I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins

Amos 9:1-15

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: ... I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.

The Lord, the Lord Almighty— he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile,  then sinks like the river of Egypt; he builds his lofty palace[a] in the heavens and sets its foundation[b] on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the Lord is his name.

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob," declares the Lord.

“I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—
and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the Lord, who will do these things.

For the nations as a whole, judgment will be inescapable. God will deal with them like any foreign nation. But for the faithful few the future hols unimagined blessing.

Why?

Amos saw the vision God standing by the altar, it is said that the temple will be destroyed and his people will be killed and scattered to many places. When God's judgment comes down no one can escape, no matter where they went.

But God still keeps some people that could be rebuilt and be God's nation. God will assemble them from nations on God's day.

審判從神的家開始。以色列人和其他人一樣，無人能脫逃。唯有神不滅絕以色列人，要分散他們到各國。

神要篩子篩過以色列人。被篩下來的人神會再聚集他們，重新建造。

提出一條出路，神用篩子篩的時侯，有可能被留下來。

教會散會後我們是否仍然是神的門徒，活出神的樣式，我們的價值觀和他人不同。

How?

God's love endures forever, God's righteousness endures forever. Without righteousness there is no love.

Not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord

Amos 8:1-14

A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done. “Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.

The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,  “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.

People like to think their 'little' sins too small for God to notice. But he sees everything: greed and sharp practice; short weight and sub-stand goods. And the poor, who always comes off worst, is his special concern.

Why?

Song in the temple will turn to wailing,  for their worship without God and righteousness.

God remembers what people have done, for they did evil and selfish for themselves. Their sins are great and many.

Not a famine of good or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. God's word is our guide of life and light in our way.

When God's day is coming searching for word of the Lord, they will not find it. The time of salvation ends.

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從賣菜，賣糧的情形來描述異象。看到成熟的果子，第二次說結局到了，結果到了。留心體察神的心意，我們從許多地方可以體察到明白神的心意。尋找就尋見。

作生意的人就想很快賣掉。我們心中看重什麼就看到什麼?我們若看重學業、金錢、照顧家庭等，從世俗的眼光來看。讓我們有一天分別出來，安息日分別出來好好親近神！重世俗的人期待安息日趕快過去，要做生意，這些人以安息日為累贅，人在教會，心卻繫在外面的事。人是否守安息日是最好檢驗方式。神比一切重要，即使收入減少，神也會補足。

神可以改變天象，天氣。人員人為照著日期，就可以有收穫，神可以叫雨降在地上，也可以叫乾旱臨到地上。整個法則都靠不住。人若不依靠神，一切努力都會是一場空。

安息日在提醒我們神放在首位，神一定會供應我們。

臨時要找神的話，神已經收回，卻尋不著。1)動機有問題：因為飢餓、乾渴。只是手段，利用。所以找不到。2)方法錯誤：用自己的方法，找不到神，找牛犢等起誓。

思考一個問題，我心裏有神嗎？是否看重生命的主宰?

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How?

Be aware and turn our target to the Lord, for our life should honor the name of the Lord. For God loves us.

Go, prophesy to my people Israel

Amos 7:1-17

Locusts :When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said.

Fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”  So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said.

A plumb line: Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.  “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed  and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;  with my sword I will rise against the house of  Jeroboam.”

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel.  Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ...

Five visions of doom are described in these passages. After each of the first two, the locusts and the fire, Amos begs God to forgive his people, and God relents. But the second two allow no such opportunity.

Judgment is necessary and certain. The last vision gives a terrifying picture of total destruction.

God's prophet and 'official religion' meet head-on in the confrontation between Amos and Amaziah. The prophet has God's authority for his message and will not be silenced. Amaziah will die in exile. The invading army will abuse his wife, kill his children, and seize his land.

Why?

Amos loves his people so asked Lord Jacob is small, and the Lord relented them.

Amos said the true word for the Lord, but the king of Israel doesn't like it asked him to go back to Judah, so more sever words come from the Lord. The destination is worse to priest of Bethel, Amaziah

Who can stand on when God's judgment comes upon us?

Amos is a shepherd, but God chose him to preached the warning message to God's people.

