Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters

In one paragraph

The pastor preached the second half of his series through Amos, working from chapter five through chapter nine. He traced God's case against a prosperous, self-satisfied Israel, showed how Amos stood his ground when ordered to leave, and ended in the surprising restoration promise that closes the book. Amos 5:24, the verse Martin Luther King Jr. quoted in his "I Have a Dream" speech, was the...

Read together

1. Amos 5:24 Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream, the central text of the sermon
2. Amos 5:25 God asking Israel whether they presented sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years
3. Amos 6:1 Woe to those who are carefree in Zion and feel secure on the mountains of Samaria
4. Amos 6:4-6 Those who lie on beds of ivory, eat lambs and veal, improvise on the harp, drink wine from sacred bowls, yet have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph
5. Amos 6:7 The complacent will go into exile at the head of the exiles and their revelry will come to an end
6. Amos 6:8 The lord swearing by himself that he loathes the arrogance of Jacob and detests his citadels
7. Amos 6:9-10 Vision of ten men in one house dying, with survivors afraid to mention the name of the lord
8. Amos 6:11-14 Justice turned into poison, wormwood, rejoicing in Lo-debar, and a nation raised up to torment Israel
9. Amos 7:1-3 Vision of a locust swarm, Amos intercedes and the lord relents
10. Amos 7:4-6 Vision of fire consuming the land, Amos intercedes and the lord relents
11. Amos 7:7-9 Vision of the plumb line beside a wall, god measuring Israel and declaring he will spare them no longer
12. Amos 7:10-13 Amaziah the priest of Bethel tells Jeroboam that Amos has conspired against him and orders Amos to flee to Judah
13. Amos 7:14-15 Amos replies that he was not a prophet nor son of a prophet but a herdsman and grower of sycamore figs whom the lord called
14. Amos 7:16-17 God's word to Amaziah that his wife will become a prostitute, his children die by the sword, and he will die on unclean soil
15. Amos 8:1-2 Vision of a basket of summer fruit signaling the end has come for Israel
16. Amos 8:3-6 Songs turning to wailing, merchants trampling the needy, shrinking the ephah, growing the shekel, cheating with dishonest scales
17. Amos 8:7 The lord swearing by the pride of Jacob that he will never forget their deeds
18. Amos 8:8-10 The land quaking, the sun going down at noon, festivals turning to mourning, mourning for an only son
19. Amos 8:11-14 A coming famine not of bread or water but of hearing the words of the lord
20. Amos 9:1-4 Temple vision of the lord commanding destruction, with no fugitive or survivor able to escape anywhere
21. Amos 9:5-6 The lord who touches the land so it quakes, builds his upper chambers in the heavens, and calls the waters of the sea
22. Amos 9:7-10 God declaring he brought Israel from Egypt as he dealt with other nations, shaking Israel in a sieve and purifying his people
23. Amos 9:11-12 Promise to raise up the fallen shelter of David so they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations called by God's name
24. Amos 9:13-15 Promise of restoration, replanting, rebuilding desolated cities, planting vineyards, and Israel never being uprooted again
25. Micah 6:8 Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your god, cited as the message of Amos and most minor prophets

Talk about it

1. The pastor described two ditches on either side of the road: self-righteousness on one side and licentiousness on the other. Which ditch do you find yourself more naturally drawn toward, and how has the gospel corrected that pull in your own life?
2. Amos was a herdsman and fig farmer who did not ask to be a prophet, yet he delivered an unpopular message to people who did not want to hear it. Has God ever called you to say or do something uncomfortable? What happened?
3. The plumb line vision shows God holding up an objective standard against his people's lives. If God held a plumb line up to your own life or your community right now, where do you think it would reveal something that is not straight?
4. Amos warned people who could not even wait for the Sabbath to end before getting back to business. In what ways do the pressures of work, money, or convenience tempt you to treat the vulnerable as an inconvenience rather than a responsibility?
5. The sermon closed with the restoration promise in Amos 9, where God says he will call all the nations who are called by his name. The pastor said the people around you that seem irredeemable are just pre-Christian. How does that way of thinking change the way you look at the people in your life who seem far from God?