Series: Shepherds Roar
Message: Promises of Hope
Preacher: Alex Bryan
Reflection: Nathan Brown
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Jess Lee
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Amos 9 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: It all points to Jesus. If the center of the book of Amos is seen in the offer of mercy and the promise of restoration, this finds its best fulfilment in Jesus.
Of course, this is easier to see in retrospect. But the key message of the Hebrew prophets was that despite the brokenness, the threatened disasters, the people’s stubborn unfaithfulness and injustice, God would intervene. He would show mercy to those who would repent. He would renew His covenant with His people, and restore their nation and their land in surprisingly abundant and inclusive ways.
This helps us understand Jesus in important ways. First, we can better understand Jesus as a Hebrew prophet. Aspects of His message and ministry fit well within the tradition of these messengers from God, condemning the leaders of the people for their unfaithfulness, hypocrisy and exploitation, warning of coming judgment, and lamenting over the stubbornness of the people, as well as chasing the money-changers out of the temple and reclaiming it for the people (see, for example, Matthew 21–25).
Second, in Jesus, the gospel writers and the early church saw the fulfilment of the promises of the Hebrew prophets. This is why James would draw on the culmination of Amos’ prophecy to explain what was happening in the work and witness of the early church. He was asserting that Jesus was the Messiah, the Restorer of “the fallen house of David” (see Amos 9:11), the dramatic and transformative intervention that God had long promised. And the words of the Hebrew prophets helped them recognize Jesus in this way, as well as helping them understand what He came to do and what this new kingdom would look like among them.
And, in Jesus, we also believe that we are yet to see the complete fulfilment of the prophet’s promises of restoration and recreation. We still live in a broken world, where unfaithfulness, idolatry, injustice, and oppression remain tragic and heartbreaking realities. The words of Amos echo in our ears and our hearts because they still speak to so much of what we see and experience in the world around us, but also because they still speak of God’s continuing offer of mercy, forgiveness, and hope, which we have found repeated, renewed, and amplified in the story and reality of Jesus.
Recalibrate: How did Amos point to Jesus? How does Jesus help us understand Amos and his message?
Respond: Pray these words: “God, thank you for Jesus and the restoration and hope He brought to our world. May we be agents of hope in His continuing presence, power and promises.”
Research: Read the Gospel of Mark—or another of the gospels, if you prefer. How is this reading affected by your exploration of and reflections on Amos? Can you see some of Jesus’ actions and teaching as fitting in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets? How was Jesus and His ministry different?
Remember: “I will bring my people Israel back from captivity. They will build the ruined cities again. And they will live in them” (Amos 9:14, ICB).
Nathan Brown is a writer and book editor at Signs Publishing Company, near Melbourne, Australia. Nathan is author/editor of 16 books, including two this year—Of Falafels and Following Jesus and For the Least of These.
Holding your little one and their Bible in your arms, flick through the pages pointing out the stories and the pictures that they recognize. From the beginning to the end, all these stories tell us that God has made a way for us to be with Him. He just wants to know if we want to be with Him. Let your life be the story that points your child to the never-ending, all-surrounding love of Jesus.
Can you do an experiment for me? Take a ball and drop it five times. What happens? What if you take a book, pencil, or shoe—does something different happen when you drop these items? I am sure that each time you dropped the object it fell to the ground. When you drop something it will always fall to the ground because of gravity. Gravity is totally dependable to do its job one hundred percent of the time. What are some other things that are dependable or faithful like gravity? Just like gravity, God stays one hundred percent faithful to His promises to us.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Jess Lee is an education consultant for the New South Wales Adventist education system. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and attends Kellyville Church.