Elkanah’s love

Posted on February 25, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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Elkanah’s love

1 Samuel 1:1-8 (JDV)

1 Samuel 1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim-tsofim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1 Samuel 1:2 He had two wives, one named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
1 Samuel 1:3 This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahveh of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were Yahveh’s priests.
1 Samuel 1:4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.
1 Samuel 1:5 But he gave a double portion to Hannah because he cared for her even though Yahveh had kept her from conceiving.
1 Samuel 1:6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her because Yahveh had kept Hannah from conceiving.
1 Samuel 1:7 Year after year, when she went up to Yahveh’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.
1 Samuel 1:8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Elkanah’s love

Elkanah was fair to both of his wives, but he was compassionate to Hannah because of her distress. As believers, we should be fair to all, but we should show Elkanah’s love to the less fortunate. There are many around us who will give us an opportunity to show that kind of love. We should thank the LORD for that gift.

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promise and context

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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promise and context

Amos 9:1-15 (JDV)

Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Hit the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
Amos 9:2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there my hand will take them; if they climb up to the sky,1 from there I will bring them down.
Amos 9:3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor, from there I will command the sea snake to bite them.
Amos 9:4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.
Amos 9:5 Yahveh, the God of Armies – he touches the land; it melts, and all who live in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.
Amos 9:6 He builds his upper chambers in the sky and lays the foundation of his vault on the land. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the land. Yahveh is his name.
Amos 9:7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is Yahveh’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
Amos 9:8 Notice, the eyes of the Lord Yahveh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will obliterate it from the face of the land. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob — this is Yahveh’s declaration —
Amos 9:9 Notice, because I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
Amos 9:10 All the sinners among my people who say: “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword.
Amos 9:11 In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
Amos 9:12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name — this is the declaration of Yahveh; he will do this.
Amos 9:13 Notice, the days are coming– this is Yahveh’s declaration– when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.
Amos 9:14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and live in ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce.
Amos 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. Yahveh your God has spoken.

promise and context

The good news that the LORD is going to rebuild Israel comes in the context of the bad news that it is the LORD who is orchestrating their destruction. The sinners among his people are so sure of their secure position and the support of their political alliances that they boast “Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.” But the LORD has a sword with their name on it. The prophets remind us that our Lord’s mercy and grace comes in the context of his own severe justice.

LORD, forgive us for placing confidence in confidence itself. We run to you for cleansing and forgiveness. repair our ruins, and begin with the ruins of our hearts.

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a revelation famine

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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a revelation famine

Amos 8:1-14 (JDV)

Amos 8:1 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed a basket of summer fruit.
Amos 8:2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Yahveh said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will no longer spare them.
Amos 8:3 On that day the temple songs will become yelling”1 – this is the Lord Yahveh’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!”
Amos 8:4 Listen to this, you who are trampling on the needy and doing away with the poor of the land,
Amos 8:5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales.
Amos 8:6 We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the chaff!”
Amos 8:7 Yahveh has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds.
Amos 8:8 Because of this, won’t the land quake and all who live in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
Amos 8:9 And in that day — this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh — I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime.
Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lament; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.
Amos 8:11 Notice, the days are coming– this is the declaration of The Lord Yahveh – when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahveh.
Amos 8:12 People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word of Yahveh, but they will not find it.
Amos 8:13 In that day the beautiful young women, the young men also, will faint from thirst.
Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, “As your god lives, Dan,” or, “As the way of Beer-sheba lives” — they will fall, never to rise again.

a revelation famine

The people were fed up with Amos’ words of doom and Amaziah voiced their frustration. He told Amos to go back to Judah and prophesy there. They had had enough of his negative thoughts, and predictions of despair and disaster. Amos turned their request against them. He told them that since they were tired of God’s message – God was going to send them one more disaster in addition to all the others. They would have a revelation famine. They would search for a word from God but not find it.

LORD, give us wisdom to pay attention to your word, especially when it convicts us of wrong.

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Amaziah’s sin

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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Amaziah’s sin

Amos 7:10-17 (JDV)

Amos 7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,
Amos 7:11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.'”
Amos 7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Walk off, you “seer!” Go through to the land of Judah. Eat your bread and give your prophecies there,
Amos 7:13 but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”
Amos 7:14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; instead, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.
Amos 7:15 But Yahveh took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'”
Amos 7:16 Now hear the word of Yahveh. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.
Amos 7:17 Therefore, this is what Yahveh is saying: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.

Amaziah’s sin

Amaziah thought that he had dealt shrewdly with his opponent — that prophet with his negative words. He sought government approval to send Amos away to prophesy to neighboring Judah. Problem solved. But then Amos predicts that misery and death will come to that priest as well.

