Introduction to Hosea

It is truly a worthwhile endeavor to grasp Old Testament history. I don't mean knowing stories from the Old Testament, but having in your mind the historical flow of the OT, especially in the divided kingdom. Knowing who wrote the book, the condition of the people to whom he wrote it can help us when we read the minor prophets.


Chronologically, Hosea is the fourth (possibly fifth, depending on where Joel falls) in the minor prophets. Hosea came right after Amos, but the Israel Hosea knew was not the same as when Amos preached. Amos prophesied in the height of Israel’s financial prosperity but foretold of their downfall. Hosea lived in the fruit of their cow-worshiping, lawless religion of false gods. 

 First, B.H. Carroll and then George Allen Smith, which was quoted by Baxter’s Explore the Book.

“The period covered by his prophetic utterances was undoubtedly the darkest in the whole history of the kingdom of Israel. Political life was characterized by anarchy and misrule. The throne was occupied by men who obtained possession by the murder of their predecessors and the people were governed by military despotism. Zechariah was slain after a reign of six months; Shallum, after only one month. A dozen years later Pekahiah was assassinated by Pekah, who met the same fate at the hands of Hoshea. All these were ungodly rulers, and the morals of the nation were sinking to the lowest ebb. The conditions were terrible in the extreme; luxurious living, robbery, oppression, falsehood, adultery, murder, accompanied by the most violent intolerance of any form of rebuke.”
--B.H. Carroll


“It is not only , as in Amos, the sins of luxurious, of them that are at eas in Zion, which are exposed; but also literal bloodshed, highway robbery with murder, abetted by the priests. Amos looked out on foreign nations across a quiet Israel; his views of the world are wide and clear; but in the Book of Hosea the dust is up, and into what is happening beyond the frontier we get only glimpses. There is enough, however, to make visible another great change since the days of Jeroboam. Israel’s self-reliance is gone. She is as fluttered as a startled bird; ‘thy call Egypt; they go to Assyria’ (7:2). But everything is hopeless; kings cannot save; for Ephraim is seized by the pangs of a fatal crisis.”


“There could be no greater contract (than Hosea) to that fixture of conscience which renders the Book of Amos so simple in argument, so firm in style. Amos is the prophet of law: he sees the Divine processes work themselves out, irrespective of the moods and intrigues of the people, with which, after all, he was little familiar. So each of his paragraphs moves steadily forward to a climax, and every climax is doom – the captivity of the people to Assyria. You can divide the book by these things; it has its periods, strophes and refrains. It marches like the host of the Lord of hosts. But Hosea had no such unhampered vision of great laws. He was too familiar with the rapid changes of his fickle people; and his affection for them was too anxious. His style has all the restlessness and irritableness of hunger about it – the hunger of love.”
--George Adam Smith

Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.


**This was first published a couple years ago
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Douglas Newell IV

Survey of the Sin Malachi

Malachi prophesies to Israel concerning the sins that were prominent in their nation, and were quite deadly to them, for the survival of their nation and their separation as a people were at a very dangerous point in history.

The Lord states a fact -- then the people object to the fact asserted. Then the Lord proves the fact and disproves their objections, then illustrates the fact stated.

Sins of ignorance are just as dangerous to the child of God as open rebellion.

1) Doubted God’s love: wherein hast thou loved us? (Malachi 1:2)
2) Despised and disrespected God’s name: wherein have we despised thy name? (Malachi 1:6)
3) Deceitful in offerings: wherein have we polluted thee? (Malachi 1:7)
4) Divorce and delighting in evil: wherein have we wearied him? (Malachi 2:17)
5) Deceived and delusional in their self assessment: wherein shall we return? (Malachi 3:7)
6) Dishonest dealings: wherein have we robbed thee? (Malachi 3:8)
7) Denial of God’s fidelity: what have we spoken against thee? (Malachi 3:13)

There is no excuse for unknown sin and unknown sin is just as harmful to the believer. Doubting and skepticism breeds evil and when we forget God’s goodness, our world turns black and ugly.


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Douglas Newell IV

Obadiah Part II

Last night, as I was preaching, a thought occurred to me about Obadiah, thus Obadiah, part two today.

