Christ Church Washington D.C.

One of our most cherished and protected American rights is the right to an undisciplined and unfruitful mind. The right to vague understanding. The right to fudgy fact-finding. The right to swipe and scroll ourselves into total decay. The scriptures tell us that a mind like that is fertile soil for snares, tears, and thorns.
You can’t just have a tidy pile of dirt and say, I’ll get around to tending it one day because the seeds of error are falling out of the sky all around you, wherever you go, ready to grow into climbing weeds that choke everything that should grow strong. In the undisciplined mind, even the word of God can be twisted. Peter tells us that Paul’s words can be distorted by the unlearned and unstable.
Sinners can find teachers to tell them pretty much everything. Something we find definitely true today. The word of God is perfectly precise in its use of metaphor, story, and poetry. But the wicked have used every opportunity to twist the word. So, the great theologians who have gone before us have helped to set boundary lines for the mind in terms of creeds and doctrine.
And in our homes and in our vocations have a wealth of doctrinal tools at our disposal. Tools often fashioned at the expense of blood. We must cultivate our minds with the word of God. We must be diligent about our doctrine. We must prune, tend, and weed. We should keep a ready burn pile.
To hot and glorious sunlight. And if we wake up some sad morning smelling like last night’s Twitter bender. Or a back alley of some TikTok conspiracy drug den. We should turn and repent and get back to work. Our text today is from the book of Amos. Starting in chapter 1 verse 3.
And the people of Syria shall go into captivity into Kir, saith the Lord.
And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they carried away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. But I will set a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and hold him that holdeth the scepter from Ashkelon. And I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistine shall perish, saith the Lord God.
Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant. But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity,
and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. But I will send a fire upon Taman, which shall devour the palaces of Basra. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for three, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof,
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. And their king shall go into captivity, and his princes together, thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kiriath, and Moab shall die with tumult, and with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Heavenly Father, we come before you now. We ask that you would bless your word. We ask that we would have ears to hear it, that it would be a light in the troubled places of our heart, that we would be encouraged. In Jesus’ name, amen. What does God see?
When he sees us. What does God see when he looks at this city? What does God see when he sees you and your team and your boss and your family here? Does God see individuals only? Or does he also see Americans in something called America?
Put another way, are each of us a single row on a big cosmic spreadsheet? A single data point? Okay, here’s Bob, you know, sins, 8,201, up 27 from last month. Or does he see humanity in a way that’s not at all like a big metaphysical database? Does he see stories and covenants and origins? Does he see nations?
In the time that you and I live in, a time that includes rampant globalism, borderless countries, whatever those are, rising anti-Semitism, and cultural relativism, in this time, the question of whether God sees nations, whether God sees our nation in particular, that question matters a whole lot.
In fact, see nations, and he sees them not from a safe and comfortable distance, but instead from right up close. He sees their covenants, he sees their deeds, he sees their sins, he keeps track of the story, and no one’s getting away with anything. And wonder of wonders, we find that he has a category for bad nations as well as good. And this seems somewhat relevant for our times.
Let’s survey the text, starting in verse 3 of chapter 1. The Lord is bringing judgment without appeal against Syria. Now Damascus is here specifically mentioned because it’s the capital city. So the Lord is bringing judgment because the sins of Syria are many and grievous. This is what the phrase for three transgressions and for four means. Not just one sin, just two grievous sins.
And they’re really bad. One of the egregious sins they’ve committed is their violent conquest of Gilead, the land east of the Jordan, which was the Lord, if you recall, the Lord himself gave to Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. So they went on a conquest for that land. And in their conquest, the Syrians treated God’s people like chaff on the threshing floor. That’s verse three.
That’s verse five. And here again, Gaza is called by name because it’s the capital region, southernmost capital. This judgment is coming because the Philistines had taken the people of God captive and sold them as slaves. That’s verse six.
We talked about this incidentally in 2 Chronicles 21 during the reign of Jehoram. So the Philistines totally looted Jehoram’s palace, took away all of his sons except for Jehoahaz, his youngest. And here again, because of their great sins, the Lord will destroy their capital buildings, verse seven, their capital cities, and indeed the entire Philistine nation will be totally wiped out. That’s in verse eight. The same indictments brought against Tyre.
