The Tupelo journal., 1904-09-16
THE SUNDAY BIBLE SCHOOL
Lesson in the International Series
for September IS, 1oO4-"Is-
rael R0)roved."
prepared by the Highway and By
way" Preacner.)

LESSON TEXT.
(Amos 5:4-15: Memory verses, IA, 15.)
4. For thus saith the Lord unto the house
OF Israel: Seek ye Me, and ye shall livei
5. But seek not Bethel. nor enter into Gil
gal, and pass not to Beersheba; for Gilgal
shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel
shall come to taught.
6. Seek the Lord and ye shall live; lest
He break out like fire in the house Of Joseph.
and devour it, and there be none to Que0ch
1t in Bethel.
Z. Ye who urn judgment to wormwood.
n leave off righteousness in the earth,
s. Seek Him hat maketh the seven stars
n Orion, and turneth the shadow of death
into the morning, and maketh the day dark
with night; that calleth for the waters OF
the sea, and poureth them out upon the
face of the earth. The Lord Is His name:
8. Tha strengthened the spoiled against
the strong, so hat the spoiled shall come
against the fortress.
10. They hate him that rebuketh In
the gate, and they abhor him that speak
eth uprightly.
IL. F'orasmuch therefore as your treading
Is upon the poor, and we take from him
burdens of wheat; ye have built houses OF
hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them:
ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye
shall not drink wine of them.
II. For l know your manifold transgres-
sions and your mighty sins; they attiict the
just, they take a bride, and they turn aside
the poor in the gate from their right.
l3. Therefore the prudent shall keep
silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
IA. Seek good and not evil, that ye may
live; and so the Lord, the God of Hosts.
shall be with you. as we have spoken.
10. Hate the evil, and love the good, and
establish judgment in the gate; IL may be
that the Lord God of Hosts will be gracious
unto the remnant of Joseph.
SCRIPTURAL SECTION.-The entire
chapter Should be read, audit would be well
to read the nine short chapters Of the book.
also.
GOLDEN TEXT.-"Seek ye the Lord and
we shall live."-Amos Sc.
TIME.-Amos ~prophesied during the lat
ter part of the reign of Jereboam ii. (see
Amos I'D. Jonah, Hosea and Joel were
contemporaneous with Amos. 1t was a
period considerably later than that of the
lessons which We have been having.
PLACE.-Amos' home was at Tekoa,
q few miles south of Jerusalem, but his
field of labor was in Israel, with Bethel as
probable center.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.-Amos period
was marked by great national prosperity
GI. Kings 14:23-2D, but great moral cor
ruption. The book of Amos is made up OF
a series of d~iscourses, % Concerning the
nations-Chaps. 1-2:3; () Concerning Judah.
2:4-5; go Concerning Israel, 2:6-9:l5. The
lesson is taken from the tourth discourse
against Israel.
God and the Sinner.
In the lesson to-day We have striking
~ emphasized that which has been
brought out in the lessons of the quarter,
namely: % Gods patient, persistent
effort to turn His people from sin. CD
The certain punishment for sin, and 90,
the equally certain reward of right
If individuals are to be lost
and nations destroyed, as the result Of
sin, it must be in spite of Gods reproOf,
and appeal; it must be in the face OF
Gods infinite love and His exceeding
great mercy and saving grace. During
the consummate w~ickedness of Ahab's
reign, God sent His greatest prophet
Elijah, to seek to turn the hearts of the
people back to God. And when the
whole world was lost in the darkness Of
sin then it was that God sent the Light,
His Son, into the world to light every
soul back to Him.
Evidence of God Loye.-The rebukes
and warning which God sent to His peo-
pie through the prophets was one strong
evidence of Gods love and faithfulness.
Rev. 3:19, Heb. 1876. True love does not
condone or overlook sin, but on the con-
trary it reveals and rebukes it, that 1t
may be put away. The proof of Gods
love to man is that He condemned sin
and provided deliyerance in Christ. The
proof of mans love to God is that he re-
ceives Gods rebuke and obeys him.
Gods Reproduced was qualified to
rebuke Israel because % He was the ALL
knowing God. He knew all about the
idolatrous and Ubiquitous practices at
Bethel, and Dan. and Gilgal and Beer
sheba and Samaria ". 81. and the cor
ruption and oppression which prevailed
Tvs. 7, 1919. Man may sin and hide
1t from the eyes and knowledge of men,
but he cannot so do with God. Ps. 9:5;
Jer. 1917; 32:19; Prov. 5:21; Job 34:21.
God saw every wicked act. The hatred
in the heart against any who dared to
denounce evil ". 10); the oppression
of the poor. the extortion, the luxury (v.
ID, the judicial corruption ". 12). (2)
He was the All-Powerful God. (Vs. $50.
He who rebuked Israel was the Creator,
the Ruler of day and night, the Giver of
sunshine and rain. bringing life and sus-
tenance to man, the destroyer of the
wicked and the preserver of the right
eous. What weight has rebuke, if be-
hind it there is not the power to exc
cute judgment. The God who rebukes
is the God who is able to punish. 60
He was the Gracious God. No matterhow
stepped in sin, if Israel would only seek
Him He would be gracious unto them
". 15). Where sin %abounded, grace did
much more abound. $50; Ps.
1918; 111:4. az He was the Appeal
ing God. Four times over in the -
verses of the lesson He pleads with
Israel to seek Him, and promising
abundant blessing if they would. (5)
He was the Warning and Avenging
God. Note VS.. s, 6, II. The punishment
that is to fall is captivity and the con-
Stunning fire of war, pestilence and fam
ine. The only way of escape was to
seek the Lord. Life could be had. in no
other way.
Rams Horn Arrow Points.
Hope is to the heart what the eye is to
the hand.
The tree that will not yield fruit must
be used for fuel.