“Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”
That’s a bold claim. “God is on our side,” these leaders say. Now, Scripture shows that God’s favor for Israel is covenantally conditioned according to Deuteronomy 28 – “All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God… but if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”
So, instead of taking these leaders at their word, let’s place their actions in verse 11 up against the measuring stick of Scripture to see how well they hold up.
The “heads” – civic and judicial authorities – desecrate the legal system. Justice is sold. This is in direct violation of Deuteronomy 16:19 – “you shall not pervert justice…and you shall not accept a bribe”.
The “priests” – the official teachers of Torah and religious order – are no better. They desecrate the practice of teaching God’s Word, selling what they were bound to give faithfully despite the abundant provisions that the Lord already sets aside for priests in Numbers 18.
The “prophets” are not really prophets at all. They practice “divination” for money. Micah’s use of that particular verb is intentional. He does not use the neutral verb for prophecy, instead choosing an exclusively negative verb that recalls exactly the sort of soothsaying that is outlawed in Deuteronomy 18:10 – “There shall not be found among you…anyone who practices divination”.
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?”
How dangerous this is. These leaders dress their apostasy in the shiny garments of religious rhetoric, lulling the people – and themselves – into a false belief that their morally distorted agendas are God-backed. But God does not identify himself with corrupt institutions simply because they dress their actions in His name. Once we look beyond their deceptive religious assurances and hold Scripture up as God’s holy standard, the truth becomes clear.
Let the true words of God guide us – not man dressed in God-language. Hold everything up to the measuring stick of Scripture. Let us be like Micah, who says the following just three verses prior: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.”
- Kidus Kebede

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ Read Jeremiah 26:18-19. The passage tells us about how Hezekiah, king of Judah at the time, responded to Micah’s prophetic warnings. How does this inform your understanding of the prophetic office and its purpose?
+ Micah 3:11 is NOT telling us that the modern-day teachers of God’s Word should not receive remuneration. In fact, Paul argues the opposite in 1 Corinthians 9. The laborer truly deserves his wages. So what is it that Micah is condemning here regarding the priests’ actions?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ Micah sets an incredibly high standard for us when it comes to holding the world around us accountable to God’s Word. How can you and I better reflect his example today?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ One of the incredible things that takes place when we uncompromisingly witness to the world, as Micah does, is that the world notices. Our dedication to God’s holy standard sets us apart. It’s different, and it carries intuitive moral weight. What opportunity do you have to talk to someone about God’s holy standard and how it applies to our broken world – yours, mine, and theirs – today?

This passage is both full of judgment and hope. Hosea uses the Exodus story to give background to God and Israel’s relationship and why they should expect both judgment and future restoration. To briefly summarize: Israel has turned away from God, and there is judgment coming. This judgment finds its logic in the fact that God is the one who rescued Israel from Egypt. Afterwards, they pledged themselves to be his people. As a result, it is God alone who has the right to Israel’s allegiance, but they have forgotten him and turned to serve other gods. As a result, there is injustice and evil living in their midst. Now God will destroy them. But there is a day that is coming when God will ransom his people from death itself and heal their hearts. They will no longer go after vain idols but serve and love the Lord.
What Hosea is describing is a new exodus. A time where God actively works to bring life to his people, redeeming them from an oppressive power that has ownership of them. The very idea of redemption carries with it the idea of a transfer of ownership. The Israelites were owned by Pharaoh, but God took them, brought them to himself, and made them his own. A redemption from death, as described in chapter 13, verse 14, would imply that they are owned by death and need a new passover and new exodus out of death and into new life.
This brings us to Jesus, who specifically picked up the Passover and redemption language when describing his mission here on earth. We are invited to join him in an exodus from death since he has made a way out of being owned by death through his own death as the passover lamb. The world is passing away and is even under judgment, but there is an opportunity to paint the blood of the lamb over the doorpost of our lives, follow God out of slavery, become his people, and set course for the promised land. We are living in the days of the new exodus.
- John Barzal

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ Can you summarize this passage in your own words?
+ What is Hosea saying to his audience?
+ What is the meaning of redemption? Why is it key to understanding the biblical story?
+ What are the different images that Hosea uses to convey his message? What are their significances?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ The exodus story forms a core identity for the Israelites in the Old Testament and for the people of God more broadly. How can you begin to live within the narrative of the exodus?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Who would benefit from hearing that God is in the business of redeeming people from death?

