 Amos chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tequah, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Isaiah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said, the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers. All right, here we go. This is going to be a fun Bible study. Let's get some background information. Let me develop some things with you. And I don't think that the study tonight is going to take that long. It's really an introductory study. But let me give you some information related to this book and concerning Amos. And so for those of you who take notes, Amos prophesied, as mentioned, during the reign of Isaiah and the reign of Jeroboam. Now, Isaiah is the king of Judah. Jeroboam, the second, is who he's referring to, was the king of Israel. And so Bible commentators will date his book somewhere between 760 to 753 B.C. We see that Amos was a herdsman. He was also a farmer. And he was called to be a prophet to the nation. That's what it says in verse 1, when it says the words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tequah, when he saw concerning Israel in the days of Isaiah, king of Judah in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Jewish king of Israel two years before the earthquake. He was called by the Lord as a prophet. And a very interesting note that he refers to himself as a herdsman. He was a shepherd is what he was. And later on, he'll refer to himself, and I'll show you this in just a moment. He'll refer to himself as a farmer. And this is a man who was a herdsman and a farmer who's called by God to be a prophet to the nation. Now, when it speaks concerning Amos as a prophet, he does refer to himself in a certain way. It's interesting how the Lord used various men and women in the Old Testament to prophesy, to speak forth his word. Prophecy speaks forth, speaks up, speaking forth the word of God, speaking forth also as foretelling. So there are a couple of aspects of prophecy or a prophet. A prophet could be speaking forth the mind of God for that moment, but a prophet also, Amos is speaking concerning the mind of God for the future. There are times that he will forth tell, meaning he'll speak concerning what God is concerned about right now, and he'll declare the mind of God. And then there are other times when the prophet will give information related to things that will take place in the still distant future. And when you look at the various prophets, and I didn't want to do this because it would take too much time, but if you look at the prophetic in the Old Testament, you'll see that there are kings who were prophets, kings like David and kings like Solomon. There were rich men who were prophetic, men like Abraham. There were priests who also were prophets, men like Samuel. So it's interesting to note that God is speaking through a man who's referring to himself as a herdsman or a farmer. And so this call, this call to prophesy to the nation, well, it comes from God. It doesn't come from somebody's extreme qualifications. Like I said, there are kings and there are priests, rich men, etc., who are used by the Lord to prophesy. But he begins by letting us know that he's nothing. Nothing in the sight of others. He was simply a herdsman. He was a shepherd and he was simply a farmer. Now, he was from a small village. He refers to it as Tequah. The word Tequah speaks of a stockade. And if you were looking at a map of Israel and you saw the city of Jerusalem, well, Tequah would be a small city that was 12 miles south of the city of Jerusalem. And it's near the city that's also referred to in Scripture as Hebron. Now, as mentioned a moment ago, his humble origins didn't impress the people of his day. You can see that. You can actually fast forward that to even today. And you can see that people who have humble origins very often aren't looked at or regarded very highly by many people. They very often will think that if you're going to be somebody that is used in a mighty way, that you really ought to have to agree. But God has always had a way of using the off-scouring, using those that were not esteemed highly. He has always had a way of using them because Paul would tell us in 1 Corinthians because when he uses people like that who are not noble and mighty and all of that, he says that's because people like that don't steal glory from God because God gets all the glory so we'll look and say how is it that this person is being used in such a magnificent capacity and then they have to say within themselves it's got to be God because there's certainly no quality that that person has on their own. So his humble origins didn't impress the people of his day. When you look at this and we're going to be seeing this later on in chapter 7, there's a priest and his name is Amaziah. And this priest named Amaziah brings an accusation against him. Amaziah accuses Amos of conspiring against the king and he says you're causing the nation of Israel to become discouraged. You see Amos had told the people of the northern kingdom that they were going to go into captivity and so this priest Amaziah is very upset and actually brings an accusation against him to the king. You see at that time when you look in the Bible you'll discover this at that time the nation of Israel was actually divided into two kingdoms divided into what is called the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. And when that division occurred during the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon when that kingdom division occurred through a rebellion by a man named Jeroboam Jeroboam went to the north and he took