Today, we're discussing the crucial topic of justice with a focus on two prophets: Amos and Micah, who both emphasize the idea that religion isn't enough, justice in how we treat each other is important to God. It’s essential to unpack what justice means and how we can apply it in our lives. As we navigate through the complexities of justice, we’ll explore the historical context of these prophets, who were speaking into a society marked by inequality and spiritual decline. Their messages resonate deeply in our modern world, reminding us that true justice reflects God's character and is a core expectation for His followers. So, let’s get into it and see how these ancient messages can guide us today.

Takeaways:

• Yvon Prehn highlights that the Bible provides essential guidance for finding purpose and peace in life, emphasizing its relevance in today's world.
• The podcast discusses the importance of understanding justice through the teachings of the prophets Amos and Micah, focusing on the application of these principles in modern times.
• Listeners are reminded that God's calling can come unexpectedly and is not limited by human standards, encouraging anyone with a message to share to pursue it without hesitation.
• Amos and Micah's messages shed light on the necessity of justice, mercy, and humility as foundational characteristics that reflect God's nature and should be integrated into our daily lives.
• The episode illustrates that true justice involves not just punishment but also fairness and care for the less fortunate, challenging listeners to consider how they can enact justice in their communities.
• Yvonne concludes by emphasizing that religious practices are meaningless without the embodiment of justice, mercy, and humility in everyday life, urging listeners to reflect on their actions towards others.

Links referenced in this episode:

• bible805.com

The transcript for this podcast is A.I. generated and though it has all the content, sometimes has odd breaks, spelling, and spacing.

For an almost exact copy of the text, go to the www.Bible805.com site for downloadable NOTES or to the www.Bible805Academy.com for downloadable and editable Notes, Discussion Guide, Audio and Video files, plus the original PowerPoints—for your personal study or all you need to teach the lesson.

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Hi, I'm Yvon Prehn from Bible 805, and I truly believe the Bible has everything you need to find meaning and purpose, love and peace in this life. And it is a source for forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.

Through longer lessons and shorter challenges, I want to tell you about it by making sometimes complex Bible topics understandable. So let's do that today with our podcast topic, which is from our series Ancient Prophets, Modern Messages.

Our topic today is Amos and Micah When Religion Isn't Enough, An Attempt at an Understanding of Justice and how to Apply It.

There are no political agendas in this, but I think it will help us as followers of Jesus to see what God has to say about it. So with that as an introduction, let's get into the lesson. We're talking about two prophets here who have really the same message.

Now, they preached at close to the same time around the mid-700s B.C.

Amos was primarily a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, and he prophesied prior to them being conquered by Assyria, and Assyria, remember, had relapsed into evil after a brief revival under Jonah as a nation, they were then taken captive to never return to the land we're talking about Israel that is. Now, Micah then prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah, either as this was going on or shortly thereafter.

We're not sure of the precise timing on it. Again, all of this happened in real places.

And before we continue, let's look at the physical setting of their prophecies to get more of a sense of what it was like.

Now, if you are familiar with Southern California or if you live in Southern California, I think this will be particularly helpful because when I calculated on the map, these different counties that I'm going to mention make up almost the exact same physical size of northern Israel and southern Judah in terms of similar similar land mass and proximity to one another.

It was as if here in California, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties were suddenly destroyed and Ventura and LA counties were left to watch what happened. I hope that sinks into you the way it did to me.

I just, you know, we tend to think of these things in the Bible oh, the Northern Kingdom, it was like somewhere far away. And then Judah was who knows where, but they weren't really whatever.

But imagine just a few miles away, you see people, probably you had friends, maybe relatives who were destroyed, their cities were gone, they were taken into captivity. Now, watching this happen, do you think that that changed the actions and the attitudes of the Southern kingdom? Well, spoiler alert.

You know, it didn't, but it's going to be interesting to look at what happened in between to them. Now, before we go on though, I want to give you just a few more historical anchors before we get into the books themselves.

And if you don't have this, if you're watching the video, I have a chart on the Old Testament prophets timeline. This is available on the www. Bible805.com website.

If you're listening to the podcast, please go to the website right on the front page there's an Old Testament prophets timeline.

And this is very important to keep in mind because from fairy tales or vague spiritual histories, many of the prophets start with clear historical markers, as you'll see in the quote below and then in the archaeological tidbits that I'll share.

