Flight JAO01 - Part C

Now these visions are like previews when you go to the movies and you get there early and you're sitting enjoying your popcorn and you give you have a few minute preview of coming movies. They call them trailers.

These are trailers, previews of coming attractions. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip concludes his teaching from Joel, Amos, and Obadiah with more biblical truth about the visions God gave his prophets and what they mean to us today. But first, here's a resource that'll help you understand God's purpose for fathers and why they're so vital to a family. America is reaping the whirlwind of bad fruit from a generation of young men who lack the influence of a father. We desperately need to educate men of all ages and stages of life to begin to turn this destructive social trend.

Listen to Skip Heitzig. Where's dad? That's a crucial question in our world today. When fathers abandon their children, a series of dominoes begin to fall with devastating results. We see young men rampaging through streets destroyed by drugs then continuing the vicious cycle by creating fatherless homes. We need to educate boys and men of all ages about how dads make a difference. And that's the theme of our current resource package that includes my full hour video documentary called Where's Dad? Plus seven of my most important messages to men. I hope you'll order your copy now. Dads Make a Difference.

That's the title of a critical issues package you can order now. The Dads Make a Difference package includes seven of Skip's most important messages to men and the full hour video documentary Where's Dad? hosted by Skip. I think it's pretty easy to see from just a reading through of scripture that it is dad's responsibility to set the moral spiritual tone in the home. Remember it was Joshua who said as for me in my house we will serve the Lord. Get this package in either digital download or CD and DVD when you support Connect with Skip with your gift of $50 or more. You'll be joining us as we take Skip's Bible teachings into more major cities.

Request the Dads Make a Difference package online at connectwithskip.com or by calling 1-800-922-1888. Now let's pick up our teaching in the book of Amos. Here's Pastor Skip to begin. Verse one the words of Amos who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash the king of Israel two years before the earthquake. You remember king Uzziah? He was a good guy.

You remember this? Isaiah 6 in the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord high and lifted up the train of his robe filled the temple. Uzziah was a great king but Uzziah made a king-sized mistake at the end of his reign. He was the king who wanted to be a preacher. He wanted to be a priest so he intruded into the priest's office. It says in second chronicles 26 he he went into the tabernacle and he started burning incense like priests do and the priest saw him and said dude you can't be here.

I'm paraphrasing a little but you didn't say dude but dude you can't be here. Get out of here and the king being the king of Judah got upset like don't you know who I am? I'm the king and he protested at the priest Amaziah getting mad at king Uzziah for trying to act like a priest. So when he's having a little hissy fit king Uzziah the priest looks at him and notice his head is turning white and his hand is turning white and he becomes leprous as white as snow and the bible says he contracted leprosy from that day onward and he had it till the day of his death. According to Josephus the day the time he did that went into and intruded into the priestly office the the the historian Flavius Josephus says a great or a giant earthquake took place in the land. That could be exactly what we're seeing reference here when it says in verse one two years before the earthquake. Okay chapter one verse three we're going to look at a few verses and notice a pattern. Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away its punishment. Look at verse six. Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not turn away its punishment. Verse nine thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Tyre.

That's the northern city up in Lebanon and for four. Verse 11, thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four and finally And finally, verse 13, thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of the people of Ammon and for four, I will not turn away its punishment. These are several groups who are around Israel and who messed with Israel. And you know there's a principle, I think you know this by now, if you mess with the nation of Israel, God messes with you, right? You mess with God. And if you do, God messes with you. Because Zechariah the prophet said concerning Israel, whoever touches you will touches the apple of his eye. It's like poking somebody's eye.

God doesn't take kindly to that. So you gotta ask yourself, where are the Phoenicians today? Oh, that's right, they don't exist. Where are the Babylonians today? There's Iraq, but the Babylonians don't exist. Where are the Philistines today? Seen a Canaanite lately?