Obadiah 3-4 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? (4) Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

Edom had carved themselves out a good fortress, a great hiding place in the rocks (think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). And looking at a military perspective, it seemed as safe and had proved itself so. They had become prideful in what THEY had done. Edom had carved the homes in the rock, and become very proud about their accomplishments, very proud about their hiding place.

Jacob's fortress was not Jerusalem, it was God. Over and again God shows Himself as Israel's protector, their sword and shield. God was Jacob's hiding place. In Zion their will be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (verse 17).

Jacob was guilty, sinful and God justly sent Babylon in to punish Judah as he detailed in Habakkuk, there there was hope for Jacob in Christ. Edom was lifted up in pride in their own might, their own ability to carve a hiding place, their own deliverance, and God had brought them low. Jacob was brought low by their own pride, yet God is going to raise them up. Why? GRACE. It was Zion, it was not the works of Jacob but the love of God that will provide deliverance.



In our works, there is death and sin. In Christ there is deliverance and holiness; salvation and justification. It is not what we do for God, but what God does for us. It was not Jacob has been the best, but God said "Jacob have I loved."

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Douglas Newell IV

Obadiah

We really don't know much about the man Obadiah; and we really can't be certain where this book falls in chronologically. I think, perhaps, he was a contemporary with Jeremiah based upon Jeremiah 49:7-22 and Obadiah 1-9 prophesyies shortly after the captivity. Maybe around the same time Lamentations was penned. Though many disagree and put him as a contemporary with Elijah. But, it really doesn't matter since God didn't tell us.

The point of the book is the judgment of Edom. The Edomites were the descendents of Esau. (Edom means red, Esau's name after selling his birthright for a bowl of red pottage.) Jacob and Esau's sibling rivalry started in the womb and carried on in life with the stolen blessing an on in the generations after them. Esau left and dwelt in the mountain range of Seir formely inhabited by the Horites. Horite means “cave dwellers” the mountain range named after Seir the Horite. The most famous of the Edomite rivalry happened in Numbers 20:14-22, illustrating their lack of compassion upon Jacob's children.

The children of Esau, the Edomites were to be judged for their sins against God and Judah. They rejoiced when Judah was taken captive, they were proud when Judah was in trouble, they stole and sacked Jerusalem instead of helping and looked and laughed at their calamity. They helped the enemy take all captive, wouldn’t allow Jews to escape, but blocked them and then delivered those that could have escaped to the enemy, for price no doubt. Psalm 137 illustrates their heart in this saddest of times for Jerusalem.

Edom had become proud and self assured. The capital city of that time was Petra, a rock fortress that gave them much (in the flesh) to boast about militarily. They thought that they were indestructible. If you have ever seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the final scene takes place in a mountain cavern, and a temple that was carved on the face of a rocky mountain entering into a cave, that is Petra. The trusted in a fortress, but God is greater than any fortress, and justice ran them down.

There is quite a bit of Divine justice and retribution here in repaying Edom for her crimes and the exultation of Judah again.

1. Edom betrayed and watched as Jacob was taken away; Edom will be betrayed by her alliances
2. Edom stole in Jacob’s calamity; Edom will be taken like a thief, nothing left
3. Edom was violent to Jacob, Edom’s violent men will receive the same
4. Edom was proud and desired Jacob’s end; Jacob is a flame of fire, Edom stubble, fire wood
5. Edom came into possess Jerusalem at the expense of Jacob; Jacob will possess Edom in their final doom

The real story here is God's grace.
Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

I'll close with B.H. Carroll’s lessons of Obadiah:

1. lesson of family feud’s
2. lesson of pride
3. lesson of false assurance
4. lesson of God’s wrath

i. God does not forget
ii. God does not forget crimes against Him
iii. God does not forget the persecutor of His people

5. lesson of hope in darkest times in Christ

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Douglas Newell IV

Habakkuk (huh-BAK-uhk)

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Habakkuk was a prophet during the same time Jeremiah prophesied in Judah. King Josiah had died in battle and the people had fallen back into grave sins once again. Josiah’s reformation was merely legislative, not spiritual. You can legislate righteous behavior but not a righteous heart.