The author of Amos, who is the prophet himself, provides several of these in his introduction where he says the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam, son of Jehoahash, was king of Israel. He talks about an earthquake and lists the name of a current king.

This listing of kings or specific events helps us put together the timeline that gives us a proper historical context of the prophet's message. Now, this is extraordinarily important. Listen carefully to what I'm going to say.

Historical markers like these help us check the prophetic reliability of the message, as we must have accurate dates to see if what they prophesy is truly from God.

The historical markers in one book record when the prophecy was given, and in many cases, the historical markers in another book show when it was fulfilled. Remember, much of the prophecy in the Old Testament is fulfilled during Old Testament times.

And this of course, is evidence that only a God outside of history could have given the message. Now, some archaeological verifications. There is great archaeological evidence of the earthquake described.

This comes from the watchjerusalem.com website and let me read it to you. It's really interesting.

It says archaeologists have found massive amounts of earthquake damage in sites throughout the ancient kingdoms of Judah, Israel and the Philistines. This earthquake damage dates to around 760 BCE, right around the latter third of Uzziah's reign.

Tilted walls, collapsed floors and more are attributed to this earthquake.

Great is the amount of evidence that scientists have been able to determine the epicenter was likely in Lebanon and that its strength was probably around a magnitude 8.2 and lasted 90 seconds.

Now, for those of us who live in Southern California and are used to a little rocking and rolling around, five point something or whatever, that was huge. It's just unimaginable. And 90 seconds, if you are in an earthquake, that can seem forever.

So it's understandable that he would refer to it as the earthquake. There are also numerous archaeological artifacts that verify that Uzziah and many others.

But I just pulled some of them about from Uzziah that show that he was a real person and he really lived during that time. We have artifacts and you can see them on the video on the YouTube channel from Assyria, just.

And various things from ancient Israel, different archaeological sites, an epitaph, a seal, just all kinds of different things.

Now, this isn't an archeological lesson, as I will emphasize in just a minute, but the thing that I want you to understand from this is that the main characters we are talking about are not fictional in many other religions. For example, in the Hindu religion, much of their historical stories, things they base their beliefs on, talk about Krishna.

Now, there is absolutely no archaeological evidence that that person ever lived or any true history about him or anything like that.

In the Book of Mormon, many of the characters, with the exception of the passages that Joseph Smith just copied out of the King James Bible, all of his different ones that lived in Zara, Mahala and the different princes and the warriors and all this, there is no historical backup verification of them whatsoever. But our Bible talks about true history that happened in true times.

Now, important as these evidences are, again, this isn't an archeology or an apologetics lesson, but it's important to remember that the Bible speaks to us in real life situations. Now here's what's happening to them. They were times of great political turmoil in a relatively wealthy, prosperous nation.

They were living off of the spoils of war. The upper class had tons of money. Unfortunately, they weren't sharing it with the lower classes. There was at the same time this ecological disaster.

There was the earthquake we talked about, and we know from the different things that can happen in the world, it takes a huge amount of time for people to recover from that sort of thing. There was a lot of spiritual decline Going on. That's why God sent the prophets, though this is important.

There was at the same time significant outward spiritual activity, but much interpersonal injustice and unkindness. So wealthy, prosperous, big divide with the classes, all of this sort of thing going on. Though outwardly, some very religious people.

And my comment here, of course, is. Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Now, into this world, God first sends his prophet Amos to preach primarily to Israel. His name means burden bearer.

He's from Judah he sent north to Israel.

He was not formally trained here in again in Southern California, it's as if a field worker was sent to Sacramento to preach to all of the big deal leaders and businessmen and state congress people and all of that. That's what it would have been like. But he went because God called him.

He was, though, simply a shepherd and a farm, but because of the power of his preaching, he's been called the first great reformer. And you'll see why from some of his messages in a minute. A little bit later, God calls Micah. He's called to preach from the southern part of Judah.

And like Amos, he was not from the city or the royal court like Isaiah was. Micah preached about the same time as Isaiah. Isaiah preached to the king.

You find in his book many references to speaking personally with Hezekiah, none of that in Micah. He preached to the common people. He appears also to have come from a rural area. He did not train in the school of the prophets.

He wasn't an aristocrat, again from the common people. Because of that, he was intimately aware of the injustices between the wealthy and the poor.

Now, a few application notes on God's calling of both Amos and Micah. God's calling. Now, all of you that are listening to this, listen carefully.

God's calling can be unpredictable and are not dependent at all on earthly or socially accepted standards of who can serve in what ways. If God calls you to do something, he believes you can do it. And that is the only thing that matters.

Today, anyone can start a podcast, a blog, do YouTube videos to share God's message to the world. Your audience may not be large and you most likely won't make much of an income from it, but if you feel called, go for it.

Now let's get back to the messages that they were called to preach. First, I'll talk about Amos, then Micah. Amos begins his prophecies by pronouncing judgment on the surrounding nations.

This is a reminder that everyone is accountable to basic laws, basic decency, human decency. And we see this in Romans 1.

And this passage also reminds us of it in the first part of Amos, where the following sins of the nations surrounding Israel are listed and here we go.

He pronounces judgments on Damascus for cruelty and war, on Tyre who sold their brothers on Gaza for slave trade, on Ammon for excessive cruelty and war, for Edom, anger and fury to their brothers for Moab, excessive vengeance and to their fellow Jews in Judah. Idolatry God's expectations of humanity are universal. There are no excuses for cruelty or injustice to others.

And yet the book goes on to say, because they were chosen by God, they deserve greater punishment. In Amos 3. 2 It says, you I have chosen, therefore I will punish.

And their wrongs are listed in detail in chapters two and three and they include they trample the poor, they practice injustice in many areas of life, idol worship. They forbid the prophets to speak, they are consumed with excessive drinking and self indulgence.

And here is one of his summary verses and it's not kind of nice, so prepare yourself.

He says, hear this, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, bring us some drinks. Well, you don't have to spend two minutes on the Internet today to see the excessive consumption of the so called celebrities.

While people on the other hand are struggling to pay for gas and groceries. Just a very similar thing.

There are always people who will take advantage of and flaunt their wealth, regardless of what's going on with other people. And that was the situation in Israel. He then goes on to pronounce God's judgment on them for this selfish self absorption and injustice.

Some additional verses Amos says, for three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.

They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground, and deny justice to the oppressed. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge in the house of their God. They drink wine taken as fines.

Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, brought you up out of Egypt. God says, look, this is what I did for you. I took care of you. You're beating up on those weaker than you.

He says, I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazarites from among your youth. Is this not true, people of Israel, declares the Lord.

But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy and the result of these actions. This is very interesting, and this is. Some people ask me in one of my classes, is this just spiritual? No, I think it's absolutely true.

And I think we see it today where here's what God says to the people. These are the words of my master God. I'll send a famine throughout the whole country. It won't be for food or water that's lacking, but my word.

People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east. They'll go anywhere, listen to anyone hoping to hear God's word. But they won't hear it.

What people need most, God's word, all of the wisdom and insight and instructions in it. They need that more than anything. But they cut themselves off from hearing it, though it's always available.

Now think about how and when we do the same in our nation. There's a Bible to be had everywhere.

I was just reading this one Christian book where this gentleman says, if you don't have one, just go take one out of a hotel room. Now, they're not in as many hotel rooms as they used to be, but I thought that was kind of interesting. They are available everywhere.

Every church will give you one. But do people look at it? No. There's a famine for God's word.

They tried to fix it, though, with religious practices, but it was a religion mixed with idolatry.

Jeroboam the first, many years before, had set up two golden calves at Bethel and Dan right after the kingdom split, where the people worshiped them as well as Jehovah. The continuation of this and similar practices is what Amos railed against. God's response to religious actions through Amos is.

Let me tell you what he says. Here it is. Now prepare yourself. Where God says, I hate, I despise your religious festivals. Your assemblies are a stench to me.

Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs.

I will not listen to the music of your harps. Now we need to ask ourselves, do we go to church and then worship our idols of self indulgence, selfishness, lack of care for the less fortunate?

That was the situation there. Are we guilty of it also? Here is the response. God wants hate, evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. And then this incredible verse where he says, let justice roll on like A river righteousness like a never failing stream.

This call for justice is primary in this and other books of prophecy, as we'll see again and again, God calls for justice. But that raises a really important question, and it did when I was studying this.

What exactly is justice, and what does it mean to put that into practice?

Now we're going to explore that answer in a minute, but first I want to talk very briefly about how Micah continues similar challenges that show more deeply the need for justice and I think will help us explain it. Now, the reason we're going to explore justice more is we primarily think of it as a punitive thing as well.