With the added note that Tyre was a covenant ally of the people of God, that’s verse nine. You’ll recall in the reign of Solomon, Tyre prospered greatly in trade with Solomon during Solomon’s reign. Tyre prospered greatly in the trade with Israel, so much so that they made a covenant together, Solomon and the king of Tyre. That’s in first Kings five. While Tyre broke that covenant unjustly. So the judgment for Tyre is destruction, verse 10.
The crime of Edom is special because Edom is family. Israel and Edom are family. And Edom let a murderous brother hatred fester against Israel, going all the way back to Esau. That’s verse 11. Because of this, the Lord will destroy Edom, verse 12. The Lord is going to punish Ammon. Ammon’s chief crime is horribly severe and ought to sound familiar to us.
They butchered the pregnant women and their children in the womb in Gilead for nothing more than their own desire for wealth and prosperity. That’s verse 13. Because of this, their nation will be destroyed with equal terror. Equal terror that they inflicted, verse 14. And the king and his sons will be taken away as slaves, verse 15. The Lord will punish Moab for her many sins, and among them is burning to lime. You see that phrase right there. Burning to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
In chapter 2, verse 1. That probably means that they burned the king alive. Jehoram and Jehoshaphat had allied with the king of Edom, and we read about that in 2 Kings 3. And this likely happened after that incident. Burned the king of Edom alive. As a result, the capital city of Moab will be destroyed, and Moab itself will meet a violent end. That’s in verse 2. Its princes will be killed,
and there will be no successor. That’s verse 3. Okay, so let’s start by observing a simple fact that is very relevant for us. Okay, simple fact. The fact is this. God sees nations, and God sees what nations do. God sees nations, and God sees what nations do. Did you notice, did you notice as we read what was missing in this text?
It’s an indictment, but where are the names of the accused? Where are the individuals? No individual person is indicted in any of these passages. So in other places, Scripture calls individuals out by name. Amos, the book, opens by mentioning the kings of Judah and Israel by name. And as we saw, some of the incidents that are mentioned here in these prophecies
about and those histories mention individuals by name. So why not name individuals here? The answer is that God sees nations. God sees peoples. God sees tribes as well as individuals. And God has a category for sins that entire nations commit. And God holds those nations accountable
for their sins, for those national level crimes. So we might want to look at the world and see nothing but individuals. We might want to say that it’s not fair that an individual within a nation suffer consequences for the sins of that nation. And by the way, our media is pretty famous for this. So there’s some horrifically evil nation that has a military action taken against it. And captives are freed. And everybody’s rejoicing. Base is destroyed.
And the news story that breaks, of course, is about the plight of poor Bob, the helpless janitor who’s out of work because there are no more torture chambers to clean. So only focus on individual. But the point is, anyone who thinks that way is just not living in reality. Anyone who thinks that way, that there cannot be such a thing as an individual who suffers consequences for a nation within a nation, is not living in reality.
In the real world, nations exist, and nations matter. So in our text, the Lord is naming the nations surrounding Israel one by one. He’s going around naming the nations that surround Israel one by one. Those nations have done terrible things to God’s people, and many times it just seemed like they were just going to get away with it. They were just going to go away scot-free.
People of God-like chaff, and they just seemed to get away with it. They rip open the pregnant women, and they just seemed to get away with it. And so to God’s people, it might seem at times like the Lord doesn’t care or see those nations. In Psalm 73 we read, And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. But here the Lord tells us,
He sees. He sees. He does see. He sees what’s done in the dark. He sees what is done in the light. And His knowledge is very, very specific. Not vague at all, actually. And He’s not just calling out a big mushy mob of sinners. He’s naming specific nations, specific cities, specific sins. So God sees covenants and allies and enslavements
and oppressions and wars. And unlike us, He isn’t limited to suspect intel or timely tweets to figure out what’s going on. He sees everything in a way that only He, omniscient Lord of the universe, can. It’s very easy for us to read passages like this and just let the names of the nations whiz by like mile markers on a highway. But to Israel, these are not generic Middle Eastern companies.
Not generic Middle Eastern countries. These are Israel’s neighbors. These nations present very real and ever-present threats to the people of God. To Israel, when the Lord says Damascus, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, he’s saying Caracas, Beijing, Ottawa, Moscow. Moscow. I’m from Moscow. I say it wrong sometimes.
