Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 20:6 Understanding to grow in God's declarations of impending judgment on Israel continue. It is stressed that he will not relent, and that it will be severe. Two key things are worth noting however. First, alongside the sins of idolatry and oppression, complacency with respect to worship is now mentioned. There is no desire to make much of the Sabbath for worship and rest, but only to get through it and get back to dishonest money making (8v5). The desire to take time out with the Lord has always been a measure of faith. Second, the coming conquest by Assyria (that occurred in 722BC) is described with language of the sun being darknened at noon (8v9). This is metaphorical: It would feel like the...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 20:5 Understanding to grow in Israel are going about their religious activities and talking up the day when God would come to his people. But the LORD is clear that his presence will mean judgment on the people for the injustice they do to the poor and needy. Indeed, they have already been under judgment as he has witheld blessing from their land as he promised in Deuteronomy. However, the people have not responded with repentance. Amos therefore declares that they will be destroyed and exiled by a foreign army, with only a few surviving. It's sobering for those of us who assume the return of Christ will be good news. It will only be if we are repentant. And if not, we should respond to the evide...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 20:4 Understanding to grow in There is no advantage to being one of God's people unless repentance is sincere. Around 750BC Amos declares God's judgment against nations around Israel for their sins against his people and against Edom. It reminds us that he holds all nations to account, especially when persecuting the church - sometimes punishing them in the present by his providence. But the surprise would have been that oracles against Judah (the southern kingdom) and Israel (the northern) are included too. The point is that God's people are being treated like the nations because of their own sins. In fact, their sins are all the more severe because of the knowledge they had. It is worth...