Welcome back everybody.

This is week 47 of Creative.

Come Follow me for the Old Testament.

We're still in the minor prophets this week, but we have

two new voices to hear from.

So two prophets.

You're gonna learn from Amos for the most part.

We'll do nine chapters of Amus and then one little chapter of Obadiah.

But they both have great messages to teach us.

In fact, I really think their messages dovetail together in a

beautiful way and uh, I'll try to illustrate that as we go through.

But let me give you a little bit of backstory on both of these prophets.

First, let's talk about Amos, cuz he's kinda my favorite.

Okay, here's what's great about Amos.

He is someone who is called, he lives in the south and he is

called to preach up in the north, and he is called to preach there.

At the same time, Isaiah is preaching in the north and the same time

Isaiah is preaching in the south.

So that, you know, 20, 30 years right before the scattering that happens.

When the Assyrians come in, that's when he's preaching.

What's really cool about Amos is who he is.

So he is called to preach, but he is not a son of prophets.

He didn't grow up in this priestly line.

He was literally called in a field.

He's a shepherd and he'll reference agricultural metaphors and he'll

talk about trees and fruit, and he is someone who understands the people.

The reason I think that's so important is because amos's

predominant message is Israel, you have stopped taking care of the poor.

You've been so distracted with your idle worship and letting go of your connection

with God that you've missed what really being a disciple of Christ is, which

is taking care of those who are weak and vulnerable, and he's a shepherd.

You guys, this is what he does.

We're living, He literally guards the weak and the vulnerable.

But what's particularly cool about his job, Because of his job as a shepherd,

he would also need to go into the city.

He would need to sell his wares.

He would need to sell the wool Later.

He talks about having fruit and orchards.

So he's somebody who would get the difference between what it's

like to live a life that is humble and poor and what it's like to be

among the powerful and the elite.

And he has to walk in both worlds, kind of like the savior did.

And I just, It's so good you guys.

His message is so good because of who he is.

Um, and watch for it.

I'll give you lots of cool analogies to it, but when I picture Amos

don't make fun of me for this.

I picture Maximus from the movie Gladiator.

Now I should say full disclosure, Gladiator has rated our movie,

but we filter everything in our house through Vi Angel.

So it takes out all the terrible

So don't go watch that as a family.

But if you've seen it on Vi Angel, you know what I'm talking about.

He is someone who didn't seek out this job.

He didn't want glory.

He simply responds to the call and he's been prepared in this

humble circumstance to do it.

But I think he's someone who always hopes to go home.

I think you'll hear it.

He is someone who is always aching to get back to his fields and back to

his sheep, but he, the Lord has called him so he will teach and it's so good.

Oh, you're loving.

ODI is much shorter.

We don't know a lot backstory about Obadiah.

We don't even know exactly the timeframe.

But because of the way he writes his one chapter, it sure seems

like he's preaching after.

Israel has been scattered.

So after things have been destroyed, after Jerusalems even been

destroyed, he is talking about his, his message is to the Edomites.

So we'll learn all about that when we get to Obadiah, but his message is about

you watched this destruction happen to your brothers and you didn't stop them.

And then there's some consequences to the Edomites.

If you don't remember.

Edomites are when Jacob and Issa, remember the two twin brothers.

Jacob has the 12 sons and he creates the children of Israel.

You know, he and his wife create the children of Israel, Issa,

his children become the Edomites.

So these are basically, you know, kind of cousin tribes who often

are fighting kinda like siblings.

You know, they are family, but they often fight.

In fact, they're often enemies.

And in this situation, the Edomites could have helped the Israelites and those in

Jerusalem, and they stood by and said no.

And so Obadiah has some words for them.

Well, the Lord has some words for them and he funnels them through obadiah.

And I promise you're gonna love it.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

Let's get started.

You guys.

The shepherding background of Amos comes to the surface right outta the gate.

In chapter one, this is when he compares the word of the Lord to a lion

roaring, and I just love the visual.

So if you look into it, says, The Lord will roar from Zion and

utter his voice from Jerusalem.

The reason I love this metaphor choice for Amos is he is someone

who would've encountered lions.

Remember, it's the same way we saw with David where he

had to kill a bear and a lion.

He was a shepherd too.

He is someone who knows that sound and he knows.

He knows what that sound means for his flock.

And that's I think exactly what a prophet is, right?

They are someone who knows the sound of the Lord.

They can hear the still small, quiet voice of the Lord and they

can hear when the Lord is roaring.

What's interesting is no one else can hear it in Amos's day, He's,

he is called because the Lord has been roaring and no one hears it.

So the Lord calls a prophet to say, Amplify what I am doing.

They're not catching it, and I just love that understanding

cuz it's gonna flow through all of Amos's chapters he can hear.

It reminds me of, remember when we read Jeremiah, when he talked

about how he almost wanted to stop being a prophet for a season, but

there was fire in his bones and he.

Stop it.

That's basically I think, what's happening with Amos.

But his way of learning this message is to hear a lion roar, cuz you know,

God speaks to us in our own language.

So he teaches Amos in a way that he would immediately understand and

he compares it to a lion roaring.

And then he warns what's happening.

And like I mentioned before, The biggest sin here is not idolatry.

That's what we've learned from a lot of other prophets.

I really think one of the biggest risks of idolatry is it takes your focus off where

you can come closer to God and where you can come closer to God is in caring for

the poor and the needy and the vulnerable.

And when they forsake that role, they miss their chance to connect.

So it's not so much about idolatry as it is a lack of charity, and he,

there's a beautiful, It's expressed in a whole bunch of different ways, but I

really love the way it's said in three.

So it says, let's say at the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus,

he's gonna use that phrase like you've done, you've done a number

of offenses, but you actually deserve more punishment than that.

I'm gonna even give you, that's kinda what you'll see that

phrase over and over again.

But he says they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.

Some key things.

I would tell you as you study this chapter, watch for the

word because, and circle it.

That's what I did in mind, because he's actually teaching you.

What they did wrong, and I really feel like the be attitudes of the savior

are, are given to us so that we don't fall into these traps so that we

don't have these same consequences.

You know, when he says, turn the other cheek and you know, the me

will inherit the earth and all those kinds kind commandments to soften us.

It's so that we don't end up where the Israelites are.

But that first example kind of typifies all of them because a threshing instrument

is like this big heavy sled that they would, once they've gathered up the

wheat, you know, we've talked about the threshing floor a few times where

they'd gather the wheat from the fields.

They take it to this big flat stone, and then they would grind it with a big sled.

What was interesting is, as I studied this a little deeper, I think I was on

Wikipedia, I put it in the notes, a lot of them would actually insert stones,

little sharp stones onto the bottom of the sled so that it would cut at the

wheat and it would break all those, you know, wheat berries out and it's this.

