I will relent concerning the calamity
Psalm 106:19-23
19
They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image.
20
Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21
They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
22
Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea.
23
Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
Commentary
Moses stood in the breach before God, that His wrath would not destroy Israel.
Amos 7
Warning Through Visions
7 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. 2 And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said,
“Lord God, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?”
3
The Lord changed His mind about this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land. 5 Then I said,
“Lord God, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
6
The Lord changed His mind about this. “This too shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.
9
“The high places of Isaac will be desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Amos Accused, Answers
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. 11 For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’” 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! 13 But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.”
14 Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 Now hear the word of the Lord: you are saying, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’”
Commentary
Amos stood in the gap twice for his people, but God could no longer hold back judgment.
(Amos 8 & 9)
Obadiah 1
Edom Will Be Humbled
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom—
We have heard a report from the Lord, And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, “Arise and let us go against her for battle”—
2
“Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised.
3
“The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’
4
“Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
5
“If thieves came to you, If robbers by night— O how you will be ruined!— Would they not steal only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not leave some gleanings?
6
“O how Esau will be ransacked, And his hidden treasures searched out!
7
“All the men allied with you Will send you forth to the border, And the men at peace with you Will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread Will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.)
8
“Will I not on that day,” declares the Lord, “Destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
9
“Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, So that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
10
“Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever.
11
“On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them.
12
“Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress.
13
“Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster.
14
“Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress.
The Day of the Lord and the Future
15
“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
16
“Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.
17
“But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
18
“Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” For the Lord has spoken.
19
Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain; Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20
And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel, Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Will possess the cities of the Negev.
21
The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
Commentary
10
“Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever.
God declares destruction on Edom, the descendants of Esau, because of their violence to their brother Jacob.
Jeremiah 18:7-10
7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.
Commentary
God desires to relent concerning calamity.
(Ezekiel 18:21-23)
The Lord is our Righteousness 