ten of the tribes with him and they became what is called the ten northern tribes. And so Jeroboam divided the nation of Israel which was made up of twelve tribes into the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes. Now in order to keep the people from the north from going to the temple which was in the south in the city of Jerusalem he set up alternative worship sites. So you have at the northern portion of the nation of Israel in a region that is called Dan you had an altar that was built by Jeroboam we have been to this altar twenty three twenty four times it is up in the north but there was a second altar it was in a place called Bethel if you were looking at a map Bethel would have been at the southern most border that was separating northern Israel from Judah so Amaziah is a priest in Bethel he is a priest over this alternative site to worship and Amos you will see this when we get to chapter seven Amos has been prophesying that the Assyrians are going to come and take the nation into captivity that the ten northern tribes are going to be taken into captivity Amaziah is typical of many people even to this day who gets upset to hear a negative report and so he is upset and he is saying you are discouraging the people by saying that people are going to be taken into captivity and he brings this report to the king and he tells the king that this man Amos is discouraging the people by saying they are going to go into captivity and so they are very upset now that tells me that when he is speaking to Amos it gives me some insight into Amos as being what would be called a prophet to the north but also referred to theologically as a northern prophet because he is speaking to the people in the north at that time and so he is a northern prophet and so this man Amosiah's response is typical of people who are convicted of sin and so he says this message that you are bringing is not welcome in Israel when you read Amos chapter seven verse twelve and we will get there in about six months when you get to Amos chapter seven verse twelve Amosiah said to Amos go you seer flee to the land of Judah there eat bread and there prophesy so he is saying we don't want your message here because you are bringing discouragement again fast forward and I like to take the Bible because I think it is practical through every generation there are insights we can gain from what God says and even to those in the past we should be learning from those things ourselves here in the present and once again it is not really a popular thing to give the full counsel of God it really isn't there are ministries today that are being built on making sure not to bring a word that discourages because people get upset I was just told that this just this last week that there is somebody to come here because they feel convicted they don't want to be convicted they want to go someplace where they don't have a sense of conviction and that's not an atypical thing there are quite a number of people who say speak to me smooth things speak to me things I want to hear tickle my ears don't make me feel that there is anything wrong in my life and that's what was taking place here that's what was taking place during that time and so Amosiah says don't be speaking like that here go to Judah go down south and speak to them and eat there and live there but leave us alone so when he tells them go you see or flee to the land of Judah there eat bread and there prophesy Amos responded by prophesying against Israel and he gave a personal word against Amaziah in chapter 7 verses 14 and 15 to Amosiah I was no prophet nor was I a son of a prophet but I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore fruit then the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me go prophesy to my people Israel and now he begins to prophesy and he gives a word to Amosiah and he says in chapter 7 verse 17 this is to this priest Amosiah your wife he says to Amosiah your wife shall be a harlot in the city your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword your land shall be divided by survey line you shall die in a defiled land and Israel shall surely be led away captive from his own land and so when he is saying prophesy to a smooth things to discourage us go down to Judah and say that to them but leave us alone he got very intensely personal at that moment well that message that message that he has that we'll be looking at as we go through Amos was not well received because the nation at that time was doing outwardly well there was a false sense of security that had taken over and people began to be callous concerning God his law and the things that he would require of man Amos prophesied that God would bring judgment and the judgment he speaks about is both near and future and we'll see that as we go through the book you see the nation of Israel is filled with outward religion but it's also filled with oppression of the poor with idolatry and self-righteousness the nation is filled with greed and materialism it's filled with arrogance and is now ripe for judgment so Amos begins to warn them but they refuse to repent and judgment is going to come upon them we will see that as we go through the book of Amos and so beginning in verses 1 and 2 here in Amos chapter 1 the words of Amos who was among the herdsmen of Tecwa which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Isaiah king of Judah the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel two years before the earthquake he said the Lord roars from Zion utters his voice from Jerusalem the pastors of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers eloquent words for a man who is really what we would today refer to as a country preacher he speaks of two years he says before the earthquake now that's speaking of a great earthquake that occurred in the nation of Israel and that is spoken of almost 200 years later in the book of Zechariah because in Zechariah 14 verse 5 it says you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Isaiah king of Judah so he's using that as a marker for time to let the people know when he is prophesying and all and he says in verse 2 the Lord roars from Zion the pastors of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers and so God is portrayed here notice how it says in verse 2 the Lord roars God is portrayed as a lion when it says the Lord roars from Zion utters his voice from Jerusalem he's portrayed as a lion that's about to pounce upon its prey God is being presented here in the book of Amos from the beginning as about to bring judgment he uses this description to awaken them Joel in chapter 3 verse 16 says it like this the Lord also will roar from Zion utter his voice from Jerusalem the heavens and earth will shake but the Lord will be a shelter for his people in the strength of the children of Israel so God is portrayed as a lion about to pounce upon its prey because he's bringing judgment and so it says and utters his voice from Jerusalem then goes on to say the pastors of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel Mount Carmel withers so what is he saying he's saying there's going to be a drought and this drought is going to cause people to mourn because the judgments are going to be coming across from God and the drought is going to produce a famine and the people are going to be hungry and there will be a time of great sorrow and great pain now as he's bringing this theme of judgment he begins to itemize different places that will go through judgment and as I said I'll touch on these things briefly this isn't going to be a real long bible study today I don't think we'll see I'll wake you up when I'm through in verse 3 because the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they have thrashed Gilead with implements of iron but I will send a fire into the house of Haseel which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad I will also break the gate bar of Damascus cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Avene and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-Eden the people of Syria shall go captive to cur says the Lord now he's beginning to bring judgment place by place so this is a section that deals with the judgments upon nations that are close to the nation of Israel now we need to remember that God is not simply the God of Israel but God is the God of the entire world and though we're living in his time of grace he still is going to judge the world for its rejection of him and the Bible makes it very clear that God is judge when you look at Psalm 50 verse 6 it says let the heavens declare his righteousness for God himself is judge during this time there was this belief amongst the pagan nations that you had what would be called local deities your local God and so the Ammonites would have their God but you'd have the Gods of the Mobites and you'd have the variety of peoples that are around Israel that had what are called tribal Gods and so if I were part of a nation that was at war with another nation I might bring an idol with me which was symbolic of the fact this God that I worshiped was on my side in battle but if the people that we are fighting against were to have victory over us then it would not simply be a picture of these people having victory it would be a picture of their God also having victory and so during the time of the writing of the Bible these people would carry with them their tribal Gods the Bible portrays God as a tribal God the Bible portrays God reveals God to be the God of the whole earth Abraham is speaking to heavenly visitors when he's there outside of a tent and beginning to speak to him God himself is beginning to speak to Abraham concerning judgment that is going to take place on Sodom and Gomorrah and some of the small cities that surrounded those two cities and as Abraham is speaking to the Lord it's in chapter 18 of Genesis when he's speaking to the Lord he says shall not the judge of the whole earth do it is right so Abraham from that point he knew that this God that he's speaking to is not a tribal God but God is the God of the entire earth and that's why the heavens declare his righteousness because God is a judge and so he's bringing judgment and that's the point that he's making and he's speaking concerning various places that judgment will take place on first is Damascus and as we look at that he begins to speak concerning that Damascus serious God is judging them God is judging them because of the cruelty and he's judging them because of the cruelty to the inhabitants of Gilead when you look in a map and you look on the east side of the Jordan river that area there south a little north of and to the east of Jerusalem we'll say that region in that general area is called Gilead and so he's speaking concerning the cruelty to the inhabitants of Gilead now it would seem that they've committed atrocities notice what it says for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they have thrashed Gilead with implements of iron the implements of iron were instruments that were used for reaping and the picture that you have here is unspeakable cruelty that they were using on those that they were coming against these people from Damascus were actually butchering the people that