As Habakkuk looked about his people, he marveled at the sinfulness and that God does not stop the wickedness. He wondered when God would stop the violence, strife, contention, and iniquity that had filled Jerusalem. God answered Habakkuk; God will “raise up the “Chaldeans” or Babylon to come and thrash the land. They were a bitter and hasty nation that was a law unto themselves. They were terrible and dreadful, and will be strong, fast and ruthless, everything you DO NOT want your enemy to be. And when they come, they will take Judah and the people captive and thus God will punish the sins of Judah.

This presented another problem for Habakkuk. He asks in Habakkuk 1:13

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

He prayed, in a way, God you are holy and cannot bear to look upon sin, that is why I asked how you can allow your people to continue to live in iniquity. It is because you are holy and righteous eternally. Yet, I don’t understand how you can raise up a nation who is WORSE than us. How you can give them strength to punish us, though we are bad, we are not as bad as they are going to be?
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Something wasn’t right. There was something that just didn’t quite add up and Habakkuk knew it, but couldn’t figure it out. God did come and give him the answer that when the fullness of time comes, he would punish Babylon and every sin that they commit will be accounted for and would come back upon them. It was the inward man, not the outward, the just shall live by faith. God would be faithful to Israel and that God would not allow sin to go unpunished. Habakkuk did answer like he said he would do in Habakkuk 2:1. The answer is chapter three. He remembered the history of Israel, what God had done in the past and that God keeps his promises and He will again.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

BUT, here is the point. Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Habakkuk knew something wasn’t right, and he knew it was his thinking that wasn’t right, not God. He came upon a dilemma that he couldn’t understand in God’s sovereignty and sin. In his mind there seemed to be a contradiction. SO what did he do? He said I will see what God says and then I’ll have my answer when I have been corrected. This is the way we should all come to God’s Word. Too often people will pick up their Bibles trying to prove themselves right instead of sitting and being reproved and taught by God. When God shows them wrong by His Word, instead of submitting to it, they rebel against what God says. For some it is better to prove their opinion and live with a contradicting theology rather than say they were wrong and hold to Biblical theology, especially when it comes to church truth. Anything that differs from popular sentiment about the church, regardless of what the Bible says, must be wrong because “if popular sentiment is wrong, then I must be wrong too, and that just cannot be.”

Because Habakkuk knew that there was no contradiction in God, knew that God was both sovereign and holy so he knew the problem was not with God but with himself and his understanding. So he sought God in humility to be shown where he was wrong, not look for texts to prove that his opinion was right.


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Douglas Newell IV

Survey of Micah: Part 1

Micah, prophet to Judah, preaches a strong message against the sins of God’s people. However, the message, the theme of the book is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only hope for Israel, the nations and the world.

The name Micah means “who is like God”. Micah was from Morasthite; a small town of Judah but there is little is known about Micah. He prophesied in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which means that he preached with Isaiah in Judah and was also contemporary of Hosea for a time (though Hosea in the Northern Kingdom). He was a bold preacher fearing God rather than man and was known for his bold preaching as we learn from Jeremiah 26:18-19. Micah preached concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, speaking to both kingdoms, but to Judah in particular. The message of the book speaks of Israel as the people of God, not restricted to the ten tribes. For example in Micah 7:20 God speaks to Jacob and Abraham, thus not a divided kingdom, but children of promise.

The book can be divided up into three sections. The division can be seen in the chapters 1-3; 4-5; and 6-7. The prophesy shows the terrible consequences for sin, yet clearly shows that Christ is the only hope for Israel, the only hope for the nations, the only hope for the world.

The first section deals with the DISEASE OF IDOLATRY (CHAPTERS 1-3). Chapter one begins with the sins of Israel and their sin of spiritual harlotry (Micah 1:6-7). Israel had gotten wealthy by her false gods and idolatry and they became powerful and prosperous. Israel will be consumed by the very nations and religions by nations whom they copied and took their gods.

