Daily Devotions
Amos
"A lamentation"
Text: Amos 5:1
A LAMENTATION
The prophets of God are sometimes caricatured as people who like to preach brimstone and fire. This is not true. Prophets like Jeremiah and Amos often wept and lamented the fate of the nation they loved.
“Hear this word which I take up against you,
a lamentation, O house of Israel:
The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.”
Amos 5:1-2
1. “Hear this word which I take up against you”
a) This word came from the Lord.
b) It was also a word that Amos took to his heart.
c) Sadly, it was a word “against” the nation.
d) It did not have to be this way, but because there was no repentance, Israel’s fate was sealed.
e) Even then, the prophet Amos sought to appeal to the nation… one last time.
2. “A lamentation, O house of Israel”
a) A lamentation is like a dirge (a sad funeral song).
b) This song was sung sadly as if one was looking at the inevitable demise of a nation beloved.
c) All the prophets of God had a deep love for their nation and its people.
3. The Contents of the Lamentation
a) “The virgin of Israel has fallen”
i) Tenderness was expressed in the word “virgin”.
ii) Israel was compared to a young lady…. but it had fallen into very hard times.
b) “She will rise no more”
i) She had fallen before but had always managed to rise up.
ii) This time round, she would rise up no more.
c) “She lies forsaken on her land”
i) She is forsaken by her allies.
ii) Worse, she is now forsaken by the Lord.
d) “There is no one to raise her up”
The only Person who could have raised her up was the Lord God, but He had been rejected!