Amos 2:4 "This says the Lord: 'For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not turn away its punishment. Because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed."
This prophet stuff is rough. Amos is telling all kinds of nations, Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab how the Lord is going to judge them. Now he gets to Judah and Israel. What does he say about Judah? Why do they deserve God's wrath? Because they despise the word of God. Because they disobey Him. Because they are liars and they rely upon their lies to make decisions which lead them astray. And because this was the road their fathers lived.
Let's take this in reverse order beginning with Dads. Apparently the Dads in Judah told lies, believed lies and taught their kids how to lie. The Dads were dishonest. The Dad's words could not be relied upon. The Dads were the one's setting the example and their kids followed in their footsteps…doing the same lying that Daddy did. Sobering…the example we place in front of our kids. They are the ones who watch us the closest. They are the ones who will one day live out what we live now. It reminds me of the Harry Chapan song that said: "I want to be like him." Even though we may preach and teach and lecture our kids, the thing that they are watching is how we live. If our words are not consistent with our lives, forget it. Our kids will live the way we lived, even if we think that we have said the right things.
The other day we were sitting around and Jeremy, my son in law, asked what it was like to lead in the family…to lead my wife. Pretty penetrating question when you don't think about this that often. Is leadership preaching? Is leadership directing? Is leadership dictating? No. Leadership is making sure your life is consistent with your words. Leadership is setting the example in front of your wife and kids. Leadership is revealing the reality of your relationship with God how you conduct yourself both out of the house and within the house.
Judah was going to be judged because of the poor example the Dad's set. Think about it.
Then they were going to be judged because of what they did with God's word. They despised it. They disobeyed it. They couldn't give a rip about God's perspective and lived how they wanted to live. The word for despise also means reject. It means refuse. They didn't pay any attention to what God said.
How often am I there? How often are we there? How is the church of Jesus doing in this area? Are we voracious in our appetite for the Word of God, or do we let the 60-90 minutes we get of it on Sunday satisfy us? Not only that, but what do we do with it once we know what it says? Obey it or ignore it?
God's desire is for us to devour His word, live it and set the example before our families.
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