Jesus taught his disciples not to turn on each other, but to welcome one another as equals. He set a child at his side and told them that whoever welcomes this child, welcomes him. We are not helping ourselves when we turn against our brothers and sisters. We are committing Amaziah’s sin.

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not out of options

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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not out of options

Amos 7:1-9 (JDV)

Amos 7:1 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed as he was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop first began to sprout– after the cutting of the king’s hay.
Amos 7:2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “the Lord Yahveh, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”
Amos 7:3 Yahveh relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.
Amos 7:4 The Lord Yahveh showed me this: I noticed as The Lord Yahveh was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
Amos 7:5 Then I said, “Lord Yahveh, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”
Amos 7:6 Yahveh relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord Yahveh.
Amos 7:7 He showed me this: I noticed as Yahveh was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand.
Amos 7:8 Yahveh asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then Yahveh said, “Notice, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
Amos 7:9 Isaac’s high places will be deserted, and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins; I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”

not out of options

God has many ways he can punish rebellious and disobedient people. If he relents here and there because of his great grace and compassion, it doesn’t mean we get off entirely. He will not be mocked. If his people refuse to repent of their sins, he will address that failure.

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first in exile

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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first in exile

Amos 6:1-14 (JDV)

Amos 6:1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria – the notable people in this first1 of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to.
Amos 6:2 Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
Amos 6:3 You dismiss any thought of the evil day and bring in a reign of violence.
Amos 6:4 They lie on beds of ivory, sprawled out on their couches, and dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
Amos 6:5 They improvise songs to the sound of the harp and invent their own musical instruments like David.
Amos 6:6 They drink wine by the bowlful and anoint themselves with the first oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
Amos 6:7 Therefore, they will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and the feasting of those who sprawl out will come to an end.
Amos 6:8 The Lord Yahveh has sworn with his throat – this is the declaration of Yahveh, the God of Armies: I loathe Jacob’s pride and hate his fortified buildings, so I will hand over the city and everything in it.
Amos 6:9 And if there are ten men left in one house, they will die.
Amos 6:10 A close relative and next of kin will remove his corpse from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?” That person will reply, “None.” Then he will say, “Silence, because Yahveh’s name must not be invoked.”
Amos 6:11 Notice, because Yahveh commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.
Amos 6:12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does anyone plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood —
Amos 6:13 you who rejoice over Lo-debar and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?”
Amos 6:14 But notice, I am raising up a nation against you, house of Israel — this is the declaration of Yahveh, the God of Armies– and they will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.

first in exile

Amos spoke out against the elite of his people. They considered themselves the best people of the first nation. They spent their time in idle pursuits and luxurious living. Their pride kept them from even mentioning the name of the LORD. Their land had become a place of rocks, where the horses could not run, and the oxen could not plow – yet they refused to soften their hearts toward the LORD. They would be the first nation to go into exile.

LORD, forgive us for our pride. Draw us to yourself in humility because our lives depend on it.

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darkness rather than light

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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darkness rather than light

Amos 5:18-27 (JDV)

Amos 5:18 Woe to you who want the day of Yahveh! What will the day of Yahveh be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
Amos 5:19 It will be like a man who escapes from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him.
Amos 5:20 Won’t the day of Yahveh be darkness rather than light, and gloomy without any brightness in it?
Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
Amos 5:22 Even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.
Amos 5:23 Take away from me the uproar of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Amos 5:24 But let justice flow like water, and fairness, like an unfailing stream.
Amos 5:25 “House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the open country?
Amos 5:26 But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves.
Amos 5:27 So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” Yahveh, the God of Armies, is his name. He has spoken.

darkness rather than light

The inhabitants of Israel were on their way to destruction, singing and celebrating all the way. The LORD told them through Amos that he hated their feasts and “worship.” It did not matter how religious they were, or how openly spiritual. They kept saying that they were looking forward to the day of Yahveh, but God told them that his day would bring darkness, not light.

Forgive us, LORD, for being openly spiritual, yet inwardly selfish. Transform us by your word through the power of your Holy Spirit. You sent your Son to die for our sins. teach us how to die to them.