Hosea 9–11 is a heavy section. There’s warning, loss, and the mess that comes when people keep drifting from God. But right in the middle of it, we get something surprising, we get God’s heart.
In chapter 11, God talks like a parent remembering a child He raised. He taught them to walk. He picked them up when they fell. He bent down to feed them. He cared for them in ways they barely noticed.
Honestly, that sounds like a lot of our lives. We tend to notice God when things go wrong, but miss how often He has carried us all along. The help that showed up at the right time. Protection we didn’t even see. Strength we didn’t know we had. Grace we took for granted.
Before you ever thought much about Him, He was already caring for you.
- David Bempong

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ What pictures of love do you notice in 11:1–4?
+ What do these verses show you about God?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?

Hosea prophesies both the judgment of Israel’s faithlessness, but also the mercy of God. Like Hosea’s faithless wife, Israel has gone after other gods (Baal), sought alliances with other nations (Egypt and Assyria) for security, and abandoned the covenant they made with God. According to the terms of the covenant, there are consequences for their disobedience; they will face the justice and wrath of the Lord, but they will not be totally destroyed.
Our passage begins with a hopeful promise, that the Lord will restore, He will heal those who have been chastened and turn to Him truly (6:1-3). But for now, because they have sown wickedness, they will reap the harvest of the judgment that they deserve (8:7). In this passage, we see both the holiness of God, which cannot abide our sin, and God’s faithful love to His people, even when we are faithless. Praise God that in Christ’s rising on the third day, we too are raised and healed as Hosea foretold!
- Monica Godfrey

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ Why do the Israelites deserve judgment? What does God desire of the Israelites?
+ What is evident about the character of God in these passages?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ In what ways are we like Israel? How do you view your sin?
- Are you turning from it and seeking God truly?
- Do you still love your sin and are unrepentant?
- Do you believe that the Lord gives mercy for your sins and healing for your soul?
- Spend some time honestly with the Lord in prayer about this.
+ Is there someone you need to confess to and ask forgiveness from?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Is there someone you know who needs to hear of the mercy and judgment of our God?

The book of Hosea is radically different from any other of the other 12 minor prophets. Here we see a man who is called by God to do something that is unbelievable to our modern ears and certainly would have been equally unbelievable in Israel during the time of the Divided Kingdom. Hosea was called to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. God had set apart a wife for Hosea who would squander his love, chase after other men, and think that the security Hosea afforded through God came from her adulterous lovers. Yikes! Impossible! This is too big of an ask, God. How can one love another when known betrayal at the deepest level stood squarely in the near future?
As we read this book so soon after Easter, we remember one who was asked to do a similar thing. Jesus was to go to a people who would not believe nor receive Him. These people had no righteousness of their own, but grace and love still came to them in a person. Grace and love came through Jesus as He took on flesh, lived the sinless life no one else could, paid the price for every unfaithful sinner, took every sin to the grave, and rose again to a new life so each relationship with God could be restored.
Romans 5:8 reminds us, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God asked Hosea to do a “Jesus thing” in the Old Testament. Hosea is one of many Old Testament “types” that point us to who the prophesied Jesus would be and what He would do when He came. Jesus does in fact come in the New Testament to rescue and redeem the lost, the sinner, the Gomer’s like you and me. He restores broken relationships. He brings beauty from the ashes.
In this age, the Spirit now empowers you and I to invite Jesus into spaces that need to be rescued and redeemed. We are to be like Jesus in our relationships, in our work places and in our homes. It’s a big ask. It feels impossible. Yet all things are possible with God. Hosea knew it. He lived it. Will we?
- Kimberly Williams

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ What was “the land” guilty of according to Hosea 1:2?
+ What were the names of Hosea and Gomer’s three children? What was the meaning of their names? What surprises you about these name choices?
+ What happens in Hosea 1:9 that reverses the naming curse? How does this reflect God’s character/attributes?
+ What will happen to the Divided Kingdom and the divided household and the divided heart according to Hosea 1:10? What will unify them? Who might be in view here?
+ What was “the mother” guilty of according to Hosea 2:5, 8, 13?
+ What did God do as “the mother was going astray"?
+ What action did God take even as “the mother,” and “the land” were actively sinning? See Hosea 1:9-10 and 2:14-23

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ Paul quotes David in Romans 4:7-8. He links God’s grace between Testaments.+ Have you accepted God's own gift of grace to you? If so, are you walking in freedom?
+ How is God calling you and I to extend grace, this free, undeserved gift to someone else in our life today?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Who in your life needs to remember today that nothing can separate them from the love of God? Ask the Lord for a name today and reach out to them directly.

