A Life in Exile

The Bible is full of seemingly “minor” or insignificant people facing down giants and standing up against great opponents. Today’s lesson from the Old Testament is a double-header on this reality. God chooses the second string to go up against the all-stars. (I think my brother, David, would be pleased with my baseball analogies today).

So, just to press the point: Who’s in the lineup? A “minor” prophet known as Amos, and a deacon named Stephen. Who are they going up against? Though a shepherd from the tribe of Judah, Amos speaks prophecy against the rest of the tribes of Israel, and Stephen stands up for the cause of Christ in the hall of the Sanhedrin.

What are they pointing out? The sins of God’s people. Not a popular subject for any audience, and I think I’m safe to say it’s been a while since any modern-day churches have hosted such guest preachers. If they did, they might face the same fate as Deacon Stephen.

The complaint from God himself.

Amos was minding his own business, tending sheep in Tekoa, when the Lord gave him a message about Israel. This is in the time of the divided kingdom, around 760-750 B.C. The message was not a happy one, but one of judgment. In fact, God’s judgment on Israel would be just as bad as that of other nations—not a good sign for those once considered his people.

What was the reason for God’s ire? Israel had forsaken the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and turned to other idols. Here’s our focus passage for today to summarize the situation.

“House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness? But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves. So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name. He has spoken. (Amos 5:25-27 CSB)

This was not good for the people of Israel. They’d messed up. They’d made their own gods to replace The God of the Universe. Sounds really dumb, if you think about it, but that was the reality. Instead of influencing the nations around them and being a blessing, they’d allowed the evil influences of those pagan people into their homes and lives, bringing the curses of Deuteronomy 27 upon themselves.

History repeats itself.

Fast-forward to sometime after 33 A.D. Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, has come, died, and risen from the dead. He has ascended into heaven, back to the Father, and his followers were to share the good news of this great event until he returns. The number of believers was growing after that first Pentecost, and, because the original Twelve were busy preaching and teaching, they had chosen several godly men to help out with acts of service to the Body, specifically to the widows.

This is where Stephen comes in. He’d been one of those godly men, and in fact, Luke described him as “a man full of God’s grace and power.” He’d been so full of the Spirit that he was used to do “great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” I’d like to see some deacons like that!

Anyway, because of God’s work through Stephen, some men began to stand up to him and oppose his words and actions, but they found Stephen a tough opponent due to his wisdom. What does the world do when they don’t like what you’re saying and can’t come back with a good response? They accuse you of blasphemy. So, that’s what happened to Stephen and he was grabbed and taken to stand before the Sanhedrin. Surely, he’d buckle in the face of such a crowd of religious rulers. Well, not Stephen. He may have been just a deacon, but Luke says “all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Luke 6:15). Hard to stand against that.

Yet, in God’s wisdom, the high priest gave an opening for Stephen to answer the charges against him, and because he did, we have the longest and most amazing sermon in the Bible. It’s not just a sermon but a true proclamation of the gospel. It’s also a history lesson from one insignificant Jew to a group of very significant Jews. A bold step, indeed, but one God used to his glory. As Stephen shares, he’s basically reminding the Jews that they have not changed their ways. What was true of their ancestors is true of them, and he uses a minor prophet’s words to rebuke them.

He talks about how they had rejected God’s own leader, Moses, and couldn’t wait for him to return from the mountain before they created an idol for themselves.

They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him. They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship. So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon. (Acts 7:40-43)

God’s men for the times in which they lived.

We don’t know what happened to Amos as a result of his harsh words to the house of Israel, but any of us who grew up in Sunday School know the story of Stephen’s fate. That angel-faced man faced the wrath of a furious group of Jews, who while gnashing their teeth in anger, dragged him out of the city and stoned him. And who witnessed this horrific end for the deacon? One Saul, who would become Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles and writer of most of the New Testament.

You may have a big platform and area of influence, or, as I suspect of anyone reading my insignificant blog, you more than likely have a small one. Don’t let that deter you. God chooses the insignificant to pierce the darkness of this world to his glory. Of all the men who would witness Stephen’s speech and murder that day, God had just one in mind. Saul. We know the rest of the story there.

But what about the others? What about those Amos accused? Did any change? Did any good come from their obedience to God’s call on their life? Well, I see several major influences for the work of Amos:

• Israel knew they had no excuse before God. His judgment was just.
• Other nations who would read that prophecy would know that God shows no favoritism. He is a just God.
• He left us a written record to know his words were true and would come to fruition.
• He left a word that would be quoted by another man over seven hundred years later that would influence another man who would influence the world for the cause of Christ.

Lord, find us faithful, no matter the audience, our range of influence, or our abilities. Maybe Paul was thinking about that young deacon Stephen, when he wrote this to believers in Corinth:

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Learning from the Past post, click HERE, or start the series from the BEGINNING.