Micah 1:9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

Here we see the disease of spiritual adultery. We come back to the golden calves. The disease of idolatry had now spread like gangrene. The wound of idolatry had infected the Northern kingdom; the judgment likewise that will come to Israel will come to Judah. The people of God had become infected with spiritual harlotry and what began in Samaria will continue on into Judah. Practically, we can see in our own lives what happens when we do not mortify the flesh and when we allow sin to dwell in us, our house.

In Micah 1:10-16, deals with the coming judgment on Judah. These cities mentioned are found in the region of Judah. There is some word play in this section concerning some of the cities; for example: Micah 1:10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. Aphrah which means “house to (i.e. of) dust”. Micah 1:14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. Achzib means “deceit”.

There are two primary sins that are mentioned, sins of covetous idolatry and not heading God’s Word. The sin of covetous idolatry is first detailed in Micah 2:1-2. This sounds a lot like the words of Amos to Israel. The Sin of oppression, greed and love of money had spread to Judah. God had blessed in the land of milk and honey and the people took the blessings of God and turned the blessings into a god. Micah 3:1-3 speaks figuratively in describing how the rich and powerful were oppressing the poor. A love of sin, love of money and overruling greed birthed a lack of compassion, lack of love, and a lack of mercy. The love of money had brought a hatred of men. Money is a cruel god with a cruel and hateful religion.

Secondly, there was the sin of false gods, false prophets and denial of the truth. Just like in Amos, the people didn’t want to hear the preaching of God’s Word Micah 2:6-7. They would not hear the convicting preaching of the Word. When you are confronted with the Word of God and are convicted of your sins, you have two options; you can hear the word and repent and obey or ignore the word or seek to silence the word. Judah chose the latter.

The people wanted to hear a preacher that preached what they wanted to hear.

Micah 2:11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

Isn’t this the way? People will find a preacher that preaches what they want to hear and find a church that does what they want the church to do instead of hearing a preacher that faithfully expounds the Bible and a church that does what the Bible says to do, not what we want to do. Many will look and find a church that bends to their whims and fancies. That is why there are so many false churches, false doctrines and so many church splits. Micah said that the people would look for a man that would justify their sins. What’s your sin? Want to drink? Find a preacher who will preach you can drink. Want to hear a man centered lie of a gospel? Find a preacher who will lift you up and lower God.

Well, with little surprise, these men that they found were prophets for profit.

Micah 3:5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

They preached for money, gain and prophet. The sad reality is the prophets that they found themselves preachers that would preach lies to them and tell them what they wanted to hear; but these men didn’t care for them. A man that will preach a lie will have no problem leading to destruction. I was visiting family recently and I had to get after my son and nephew because they were doing something that was either going to end in something breaking or someone getting hurt. My nephew said that I was being mean to him because I didn’t let him do what he wanted. Yes, he didn’t like what I said, but I had to get after him, not because I was mean, but because I love him and didn’t want to see harm come to him. The people didn’t like Micah because he spoke hard truths, they did not like Amos for the same reason. The people of Galatia did not like Paul for the same reason.

Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Hard truths to be sure; yet it was out of love that hard truths were spoken.
The consequences for both sins are found in Micah 3:9-12. The leaders and the preachers continued in lying, fleecing and sinful spiritual adultery. They got what they asked for. They wanted religion like the world and they got it and more; they inherited the consequences of false gods and false religion.

Judah will feel the hand of God in judgment for turning from God and trusting in false gods. Yet God will not leave the faithful without hope. God gives wonderful promises to that remnant that loves Him, and shows that the coming Christ was the only hope. As the captivity now looms over their head, God points to Jesus Christ and HIS Kingdom Come, which we will look at, Lord willing, next time.



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Douglas Newell IV

The Home of Hosea

The book of Hosea is difficult to outline, but not difficult to understand. I would, perhaps, be difficult to go verse by verse through the book in a outline form, but that is the style of the book. Where Amos is like an outlined sermon, Hosea is a grieved and broken husband and the style and flow comes out that way.
There are some differences of opinion about the interpretation of the first three chapters of the book. If you read the first three chapters of the book, removing all chapter divisions, I think the meaning is clear. Once you have the story of Hosea’s life and the parallel that illustrates God’s relationship with Israel, then chapters 4-14 are easily understood in that context.

