CRUELTY (Amos 1:3-5)

In January of 1999 the BBC carried a story about three police officers.

All three of these officers worked with police dogs and they were charged with cruelty.

Two of these men were charged with an unusual type of meanness.

Many of us have swung a rope.

Or, we have seen a calf roper on a horse swing a rope just before he tries to lasso a calf.

Two police officers swung police dogs above their heads as people swing ropes.

The article says the dogs were swung, “helicopter style.”

At other times these officers put choke chains on the dogs.

These choke chains were then attached to fences and posts.

As the dogs were suspended from fences and posts they were beaten.

Because of the abuse one dog that was part of the training program died.

THERE ARE MANY GROUPS THAT SPEAK ABOUT CRUEL AND INHUMANE PUNISHMENT. THERE IS INTEREST IN HUMAN RIGHTS. MANY IN OUR DAY AND TIME ARE OPPOSED TO CRUELTY.

A. In the Bible—the book of Amos—we read about cruelty.

B. This cruelty is almost too savage to imagine, but it did happen.

C. The people who committed this atrocity lived in Damascus (this city was the capital of Syria).

D. Though the people of this city could have lived as God wanted, they took another course.

E. Here is how they lived – verses 3-5.

F. To appreciate what the people of Damascus did we may need to study a little history.

G. Grain was threshed by laying it down a floor.

H. The people then used large pieces of iron machinery to rake the grain.

I. This is demonstrated by Isa. 41:15, a passage that was read earlier.

J. God spoke of “a threshing instrument” that was “sharp” and “had teeth.”

K. Most of us have heard stories about or seen pictures of a bed that has spikes on it.

L. Suppose that some people have been placed on a floor.

M. Perhaps they have been secured to the floor so they cannot move.

N. There is a bed of spikes on a frame with wheels.

O. Rocks and weights are attached to this contraption.

P. The bed is then hooked up to a device so it can be moved.

Q. This bed of spikes is pulled over the people who are secured to the floor.

R. The people on the floor have their flesh ripped apart by the device with spikes.

S. This is not a pretty picture but this is what the people of Damascus did.

T. They ran over people with a threshing machine, and this was not accidental.

U. Swinging dogs above the head is terrible and almost unimaginable.

V. In Amos 1 we have a reference to human life.

W. People treated their fellow man to an unthinkable kind of torture.

X. The sins in Syria are also reflected in other parts of the Bible.

Y. Let’s take a moment to go back to 2 Kgs--2 Kgs. 8:12; 13:3-7.

Z. Another reference, which I will not read, also shows what these people were like.

AA. 2 Kgs. 8:15 says that Hazael came into power by smothering the ruling king.

BB. The king was sick and Hazael took a wet cloth and asphyxiated him.

CC. These people were murderers and cruel. They were skilled in torture.

DD. What is called cruelty today often pales in comparison to what Amos knew about.

EE. In looking at this material there are several points of application we can make.

FF. The rest of this lesson concentrates on these points.

GG. First, war is not an excuse for torture, though some have this view.

HH. Some think that a time of hostility means we can do what we want.

II. Even in a fight between two or more people this attitude is sometimes seen.

i). How many of us have seen a fight between two people.

ii). One of the people in the fight finally became too weak to continue.

iii). He drops to the ground but his opponent continues to kick, hit, and hurt him.

iv). A man who could no longer defend himself was beaten without mercy.

JJ. Amos 1 says God does not approve of torture.

KK. This can be applied to a fight between people, our police force arresting folks, or war.

LL. There is proper force and there is improper (or excessive) force.

MM. Amos 1 teaches that God does not approve of force that is excessive and brutal.

NN. To the people who say the Bible is out of date and too old I submit the 1^st chapter of Amos.

OO. Our society is concerned about excessive force and brutality.

PP. This is in the news.

QQ. There have been court cases about this very subject (one of which was Rodney King).

RR. God’s word weighs in on this subject.

SS. There are some other points of application from Amos 1:3-5.

TT. Amos 1 tells us that God is patient with people.

i). Notice the expression, “For three transgressions, yea for four” (verse 3).

ii). A man who never said anything in a Bible class I once taught raised his hand.

iii). This brother is now in his late 70’s—he has been a Christian a long time.

iv). He said, “What does that mean”?

v). It means that Damascus could have been punished before Amos started to preach.

vi). God would have been just in condemning this nation long before He did.

vii). However, God waited for “four transgressions.” God gave these people a little longer.

viii). God gave them more time so they could repent. These people refused to repent.

ix). If this doesn’t make a lot of sense think of it this way.

x). The Bible uses the number 7 to describe fullness, completion, or perfection.

xi). 3 plus 4 equals 7. These people had sinned so completely they were gone.

xii). The sins had become so bad God had to punish them. He couldn’t wait any longer.

xiii). Sometimes we give people another chance or several chances but they don’t improve.

xiv). This is what the Syrians had did They took God’s additional chances and wasted them.

xv). God said that “three transgressions” (a lot of sin) was enough for punishment.

xvi). Now the nation had committed “four transgressions” (too much sin to wait any longer).

xvii). The nation would be punished.