Incredibly aggressive, violent way to extract something.

And I think there are so many incredible parallels when you

think about the savior and what he experienced when you read this chapter.

Watch for those parallels cuz I don't think Amos is just

teaching us about this situation.

I think he's also trying to witness about Jesus Christ.

And that picture is poignant because remember Gilead is where

the B of Gilead comes from.

Oftentimes in the scriptures, the Savior is compared to the bal of

Gilead, meaning something that can heal an ointment, that can heal wounds.

That's why it's often compared to the savior himself.

So if they're taking this violent threshing instrument and they are

destroying the thing that can heal the thing that can save, uh, that's a

metaphor for why they're missing the point, why they need to have charity.

And that's a message you're gonna see resounding throughout the chapter.

You'll see it in a few places.

But interestingly, what he's doing here, Amos is gonna teach all

the peripheral, peripheral parts of the children of Israel first.

So it kind of reminds me of if you've ever come into your kids fighting, right?

And when you're gonna talk to one of the kids first and you're gonna reprimand them

and you're gonna talk about what they did wrong, how they could have done it better,

and the other kid is kind of sitting sort of smugly on the stairs, like, Ha, you

know, , maybe you guys don't have the same, This happens to me all the time.

And they're kind of like, Yeah, mom, get 'em.

You know?

And then you get to the end of talking to that kid and you're like, And

Sam, I'd like to talk to you next.

And then Sam's face falls and he is like, Dang it.

So that's kinda what's happening here.

He's gonna talk to all the surrounding areas of Israel first, all these

different groups that live near Israel, and then he's gonna turn his

attention on Israel itself and say, And you should have known better.

All these other guys didn't have the covenants you had,

you should have known better.

So that's what you're gonna see throughout the chapter.

I can't go through it all, but you'll watch some of the things they did wrong.

They, they, they let people get carried off in captivity.

They.

They not just like if you look in six, it says, because they carried

away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up talking about the

enemies of Israel that they came.

They didn't just take the strong men.

They didn't just take a few, they took everybody.

That means they took the elderly, they took the children, they took

women, they, they took everyone.

And that greed and lack of care for the port is going to hurt them.

So the warrant is, the warning is strong in nine.

You see that they rejected their brotherly covenants and they remembered them not.

So this is another thing where they should have cared for.

People who were nearby and they didn't, uh, in 11 it gets even stronger.

In fact, this one I thought was pretty powerful.

He says, because he did pursue his brother.

So another, because we got a bunch of these in this chapter because

he did pursue his brother with the sword and to cast off all pity.

I mean, like they're, they're in fighting among the tribes that should

be close to each other and they don't have any pity for each other.

And then there's this one that just really poignant.

It says, And his anger did tear perpetually and he kept his wrath forever.

This is, um, I think our prophets have warned a lot about this lately, about

holding onto grudges and choosing not to forgive and taking some

delight when people who we perceive as our enemies get into struggle.

Um, that's a, a strong warning.

Go in the notes.

There's incredible quotes from the prophets and apostles about,

Why remember, be attitudes.

Why do we need to forgive all men?

Why do we need to show kindness?

Why do we need to turn the other cheek and give our cloak?

Why do we do that?

Because we don't wanna be where they are.

Um, in 13 it gets a little more selfish in nature cuz it talks about

how they killed the women who were pregnant and the reason they killed

them was so they could have more land.

So one that's an atrocious crime just to begin with, but their motive for it

was to kill off the next generation.

So there's no one to inherit, no one to battle them or claim rights.

It is agreed that is sinking into their hearts and that's gonna cost them.

You can tell from the chapter heading of two that this is where

he shifts and start talk starts talking to the kid on the stairs.

The other one in the problem, he has a couple more verses for Moab at the

very beginning where he talks about their big crime was they went in and

desecrated the graves of their neighbors.

So, I just think it's an interesting perspective that even though these

are enemies of Israel and oftentimes they're in battle with each other, he

expects them to show kindness in war.

Kindness isn't the right word, but you know what I mean?

How there's like a code of honor among soldiers, or there should be, that's

where they've broken down, They're to the point of social chaos that they don't even

follow like the conduct of war anymore.

So they've desecrated graves, they're being deliberately unkind, and it just

sort of reminded me of the Book of Mormon, how when you see moron's battles

and all those battles in the Book of Alma, you see all those battles and

there is bloodshed and there is probably horrific things that happen, but he does.

Get blood thirsty.

He does not take advantage of the poor.

He does not take, they don't take the spoils.

You know, there is, there is an honor in his soldiering that the people in

Mohab and all these other neighboring cities simply didn't choose to have.

And the Lord is calling them out on it.

They're not children of the covenant per se.

They don't have the same understanding.

So he's not gonna call them out on breaking the covenant.

What he's gonna say is, I think it's related to their light of Christ.

Like, you know, even if you don't have a covenant and you don't understand

my gospel, every one of you has the light of Christ and a conscience to

know when you've crossed the line, and you're clearly becoming numb to

that influence and he calls 'em on it.

So they're accountable to that level of understanding.

And then the rest of the chapter, When he talks to Israel, not just Israel, Judah

too, so north and the South predominantly.

He'll talk about Israel cuz that's who you know, Amos is called to preach to.

But he has messages for both.

So he talks about those in Judah.

So this is down in Jerusalem where the temple is.

They have started to despise the law of the Lord and not keep the commandments.

So they're, because why they're going to be in trouble is

because they're accountable.

They knew the covenant, they knew God's law and they're breaking

it so they're accountable.

You go a little bit further and you see in six, because they sold the righteous for

silver and the poor for a pair of shoes.

This is traditionally seen as a reference to us.

So remember when we talked about the law of Moses and there were

people who were charging exorbitant interest rates for debts.

So the poor would.

They would give them a small loan and then charge huge interest to the

point where they couldn't pay it off.

So then they would enslave their children or their wives, or that's what he means.

Buy a pair of shoes.

Like it's this, you're taking, you're treating these people

like possessions and you are.

Hurting them on purpose.

You're taking advantage of their poor state, and that's a

wickedness he won't tolerate.

So he has big warnings for them.

As you go a little bit further, you find out why it's so offensive to God.

So if you look in 10, I love the way he teaches.

Ah, he's just such a good teacher.

He says, Also, I brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Egypt.

I led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the MRIs.

I raised up your sons for profits.

He is reminding them that every one of them has been enslave,

that they have all been poor.

They have all been cast down and pushed down, and he pulled them out.

He redeemed them from that position.

He saved them from Egypt.

