Prepare to Meet Your God | Amos
By Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
From Amos 4:6-13
4:6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. 7 “I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither; 8 so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. 9 “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. 10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. 11 “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. 12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” 13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
These eight verses can be divided into six sections, formed by verse 6, verses 7-8, verse 9, verse 10, verse 11, and verses 12-13.
A distinct and common pattern runs in the first five sections (verses 6 to 11). “The Lord gave – yet you did not return to me – declares the Lord.” We see the will of God from this pattern. The Lord wants men to return to Him and to stop doing the things that He hates. And five times, the Scriptures say, “yet you did not return to me.” The Lord is terribly heart-broken over this.
In the first four sections (verses 6 to 10), the Lord sent several natural disasters that are particularly devastating to an agricultural society—food shortage, drought, disease, locusts, and plagues. The Lord did not send disasters for the sake of sending disasters. The Lord wanted repentance from the people, but still, they did not return to the Lord. As a result, they were likened to Sodom and Gomorrah in the fifth wave of disaster. The Lord declared, “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” This was a warning of destruction!
The prophet proclaimed to the Israelites, the people of God, in Amos 4:12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.” We must also prepare to meet the Lord. Is this global pandemic we now face a warning? One day, global disasters will surely come. Are we ready?
Amos 4:13 “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.” This is the prophet’s counsel for us: The Lord God is the God who controls the universe, He is the creator of all things. Let us return to Him! If He comes back today, are you prepared to meet Him?
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你當預備迎見你的神 | 阿摩司書
張國強牧師
阿摩司書 4:6-13
4:6 我使你們在一切城中牙齒乾淨, 在你們各處糧食缺乏, 你們仍不歸向我, 這是耶和華說的。7 在收割的前三月我使雨停止, 不降在你們那裡, 我降雨在這城, 不降雨在那城, 這塊地有雨, 那塊地無雨, 無雨的就枯乾了。8 這樣, 兩三城的人湊到一城去找水, 卻喝不足, 你們仍不歸向我, 這是耶和華說的。9 我以旱風, 霉爛攻擊你們, 你們園中許多菜蔬、葡萄樹、無花果樹、橄欖樹都被剪蟲所喫, 你們仍不歸向我, 這是耶和華說的。10 我降瘟疫在你們中間, 像在埃及一樣, 用刀殺戮你們的少年人, 使你們的馬匹被擄掠, 營中屍首的臭氣撲鼻, 你們仍不歸向我, 這是耶和華說的。11 我傾覆你們中間的城邑, 如同我從前傾覆所多瑪蛾摩拉一樣, 使你們好像從火中抽出來的一根柴, 你們仍不歸向我, 這是耶和華說的。12 以色列阿, 我必向你如此行, 以色列阿, 我既這樣行, 你當預備迎見你的神。 13 那創山,造風, 將心意指示人, 使晨光變為幽暗, 腳踏在地之高處的, 他的名是耶和華萬軍之神。
這八節的經文可以分為六組, V6是第一組, V7-8是第二組, V9是第三組, V10是第四組, V11是第五組, V12-13是第六組。
1-5組經文有一個共同的模式。神使 – 仍不悔改 – 這是耶和華說的。在這個模式裡我們可以看見神的心意, 神要人歸向祂, 不要再作這些神憎惡的事, 但聖經卻出現了五次, 你們仍不歸向我。神是何等的難過。
前面四組的經文中, V.6-10 神使用了很多自然性的災難, 這些災難明顯對一個農業國家來說是非常的可怕, 沒有糧食, 沒有雨水, 有旱災, 有蝗蟲, 有瘟疫等的災難, 神不是為降災而降災, 神要的是悔改，但他們卻仍不歸向神。結果第五組的災難是使他們好像所多瑪蛾摩拉一樣, 神說: 我傾覆你們中間的城邑, 如同我從前傾覆所多瑪蛾摩拉一樣。這是滅亡的警告啊!
先知向以色列人, 屬神的人發出宣告, 4:12 以色列阿, 我必向你如此行, 以色列阿, 我既這樣行, 你當預備迎見你的神。我們也當預備迎見神, 我們現在所面對全球性的災難, 也不正是一種提醒嗎? 總有一天全球性的災難總會來臨的, 我們預備好了嗎？
4:13 那創山,造風, 將心意指示人, 使晨光變為幽暗, 腳踏在地之高處的, 他的名是耶和華萬軍之神。這是先知提醒我們, 神是掌管宇宙的神, 因祂是宇宙萬物的創造者, 我們快快歸向祂吧! 如果今天祂就要回來, 你預備好了嗎？