God commanded Hosea to get a wife, a wife of whoredoms from children of whoredoms. Whether Gomer is promiscuous or she is of a land of idols is unclear. I do not believe either interpretation will change the point of the story. He was to go and marry someone that was not exactly a trophy wife for a prophet of Israel. Hosea goes and marries Gomer and starts his family. Gomer bears three children, two boys and a girl. The first child, the Bible says, was born unto Hosea. The next two, I believe, were the result of adulterous affairs.

The second and third children the product of adultery. Romans 9:25 gives us some insight into the other children. As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. These children were called not loved and not my people. This makes it pretty clear they were from her adulterous affairs. Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Gomer was not finished with her life of ill repute. Hosea 2:2-5 tells us that she was shameful in conception and that she went after her lovers and was no longer his wife. The poor relationship of these two children to Hosea was the result of their mother’s sin, not Hosea’s. The change of the names of the children (as we will notice later)also gives us understanding that they were not his.

The children were to plead with her mother, because she was not longer the wife of Hosea. They had separated because of the adulteries. She went after her lover’s whole-heartedly. But after they had used her, they wanted nothing of her, so she wanted to go back to her 1st husband because he had always taken care of her. When she had her fill of sin and the consequences of her sin had left her to a point of destitution, then she decides to come home. Hosea did not let her come back. She would now reap what she had sown.

Notice the prayer of adulterous Israel and the response of God

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. (Hosea 6:1-7)

I think that Hosea had left Gomer to her sins. She was no longer being supported by her offended husband, and her lovers no longer care for her. I believe that she was forced either into prostitution or slavery. Israel did that over and over. God would deliver them from their enemies and they would follow Him for a while, then go right back to other gods. Then after they got in trouble and needed deliverance, they would cry out to God. Gomer had done this too. She would go off to her lovers, give them credit for Hosea’s goodness, then when trouble came and she was in need, she would go back to her husband because she knew he would help her. The time had come where Hosea said enough is enough and left Gomer in her sins and deal with the consequences of her adulterous life. God did the same with Israel. Their repentance was not true repentance, but like the morning dew. So Gomer was force, in my opinion, either into slavery.

But, here comes the happy ending. Though Gomer left him, and cheated on Him and sold herself into harlotry, Hosea purchased her out of His love for her.

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
(Hosea 3:1-5)

I believe this still to be Gomer. God did not tell Hosea to go and marry another, but Go yet, or go again, and love a woman. I think that Hosea is the friend who loved her, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel. What a statement. What a picture of the grace of God. Hosea was to go and purchase this woman who was sold into slavery, who was living the just recompense of her sins. No one was to blame but Gomer, and there was nothing Gomer had done to show that she had changed, or there was nothing in Gomer to love; yet Hosea, out of unconditional love to his wife, bought her from her bondage. She didn’t deserve it, but love compelled Hosea to purchase his wife. Hosea and Gomer’s relationship was not the same, they had no relations, but this pictured that Israel would not have the same relationship until God fully restores his chosen people in the millennial kingdom.

But I can’t help but to see God’s saving grace to the individual as well. When we read the Bible, we like to put ourselves in the situations that make us the hero. We put ourselves in David’s shoes as he hurls the stone towards Goliath’s head, or we put ourselves in Elijah’s shoes as he battles the prophets of Baal. We are NOT Hosea in this story, we are Gomer. We are the adulterous, undeserving wretch.
Hosea’s name means “salvation”(Same as Joshua, same as Jesus in NT). Hosea shows us the love of Christ. This is love. Love is not a “cupid’s arrow” type love, and is more than physical attraction. Love doesn’t look for what you get, this was unconditional love. We see Christ in the forgiveness of Hosea. We see Christ in the salvation of Gomer by Hosea. Hosea redeemed Gomer, he bought her. Hosea went and paid a redeeming price for her which hints to the price of buying a slave. Hosea bought what was his, his love. Redemption in Christ is illustrated here. Christ paid for HIS people, that which belonged to Him. Though we did not deserve it, we did not do anything that warranted Christ purchasing us, Christ paid a great price, not corruptible things, like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of the Lamb. It was not out of righteous works that we have done, but according to His Grace, He saved us.

