WEEK 47 [AMOS - OBADIAH]
WEEK 47 [AMOS; OBADIAH] INSIGHTS VIDEO
“Seek the Lord, and Ye Shall Live”
November 14 – November 20
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Transcript
Welcome back everybody.
Speaker:This is week 47 of Creative.
Speaker:Come Follow me for the Old Testament.
Speaker:We're still in the minor prophets this week, but we have
Speaker:two new voices to hear from.
Speaker:So two prophets.
Speaker:You're gonna learn from Amos for the most part.
Speaker:We'll do nine chapters of Amus and then one little chapter of Obadiah.
Speaker:But they both have great messages to teach us.
Speaker:In fact, I really think their messages dovetail together in a
Speaker:beautiful way and uh, I'll try to illustrate that as we go through.
Speaker:But let me give you a little bit of backstory on both of these prophets.
Speaker:First, let's talk about Amos, cuz he's kinda my favorite.
Speaker:Okay, here's what's great about Amos.
Speaker:He is someone who is called, he lives in the south and he is
Speaker:called to preach up in the north, and he is called to preach there.
Speaker:At the same time, Isaiah is preaching in the north and the same time
Speaker:Isaiah is preaching in the south.
Speaker:So that, you know, 20, 30 years right before the scattering that happens.
Speaker:When the Assyrians come in, that's when he's preaching.
Speaker:What's really cool about Amos is who he is.
Speaker:So he is called to preach, but he is not a son of prophets.
Speaker:He didn't grow up in this priestly line.
Speaker:He was literally called in a field.
Speaker:He's a shepherd and he'll reference agricultural metaphors and he'll
Speaker:talk about trees and fruit, and he is someone who understands the people.
Speaker:The reason I think that's so important is because amos's
Speaker:predominant message is Israel, you have stopped taking care of the poor.
Speaker:You've been so distracted with your idle worship and letting go of your connection
Speaker:with God that you've missed what really being a disciple of Christ is, which
Speaker:is taking care of those who are weak and vulnerable, and he's a shepherd.
Speaker:You guys, this is what he does.
Speaker:We're living, He literally guards the weak and the vulnerable.
Speaker:But what's particularly cool about his job, Because of his job as a shepherd,
Speaker:he would also need to go into the city.
Speaker:He would need to sell his wares.
Speaker:He would need to sell the wool Later.
Speaker:He talks about having fruit and orchards.
Speaker:So he's somebody who would get the difference between what it's
Speaker:like to live a life that is humble and poor and what it's like to be
Speaker:among the powerful and the elite.
Speaker:And he has to walk in both worlds, kind of like the savior did.
Speaker:And I just, It's so good you guys.
Speaker:His message is so good because of who he is.
Speaker:Um, and watch for it.
Speaker:I'll give you lots of cool analogies to it, but when I picture Amos
Speaker:don't make fun of me for this.
Speaker:I picture Maximus from the movie Gladiator.
Speaker:Now I should say full disclosure, Gladiator has rated our movie,
Speaker:but we filter everything in our house through Vi Angel.
Speaker:So it takes out all the terrible
Speaker:So don't go watch that as a family.
Speaker:But if you've seen it on Vi Angel, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker:He is someone who didn't seek out this job.
Speaker:He didn't want glory.
Speaker:He simply responds to the call and he's been prepared in this
Speaker:humble circumstance to do it.
Speaker:But I think he's someone who always hopes to go home.
Speaker:I think you'll hear it.
Speaker:He is someone who is always aching to get back to his fields and back to
Speaker:his sheep, but he, the Lord has called him so he will teach and it's so good.
Speaker:Oh, you're loving.
Speaker:ODI is much shorter.
Speaker:We don't know a lot backstory about Obadiah.
Speaker:We don't even know exactly the timeframe.
Speaker:But because of the way he writes his one chapter, it sure seems
Speaker:like he's preaching after.
Speaker:Israel has been scattered.
Speaker:So after things have been destroyed, after Jerusalems even been
Speaker:destroyed, he is talking about his, his message is to the Edomites.
Speaker:So we'll learn all about that when we get to Obadiah, but his message is about
Speaker:you watched this destruction happen to your brothers and you didn't stop them.
Speaker:And then there's some consequences to the Edomites.
Speaker:If you don't remember.
Speaker:Edomites are when Jacob and Issa, remember the two twin brothers.
Speaker:Jacob has the 12 sons and he creates the children of Israel.
Speaker:You know, he and his wife create the children of Israel, Issa,
Speaker:his children become the Edomites.
Speaker:So these are basically, you know, kind of cousin tribes who often
Speaker:are fighting kinda like siblings.
Speaker:You know, they are family, but they often fight.
Speaker:In fact, they're often enemies.
Speaker:And in this situation, the Edomites could have helped the Israelites and those in
Speaker:Jerusalem, and they stood by and said no.
Speaker:And so Obadiah has some words for them.
Speaker:Well, the Lord has some words for them and he funnels them through obadiah.
Speaker:And I promise you're gonna love it.
Speaker:So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.
Speaker:Let's get started.
Speaker:You guys.
Speaker:The shepherding background of Amos comes to the surface right outta the gate.
Speaker:In chapter one, this is when he compares the word of the Lord to a lion
Speaker:roaring, and I just love the visual.
Speaker:So if you look into it, says, The Lord will roar from Zion and
Speaker:utter his voice from Jerusalem.
Speaker:The reason I love this metaphor choice for Amos is he is someone
Speaker:who would've encountered lions.
Speaker:Remember, it's the same way we saw with David where he
Speaker:had to kill a bear and a lion.
Speaker:He was a shepherd too.
Speaker:He is someone who knows that sound and he knows.
Speaker:He knows what that sound means for his flock.
Speaker:And that's I think exactly what a prophet is, right?
Speaker:They are someone who knows the sound of the Lord.
Speaker:They can hear the still small, quiet voice of the Lord and they
Speaker:can hear when the Lord is roaring.
Speaker:What's interesting is no one else can hear it in Amos's day, He's,
Speaker:he is called because the Lord has been roaring and no one hears it.
Speaker:So the Lord calls a prophet to say, Amplify what I am doing.
Speaker:They're not catching it, and I just love that understanding
Speaker:cuz it's gonna flow through all of Amos's chapters he can hear.
Speaker:It reminds me of, remember when we read Jeremiah, when he talked
Speaker:about how he almost wanted to stop being a prophet for a season, but
Speaker:there was fire in his bones and he.
Speaker:Stop it.
Speaker:That's basically I think, what's happening with Amos.
Speaker:But his way of learning this message is to hear a lion roar, cuz you know,
Speaker:God speaks to us in our own language.
Speaker:So he teaches Amos in a way that he would immediately understand and
Speaker:he compares it to a lion roaring.
Speaker:And then he warns what's happening.
Speaker:And like I mentioned before, The biggest sin here is not idolatry.
Speaker:That's what we've learned from a lot of other prophets.
Speaker:I really think one of the biggest risks of idolatry is it takes your focus off where
Speaker:you can come closer to God and where you can come closer to God is in caring for
Speaker:the poor and the needy and the vulnerable.
Speaker:And when they forsake that role, they miss their chance to connect.
Speaker:So it's not so much about idolatry as it is a lack of charity, and he,
Speaker:there's a beautiful, It's expressed in a whole bunch of different ways, but I
Speaker:really love the way it's said in three.
Speaker:So it says, let's say at the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus,
Speaker:he's gonna use that phrase like you've done, you've done a number
Speaker:of offenses, but you actually deserve more punishment than that.
Speaker:I'm gonna even give you, that's kinda what you'll see that
Speaker:phrase over and over again.
Speaker:But he says they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.
Speaker:Some key things.
Speaker:I would tell you as you study this chapter, watch for the
Speaker:word because, and circle it.
Speaker:That's what I did in mind, because he's actually teaching you.
Speaker:What they did wrong, and I really feel like the be attitudes of the savior
Speaker:are, are given to us so that we don't fall into these traps so that we
Speaker:don't have these same consequences.
Speaker:You know, when he says, turn the other cheek and you know, the me
Speaker:will inherit the earth and all those kinds kind commandments to soften us.
Speaker:It's so that we don't end up where the Israelites are.
Speaker:But that first example kind of typifies all of them because a threshing instrument
Speaker:is like this big heavy sled that they would, once they've gathered up the
Speaker:wheat, you know, we've talked about the threshing floor a few times where
Speaker:they'd gather the wheat from the fields.
Speaker:They take it to this big flat stone, and then they would grind it with a big sled.