they were coming against that's what he's saying they have thrashed Gilead with implements of iron which you say how cruel the people of that day were and we have that taking place even today through Isis and that's what was taking place even then there were atrocities they were using thrashing instruments in a brutal fashion and so as you're looking at the map and you're looking at Jerusalem and you're going north a little bit you're looking into an area there Gilead that would be called today and he says these atrocities took place so what is it going to do verse 4 he says I'll send fire into the house of Hazel which I'll devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad and so when he speaks of Hazel he's speaking of a king the palaces of Ben-Hadad speaks of ancestral palaces in Syria and what he's saying simply is I'm going to bring judgment on the King of Syria he says in verse 5 he says in verse 6 he says and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden the people of Syria shall go captive and curse as the Lord and so these are locations that speak of areas that are in Syria and he's saying that this is going to take place these people that he's referring to were taken captive by the Assyrians and they were relocated to a place near the Assyrian capital he goes on to speak of the kingdom Gaza thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Gaza and for four now when he uses that formula he's speaking about multiple transgressions it's not just that they had four but this is a way of saying you have many transgressions I will not turn away its punishment and he gives a reason because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them to Edom but I will send a fire to the Gaza's I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter from Ashcalan I will turn my hand against Ekron and the remnant of the Flisting shall perish says the Lord God and so he continues and he's saying this is another location and this is for Gaza Gaza is in the south Israel, Gaza is to the south and to the west of the city of Jerusalem and it's the region that the Flistings occupied during that day is speaking of the Flisting Empire and he's saying I'm bringing judgment on you because what you have done is and he says in verse 6 you have taken captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom you have taken prisoners of war and you have sold them into slavery and so I'm going to deal with you now this is something that did take place because in 2 Kings chapter 18 verses 7 and 8 it speaks concerning Hezekiah king and it says the Lord was with him he prospered wherever he went and he rebelled against the king of Assyria did not serve him he subdued the Flistings as far as Gaza and its territory from Watchtower to Fortified City so God says I'm bringing judgment which took place through Hezekiah verses 9 and 10 for three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom did not remember the covenant of brotherhood but I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre which shall devour its palaces Tyre is also ancient Phoenicia it's up to the north in what is modern Lebanon and it's interesting what they're getting judged for they're getting judged he says for breaking a treaty for breaking a treaty they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood it's another way of saying they broke a treaty we'll take a moment to look at that what is he referring to if you read your Bible you're going to discover that there's a king by the name of David king David had a buddy a friend by the name of Hyrum Hyrum was king of Tyre king Hyrum was close to king David and so they had a covenant that they had made you see no king of Israel no king of Judah had ever made war with Tyre because they had a covenant but this covenant this treaty had been broken and as they broke the treaty with Israel they had sold the Jews into captivity to the Edomites we'll look at that in a moment because all of this is going to tie together and you'll see this in just a minute as they develop some practical application for this but they sold the Jews into captivity to the Edomites and they disregarded their covenant with the nation of Israel I mentioned that David made a treaty with this man named Hyrum and this treaty had been renewed by his son Solomon in 1 Kings 5 verse 12 it says the Lord gave Solomon wisdom just as he had promised him there were peaceful relations between Hyrum and Solomon and the two of them made a treaty but the treaty had been broken and God brings judgment on them in verse 10 it says eventually the Assyrians came against Tyre but they couldn't take the city eventually a king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against them and they built a city on an island about a half mile off the coast Nebuchadnezzar came in and destroyed the city the former city but he allowed the one that was built a half mile into the sea he allowed that to remain around 250 years later a man by the name of Alexander the great came and these people on the city that were there on the island began to taunt him and so what Alexander did he was an amazing general what Alexander did is he built what is called a causeway he just got debris from the old city and they built a roadway into the ocean from the debris of the old city and they came and they took the city of Tyre Ezekiel tells us in chapter 26 verses 2 through 4 it reads son of man because Tyre has said against Jerusalem aha she is broken who was the gateway of the peoples now she has turned over to me she is filled she has laid waste therefore thus says the Lord God behold I am against you