God sees nations and God sees what nations do. The second thing we see is that we want to notice in this text is that leaders and rulers are first in line for judgment. So try to get your head around this. God sees nations. God sees national sins. And then when it comes time for judgment, leaders and rulers are first in line for judgment.
And this is a principle all throughout the scriptures. When the time for judgment comes, the rulers are held to account first. So when wicked people see positions of real leadership and power, many times all they can see is the bright lights and the interviews and the reception dinners and what looks like a lot of attractive opportunities to be the bossy pants they always dreamed of being.
You think, wow, that’s just a fantastic gift. What a fantastic and lucrative gift that would be, gig that would be. But of course, that’s not how power works in God’s world at all. In God’s world, power comes with sacrifice, responsibility, and weight. And when judgment falls, it falls on the leaders first. So we read in Matthew 20,
So this principle of the leaders,
being judged first is really evident in our text. So the leaders are held responsible. Judgment falls on them first. Notice that when the Lord indicts the nations, our passage started with this, he often indicts the capital first. So not Syria, but Damascus in verse 3. Not Philistia, but Gaza in verse 6. And this would be like saying, for three transgressions of Washington, D.C., just to put it in context. For three transgressions of Washington, D.C., and for four.
Transgressions of London, and for four. Many cases, the judgment actually falls on the leader first. So note, on the palaces of Ben-Hadad, the palaces of Gaza, Tyre, Basra, Rabba, Kiriath, so all the capital cities, the palaces of the cities. And then, as the chapter progresses, the wrath falls on individual leaders, on him that holdeth the scepter, in verses 5 and 8, on the princes of Ammon, taken into captivity, in verse 15.
And on the princes of Moab, slain, in chapter 2, verse 3. The judgment falls on the leaders first. And so, to the many of you who work to lead our country here in the nation’s capital, no pressure, right? The good news is the work you do here is important. The bad news is the work you do here is important. When, not if, but when, judgment comes for our country.
The Lord is coming to you first. The Lord is going to demand an account from you first. And judgment for all nations is coming. And that’s the third thing we see here in this passage. Judgment is coming and it is a judgment both in eternity and in this life. Judgment is coming and it is both in eternity and often in this life. The nations that do evil in our passage,
oppress the people of God, will face judgment. And this is a judgment coming in real time. So a lot of people in our world do not believe that there’s any such thing as judgment. They don’t live as though there’s judgment. They compound this error by believing that if any judgment does come, it’s going to be kind of a soft, mushy, self-help, Hallmark movie kind of judgment.
They’ll perform, say, one less heavenly golf cart at the end of their life. St. Peter will meet them at the gate saying, well, you know, as everyone does, you made some regrettable life choices. I think you know that. So we’re going to put you on cloud seven instead of eight, and you’re going to get four swimming pools instead of five. And if that’s what you think, if you really don’t take any kind of judgment seriously, if you have this vague, karmic understanding of judgment,
like, yeah, I’m a really bad person, but I’m good inside, and what I do doesn’t really matter, it’s going to come as quite a shock to you when justice comes for you, when judgment actually comes for you in this life, when appropriate justice arrives in force, in real time, in this life, whether in the form of a Coldplay kiss cam or a strike on the bunker.
We also miss this very serious thing that the scriptures are telling us all the time, that there is also such a thing as judgment for nations. So we don’t think of judgment very much, we don’t think of nations very much, but it’s very important for us to understand that actually judgment comes to nations. Two nations.
What we don’t see in all these things is the wrath of God. The wrath of God on nations. But we should. We should. The Lord sees nations, the Lord judges nations, the Lord brings utter calamity on nations.
The Lord, the scriptures say, wipes nations from the face of the earth like the last few green peas on a dirty dish. In verse 8, we read this little line, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God. And that is a thing that actually happened. That whole nation, gone. Wiped out.
This is something that we ought to praise the Lord for and thank him for. If there is no, if there’s nothing called the wrath of God for nations, what hope do the oppressed on the earth have?