Speaker:What was interesting is, as I studied this a little deeper, I think I was on
Speaker:Wikipedia, I put it in the notes, a lot of them would actually insert stones,
Speaker:little sharp stones onto the bottom of the sled so that it would cut at the
Speaker:wheat and it would break all those, you know, wheat berries out and it's this.
Speaker:Incredibly aggressive, violent way to extract something.
Speaker:And I think there are so many incredible parallels when you
Speaker:think about the savior and what he experienced when you read this chapter.
Speaker:Watch for those parallels cuz I don't think Amos is just
Speaker:teaching us about this situation.
Speaker:I think he's also trying to witness about Jesus Christ.
Speaker:And that picture is poignant because remember Gilead is where
Speaker:the B of Gilead comes from.
Speaker:Oftentimes in the scriptures, the Savior is compared to the bal of
Speaker:Gilead, meaning something that can heal an ointment, that can heal wounds.
Speaker:That's why it's often compared to the savior himself.
Speaker:So if they're taking this violent threshing instrument and they are
Speaker:destroying the thing that can heal the thing that can save, uh, that's a
Speaker:metaphor for why they're missing the point, why they need to have charity.
Speaker:And that's a message you're gonna see resounding throughout the chapter.
Speaker:You'll see it in a few places.
Speaker:But interestingly, what he's doing here, Amos is gonna teach all
Speaker:the peripheral, peripheral parts of the children of Israel first.
Speaker:So it kind of reminds me of if you've ever come into your kids fighting, right?
Speaker:And when you're gonna talk to one of the kids first and you're gonna reprimand them
Speaker:and you're gonna talk about what they did wrong, how they could have done it better,
Speaker:and the other kid is kind of sitting sort of smugly on the stairs, like, Ha, you
Speaker:know, , maybe you guys don't have the same, This happens to me all the time.
Speaker:And they're kind of like, Yeah, mom, get 'em.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And then you get to the end of talking to that kid and you're like, And
Speaker:Sam, I'd like to talk to you next.
Speaker:And then Sam's face falls and he is like, Dang it.
Speaker:So that's kinda what's happening here.
Speaker:He's gonna talk to all the surrounding areas of Israel first, all these
Speaker:different groups that live near Israel, and then he's gonna turn his
Speaker:attention on Israel itself and say, And you should have known better.
Speaker:All these other guys didn't have the covenants you had,
Speaker:you should have known better.
Speaker:So that's what you're gonna see throughout the chapter.
Speaker:I can't go through it all, but you'll watch some of the things they did wrong.
Speaker:They, they, they let people get carried off in captivity.
Speaker:They.
Speaker:They not just like if you look in six, it says, because they carried
Speaker:away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up talking about the
Speaker:enemies of Israel that they came.
Speaker:They didn't just take the strong men.
Speaker:They didn't just take a few, they took everybody.
Speaker:That means they took the elderly, they took the children, they took
Speaker:women, they, they took everyone.
Speaker:And that greed and lack of care for the port is going to hurt them.
Speaker:So the warrant is, the warning is strong in nine.
Speaker:You see that they rejected their brotherly covenants and they remembered them not.
Speaker:So this is another thing where they should have cared for.
Speaker:People who were nearby and they didn't, uh, in 11 it gets even stronger.
Speaker:In fact, this one I thought was pretty powerful.
Speaker:He says, because he did pursue his brother.
Speaker:So another, because we got a bunch of these in this chapter because
Speaker:he did pursue his brother with the sword and to cast off all pity.
Speaker:I mean, like they're, they're in fighting among the tribes that should
Speaker:be close to each other and they don't have any pity for each other.
Speaker:And then there's this one that just really poignant.
Speaker:It says, And his anger did tear perpetually and he kept his wrath forever.
Speaker:This is, um, I think our prophets have warned a lot about this lately, about
Speaker:holding onto grudges and choosing not to forgive and taking some
Speaker:delight when people who we perceive as our enemies get into struggle.
Speaker:Um, that's a, a strong warning.
Speaker:Go in the notes.
Speaker:There's incredible quotes from the prophets and apostles about,
Speaker:Why remember, be attitudes.
Speaker:Why do we need to forgive all men?
Speaker:Why do we need to show kindness?
Speaker:Why do we need to turn the other cheek and give our cloak?
Speaker:Why do we do that?
Speaker:Because we don't wanna be where they are.
Speaker:Um, in 13 it gets a little more selfish in nature cuz it talks about
Speaker:how they killed the women who were pregnant and the reason they killed
Speaker:them was so they could have more land.
Speaker:So one that's an atrocious crime just to begin with, but their motive for it
Speaker:was to kill off the next generation.
Speaker:So there's no one to inherit, no one to battle them or claim rights.
Speaker:It is agreed that is sinking into their hearts and that's gonna cost them.
Speaker:You can tell from the chapter heading of two that this is where
Speaker:he shifts and start talk starts talking to the kid on the stairs.
Speaker:The other one in the problem, he has a couple more verses for Moab at the
Speaker:very beginning where he talks about their big crime was they went in and
Speaker:desecrated the graves of their neighbors.
Speaker:So, I just think it's an interesting perspective that even though these
Speaker:are enemies of Israel and oftentimes they're in battle with each other, he
Speaker:expects them to show kindness in war.
Speaker:Kindness isn't the right word, but you know what I mean?
Speaker:How there's like a code of honor among soldiers, or there should be, that's
Speaker:where they've broken down, They're to the point of social chaos that they don't even
Speaker:follow like the conduct of war anymore.
Speaker:So they've desecrated graves, they're being deliberately unkind, and it just
Speaker:sort of reminded me of the Book of Mormon, how when you see moron's battles
Speaker:and all those battles in the Book of Alma, you see all those battles and
Speaker:there is bloodshed and there is probably horrific things that happen, but he does.
Speaker:Get blood thirsty.
Speaker:He does not take advantage of the poor.
Speaker:He does not take, they don't take the spoils.
Speaker:You know, there is, there is an honor in his soldiering that the people in
Speaker:Mohab and all these other neighboring cities simply didn't choose to have.
Speaker:And the Lord is calling them out on it.
Speaker:They're not children of the covenant per se.
Speaker:They don't have the same understanding.
Speaker:So he's not gonna call them out on breaking the covenant.
Speaker:What he's gonna say is, I think it's related to their light of Christ.
Speaker:Like, you know, even if you don't have a covenant and you don't understand
Speaker:my gospel, every one of you has the light of Christ and a conscience to
Speaker:know when you've crossed the line, and you're clearly becoming numb to
Speaker:that influence and he calls 'em on it.
Speaker:So they're accountable to that level of understanding.
Speaker:And then the rest of the chapter, When he talks to Israel, not just Israel, Judah
Speaker:too, so north and the South predominantly.
Speaker:He'll talk about Israel cuz that's who you know, Amos is called to preach to.
Speaker:But he has messages for both.
Speaker:So he talks about those in Judah.
Speaker:So this is down in Jerusalem where the temple is.
Speaker:They have started to despise the law of the Lord and not keep the commandments.
Speaker:So they're, because why they're going to be in trouble is
Speaker:because they're accountable.
Speaker:They knew the covenant, they knew God's law and they're breaking
Speaker:it so they're accountable.
Speaker:You go a little bit further and you see in six, because they sold the righteous for
Speaker:silver and the poor for a pair of shoes.
Speaker:This is traditionally seen as a reference to us.
Speaker:So remember when we talked about the law of Moses and there were
Speaker:people who were charging exorbitant interest rates for debts.
Speaker:So the poor would.
Speaker:They would give them a small loan and then charge huge interest to the
Speaker:point where they couldn't pay it off.
Speaker:So then they would enslave their children or their wives, or that's what he means.
Speaker:Buy a pair of shoes.
Speaker:Like it's this, you're taking, you're treating these people
Speaker:like possessions and you are.
Speaker:Hurting them on purpose.
Speaker:You're taking advantage of their poor state, and that's a
Speaker:wickedness he won't tolerate.
Speaker:So he has big warnings for them.
Speaker:As you go a little bit further, you find out why it's so offensive to God.
Speaker:So if you look in 10, I love the way he teaches.
Speaker:Ah, he's just such a good teacher.
Speaker:He says, Also, I brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Speaker:Egypt.
Speaker:I led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the MRIs.
Speaker:I raised up your sons for profits.
Speaker:He is reminding them that every one of them has been enslave,
Speaker:that they have all been poor.
Speaker:They have all been cast down and pushed down, and he pulled them out.
Speaker:He redeemed them from that position.
Speaker:He saved them from Egypt.
Speaker:So what that should do is soften them.
Speaker:You know, I know like when you've been saved from any situation
Speaker:by the Lord, you become so.
Speaker:Soft to people in that same circumstance.
Speaker:It's one of the things I love about bishops, they are so good at, at
Speaker:echoing the Lord's forgiveness and mercy because they themselves have
Speaker:experienced it just like you and I have.
Speaker:All of us have experienced the mercy that comes when you truly repent
Speaker:and they can't wait to give it out, um, to tell others about it.
Speaker:And that's what should have happened with the children of Israel.
Speaker:Their experience being beggars should have helped them be kind.
Speaker:It should help us to, I love that talk from Elder Holland.
Speaker:Are we not all beggars?
Speaker:You know, he echoes King Benjamin's words and says, we're all in a position of want.
Speaker:We've all been saved and helped and redeemed, so we should push
Speaker:that forward to everybody else.
Speaker:That's why the Lord is casting out and being so.
Speaker:He's being so clear about his punishments that will come because they should know
Speaker:better and they're choosing not to.
Speaker:And don't you feel like that when your kids are fighting and
Speaker:you're like, You knew better.
Speaker:I just talked to you about this, and so your consequences are harsher.
Speaker:That's what's happening here as well.
Speaker:So he talks about the result.
Speaker:I love how it's phrased in through 13, Behold I am press
Speaker:Under you as a cart is pressed.
Speaker:That is full of shes, I love this also because of what King Benjamin teaches.
Speaker:He's the one that taught us that if we're in the service of our fellow
Speaker:beings, we're only in the service of God.
Speaker:So that means if we're grinding the faces of the poor, What we're really
Speaker:doing is grinding the face of God.
Speaker:It, it means we are turning our back on one of the most profound
Speaker:ways to come to know God.
Speaker:It's through charity and through taking care of others that you come to know God.
Speaker:I think it's why we're asked to be parents, because that is a position where
Speaker:you have to show charity and forgiveness and compassion forever, and it is
Speaker:somewhere where you come to know God and they're turning their back on it, and
Speaker:so the result is he can't deliver them.
Speaker:They will end up in struggle because they choose to abandon this part of
Speaker:their history and they forget God.
Speaker:Chapter threes makes it clear that his message is not just
Speaker:for Israel, but for the whole.
Speaker:All the children of Jacob that they all need to know this message
Speaker:that you only have I known.
Speaker:This is in verse two.
Speaker:You only have I known of all the families of the earth.
Speaker:Therefore I will punish you for all your inequities.
Speaker:Remember, we've been talking about how covenants create a relationship with God.
Speaker:So when we're in a relationship with God and we turn away from it,
Speaker:there is a more severe consequence.
Speaker:That's how it is with our kids too, right?
Speaker:I love, Jack was in Ysa last night and he gave this great example.
Speaker:We were talking about how the Lord is so merciful with weakness,
Speaker:but rebellion is different.
Speaker:Rebellion has consequences.
Speaker:And we were talking about the difference and Jack, who normally doesn't really
Speaker:look up much in class and doesn't participate a lot, he's like, Oh,
Speaker:I know it's kind of like a game.
Speaker:And I'm like, Okay, tell me Jack.
Speaker:And he said, You know, basically, There's somebody who's new to the game and they
Speaker:don't know the house rules or whatever.
Speaker:You're pretty forgiving if they make a mistake.
Speaker:But if somebody who knows how to play the game does that
Speaker:same thing, it's not a mistake.
Speaker:It's called cheating.
Speaker:And I'm like, Yeah, that's, that's what it is.
Speaker:It's a deliberate.
Speaker:They're cheating.
Speaker:They're cheating on a very clear rules and a game that they've
Speaker:already received abundant blessings from, and they're cheating.
Speaker:And so he's angry because the consequences for somebody who cheats
Speaker:in a game are much more severe than someone who makes a mistake.
Speaker:And so I love that visual jack.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:And you go a little bit further, you'll see in seven, surely the Lord God
Speaker:will do nothing, but he reveals his secret under his servants of prophets.
Speaker:You should, you'll probably be really familiar with that verse, but I want
Speaker:you to read it in conjunction with the couple verses that come before,
Speaker:because this is where Amos's, you know, background of being out in the wilderness
Speaker:all the time really comes, shines.
Speaker:He reminds me a little bit of Eldor who always, you know, uses airplane analogies
Speaker:cuz that's the language he speaks.
Speaker:Aus speaks the language of nature.
Speaker:And so he talks about nature and he says like, there's these
Speaker:animals, they make sounds, there's always a purpose to the sound.
Speaker:They, they don't do anything for no reason and so there's purpose to it.
Speaker:And so then he says, God is basically making a sound and he will never
Speaker:allow this big consequence to happen without making a sound.
Speaker:And just cuz you guys can't hear that lion roaring, know that I can.
Speaker:And I feel like that's what conference was, right?
Speaker:That's when the prophets stand and.
Speaker:Let me tell you the roaring that I have heard.
Speaker:As I've been praying and fasting and worrying about what words to choose
Speaker:to say today, let me tell you what I heard that you might not hear.
Speaker:And what I love is the promise of a prophet is if you listen to their
Speaker:witness that this is something the Lord is concerned about, and then you act
Speaker:on it or even just pray about it, your ability to hear the roar increases.
Speaker:That's why the prophets are teaching us so much about how to hear him, cuz their goal
Speaker:is not to just be our only gateway, right?
Speaker:We know the three gateways to hear the word of the Lord.
Speaker:One is modern prophets and understanding modern revelation.
Speaker:The second is our own revelation, and the third is the words of
Speaker:the scriptures of their prophets.
Speaker:So when those three work together, we we get added light.
Speaker:So that's what you're gonna see in these verses.
Speaker:Amos is trying to help them understand how to hear it for themselves.
Speaker:So he talks in eight, The lion, half Thero, who will not fear the Lord.
Speaker:God has spoken, but who can prophesy?
Speaker:He's like, You guys, I can hear it so clearly, listen to me and come.
Speaker:I also love the JST translation that happens in verse seven because this is
Speaker:where you learn that it's not that he will always, what he's saying is it's
Speaker:until the Lord will not do anything, until he reveals it to his prophets.
Speaker:So there's no, like, you'll know if you are listening to the prophet and
Speaker:you're, you're coming to conference and you're studying his words, there
Speaker:will be no surprise prophecies, especially in these latter days.
Speaker:You will know it will be a resounding roar because you've come
Speaker:to know and come to hear him, and I love that he gets that as well.
Speaker:When you flip the page, you see what profits do.
Speaker:10 profits help us gather when you go into, or maybe that's nine in 10,
Speaker:It talks about how they know what is.
Speaker:I kind of loved this little concession in here.
Speaker:So he's basically saying there are some people who don't know what's
Speaker:right and that's a prophets job.
Speaker:It's the same thing we see in the doctrine in covenants that says, you
Speaker:know, people can't find the church.
Speaker:They don't know where to find it, so we have to help direct them.
Speaker:That's one of the roles above Prophet.
Speaker:When you go into an 11, he talks even more.
Speaker:He talks about how they will warn you of dangers that are coming
Speaker:because you might not be familiar with the sound of a lion if you don't
Speaker:come from that neck of the woods.
Speaker:You might not know what that sound is The same way, if you've ever been, you know,
Speaker:out and about in your neighborhood and you hear a weird super loud like construction
Speaker:sound, sometimes you think there's some natural disaster happening cuz you're not
Speaker:familiar with the construction sounds and it takes you second to orient yourself.
Speaker:So a prophet is someone who can hear that and know what it is and teach it to you.
Speaker:And then he talks about how their job is to protect.
Speaker:And I even think a little bit too mourn when people don't hear, and
Speaker:he uses this really vivid image.
Speaker:He talks about how.
Speaker:The children of Israel are basically like a lamb that is caught in the mouth of a
Speaker:lion and the shepherd is trying to rescue them, and all he can get out is an ear or
Speaker:a leg, or like, you can just almost hear that this must be a vivid memory for Avis.
Speaker:At least that's how I read it, that he's probably experienced this exact thing
Speaker:or he has a lamb that he loves and his whole job was to take care of that lamb.
Speaker:And when it strays and gets into the mouth of a lion, he tries to rescue and can't.
Speaker:That's what's happening to the children of Israel.
Speaker:They're gonna be scattered, lost.
Speaker:He the savior, can't pull them back in.