So what that should do is soften them.

You know, I know like when you've been saved from any situation

by the Lord, you become so.

Soft to people in that same circumstance.

It's one of the things I love about bishops, they are so good at, at

echoing the Lord's forgiveness and mercy because they themselves have

experienced it just like you and I have.

All of us have experienced the mercy that comes when you truly repent

and they can't wait to give it out, um, to tell others about it.

And that's what should have happened with the children of Israel.

Their experience being beggars should have helped them be kind.

It should help us to, I love that talk from Elder Holland.

Are we not all beggars?

You know, he echoes King Benjamin's words and says, we're all in a position of want.

We've all been saved and helped and redeemed, so we should push

that forward to everybody else.

That's why the Lord is casting out and being so.

He's being so clear about his punishments that will come because they should know

better and they're choosing not to.

And don't you feel like that when your kids are fighting and

you're like, You knew better.

I just talked to you about this, and so your consequences are harsher.

That's what's happening here as well.

So he talks about the result.

I love how it's phrased in through 13, Behold I am press

Under you as a cart is pressed.

That is full of shes, I love this also because of what King Benjamin teaches.

He's the one that taught us that if we're in the service of our fellow

beings, we're only in the service of God.

So that means if we're grinding the faces of the poor, What we're really

doing is grinding the face of God.

It, it means we are turning our back on one of the most profound

ways to come to know God.

It's through charity and through taking care of others that you come to know God.

I think it's why we're asked to be parents, because that is a position where

you have to show charity and forgiveness and compassion forever, and it is

somewhere where you come to know God and they're turning their back on it, and

so the result is he can't deliver them.

They will end up in struggle because they choose to abandon this part of

their history and they forget God.

Chapter threes makes it clear that his message is not just

for Israel, but for the whole.

All the children of Jacob that they all need to know this message

that you only have I known.

This is in verse two.

You only have I known of all the families of the earth.

Therefore I will punish you for all your inequities.

Remember, we've been talking about how covenants create a relationship with God.

So when we're in a relationship with God and we turn away from it,

there is a more severe consequence.

That's how it is with our kids too, right?

I love, Jack was in Ysa last night and he gave this great example.

We were talking about how the Lord is so merciful with weakness,

but rebellion is different.

Rebellion has consequences.

And we were talking about the difference and Jack, who normally doesn't really

look up much in class and doesn't participate a lot, he's like, Oh,

I know it's kind of like a game.

And I'm like, Okay, tell me Jack.

And he said, You know, basically, There's somebody who's new to the game and they

don't know the house rules or whatever.

You're pretty forgiving if they make a mistake.

But if somebody who knows how to play the game does that

same thing, it's not a mistake.

It's called cheating.

And I'm like, Yeah, that's, that's what it is.

It's a deliberate.

They're cheating.

They're cheating on a very clear rules and a game that they've

already received abundant blessings from, and they're cheating.

And so he's angry because the consequences for somebody who cheats

in a game are much more severe than someone who makes a mistake.

And so I love that visual jack.

Love it.

And you go a little bit further, you'll see in seven, surely the Lord God

will do nothing, but he reveals his secret under his servants of prophets.

You should, you'll probably be really familiar with that verse, but I want

you to read it in conjunction with the couple verses that come before,

because this is where Amos's, you know, background of being out in the wilderness

all the time really comes, shines.

He reminds me a little bit of Eldor who always, you know, uses airplane analogies

cuz that's the language he speaks.

Aus speaks the language of nature.

And so he talks about nature and he says like, there's these

animals, they make sounds, there's always a purpose to the sound.

They, they don't do anything for no reason and so there's purpose to it.

And so then he says, God is basically making a sound and he will never

allow this big consequence to happen without making a sound.

And just cuz you guys can't hear that lion roaring, know that I can.

And I feel like that's what conference was, right?

That's when the prophets stand and.

Let me tell you the roaring that I have heard.

As I've been praying and fasting and worrying about what words to choose

to say today, let me tell you what I heard that you might not hear.

And what I love is the promise of a prophet is if you listen to their

witness that this is something the Lord is concerned about, and then you act

on it or even just pray about it, your ability to hear the roar increases.

That's why the prophets are teaching us so much about how to hear him, cuz their goal

is not to just be our only gateway, right?

We know the three gateways to hear the word of the Lord.

One is modern prophets and understanding modern revelation.

The second is our own revelation, and the third is the words of

the scriptures of their prophets.

So when those three work together, we we get added light.

So that's what you're gonna see in these verses.

Amos is trying to help them understand how to hear it for themselves.

So he talks in eight, The lion, half Thero, who will not fear the Lord.

God has spoken, but who can prophesy?

He's like, You guys, I can hear it so clearly, listen to me and come.

I also love the JST translation that happens in verse seven because this is

where you learn that it's not that he will always, what he's saying is it's

until the Lord will not do anything, until he reveals it to his prophets.

So there's no, like, you'll know if you are listening to the prophet and

you're, you're coming to conference and you're studying his words, there

will be no surprise prophecies, especially in these latter days.

You will know it will be a resounding roar because you've come

to know and come to hear him, and I love that he gets that as well.

When you flip the page, you see what profits do.

10 profits help us gather when you go into, or maybe that's nine in 10,

It talks about how they know what is.

I kind of loved this little concession in here.

So he's basically saying there are some people who don't know what's

right and that's a prophets job.

It's the same thing we see in the doctrine in covenants that says, you

know, people can't find the church.

They don't know where to find it, so we have to help direct them.

That's one of the roles above Prophet.

When you go into an 11, he talks even more.

He talks about how they will warn you of dangers that are coming

because you might not be familiar with the sound of a lion if you don't

come from that neck of the woods.

You might not know what that sound is The same way, if you've ever been, you know,

out and about in your neighborhood and you hear a weird super loud like construction

sound, sometimes you think there's some natural disaster happening cuz you're not

familiar with the construction sounds and it takes you second to orient yourself.

So a prophet is someone who can hear that and know what it is and teach it to you.

And then he talks about how their job is to protect.

And I even think a little bit too mourn when people don't hear, and

he uses this really vivid image.

He talks about how.

The children of Israel are basically like a lamb that is caught in the mouth of a

lion and the shepherd is trying to rescue them, and all he can get out is an ear or

a leg, or like, you can just almost hear that this must be a vivid memory for Avis.

At least that's how I read it, that he's probably experienced this exact thing

or he has a lamb that he loves and his whole job was to take care of that lamb.

And when it strays and gets into the mouth of a lion, he tries to rescue and can't.

That's what's happening to the children of Israel.

They're gonna be scattered, lost.

He the savior, can't pull them back in.

They've gone too far.

