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This Week's Reading: Amos; Obadiah
Come Follow Me Insight #1
I’m not sure how astronomists can figure this out, but they estimate that there was a solar eclipse in Israel on June 15, 763 B.C. (Source) Amos lived and preached during this time. Those he taught would have remembered the eclipse well when Amos taught about the future downfall of Israel saying, “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.” (Amos 8:9)
Come Follow Me Insight #2
Amos quotes the Lord saying, “I will send a fire. . .” SIX times (Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12; 2:2, 5). This seems to show a very angry God. Is God angry? And if so, is that okay?
I love this quote from an in-depth study done on God’s anger. It explains so beautifully why God’s anger is actually the perfect manifestation of His parental love.
“When His children forget to acknowledge Him or when they deviate from the covenant path, He disciplines in wisdom, and His anger and justice are manifested and appropriately tailored to individual trajectories. Just as we cannot be lenient as parents around certain conditions that will cause future difficulties for our children, God is not a boundary breaker. He does not try to make us happy with His behavior toward us, but, rather, He sees the bigger picture and must use His agency to set firm limits. His unwavering intent is to bring His children back to His love and presence. In His mercy, He continues to warn us again and again until we turn to Him or sadly lose this opportunity through our own unrepentant sin. . . “ (Source)
Come Follow Me Insight #3
Amos 3:7 teaches, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” But are there any exceptions to that? There seems to be just one: the prophet does not know when the Second Coming will happen. Elder M. Russell Ballard said: “I am called as one of the apostles to be a special witness of Christ in these exciting, trying times, and I do not know when He is going to come again. As far as I know, none of my brethren in the Council of the Twelve or even in the First Presidency know. And I would humbly suggest to you, my young brothers and sisters, that if we do not know, then nobody knows, no matter how compelling their arguments or how reasonable their calculations. The Savior said that ‘of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only’ (Matthew 24:36).” (Source)
My Favorite Scriptures for the Week
- Amos 3:7
- Amos 4:12
- Amos 5:4
- Amos 5:14-15
- Amos 6:1
- Amos 8:11
- Obadiah 1:3
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