Amos
(775-750 B.C.)
5
We begin our journey through the Old Testament prophets with Moses
leading the tribes up to the very entrance of Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses dies just before the entrance point,
and the tribes, now under the direction of Joshua, enter into Canaan as
promised by Melchizedek 400 year’s prior. Let’s see what happens now:
The People (the majority)
Amos
2:4 Thus said the Lord:
760 BC They (Northern
Israelites) have spurned the Teaching of the Lord
And have not observed His laws;
They are
beguiled by delusions
After which
their fathers walked.
Amos 2:6 They have sold for
silver
Those whose
cause was just
And the needy for a pair of sandals.
Ah, you who
trample the heads of the poor…
And make the
humble walk a twisted course!
You alone have I singled out
Of all the families of the earth—
That is why I
call you to account
For all your
iniquities.
Amos
3:9 Gather on the hill of Samaria
And witness the
great outrages within her
And the
oppression in her midst
They are
incapable of doing right-declares the Lord.
They store up
lawlessness and rapine
In their
fortresses.
The Lord tells us through Amos that since he has singled out the
people of Israel, teaching them about his laws and ways, he will, therefore,
hold them more accountable for their iniquities — even though the other
"families of the earth" do the same or worse. "To those whom
much has been given, much will also be expected."
Drought, famine, pestilence and military
losses accumulate against the Northern Tribes (Israel) because they (the
"people" here) have turned their back on God, and the Lord says:
Amos
4:11 Yet you have not turned back
to Me.
Amos 5:1
Hear this word which I intone
As a dirge over
you, O House of Israel:
Fallen, not to
rise again,
Is maiden
Israel;
Abandoned on her
soil
With none to
lift her up…
For thus said my
Lord God:
The town that
marches out a thousand strong
Shall have a hundred
left
And the town
that marches out a hundred strong
Shall have but
ten left.
The Lord now tells the people in advance
that disaster approaches them (the Assyrian invasion) because God has
"abandoned" them to their own devices by taking away his special protection of them.
Amos
3:7 Indeed, the Lord God does nothing
Without having
revealed His purpose
To His servants
the prophets.
A lion has roared,
Who can but
fear?
The Lord God has
spoken,
Who can but
prophesy?
Melchizedek tells us through Amos that
God "does nothing without having revealed His purposes" through His
servants, the prophets. In this regard, today is no different from yesterday.
God will again reveal His plans to
those who will listen.
The calamities that befall a nation are
the direct result of the spiritual and moral degeneracy that exists. When a people and their leaders separate
themselves from God to pursue their own gain, they also separate themselves
from the source of all wisdom and
prudence. Our selfish acts carry the seed of their own destruction just as
night follows day. The warp and woof of reality is justice and mercy. One can
go against this grain, but the friction generated burns up the result.
Now, watch what happens to these writings, which previously pertained to the conditions in Israel around 720 B.C.:
Amos
9:9 I (the Lord) will give the
order
And shake the
House of Israel—
Through all the
nations—
As one shakes
sand in a sieve,
And not a pebble
falls to the ground…
Amos 9:13 A
time is coming
-declares the
Lord
When the plowman
shall meet the reaper,
And the treader
of grapes (will meet)
Him who holds the seed;
When the mountains will drip wine
And all the
hills shall wave [with grain].
I will restore
My people Israel.
They shall rebuild
ruined cities and inhabit them;
They shall plan
vineyards and drink their wine;
They shall till
the gardens and eat their fruits.
And I will plant
them on their soil,
Nevermore to
be uprooted
From the
soil I have given them.
The first stanza describes the dispersion
(shaking of sand) of the Northern Tribes (Israel) throughout the nations. The
last two stanzas of Amos slip into a future
description of a time when Israel is restored to its native lands, after
which Israel shall nevermore be
uprooted again. Nothing except divine intervention could establish Israel
"nevermore" to be uprooted. Therefore this last stanza is about the
Messianic End of The Age time period when the Lord/Messiah /Melchizedek comes.
"Mountains dripping with wine" are also Messianic references. Future, past, and present are often
described within a single unit of text, almost as if the events are fused together
with the element of time removed. Indeed, God sees history from outside
time, where ultimate causes yield ultimate effects, despite their
"apparent" unrelatedness to the human eye of sequential time.
Similar references, such as "forever," "nevermore," and "everlasting" occur in conjunction with a consistently repeated list of End of The Age events, such as restoration of Israel in the example before us. These events and references are densely distributed throughout all of the Old Testament prophets. If these End of the Age events are erroneous, then a large percentage of Old Testament prophecy is worthless and completely unreliable. Judging though from the prior high accuracy of Old Testament prophecy, we must by force of logic consider these yet unfulfilled prophecies to be highly probable future events. Melchizedek already knew the future history of Israel when he "collaborated" with the prophets. He obtained this foreknowledge from God Himself, in whose presence he formulated his plans for the rehabilitation of our planet Urantia. This partnership with God is part of Melchizedek’s private journey with the Father, just as we all have our private journeys with Him. And, for those who know the Father, it is easy to believe that he would provide instruction for his children during dangerous periods of time and this is precisely what He has done through the medium of sacred scripture.