Amos, Obadiah

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BACKGROUND

First of all, who was Amos?

Amos was from the city of Tekoa, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. He taught specifically while King Uzziah was the king of Judah and King Jereboam II was the king of the Northern kingdom.

Although he was a citizen of the Kingdom of Judah, the Lord called him to deliver his prophecies to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Which would have made his calling all the more difficult since they would view him as a foreigner coming into their kingdom to tell them what to do. And sadly, they do reject him.

We know from Amos 7:14-15 that he didn’t start his life out as a prophet. He wasn’t a priest or the son of the son of prophet. Rather he was just a simple shepherd and gatherer of sycamore fruit—which probably suggests he was poor. But he tells them that the Lord called him one day as he was watching his flock.

It’s possible that he knew Hosea since they live at about the same time.

Quick Note: I typically don’t do much with Amos chapters 1-2. But for your benefit, it’s basically Amos calling out each of the nations in the area for their sins and wickedness. He takes each nation one at a time, identifies the spiritual problems they’re having and spells out the consequences that will come because of them. He even includes his own nation of Judah in the list. However, his directs the rest of his book specifically to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

PROPHETS, DUH!

ICEBREAKER

The way I like to introduce the Book of Amos is by sharing some, what I would call, “duh” questions or “no-brainer” questions. What I mean by that, is these are questions where the answer is so obvious that somebody might look back at you and just say, “Well, duh! Of course, or Of course not. These little sayings may be used as a sarcastic response to someone who has just asked you a “no-brainer” kind of question. One of the most well-known examples of this would be “Is the Pope Catholic?” You know, somebody says to you, “Hey, can I take you out to lunch?” and you respond, “Uh, is the Pope Catholic? Of course I want to go.” It’s that kind of thing. So here are some of my favorite, “Duh”, or “No-brainer” questions.

Does a one-legged duck swim in a circle?

Does a submarine have a screen door?

Does a chicken have lips?

Or sometimes you could respond with some of these silly questions with ultra-obvious answers: Uh, What day do we celebrate the 4th of July on?

What’s the number for 911?

What’s the Spanish word for Taco?

TRANSITION

Well, Amos must have had a bit of a sense of humor because he had some “duh questions” for the Israelites as well. Now the humor and the significance of the ones that Amos uses have probably lost a bit of their power through the ages, but who knows if these would have had an ancient Israelite rolling on the floor laughing. Or, more than likely, he wasn’t trying to be funny at all, but used these types of questions as a backdrop to make a very specific point. The answers to all of these questions would be: “Well duh, isn’t that obvious?” So I’d like you to read Amos 3:3-7 and identify all the “duh” questions that you can. And then, can you find the obvious truth, or principle that he’s trying to teach the people.

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?

5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?

6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done (JST Change-known) it?

7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

So what was the “obvious truth” Amos wanted them to understand? SURELY, the Lord God reveals truth to his prophets. Duh! Of course he would. It’s a no-brainer.

The discussion question I would then ask my students would be: Why is that such an obvious truth? Why does it make so much sense for God to call prophets? And this is a very significant truth for us as members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter-days because we are one of the only Christian denominations who believe that God continues to call prophets and use that term to describe our leaders.

So why does it make sense for God to call prophets? My thought: Because we know God loves us. Because we know he is interested in our lives and in our eternal progress. He is not the kind to just leave his children guideless. In his infinite wisdom, he has decided to send us individuals who can speak for Him, and represent him, with an unmistakable, audible voice. A guide who is with us here, in the trenches, so to speak. Living in the world and culture that we live in and who speaks our modern language. This system of calling mortal men to speak for him allows him to continue to require us to live by faith, but also enable us to receive help and direction from him at the same time.