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homes and vineyards

Posted on February 18, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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homes and vineyards

Amos 5:1-17 (JDV)

Amos 5:1 Listen to this word that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:
Amos 5:2 She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land with no one to raise her up.
Amos 5:3 You see, the Lord Yahveh says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel.
Amos 5:4 Since Yahveh says to the house of Israel: Seek me and live!
Amos 5:5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will cease to exist.
Amos 5:6 Seek Yahveh and live, or he will spread like fire throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.
Amos 5:7 Those who turn justice into wormwood also throw righteousness to the ground.
Amos 5:8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the land – Yahveh is his name.
Amos 5:9 He brings a destructive storm on the strong, and it falls on the fortress.
Amos 5:10 They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate, and they despise the one who speaks with integrity.
Amos 5:11 Because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, that is why you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
Amos 5:12 Since I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the city gates.
Amos 5:13 Therefore, those who have insight will stay silent at such a time, for the days are evil.
Amos 5:14 Pursue good and not evil so that you may live, and Yahveh, the God of Armies, will be with you as you have claimed.
Amos 5:15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps Yahveh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:16 Therefore Yahveh, the God of Armies, Yahveh, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners to wail.
Amos 5:17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, because I will pass among you. Yahveh has spoken.

homes and vineyards

God’s people were priding themselves in their homes and vineyards, and not in Him. He says he is going to pass among them, and there will be wailing because those homes will become unoccupied, and there will be wailing in the vineyards.

Judgment is coming.

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fat cows

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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fat cows

Amos 4:1-13 (JDV)

Amos 4:1 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the hill of Samaria, women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring us something to drink.”
Amos 4:2 The Lord Yahveh has sworn by his holiness: Notice, the days are coming when you will be taken away with butcher’s hooks, and the last of you with fishhooks.
Amos 4:3 You will go through breaches in the wall, each woman straight ahead, and you will be driven along toward Harmon. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:4 Come to Bethel and rebel; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tenths every three days.
Amos 4:5 Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings, because that is what you Israelites love to do! This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:6 I gave you clean teeth in all your cities, a shortage of food in all your communities, yet you did not return to me. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:7 I also withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. I sent rain in one city but no rain in another. One field received rain while a field with no rain withered.
Amos 4:8 Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water but were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:9 I struck you with blight and mildew; the recently mature locust1 devoured your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees, yet you did not return to me. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:10 I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I caused the stench of your camp to fill your nostrils, yet you did not return to me. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:11 I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick snatched from a fire, yet you did not return to me — This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Amos 4:12 Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you, and since I will do that to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!
Amos 4:13 Notice: the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, the one who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the land. Yahveh, the God of Armies, is his name.

fat cows

The fat cows of Bashan stand as a symbol of a people who have chosen to satisfy themselves above all else. Even their religious practices are a means of demonstrating their selfishness. The only reason they “darken the door” of the temple is to bring offerings so that others can know how rich they are. The LORD sent judgment after judgment upon Israel, and yet they continued to play with life and religion. Now, his only recourse is to force them to meet him in judgment again.

LORD, forgive us for the flippant and selfish way we have treated our churches, and You. Change us into people who truly fear and love you.

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The lion roared and they ignored

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Jefferson Vann
Photo by Bisakha Datta on Pexels.com

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the lion roared and they ignored

Amos 3:1-15 (JDV)

Amos 3:1 Listen to this message that Yahveh has spoken about you, Israelites, about the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:
Amos 3:2 I have known only you out of all the clans of the land; that is why I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?
Amos 3:4 Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion growl from its den unless it has captured something?
Amos 3:5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has caught nothing?
Amos 3:6 If a shofar is blown in a city, aren’t people afraid? If a disaster occurs in a city, hasn’t Yahveh done it?
Amos 3:7 You see, the Lord Yahveh does nothing without revealing his counsel to his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:8 A lion has roared; who will not be afraid? the Lord Yahveh has spoken; who will not prophesy?
Amos 3:9 Report this on the fortified buildings in Ashdod and on the fortified buildings in the land of Egypt: Assemble on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great turmoil in the city and the acts of oppression within it.
Amos 3:10 The people are incapable of doing right — this is Yahveh’s declaration — those who store up violence and a destructive storm in their fortified buildings.
Amos 3:11 That is why the Lord Yahveh says: An enemy will surround the land; he will destroy your strongholds and plunder your fortified buildings.
Amos 3:12 This is what Yahveh is saying: As the shepherd snatches two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion’s mouth, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued with only the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
Amos 3:13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob — this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh, the God of Armies.
Amos 3:14 I will punish the altars of Bethel on the day I punish Israel for its crimes; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
Amos 3:15 I will demolish the winter house and the summer house; the houses inlaid with ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will come to an end. This is Yahveh’s declaration.

the lion roared and they ignored

Amos has to remind the people of Israel that the prophets do not speak for nothing.  They proclaim warnings of judgment because God judges his people when they sin.  This is the same God the New Testament reveals.  Do not attempt to ignore the prophets’ message, living in sin, and use grace as your excuse.  That is what Israel did, and they were sorely punished.  The lion roared, and they ignored it.  They would not listen to his loving rebuke.  Therefore, they became his prey.

LORD, we fear you.  Lead us to safety.  Forgive us for ignoring your warnings.

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