Justice was served, so that means somebody was punished. You will see that God's view of it is much more expansive, much more different. So hang in there with me as we get into it.

The historical setting of Micah Micah begins by listing specific sins of both the northern and southern kingdom.

These sins include idolatry, the seizure of property of the less fortunate, the failure of civil leadership, religious leadership, and prophetic leadership offering sacrifice without truly repenting corrupt business practices and violence. Again, sounds very familiar, doesn't it?

But in view of this condemnation, the people, they know they're being condemned, they know they're being preached against. And so they ask very petulantly, well, what does God want? And this is what they say. And it's, you know, really bad attitudes.

I'll read it to you out of Micah 6:6 they with what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams with 10,000 rivers of olive oil?

In other words, do I just need to offer more and give him more and give him more? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Now, they weren't kidding there.

There was a widespread pagan practice of offering your firstborn child to the detestable idol Moloch.

And this was where they would put a live child in the arms of this idol, and it would roll back into the inside of it, where there was a fire and the child would be burnt alive. This is what they were doing. And obviously God does not want that. He answers in Micah 6. 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Let's look in more detail. Let's explore what this means to do justice.

Justice is primary. Justice is foundational because justice is a primary and foundational central characteristic of God's nature.

Again on the video I have a chart that I have of the Trinity that shows you how our one God is made up of three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who share one substance. And justice is one of those characteristics.

Part of the one substance, part of him being holy, just, merciful, loving, true, all knowing, everywhere, all powerful, unchangeable and eternal. Now justice so reflects his righteousness, fairness and faithfulness.

Scripture teaches that God is a God of justice and that his ways are perfect and just. This means his justice is not arbitrary, but rooted in his unchanging character, ensuring that all people are held accountable for their actions.

That's a quote from Bible Study for you dot com. God's justice isn't simply a legal rules making term.

It has the sense of equity, fairness, mutual care and respect, which is what we see modeled in the interactions of the three persons of the Trinity. And it's because that is the model of our God. Again, fairness, mutual care, respect. That is true justice.

That's what we should reflect in our relationships with each other. But justice doesn't stand alone. On a couple of different websites and I combine this, you can see the notations in the notes.

God's justice is inseparable from his love and mercy. It's both protective and corrective. He defends the righteous, restores the broken, punishes evil.

At the same time, his justice is meted out in ways that also reveal his compassion, as seen in the cross where sin was punished in Christ while mercy was extended to all who believe.

Since we're to be a reflection of God's character and justice is a key part of that, let's explore it how we're supposed to live it out and the other characteristics of Micah 6:8 in more detail. Now, acting justly again, it's a way of life. It's not a singular action. He doesn't just say do just actions.

He says we're supposed to be acting justly. It's the Hebrew word mishpat, and it has to do with all God's laws. It's a reflection of his character and that doesn't come and go.

Leviticus 8:4 says, you shall do my judgments, my mishpats, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein. I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man shall do, he shall live in them.

I am the Lord, not only in all of life. The idea is also that justice is for all people, not just the rich and powerful. And following are just a few of the verses that support this.

Here are some verses on justice, though there are many of them throughout the Bible, many of them are in conjunction and connection with the less fortunate. But let's just look at a few Psalm 82:3 give justice to the weak and the fatherless Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Zechariah 7:9 10 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments show kindness and mercy to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor and let none of you despise evil against one another in your heart.

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate, that it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Psalm 106:3 Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.

Additional Notes on Justice this is a great quote from Christianity Today, where it kind of sums it up, and here's what it says. Justice flows from God's heart and character as true and good. God seeks to make the object of his holy love whole.

This is what motivates God throughout the Old and New Testaments in his judgments on sin and injustice. These judgments are both individual and corporate in scope.

Biblical justice involves making individuals, communities, and the cosmos whole by upholding both goodness and impartiality.

It stands at the center of true religion, according to James, who says that the kind of religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Earlier Scripture says, the righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. Next, we're to love mercy.

Mercy also is a characteristic of God.

Deuteronomy 7:9 says, Therefore the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commands to a thousand generations. Mercy is required from us if we want mercy. James 2, 3 says, Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

Mercy triumphs over judgment, and it's part of wise living. Proverbs 3:3 says, Let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about thy Neck, write them on the table of thine heart.