Speaker:They've gone too far.
Speaker:And Amos's job is to warn them about that, and he uses a powerful personal
Speaker:image to get that message across.
Speaker:I just think it teaches me how to be a better teacher, that I'm supposed
Speaker:to use my life experiences and my understandings to teach, and that
Speaker:the Lord, that the spirit will work through that channel in powerful ways.
Speaker:In chapter four, image shines a big spotlight on that same issue
Speaker:that they are oppressing the poor.
Speaker:So if you look in verse one, hear this word Y kind, so it's calling them
Speaker:cows like these are people who just mill about and feed themselves and
Speaker:don't care about anything around them.
Speaker:He says, which oppressed the poor, which crush the needy, which say to
Speaker:their masters, Bring and let us drink.
Speaker:They're not even aware, you know, that kind of Maria Antoinette
Speaker:situation, like let them eat cake.
Speaker:It's this like complete unaware of the troubles in their land.
Speaker:And it kind of reminds me of the mites, you know, in the Book
Speaker:of Mormon, how they get really.
Speaker:They think they're being righteous.
Speaker:They think they are living higher, but they're missing the point that to
Speaker:live higher means to live like God.
Speaker:And God never leaves the poor behind.
Speaker:He never leaves the needy behind.
Speaker:They're supposed to bring people up with them.
Speaker:That's what it means to be a child of the covenant.
Speaker:The job of the covenant is to be a light to others so that they all can gather in.
Speaker:And the children of Israel have lost that.
Speaker:They've missed that point.
Speaker:And so he has some consequences for them.
Speaker:Now you can read the rest of this chapter.
Speaker:This talks about all the different like series of unfortunate that happens and
Speaker:it gets, starts a little bit smaller, and then it gets progressively worse
Speaker:as they don't hear the phrase you're gonna see over and over again is that
Speaker:yet you have not returned on to me.
Speaker:So he gives them one consequence and they don't come back to him.
Speaker:And then he gives them a slightly harsher consequences and they don't come back.
Speaker:Like there's a famine and then there's a drought, and then there's sickness,
Speaker:and then there's war and people die.
Speaker:And it's just this.
Speaker:Domino effect.
Speaker:I think what was most powerful to me, I think because I had just read, um,
Speaker:Bishop CA's, uh, conference doc from this last October where he talked
Speaker:about stewardship versus ownership.
Speaker:My friend Len has a book about this, but it's this idea of you
Speaker:are a steward of these things.
Speaker:You don't own these things, and when you choose not to care for your
Speaker:stewardship, the Lord removes it.
Speaker:So it's not that the Lord is giving them bigger and bigger punishments.
Speaker:It's not like he's making the whip harder and harder.
Speaker:What he's doing is he's pulling the stewardship.
Speaker:He's saying, You didn't care for this.
Speaker:I have to remove it now.
Speaker:So it feels like a punishment to the children of Israel, but really what it
Speaker:is, is it's a removal of a blessing.
Speaker:The same way when you talk to your kids and they make big mistakes, you're really
Speaker:not punishing them most of the time.
Speaker:You're removing a blessing.
Speaker:, their whole life is a blessing you've provided for them.
Speaker:So when you.
Speaker:Give them a consequence, like maybe they don't have their curfew as much
Speaker:as it used to be, or maybe they have to sit and hang out for a minute.
Speaker:They used to have freedom to move about the cabin and now they don't.
Speaker:That is a blessing that they didn't even realize was not theirs.
Speaker:You.
Speaker:Does that make sense?
Speaker:It's a stewardship that you've granted them, and when they don't care for their
Speaker:stewardship, you pull it away, which.
Speaker:I feel like it almost creates a vacuum effect and hard things come.
Speaker:So when the Lord removes the rain, which is this great blessing, when
Speaker:he pulls that away, the hardship that comes is drought and famine.
Speaker:I, I don't think he wanted to hit them with drought and famine as much as he was
Speaker:saying, I'm gonna take this blessing away.
Speaker:Please learn what it feels like to be without me, what it feels
Speaker:like to be without this blessing and turn back to me the same way.
Speaker:You hope that your kid, after being grounded for two weeks will come back and
Speaker:say, I'm sorry, that won't happen again.
Speaker:Can I please have those blessings back?
Speaker:I wanna take care of my stewardship.
Speaker:That's what I see when I read through chapter four.
Speaker:So don't see it like a whole bunch of punitive, you know,
Speaker:the Lord coming out angry.
Speaker:I think it's much more about stewardship and ownership.
Speaker:And if you want more guidance on that, go back to conference this last
Speaker:October and read Elder C's message.
Speaker:It's so good you.
Speaker:In the last few weeks, the church has released more of those Book of Mormon
Speaker:videos, and now we're into third Nehi where you see the savior come.
Speaker:But I, what I was watching this week is the ones before that, right before
Speaker:the savior comes the time of great destruction that happens and you see like
Speaker:windstorms and floods coming downstairs and people trying to hold their families
Speaker:together and, and you see what's left right after this great time of storm.
Speaker:There are some who are left and they are battered and broken and crying.
Speaker:In struggle.
Speaker:That's what I see when I read chapter five because four is all
Speaker:about those destruction sequences.
Speaker:All those consequences of those blessings being pulled away hit hard.
Speaker:In four, there was loss of life, there was famine there.
Speaker:People had to leave their city to try and find water in other places.
Speaker:Destruction happens in four.
Speaker:What happens in five is the people who are left and Amos goes in
Speaker:to teach these people who are left and the message is so good.
Speaker:In fact, it's all about good.
Speaker:So I want you to go in the verses you'll see if you look in four, his
Speaker:invitation to those who are broken, wounded, and scared is to seek God.
Speaker:He says it so many times that word seek.
Speaker:I highlighted it over and over again in chapter five.
Speaker:Thus say the Lord God unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and ye shall live.
Speaker:This is the same thing Alma teaches us.
Speaker:Look to God and live.
Speaker:It's this message.
Speaker:All these blessings can get pulled away from you.
Speaker:Turn to me.
Speaker:There is only one way that they can find help and strength and the support
Speaker:they need and they've gotta turn.
Speaker:And so that's Amos's big message.
Speaker:He says, Stop going to Bethel.
Speaker:These places where they've set up idols and other worship services.
Speaker:Again, I think some of their worship services were patterned after good ones.
Speaker:They just have distorted them.
Speaker:You know, Bethel is a holy place.
Speaker:That's a place we've studied in the Old Testament, but they've distorted
Speaker:the worship that's happening there.
Speaker:So he invites them to seek the Lord.
Speaker:Come back to the basics in six, Seek the Lord and you shall live.
Speaker:Let he break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour it.
Speaker:There will be none to que quench in Bethel no matter how holy that ground is.
Speaker:If you are not, if you're not living the commandments, if you're not, if you
Speaker:don't have that mighty change of heart that the Lord wants you to have, it won't
Speaker:help you to stand on that holy mount.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:That doesn't help you.
Speaker:So he's saying, Leave off all of that and come back.
Speaker:And seven E who turn judgment into wormwood and leave off righteousness.
Speaker:You've abandoned the poor.
Speaker:You've, you've turned away kindness.
Speaker:You've left off righteousness.
Speaker:Come back, seek him in eight.
Speaker:He reminds him who it is they're seeking.
Speaker:This is the maker of the stars.
Speaker:This is the creator of the universe.
Speaker:Come back to the one who can save.
Speaker:And don't you think in a position where they've seen so much destruction
Speaker:and pain and loss, that that would be such a, a message of hope, right?
Speaker:That look back to the one who's bigger than all of this destruction.
Speaker:Look at the stars and remember who made them and come back to him.
Speaker:And I love, we see in 11, for as much, therefore as your treading
Speaker:is upon the poor, and you take from him the burdens of the wheat.
Speaker:You've built these houses basically saying like, Here's where you went wrong.
Speaker:Instead of helping the poor, you took from the poor and you
Speaker:built up houses with that wealth.
Speaker:And now you're never gonna get to live in them that way of living.
Speaker:Didn't give you what you wanted.
Speaker:Your houses are getting destroyed, come seek good.
Speaker:So if you look in 12, they were taking bribes, they're turning aside the poor.
Speaker:Again, that resounding message of you've missed the mark.
Speaker:If there is no charity in you, you are not mine.
Speaker:So he says, Seek good in 14.
Speaker:Seek good and not evil that you may live this whole verse like go in the footnotes.