If not for the strong arm of the Lord, who else is going to save them from oppression? What comfort is there for the mothers of Gilead? What hope is there for the people of God all over the face of the earth today, this morning, who watch their wives get taken captive, who watch their children get cut down in the streets? Their comfort and hope is the great and awful day of the Lord,
coming in wrath with vengeance on the nations that oppress them. That’s their hope. So, what does all this mean for us in the here and now? I want to give you four quick practical applications. Here they are. Fear, pray, work, and surrender yourself to the Lord’s grace. Fear, pray, work, surrender yourself to the Lord’s grace. First, fear. One of the things that we notice throughout the scriptures
often arrives in the form of other nations, right? God’s wrath arrives in the form of other nations. So, for instance, Babylonia is the instrument of God’s wrath on Judah when Babylonia takes the Judeans captive. And then Persia is the instrument of God’s wrath on Babylonia. And in our text, as we saw earlier, you remember, Philistia receives wrath.
Philistia, in this instance, was sent by the Lord as judgment. So we’ll read just from 2 Chronicles 21. I’ll read this passage for you here.
So here, the Philistines are being brought into Judah as judgment. So God’s wrath, God’s judgment comes in the form of the Philistines. But then in Amos, God’s wrath is on the Philistines. So now what would you say to a Philistine returning from battle if he said, well, it’s obvious now that God’s on our side now. We’re the good guys now. Nothing can touch us. We can do no wrong. What would you say to that Philistine?
Buddy, you’re about to be napalmed off the face of the earth, actually. You’re about to be a darkish smudge under 100 feet of sand. Your nation is gone. The lesson that we should learn is that even when God uses our nation as an instrument of wrath, we should fear. We should fear and tremble.
Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings, we read in Psalm 2. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish from the way. When his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. So, number one, fear. The second thing we should do is pray.
Pray as we are instructed for our leaders and those in authority because God wants all kinds of people to be saved. We read that in 2 Timothy 2. And if a nation wants to avoid being wiped from the face of the earth, I would like that. I would like to avoid that. It must have leaders who are saved. It must have leaders who bow to and kiss the sun. It must have kings that acknowledge the king of kings. So we should pray earnestly.
For God’s justice and wrath to come into the world. For the wicked to fall into their own nets. And the oppressed to be delivered. And we should rejoice when that happens. And we should pray for our own leaders when we are instruments of that wrath. So fear and pray. And then once we have feared and prayed. Once we have acknowledged that all power and all authority belongs to the Lord. We have acknowledged our place before Almighty God. That all of the authority belongs to God alone.
Because of His will and not our will or our superiority. Then we should get to work. Then we should get to work. We should see to it every single one of us that in our own spheres. We are doing the kind of work that would make the Lord look down on our nation with joy and not wrath. Look down on us with joy and not wrath. And what this means for us here now today in this time. Is training our children to be twice three times.
Four times the leaders that we are. More godly, more wise, more courageous than we were. This means establishing our homes in warmth and joy and hospitality. So you and I are, and you especially, are holding a position right in the middle of a lost and corrupt world.
We want homes that feel like stepping into another planet. That makes the Lord smile. A good planet. Getting to work also means that those of you who lead our country, in case you did not pick this up from the text, those of you who work to lead our country making a total commitment to integrity, a total commitment to being ready at all times to suffer loss of reputation,
loss of power, loss of your livelihood, loss of your career momentum, loss of face when your integrity is on the line. The Lord smiles on that. The Lord delights in that kind of action, that kind of integrity. The Lord will reward you for that. And the Lord will smile on our nation for that. Most of all, we must trust in the grace of the Lord.
The Lord sees nations, the Lord sees the sins of nations, but the Lord also hears when nations and the people in them repent. 2 Chronicles 7, 14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land. And if we, the people of God, cry out to the Lord, repenting of our own sins,
repenting for the sins of our nation, if we acknowledge, if we ourselves acknowledge the Lordship and kingship of Christ in all that we do, appealing to his cross of mercy, surely the Lord will hear, spare us, strengthen us, and heal our land. Amen? Let’s pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we know that you indeed see the nations of the earth. We ask for your mighty wrath to be poured out on the ungodly nations
so that the oppressed would be freed and your name glorified. And we know also that you see our nation. And so, we repent of our many sins. Grant us wisdom and mercy as we seek to repair the breaches in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our country. We ask these things depending on your grace. We pray in the words that Jesus taught us to pray, singing.
In heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.