Today, we close out our look at the Book of Amos by examining the last three chapters, Amos 7-9.  In Chapter 7, the Lord shows the coming judgement of the nation of Israel to Amos by revealing a series of visions to him.  However, after each of the first two “warning visions” (swarming locusts and unquenchable fire), Amos prays for the Lord to forgive and to cease from carrying out His just wrath on the people and the Lord relents.  But in the third vision, Amos sees the Lord Himself holding a plumb line in His hand, showing Amos the “crookedness” of the people, especially that of King Jeroboam II.  The Lord declares that His judgement will be held back no longer and Israel will be laid to waste and the people led into exile.  Amos shares this word from the Lord to Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who wants no part of this message and demands Amos leave Israel.  
In Chapter 8, Amos is shown another vision; that of a ripe bowl of summer fruit, signifying the “readiness” of Israel to receive God’s judgement for their sinful ways, which included worshipping other gods and living extravagantly while neglecting and taking advantage of the poor.
A final vision of judgement is revealed in the beginning of chapter 9, where the Lord is seen standing at the altar in Bethel, the center of Israel’s idolatrous worship. He makes clear that His judgement of the nation is inescapable and that the people will be scattered into exile.  However, the book ends with God’s promise to restore His relationship with Israel, to permanently return them to their land, and to abundantly bless them.  He further states this promise will be available to “all the Gentiles who are called by my name”, a prophecy fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Acts 15:6-18).

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ In Chapter 7, twice the Lord holds back His judgement upon Israel after supplication offered by Amos.  For a similar account, read Genesis 18 and Abraham interceding over the city of Sodom.  What do you make of these encounters and what does it tell you about the character of God and the power of prayer?
+ What sins led God to release His judgement upon the people of Israel?  What role did Israel’s leadership play in this?  What is the “penalty” God promises to bring in Amos 8:11-14 and what do you think it means?
+ Reread Amos 9:1-10.  Do you find God’s words harsh?  How do you explain verses like these to unbelievers who say they want nothing to do with a “vengeful, wrathful God”?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ Amos has been a very convicting book to read.  According to one commentary, God brings harsh judgment on Israel for “rampant economic injustice, exploitation of the poor and insincere worship” offered to God.  Let’s all examine our own lives to see if we are sinning in ways described in Amos 8, knowing forgiveness and restoration can be found as detailed in Amos 9!  Praise the Lord for His long suffering love for His people!

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Who in your circles of influence needs to hear about a holy God who loves enough to punish and correct His people but always with the goal of rebuilding and restoring them to blessing in abundance?

Amos is an emotional read for me. Maybe it is for you, too.
Pastor David and I have had a few very memorable conversations where we’ve discussed the idea that people have of “the God of the old testament” versus “the God of the new testament”. Have you ever viewed Him that way?
What people typically mean is that throughout the old testament, Jesus had not yet been born, so the effect is God the Father choosing wrath, anger, vengeance, keeps score against Israel, and so forth; and then when Jesus is born, God the Son (as if suddenly coming into existence, having not been the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End [Revelation 21:6]) is suddenly a new and improved Lord Almighty 2.0. As if the birth and death of Christ transformed the person and character of Yahweh. But if we can all agree and confess that the Word of God has the final say, that it is the authority and truth over all, then we must believe Him when we read in Hebrews 13:8.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Can I get an amen? Praise the Lord that we serve such a compassionate, merciful and loving God!
Here in these chapters of Amos, we read the Lord calling out the sin, the idolatry, and the hypocrisy of Israel. A people who “‘Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings – boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do.’” Amos 4:4-5 NIV 
Of course, this is not His permission to go and sin, but to highlight their desires and patterns of choosing what they know is sin and “balancing the scales” with enough offerings to keep sinning. How often do we do the same? Maybe it’s knowing we’re going to go out and indulge a little bit too much on a Saturday night, “but I’m going to church tomorrow so it’s fine.” Maybe it’s losing our temper and self control at our loved ones, or even a stranger, “but if I just pray, God will still love and forgive me.”
Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit with premeditated sin, taking advantage of the compassion He has promised us. He calls us into repentance, and new life. Amos 5 says it three (yes, 3!) times!

5:4-5 …Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
5:6 Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel
5:14-15 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

To hate evil is not to plan it and to hope, or even know, that we will be forgiven for it. It is to flee from it. It is to run from it– and not aimlessly toward something less sinful. To Jesus!
The lifegiver! The living water! The bread of life! The One who loves you so much that He saw every sin, every loss, every difficulty, every victory, every joyful moment, and everything in between before your very conception, and called you by name. The One who saw your struggles, addictions, and failures, and says that you were worth dying for. Before you were born.
He is worthy to be praised. He is the same God who was, and is, and is to come. Let us rejoice by running after Him, seeking good, and seeking the One who is good.

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ What does the Lord want Israel to see here? Beyond their choice to sin?
+ Why do you think the people of Israel still haven’t learned yet? Do you see yourself in the answer?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ What does it mean to seek the Lord and live?
+ What is one way you personally can seek good and live today?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life:
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Ask God to reveal where you haven’t sought to bring Him in to your choices.