And Amos's job is to warn them about that, and he uses a powerful personal

image to get that message across.

I just think it teaches me how to be a better teacher, that I'm supposed

to use my life experiences and my understandings to teach, and that

the Lord, that the spirit will work through that channel in powerful ways.

In chapter four, image shines a big spotlight on that same issue

that they are oppressing the poor.

So if you look in verse one, hear this word Y kind, so it's calling them

cows like these are people who just mill about and feed themselves and

don't care about anything around them.

He says, which oppressed the poor, which crush the needy, which say to

their masters, Bring and let us drink.

They're not even aware, you know, that kind of Maria Antoinette

situation, like let them eat cake.

It's this like complete unaware of the troubles in their land.

And it kind of reminds me of the mites, you know, in the Book

of Mormon, how they get really.

They think they're being righteous.

They think they are living higher, but they're missing the point that to

live higher means to live like God.

And God never leaves the poor behind.

He never leaves the needy behind.

They're supposed to bring people up with them.

That's what it means to be a child of the covenant.

The job of the covenant is to be a light to others so that they all can gather in.

And the children of Israel have lost that.

They've missed that point.

And so he has some consequences for them.

Now you can read the rest of this chapter.

This talks about all the different like series of unfortunate that happens and

it gets, starts a little bit smaller, and then it gets progressively worse

as they don't hear the phrase you're gonna see over and over again is that

yet you have not returned on to me.

So he gives them one consequence and they don't come back to him.

And then he gives them a slightly harsher consequences and they don't come back.

Like there's a famine and then there's a drought, and then there's sickness,

and then there's war and people die.

And it's just this.

Domino effect.

I think what was most powerful to me, I think because I had just read, um,

Bishop CA's, uh, conference doc from this last October where he talked

about stewardship versus ownership.

My friend Len has a book about this, but it's this idea of you

are a steward of these things.

You don't own these things, and when you choose not to care for your

stewardship, the Lord removes it.

So it's not that the Lord is giving them bigger and bigger punishments.

It's not like he's making the whip harder and harder.

What he's doing is he's pulling the stewardship.

He's saying, You didn't care for this.

I have to remove it now.

So it feels like a punishment to the children of Israel, but really what it

is, is it's a removal of a blessing.

The same way when you talk to your kids and they make big mistakes, you're really

not punishing them most of the time.

You're removing a blessing.

, their whole life is a blessing you've provided for them.

So when you.

Give them a consequence, like maybe they don't have their curfew as much

as it used to be, or maybe they have to sit and hang out for a minute.

They used to have freedom to move about the cabin and now they don't.

That is a blessing that they didn't even realize was not theirs.

You.

Does that make sense?

It's a stewardship that you've granted them, and when they don't care for their

stewardship, you pull it away, which.

I feel like it almost creates a vacuum effect and hard things come.

So when the Lord removes the rain, which is this great blessing, when

he pulls that away, the hardship that comes is drought and famine.

I, I don't think he wanted to hit them with drought and famine as much as he was

saying, I'm gonna take this blessing away.

Please learn what it feels like to be without me, what it feels

like to be without this blessing and turn back to me the same way.

You hope that your kid, after being grounded for two weeks will come back and

say, I'm sorry, that won't happen again.

Can I please have those blessings back?

I wanna take care of my stewardship.

That's what I see when I read through chapter four.

So don't see it like a whole bunch of punitive, you know,

the Lord coming out angry.

I think it's much more about stewardship and ownership.

And if you want more guidance on that, go back to conference this last

October and read Elder C's message.

It's so good you.

In the last few weeks, the church has released more of those Book of Mormon

videos, and now we're into third Nehi where you see the savior come.

But I, what I was watching this week is the ones before that, right before

the savior comes the time of great destruction that happens and you see like

windstorms and floods coming downstairs and people trying to hold their families

together and, and you see what's left right after this great time of storm.

There are some who are left and they are battered and broken and crying.

In struggle.

That's what I see when I read chapter five because four is all

about those destruction sequences.

All those consequences of those blessings being pulled away hit hard.

In four, there was loss of life, there was famine there.

People had to leave their city to try and find water in other places.

Destruction happens in four.

What happens in five is the people who are left and Amos goes in

to teach these people who are left and the message is so good.

In fact, it's all about good.

So I want you to go in the verses you'll see if you look in four, his

invitation to those who are broken, wounded, and scared is to seek God.

He says it so many times that word seek.

I highlighted it over and over again in chapter five.

Thus say the Lord God unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and ye shall live.

This is the same thing Alma teaches us.

Look to God and live.

It's this message.

All these blessings can get pulled away from you.

Turn to me.

There is only one way that they can find help and strength and the support

they need and they've gotta turn.

And so that's Amos's big message.

He says, Stop going to Bethel.

These places where they've set up idols and other worship services.

Again, I think some of their worship services were patterned after good ones.

They just have distorted them.

You know, Bethel is a holy place.

That's a place we've studied in the Old Testament, but they've distorted

the worship that's happening there.

So he invites them to seek the Lord.

Come back to the basics in six, Seek the Lord and you shall live.

Let he break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour it.

There will be none to que quench in Bethel no matter how holy that ground is.

If you are not, if you're not living the commandments, if you're not, if you

don't have that mighty change of heart that the Lord wants you to have, it won't

help you to stand on that holy mount.

Right?

That doesn't help you.

So he's saying, Leave off all of that and come back.

And seven E who turn judgment into wormwood and leave off righteousness.

You've abandoned the poor.

You've, you've turned away kindness.

You've left off righteousness.

Come back, seek him in eight.

He reminds him who it is they're seeking.

This is the maker of the stars.

This is the creator of the universe.

Come back to the one who can save.

And don't you think in a position where they've seen so much destruction

and pain and loss, that that would be such a, a message of hope, right?

That look back to the one who's bigger than all of this destruction.

Look at the stars and remember who made them and come back to him.

And I love, we see in 11, for as much, therefore as your treading

is upon the poor, and you take from him the burdens of the wheat.

You've built these houses basically saying like, Here's where you went wrong.

Instead of helping the poor, you took from the poor and you

built up houses with that wealth.

And now you're never gonna get to live in them that way of living.

Didn't give you what you wanted.

Your houses are getting destroyed, come seek good.

So if you look in 12, they were taking bribes, they're turning aside the poor.

Again, that resounding message of you've missed the mark.

If there is no charity in you, you are not mine.

So he says, Seek good in 14.

Seek good and not evil that you may live this whole verse like go in the footnotes.

You guys, there were so many beautiful verses that tied to this verse because

it's this invitation to seek goodness when you are in struggle and you

know, even if you know you have made the mistakes and you are off course,

his answer is care for the poor.