oh Tyre and will cause many nations to come up against you as the sea causes its waves to come up they shall destroy the walls of Tyre break down her towers I will also scrape her dust from her and make her look and make her like the top of a rock which is exactly what took place the city was destroyed in verse 11 and 12 thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away its punishment because he pursued his brother with the sword cast off all pity his anger tore perpetually he kept his wrath forever I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the palaces of Basra and I will look at that judgment against Edom why was judgment being brought against Edom Edom had a vengeful spirit now when you are looking at a map and you are looking at Israel across to the east Jordan river you find the land of Edom Edom descended from a man by the name of Esau even as Israel descended from a man named Jacob when you read the Bible in the book of Genesis you discover that Jacob and Esau were twin brothers to their father Isaac and from the very beginning they had conflict even in the womb there were two nations within the womb that were battling against one another and so from the very beginning there was antagonism between the two men as you read the Bible Esau never had a good relationship with his brother Jacob and he never lives at peace with him so his descendants also opposed the Jews when Israel was delivered from Egypt and was in the wilderness they needed to pass through the region of Edom and it says in the book of Numbers 20 verses 17 through 20 that they made a request they said please let us pass through your country we will not pass through fields or vineyards nor will we drink water from wells we will go along the king's highway we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we pass through your territory Edom said to him you shall not pass through my land lest I come out against you with a sword so the children of Israel said to him we will go by the highway and if I or my livestock drink any of your water then I'll pay for it let me only pass through on foot nothing more we will not pass through so Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand and God says because of that I will bring judgment upon you notice what he says in verse 12 I will send a fire upon Taman Taman is a region that is there in what is today modern Jordan which shall devour the palaces of Basra and Basra is a town there in that area now I'm going to send a fire upon Taman all of you have heard the city of Petra Petra is the capital of Edom Petra was located in the region of Taman and so he's simply saying the palaces of the city of Basra will be destroyed and they were in Jeremiah 49-13 I have sworn by myself says the Lord that Basra shall become a desolation a reproach and a curse and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes and then he says in verse 13 thus says the Lord for three transgressions of the people of Ammon and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead that they might enlarge their territory but I will kindle a fire in the wall of Raba and it shall devour its palaces amid shouting in the day of battle and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind their king shall go into captivity he and his princes together says the Lord Ammon Ammon is north of Edom again in the region of modern Jordan and was an ally of Syria Ammonites Ammonites are descendants that came into existence through an incestuous relationship between Abraham's nephew Lot and his youngest daughter when you look in the story of Abraham Abraham was an idolater in the land of Ur of the Caldees in ancient Mesopotamia and the Lord God spoke to Abraham said get out of your country I'm going to take you to a place that I'm going to bless you with in Mesopotamia now he was from a family of idolaters but God revealed himself to Abram at that time his name was Abram Abram had a wife her name was Sarai the name Abram when you look at it is literally translated High Father Exalted High Father Sarai is the name Dominative God speaks to Abram says get up leave your family and everything you know and follow me by faith into a region and a place that I'm only promising you that you by the eye of faith are going to have to see and receive and I'm going to take you and I'm going to bless you and ultimately you see this in Genesis 12 1-3 he says those who bless you I will bless those who curse you and minister in very specific ways from Genesis 12 following in the life of Abram Abram ultimately has an opportunity an opportunity to choose where he's going to be because you see he has a nephew by the name of Lot and Lot and Abram both had become very wealthy through the fact that they had herds and multiplied and the herdsmen for Abram and the herdsmen for Lot began to have conflict because the herds had grown so great in numbers and all that it is causing a problem between those two groups and so Abram speaks to his nephew and they're standing there at the plane of Sodom now when you read your Bible Sodom is described as being an amazingly beautiful place if you've been to Israel you know that when you go into the region of Sodom which is by the Dead Sea now that it is absolutely barren it's dead everything's dead around there it's very uninhabitable but that's how it became that's not how it was so during the time of Abram and his nephew Lot when they were standing there looking at this plane Abram said you decide what you'd like to do you go to the right I'll go to the left you go to the left I'll go to the right and so the Bible tells us very descriptively that