Amos, the shepherd-turned-prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah is as about direct as one can be when he speaks Yahweh’s indictments against the nations surrounding Israel. If you were familiar with the geography of the Middle East circa 850BCE (are they still teaching that in our schools?), you notice a pattern as he rattles these off. In chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 Amos slowly spirals in, pronouncing the transgressions of Israel’s neighbors. But then, in Amos 2:6-16 (and the rest of the text, really) he centers in on Israel… God’s chosen people. His words are not soft or vague – they are direct and intense. His first accusation?

“They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals…”

Can righteousness be bought? Are the needy as worthless as a pair of shoes? “Of course not…” you’re probably thinking. So to are Amos’ listeners likely aghast at this claim. What is the standard Yahweh is holding them to? Is it unreasonable?

God is omniscient and sees the plight of the poor as well as he sees the leisure of the wealthy. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus will pronounce blessing to the poor and woe to the rich. Israel would eventually be exiled for their transgressions against God’s covenant, and even though He restores them to their land, only a few centuries later do they crucify the Christ who was likewise poor. We are called to love our neighbors – consider your neighbors today. Are they poor and needy? If so, can you offer them hope? Can you meet a basic need? If not, perhaps pray and ask the Lord to open your eyes to the needs of your neighbors.

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ What are the charges against Israel? Does the covenant law that condemns Israel apply to you today?
+ What does it mean to “trample the poor and turn aside the way of the afflicted” (v7)?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ How can love my neighbors better today? Is there a need I can meet?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life:
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Is there someone who comes to mind when I consider the poor and the destitute?
+ Who needs to hear the message that Jesus came to “bring good news to the poor”?

Most folks are familiar with Jonah and the whale, but how about Jonah and the plant? And how about that king of Nineveh? It looks like both he and Jonah had a change of heart. This is almost like a parable you might hear from Jesus… the person you expect to have a heart for others, the one willing to extend grace and have mercy is… not Jonah the prophet, but instead, it’s the Gentile king!
Jonah is so frustrated with God and his circumstances that he wishes he were dead. He was so close to being the good guy in the story – but instead his pride results in the death of a very needed plant! Contrastingly, the king of Nineveh seems to repent (see Jonah 3:7-9). Know this: God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will judge whom He will judge. He is sovereign – slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love! He honors the repentant heart, and disdains the pitiless. Which are you?

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ What do Jonah’s actions tell us about his heart? What about the king of Nineveh?
+ What does this passage tell us about God?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ How should we respond to God’s commands? Does compliance equal obedience?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life:
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ Who needs to hear the word of the Lord in your life? How might you walk with them as they digest the good news?

3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:3

Jonah's Prayer
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
    into the heart of the seas,
    and the flood surrounded me;
all your breakers and your waves
    passed over me...

6 To the roots of the mountains I went down,
    to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.
Yet you brought up my life from the pit,
    O Lord my God...

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Jonah 2:1-3, 6, 9

Wow, that Jonah, a prophet from Galilee, pays his way aboard a ship to flee God!  He was so angry at the Nineveh people and how they blasphemed and trampled God.
Yet God chose this (sometimes we think) unlikely man to tell Nineveh to repent or be annihilated by the King of Kings.
Think of Nineveh like a large cosmopolitan city like New York, or London, or Paris.  It was huge and so prosperous.  Evil lured on every corner, and God had had enough.
So our man Jonah, a really important man - he prophesied after Elisha and was a contemporary of Micah,wasn’t having any of it.
Thus, the large fish swallows him up after he gets tossed from the ship because it’s going down if he stays in - so much drama!
Then, and here’s the part we can sit and ponder::  Jonah not only repents but writes a beautiful, stunning, image-filled poem.
Jonah KNOWS God.  His God, the one who he calls out to in his distress; while the floods surround him and the waters break over him, and weeds were wrapped around him, God brought him out of the pit.  Then, with a voice of thanksgiving, Jonah ends with: Salvation belongs to the Lord!
And with that, the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ Is the main theme of the Book of Jonah God’s sovereignty over all people? So today, do we acknowledge this? If so, how; if not, why do we back away from God-filled conversations with others?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ Do I often look out upon the world and see such evil and misery that I want to flee? Live in my own bubble of those who think like me, walk and talk like me?  Discuss.

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?
+ We teach the story of Jonah to our children, but do we take the time to reflect on how we walk out our anger at the world and how so many folks attack our God?  Take time to write your own poem to God, honoring Him for what he has given you. You can then use your prayer time to let the Holy Spirit guide you to a person who is hurting and needs our Jesus.  Today would be a wonderful day to share the Gospel with them!