Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
“You only have I chosen
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your sins.”
Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar in the thicket
    when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
When a trumpet sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
    without revealing his plan
    to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared—
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?
Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.”
“They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
    “who store up in their fortresses
    what they have plundered and looted.”
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“An enemy will overrun your land,
    pull down your strongholds
    and plunder your fortresses.”
This is what the Lord says:
“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
    only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
    with only the head of a bed
    and a piece of fabric from a couch.”
“Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
“On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
I will tear down the winter house
    along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
    and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the Lord.

• Amos 3:1-15

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Amos 3:1-2 ‘The Book of Amos’: “Even more startling, Amos belittles Israel’s precious Exodus heritage. Yes, Israel was chosen from among all the nations, he says, but that just means God will judge Israel more harshly (3:1, 2). Besides, Amos adds, God works among other nations, too, such as Ethiopia, Philistia, and Syria (9:7). Given Amos’s message, it is not surprising that he was eventually sent home to Judah (7:12, 13).”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Amos 3:1-2 ‘God and the Israelites’: “The people of Israel had experienced a unique, covenant relationship with the Lord because he had elected them from among all the nations to be his people. They had forgotten that along with covenant promise comes covenant responsibility. Israel’s special relationship with the Lord did not result in immunity from the Lord’s judgment. Instead his suzerainty covenant (between unequal parties) formed the basis for God’s judgment of his people (see Ex 19:5, note). If God had not judged his people, he would have been in violation of his own covenant. ‘Sins’ refers to moral crookedness and perversion (Am 3:2; see Ps 32:1–2, note).”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Amos 3:1 ‘the whole family’: “The primary recipient of these messages was Israel; Judah was not excluded.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:3-8 ‘rhetorical questions’: “Amos asks a series of rhetorical questions in verses 3 through 6. Each assumes that the outcome of a particular scenario is assured. Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? (3:4). No. Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? (3:5). Of course not. If a ram’s horn is blown in a city [a warning of approaching disaster], aren’t people afraid? (3:6). Absolutely. Therefore, if a disaster occurs in a city, hasn’t the LORD done it? (3:6). Well, yes, he has. The point here is that when disaster comes upon Israel, they can rest assured that it is the Lord’s judgment on their sin. For he has revealed his will to his prophets (3:7)-namely, kingdom-minded prophets like Amos. Fear is the only appropriate response when the lion has roared (3:8; see 1:2).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:3-8 ‘Events do not occur without cause’: “The rhetorical questions raised reveal that events do not occur in nature or history without causes. The first six questions needed no response. However, the seventh did: Can God bring about disaster (Isa 45:7; see Ex 14, Justice; Jos 6, Justice)? God had pronounced certain disaster: The appointment had been made, the lion had roared, the trap had been set and the trumpet had blown (Am 3:7–8). Amos explained the cause behind his preaching as the call of the Lord (v. 8). The Lord desired to disclose himself and his ways to his servants the prophets so they could deliver his words before God carried out his judgment (v. 7). This principle provided a method of authenticating a prophet’s ministry.”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Amos 3:3 ‘Walking Together’: “’Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him’ (Gn 5:24). Communion, if it is thorough and entire, implies activity. It is not merely contemplation; it is action and, therefore, inasmuch as walking is an active exercise, and walking with a man is communion with him, we see how walking comes to be the picture of true communion with Christ. An old Puritan said, ‘It does not say that Enoch returned to God and then left him, but he “walked with God.”’ All his journey through, he had God for his companion and lived in perpetual fellowship with his Maker.
“Another idea is contained in the idea of ‘walking together.’ It is not only activity but continuance. So true communion with Christ is not a mere spasm-not just an excitement of ecstasy-but if itis the work of the Holy Spirit and if it is enjoyed by the healthy soul, it will be a continual thing.
“It also implies progress, for in walking together, we do not lift up our feet and put them down in the same place, but we proceed nearer to our journey’s end. And whoever has true communion with Christ is making progress. Christ can go no further toward excellence, for he has already attained perfection. But the nearer we get to that perfection, the more fellowship we have with Jesus. Unless we progress, unless we seek to be more childlike in faith, more instructed in knowledge, and more diligent in service unless we seek to have more zeal and fervency, we shall find that, in standing still, we lose the presence of the Master, for it is only by following the Lord that we continue to walk with him. It will, therefore, strike us on how walking with a per-son is an excellent figure for communion with him and how the expression ‘walking with God’ is the best expression for fellowship with God. Hence, our text implies by its form that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed. And it teaches us, therefore, that unless we are agreed with Christ, we cannot attain to the sweet state of communion with him. “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Amos 3:3 ‘Being one with the Holy Spirit’: “Now this is what is known as a rhetorical question; it is equivalent to a positive declaration that two cannot walk together except they be agreed, and for two to walk together they must be in some sense one.
“They also have to agree that they want to walk together, and they have to agree that it is to their advantage to travel together. I think you will see that it all, adds up to this: For two to walk together voluntarily they must be, in some sense, one.
“I am talking now about how we can cultivate the Spirit’s fellowship, how we can walk with Him day by day and hour by hour.  I am going to give you a few little pointers to help you into a better life.
“Point one is that the Holy Spirit is a living Person. He is the third Person of the Trinity. He is Himself God, and as a Person, He can be cultivated; He can be wooed and cultivated the same as any person can be.”

