Crossing The Threshold-2

CROSSING The THRESHOLD-II—Amos 1:1-2

Attention:

A Threshold is a crossover or transition zone or optimal use zone. Where the upper limit or end of effectiveness is reached.

Every house has many thresholds, the front door is placed in the transition zone from indoor to outdoor. Things are very different on either side of the threshold. Inside a door may be placed to define differing living spaces(bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, etc.). A threshold also separates flooring types(carpet, wood, tile, cement, etc.).

When the threshold is reached, of God’s toleration of sin in the world & His people, His wrath takes over & He approaches them in a very different way.

God used (His servant)Amos to declare God’s new relationship with His people.

Amos declared God’s strained relationship with His people.

An amiable/good relationship between God & His people can be so changed that it invites God’s wrath.

What does a failed relationship with God evoke/prompt?

OR--

What results from God’s Crossing His Threshold?

God is Longsuffering—

Rom. 2:4—“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, & longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

Neh. 9:17—“They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious & merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.”

BUT...

God can Reach/Cross His Threshold & we discover that

A failed relationship with God evokes/prompts...

1. PUBLIC REVELATION(:1a)

2—A failed relationship with God evokes/prompts...

TIMELY/Available OPPORTUNITY(:1b)

Explanation:(:1b) A Time for Remembrance/Recognition/Recall/Historical Significance/Significant application

:1—“The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, & in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”

“in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, & in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”

TIME MARKERS Referenced:

“Uzziah”[AKA Azariah]—A king of Judah from 783-742? BC. (cf.-2Chron. 26:1-23)He became king at 16 yrs & reigned 52? yrs. in Jerusalem(2Kgs. 15:2). He held a co-regency with his father Amaziah until Amaziah’s death in 767BC. Likewise, from 759BC on, Jotham(Uzziah’s son) served as co-regent(2Kgs. 15:5; 2Chron. 26:21). Uzziah is the king whose heart was lifted up so much so that he took it upon himself to enter the temple to burn incense & as a result, God made him become leprous(2Chron. 26:16-21).

“Jeroboam”(Jeroboam II)—A king of Israel(northern kingdom) for 41 yrs.(2Kgs. 14:23), from 786(5)-746(5) BC. His father Joash(AKA Jehoash), was also a king of Israel. Jeroboam’s reign included a co-regency with Joash(his father) for 10 yrs.

2Kgs. 14:23-27—“In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, & reigned forty-one years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher. For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; & whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.””

“The northern nation of Israel saw nothing but a succession of wicked kings. Jeroboam(II) the son of Joash was one of the better kings among these wicked men - especially in a political & military sense - but he was still an ungodly man (2 Kings 14:23-29).”—David Guzik

“For most of its history, the northern kingdom of Israel struggled against Syria - her neighbor to the north. But around the year 800, the mighty Assyrian Empire defeated Syria, & neutralized this power that hindered Israel's expansion & prosperity. With Syria in check, Israel enjoyed great prosperity during the reign of Jeroboam II.”—D. Guzik

DATING:

“The overlapping regnal years of Uzziah of Judah & Jeroboam[II] of Israel are 767-753BC.”—Thomas Finley in WEC.

“two years before the earthquake.”

The “earthquake” is also mentioned in Zech. 14:5(>2 centuries later), & was the means for dating Amos’ ministry very precisely for its original audience. Unfortunately the record of “the earthquake” is lost to antiquity, the biblical references being the only certain extant record. There is evidence of an earthquake at Hazor dated to between 765 & 760BC, with corroborating evidence from Beersheba.—Thomas Finley