Now there was restoration. Hosea’s love knocked the “not” off of his children.
“lo” (which means 'not') was removed from the names of the children. Ammi means my people, and Ruhamah means loved. We have a restoration of the family with full, free forgiveness (cf. 13:14-15; 14:4). I think that Hosea had adopted those children that Gomer had outside of marriage. The children that were not his by nature but are now his by adoption, and to show that, he changed their name. By changing their name, he change their relationship. This is the point God showed to Israel, that in the millennial kingdom, they will be restored, brought back to the Lord God. And though I was a child of wrath like other, I am a child of God by adoption in Christ Jesus.

I am not deserving of God’s amazing Grace, yet He loved me, redeemed me, justified me, gave me life, adopted me, preserves me and keeps me by His power.



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Douglas Newell IV

Amos: The Man

Amos is one of my favorite prophets. Years ago, I preached at a Bible conference in which each speaker spoke for 30 minutes on one of the minor prophets. Mine was Amos. I was always thankful that I preached that message, for my own edification. I had never preached a single sermon on a whole book before, and it was a blessing to study the book as a whole and preach on the theme, instead of a verse by verse study or a topical study with a single text.
Even if you are not familiar with the so-called minor prophets, when you do a cursory reading of Amos, you know that you are at least familiar with some of his message in verses like:

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

I enjoyed what I learned from Amos, the man. Amos made no apologies for who he was and where he was from. He was a farmer and a shepherd from the wilderness of Tekoa. Reading the book, you get the sense that he loved what he did and would have been happy spending the rest of his days honoring God in the fields tending sheep. What I love about Amos is that he didn’t stay; he got up and went when God called him as you see in the parenthesis of chapter seven, when the false prophet tried to shut Amos up, his response shows that he was on a mission from God. I suppose I can identify with Amos. I grew up on a 2,600 acre farm, and would have been happy working there all my life, but I was called to a different field.

Amos was a outdoorsman, a farmer and he talked like one. Amos 2:13; Amos 3:12; Amos 4:9 are some examples of how this plainspoken farmer delivered his message. In J.R. Grave’s book The Seven Dispensations, he has an excellent quote from H.H. Tucker on plenary verbal inspiration. Though every word Amos penned was inspired of God, it still incorporated the speech of Amos.

“A man does not cease to be himself when God uses him. His powers are not changed, they are merely controlled so as to effect the very purpose, and no other, which God would accomplish. It is as if a musician were to play first upon a flute and then upon a cornet; each instrument would give its own sound wholly different from the other, but the breath that makes the sound and the genius that inspires the music is the same. Moses, David, Isaiah, James, Paul, Peter, were some many different instruments, though not mechanical instruments, each with personal peculiarities of his own, but all were used by the same God as the media of communicating with men.”

The people of Israel to whom Amos was called to preach were rich and sophisticated. That is one of the sins for which God judged them. They were oppressive and covetousness. They were a materialistic society. Amos prophesied during the height of Israel’s economic success. This country man, this rustic farmer goes to the big city, to the well to do aristocracy and delivers a stern message of impending doom. Imagine a country preacher walking into a high rise in Manhattan and declaring the Word of God to the wealthy, influential men and women of New York. This was Amos’ calling.

One of my favorite passages is One of my favorite verses Amos 4:1 when he calls the ungodly calf worshiping women “Cows”. Could you imagine? Not very nice of God some would say, but true. These people did not need nice, they needed truth. This is why I like Amos, he was there to do his job, preach. The parenthesis I spoke of earlier is in chapter 7:10-17. The enemy prophet, Amaziah had the king’s ear. He was the well favored, well loved priest of the people, but hated and despise by God. The message of the false prophet was to Amos, not the people. “Go away ‘seer’ we are intellectuals here, we do not subscribe to your “old way” of preaching.” Amaziah was a lost man, had no spiritual understanding or knowledge of what it was to really be a prophet. He said “Go back to the country, Go back to your poverty, eat your meager bread with the sheep. Your over your head and no one wants to hear your message, go back home.”