Now, without mercy, God's covenant, His power, his laws and his truth, and even his justice can be unbearably harsh. We can never think of or practice justice alone without mercy.

If we do that, if we think we're justified in punishing others for their perceived sins, we'll become like the nations Amos prophesied against who are taking out long standing revenge to Israel. We are to practice justice with mercy, not be the judge. And to do that, the final characteristic of the three that are joined together is so needed.

And that is walk humbly with your God. Humility isn't just a one time action. In other words, I'm going to be humble today. No, that isn't it at all. Walking implies a way of life.

Psalm 89 says, if his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commands, which are the result of that walk, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity was drying walking with God. Then there's some wonderful positive examples in the Bible.

Genesis 22 says, and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And of course we know that one day he simply walked into the presence of God. Genesis 6:9. These are the generations of Noah.

Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation. And Noah walked with God.

In Genesis 17:1 when Abram was 90 years old and 9, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Lord Almighty, walk before me and be thou perfect. In other words, be complete. So just one thing we learned from that, it's never too late to start a very positive walking with God.

Now the opposite of walking humbly, of course can be pride. And here's what C.S. Lewis says about it. He says, as long as you're proud, you cannot know God.

A proud man is always looking down on things and people. And of course, as long as you're looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. That raises a terrible question.

How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I'm afraid it means they're worshiping an imaginary God.

The true God is very different as we see in Jesus, our God doesn't simply command we be humble. He modeled it as this passage says in Philippians 2. I just. I just love this passage. Let me read it to you.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

Being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Satan, remember, is the one who said, I will ascend. You know, I'm going to be the big deal. No, Jesus didn't do that. He became a servant for us.

If we abandon humility or are seeking a high position, if any of that is our primary concern, being me, me, me, it's all about me. It's all the people respect me. Look up to me. We are reflecting the enemy, not God. It all comes together here.

When we're walking humbly, we see the needs of others and the inequities of our world. We then respond with mercy as we can and with the justice that we are able to affect.

In contrast, when we're proud, when our attitude is not merciful, we don't see or empathize with the needs of others. But if our heart breaks when others are in need or are treated poorly, we may not know exactly what to do.

We may not know the exact way to practice justice, but we'll figure out something. Remembering that just because we can't do everything, we can do something. And the something that we do for one person, Jesus takes very personally.

Let's look for a minute and be reminded of Matthew 25.

We're familiar with this passage, but it's good to hear it again where it says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.

Then the King will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home.

I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me.

Then the righteous will reply, lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality, or naked and give you clothing?

When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you and the king will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me. This kind of godliness, active godliness, let me just say for a minute, is a distinctive of the Christian faith.

In contrast Deepak Chopra and similar teachers, you find this all over. This is what they believe. This is a quote from him. Saintliness becomes realistic by seeing it as a state of higher consciousness.

In other words, striving for a holy life is all about me, me, me. You know how I perceive the divine, how I can reach nirvana, how I can be very peaceful, etc Etc. No, that is not true.

Saintliness, holiness, becoming set apart like our God and working to be his walking, talking representatives involves a pursuit of an active lifestyle reflected in Micah 6, 8 where we this is a review of the lesson act justly in line with all of God's law for all people love mercy as intensely as we seek love.

We love mercy, we care about being kind to others, and we walk humbly as a way of life and peacefully accepting our position as beloved servants of God, our brothers and sisters, and our world. Final Challenge of Amos and Micah for us Remember, justice and care for others, especially the downtrodden, is not optional.

It is a core expectation of God's people because it is a foundational reflection of the character of our God and emphasized in these books and many others throughout the Bible. Though important, we need to remember that religious observances do not take the place of justice, mercy and humility in our daily lives.

That when we do practice justice, mercy and humility, it does make a difference in our world today and we can look forward to the day when, with the prophets who so fearlessly preached, we will hear these words truly. I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. That's all for now.

Please check out the show notes, a complete downloadable transcript, graph expansion and related materials at www.bible805.com until next time, I'm Yvonne Prynn, your fellow pilgrim, writer and teacher for Jesus, and I'd like to close with this benediction.

May you know the invitation of God to move from confusion to clarity, from wandering to rest, from loneliness to knowing you are loved, from turmoil to peace, from wherever you are in your spiritual journey to a growing knowledge of God's Word and in your personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.