Key Thought: The prophets were focused on justice for the poor and oppressed. The call was to put an end to injustice.

August 3, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Amos 5:12-15.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does it mean to turn the poor aside from their right?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever had to speak harshly to correct wrong? How do we know when such actions might be appropriate? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How are Adventists proactive and exerting an influence in society? How do you fight for the rights of the poor? ” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Micah 3:8-12

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What is the link between doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever experienced people in leadership positions using that advantage to gain power or money? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Is it wrong for preachers, prophets, and judges to seek to gain money for their work? Why does God condemn them for getting paid for their work? Is this speaking of bribes and under the table money to advantage someone against another?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Ezekiel 34:2-4.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Who are the shepherds of Israel, and why is God upset with them?
3. Personal Application: How do we relate to the sick, poor, and oppressed in our community? Is it hard to help people sometimes because they make it hard to help? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What does it mean that the shepherds didn’t strengthen the diseased, heal the sick, bind up the broken, return the outcasts, or seek the lost? Is this literal or spiritual in application?” How would you reply to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 1:17, 23

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. How do we keep our leaders from becoming selfish and greedy which causes a lack of pity and help to the needy?
3. Personal Application: In what ways can we be more aware of and helpful to the fatherless and widowed? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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If we were to ask a group of Christians about the “sins of Sodom”, chances are many would launch into a description of its various sexual sins and other forms of depravity. After all, Genesis 19:1-13 does depict a sick and warped society more than ripe for destruction.

Interestingly enough, though, the answer is more complicated than just that. Consider Ezekiel’s description:

Ezekiel

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezek. 16:49, NIV). Though clearly the Lord was not going to overlook the other forms of depravity found in the city, Ezekiel’s focus here was on economic injustice and a lack of care for those in need.

Could it be that, in the eyes of God, these economic sins were just as bad as the sexual ones?

Coming after the time of Amos, Micah, and Isaiah, Ezekiel’s early prophecies sound a similar note of warning of the coming destruction. However, after Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians and its people are taken captive, Ezekiel’s focus shifts more fully to God’s promises of restoration.

Read Ezekiel 34:2-4, Ezekiel 34:7-16. Compare God’s assessment of the corrupt leaders of Israel with His own shepherding. How does their treatment of the weakest “sheep” contrast with His methods?

Even as bad as they have been, so as to be compared to Sodom, the Lord still was reaching out to them in hopes of turning them away from their wickedness. In God’s renewed plan for His people, they would be back in their land, Jerusalem would be restored, and the temple would be rebuilt. The festivals God gave would again be celebrated and the land would again be divided equally among the people as their inheritance (see Ezek. 47:13-48:29). It seems obvious that God’s intention was that His plan for His people, as first given to Moses and the people of Israel after their rescue from Egypt, would be restarted with the return of His people from captivity. This included concern for the weakest members of society, as well as those who might be considered outsiders.

Amen!(0)

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“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, NKJV). What are ways, right now, you can live out these words?

Micah 6:8 is perhaps one of the best known texts in Scripture. Yet, like many of the verses we make into slogans or “posters”, we are probably less familiar with the context of the verse than we might admit.

Read Micah 2:8-11 and Micah 3:8-12. What were the people doing that Micah condemned?

Micah

The reign of Ahaz as king in Judah saw God’s people reach a new low in the history and spirituality of their nation. Idolatry and its various evil practices were increasing. At the same time, as other prophets of the time also noted, the poor continued to be exploited and preyed upon.

Micah is no less a prophet of doom than were his contemporaries. Most of his first three chapters express God’s anger and sorrow at the evil His people had done, as well as the destruction that was coming their way.

But God had not given up on His people. Even the strident voices and harsh messages of the prophets were an indication of God’s continued interest in His people. He gave them warnings because of His love and care for them. He longed to forgive and restore them. He would not stay angry forever (see Mic. 7:18-20).

Such is the context of the well-known “formula” — act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. It might sound simple, but living such a faith in practical ways is much more challenging, especially when to do so seems so out of step with the surrounding society. When others profit from injustice, scoff at mercy and ride proudly, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly requires courage and perseverance. Yet, we don’t do this alone; when we act this way, we are walking with our God.

Amen!(0)

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“God Has Spoken by His Prophets” – Hymn 413 reminds us of the title of our Lesson study for this week.

The call to justice is sung in 
Hymn 285, “Jesus Calls Us” and in 
Hymn 359, “Hark! The Voice of Jesus Calling”.

The prophets did point to us all to :
“Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus!” – Hymn 618.

Each of the prophets was requesting the people to show love, mercy and justice: 
Hymn 81, Though I Speak With Tongues”, 
Hymn 356, “All Who Love and Serve Your City” and 
Hymn 571, “What Does the Lord Require”.

If the prophets had been heeded and the people followed the advice given, then the people would see that 
“God’s Free Mercy Streameth” – Hymn 110.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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“I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15, NIV).

Amos was quite open in admitting his lack of qualifications for being a prophet, but as he presents his message to the Israelite nation, he shows an obvious ability to draw his hearers into what he wants to tell them.

Amos

He begins on a popular note, listing off the surrounding nations—Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, and Moab—and detailing their crimes, outrages, and atrocities for which God will punish them (see Amos 1:3-2:3). It is easy to imagine the Israelites applauding these indictments of their enemies, particularly as many of the crimes of these nations had been directed against the Israelites themselves.

Then Amos moves a little closer to home, declaring God’s judgment against the people of Judah, Israel’s southern neighbors in the now-separated kingdoms. Speaking on behalf of God, Amos cites their rejection of God, their disobedience to His commands, and the punishments that would come to them (see Amos 2:4-5). Again, we can imagine the people in the northern kingdom applauding as Amos points out the wrongdoing of those around them.

But then Amos turns on his audience. The rest of the book focuses on Israel’s evil, idolatry, injustice, and repeated failures in the sight of God.

Read Amos 3:9-11; Amos 4:1-2; Amos 5:10-15; and Amos 8:4-6. What sins is he warning against?

While Amos is not diplomatic in his language and his warnings are those of doom, his message is seasoned with entreaties to turn back to their God. This will include a renewal of their sense of justice and care for the poor among them: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24, NIV). The last few verses of Amos’ prophecy point to a future restoration for God’s people (see Amos 9:11-15): “In their hour of deepest apostasy and greatest need, God’s message to them was one of forgiveness and hope”. – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 283.

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