I believe I’ve shared this story before, but I believe it bears repeating here. I remember on my mission speaking to a man who was rather confrontational about our beliefs. We were kind of going back and forth on the meaning of different passages in the Bible. He would share his verse, and say something like, “See, you guys are wrong. According to this verse, what you believe is contrary.” And then we would share a different verse and say, “No, no, this is why we believe what we believe”. And it was turning into what we used to refer to as missionaries as a “Bible Bash”. And we just didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. And, somewhere during the discussion, I felt prompted to stop and say, “You know, we could go back and forth all day on these kinds of things. But what it really comes down to is how these verses are interpreted. We could both read the exact same verse and come to completely different conclusions. And can’t you see? That’s why we need living prophets. God calls special witnesses to help us to understand the proper interpretation of the scriptures. Otherwise, chaos reigns and everyone can interpret the scriptures however they want, based on their own opinions”. And he just stopped for a second, and his face softened, and he looked at me very intently and asked, “You mean, if there was something you didn’t understand in the Bible, you could go to the prophet, and he would tell you what God meant by it?” And I said, “in a way, yes. The prophets teach and communicate to us God’s intent in the scriptures, so there’s no way for us to err in their interpretation”. And I’ll never forget this, but he just kind of leaned back in his chair, and looked up for a second and said, very sincerely, “Wow, I long for something like that”. And then he kind of just snapped back to himself and continued with his arguments. But, you could see, that idea resonated with him, and he couldn’t help but see the beauty and the wisdom of that kind of arrangement between God and man. The truth of it was obvious. It’s a no-brainer. And even if you do believe that God called prophets in the past, it doesn’t make sense to me that God would all of a sudden stop calling prophets. Why would he call them for generations in the Bible, leading and guiding his people under that kind of organization, and then decide to stop, and say, you’ve had enough. I’ve given you the scriptures, now you’re on your own until I return. I just can’t believe in a loving Heavenly Father who would only plop the Bible into our hands, tell us to figure it out, and then turn around and walk away. The fact of the matter is that the world changes. Circumstances change. Challenges and problems come up that are new and unique. We need updated guidance and help as we progress toward the second coming. We need revelation in a current context.

And we have that longed-for blessing as members of the Church of Jesus Christ. Hopefully, we don’t take it for granted.

Sadly, many people react to the words of the prophets in the way that the Israelites did to Amos. Look at how Amaziah the priest responds to him in 7:12-13

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.

You know, Amos, get out of here. Take your counsels and instructions and go prophesy somewhere else. We don’t need your words here. We’ve got it all figured out. Do we sometimes react or feel that way? We wish the prophets wouldn’t teach certain things? Or wouldn’t counsel us in specific areas. Or challenge us to change? Or we start to pick and choose what we want to believe and the counsel that we want to accept and then disregard the rest?

But Amos isn’t having it. In fact, look at his BOLD reaction to Amaziah’s command.

16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

Wow! He was definitely not afraid to respond to their denial. Prophets do not hold back. They say it like it is, regardless of whether they think we’re going to like it or not. President Nelson has certainly not been afraid to make sweeping changes in the Church. Maybe some of us struggle with those changes. He has not been afraid to ask us to step up—for the youth to do missionary work, for all of us to engage in temple work—for the Church to seek more diligently to overcome the world. Prophets don’t always tell us what we want to hear and they’re not afraid to say it like it is. But they speak God’s will and give us guidance from above. So we can trust them and look to their leadership with confidence that they are divinely inspired.

TRUTH

Therefore, what’s a great obvious truth taught by the Book of Amos?

Surely, the Lord will always reveal truth through his prophets.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

How would you respond to this question, if asked? Why do you members of the Church of Jesus Christ think prophets are so important?

CONCLUSION

Well, you know how much I love the scriptures. But you know, there is something I would like to have removed from them. There is a printed sentence in the Old Testament that I would love to see blotted out. Luckily, they aren’t words that were written by one of the prophets, but by the committee that produced the King James Version of the Bible back in 1611. They are the last words printed on the last page of the Old Testament—as the book of Malachi concludes, it says, “THE END OF THE PROPHETS”. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Malachi was not the last prophet. Surely, the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret until his servants, the prophets. Always! DUH! So I invite us all to listen closely to them. To follow them. To trust in their revealed counsels. We will never go wrong, if we do.

MORE “OBVIOUS” TRUTHS

SEARCH

Good news. That is not the only truth that Amos wanted to teach the people of Israel. He has a number of other messages that he wanted them to understand as well. You can see that he even asks a couple more “Duh” questions in chapter 6:12. “Shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plow there with oxen?” So I call these messages “The Obvious Truths of Amos”. These are principles and truths that should be self-evident—that just make sense. And I’d like to cover six of them. You could use the following activity to help your students to identify them.