Speaker:You guys, there were so many beautiful verses that tied to this verse because
Speaker:it's this invitation to seek goodness when you are in struggle and you
Speaker:know, even if you know you have made the mistakes and you are off course,
Speaker:his answer is care for the poor.
Speaker:Do good anywhere you can.
Speaker:Don't wait to be asked.
Speaker:In fact, if you look, it's like don't be, you won't be compelled in all things.
Speaker:That verse is in there.
Speaker:The one that's about being anxiously engaged at a good cause is in there.
Speaker:He's saying, Don't wait until prophet commands you to do something.
Speaker:Go and do good.
Speaker:I feel like that's what conference was all about as well.
Speaker:It's this invitation.
Speaker:Do good wherever you are.
Speaker:Put goodness out there and let that gateway of good bring you to Christ.
Speaker:Cuz where we're gonna find Christ is in doing good.
Speaker:That's how they'll come to him.
Speaker:It's not studying him in the books, it's not being innocent.
Speaker:A go.
Speaker:All those places are wonderful, but where you really will find him is
Speaker:among the poor and among the needy and in those places of service.
Speaker:And now they're living in a place of destruction.
Speaker:So there's all these opportunities to serve what I think is really
Speaker:powerful about that message.
Speaker:This is a place of destruction, which means all these people are probably
Speaker:hurting, all of them probably feel deficient and that they don't have
Speaker:the resources they need to serve.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Have you ever been in a situation where your life is so hard and then
Speaker:you get a new calling that is really big and you think, Why ? Why now?
Speaker:I don't have anything left to give.
Speaker:I can't.
Speaker:There's nothing in me.
Speaker:And then you learn.
Speaker:When you show up as limited as you are, you show up, then the Lord's fills you.
Speaker:Because when you think about the Lord's, Life.
Speaker:His mortal life.
Speaker:Where was he?
Speaker:He was among the poor and the cast out and the downtrodden.
Speaker:That's where you find God.
Speaker:That's where you come to know God.
Speaker:And I just think it's always this invitation.
Speaker:Humble yourselves, submit yourselves to me.
Speaker:Show up for this calling.
Speaker:Do the best you can, and let me fill you with something that will last so much
Speaker:more than what you thought you needed.
Speaker:I could testify that in a dozen different ways from just the last five years.
Speaker:So I, I love that.
Speaker:That's Amos's message as.
Speaker:Seek good.
Speaker:Um, and then see what the Lord can do with it.
Speaker:I also think it's cool what he says in 18.
Speaker:So this is where he warns them.
Speaker:Don't wait for the second coming.
Speaker:Have you ever felt like that now, like there's this pervasive
Speaker:destruction and things are a mess and our society's kind of a mess.
Speaker:And you think, couldn't the savior just come ? Couldn't we just wrap this all up?
Speaker:Um, I think he's warning us about that train of thought.
Speaker:So he says, Whoa unto you that desire that the day of the
Speaker:Lord, to what end is it for you?
Speaker:Meaning if you yourself aren't ready for the Lord to come, if your heart
Speaker:isn't helping in Zion and united with Zion, if you're not out serving the
Speaker:poor and doing your ministering and taking care of your callings, and
Speaker:if you're not doing those things, you're not ready for the Lord to come.
Speaker:So go do those.
Speaker:Go do good and that will help facilitate the day of the Lord coming.
Speaker:It is not something we're supposed to sit back and be like, Oh,
Speaker:it'll be so great when he comes and cleans up this whole mess.
Speaker:Because the, the point is that we will be changed by the time he gets here,
Speaker:that we will be Zion in our hearts no matter how much destruction is around us.
Speaker:So I love that reminder, Don't just wait, do good, be anxiously
Speaker:engaged in a good cause.
Speaker:Um, and then he talks about how this is offending him.
Speaker:So if you look in 21, 22, 23, basically he's saying to them, If you don't have
Speaker:charity, none of the rest of this matters.
Speaker:I know you see that in the New Testament as well, but it's this invitation of
Speaker:all your fe, all your ceremonies, all your attending church, all you doing,
Speaker:your callings, all those things.
Speaker:They don't matter if you have no charity.
Speaker:And so he is urging them to shift.
Speaker:So he says they offend me.
Speaker:All those things you're doing, they offend me.
Speaker:And then 24, but let judgment run down as waters.
Speaker:Judgment and justice can kind of be interchanged.
Speaker:It's also an extension of mercy.
Speaker:So he is asking them to show fair.
Speaker:In these small ways, show judgment, be show fairness in small ways, but the big
Speaker:ways the rivers need to be righteousness.
Speaker:That mighty stream is righteousness show, abundant mercy.
Speaker:When Michelle Greg spoke in conference, I had to write it
Speaker:at my margins cuz I loved it.
Speaker:She said, um, she.
Speaker:Chapter six begins with a very famous verse.
Speaker:It says, Whoa unto them that are at ease In Zion, he's talking to Samaritans,
Speaker:which are, well in this area, it's the capital city of Northern Israel.
Speaker:So basically in any time of war, it's the poor and the downtrodden who, who
Speaker:take the big ramifications of war, right?
Speaker:And sometimes the elite don't even recognize or appreciate what's happening.
Speaker:And I think that's who he's talking to now.
Speaker:So Amos is talking to those who are at ease, thinking they are connected, they
Speaker:are of the covenant, they're gonna be just fine and they can live a good life.
Speaker:In fact, if you go through these verses, it talks about their good life that they
Speaker:live in, these palaces, they're laying on couches and you know, it has this kind
Speaker:of eat, drink and be merry vibe to it.
Speaker:And he talks about how he hates it.
Speaker:I just thought this was a cool way to say it.
Speaker:In eight, I abor the excellency of Jacob and hate his palaces.
Speaker:I think what we know about the character of Christ is when he chose
Speaker:to condescend, when he chose to be born to marry and Joseph in a little humble
Speaker:city of a carpenter's family and be in a stable, you know, like he lived his
Speaker:life to show that he will be with us.
Speaker:And when we create separation from the people who need us
Speaker:most, there are consequences and that's who he's warning about.
Speaker:And I think it's interesting cuz so many of us, right, are hoping and praying for
Speaker:excess, for abundance in worldly things.
Speaker:I'm right there with you guys.
Speaker:Like he is hard, but I think what you wanna remember.
Speaker:Power comes from being in a position of vulnerability, at least spiritual power.
Speaker:Michelle Craig talked about this in conference where she basically
Speaker:said, I wrote it, my margins.
Speaker:She said, Living inconvenience does not bring power.
Speaker:So when we are pushing back and pleading with the Lord in our prayers at night to
Speaker:take away whatever is hard, , sometimes those prayers are not answered because he
Speaker:knows that for us to stay close to him, we need that opposition in all things.
Speaker:We need those difficulties to keep us humble.
Speaker:So he here, he invites Zion to choose to humble themselves.
Speaker:When they don't choose it, they get the consequences of that, which is
Speaker:that pretty soon the Assyrians are gonna come in and wipe him out.
Speaker:So he says in 13, you're getting comfortable.
Speaker:It says, Ye, which rejoice in a thing of not which say, have we not
Speaker:taken to us our horns by our own?
Speaker:So again, like we learned from other cse, this is shifting
Speaker:from stewardship to ownership.
Speaker:I earned this, I got this.
Speaker:I don't, This isn't just wealth, you guys.
Speaker:This is anything we rest our confidence on.
Speaker:Even things like a testimony, right?
Speaker:If you start to believe that.
Speaker:You got this, you know, I did all the work and I earned this or you
Speaker:know, it can, we can shift into a position of pride pretty fast.
Speaker:And so he's warning about that.
Speaker:I think that phrase you rejoice in a thing of not is pretty powerful.
Speaker:Cuz I think sometimes I do this right, We celebrate, I have to watch myself
Speaker:with object lessons sometimes in this vein, cuz you guys know me, I love
Speaker:object lessons and I'm teaching my kids an object lessons all the time.
Speaker:But sometimes I'm so fixated on the fun part of the object lesson
Speaker:that I forget to actually teach the mess or just don't do it very well.
Speaker:You know, cuz we're just taking pictures.
Speaker:We're trying to, and I have to, I have to remember that.
Speaker:I can't rejoice in the object lesson.
Speaker:The object lesson is a tool to help them know the gospel.
Speaker:So if I'm not actually connecting those dots, then I'm, I'm rejoicing
Speaker:in a thing of not, Is it good?
Speaker:Is it happy?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Is it a good memory?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:All those good things, but it is not what will last.