We see the boldness of Amos, because he didn’t go home. “I didn’t ask for this, I would have happily served God in the field, I would have loved God with my family and friends back home. I didn’t ‘inherit’ this job, I didn’t ask for this job, but it is mine, and I’ll do it or die trying.” Amos stresses God’s call and God’s message. The Lord TOOK ME, He laid hold of me, He seized me to this work. “I didn’t send myself here, God sent me.” This isn’t what anyone would want to do, no one would like to preach such a message, but God sent him and woe to him if he did not preach. He sort of told Amaziah “You won’t tell me what to say, you won’t tell me when to leave, nor will you intimidate me as I am following God’s calling in my life.”

Amos wasn’t a seminary man. He didn’t go to the school of the prophets, proper. He went to the true school of the prophets, God’s seminary. We would be much better off with more men of God rather than more seminary students. More men who study God’s Word rather than more men who study other men. More men God calls and uses rather than homiletical machines. There is certainly nothing wrong with education, and I don’t want to seem that I am anit-education; however, if men took four years and studied the bible instead of four years studying at most seminaries they would be much better off.

Amos was a bold country preacher, and one of my favorites.


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Douglas Newell IV

The Burden of Nineveh: A Study of Nahum

Around 150 years after Jonah preached in Nineveh, God has another prophet to preach to that wicked city, the prophet Nahum. It is interesting to consider that God has given us two books in the Old Testament, Jonah and Nahum, that directly deal with one Gentile city. Nineveh is a prime example of the ‘goodness and severity of God.’

The city had quickly fallen from the previous generations trust in the Lord. They again had become a bloody city of war, a ravenous, predatory, bloodthirsty people. The Assyrians were steeped in idol worship and false prophets and false gods. Their riches, commerce and city walls had become their resting place and they have, as a people, totally forsaken God. For two hundred years, the known world trembled at this mighty power.

We might wonder at whether or not the people were really saved in the book of Jonah since they have fallen in to egregious sin again. Both Jonah and Jesus said they repented and believed, so there is no need to question the salvation of the Ninevites in the book of Jonah. Think about this example; we are in 2010, what was America like in 1860? Has the morality and the people changed here in 150 years? The infants that did not know their left hand from their right had lived and died, seven generations from Jonah and the city is back to where it was before Jonah. It is not hard to see how after seven generations, the city had forsaken the Lord.


We do not know much about Nahum himself. We know that he was an Elkoshite, but that doesn’t really tell us much either. He was a man of God, with a heavy message from God to a wicked people. In the order of prophets, he would have prophesied either during the reign of King Manassah, or King Josiah. If you put this historically and chronologically in the Old Testament, the book would have been written during the times of II Kings 22-23 area, II Chronicles 35-36 and most likely a contemporary of Jeremiah. We know this from the accuracy of the prophecy and knowing the time when Nineveh was brought down. It was no small event that Nineveh fell. The Assyrians were the scourge of the world, and many leaders and many countries tried to fell this capital city.

Nahum is a vivid book with amazing imagery. The book’s theme is simple and straight forward, God’s judgment on Nineveh. God lays out for us first that He will not acquit the wicked. After the verdict, secondly God will judge the guilty. Third God pronounces His woe upon the guilty and judged city. Verse number one gives us our title, The Burden of Nineveh. Burden – load, carrying; the burden of Nineveh is the burden of unforgiven sin. Judgment is hanging upon the wicked city, waiting for the judgment. Not waiting to be condemned, but condemned already.

B.H. Carroll had a good alliterated outline of the book.
I. Verdict of Vengeance (chapter 1)
II. Vision of Vengeance (chapter 2)
III. Vindication of Vengeance (chapter 3)

My outline is not as clever, but serves the purpose.
I. GOD WILL NOT ACQUIT THE WICKED
II. GOD WILL JUDGE THE WICKED
III. GOD’S WRATH ON THE WICKED
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Douglas Newell IV