fact, without
this passage from Isaiah, both of the men look like fine religious men,
standing together to represent the king in the face of the arrogance of Rabshakeh in 2 Kings 18:18-19. But one of
these men was not faithful and the other was. This church in Philadelphia was
fully faithful to Christ like Eliakim was to Hezekiah, to God and to His
people.
Vs. 8-11 Notice that this was also a
suffering church. They acknowledged the name of Christ and stood against the
persecution of the synagogue of Satan.
Apparently these synagogues of Satan were a franchise operation. There was also
one in Smyrna which is extremely coincidental. You'll see why in a minute.
V. 10 Notice that they kept the Lord's
Word. Keeping Jesus' Word is also mentioned in v. 8. The repetition is very
significant. Keeping His Word is a mark of a disciple, as is acknowledging
Jesus' name in the face of persecution. Also notice that Jesus says He loves
them. I think this is what the fulfilling of John 14:21-23 looks like. In fact,
keeping Jesus' Word and the world knowing Jesus has loved His disciples is
woven throughout all of John 14-17. This is the first time I have ever fully
noticed these verses in Revelation. Thank you Lord. (2014)
Now there is an aspect of this special
church that goes beyond them and the first century. In saying they will be kept
from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, it is
saying they will be kept out of the Tribulation. The Tribulation didn't happen
during the time this church existed. So, this promise must be applied beyond
them to give hope to faithful believers who are going through similar
circumstances in the future.
But I have a couple of questions.
First, what is important about this promise, since all believers, even
disobedient ones, will be taken at the rapture before the Tribulation? Also,
even if this promise is applied to that generation that lives just before the
Tribulation, they would never know it because no one knows the hour the
Tribulation will begin. And, we're not encouraged to guess. So how is this a
promise that we can use?
I would say this is an assurance of
truth for those who are suffering and enduring. I think this promise means more
to those who are pursuing Christ in the harvest and paying the price. We have a
lot of truth rattling around in our heads, but it doesn't become assurance for
us until it is meaningful and helping us daily in our lives. In their
suffering, Jesus tells them that judgment is coming, but they will be saved
from it, never to enter into it. It is the daily reminder that they are the
Lord's own. For those who are focused on Christ and the harvest, this truth
holds them fast and helps them endure with a heart of hope and a perspective of
God's purpose. Truth is meant to live in our hearts and inform our thoughts and
actions every minute of every day. Jesus said, If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John
13:17) The blessing of knowing truth only comes from using it.
V. 11 That crown is awarded for
endurance in suffering for Christ and His gospel. Again, the coming soon could be looked at from the
perspective that a thousand years is as a day with God. Or, the word itself
means that when the event begins, it happens very quickly, with focused determination.
(Amos 9:2-4) This is an encouragement for this church and its people to hold on
to their endurance. The ability to endure in Christ becomes a reward in itself.
According to 2 Timothy 2:11-12, those who know Christ will live forever with Him,
but those who endure suffering and persevere will reign with Him, probably
during the Millennial Kingdom.
V. 12 So what is the
reward here? How special would it be to be to receive a special commendation
from the Lord? I think of what Gabriel said to Zechariah, the father of John
the Baptist, in Luke 1:19, "I am
Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God." Would that be important to
us, to be one of those who stands in His presence? David's prayer in Psalm 27:4
was, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple. Would we desire that? Or are we fine with God when
He's gone and we can do our thing with relative privacy, not always under His
scrutiny? Obviously, in reality, what I just said is theologically impossible
because God is always present, but we do not normally think being in God's
presence would be the high point of our lives. For those who suffer, like David
did, their desires are so focused on the love and compassion of God that He and
His presence is all they want.
When the Twelve
finally asked Jesus to teach them to pray, they could see that suffering was on
the horizon. This time when Jesus told them about asking, seeking and knocking,
He said the reward or answer in each of those actions would be the Holy Spirit,
that is, the peace, joy and power of His presence. More than a specific answer
to prayer, this is what His suffering disciples working in the harvest need.
Like the church in Smyrna, this was a
suffering church that faced deadly persecution, that lived out the gospel in
the harvest, testifying to the name of Jesus, and like Smyrna,
"coincidentally" did not receive a rebuke from its Lord. The
suffering purified their desires, hearts and vision.
Vs. 14-22 The church in Laodicea.
This church
usually gets most of the attention when people think of the churches in
Revelation.
V. 14 In a way
this is a very unusual introduction. Jesus is everything this church wasn't.
Vs. 15-20
Notice here, there is no commendation. Like Sardis, they looked alive, but were
dead. They, and everyone else, thought they could see, but were blind. They
thought they looked good, but Jesus said they were naked. Many people see this
church as representing this present age of the church. I don't think that ages
are being talked about here, but we do have an abundance of churches today that
look alive and are neither hot nor cold. Jesus' threat to spit them out of His
mouth should be something that makes every church leader very humble and alert.
But like these churches, they thought everything was fine. Jesus' opinion is
the only one that matters.
V. 18 Jesus
actually gives them counsel, to seek Him.
V. 19 Jesus
wants them to humbly submit to His discipline, and to repent.
V. 20 Jesus
wants them to hear His knocking and to open to Him. And you notice that this
very famous verse is written to Christians. Notice too, that just like at
Sardis, although the church is dead, Jesus is appealing here to individuals. So
many Christians lament their church, but Jesus doesn't tell them to complain
about the church or stage a mutiny. Rather, they are individually to hear His
voice and to respond. That's how church renewal begins - people listening to
Jesus and doing what He says rather than raising an unholy ruckus.
V. 21 Jesus
came to the earth and went to a dead people. Yet, He was the only one who was
truly alive, and heard and followed His Father. Some followed Him. In this
respect, everyone who is in a place of death, whether a dead church, or among dead
and lost in the harvest, yet, who hears Christ's voice and follows Him and His
Word, is like Him.
I find it
incredibly interesting that those who respond to Him, to renew the church in
this context, will receive such an amazing reward. Imagine sitting with Jesus
on His throne. Jesus loves His church. What a wonder it is to think that we
would be conquerors, like He was a conqueror, that we would sit on His throne
with Him. If I'm in the shop of "Jesus' Rewards," this is the one I'm
looking at and putting everything I have on the counter, so that I can receive
this from Him. In all of these church situations, Jesus gave the faithful
something to strive after to help that particular church become healthy and
re-enter the harvest, following Christ.
These are
Jesus' final words to the church as it comes to the time of finishing its work
in the harvest. Now, the church exits and the time comes for Israel to fulfill
its mission to the world. Now the Son of God, the Messiah, the human ruler of
mankind, the second Adam, the Son of Man, takes His seat at the right hand of
God the Father and begins the judgment of the world. Only Christ, of all men,
is worthy to rule and judge mankind, …because
he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he
bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah
53:12)
Psalm
131
Vs. 1-3 In preparation for worship,
David wrote this song for those walking up to Jerusalem. The song was for them
to prepare their hearts, but what is cool is how God prepared David's heart to
write this. Maybe the "key of David" was the hardship that
"opened the door" and drove David to love the Lord and desire Him
only.
Proverbs 29:23
Doesn't this sound like something that could flow right out
of Psalm 131? So, how does God make us lowly
in spirit? I think it comes from needing Him so badly that we finally see
that we only really need Him.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples,
meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out
and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal
manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us
more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is
that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a
year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples,
disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the
commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never
hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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