Do good anywhere you can.

Don't wait to be asked.

In fact, if you look, it's like don't be, you won't be compelled in all things.

That verse is in there.

The one that's about being anxiously engaged at a good cause is in there.

He's saying, Don't wait until prophet commands you to do something.

Go and do good.

I feel like that's what conference was all about as well.

It's this invitation.

Do good wherever you are.

Put goodness out there and let that gateway of good bring you to Christ.

Cuz where we're gonna find Christ is in doing good.

That's how they'll come to him.

It's not studying him in the books, it's not being innocent.

A go.

All those places are wonderful, but where you really will find him is

among the poor and among the needy and in those places of service.

And now they're living in a place of destruction.

So there's all these opportunities to serve what I think is really

powerful about that message.

This is a place of destruction, which means all these people are probably

hurting, all of them probably feel deficient and that they don't have

the resources they need to serve.

You know?

Have you ever been in a situation where your life is so hard and then

you get a new calling that is really big and you think, Why ? Why now?

I don't have anything left to give.

I can't.

There's nothing in me.

And then you learn.

When you show up as limited as you are, you show up, then the Lord's fills you.

Because when you think about the Lord's, Life.

His mortal life.

Where was he?

He was among the poor and the cast out and the downtrodden.

That's where you find God.

That's where you come to know God.

And I just think it's always this invitation.

Humble yourselves, submit yourselves to me.

Show up for this calling.

Do the best you can, and let me fill you with something that will last so much

more than what you thought you needed.

I could testify that in a dozen different ways from just the last five years.

So I, I love that.

That's Amos's message as.

Seek good.

Um, and then see what the Lord can do with it.

I also think it's cool what he says in 18.

So this is where he warns them.

Don't wait for the second coming.

Have you ever felt like that now, like there's this pervasive

destruction and things are a mess and our society's kind of a mess.

And you think, couldn't the savior just come ? Couldn't we just wrap this all up?

Um, I think he's warning us about that train of thought.

So he says, Whoa unto you that desire that the day of the

Lord, to what end is it for you?

Meaning if you yourself aren't ready for the Lord to come, if your heart

isn't helping in Zion and united with Zion, if you're not out serving the

poor and doing your ministering and taking care of your callings, and

if you're not doing those things, you're not ready for the Lord to come.

So go do those.

Go do good and that will help facilitate the day of the Lord coming.

It is not something we're supposed to sit back and be like, Oh,

it'll be so great when he comes and cleans up this whole mess.

Because the, the point is that we will be changed by the time he gets here,

that we will be Zion in our hearts no matter how much destruction is around us.

So I love that reminder, Don't just wait, do good, be anxiously

engaged in a good cause.

Um, and then he talks about how this is offending him.

So if you look in 21, 22, 23, basically he's saying to them, If you don't have

charity, none of the rest of this matters.

I know you see that in the New Testament as well, but it's this invitation of

all your fe, all your ceremonies, all your attending church, all you doing,

your callings, all those things.

They don't matter if you have no charity.

And so he is urging them to shift.

So he says they offend me.

All those things you're doing, they offend me.

And then 24, but let judgment run down as waters.

Judgment and justice can kind of be interchanged.

It's also an extension of mercy.

So he is asking them to show fair.

In these small ways, show judgment, be show fairness in small ways, but the big

ways the rivers need to be righteousness.

That mighty stream is righteousness show, abundant mercy.

When Michelle Greg spoke in conference, I had to write it

at my margins cuz I loved it.

She said, um, she.

Chapter six begins with a very famous verse.

It says, Whoa unto them that are at ease In Zion, he's talking to Samaritans,

which are, well in this area, it's the capital city of Northern Israel.

So basically in any time of war, it's the poor and the downtrodden who, who

take the big ramifications of war, right?

And sometimes the elite don't even recognize or appreciate what's happening.

And I think that's who he's talking to now.

So Amos is talking to those who are at ease, thinking they are connected, they

are of the covenant, they're gonna be just fine and they can live a good life.

In fact, if you go through these verses, it talks about their good life that they

live in, these palaces, they're laying on couches and you know, it has this kind

of eat, drink and be merry vibe to it.

And he talks about how he hates it.

I just thought this was a cool way to say it.

In eight, I abor the excellency of Jacob and hate his palaces.

I think what we know about the character of Christ is when he chose

to condescend, when he chose to be born to marry and Joseph in a little humble

city of a carpenter's family and be in a stable, you know, like he lived his

life to show that he will be with us.

And when we create separation from the people who need us

most, there are consequences and that's who he's warning about.

And I think it's interesting cuz so many of us, right, are hoping and praying for

excess, for abundance in worldly things.

I'm right there with you guys.

Like he is hard, but I think what you wanna remember.

Power comes from being in a position of vulnerability, at least spiritual power.

Michelle Craig talked about this in conference where she basically

said, I wrote it, my margins.

She said, Living inconvenience does not bring power.

So when we are pushing back and pleading with the Lord in our prayers at night to

take away whatever is hard, , sometimes those prayers are not answered because he

knows that for us to stay close to him, we need that opposition in all things.

We need those difficulties to keep us humble.

So he here, he invites Zion to choose to humble themselves.

When they don't choose it, they get the consequences of that, which is

that pretty soon the Assyrians are gonna come in and wipe him out.

So he says in 13, you're getting comfortable.

It says, Ye, which rejoice in a thing of not which say, have we not

taken to us our horns by our own?

So again, like we learned from other cse, this is shifting

from stewardship to ownership.

I earned this, I got this.

I don't, This isn't just wealth, you guys.

This is anything we rest our confidence on.

Even things like a testimony, right?

If you start to believe that.

You got this, you know, I did all the work and I earned this or you

know, it can, we can shift into a position of pride pretty fast.

And so he's warning about that.

I think that phrase you rejoice in a thing of not is pretty powerful.

Cuz I think sometimes I do this right, We celebrate, I have to watch myself

with object lessons sometimes in this vein, cuz you guys know me, I love

object lessons and I'm teaching my kids an object lessons all the time.

But sometimes I'm so fixated on the fun part of the object lesson

that I forget to actually teach the mess or just don't do it very well.

You know, cuz we're just taking pictures.

We're trying to, and I have to, I have to remember that.

I can't rejoice in the object lesson.

The object lesson is a tool to help them know the gospel.

So if I'm not actually connecting those dots, then I'm, I'm rejoicing

in a thing of not, Is it good?

Is it happy?

Yes.

Is it a good memory?

Yes.

All those good things, but it is not what will last.

If my lessons aren't helping my kids have a solid testimony of

Jesus Christ, then I'm rejoicing in a thing of not, and it won't last.