Speaker:If my lessons aren't helping my kids have a solid testimony of
Speaker:Jesus Christ, then I'm rejoicing in a thing of not, and it won't last.
Speaker:So he warns them about that and then says, Behold, if you don't change,
Speaker:I'm gonna bring another nation and they're gonna conquer you in 30 years.
Speaker:That will happen.
Speaker:And I think it's interesting that he's over and over again trying to warn them
Speaker:that this will happen both to those who are, you know, in desperate times
Speaker:in chapter five, and those who are feeling pretty solid in chapter six.
Speaker:The warning is the same to both look to God and.
Speaker:These last three chapters of Amos are a series of five visions that he has,
Speaker:and you can go into the notes and learn more, or even into the institute
Speaker:manual and learn a little bit more about what we think these visions mean.
Speaker:, um, and there's a few different ones.
Speaker:He has a vision of grasshoppers or locus investing things.
Speaker:He has a vision of a great fire that comes and even consumes the water.
Speaker:And then a vision of a plum line.
Speaker:There's more that come in the next chapter, but in this chapter
Speaker:you see all three of those.
Speaker:And there's teaching us specific things about the future of
Speaker:Israel that they're gonna get cut down, but they'll regrow that.
Speaker:The fire one is talking probably about the scattering and the damage that
Speaker:will occur when they are scattered.
Speaker:And then the plum line is focused more on God's careful justice.
Speaker:I loved this phrase, I can't remember who I read it from to be honest,
Speaker:but that this idea of a plum line.
Speaker:Very careful and exact justice means I think God will give us as much
Speaker:grace and mercy as he possibly can.
Speaker:But there will be a line and, and you have to be aware that he
Speaker:is a God of justice and mercy.
Speaker:So I love that visual of the plum line as well.
Speaker:Also cuz I just love my level maker and that's what I think
Speaker:of when I think of a plum line.
Speaker:Um, there's also this cool interaction that happens with a priest.
Speaker:So basically a priest comes, his name is, what's his name?
Speaker:Isaiah.
Speaker:He comes to the king and says, There's this prophet that's making this noise
Speaker:that says we're gonna get destroyed.
Speaker:You need to get him out.
Speaker:I thought this was kind of interesting cuz in other places in the Old
Speaker:Testament, we've seen this happen and they try to kill the prophets, right?
Speaker:I mean that's why they got thrown into, that's why she had Rache in
Speaker:a be go, got thrown into the fire.
Speaker:It's why Daniel went into lions stand cuz people were envious of
Speaker:their position and they wanted.
Speaker:Get rid of them.
Speaker:So they tried to kill them.
Speaker:And this one, it's almost like a, a dismissiveness, an annoyance.
Speaker:He treats Amos almost like this annoyance, you know, like something he
Speaker:doesn't even wanna have to listen to.
Speaker:So he tells the king, You should push him back to his own place.
Speaker:Remember, he's not from the north, he's from the south.
Speaker:So he is like, just, just get rid of him.
Speaker:Tell him he, he can't be here anymore.
Speaker:And I just think Amos's response is so Maximus, you know, like this is
Speaker:where he sounds like Gladiator Russell Crow comes through in these verses
Speaker:where he says basically, I, I didn't ask for this gig, , I just love it.
Speaker:It's in verse 14.
Speaker:I was no profit, neither was I a prophet son, but I was a herdman
Speaker:and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.
Speaker:And the Lord took me, as I followed the flock, he heard the Lord.
Speaker:It's a first vision type of moment for Amos.
Speaker:You know, I don't mean.
Speaker:Over extend here, but he, he didn't seek out this calling.
Speaker:Have you ever felt like that in your callings, that when you get
Speaker:pushback from people and you're like, I didn't sign up for this.
Speaker:I was asked and I'm doing the best I can, and I just think
Speaker:his response is so strong.
Speaker:It is courageous.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:There's dity in this moment because what he's saying to that Isaiah
Speaker:is like, I'm not here about.
Speaker:I am here because God put me here.
Speaker:Whereas Amaziah is a priest and thinks he has some kind of right
Speaker:to hear the word of the Lord.
Speaker:Amos knows the Lord, word of the Lord.
Speaker:He's heard the roar of the lion and he will respond.
Speaker:And so it doesn't matter how much this is a Daniel moment, right?
Speaker:It doesn't matter what this guy says.
Speaker:He, he's like, I'm going to speak and I'm going to speak here cuz this is
Speaker:what the Lord has called me to do.
Speaker:And I think that's how we have to show up in our callings, in our families.
Speaker:Whatever your sphere of influence is, whatever your stewardship is, show up
Speaker:and trust in the dignity that comes with saying, I was called to this work.
Speaker:I've been set apart to do it.
Speaker:I'm doing the best I can.
Speaker:I, I'm going to speak.
Speaker:And that's, there's power in those like, ooh, holy ground moments, right?
Speaker:And what is so fun about this is at the end of the chapter, he reverses it.
Speaker:So basically says to Isaiah, I know you don't want me to prophesy about
Speaker:Israel anymore, so instead I'm gonna prophesy directly about you.
Speaker:And he, he warns Isaiah that he's gonna get carried away captive.
Speaker:His wife is gonna get captured as children are gonna die.
Speaker:Like he becomes very personal.
Speaker:And you could read this as like a Hahaha, you know, But this is Amus.
Speaker:He's a shepherd, a quiet, dignified prophet of God.
Speaker:I don't think this is a retribution kind of moment.
Speaker:I think this is him saying, You're not hearing me when I say
Speaker:Israel's gonna get destroyed.
Speaker:You're picturing this big, you know, sweeping thing that won't impact you.
Speaker:I want you to know that this is gonna hit your family.
Speaker:When I warn you about the destruction of Israel, it's gonna hit your wife and
Speaker:your kids and your property, All of it.
Speaker:Please hear me.
Speaker:I just think that's what the prophet does for us too, right?
Speaker:It's not just a message to the church, it's a message to us individually.
Speaker:Help your family.
Speaker:I need you to hear the word of the Lord because your family needs you.
Speaker:You need the revelation that the Lord is trying to give you.
Speaker:So hear him better.
Speaker:It's not just about the gathering and Zion, What makes the Gathering
Speaker:and Zion happen is because individually we realize that these.
Speaker:Prophecies are about us and that honoring God's commandments bring
Speaker:blessings to us and our family.
Speaker:So I think it's Amos's way of making this very personal.
Speaker:I just wish it had worked.
Speaker:Chapter eight is where you see the vision of the fruit, and it's this basket of
Speaker:summer fruit, which if you've ever like been to Costco and bought a ridiculous
Speaker:amount of mangoes or, and then you just sit there and watch them rot on your
Speaker:counter because you should have known, you could never consume that manys.
Speaker:I dunno if you've had that experience, but I definitely have.
Speaker:And that's, that's what he's picturing.
Speaker:It's not supposed to be this beautiful harvest.
Speaker:It's supposed to be.
Speaker:It's not being consumed, that fruit's not being used.
Speaker:And that's where the problem comes in.
Speaker:Because remember, the children of Israel were given the covenant, given all this
Speaker:knowledge and this understanding so that they could take it to the world.
Speaker:And instead they're keeping it for themselves.
Speaker:They're pulling in.
Speaker:It's the same thing that happens to me when I start to resent my callings.
Speaker:Uh, you know, like you start to think.
Speaker:My own family needs me.
Speaker:I can't do this anymore.
Speaker:You know, like my own family's falling apart.
Speaker:I can't go to Mutual tonight or I can't show up for Ysa cuz my family needs me.
Speaker:And there are times of course when that is actually true, but most of
Speaker:the time what he's saying is like I, I am producing so much fruit on you.
Speaker:You don't even see it.
Speaker:Do you remember in Jacob five when we were talking about the olive trees
Speaker:and we learned that those who don't give of their fruit actually weaken.
Speaker:The same thing happens with real trees that you see outside.
Speaker:If you don't pluck the fruit at the harvest time, they actually get worse.
Speaker:They get insects, they get birds who attack they.
Speaker:You have to use the fruit.
Speaker:And when you use the fruit, the promise is your branch will be
Speaker:healthier, you'll produce better.
Speaker:So as I show up for my colleagues, even though my house is messed, my family
Speaker:feels like it's falling apart, I get revelation and insights all the time.
Speaker:That happens to me all the time.
Speaker:I'll go to Ysa and I'll get an answer to a prayer from something someone
Speaker:says or something, a scripture.
Speaker:I'd never read the same way.
Speaker:And it helps me at home.
