Hear This Word That the LORD has Spoken Amos 3:1

Amos the “herdsman” prophet was commissioned by God Almighty to pronounce judgment upon the enemies of Israel and Judah. He then turned his attention toward “Israel” itself. In chapter three and verse one of his prophesy, Amos told the “children of Israel” to “hear the word of the LORD” which affected their entire “family” where we read:

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel,

against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

The verse begins, “Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel,...” Amos began with these words, “Hear” or “listen to and obey” “this word” which means “the following speech, utterance, matter, affair and answer” “that the LORD” which refers to “Yehovah or Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the one true God” “has spoken” or “uttered, proclaimed and declared” “against you O children” or “as a foe, opponent or adversary” “of Israel” which means “God prevails” and was “the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”. As Amos began this section of his prophesy, he focused upon the “children of Israel” once again.

The verse goes on to say, “...against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,” Amos added, “against the whole family” or “as a foe, opponent or adversary to the clan, tribe, people or nation” “which I brought up” which means “sprung up, grew, shot forth and rose” “from the land” or “earth, country, territory or region” “of Egypt” which means “land of the Copts” and was “a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows”. God's judgment was to come upon the total “family” of the people of “Israel”.

When we think through these words of Amos, we can imagine how ominous this prophesy was to the “children of Israel”. Not only would a few of them be singled out for “punishment”, but their “complete family” would be affected. The reason Jesus Christ was sent into this world was to save all people from their sins, and these sins were reproduced from generation to generation throughout the ages. Except for the salvation plan provided by God Almighty, the entire would be condemned. Let all who read these words understand the salvation plan God has for everyone to escape His judgment.

Next time we Amos show how the LORD says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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