So he warns them about that and then says, Behold, if you don't change,

I'm gonna bring another nation and they're gonna conquer you in 30 years.

That will happen.

And I think it's interesting that he's over and over again trying to warn them

that this will happen both to those who are, you know, in desperate times

in chapter five, and those who are feeling pretty solid in chapter six.

The warning is the same to both look to God and.

These last three chapters of Amos are a series of five visions that he has,

and you can go into the notes and learn more, or even into the institute

manual and learn a little bit more about what we think these visions mean.

, um, and there's a few different ones.

He has a vision of grasshoppers or locus investing things.

He has a vision of a great fire that comes and even consumes the water.

And then a vision of a plum line.

There's more that come in the next chapter, but in this chapter

you see all three of those.

And there's teaching us specific things about the future of

Israel that they're gonna get cut down, but they'll regrow that.

The fire one is talking probably about the scattering and the damage that

will occur when they are scattered.

And then the plum line is focused more on God's careful justice.

I loved this phrase, I can't remember who I read it from to be honest,

but that this idea of a plum line.

Very careful and exact justice means I think God will give us as much

grace and mercy as he possibly can.

But there will be a line and, and you have to be aware that he

is a God of justice and mercy.

So I love that visual of the plum line as well.

Also cuz I just love my level maker and that's what I think

of when I think of a plum line.

Um, there's also this cool interaction that happens with a priest.

So basically a priest comes, his name is, what's his name?

Isaiah.

He comes to the king and says, There's this prophet that's making this noise

that says we're gonna get destroyed.

You need to get him out.

I thought this was kind of interesting cuz in other places in the Old

Testament, we've seen this happen and they try to kill the prophets, right?

I mean that's why they got thrown into, that's why she had Rache in

a be go, got thrown into the fire.

It's why Daniel went into lions stand cuz people were envious of

their position and they wanted.

Get rid of them.

So they tried to kill them.

And this one, it's almost like a, a dismissiveness, an annoyance.

He treats Amos almost like this annoyance, you know, like something he

doesn't even wanna have to listen to.

So he tells the king, You should push him back to his own place.

Remember, he's not from the north, he's from the south.

So he is like, just, just get rid of him.

Tell him he, he can't be here anymore.

And I just think Amos's response is so Maximus, you know, like this is

where he sounds like Gladiator Russell Crow comes through in these verses

where he says basically, I, I didn't ask for this gig, , I just love it.

It's in verse 14.

I was no profit, neither was I a prophet son, but I was a herdman

and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.

And the Lord took me, as I followed the flock, he heard the Lord.

It's a first vision type of moment for Amos.

You know, I don't mean.

Over extend here, but he, he didn't seek out this calling.

Have you ever felt like that in your callings, that when you get

pushback from people and you're like, I didn't sign up for this.

I was asked and I'm doing the best I can, and I just think

his response is so strong.

It is courageous.

It is.

There's dity in this moment because what he's saying to that Isaiah

is like, I'm not here about.

I am here because God put me here.

Whereas Amaziah is a priest and thinks he has some kind of right

to hear the word of the Lord.

Amos knows the Lord, word of the Lord.

He's heard the roar of the lion and he will respond.

And so it doesn't matter how much this is a Daniel moment, right?

It doesn't matter what this guy says.

He, he's like, I'm going to speak and I'm going to speak here cuz this is

what the Lord has called me to do.

And I think that's how we have to show up in our callings, in our families.

Whatever your sphere of influence is, whatever your stewardship is, show up

and trust in the dignity that comes with saying, I was called to this work.

I've been set apart to do it.

I'm doing the best I can.

I, I'm going to speak.

And that's, there's power in those like, ooh, holy ground moments, right?

And what is so fun about this is at the end of the chapter, he reverses it.

So basically says to Isaiah, I know you don't want me to prophesy about

Israel anymore, so instead I'm gonna prophesy directly about you.

And he, he warns Isaiah that he's gonna get carried away captive.

His wife is gonna get captured as children are gonna die.

Like he becomes very personal.

And you could read this as like a Hahaha, you know, But this is Amus.

He's a shepherd, a quiet, dignified prophet of God.

I don't think this is a retribution kind of moment.

I think this is him saying, You're not hearing me when I say

Israel's gonna get destroyed.

You're picturing this big, you know, sweeping thing that won't impact you.

I want you to know that this is gonna hit your family.

When I warn you about the destruction of Israel, it's gonna hit your wife and

your kids and your property, All of it.

Please hear me.

I just think that's what the prophet does for us too, right?

It's not just a message to the church, it's a message to us individually.

Help your family.

I need you to hear the word of the Lord because your family needs you.

You need the revelation that the Lord is trying to give you.

So hear him better.

It's not just about the gathering and Zion, What makes the Gathering

and Zion happen is because individually we realize that these.

Prophecies are about us and that honoring God's commandments bring

blessings to us and our family.

So I think it's Amos's way of making this very personal.

I just wish it had worked.

Chapter eight is where you see the vision of the fruit, and it's this basket of

summer fruit, which if you've ever like been to Costco and bought a ridiculous

amount of mangoes or, and then you just sit there and watch them rot on your

counter because you should have known, you could never consume that manys.

I dunno if you've had that experience, but I definitely have.

And that's, that's what he's picturing.

It's not supposed to be this beautiful harvest.

It's supposed to be.

It's not being consumed, that fruit's not being used.

And that's where the problem comes in.

Because remember, the children of Israel were given the covenant, given all this

knowledge and this understanding so that they could take it to the world.

And instead they're keeping it for themselves.

They're pulling in.

It's the same thing that happens to me when I start to resent my callings.

Uh, you know, like you start to think.

My own family needs me.

I can't do this anymore.

You know, like my own family's falling apart.

I can't go to Mutual tonight or I can't show up for Ysa cuz my family needs me.

And there are times of course when that is actually true, but most of

the time what he's saying is like I, I am producing so much fruit on you.

You don't even see it.

Do you remember in Jacob five when we were talking about the olive trees

and we learned that those who don't give of their fruit actually weaken.

The same thing happens with real trees that you see outside.

If you don't pluck the fruit at the harvest time, they actually get worse.

They get insects, they get birds who attack they.

You have to use the fruit.

And when you use the fruit, the promise is your branch will be

healthier, you'll produce better.

So as I show up for my colleagues, even though my house is messed, my family

feels like it's falling apart, I get revelation and insights all the time.

That happens to me all the time.

I'll go to Ysa and I'll get an answer to a prayer from something someone

says or something, a scripture.

I'd never read the same way.

And it helps me at home.

And that's what you have to have faith in, right?

So that's what he's warning them about is you're trying to hoard this fruit

and it's just rotting on the counter.

And there are consequences to that.

The stewardship is gonna shift, right?

So he talks about what's gonna happen that the he'll forget things that they

will forget their connection with God.

They, they've stopped listening to the poor, like in four, that they

make it, they make the land to fail.

Um, that when in five they talk about how when the Sabbath comes around, they're

kind of like checking their watch.

Like, can we get this over with, you know, their ceremonies, their holy days.

They're trying to rush through them so that they can get to the commerce

days where they can sell things.

You know, they, they've begun to completely forget God and

to resent him a little bit.

And he says, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

So in six, it's that same phrase, You're forgetting the poor.

You're selling them off for the worth of a pair of shoes, and I

will never forget their works.

That's the promise in seven.

And then you see the consequences.

This was such a cool visual to me because he basically says, He reminds

them of how he pulled them out of the flood in Noah's day and how he pulled

them out of the flood or the waves crashing down in the day of Pharaoh.

And now this time he can't, uh, they, they're going to experience the flood.

They're gonna experience death and destruction and loss where they

were people who were supposed to get delivered because they were

not obedient and they forgot God.

The waters crashed down on them this time.

And I think it pains the Lord the same way we learn from Enoch, that he weeps

when he thinks about the people who are gonna be destroyed in the flood.

These are his children.

He is going to mourn their loss, but this is the consequence they're choosing.

So he talks about what will happen 11 and 12.

There's gonna be a famine in the land and it's not gonna be

a famine of thirst or of bread.

It's gonna be a famine for hearing the words of the Lord.

There will not be a prophet in this area in Israel for hundreds of years, right?

Not until John the Baptist comes.

There will not be the word God.

And then even after Jesus and his apostles are gone, now you have all the way,

you don't tell the restoration where there's a famine of the words of God.

And the result of a famine of revelation is people run about to and fro.

That's what you're gonna see in 12.

They shall run to and fro and seek the word of the Lord,

but they shall not find it.

Doesn't that sound like the apostasy to like and her own personal processes?

When we lose our connection to God, we start to seek out

all kinds of other sources.

I just think this is really interesting cause I do this, you know?

Have you ever been in a situation, like in a business setting?

I've had this a few times in my business work where.

Something falls through, things don't work.

And then the person who I was working with doesn't explain why it fell through.

So then I start to write my own narrative about what I think may have happened.

I start to like concoct a story.

You do this with a relationship sometimes too, sometimes too, where

you start to create a narrative cuz there's not enough information.

And so you concoct and you get bitter and angry cuz you assume there must have

been, you know, like your, your brain can come up with pretty creative things.

That's what happens with the gospel.

They, in this attempt to go to and fro to try and find truth, they end

up picking up all kinds of falsehood and the doctrine becomes corrupted and

there is a famine of the words of God.

Thank goodness for the time of the restoration.

Aren't you so grateful that we live today?

Or that famine has been lifted and there there is like a

bounty of the words of God.

Chapter eight made me grateful for that.

Do you remember when we were studying about right before the Exodus out

of Egypt, there's the Passover, and so it's that last plague where all

the firstborn are gonna be killed.

And so the Lord gives them really clear instructions through Moses that they're

supposed to go through these steps and they're gonna kill a lamb and they're

going to stay in their homes and they're gonna paint the blood of the door posts

and that, you know, so that there's this, as the destroying angel passes

by, it will pass right by their house.

That's the visual he uses to teach and it's a strong one.

So if you go in chapter nine, you'll see that he basically is saying,

I'm coming right by your house and there's nothing on the doorposts.

Your obedience is gone, your charity is gone, and there's nothing to mark

that this is a house of God anymore.

So the destroying angel can't pass by.

It has to stop.

It has to seek out, and it has to destroy.

I, it sounds so harsh at first.

And then you look back at all the times they've been warned and all the

times they had profits among them.

I mean, even just right here, they've got Jose and Amos teaching at the same

time in the same place and people won't hear and they won't paint the door posts.

And so he says, You leave me no choice.

So the scattering will happen.

Then he warns about the earth melting all the consequences that are gonna happen.

You can go in the notes and learn more about this phase of

destruction that will happen and the phase of Aposty that will happen.

And then he begins to speak about.

And he talks about how he'll sift the house of Israel.

He'll make sure that every good grain is kept and that there will be a cleansing.

But this is the wheat and the tears, right?

He's gonna make sure that every goodness is kept.

And then he talks about how the sinners will have to die by the sword.

This cleansing will happen, and how he will come and close up the breaches.

So that's an 11 in that day.

So latter days, I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen.

I will close up the breaches.

All those false doctrines, all that misunderstanding, all the misguided

temple attempts that happen in the interim between this time and you

know, Joseph Smith, time, all those misguided attempts will get corrected.

He's gonna close up the breaches and I will raise up his ruins.

I will build it as it was in days old.

He's gonna rebuild this to me when you, In fact, on the sides,

I have restoration written because that's what restoration means.

Right.

If you think of someone restoring a painting or a sculpture, it's this

painstaking process of layer by layer.

I'm going to take out what shouldn't be there, and I'm gonna put back the

original intent of the artist or the author I'm going to restore to its

former glory and beauty and brightness, what has been there all along, but has

been muted by so much dirt and debris and scarring that you can't see it.

So that's the restoration to me.

It's like an art rest, an art, restore, doing great piece.

That's the promise.

And then of course you see the consequences come out in

13, but all of this hinges on.

Taking care of the poor.

The reason this can happen in the latter days is because Zion will

come and Zion means one heart, one mind, that you take care of the poor.

You take care of each other.

The best visual I can give you that I learned peripherally this week that

was of the Savior in 35, this is in 17.

When he comes to the people and he's been preaching with

them and he's about to leave.

In fact, he says, I've gotta go do this other work.

I have to visit the 10 tribes, right?

This is what he says in the verses, and he looks at the people and they're

weeping cuz they want him to stay.

And in that moment, what does he do right?

He softens.

Not that he was ever hard, but his heart is compassionate towards them.

So he changes this plan.

He is the good Samaritan in that moment who had somewhere else to

be, but sees someone on the side of the road who needs his help.

And so he stops and does what he can and that.

That's what this message is.

When the savior stays with those people, he doesn't just stay, he heals.

You know, this is when one by one he heals.

This is when the prayers happen and the angels come and he and riches, he heals.

He fills them up before he has to leave again.

That's what I think charity is.

That's what I think they were missing, and it's what I think the Lord was

trying to teach me this week, Maria.

Stop going through with emotions and find ways to do good, to choose to do good.

And you'll find me there when you choose to serve.

When you choose to help, even when you feel depleted, you will find me there.

Come, come back.

And that's the message of Amos to me.

It's a, it's a powerful one.

I hope he loves study.

You're gonna have to forgive this, but I have to use a football metaphor to teach

you . This is what the spirit taught me.

Remember he teaches me in my own language.

So if you don't know this about me, I am a Buckeye fan.

My whole family were Buckeye fans because Jason and I met at byu, got

married and then immediately moved out to Ohio and went to Ohio State.

So by defaults, we are Buckeye fans and were sort of Michigan

haters , which I realize is not being a good disciple of Christ, but

it just comes with the territory.

So our kids know songs about Michigan.

We joke about Michigan all the time.

It's really fun to watch Jason, cuz he does not like Michigan,

obviously, except certain moments.

So when Michigan is playing somebody outside of the Big 10,

Jason will cheer for Michigan.

Like, and I always kinda laugh about it, like, you always talk

about how you hate Michigan.

And he's like, I know, but they're part of the Big 10.

And what we really care about is our conference . And I love the visual of that

for this because this is what's happening.

So in Obadiah, he is coming, this is post destruction.

So he's looking back on the destruction phase of Jerusalem and saying to the

children of Iam, meaning this like neighboring community that has always

battled against the children of Israel.

They've been rivals since the days of Jacob and Isa that, you know,

they are the Buckeyes in Michigan.

That's what they are.

But he's saying in this moment, you should have realized you're

part of a bigger conference.

I get it.

You guys have entity towards each other.

But in this moment when the children of Israel.

In misery, like they were, they were getting destroyed and in pain

and the Edomites were right next to them and where they could have

swept in and said, Let us help.

They chose to stand back.

In fact, they kind of took advantage of the situation.

So if you go through the verses, that's what he's calling them on.

He ODI is sent to teach the Edomites.

That's the only chapter we have about odi.

So I don't know if he taught other people, but when he taught the people of

Edam, he said, You should have helped, you should have helped save them.

So he look in the verses we looking 10, there was violence against Jacob

and they were gonna get cut off.

And in that day, that Stoods on the other side.

This is whenever there is a battle or a rivalry, I don't mean in a sports way,

but like when we say, Well, I didn't cause this mess, so I'm gonna stand back here.

Like, I, I'm not technically obligated to help because I

didn't make this mess happen.

My kids do this to me all the time, you know, like one of them will be gone

for the whole day and I'll say, Okay guys, it's time to do kitchen jobs.

And they'll be like, Well, I wasn't here all day.

like, like that gives them immunity from helping clean the house.

That's kind of what they're saying is, Hey, this isn't my fight.

And so they stand to the side and they watch and then it gets worse.

Cuz not only do they watch, but they loot.

So when the children of Israel are literally being carried off and those

pregnant mothers are getting killed, and you know, like all that atrocity

is happening, the Edomites swoop in and they take what's left over.

In fact, some of the verses talk about how they, he, he often will

call them brother because remember they're from that same conference.

They are from.

Jacob and Issa are brothers.

They should know better.

They're all you know, in that line.

And so he's calling them on it, saying like, This is your conference.

You should have cared for your brother.

I understand you guys are rivals and you don't get along, but

you should have stepped in.

Remember, that's what the story of the Good Samaritan is.

He's the Samaritan.

He is no way gonna be, be helpful to somebody from the Israelites,

but he stops even when the Levis and other people don't stop.

He stops because he doesn't let the rivalry between

their teams get in the way.

He says, Hey, we're all part of the same conference, so I'm gonna help you.

I'm gonna take you to an in.

I'm gonna make sure you're paid for.

That's what he's calling them on.

So when you go through the verses, you'll see what they did that they rejoiced when

the children of Israel fell apart that.

Waited by the gate and watched people watch the enemy come in and

they didn't stop or lend a hand that they came in and they lood things.

It even says that some people were left behind, like some of the

Israelites were left behind and they turned them in so that they could

get their property, get their stuff.

This is a level of, of.

Standoffishness that will earn them retribution from the Lord

cuz this is their brothers.

They should have known better, they should have let their stupid rivalry

go so that they could help, even if the Israelites never did that for them.

Right?

It, we don't, we don't show kindness to our enemy because

our enemy was nice to us.

Once we show kindness to our enemy because we love God and because God commends you

to love your enemies and do good to them that use you and despitefully hurt you.

You know, like all those phrases, that's what they should

have done and they didn't.

So their, their consequence will be, they're gonna be swept off.

They're gonna end up in the same mess that Israel's in.

They're gonna get the same treatment they got, uh, it's the

golden rule kind of in reverse.

They're gonna get the same consequences.

Um, and it then it ends in this interesting place.

So it says, But upon Mount Zion, this is verse 17 shall be deliverance

and there shall be holiness.

And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

I think what he's trying to say, Edomites down the road.

A long way down the road there will be a gathering that will

happen and the children of Israel city is gonna get built up.

Again, yours will not.

In fact, their lands are gonna get inherited by the children of Israel.

And I think it's easy to read this and think that we showed you, you know,

like you can get that tone, but this is the Lord speaking through his prophet.

So I don't think that's the tone.

I think it's more, we're all in the same conference.

When the children of Israel and House of Jacob are gathered,

that's the whole house.

If there are any remnants of the Edomites anywhere, they're gonna be part of this.

You know, cuz Abraham's their ancestor too.

They're gonna be part of this great gathering.

They will be brought back home.

There will be a time of peace.

But for the most part, this next many, many, many centuries will

be hard cuz of their choices.

And I think, isn't it interesting that that's kind of the same message.

We can choose to care for the poor and we will reap blessings.

We can choose to.

Push back against the poor like Aus warned about, and then we get the consequences.

The same thing happens with ODI where he is basically saying to them,

When you aren't the cause of the trouble, but you stand by and let the

trouble just happen, you are equally complicit and there are consequences.

So I just love that where it ends is a really powerful verse.

We're gonna talk about the object lessons too, but he says there will be saviors

on Mount Zion that will come to me.

When I read that, I see that like, you know that that means the latter

day is when the work is done and when we have brought, you know,

that's a temple and family history verse where he's talking about that

you can be a savior on Mount Zion.

When you gather on both sides of the, and I think that applies to

any descendants that are left of the Edomites and any descendants that

are left of Jacob's family, those two brothers and all their posterity will

also be gathered in and it will happen because of the saviors on Mount Zion.

So don't you love that?

That's the end of it.

It's this restoration of.

Ordinances and promises that happens through their descendants that will

bring these two warring tribes Back to that same an understanding that

we're all on the same conference, we're all on the same team.

Let's gather together.