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三個異象，三件事情。阿摩司為民代求。菜割下來上繳糧後，應該會再長，但是蝗蟲來就使百姓無糧可吃。第二次是火，深淵是指地下泉源。變成焦土，連青草也不會長。阿摩司看見以色列民的軟弱，向神求，以色列人沒有看見。準繩，鉛錘，用來量測牆是否正直。此即顯出以色列人的罪。這次不再向神祈求，因為他明白神的旨意。如同亞伯拉罕向神求到10人就沒有再求了。

亞瑪謝也不是耶和華的祭司。他以為阿摩司所說的是為了有薪水，為了生活。亞瑪謝服事以自己有益處為原則。阿摩司不是為了這個先知服事，為了神的心意放下自己穩定的工作、生活。

我們今天是為誰辛苦為誰忙? 如果說為了教會，應該說為了神，如果為教會，是否為了建立大教會，建立功名在人間?

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How?

Honor the name of the Lord, do what God's command instead of human's word. This is the mission to Amos. So it is the same mission to us.

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion

Amos 6:1-14

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself—the Lord God Almighty declares: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”

But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”

For the Lord God Almighty declares, “I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah."

Affluence and comfortable living insulate people from real issues and breed false security. Self-sufficiency and pride have been the downfall of human beings from first to last. Now the pride of Israel, which God hades, will be brought low. Ruin and exile await God's people.

Why?

God hates the people who turn justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

People though put effort on their own strength, but the blessing is come from the Lord, without God's blessing everything will be nothing and the disaster is near.

God hates Israel nobles to live in a nice house and eating lavish food and wine, but they did evil things without righteousness.

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甲尼、哈馬、迦特，這些國家、城市都比以色列大，現在已經被滅掉，他們還以為自己的國家牢不可破嗎？這個安全感不是建立在神，而是建立在權力、財力、土地。如此還敢驕傲、過奢華的生活嗎？

這些人在撒馬利亞為首的，當官，被擄時也會最先被抓。

房內的人都死了，他們的伯叔來處理他們屍體，用燒的。沒有人能夠逃脫，有人在戰爭中沒有死，卻在瘟疫中死亡。這些抬屍的人也不敢大聲說話，怕也被神滅絕。馬在岩石上跑，蹄會受傷，牛也不可能在岩石上耕田。他們不是很聰明嗎？怎麼顛倒是非，是非不明。公義才是立國的根基。

有忖無恐，人以為沒有問題，掌握權力、財力、自視高，或是以為還有很多時間，繼續享受比較重要。掌握許多資源。我們以為可以靠自己的力量站立。甚至於基督徒聽道多了，那些在有生之年不會臨到。如果我們憑自己力量有安全感，神必興起一國，讓我們重重的摔下來。我們可能正在為工作、學業努力中。不要忘記神的審判。

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How?

Be humble and give thanks to the Lord for what I can do are the blessing and grace of the Lord.

Seek the Lord and live

Amos 5:1-27

Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilfal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilfal will surely to into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.           You trample on the poor and force him to give your grain. Therefor, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such time, for the times are evil.

Seek goon not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offering, I will not accept them.But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-fainting stream!

The funeral song for Israel is quickly followed by an appeal. God calls on his people to save their lives by seeking him. And this means, not yet more sacrifice at the nation’s corrupt sanctuaries, but reformed living - a return to God’s standards of justice and right conduct in public as well as private life.’

The Day of the Lord is coming, The people of Amos’s day used this expression to describe a time when God would act for them against their enemies. They looked forward to it. Shockingly, Amos says that on that day God will act against them because of their wickedness, The Day of the Lord will not be what they expected it will be like a leap from the frying-pan into the fire. The shock on shock, God declares that he does not appreciate or accept their worship. What he wants is justice, to see them do what is right.

Why?

Seek the Lord and live, this is the only way to live.

God despises religious feasts, God prefers his people to do justice and love in his daily life. Take care of the needed people and weak man. Let righteous be done on market and court.

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對稱式的寫法，前後以哀歌來表示。結局是令人哀歎的。

第二部份是勸告，不要……要……：不要去伯特利、吉甲、別士巴，去這幾個地方好像去朝聖。好像神在那幾個地方，最靠近神的地方。事實上只是身歷其境，幫助我們思想。不是神比較同在，比較親近神。這不是儀式。神不只在耶路撒冷、不是只在教會，神不在虛有其表的形式中。

第三要稟公行義。

第四： 神的宣告。從神的公義中去認識神，每天日月變化，都可以認識神的作為。

好像教會吩咐的我都做了，聖地我都去了。以為自己是與神同在，神在我這邊。神不要節氣、不要獻祭，如果沒有公平、公義，這些祭神都不要。虛有其表的敬拜、奉獻神都不喜悅。

人都要付代價，花錢、花力氣，為什麼要做神不喜悅的呢?把錢花在窮人，錢花在軟弱的人沒有回報，所以不願意做，沒有名份。 所有的代價我們付在什麼地方?祝福是神本來就要給我們的。不用用錢來換取神的祝福。神要我們行公義好憐憫！

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How?