Speaker:And that's what you have to have faith in, right?
Speaker:So that's what he's warning them about is you're trying to hoard this fruit
Speaker:and it's just rotting on the counter.
Speaker:And there are consequences to that.
Speaker:The stewardship is gonna shift, right?
Speaker:So he talks about what's gonna happen that the he'll forget things that they
Speaker:will forget their connection with God.
Speaker:They, they've stopped listening to the poor, like in four, that they
Speaker:make it, they make the land to fail.
Speaker:Um, that when in five they talk about how when the Sabbath comes around, they're
Speaker:kind of like checking their watch.
Speaker:Like, can we get this over with, you know, their ceremonies, their holy days.
Speaker:They're trying to rush through them so that they can get to the commerce
Speaker:days where they can sell things.
Speaker:You know, they, they've begun to completely forget God and
Speaker:to resent him a little bit.
Speaker:And he says, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Speaker:So in six, it's that same phrase, You're forgetting the poor.
Speaker:You're selling them off for the worth of a pair of shoes, and I
Speaker:will never forget their works.
Speaker:That's the promise in seven.
Speaker:And then you see the consequences.
Speaker:This was such a cool visual to me because he basically says, He reminds
Speaker:them of how he pulled them out of the flood in Noah's day and how he pulled
Speaker:them out of the flood or the waves crashing down in the day of Pharaoh.
Speaker:And now this time he can't, uh, they, they're going to experience the flood.
Speaker:They're gonna experience death and destruction and loss where they
Speaker:were people who were supposed to get delivered because they were
Speaker:not obedient and they forgot God.
Speaker:The waters crashed down on them this time.
Speaker:And I think it pains the Lord the same way we learn from Enoch, that he weeps
Speaker:when he thinks about the people who are gonna be destroyed in the flood.
Speaker:These are his children.
Speaker:He is going to mourn their loss, but this is the consequence they're choosing.
Speaker:So he talks about what will happen 11 and 12.
Speaker:There's gonna be a famine in the land and it's not gonna be
Speaker:a famine of thirst or of bread.
Speaker:It's gonna be a famine for hearing the words of the Lord.
Speaker:There will not be a prophet in this area in Israel for hundreds of years, right?
Speaker:Not until John the Baptist comes.
Speaker:There will not be the word God.
Speaker:And then even after Jesus and his apostles are gone, now you have all the way,
Speaker:you don't tell the restoration where there's a famine of the words of God.
Speaker:And the result of a famine of revelation is people run about to and fro.
Speaker:That's what you're gonna see in 12.
Speaker:They shall run to and fro and seek the word of the Lord,
Speaker:but they shall not find it.
Speaker:Doesn't that sound like the apostasy to like and her own personal processes?
Speaker:When we lose our connection to God, we start to seek out
Speaker:all kinds of other sources.
Speaker:I just think this is really interesting cause I do this, you know?
Speaker:Have you ever been in a situation, like in a business setting?
Speaker:I've had this a few times in my business work where.
Speaker:Something falls through, things don't work.
Speaker:And then the person who I was working with doesn't explain why it fell through.
Speaker:So then I start to write my own narrative about what I think may have happened.
Speaker:I start to like concoct a story.
Speaker:You do this with a relationship sometimes too, sometimes too, where
Speaker:you start to create a narrative cuz there's not enough information.
Speaker:And so you concoct and you get bitter and angry cuz you assume there must have
Speaker:been, you know, like your, your brain can come up with pretty creative things.
Speaker:That's what happens with the gospel.
Speaker:They, in this attempt to go to and fro to try and find truth, they end
Speaker:up picking up all kinds of falsehood and the doctrine becomes corrupted and
Speaker:there is a famine of the words of God.
Speaker:Thank goodness for the time of the restoration.
Speaker:Aren't you so grateful that we live today?
Speaker:Or that famine has been lifted and there there is like a
Speaker:bounty of the words of God.
Speaker:Chapter eight made me grateful for that.
Speaker:Do you remember when we were studying about right before the Exodus out
Speaker:of Egypt, there's the Passover, and so it's that last plague where all
Speaker:the firstborn are gonna be killed.
Speaker:And so the Lord gives them really clear instructions through Moses that they're
Speaker:supposed to go through these steps and they're gonna kill a lamb and they're
Speaker:going to stay in their homes and they're gonna paint the blood of the door posts
Speaker:and that, you know, so that there's this, as the destroying angel passes
Speaker:by, it will pass right by their house.
Speaker:That's the visual he uses to teach and it's a strong one.
Speaker:So if you go in chapter nine, you'll see that he basically is saying,
Speaker:I'm coming right by your house and there's nothing on the doorposts.
Speaker:Your obedience is gone, your charity is gone, and there's nothing to mark
Speaker:that this is a house of God anymore.
Speaker:So the destroying angel can't pass by.
Speaker:It has to stop.
Speaker:It has to seek out, and it has to destroy.
Speaker:I, it sounds so harsh at first.
Speaker:And then you look back at all the times they've been warned and all the
Speaker:times they had profits among them.
Speaker:I mean, even just right here, they've got Jose and Amos teaching at the same
Speaker:time in the same place and people won't hear and they won't paint the door posts.
Speaker:And so he says, You leave me no choice.
Speaker:So the scattering will happen.
Speaker:Then he warns about the earth melting all the consequences that are gonna happen.
Speaker:You can go in the notes and learn more about this phase of
Speaker:destruction that will happen and the phase of Aposty that will happen.
Speaker:And then he begins to speak about.
Speaker:And he talks about how he'll sift the house of Israel.
Speaker:He'll make sure that every good grain is kept and that there will be a cleansing.
Speaker:But this is the wheat and the tears, right?
Speaker:He's gonna make sure that every goodness is kept.
Speaker:And then he talks about how the sinners will have to die by the sword.
Speaker:This cleansing will happen, and how he will come and close up the breaches.
Speaker:So that's an 11 in that day.
Speaker:So latter days, I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen.
Speaker:I will close up the breaches.
Speaker:All those false doctrines, all that misunderstanding, all the misguided
Speaker:temple attempts that happen in the interim between this time and you
Speaker:know, Joseph Smith, time, all those misguided attempts will get corrected.
Speaker:He's gonna close up the breaches and I will raise up his ruins.
Speaker:I will build it as it was in days old.
Speaker:He's gonna rebuild this to me when you, In fact, on the sides,
Speaker:I have restoration written because that's what restoration means.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:If you think of someone restoring a painting or a sculpture, it's this
Speaker:painstaking process of layer by layer.
Speaker:I'm going to take out what shouldn't be there, and I'm gonna put back the
Speaker:original intent of the artist or the author I'm going to restore to its
Speaker:former glory and beauty and brightness, what has been there all along, but has
Speaker:been muted by so much dirt and debris and scarring that you can't see it.
Speaker:So that's the restoration to me.
Speaker:It's like an art rest, an art, restore, doing great piece.
Speaker:That's the promise.
Speaker:And then of course you see the consequences come out in
Speaker:13, but all of this hinges on.
Speaker:Taking care of the poor.
Speaker:The reason this can happen in the latter days is because Zion will
Speaker:come and Zion means one heart, one mind, that you take care of the poor.
Speaker:You take care of each other.
Speaker:The best visual I can give you that I learned peripherally this week that
Speaker:was of the Savior in 35, this is in 17.
Speaker:When he comes to the people and he's been preaching with
Speaker:them and he's about to leave.
Speaker:In fact, he says, I've gotta go do this other work.
Speaker:I have to visit the 10 tribes, right?
Speaker:This is what he says in the verses, and he looks at the people and they're
Speaker:weeping cuz they want him to stay.
Speaker:And in that moment, what does he do right?
Speaker:He softens.
Speaker:Not that he was ever hard, but his heart is compassionate towards them.
Speaker:So he changes this plan.
Speaker:He is the good Samaritan in that moment who had somewhere else to
Speaker:be, but sees someone on the side of the road who needs his help.
Speaker:And so he stops and does what he can and that.
Speaker:That's what this message is.
Speaker:When the savior stays with those people, he doesn't just stay, he heals.
Speaker:You know, this is when one by one he heals.
Speaker:This is when the prayers happen and the angels come and he and riches, he heals.
Speaker:He fills them up before he has to leave again.
Speaker:That's what I think charity is.
Speaker:That's what I think they were missing, and it's what I think the Lord was
Speaker:trying to teach me this week, Maria.
Speaker:Stop going through with emotions and find ways to do good, to choose to do good.
Speaker:And you'll find me there when you choose to serve.