What we’ll do is collect each of these truths and list them on this handout so that we can then stick them in our scriptures or even glue them in. Then, when we come to the Book of Amos in the future, we’ll always have them there to help us remember the truths Amos wanted us to understand. So this is the card that I would give each of my students at the beginning of the activity. Their task is to fill in each of the “Obvious Truths” as we go along. And we’ve already done the first one together. And we could write that in for #1. Surely, the Lord will always reveal truth through his prophets.

But now let’s focus on the rest of these. I provide them with a list of a number of different truths that they could choose from. They will need to pick from the list which particular truths they think best match the identified verses. To help them identify those truths, we’ll do some multiple-choice questions to lead them through these sections and clarify their meaning.

Possible Truths

A. If we fast and pray for the Lord’s help, he can bless us with spiritual strength.

B. The Lord is a forgiving God, therefore, there is always hope.

C. Our righteous choices bless not only us, but those around us.

D. We must forgive those that hurt us if we wish to be forgiven.

E. Problems are solved by returning to God and seeking his counsel.

F. Exercising faith in the Lord will allow him to help us with our challenges.

G. The Lord desires righteousness, not meaningless outward displays of religion.

H. God will be with those He calls to serve Him as they act in righteousness.

I. To sincerely repent, we must forsake our sins and confess them to the Lord.

J. The loss of the Lord's words and counsel create a spiritual famine that nothing else can satisfy.

K. Moving forward with faith invites God to perform miracles on our behalf.

L. Surely, the Lord will always reveal truth through his prophets.

M. The adversary uses enticements to convince us to commit sin.

N. If we study the scriptures daily, they will help us to be humble and live according to God’s commandments.

O. Justice will always overtake the sin, eventually.

OBVIOUS TRUTH #2- Problems are solved by returning to God and seeking his counsel.

What is the repeated phrase you find in Amos 4:6-11? You find this phrase in every verse except 7. What is it?

A. But my hand is stretched out still.

B. I have smitten you

C. But they were not satisfied

D. Yet, have ye not returned unto me.

The answer is D: Yet, have ye not returned unto me. He says that over and over again in these verses. Now you’ll notice something about the kinds of statements that precede each time that phrase is used. They are all negative things. They’re the problems that the people are facing in their lives. The Lord says, “I’ve given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities.” Every dentist’s favorite Bible verse, right? But cleanness of teeth here means “famine” in this context. So God has sent famines, but they won’t return to him. He’s sent droughts in verse 7-8, yet they haven’t returned to him. He’s sent blasting and mildew, pestilences, overthrown them as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and YET, they still won’t return to him. These verses suggest that there may be certain issues we face in life that are designed to help us to turn our hearts back to God. God will try anything and everything to help us to change. Even allow us to suffer some negative experiences in the hopes that we’ll do something. That’s the subject of our next question because we know that the scriptures never present us with a problem without the solution being somewhere nearby.

Well, chapter 5 holds an excellent solution to their problems. There is yet another repeated phrase in this chapter that gives us that solution. What is it based on the following verses: 5:4, 5:6, 5:8, 5:14-15?

1. Love your neighbor as yourself

2. Pray always that you may come off conqueror

3. Seek the Lord and his goodness, and ye shall live.

4. Ye are the light of the world

The answer is C: Seek the Lord and his goodness, and ye shall live. So in verse 4 he says, “Seek ye me, and ye shall live.” In verse 6, “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live.” Verse 8 begins with “Seek him.” And verse 14 says Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.” So when we experience problems or challenges in life. What is God hoping we’ll do? He’s hoping we’ll return to him. He’s hoping that we will seek him—and when we do, we’ll live. And the kinds of problems I’m talking about here aren’t your average, typical trials of mortality that we all face, but a very specific kind of problem. The kind that come from our own poor choices. The broken relationships that stem from anger, dishonesty, and immorality. The poor health that comes from substance abuse. The loss of the Spirit that comes from inappropriate movies and music or using bad language. The disillusionment and emptiness that comes from flirting with the world and abandoning faith. Seek the Lord, and you shall live! An easy solution to many of life’s problems.

Another simple way of saying it is in verse 15.

15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

What’s our “obvious truth” from this section then? Problems are best solved by returning to God and seeking his counsel.

OBVIOUS TRUTH #3–Justice will always overtake the sin, eventually.

5:16-20/6:8-11/9:1-3,10

What consequence does the Lord promise the people in 5:16-17?

A. Wailing and mourning.

B. Death and destruction.

C. The spear and the sword

D. Pride and anger

The answer is A. Wailing and mourning. Because the people refuse to seek him and live, this is what they will suffer in the future. Wickedness never was happiness.