They don't exist. You may wanna write in the margin of your Bible, Matthew chapter 25, the judgment of the sheep and the goats. It's the judgment of the nations after the day of the Lord as previewed by Jesus himself. And it's the judgment that he will give to the nations based on how they treated his brethren, the Jewish people, during the day of the Lord, during the tribulation period. Chapter two, verse four, thus says the Lord.

Now watch this. That was chapter one. Chapter two, verse four, thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they have despised the law of the Lord. They have not kept his command. Their lies, literally idols, led them astray or lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed. Verse six of chapter two, thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of Israel. Now remember, he's a southern prophet from the Bethlehem region, but his ministry is in the northern kingdom. So follow what he says, for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they sell the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals. Now the people are listening to this prophet and they're going, I like this guy, amen. Judgment on Edom, judgment on Gaza, judgment on Philistia, judgment on Tyre, yes. Hire this guy, come back next Sunday when he's preaching.

Like him. But it's like he's drawing a spiral. He's going all around and then he deals with Judah down south and they're going, uh-oh, that's like our neighbor. And then he ends up on their doorstep with Israel, the 10 northern tribe kingdom, and saying, you're not exempt, just as God judges Gentile nations for the light they have received based upon nature, Romans chapter one, they are therefore without excuse because God reveals his character in nature and in conscience. At the same time, God will judge his people based on not natural revelation, but special revelation, the scriptures, the law. Notice what it says in chapter two, verse four, because they have despised the law of the Lord. So he implicates Judah and Israel, that is the 12 tribes of Israel.

Let's note the reason further, chapter three of Amos, verse one, hear this word, that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. In other words, you're my special treasured people. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.

You see the correlation. You know, they're thinking, well, how can God judge us? We're the chosen people.

It's because you are the chosen people. You see, punishment is commensurate with privilege. Jesus said, to whom much is given, much shall be required.

God gave them the law. They will be judged accordingly, as Paul also said in Romans chapter three. Now, the next few chapters, chapters three, four, and five of the book of Amos, famous Amos, are more judgments, more reasons for God judging Israel. And chapter five, verse one, notice God even tells Amos to take up a lamentation. Who wrote the book of lamentations? Jeremiah wrote a whole book of lamentations, lamenting for Jerusalem. This is Amos' lamentation for the northern kingdom. So he's become a songwriter, and it's a very sad lament or song. It's a country song. Nothing can be done anymore except sit down and write this song and cry because he's watching the death of the northern kingdom.

Be a great country song. Chapter six, verse one, woe to those who are at ease in Zion and trust in Mount Samaria. Mount Samaria is the central part of the 10 northern tribes, the nation of Israel.

So he's hitting the capital of the south and the capital of the north. Notable persons, it continues in verse one, notable persons in the chief nation to whom the house of Israel comes. Now again, look at verse three. Woe, there's that word again. Verse one, woe, verse three, woe to you who put afar off the day of doom, who caused the seed of violence to come near. Now, woe in the Hebrew language is the word oy. You've been around your Jewish friends and they're verklempt. They'll say oy, oy vey, that's the Hebrew word oy, woe. Whenever you read woe, w-o-e, interpret it to mean w-h or w-o-a-h, whoa, like slow down. Slow down, ponder this. Think of what is coming, slow it down, ponder what is coming up.

Look and listen because this is important. Now chapter seven, eight, and nine are six visions. Not gonna read them all, I'm just gonna tell you what they are, six visions.

You know anything about prophets? They sometimes said great things, but they sometimes saw crazy stuff. And in fact, when we get to Zechariah, he's gonna see some really crazy, weird visions as well. And these are visions from God, this crazy stuff is emblematic. It's not like a late night falafel with onions or pepperoni pizza, they're legitimate vision. By the way, the difference between a dream and a vision, those things happen in your dreams.

A dream happens when you're asleep, a vision happens when you're awake. So these are visions that he gets. Chapter seven is a vision of swarming locusts, which happen to be Assyrians chapter, or the second one in chapter seven, the second vision, a consuming fire, which speaks of a coming drought. The third in that same chapter is a plumb line, a dangling plumb line, when you wanted to get a straight wall. The ancient level was to hang a weight at the end of a rope, that's a plumb line.

