O come, O come Emmanuel
and ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee
O Israel
Studying the books of the bible in chronological order, we have read all about Israel's beginning as a nation, their struggles and successes, and in studying inductively, we really have tried to put ourselves in the shoes of the people of Israel. When the kingdom split a few weeks ago, into the 10 tribes, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the tribe of Judah... we, as 21st century bible students, felt the pain of separation.
We've also seen how faithful God has been to remind his people over and over and over (you get the idea) to return to him, and their continual disobedience through the books of 1 and 2 Kings, which finally leads to their exiles, the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC by the Assyrians (never to return) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC by Babylon. We see that Judah returns, but Israel's Northern Kingdom never does. Why? All throughout the time of Judah's existence as a nation, he kept alive the line of King David, because he had made a covenant with David, that he would have an everlasting house..... And here are poor Israel (well, Judah, anyway) in exile... mourning, feeling sorry for themselves and wondering why they are there... but God shows them through the law and the prophets that they are there because they deserved exile.
I have to admit, when Judah went into exile, I shed a few tears. I knew it was coming, but it was so sad that they could have seen it coming but they still didn't change... and yet God still preserved them while in captivity, so that JESUS could come through the line of David. Puts a lot more meaning to the old Christmas hymns.
This week we are studying Amos, a prophet from Judah to Israel (enemies at this point) who came from a working-man background - he was just a shepherd... but God called him to be a prophet to Israel. The key verse for this book is 5:15 - "Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph." If you read the book (please do, its only 9 chapters!) you will see a theme of God's view of social injustice... he hates injustice... and this is why he warns through Amos that he is going to send Israel into Exile, because they were living luxurious lives in the "golden age" of Jeroboam II, but their luxury and wealth was built on the oppression of the poor and needy, and God was not okay with this injustice.... taxing people to buy wine, worshiping multiple images they made (some Babylonian gods), and still pretending to worship the Lord, but not with any actual change in their behavior. The positive ending of this book in chapter 9 is the "Salvation Oracle" which speaks of a time that would come when God would raise up the booth of David that was fallen. This prophesy is quoted by James in Acts 15:16-17.... in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by His name, when the early church was trying to sort out their thoughts on new believers who were not jews, and if they should follow jewish traditions... It shows that Jesus was for all nations, any who would believe in him - not just the jews, not just the non-jews... everyone! He promises to restore the fortunes of his people... so awesome... Anyway, read it yourself. Its an awesome book.
So.... this is long enough and I have loads of homework to complete, so I'll end here. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but hope this one makes up for it! May you also look to Jesus in this time of Advent, with expectancy of the one who was the ransom for us all!!!
Merry Christmas (A few weeks early,)
Jillian