The Lord uses a somewhat humorous image for those who felt like they could run or hide from the consequences of their sins in 18-19. What was it?

A. That running from the consequences was like running into a filthy river.

B. That running from the consequences was like running from Assyrian soldiers on horses.

C. That running from the consequences was like running from a lion and encountering a bear or getting bit by a snake.

D. That running from the consequences was like running from God himself who is omniscient and can see you no matter where you go.

The answer is C. And don’t you just love that imagery. It’s kind of funny when you think about it.

19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Can you just picture those scenarios? There’s a guy out hiking in the wilderness, and he comes upon a lion, and so he turns around and starts to run. And he’s making progress. He’s going to get away! He ducks into a nearby cave and the lion rushes by without noticing him. And he breathes a sigh of relief, I made it! But just as he’s rejoicing, he hears the sound of a low growl from behind. He turns around slowly only to find himself face to face with a giant bear. Nice try!

Or the next scenario, he’s running from the lion and actually makes it home, he runs through the front door, slams it behind him, and deadbolts it. He laughs a little as the lion claws and roars on the other side. Ha, ha, ha, not today lion! And he takes a moment to catch his breath and leans his hand against the wall, when, all of a sudden, an extremely venomous snake, latches onto his hand from out of a crack in the wall. He’s a goner anyway. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. And he’s like, “You’ve gotta be kiddin me!” He hasn’t escaped a terrible fate after all.

There’s another somewhat humorous image that teaches the same principle in chapter 6:8-11

In verses 8, 9 and 11, the Lord promises that the city will be destroyed and all the people therein. But apparently there are some people that have survived the initial destruction and they are hiding—hoping that the Lord won’t discover them. And so, when asked if anyone is still hiding in the house, how will they respond?

A. They will stay silent.

B. They will shout out, “No, no one is hiding in here!”

C. They will run away.

D. They will confess their guilt and come out.

The answer is B. And I do love that scenario. Can you just imagine it?

10 And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee?

So “Anybody in there?”

and he shall say, No.

Ha ha. They’re like “Nobody in here but us chickens”. But of course, the fact that they respond at all, reveals that they’re still in there.

Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord.

11 For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

The houses and everyone in them are going to be destroyed. You can’t run and you can’t hide.

If you’re still struggling to identify the principle. Jump to chapter 9:1-3, and verse 10 and you’ll find a similar idea here.

1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

And verse 10

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

Take all of these sections together and tell me what you feel the “obvious truth” is here.

The answer: Justice will always overtake the sin, eventually.

Trying to hide from the consequences of sin is futile. The adversary wants us to believe that though—that we can get away with it—that we can hack the system. But the consequences will eventually find us. Even if we manage to escape the lion, the bear or the serpent will be there to welcome us. Even if we’ve survived the initial destruction and we’re hiding in the house, calamity will find us later. Even if we try to dig into hell, climb into heaven, run to the mountains, or dive into the depths of the sea, justice will win in the end. It will catch up with us, guaranteed, because the Lord runs a just universe.

We see this truth taught in a number of places in the scriptures. In the Garden of Eden, we saw Satan encourage Adam and Eve to try and hide from God after they had partaken of the fruit. But it didn’t take them long to realize just how silly that idea was, and they come out. Or we see that attitude in the Nephites at the end of the Book of Mormon who get angry at God because “the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin” (Mormon 2:13). So their only alternative is to “curse God, and wish to die” (Mormon 2:14) This attitude is what I would refer to as “Seeking to Snap the Stick”. You may have heard the old proverb that says, “When you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other.” It’s a way of saying that when you choose a certain decision, you are automatically also choosing the consequences of that decision. You can’t separate the two. But some still want to try. They want sin to lead to happiness. But that’s not what’s attached to that stick. And so they think they can break it in half and attach their own consequences—the one’s that they desire. Sadly, they come to find out that the stick is not made of flimsy wood at all, but steel. An unbreakable material that cannot be divided.

OBVIOUS TRUTH #4-The Lord desires righteousness, not meaningless outward displays of religion.

5:21-24

What are some of the things the people are doing that the Lord hates?

A. Their feasts and solemn assemblies.

B. Their burnt and meat offerings.

C. The noise of their songs and viols.

D. All of the above.

The answer is D: All of the above. Our next question. Are these things that they’re doing good or bad things?