God is warning and show to right way, let’s go on God’s way.

Yet you have not returned to me.

Amos 4:1-13

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!

I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me," Declares the Lord.

I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me.

You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me.

Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.

"yet you have not returned to me". Here have five times.

The luxury-loving women of Samaria who have 'fattened' themselves, at the expense of the poor, will be led away with hooks. The Assyrians actually di this to their captives. At the same time as they were crushing the helpless those for whom God had special care, protected under God's law, the people still kept up the religious facade. But 'insurance policy' religion is a mockery of the real thing. By famine and drought, blight, and disease God had warned them where they were heading - all to no avail.

Why?

God is caring for Israelite, God gives warning to them by many disasters but their hearts is like stone and refuse return to the Lord. So their destiny is worse than any other.

Through Amos's word, reveal the way for salvation, return back to the Lor Almighty is the only way.

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指責以色列的貴婦，她們的罪惡，過奢華的生活。巴姍的母牛，吃的肥胖。透過指揮她們的丈夫，拿酒來喝吧，假公濟私，做神不喜悅的事。作威作福，將被家畜市場一樣被賣掉。

伯特利和吉甲都是獻祭的地方。去那裏增加罪過。生活見證更重於獻祭。故意叫人看見她們的獻祭，拿出十一奉獻，奉獻的動機不正確。奉獻是感恩，還是要希望神的回報呢?

雖然我們奉獻，敬拜中可以得到祝福，但是不是為了得祝福而做。我們本來不配，奉獻只是存感恩的心。

缺少糧食、乾枯、瘟疫、降雨不正常、亡國等五個災難。神降災難必有神的計劃，這些警訊都沒有看見嗎？

我們的信仰是否在生活中，不是僅僅在聚會，讀經禱告。

是否預備好?迎見你的神。神是一切的創造者，創山、造風的神掌管一切，這些都是神有話說。

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How?

Our hearts sometime will be covered by our desire and ambition. Be aware to obey God's command and humble ourselves.

異象、野心

2010/5/31 高敏智牧師   台南聖教會

五種行路的人    行為X事件

1. 真壞人            +              -        = -

2. 假好人            -                +       = -

3. 悔改的壞人    -                -        = +

4. 真的好人        +               +       = +

5. 沒有意見的人 0              0       = 無知的百姓

假好人排行榜

1. 猶大  2.押沙龍  3.基哈希  4.假先知   5.分門結黨的長執

  押沙龍的心： 愛心，熱心、

 我的夢想，抱負、理想是來自自我，還是天上來的? 

思想-》祂必興旺，我必衰微！

1.若不是從天上賜的，人就不能得什麼?

   天上的典象，從天上來的通常不受人歡迎。

   野心較易受人認同，假先知、假好人的話比較受歡迎。

聖經的真好人排行榜

1.保羅 2.施洗約翰 3.摩西 4.瑪利亞 5.以斯帖  6.路得

 真是神的道路： 不怕死

1. 新郎的朋友……這喜樂滿足

2. 神所差來的就講神的話，所經歷的講不完！

3. 我的眼光是從天上來的！

弗3:10 神藉教會對執政掌權誰說神的話。

路17:26-37

如常： 又吃又喝，又買又賣，又耕種又建造。

如常的事，不是對的事

成功神學： 守株待兔，懶惰的

朝對的為方向走。

徒2:16-21 這正是先知約珥所說的：神說：在末後的日子，我要將我的靈澆灌凡有血氣的。你們的兒女要說預言；你們的少年人要見異象；老年人要做異夢。在那些日子，我要將我的靈澆灌我的僕人和使女，他們就要說預言。在天上、我要顯出奇事；在地下、我要顯出神蹟；有血，有火，有煙霧。日頭要變為黑暗，月亮要變為血；這都在主大而明顯的日子未到以前。到那時候，凡求告主名的，就必得救。