when Lot is looking he sees how beautiful and lush Sodom is in the surrounding area and he chooses to go into Sodom so first he looks at Sodom and chooses to go there ultimately he dwells in Sodom and finally becomes a judge within the gates of Sodom so he became very situated in this very evil region very evil city as he's there and as he's amongst these people God makes a visitation to Abram his uncle and says the cry of the evil and wickedness of this area has come to my ears I've come down to see whether these things are so in other words I'm investigating for judgment and at that point we all know the story because Abram knows that he has his nephew his nephew's wife and a certain amount of family that is there Abram begins at that point to begin to discuss God's mercy with him and says for the sake of fifty will you spare the city and God says yes for the sake of fifty and he keeps on bargaining if you will speaking to the Lord how about forty how about thirty how about twenty he wants to come to the number ten he wants to come to the number ten because that's how many relatives he has there in the city of Sodom so he finally comes to the number ten for the sake of ten I've taken it upon myself to speak to you I'll speak to you one more time then I'll be silent for the sake of ten will you spare that city and God says yes I will spare that city for the sake of ten and now he knows that there can be mercy afforded to Lot his wife and daughters and sons and all of that he knows that that can take place and he rests in the goodness and mercy of God as God goes and pays that visit we all know the story of what took place when the angels came in and as they came into the city the city of Sodom they knocked on the door of Lot and Lot opens the door and brings them in actually you can almost see him dragging them in as quickly as possible because the men of the city were exceedingly wicked and he says come on in come under the shelter of my roof but the men of Sodom pressed against the door and started saying bring out the men that are lodging with you because we want to know them we want to have carnal relations with them and he came out and argued with them and he said no these men are visitors they're under the customary protection of my home how can you do such an evil thing he even went so far as to say take your daughters take them they said no you came to sojourn amongst us and now you've become our judge the angels caused blindness to take place and those who were trying to press into the house and they were groping as if in the dark they were blind and they couldn't find them and Lot is commanded get out leave nothing behind move well he had compromised his testimony with his family and when he said we've got to get out of here there's going to be a judgment that's taking place not everyone went with them his wife did and two of his daughters and as they went out we all know the story of Lot's wife as they were leaving the city and fleeing as quickly as they could to a small city called Zawar as they were on the way there she turned around and she looked and everybody knows the story of Lot's wife in fact Jesus uses it in his teaching prophetically by simply saying remember Lot's wife remember Lot's wife she turned and she looked and I used to wonder why did she get judged for doing something like that because the Bible says that when she turned and looked she became a pillar of salt she was caught in the judgment that came upon those cities it's because when you look at what it's saying there it is literally saying that Lot's wife turned with longing because though her body had left Sodom her heart remained and so she was caught in the judgment and she became a pillar of salt the two daughters are there with their father and they speak to one another and they say our father is not going to have any seed to carry on his name and this is what we'll do the older and the younger devise the plan and they gave drink to their father Lot and when he was drunk totally incapacitated apparently they went and lay with him and he impregnated both of his daughters one of his daughters became the one who bore the foundation of Moab the other daughter the younger one is the one who brought forth the Ammonites and so the Ammonites are being referred to here in this particular portion of Scripture they were descended from the incestuous relationship of Lot and his youngest daughter the Moabites and the Ammonites came into existence through them by way of application it began with a look with Lot it began with a look Abram said you look which side you want rather than humbly saying Abram I owe everything to you everything to you you see when you read the story of Lot Lot had been taken captive by the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah he had been taken captive when they had come and been arrayed and Abram armed men of his own household and they went off and rescued Lot from captivity and he had seen nothing but good from his uncle Abram but when he was looking and he saw how beautiful Sodom was how lush and beautiful and how great it would be to live in that upper echelon that upper neighborhood if you will his eyes just desired those things his heart was captivated by those things and ultimately he was dwelling amongst those things and began the scripture says that he was vexed by the sinful ways that they lived he remained there be very careful what you set your affection on be very careful what you set your attention on be very careful what you long for because you just may get it it's interesting how the scripture says that God gave to the children