A. They are good.

B. They are bad.

C. They can be good or bad depending on how you do them.

D. They are neutral.

The answer is C. They can be good or bad depending on how you do them. Typically, we would label these activities as good things. They’re performing the sacrifices. They’re holding the special religious feasts. They are holding their solemn assemblies. But the Lord says he despises these offerings. Why? Because they’re just doing the outward things, but they’re not living the law. They aren’t becoming true, dedicated followers of Jehovah.

What does God desire most from them?

A. Judgment and righteousness.

B. Obedience and sacrifice.

C. Love and unity.

D. Worship and offerings.

The answer is A. Judgment and righteousness. This is what God most desires from all of us. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Not all these superficial practices.

What is our obvious truth then? The Lord desires righteousness over outward displays of religion.

That’s what that list of the things he hates is all about. Those are actually all good things. Part of the Jewish religion and law of Moses. But they were means to an end. They are only there to help remind them of the type of people God wanted them to become. He wanted them to use good judgment. To be fair to others. To be righteous. Sadly, we often get way to hung up on WHAT we believe more than WHO we are. He wants character and righteous living more than just an outer acceptance of certain doctrinal beliefs. And one of the biggest problems God had with the people of Israel at this time, was their oppression and negligence of the poor. Amos points this out all over his book. If you want some specific examples of this, check out the following references.

2:6-8

3:15

4:1

6:1-8

8:4-6

We won’t cover them here in depth, but realize that he just digs into them for this. It’s like he’s saying, “You’re doing all the outward law of Moses stuff but not any of the inner. And that means absolutely nothing to God if you fundamentally aren’t good people—a people that takes care of the poor and needy. That’s real religion. Practical religion. Maybe that’s why James taught this principle in his book when he says: 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) You might also remember that President Monson added another mission to what has been known for decades as the three-fold mission of the Church. What’s the fourth now? To take care of the poor and needy.

Interestingly enough, Amos 5:24 is quoted in one of the most famous speeches ever given in American history. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted this in his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech. And the sentiment of it is the same as here in Amos. He was calling out the American people, collectively as a nation to live their faith. America was founded on religious freedom and religious principles. But could we really claim to be Christians? Could we go to Church every week and preach kindness, and charity, and love, while an entire race of people was being oppressed?

So perhaps instead of getting so hung up and combatant with other people who don’t believe what we feel to be the truth, maybe we can seek to be Christians—true disciples of Christ not only in thought but in deed as well. Perhaps we can do what the Koran suggests-To compete with one another in good works. Hopefully that will be the only kind of competition we really have between different faiths and creeds.

OBVIOUS TRUTH #5-The loss of the Lord's words and counsel create a spiritual famine that nothing else can satisfy.

Amos 8:11-13

Our first question here. The Lord compares a lack of contact with his word to what natural disasters?

A. An earthquake and tsunami

B. A flood and fire

C. A hurricane and pandemic

D. Famine and drought

The answer is D. A famine and drought.

What group of people is specifically mentioned that will suffer the most from the natural disaster?

A. The infants and toddlers

B. The young men and young women.

C. The mothers and fathers.

D. The old

The answer is B. The young men and young women.

Amos says:

11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

I think we can all agree that the world is not a very spiritually nourishing place. If we don’t take the word of God with us—if we are not supping from its pages daily, we may starve. Rather, we can feast upon the words of Christ, and do what Nephi suggests we do, “let our souls delight in fatness!” So don’t spiritually starve! Open wide and eat up. We don’t have to perish from spiritual hunger. A good question to ask yourself might be, “Am I, right now, in a time of spiritual feast? Or famine?” Do I feed my soul with God’s words consistently? Do I study my scriptures on a regular basis? Do I feast every six months on the words of the prophets at General Conference. Do I attend my church meetings each week for that special banquet every Sunday? Has the Come, Follow Me program been on the menu in my household?

So what is Obvious Truth #5 here: The loss of the Lord's words and counsel create a spiritual famine that nothing else can satisfy.

OBVIOUS TRUTH #6- The Lord is a forgiving God, therefore, there is always hope.

Our final section comes from Amos 9:11-15

Question #1. What is the overall tone of this section?

A. Anger

B. Sorrow

C. Hope

D. Pleading

Well let’s read it together and see.

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.