And so God is judging his people based upon the plumb line, the straight edge of his truth, of his special revelation in scripture. Chapter eight is the fourth vision, a basket of summer fruit or ripe fruit. It's again the symbol of the harvest, the vintage, the putting in the sickle. It's ripe for reaping, for plucking. That's second coming motif, that's second coming stuff.

Any of you know the Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe, she wrote it during the Civil War. You know, she wrote about, she wrote about the second coming of Christ. My knives have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. And he talks about plowing up the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, and all of that is emblematic of Revelation chapter 19.

Basket of ripe fruit. Now these visions are like previews when you go to the movies and you get there early and you're sitting enjoying your popcorn and you have a few minute preview of coming movies. They call them trailers.

These are trailers, previews of coming attractions. That's what these visions are. Chapter nine continues. The fifth vision is a vision of God judging his people. And finally, the sixth one in chapter nine is a vision of future blessing. On that note, look at verse 11.

On that day, this is the future blessing. On that day, I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, or the tent of David, the New International Version translates it, I believe. The tabernacle of David, or David's fallen tent, which has fallen down, and repair its damages. I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as the days of old.

This is quoted in Acts chapter 15. I will bring back the captives of my people, Israel. They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards, drink wine from them.

They will also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land. They will no longer, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God. Israel today, since May 14th of 1948, is back in their land. God planted them in that land. However, the full final spiritual restoration, as predicted by Ezekiel, we're still waiting for.

We're still waiting for that to happen. The dynasty of King David was pictured as a tent, a large, spanning, protective tent. And that tent of David, when the nation was not split, before the split was Solomon and David. And when David ruled, he ruled over all 12 tribes.

His tent extended over the north and the south. There was a cohesion, a unity of the 12 tribes of Israel. The prophecy, the prediction is that there will be a reuniting of all of the tribes of Israel. And if you wanna know which tribes are even enumerated in the book of Revelation with 144,000 that are saved. So the dynasty of David will be restored.

They will be reunited. And when will that happen? It begins to happen when the church age is over. When the church age is over, and I put it this way, when the last Gentile, whatever number that is, is saved, the time clock begins again for Israel.

We're in an age of grace, an age of the church. But Romans puts it this way, blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the full number of Gentiles be gathered in. Then all Israel will be saved as it is written. So there is a number, some magic number of saved, of Gentiles to be saved. Whatever number that is, when that number is up, I believe that is when the rapture of the church takes place, and then the time clock, Daniel's 70th week, is put on the blocks for fulfillment. So if you happen to be a Gentile here tonight, and you haven't given your life to Christ, you might be that lucky lottery number, and you're holding up the show. So would you please get saved so we can all get out of here, and that thing can happen.

Okay, we have three minutes to cover the final book, but it's only one chapter, we can do this. Obadiah is a one-hit wonder. You know what a one-hit wonder is? It's a group or a musician that really never makes it, but they have one song, right? And that one song makes them known. So, La Macarena, the Del Rios, that was a one-hit wonder. In the year 2000, the Baja Men wrote that great anthem of culture, Who Let the Dogs Out? Who, who, who, who?

Brilliant lyrics. No wonder, one-hit wonder. This is the shortest book in the Old Testament. We know nothing about Obadiah. We know nothing about his parents. We know nothing about his hometown.

We know nothing about his sandal size. We only know his name. And his name means servant of the Lord. Probably this book was written one year after the Babylonian captivity. Babylonian captivity happened. Its full destruction of Jerusalem happened in 586 BC. So this book probably was written in 585 BC.

We're going backwards, right, BC. Obadiah 1, verse 1, the vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.

That would be present-day Jordan. We have heard a report from the Lord. A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, arise, let us rise up against her for battle. Behold, I will make you small among the nations.

You shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock. If you've ever been to Jordan, down south by the Dead Sea, there's the ancient rock city of Petra, considered impregnable, impenetrable in its era. Because the only access to it at that time was through a little tunnel, a sikh, it's called.

It's only, in some places, 12 to 15 feet wide. And so the ancients used to say a dozen men could fend off an entire army from that. So they took great pride in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, high in elevation, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground?

If you wanna know, go look at it today. It's empty, it's been brought down. Verse four, though you ascend as high as the eagle, I mentioned very, very high in elevation, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. Now you've never been, many of you, most of you have never been to Petra, but you've seen it in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Remember that stone cut into that opening into that building? The building isn't there, that's all fake, but that opening is called the Treasury in Petra. It's still there, you can see it today, if you go there.

If you don't go there, you won't see it, you'll have to just look at Indiana Jones for the rest of your life. Verse four, though you ascend, oh yeah, I said that, okay. Verse 11, in that day that you stood, that is, stood aloof on the other side, in that day that strangers carried captive his forces when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem. Go down to verse 13. You should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity.

Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. When the Babylonians took Jerusalem, the Edomites helped them look the other way, applauded, and later came in and looted the very city. Jacob and Esau are the progenitors of Israel and Edom. The Edomites come from Esau. The Israelites come from Jacob. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers. They've been fighting ever since the womb. Jacob grabbed Esau's heel when he was being born, and that was kind of emblematic of their future history.

They fought in the womb and outside of the womb, and to this day, the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau, the Arabs and the Israelis, have been at it. Verse 14, you should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those who escaped. I'm gonna take you to verse 17, because we're out of time.

We're a minute and a half over. Do you forgive me? Can we read this one verse? I shouldn't stop and I pick up one verse next time.

Of course I wouldn't do that. It'd be lame. Verse 17, but on Mount Zion, here's now a glimpse in the midst of this, of the golden age, of the kingdom age that most all the prophets speak about. But on Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance. There shall be holiness.

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. It's the end of the book. That's the end of our study. But do you know, do you know this? You know, we keep talking about the coming of Christ, the coming again of Christ, the millennial kingdom, the new age. Do you know that for every one time, the Bible mentions or prophesies or deals with the first coming of Jesus, it deals with the second coming eight times?

That's the proportion. Eight times more it speaks about the second coming than the first coming. Every time the Bible speaks about atonement, it speaks about the second coming twice.

50 times the Bible tells us to personally be ready for it and Jesus assured his disciples that he was leaving them, but he would come again. And when he comes again, they'll beat their swords into plowshares. There will be peace in the land. There will be peace in the world. The day of the Lord will be over and this glorious reality will be our future. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from Joel, Amos, and Obadiah in the series, The Bible from 30,000 Feet. Find a full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com.

Now, here's Skip to tell you about a special resource we have for you this month. We know that families are the foundation of our country and fathers are the cornerstone of the family. But the trends we're seeing are troubling. When dads are missing, families can crumble and a series of serious problems are the result.

Teen crime, abortion, depression, and suicide are among the bad fruit. And then young men often repeat the cycle of abandonment. The question is, where's dad? That's the title of an hour-long documentary I produced and host, and it's part of our Dads Make a Difference resource package. The package also includes seven of my most important messages to men, including Seeing God as Father and The Legacy of a Godly Dad. This would make a great gift for any man. And I hope you'll order your Dads Make a Difference package now.

To order this Dads Make a Difference package, just call 800-922-1888, or go to connectwithskip.com. That's connectwithskip.com. And we're excited to give you more content from Pastor Skip and this ministry right to your mobile device. Be on the lookout for our first text message, welcoming you to the group. That's coming your way if we've connected with you through prayer or a monthly resource.

And in the weeks ahead, we'll let all our listeners know how to join in. Next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip continues his series, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, with more verse-by-verse teaching straight from Scripture. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection. Make a connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.