2. God’s patience and goodness are still in the world.

3. God gives life to some very terrible people so they will repent.

4. Rom. 2:4 says, quote.

5. Some in this room did not become a Christian early in life.

A. If we look back at the years wasted in the world we must say God was good to us.

B. He gave us time to repent.

C. We committed sin, but before we reached the “fourth transgression” we obeyed the gospel.

D. For those who we know who are not Christians we can be thankful God is patient with them.

E. Our prayer should be that they will be turned to the Lord before their opportunities end.

6. Something else can be learned from the opening verses in Amos 1.

A. We have often quoted or made allusions to Mt. 25.

B. Jesus pictures the saved and the lost as having a conversation with Him at the last day.

C. The saved will understand that helping fellow Christians was helping the Lord.

D. The lost will hear that their lack of help was actually a refusal to help the Lord.

E. The unsaved will hear, “I was hungry and ye gave me no food.”

F. “I was without clothing and ye gave me none. I was sick and you didn’t come to visit.”

G. What if we add a thought from Amos 1 to Mt. 25?

H. What if instead of “Ye gave me no food” we say, “Ye took it from me”?

i). On the Day of Judgment some will be condemned for what they did not do.

ii). It is not also true that some will be condemned for their cruelty?

iii). Think about how Mt. 25 will read to those who were cruel.

iv). I was thirsty and you took away my drink.

v). I was a stranger and you took away my place to stay.

vi). I was without proper clothing and you took away the little I had.

vii). I was sick and you took away my medical care.

viii). I was a fellow Christina in prison and you removed every tool to help me.

ix). It’s possible to be cruel.

x). We don’t need to tie a chain around a dog’s neck and swing him to be brutal.

xi). We can be cruel with our words just as easily as we can be with our fists.

xii). This cruelty can even exist in the church.

7. In the first century there was a fellow named Diotrephes.

8. This man “cast people out of the church” (3 Jn. 10).

9. I am not sure how this fellow accomplished that.

10. It seems at least somewhat probable that this man used some form of cruelty.

A. This man and his wickedness hasn’t been forgotten.

B. God remembers those who are cruel.

C. Cruelty can come in many forms.

D. People may not speak to each other, they may use hateful looks, or they may say bad things.

E. Cruelty comes through rumors, innuendo, and gossip.

F. Cruelty comes in physical abuse as well.

G. Remember the “dutch rub” from a few years back?

H. People would be grabbed, a fist would be made, and someone’s head would be hurt.

I. Cruelty comes in many forms.

J. None of us wants to hear on the Day of Judgment, “Ye gave me no food, drink, or clothing.”

K. How could any Christian wish to hear, “Ye were cruel to my brethren and thus me”?

L. Amos 1teaches us to avoid the sin of cruelty.

M. This is true in all circumstances, and it is especially true in the church.

N. The next time we are tempted by this sin re-read the first 5 verses in Amos 1.

11. In looking at this book something else comes to mind.

A. God would not revoke the punishment for Damascus, verse 3.

B. This nation was going to pay and pay dearly.

C. God would devour the palaces that had been built (verse 4).

D. The bar that kept the city gate locked (verse 5) would be broken.

E. There would be no safety. The palaces couldn’t keep out God and His wrath.

F. Locking the city gate would not stop God.

G. God was coming to punish this nation and He would not be stopped.

H. Many of the reasons for punishment have been given and explained.

I. I want to return to one of the sins that was barely mentioned.

J. Do you remember the reference from 2 Kgs. 8:12?

K. The Syrians were guilty of killing young men and destroying unborn children.

L. These people killed babies in the womb.

M. This can be related to our day and time.

N. I know some might be quick to say there is no comparison.

O. Some might argue that in America children in the womb are unwanted and thus disposed of.

P. In 2 Kgs. 8 the fetus was wanted.

Q. Pregnant mothers unwillingly lost their babies because of cruelty.

R. Those mothers did not want their pregnancy to be terminated.

S. Thus, some would tell us these two things cannot be compared.

T. There is a comparison between America and what the Syrians did.

U. Unborn children were killed and God noticed the sin.

i). By itself the deaths of these children may not have signed the death warrant for Damascus.

ii). Combined with everything else, the killing of unborn children caused God to say,

iii). “For three transgressions, yea for four.”

iv). There comes a time when nations become so engaged in sin they cross the line.

v). There is also a line for America.

vi). Consider the following and ask yourself if our country might be near the line.

vii). A Chicago firm has sold plastic paperweights which encased the bodies of aborted babies.

viii). In Milwaukee, WI police found children playing behind a medical building.

ix). The kids were playing with plastic jars that contained aborted babies.

x). They said to the officers, “We are throwing little people.”

xi). Aborted babies have been sold by the bag.

xii). In Cincinnati, OH an abortuary had dense smoke coming from its chimney.

xiii). Firemen arrived and they were told, “we are burning babies.”

xiv). The Massachusetts Supreme Court once ruled that goldfish could not be given away as prizes.

xv). They said this would violate the anti-cruelty laws in the state.

xvi). The same court said the state was obligated to fund abortions.

xvii). In California aborted babies that we at least six months old were submerged in jars of liquid.

xviii). People wanted to see if they could breathe through their skin (Walton, pp. 15-16).

xix). Some who are opposed to abortion have commented on lobsters.

xx). At least on the East Coast it is illegal to ship a pregnant lobster.

xxi). It doesn’t matter which trimester the lobster is in.

xxii). The Federal Government recognizes lobsters from conception.

xxiii). If they are shipped those responsible can spend a year in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

xxiv). I called Kroger’s Seafood Department to be sure this was still accurate.

xxv). The lady researched it for me and when she called back she said, “It is HIGHLY illegal.”

V. When a nation destroys the unborn the sin God’s patience wears thin.

W. We live in a time when it’s cruel and illegal to transport a pregnant lobster.

X. Men are imprisoned for swinging a dog above their heads.

Y. In America it’s okay to slaughter the unborn.

Z. Amos 1:3-5 reminds that another judgment day is coming.

AA. It may be sooner than we think. Are we ready?