13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

The answer is C. Hope. Here is a message that we have seen a lot of in our past couple months of study. The message of hope. The prophets always seem to end with hope, don’t they? His hand is always stretched out to his children. He’s the gardener that is always pleading to spare the vineyard a little longer. Which is why I’m often surprised when I hear people say that they struggle with the image of the God of the Old Testament—that he seems so vengeful and angry. It makes me wonder if they’ve really read the entire Old Testament carefully. I feel that we see this soft, forgiving God so much more often.

What are the two main metaphors used to describe what God will eventually do for Israel?

A. Building and planting.

B. Singing and rejoicing.

C. Burning and flooding.

D. Binding up and healing.

The answer is A: Building and planting. The Lord promises them that he will close up the breaches, raise up the ruins and rebuild all that was lost. He promises so much abundance that the plowman will eventually overtake the reaper. He’ll not only plant vineyards and gardens, but he will plant his people there in the earth, and no one will be able to pull them out ever again.

So what is the obvious truth for this section of scripture? The Lord is a forgiving God, therefore, there is always hope.

TRUTH

Now I encourage you to take a look at each of those obvious truths all together in one.

1. Surely, the Lord will always reveal truth through his prophets.

2. Problems are solved by returning to God and seeking his counsel.

3. Justice will always overtake the sin, eventually.

4. The Lord desires righteousness, not meaningless outward displays of religion.

5. The loss of the Lord's words and counsel create a spiritual famine that nothing else can satisfy.

6. The Lord is a forgiving God, therefore, there is always hope.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

To liken the scriptures. Which message of Amos holds the most meaning for you and why?

CONCLUSION

Well, Amos, this shepherd and gatherer of sycamore fruit has given us some terrific thoughts to chew on, hasn’t he. I mean, don’t you just love his straightforward and no-nonsense kind of preaching. These 6 truths that he’s taught us should be self-evident, clear, and obvious. Which is why I find it sad that so many in the world seek to dismiss them, minimize them, and reject them. I pray that none of us will be among them. Instead, let’s remember them and live them. They just make sense! Duh!

OBADIAH

BACKGROUND

Like we did with the Book of Amos, I would love to start with a little background on who the prophet Obadiah was. Sadly, the book of Obadiah is a bit more of a mystery. We really don’t know much about him because there’s just not much to go on. Obadiah is the shortest book in the entire Old Testament. Additionally, Bible scholars aren’t exactly sure when this book was written. It’s apparent that it was given sometime after the capture of Jerusalem by an opposing power. But that happens more than once in Jerusalem’s history, so which capture Obadiah is referring to is unclear. It could be as early as 848 B.C. or as late as 586 B.C. Most scholars lean to the second date in conjunction with the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. But Obadiah’s message is atypical in that it’s not directed to the Israelites, but a foreign nation. It was written to the people of the kingdom of Edom. Now the Edomites were the descendants of Esau. So they weren’t Israelites, but still had a common ancestry. And those two nations had a bit of a troubled history with each other going all the way back to Jacob and Esau. And the problem Obadiah has with the Edomites here was with their reaction to the aforementioned conquest of Jerusalem. That’s what we’ll take a look at here more closely today.

ICEBREAKER

For an icebreaker, I like to play a quick little game called pyramid that I’ve demonstrated before on this channel. What you do is you come up with 12 different words that have something to do with the lesson that day. You split your students up into pairs and you have one of them face the board or the screen while the other is facing away from the screen. Then you reveal the pyramid with the words on it. The person who can see the board gives clues to their partner to try and get them to say the word in the bottom left-hand square. Once they get that word, they move on to the next, and the next and on up to the top of the pyramid. The first pair to get all the words wins. There are a couple of rules though, with giving clues. You can’t do any "starts with", or "rhymes with", or use the word in any part of the clue. So, for example, if the word was dog, you couldn’t say, “It starts with a D”, or “It rhymes with log”. Or say, “they eat dog food”. But what you can do is give them clues like “They like to chase cats, they bark, small ones are called puppies” and so on. After the first round, I usually like to do a second round also so that each person gets a chance to both give clues and make guesses. It’s really a fun way to break the ice and to get them in the mood to be more open and likely to share. Here are the words that I would use to introduce this short lesson from Obadiah.