of Israel their requests but he sent leanness to their soul and there are some things that we might long for and desire to have things that we think we can't live without that are actually going to be destructive in our spiritual life or in our marriage or in our jobs or whatever because we're setting our attention and affection on things that are not edifying he began in a good way but he ended up having an incestuous relationship with his two daughters and producing Moabites and Ammonites now as it speaks here it says in verse 13 for three transgressions of the people of Ammon and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead that they might enlarge their territory what they had done these people is they had joined the Syrians and they began to fight against the tribes of Israel that had remained on the eastern side the Lord had said to the children of Israel to cross over the Jordan and enter in and take the land of Israel but there were two and a half tribes that remained there was a tribe of Reuben which is the first Mexican tribe there was Gad and then you had half the half tribe of Manasseh and they remained on the east side of the Jordan and so these were people that had been attacked by the Ammonites who had joined forces with the Syrians and when it speaks concerning this horrible thing and notice they ripped open the women with child that there is hardly anything more descriptive of something more barbaric than the fact that these were pregnant women that these soldiers took their swords and sliced them open killing the women and killing those children well that occurred under Hazael in 2 Kings chapter 8 verses 7 through 12 it speaks of Elisha the prophet and it says Elisha went to Damascus Ben Haddad king of Syria was sick it was told him saying the man of God has come here and the king said to Hazael take a present in your hand and go meet the man of God and inquire of the Lord by him saying shall I recover from this disease so Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him of every good thing of Damascus 40 camel loads and he came and stood before him and said your son Ben Haddad king of Syria has sent me to you saying shall I recover from this disease and Elisha said to him go say to him you shall certainly recover and however the Lord has shown me that he will really die then he said his countenance in a stair until he was ashamed and the man of God wept Hazael said why is my Lord weeping he answered because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel their strongholds you will set on fire their young men with the sword and you will dash their children and open their women with child when this man went back to Ben Haddad to bring this news he ended up murdering the king and took over himself and so Elisha was simply prophesying what was going to take place and for that God judged the Ammonites he said in verse 14 and shall devour its palaces amid shouting in the day of battle and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind their king shall go into captivity he and his princes together says the Lord and so he said I'll kindle a fire in the wall of Braba Braba is an ancient city it's the ancient capital of Ammon Ammon is located nearby and built upon its ancient ruins and this city was destroyed Jeremiah 49 says in verse 2 behold the days are coming says the Lord that I'll cause to be heard an alarm of war in Braba of the Ammonites it shall be desolate mount a desolate mount your villages shall be burned with fire then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance as the Lord and then finally the king shall go into captivity he and the princes together it's interesting and I'll close with thoughts when it says their king shall go into captivity that word king there is interesting because it is also translated molach the king referred to there it could be translated molach molach I mentioned to you it's also molach was a god a pagan god that I shared this with you recently was worshiped where they would actually it had a human human body and I believe it had a it had a I can't remember the kind of head it had but it was ugly but it and an animal's head and they had the arms in a certain way and it actually had seven chambers and you would make you would make sacrifices for a variety of things and you would put whatever your sacrifice whether it was grain or whatever you would put it on into a little they called it chapels in a little chapel and it would burn but if you wanted fertility if you wanted to have many children what you would do is you would come with your infant your firstborn and you would place it in the arms of this it was a bull you would put the baby in the arms of the bull god and the baby would roll his arms into a furnace during that act of worship and sacrifice music would be played very loudly and it would be what is called discordant it would be music that just made no sense it just was loud and confusing because they wanted the father who was making the sacrifice to not be able to hear the sound of his child who was being burned alive in the belly of this idol so when it says their king shall go into captivity he and his princes together the king is also translated moloch the idol of the ammonites so it can speak of moloch as well as the king itself the princes can also be speaking not simply of governmental officials but also those who are religious priests if you will leaders and so it may be that when he's writing he's speaking of not just the king in terms of politics but the entire system is the going to captivity everything is to be undermined and destroyed because god is going to conquer all of that the king shall go into captivity and the princes together could be another way of saying the god of Israel will be victorious not just against the human government but the religious system behind it one of the things and we'll close with this thought that we need to keep in mind especially today is that governmental system throughout the world though they may be denying their original foundation many of them are ideological governmental systems that are based on a certain religious principle and faith the united states was initially built on what has been referred to as the Judeo-Christian ethic because pilgrims came brought their god brought the bible brought their faith and pilgrims derived their faith not simply from what is called the Christian faith but from its Jewish roots and that's why it's called Judeo-Christian Jewish Christian I have right now you can't see it obviously because I have it under my t-shirt but I have a star David and a cross and that I wear and I was in line at a local market a while back now and the guy behind the counter who was doing the checking and all saw it and he was kind of interesting because he reached over and he grabbed it actually flicked it he kind of picked it up like that and said what's this and I'm looking at him and I'm thinking what is it to do I'm not used to people doing that it's kind of a rude thing to do so I said what do you mean he said well what is that and I said it's a star David with a cross and he says to me what's it mean I said it means I'm going to hit you in the nose I said I'm not going to pay for this bread no what does it mean and I said it's giving recognition to my Christian faith that the star of David represents the nation of Israel the cross represents Christ who is Jewish and so the star of David with the cross is symbolic of my faith in Christ who is Jewish and so it turns out that the guy was a professing Christian so he asks me what church do you want to go to and I said I go to Calvary Chapel Chino Valley oh and then he tells me I came out of a Calvary Chapel he mentions the name of the Calvary that he came out of and now he wants to argue with me about the pastor of that church and this I just want my bread give me my milk you know let me out of here well he's going to argue first you're picking a fight what do you want to talk about my friends it was odd but the whole thing is as a Christian I look back at the roots that I have and I know that my belief system is built in the Judeo-Christian faith and I also know that this government that we have is also built on that it's interesting when people begin to say we cannot legislate morality you've all heard it but the fact is that's what laws do every law that we have almost every law that you have is going to find it's outrooted in one of the commandments of God and that's one of the reasons why it's so very important for us to understand that when it comes to argumentation as it relates to the changing of laws to include different forms of making determinations as to what is right and wrong which is the argument that people are having right now concerning the implementation of what is called Sharia law because that comes into conflict with the American understanding of law and order and Americans right now don't seem to understand that whenever somebody who is Muslim who is very strongly Muslim whenever they say I don't like you saying Jesus or whenever they say I don't like you doing whatever in the name of Mary Christmas or whatever we don't like that what they're in reality doing and a lot of people don't understand this is they're basically saying I don't like your religion so I'm going to have mine over yours so every time we turn and we say oh you know we're being Christian and all that sure okay I won't mention Jesus because it'll offend you in reality I have just put myself voluntarily under their law which if you're in Saudi Arabia or any other government Sharia if you're in that country you can't wear a cross you can't bring your Bible in you don't mention the name of Jesus you won't find a church unless it's underground and that's what's taking place right now there is a battle going on it's spiritual in nature it is spiritual in nature it is a battle of God's truth and Satan's lie and as Christians we understand that we also know the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds we understand that our weaponry is spiritual the sword of the spirit the breastplate of righteousness the helmet of salvation our loins are girded with truth we have our feet shot in the preparation of the gospel of peace we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit because we understand that it's not simply someone's opinion especially when they're trying to forbid the name of Jesus from being said but it is spiritual in nature because Satan hates Jesus Christ that's the reason why we understand that our God is not simply a God of compassion our God is an awesome judge of the universe and that's why we bow our knees to Jesus Christ alone because we understand that and God is simply saying those false gods that you have been worshiping I am the God over everything everything and that's where the New Testament comes in where the Bible says every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to glory of God the Father so what you're looking at amen so he's saying I am victorious not just over government but I am victorious over the ideologies that create false religions that destroy lives I am the God that will destroy those too they will be under my feet all of that is fulfilled through Jesus Christ