Speaker:When you choose to help, even when you feel depleted, you will find me there.
Speaker:Come, come back.
Speaker:And that's the message of Amos to me.
Speaker:It's a, it's a powerful one.
Speaker:I hope he loves study.
Speaker:You're gonna have to forgive this, but I have to use a football metaphor to teach
Speaker:you . This is what the spirit taught me.
Speaker:Remember he teaches me in my own language.
Speaker:So if you don't know this about me, I am a Buckeye fan.
Speaker:My whole family were Buckeye fans because Jason and I met at byu, got
Speaker:married and then immediately moved out to Ohio and went to Ohio State.
Speaker:So by defaults, we are Buckeye fans and were sort of Michigan
Speaker:haters , which I realize is not being a good disciple of Christ, but
Speaker:it just comes with the territory.
Speaker:So our kids know songs about Michigan.
Speaker:We joke about Michigan all the time.
Speaker:It's really fun to watch Jason, cuz he does not like Michigan,
Speaker:obviously, except certain moments.
Speaker:So when Michigan is playing somebody outside of the Big 10,
Speaker:Jason will cheer for Michigan.
Speaker:Like, and I always kinda laugh about it, like, you always talk
Speaker:about how you hate Michigan.
Speaker:And he's like, I know, but they're part of the Big 10.
Speaker:And what we really care about is our conference . And I love the visual of that
Speaker:for this because this is what's happening.
Speaker:So in Obadiah, he is coming, this is post destruction.
Speaker:So he's looking back on the destruction phase of Jerusalem and saying to the
Speaker:children of Iam, meaning this like neighboring community that has always
Speaker:battled against the children of Israel.
Speaker:They've been rivals since the days of Jacob and Isa that, you know,
Speaker:they are the Buckeyes in Michigan.
Speaker:That's what they are.
Speaker:But he's saying in this moment, you should have realized you're
Speaker:part of a bigger conference.
Speaker:I get it.
Speaker:You guys have entity towards each other.
Speaker:But in this moment when the children of Israel.
Speaker:In misery, like they were, they were getting destroyed and in pain
Speaker:and the Edomites were right next to them and where they could have
Speaker:swept in and said, Let us help.
Speaker:They chose to stand back.
Speaker:In fact, they kind of took advantage of the situation.
Speaker:So if you go through the verses, that's what he's calling them on.
Speaker:He ODI is sent to teach the Edomites.
Speaker:That's the only chapter we have about odi.
Speaker:So I don't know if he taught other people, but when he taught the people of
Speaker:Edam, he said, You should have helped, you should have helped save them.
Speaker:So he look in the verses we looking 10, there was violence against Jacob
Speaker:and they were gonna get cut off.
Speaker:And in that day, that Stoods on the other side.
Speaker:This is whenever there is a battle or a rivalry, I don't mean in a sports way,
Speaker:but like when we say, Well, I didn't cause this mess, so I'm gonna stand back here.
Speaker:Like, I, I'm not technically obligated to help because I
Speaker:didn't make this mess happen.
Speaker:My kids do this to me all the time, you know, like one of them will be gone
Speaker:for the whole day and I'll say, Okay guys, it's time to do kitchen jobs.
Speaker:And they'll be like, Well, I wasn't here all day.
Speaker:like, like that gives them immunity from helping clean the house.
Speaker:That's kind of what they're saying is, Hey, this isn't my fight.
Speaker:And so they stand to the side and they watch and then it gets worse.
Speaker:Cuz not only do they watch, but they loot.
Speaker:So when the children of Israel are literally being carried off and those
Speaker:pregnant mothers are getting killed, and you know, like all that atrocity
Speaker:is happening, the Edomites swoop in and they take what's left over.
Speaker:In fact, some of the verses talk about how they, he, he often will
Speaker:call them brother because remember they're from that same conference.
Speaker:They are from.
Speaker:Jacob and Issa are brothers.
Speaker:They should know better.
Speaker:They're all you know, in that line.
Speaker:And so he's calling them on it, saying like, This is your conference.
Speaker:You should have cared for your brother.
Speaker:I understand you guys are rivals and you don't get along, but
Speaker:you should have stepped in.
Speaker:Remember, that's what the story of the Good Samaritan is.
Speaker:He's the Samaritan.
Speaker:He is no way gonna be, be helpful to somebody from the Israelites,
Speaker:but he stops even when the Levis and other people don't stop.
Speaker:He stops because he doesn't let the rivalry between
Speaker:their teams get in the way.
Speaker:He says, Hey, we're all part of the same conference, so I'm gonna help you.
Speaker:I'm gonna take you to an in.
Speaker:I'm gonna make sure you're paid for.
Speaker:That's what he's calling them on.
Speaker:So when you go through the verses, you'll see what they did that they rejoiced when
Speaker:the children of Israel fell apart that.
Speaker:Waited by the gate and watched people watch the enemy come in and
Speaker:they didn't stop or lend a hand that they came in and they lood things.
Speaker:It even says that some people were left behind, like some of the
Speaker:Israelites were left behind and they turned them in so that they could
Speaker:get their property, get their stuff.
Speaker:This is a level of, of.
Speaker:Standoffishness that will earn them retribution from the Lord
Speaker:cuz this is their brothers.
Speaker:They should have known better, they should have let their stupid rivalry
Speaker:go so that they could help, even if the Israelites never did that for them.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:It, we don't, we don't show kindness to our enemy because
Speaker:our enemy was nice to us.
Speaker:Once we show kindness to our enemy because we love God and because God commends you
Speaker:to love your enemies and do good to them that use you and despitefully hurt you.
Speaker:You know, like all those phrases, that's what they should
Speaker:have done and they didn't.
Speaker:So their, their consequence will be, they're gonna be swept off.
Speaker:They're gonna end up in the same mess that Israel's in.
Speaker:They're gonna get the same treatment they got, uh, it's the
Speaker:golden rule kind of in reverse.
Speaker:They're gonna get the same consequences.
Speaker:Um, and it then it ends in this interesting place.
Speaker:So it says, But upon Mount Zion, this is verse 17 shall be deliverance
Speaker:and there shall be holiness.
Speaker:And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Speaker:I think what he's trying to say, Edomites down the road.
Speaker:A long way down the road there will be a gathering that will
Speaker:happen and the children of Israel city is gonna get built up.
Speaker:Again, yours will not.
Speaker:In fact, their lands are gonna get inherited by the children of Israel.
Speaker:And I think it's easy to read this and think that we showed you, you know,
Speaker:like you can get that tone, but this is the Lord speaking through his prophet.
Speaker:So I don't think that's the tone.
Speaker:I think it's more, we're all in the same conference.
Speaker:When the children of Israel and House of Jacob are gathered,
Speaker:that's the whole house.
Speaker:If there are any remnants of the Edomites anywhere, they're gonna be part of this.
Speaker:You know, cuz Abraham's their ancestor too.
Speaker:They're gonna be part of this great gathering.
Speaker:They will be brought back home.
Speaker:There will be a time of peace.
Speaker:But for the most part, this next many, many, many centuries will
Speaker:be hard cuz of their choices.
Speaker:And I think, isn't it interesting that that's kind of the same message.
Speaker:We can choose to care for the poor and we will reap blessings.
Speaker:We can choose to.
Speaker:Push back against the poor like Aus warned about, and then we get the consequences.
Speaker:The same thing happens with ODI where he is basically saying to them,
Speaker:When you aren't the cause of the trouble, but you stand by and let the
Speaker:trouble just happen, you are equally complicit and there are consequences.
Speaker:So I just love that where it ends is a really powerful verse.
Speaker:We're gonna talk about the object lessons too, but he says there will be saviors
Speaker:on Mount Zion that will come to me.
Speaker:When I read that, I see that like, you know that that means the latter
Speaker:day is when the work is done and when we have brought, you know,
Speaker:that's a temple and family history verse where he's talking about that
Speaker:you can be a savior on Mount Zion.
Speaker:When you gather on both sides of the, and I think that applies to
Speaker:any descendants that are left of the Edomites and any descendants that
Speaker:are left of Jacob's family, those two brothers and all their posterity will
Speaker:also be gathered in and it will happen because of the saviors on Mount Zion.
Speaker:So don't you love that?
Speaker:That's the end of it.
Speaker:It's this restoration of.
Speaker:Ordinances and promises that happens through their descendants that will
Speaker:bring these two warring tribes Back to that same an understanding that
Speaker:we're all on the same conference, we're all on the same team.
Speaker:Let's gather together.
