The Vision of the Prophet

These are the words of Amos,

one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa.

He saw this vision about Israel two years before the earthquake.

Amos 1:1

SITUATION Amos saw God's coming judgments on Israel through two visions. After each vision, he prayed that God would be merciful.

OBSERVATION God sent his prophet Amos to warn the people of Israel to repent of their sins. God gives us these examples to teach us that he hates sin.

INSPIRATION The task of the prophet is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a vision of an alternative to the dominate system. The prophet must generate hope for something that lies beyond the present order. We need a vision of an alternative future that will energize us and motivate us to act, a vision of possibilities that will make our blood run hot and give us the courage to revolt against the way things are.

A prophet's vision can replace people's numbness with energy. The possibility of a glorious "might be" can enable us to live in ways that appear dangerous to the custodians of the status quo. With vision, the dead bones can come alive. The physically dead can be resurrected. The spiritual sleepers can be awakened. Out of sorrow for the death of the old can come to believe in a new heaven and a new earth. The apathy that works in people in dying societies can be dispelled. There can be passion. There can be a "new song" (Isaiah 42:10), and the fatigue that is so evident among those in the present order can be overcome...

All this energy comes from the message of the prophet. The people of the dying society can be "born again." The prophet's hope can generate the dynamism for change. (From Wake Up America by Tony Campolo)

APPLICATION Use Sundays as a chance to get to know God better. Go to church faithfully. Worship and listen attentively. Spend Sunday building relationships with others in your church or spending it with your family.

EXPLORATION Bold Witness--Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 4:21-25; John 3:21; Acts 1:8; Galatians 6:9.

The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus; Max Lucado General Editor, page 1090-1091, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers