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Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Grassy Butte, ND and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Belfield, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 2:4-5. The first six oracles of judgment in Amos are against pagan nations surrounding Judah and Israel. Now the prophet turns the corner to address the LORD’s own people, starting with the southern kingdom, Judah. During the period of the Divided Monarchy, which began with Rehoboam of Judah and Jeroboam I of Israel, the southern and northern kingdoms were sometimes friend and sometimes enemies. During the time of Amos, Israel was enjoying relative peace and prosperity from an earthly perspective, while Judah was weaker. Yet even Judah does not escape the LORD’s judgment. Using the same words as He used against the pagan nations, Amos preaches against Judah for an even worse sin. They rejected the law of the LORD. It was bad enough for the pagans to break the law written on their hearts; it was far worse for Judah to knowingly reject the word the

Rev. Tim Koch, pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 2:1-3. The Moabites trace their lineage to the incestuous relationship between Lot and his oldest daughter. Related to Israel, the Moabites were sometimes friends and sometimes foes of God’s people. Perhaps best known among the Moabites is Ruth, who married into the Israelite family and ended up in the genealogy of Christ. Yet the idol worship of Moab was a snare to Israel during their history as well. Amos preaches against Moab’s crime of desecrating the grave of the king of Edom, burning his bones into lime for use as mortar. Such defiling of God’s gift of the body is horrific, even by one pagan nation to another. For that reason, the LORD’s anger literally burns against the people of Moab. His wrath will come against them publicly and loudly, as He cuts off their ruler and kills all of their princes. Such language echoes throughout the Scripture in contexts not only of temporal judgment, but also co

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:13-15. The Ammonites trace their lineage to the incestuous relationship between Lot and his youngest daughter. Due to this familial connection to Abraham through his nephew, the LORD gave Ammon land as an inheritance that Israel was not allowed to take. Yet their worship of Milcom, the cruel and violent idol who demanded child sacrifice, put them at enmity with the LORD’s people. The Ammonites were a thorn in Israel’s side at several points in the Old Testament, not only by military hostility but also by leading them into idol worship due to intermarriage. The LORD speaks His Word through the prophet Amos against Ammon for their heartless violence against pregnant women and their children. The day of their judgment did come, just as the LORD spoke against them. This day serves as a picture of the Day of the LORD, a theme throughout the book of Amos. This text stands as a sobering warning to us sti

Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor at the Northeast Kansas Lutheran Partnership joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:11-12. Amos’ first three oracles against nations are spoken to people and cities farther removed from Israel. With the oracle against Edom, Amos begins to preach to people who are both geographically closer and related to God’s people. The nation of Edom includes the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s older brother. The hostility that existed between Jacob and Esau during their lives as brothers continued throughout the history of their descendants. Notably, the people of Edom came out against the people of Israel and refused them safe passage while they were traveling to the Promised Land under Moses. This incident in Numbers 20 lies behind the oracle against Edom in Amos. Their wickedness toward their blood brothers was unspeakable and continuous, attacking not only the men of Israel, but even showing no mercy toward the women and children. The anger and wrath that Esau had toward Jacob only continu

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:9-10. The city of Tyre was located northwest of Israel. This island city was a center of commerce and wealth. Ships from every country carrying every commodity came to harbor at Tyre. Even the people of Israel had favorable dealings with Tyre, as King Hiram had provided materials and labor to King David and King Solomon. Yet the love of money became a snare to the people of Tyre. Through the prophet Amos, the LORD condemns Tyre for mercilessly selling an entire nation into slavery because they had forgotten the covenant of brotherhood. In general terms, they ignored the Law that the LORD writes on every person’s heart by selling their fellow human beings into slavery. In specific terms, Tyre forgot the treaty that had existed between them and Israel, just as the Pharaoh at the time of Moses’ birth forgot Joseph. The judgment that the LORD spoke against Tyre happened about 400 years later under

Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:6-8. The LORD has the right to speak to foreign nations because He is their Creator. This is the foundation laid in Genesis 1-2. For that reason, Amos now turns to the Philistines. The tension between the LORD’s people and the Philistines goes back to their descent from Ham and conflict with Isaac and continues into outright warfare in the days of the judges and the kings. By the time of Amos during the divided kingdom, the prophet’s message is the same for Israel, Judah, and every nation: “Repent!” The Philistines particularly are called to repentance over their failure to leave any remnant of those peoples they conquered. Even though they did not have the Ten Commandments written on tablets of stone, they had the Law of God written upon their hearts; they should have known better. No human being created in the image of God should be treated with such indi

Rev. Gaven Mize, pastor at Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, NC, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:3-5. The first two chapters of Amos are comprised of a series of oracles against eight nations, both foreign nations and the LORD’s own people, Judah and Israel. Similar phrases in each of these oracles helps us understand them. The words, “Thus says the LORD,” remind us that the shepherd from Tekoa isn’t spouting his own opinions. He is proclaiming what the only true God has said, and therefore, cannot be ignored except at the peril of death and condemnation. Each judgment is spoken “for three transgressions…and for four,” not so that we would focus on counting, but so that we would recognize constant and repetitive unrepentant sinning. Each judgment is spoken against a specific people. In this text, the prophet singles out Damascus, which is the capital of Aram, a nation that is also called Syria. This nation was a common enemy of both Israel and Judah. Their cruel and inhumane tre

“The Day Is Surely Drawing Near” is a new mini-series on Sharper Iron that digs into the book of Amos. This Old Testament prophet speaks the LORD’s roaring Word in order to call us first to repentance over our idolatry and injustice and second to faith in the Messiah in the line of David, Jesus Christ. Only through faith in Him will we stand forgiven and redeemed on the coming Day of the LORD. Rev. Paul Pater, pastor at Shepherd of the Ridge Lutheran Church in North Ridgeville, OH and Hope Lutheran Church in Sheffield Village, OH, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 1:1-2. Although Amos was a sheep herder from Tekoa, a fortified city in the southern kingdom, Judah, that didn’t prevent the LORD from sending Amos as His prophet to the northern kingdom, Israel. The people of Israel may have been outwardly prosperous under the reign of Jeroboam the son of Joash, but inwardly they were spiritually bankrupt. In the early part of the 8th century BC, Amos spent his ministry to Israel condemning their idolat

Rev. Nate Hill, pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, studies Exodus 10:1-20 on today’s episode. Pastor Hill discusses the eighth plague, the plague of locusts, including the need to recount the works of the LORD, the call to repentance in the devastation of the plagues, and the fact that no earthly ruler can stand in God’s accomplishment of His people’s salvation. “The Saga of Salvation” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that takes a step-by-step walk through the book of Exodus. This premier account of salvation in the Old Testament proclaims that the LORD is the one true God, the Creator and Redeemer, who alone is worthy of our worship and faith, all the while pointing us forward to the ultimate deliverance He gives through the exodus accomplished by Christ.