The people to whom Amos writes have the mistaken assumption that because they have made the covenant with God, they can bask in a kind of divine favoritism.

Amos indicts rampant, dishonest practices, placing gain above honesty, morality, or ethics, and arrogantly and covetously exploiting the needy for profit.

Ancient Israel had at the core of its religion an obsession to please the self at the expense of justice and the best interests of the disadvantaged.

We must not complacently think our days are prolonged, but learn to sigh and cry for the abominations, thoughtfully numbering our days.

God will do what He must to bring Abraham's seed to repentance and salvation, including allowing crisis, hardship, humiliation, and calamity.

Because of the justification that individual sins do not matter much, Israel's collective unity was destroyed. We cannot practice this self-excusing mindset.

God prophesies that Israel will be conquered in the end time. Could anti-American sentiment, especially in Europe, be the beginning of the end?

Israel had every opportunity that the Gentiles did not have. God gave the Israelites gifts to live a better way, but they completely failed to reflect Him.

God uses calamities as part of His creative process. Like Jacob, who initially succumbed to weak faith and fear, we must repent of our loss of devotion to God.

As Lamentations opens, Jerusalem is personified as a widow who has had to endure the destruction of her family as well as the mocking scorn from the captors.

Scripture takes a very stern view of sin because it is failure to live up to God's standard and destroys relationships, especially our relationship with God.

Sin creates estrangement from God, causing us to fail in everything we attempt. Sin always produces separation; it never heals, but causes death.

Like a loving parent, God brings just the right pressures to bear to bring about necessary change in His children. Each trial has a place in His purpose.

After complaining, the Israelites received the death penalty. Is that fair? It seem to be a touch heavy-handed, but there is more more to the story.

What God puts us through is designed to reveal reality to us. Accepting His doctrine without looking for loopholes will keep us true.