• A. W. Tozer, How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Amos 3:4 ‘learn from the lion’: “’Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey?’ Of course not. A lion moves about stealthily, quietly, silently on his padded feet. He is noiseless until he pounces on his prey. When he has captured his prey, then you can hear him roar.
“’Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?’ No. The little lion doesn’t make a sound because his mamma told him to keep quiet while she was away getting something for him to eat. But when she comes back with his supper, then he lets out a cry—but not until then.
“You see, there is always a cause and a result. And the judgment of God will follow man’s iniquity.
“Amos has another question:”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Amos 3:5 ‘a trap’: “A ‘gin’ is a trap. Of course a bird is not going to get caught in a snare unless a trap is laid for him. When I was a boy, they used to tell me that I could catch a bird if I put salt on its tail. So I ran all over the neighborhood trying to get salt on a bird’s tail—and found it didn’t work! I found that I couldn’t catch a bird without a trap. In nature there is always the principle of cause and effect. If you are going to catch a bird, you will have to have a trap.
“Now here is another question: ‘Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?’ A man is not going to keep setting a trap if he doesn’t catch anything in it. I used to have six traps when I was a boy. In the fall of the year, I would ride down on my bicycle every morning before school to see if I had caught anything. In one of those six traps I would usually have a possum or a rabbit, sometimes I would have a skunk. (I always gave the skunk to a friend of mine. Although I could get more for the fur, I didn’t care for the scent.) After I had left a trap in a place day after day and caught nothing, it would be foolish for me to continue to leave the trap there; so I would move it to some other place. If you are going to put out a trap, you expect to catch something in the trap.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Amos 3:6 ‘what if left to chance?’: “What would we be if we were left to chance? We would be like poor mariners, put out to sea in an unsafe vessel without a chart and without a helm; we would know nothing of the port to which we might ultimately come; we would only feel that we were now the sport of the winds, the captives of the tempest, and might soon be the victims of the all-devouring deep. We would be travelers in a pathless waste, where there were no roads to direct us-travelers who might be overturned and overwhelmed at any moment, and our bleached bones left the victims of the tempest, unknown or forgotten by all. Thank God it is not so with us.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations

Amos 3:6 ‘return to the dust’: “We may lay aside inquiries into the second cause of disaster and focus on the first great cause who has done all. ‘Hasn’t the LORD done it?’ He gave the breath, and he has taken it away; he molded the human form, and he has laid it prostrate in the dust; he has sent man, and he has said, ‘Return to the dust from where you were taken!’ Notions have spread throughout the world and still thrive in our age that seek to banish God and make him a stranger in the midst of his own works. God must have done this thing, or else we are driven to some other alternative. How did this calamity come about? Should we suppose it to be by chance? Some are foolish enough to believe that events happen without divine predestination and that different calamities transpire without the overruling hand or the direct agency of God. It would be sad for us if chance had done it. What would we be if we were left to chance? We would be like poor mariners, put out to sea in an unsafe vessel without a chart and with-out a helm; we would know nothing of the port to which we might ultimately come; we would only feel that we were now the sport of the winds, the captives of the tempest, and might soon be the victims of the all-devouring deep. We would be travelers in a path-less waste, where there were no roads to direct us-travelers who might be overturned and overwhelmed at any moment, and our bleached bones left the victims of the tempest, unknown or forgotten by all. Thank God it is not so with us. Chance exists only in the heart of fools. We believe that every-thing that happens to us is ordered by the wise and tender will of him who is our Father and our friend; we see order in the midst of confusion; we see purposes accomplished where others discern fruitless wastes. Some, on the other hand, run to another extreme, still for-getting their God. They deny the thought of chance, but they bend to the idea of fate. Some predestinarians are as far astray in their ideas as those who believe in chance without a God. For what is the ‘fate’ of some men? It reminds me of one of those huge machines employed in the lead mines, where two wheels are always revolving and breaking the stones quarried from the pit. The stones at first lie at a distance, but they are continually moving nearer and nearer to the all-devouring mouth of the great wheels, and at last they are crushed and ground. Such is fate in the minds of some men. I thank God that while I believe in predestination, I know the difference between that and fate. Fate is predestination blind, demented, brainless, wandering about, achieving wondrous things without a purpose, overturning mountains, plucking up cedars by the roots, scattering firebrands, hurling deaths about, but all without an end. But predestination is a glorious thing. With many eyes it looks to the interests of God and his creatures, too; and although it says the thing must be, yet it must be because it is wise and right and just and kind. And though we may think it is the same in the end, yet to our hearts the differences are poles apart. Believe not in fate but in God. We should not say it was someone’s destiny but that it is God’s will. It was not a cruel and irresistible fate that snatched him away but a tender hand, finding that the due time was come, has taken him from evil to come.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Amos 3:6 ‘what is fate?’: “For what is the ‘fate’ of some men? It reminds me of one of those huge machines employed in the lead mines, where two wheels are always revolving and breaking the stones quarried from the pit. The stones at first lie at a distance, but they are continually moving nearer and nearer to the all-devouring mouth of the great wheels, and at last they are crushed and ground. Such is fate in the minds of some men.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations

Amos 3:7 ‘God’s prophets will be informed’: “Amos is saying that God will not move in judgment until He gives His message to the prophets. He will let them know what He intends to do.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Amos 3:8 ‘prophets give the message to the people’: “The prophets were giving God’s message to Israel.
“The problem in our day is not that people do not have a Word from God; the problem is that they will not hear that Word from God. His warnings are given in His Word. I feel that the Bible is more up to date than tomorrow morning’s newspaper. After all, tomorrow morning’s paper will be out of date by noon when the afternoon edition comes off the press. But the Word of God will be just as good the next day and on to the end of time.
“It has always been God’s method to reveal information to those who are His own concerning future judgment. You will recall that during Noah’s day, God told him of a coming flood judgment and gave Noah 120 years to warn his generation. But the world did not heed his message. Also, remember that God let Abraham know ahead of time regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a good thing He did that, because if He had not, it would have given Abraham a wrong viewpoint of the almighty God. It has always been God’s method to reveal such things to His own. When He was here in the flesh, He told His disciples, ‘Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you’ (Joh. 15:15). There are many examples of this throughout the Bible. He gave a forewarning to Joseph in Egypt of the seven years of famine that were to come upon the earth. Also, Elijah was forewarned of the drought that would come upon Israel. He walked into the courts of Ahab and Jezebel to announce to them that they were in for a drought—’… As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word— [and I’m not saying anything!]’ (1 Kings 17:1). Then he walked out of the court and dropped out of sight for over three years. Since it is God’s method to warn of impending judgment, our Lord told His apostles, when He was gathered with them on the Mount of Olives, that Jerusalem would be destroyed—not one stone would be left upon another.
“It is God’s method always to give a warning of impending judgment, and that is all that Amos is doing here although his contemporaries are very critical of him. Folk just don’t want to hear about judgment. They would much rather hide their head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. Some people will not even go to a doctor because they do not want to know that something is wrong with them. The human family does not want to hear the bad news of judgment which is coming. If you preach and teach the truth, they will say you are a pessimist, a killjoy, a gloom-caster. However, God follows the principle that for every effect there is a cause, and God sends judgment only upon a sinning people.
‘God also makes it clear that the prophet is obligated to give His message—regardless of what it is. In fact, he ought to be in fear if he fails to relay God’s message to the people. Frankly, I feel sorry today for the liberal who is refusing to declare God’s message. He ought to be in fear. ‘The lion hath roared, who will not fear?’ God has spoken. Now let’s speak what God has to say. Let’s get off this social gospel—which is almost like being on dope and taking a trip of sweetness and light, rose water and sunshine, expecting everything to work out beautifully. Well, I have been told all my life by politicians and preachers that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and we are going to arrive there shortly. But I’ve been on this trip for most of this century, and we haven’t arrived yet—in fact, conditions get worse and worse. They refuse to face up to the fact that the real problem is sin in the heart of man.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Amos 3:9-15 ‘Incapable of doing right’: “The people are incapable of doing right (3:10). What an accusation! Such inability was the manifestation of the will of the people. They had persisted in sin for so long that it became second nature to them. Because violence and destruction were what they understood, violence and destruction were what they would get (3:10-11). Indeed, an enemy will surround the land, their strong-holds and citadels will be plundered (3:11), the people will be devastated (3:12), pagan altars will be cut down (3:14), and the houses of the wealthy will be demolished (3:15). This prophecy came to pass when the Assyrians captured Samaria in 722 BC and carried the people into captivity (see 2 Kgs 17:6).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:9 ‘fulfilled prophecies today’: “’Publish in the palaces at Ashdod.’ Ashdod is in the country of the Philistines. At the time I am writing this, Israel has Ashdod. They have built a great many apartment buildings, a man-made harbor, and have erected a big oil refinery there so that oil is brought into Ashdod today.
“A friend of mine who teaches prophecy attempts to find fulfilled prophecy in modern Palestine. When the oil pipeline came into Haifa in the northern part of Israel and an oil refinery was in operation and oil tankers were loading there, my friend said, ‘See, here is the fulfillment of the prophecy that Asher will dip his foot in oil!’ However, that pipeline was cut, and the only oil brought into Haifa was by tankers. Now there is a pipeline across the Negeb from the Red Sea to Ashdod. Oil is piped from the tankers across to the refinery in Ashdod. It looks like it would be the tribe of Dan that gets its foot in oil today! My friend doesn’t mention the fulfillment of this particular prophecy anymore because he can see it doesn’t apply. I personally do not think that prophecy is being fulfilled in that land at all. However, I do see the setting of the stage that will later on bring the fulfillment of prophecy. It is foolish to pick out these little specific prophecies and insist that they are currently being fulfilled.
“However, when Amos was giving his prophecy, Ashdod was a prominent city of the Philistines and stands here in this particular verse as representative for all of Philistia. ‘And in the palaces in the land of Egypt.’ God was instructing His prophets to spread this word upon the palaces of Ashdod and Egypt. Now notice what the invitation was—
‘Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.’ Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and the palace of Ahab and Jezebel was there. Samaria was built on one mountain, but there were other mountains surrounding the city. From these surrounding mountains, people could see what was going on in the city. Sin was going great guns. ‘The great tumults’ were riots caused by the oppression of the poor. If the pagan nations of Philistia and Egypt condemned Israel, wouldn’t a holy God condemn them?”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Amos 3:11 ‘An adversary’: “The Assyrians who captured and deported Israel in 722 B.C.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:13-15 ‘Ivory Houses’: “Houses adorned with ivory have an interesting archaeological corroboration. Numerous fragments of ivory, some dating from the 8th century BC, have been uncovered in Samaria. Some scholars believe these were inlays in the furniture and wall paneling of the homes of the wealthy Israelites against whom Amos prophesied. When God destroyed Samaria at the hands of the Assyrians, the ivory was smashed and the ruins of this wealthy society lay buried for many generations. God’s pronouncement of impending disaster was fulfilled in history exactly as spoken by Amos.”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Amos 3:13 ‘Hear and Testify’: “As in v. 9, the heathen nations were once again called upon to witness and testify.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:14 ‘Bethel’: “The principal place of idol worship in Israel (cf. 1 Kin. 12:25–33).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Amos 3:15 ‘The Ivory House’: “The city of Samaria holds two distinctions. First, it was the only city that the Israelites are specifically credited with building from the ground up (1 Kin. 16:24); all others they took from some other people. Samaria’s second claim to fame is the amazingly large number of ivories that were found in the rubble of King Ahab’s palace (1 Kin. 22:39).
“The ivories have been found in destruction layers that had been Ahab’s house, but exactly how they were used is not certain. Among the pieces found were a large number of plaques, suggesting that they were hung on walls. Some of these plaques were themselves decorated with gold, colored glass, and jewels. Other pieces of ivory were used as inlays for furniture, which recalls the ‘beds of ivory’ mentioned by the prophet Amos (Amos 6:4).
“The motifs of these ivory pieces included animals like lions and goats; foreign gods like the Egyptian gods Horus and Re; Hebrew letters; and winged creatures. No doubt such unusual and expensive decoration spread the fame of Ahab, who ruled from 874 to 853 B.C.  Ivory houses also characterized the prosperity that the prophet Amos decried during the later reign of Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.). The kings of Israel had a summer palace in Jezreel and a winter palace at Samaria, both being examples of luxury and extravagance (Amos 3:15).”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Amos 3 ‘Challenge’: “Contrary to what professing Christians like to think, many of God’s people are not willing to walk in perfect agreement with Him, and this may explain why so many believers do not have the power of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit, and many of the other qualities, gifts, and benefits which the Spirit of God brings.
“The question is, are we willing to walk with Him in love and obedience?
“The answer is that we cannot walk with Him unless we are agreed; and if we are not agreed, we will not walk with Him in Harmony and fruitfulness and blessing.”

• A. W. Tozer, The Counselor

My Thoughts

Amos calls for all the tribes of Israel, including Judah, to listen.

God could have chosen anyone, but He chose Abraham, and that choice passed to Isaac and then Jacob (having his name changed to Israel).

Amos then asks a series of rhetorical questions.  This again makes Amos look like an experienced prophet or speaker.

The first one is interesting.  Can you walk together without agreeing to do so?  I have seen it in the movies, and my wife and I did it once.  We had an argument and we both left the apartment to take a walk.  We walked together, but we did not say a word.  Then one of us said, “This is silly.”  I apologized and we hugged, kissed, and really walked together on the way back to the apartment.

And you read that right.  My wife was extremely unwilling to admit she made a mistake.  And once I got angry, then it always became my fault, regardless of who really made the first mistake.  A year or so after she accepted Jesus, I said, “That’s three” after she admitted she was wrong and apologized.  She was genuinely repentant or I would have suddenly been the one to apologize for keeping track of how many times that she had admitted she was wrong.  But before she got sick, I lost count.  And maybe it was me that made the most of the mistakes anyway.  We were both so naïve.

But Rev. Tozer uses this verse to illustrate that each of us and the Holy Spirit cannot walk together unless we agree to do so.  That I firmly agree with.

And as for J. Vernon McGee calling the “gin” the trap.  A few translations, like the KJV use gin in verse 5.  The “gin” was the bait in the snare, not the snare itself, but you get the idea.  It is not much of a snare unless the snare is baited.

Finally, in rhetorical form, the Philistines and the Egyptians are being summoned to see the fall of Israel.  And these enemy nations will see the plunder that Israel had amassed as they cheated their neighbors.

Samaria, the country and the city, will now be plundered.  The enemy is not named, but we know it to be the Assyrians.

Amos uses the graphic illustration of the shepherd only rescuing a leg or two or a piece of the ear when a lion attacks a sheep.  This is something that Amos might have done.  Being a shepherd from Tekoa, he might have prepared Passover Lambs.  Losing one to a lion attack would be a significant financial cost, but relating this to the total destruction of Israel used an emotional trick to make the point stick.

And in talking to the people, the king’s palaces, summer, winter, and the ivory house, will be destroyed as well as the altar at Bethel, where false gods were worshipped.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Amos 3: 1. If your behavior is going to cause you or others problems, how would you prefer to be warned: (a) Face to face? (b) By letter? (c) By phone? (d) In a support group?
“2. Do you think that being a Christian will mean that God is more lenient with you, or more severe, in speaking to you about your possessions?
“3. How might you become more free from your possessions, so that you might become more free with your possessions? (What about that ‘house’ of yours?)
“4. In terms of your life right now would you say: (a) ‘I’m in the lion’s mouth’? (b) ‘I see the lion’? (c) ‘I just got out of the lion’s mouth’? (d) ‘I didn’t even know I was in the jungle’?
“5. God still snatches ‘burning sticks from the fire’ (4:11). Are you one of the ones so blessed? Amos saw that his world would be on fire and in need of someone to rescue the perishing. Are you inclined to get involved in that life-saving effort? Why or why not?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Amos 3 has one set of questions.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.