For Round 1

Pride

Hurt

Fight

Steal

Ignore

Destruction

For Round 2

Save

Help

Zion

Win

Holy

Savior

After I have my students play that game, I might ask them if they noticed a difference in the words of the first round compared to the words of the second round. The first-round words were negative in connotation while the second round were mainly positive. Well that may serve as a good introduction to the book of Obadiah. There is a bit of a shift in the book between the first part and the last. The first part of the book is directed at the Edomites and describes the Lord’s judgments on them for the way in which they reacted to the conquest of Jerusalem. But then the last portion of the book switches to a more positive message about the future of God’s kingdom and its eventual victory overall.

SEARCH

And I want to begin here with a question. When there is somebody who has not been very nice to us in the past. Someone that we haven’t always gotten along with. Or, when there is someone that we don’t agree with politically, religiously, or intellectually—when we see something bad happen to them, how are we often tempted to react? Does it make us happy? Do we rejoice in their misfortune? Do we smugly say, “serves you right”?

Well that’s kind of how the Edomites reacted to the conquering of Jerusalem. The two nations had not always gotten along with each other even though they both descended from common ancestors, Abraham, and Isaac.

SEARCH

So in the following verses, let’s mark the words and phrases that describe the wrong way to react to the misfortune of others.

:3 We shouldn’t be prideful. Thinking that we’re better than they are.

:12 We shouldn’t rejoice over them in the day of their destruction, like the Edomites did.

:13 We shouldn’t seek to take advantage of the situation and exploit their misfortune. That’s what the Edomites did. They plundered the land and pillaged the homes of survivors.

:14 We shouldn’t ignore them or hedge up their way and make the situation worse. When there were people trying to escape the destruction, the Edomites “stood in the way” and delivered up those that were escaping to their enemies.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

Well do we ever do the same? Do we make things worse for those that have suffered some hardship or calamity? Do we pridefully look on and rejoice in the day of their destruction because we disagreed with them over some point in the past? Do we ignore them or take advantage of the situation because they don’t happen to share our culture, religion, or political views? This displeases the Lord.

And what does the Lord say will be the consequence of reacting in this way? Take a look at verse 15

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

This is what I would refer to as a yo-yo principle. The way we treat others, will be the way we will be treated. If I forgive others, I will be forgiven. If I serve others, I will be served. If I rejoice over the destruction of others and take advantage of them, then I will be destroyed and taken advantage of. What goes around, comes around. But there is a better way! We don’t have to be like the Edomites. As I said earlier. There is a bit of a shift in the second portion of the Book of Obadiah starting in verse 17. The Lord promises that Zion will one day be delivered and possess all their land once again, in the day of the Lord. But the verse that I would like to focus on most comes at the very end of the chapter. When disaster befalls others, what can we do instead? Take a look at verse 21.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

So instead of being prideful, spiteful, and taking advantage, we can actually become saviors to others! Wow! Who else holds that title? Jesus does. And we get to share that title with Christ. We can bring salvation and redemption to others too. Like Jesus did, we can sacrifice and serve to help people through their misfortunes and calamities. We can seek to rescue the perishing, comfort the bereaved, and mourn with those that mourn. We don’t want to be Edomites. We want to be saviors.

So we do missionary work and seek to enlighten and bless those of different nations, cultures, and faiths instead of putting them down or tearing down their beliefs.

We do humanitarian work to better the lives of the downtrodden.

And we do temple work, to bring salvation and the opportunity for exaltation to all mankind. That last application was particularly applied by Gordon B. Hinckley and is included in the Come, Follow Me manual. He said:

“[In the temple] we literally become saviors on Mount Zion. What does this mean? Just as our Redeemer gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all men, and in so doing became our Savior, even so we, in a small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side who have no means of advancing unless something is done in their behalf by those on earth.” Gordon B. Hinckley (“Closing Remarks,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 105).

TRUTH

Instead of rejoicing over the misfortunes of others, even our enemies, we can seek to save them.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

Can you think of someone you know who has had some kind of misfortune befall them? (And don’t just limit this to your friends and family. Even better if it’s someone who you have been at odds with for whatever reason). What could you do this week to be a “savior on mount Zion” to them?

CONCLUSION

Although most of the Book of Obadiah is focused on the judgments of God on a people who took advantage of others in trouble, the final message is much more positive in nature as it reminds us of this alternative approach to such situations. So instead of being Edomites when bad things happen to other people, let’s be saviors. And I believe that we will find that if we send positivity and help outward, that too will be returned back to us as well.