Woe Unto Them Who Say to Dead Wood, Awake; to the Dumb Stone, Arise, it Shall Teach! (Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no life at all in the midst of it.)

As it is every day, here is the word of the LORD for today: the prior post began speaking to the false church and its false doctrine. We saw their condition as the result of men who for their own self-centered reasons replaced God with their idol creations, and then called those unholy things by God’s holy name. The LORD warned of His patience ending and we know this as truly an obligation to His elect, and if He didn’t shorten the days no flesh would survive. The discussion ended with posting Amos 4 & 5, which tell of the many opportunities the LORD offered for repair of the relationship and return to Him, and each was not only rejected but with arrogance they demanded the LORD, and His elect, sever their idols. They have chosen their end.

Today a look at Amos 3 as it relates to Amos 4 saying the LORD response is these false ones will, and now have, met the real God or Israel, the LORD of armies of heaven is his name; and of chapter 5 speaking of this ending in the destruction of this idol worship in His name. We see the places defined by names literally telling of when idols were placed in the house of God replacing Him. We are also told of this (now) ending coming as, “judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”

A few days back I mentioned that these men have forgotten (abandoned) the covenant, but that the LORD has not forgotten it. God is not a man that He would lie (needs to out of fear – as man does), and if this judgment and righteousness did not come the promise of His coming would be a lie. We have often discussed Amos 3 asking the question, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” We know most people mistakenly only see this as a statement telling of agreement in thought and miss the deeper meaning. The deep understanding is in its asking, “Can two meet in this judgment unless they have agreed on the time and the place?” We plainly see this as the subject in the surrounding verse and it leading to proclamation of it in Amos 4:12, “Therefore thus will I do unto you, O Israel: and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

When the LORD says, “because I will do this unto you,” He is telling of all the things that come upon us being done to bring these men back from corruption. He shows us the pattern here as we saw it in prior posts as also spoken of by him in Matthew 11 when He speaks of the things that will come upon these same types of corrupted leaders misleading His people.

This misleading is what is spoken of in Amos 5:2 when he LORD describe the virgin of His people that has fallen, never to rise again, and there is none among her able to raise her up. He then speaks of the small remnant that returns, and this life coming as a result of His calling them out and away from this places where the idols are set, saying, “Seek you Me, and you shall live.” It is telling of there being no power in these abominable creations to raise up this beloved virgin of God’s people, and to be raised she must be freed from the prison of darkness under these false angels of light.

Then in verse 7 the LORD again speaks directly to the men of their crimes and of their hating the one standing rebuking them in the entryway to the holy city (heavenly Jerusalem).

Amos 5
7 You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
8 Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
9 That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
10 They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly.
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph [those seeing abstractly the end the LORD has promised and trusting in HIM to bring it into reality].

These men have and will do as they have always done, seek to use twisted earthly reasoning and rationalization to explain away what they can’t accept because of its indictment. Their seats are corrupted and there is no life giving power in them – in fact they have drained away all life. (Speaking of course of church and national establishment leadership: Pope, the thieving televangelicals, all the many thousands of the now liberal denominations old or new, the Schumer/Pelosi democrats, McCain/Ryan republicans, the Obama vermin infesting our institutions, all fake news media, and the godless elites in entertainment and business.) (Yes, I intentionally left out Trump, the Freedom Caucus, and talk radio, as they are part of the outside remnant – the virgin, known as those who rebuke these others at the gate, and are hated by the other troop.)

Amos 3
1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish [discipline and correct] you for all your iniquities.
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD has not done it?
7 Surely the LORD God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared, who will not fear? the LORD God has spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, says the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus says the LORD God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your palaces shall be spoiled.
12 Thus says the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
13 Hear you, and testify in the house of Jacob, says the LORD God, the God of hosts,
14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel [the house of God where the idols are set in His place]: and the horns [the power] of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter house [where the fire burns continually] with the summer house [where the cool breeze blow through always]; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses [the corrupted establishment] shall have an end, says the LORD.

Micah 5:2 speaks of little house that will be the place from where comes the Son of man. It is Bethlehem, meaning the house of bread, or the house that provides life giving nourishment, and it is contrasted against the great house that ends, which we are told of in verse 15 above.

Micah 5 begins with the LORD calling us to gather into troops (one following the Lamb and the other the evil confederacy of reprobates), as He as the LORD of host prepares us for the defense of our new city (new Jerusalem). There we are told of he who has come against us and struck down judgment, and then in verse 3 we are told of this going on until the virgin brings forth her child. The address itself begins back in Micah 4:6 with the LORD speaking of this day when He makes up his remnant (His Jewel).

I am going to post the afore mentioned passage followed by Isaiah speaking of the sign of the virgin bringing forth her son, this son later spoken of with the virgin now become the children God has given him, and they both being the sign.

Micah 4
6 In that day, says the LORD, will I assemble her that halts, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And you, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto you shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your counsellor perished? for pangs have taken you as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shall you go forth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon; there shall you be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass: and you shall beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the LORD of the whole earth.

Micah 5
1 Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops: he has laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travails has brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land, and when he treads within our borders.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarries not for man, nor waits for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treads down, and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted up upon your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, that I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and I will destroy your chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of your land, and throw down all your strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts [those using words of manipulations] out of your hand; and you shall have no more soothsayers [those using what they say they know of the future to manipulate people for their own corrupt purposes]:
13 Your graven images also will I cut off, and your standing images out of the midst of you; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14 And I will pluck up your groves out of the midst of you: so will I destroy your cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

Revelation 14
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Isaiah 7
13 And he said, Hear you now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?
14 Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 8
9 Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid.
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? [or should they look] for the living [among] the dead?
20 [They should look] To the law and to the [this] testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Isaiah 9
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before you according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian [when Gideon called all God’s people to the final destruction of their enemies, after they (Midian) had fled from the sword of the LORD in confusion].
5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
8 The LORD sent a word into Jacob, and it has lighted upon Israel.

Psalm 45
1 My heart is indicting a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2 You are fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into your lips: therefore God has blessed you for ever.
3 Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and your majesty.
4 And in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand shall teach you terrible things.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter.
7 You love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
8 All your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made you glad.
9 Kings’ daughters were among your honorable women: upon your right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people, and your father’s house;
11 So shall the king greatly desire your beauty: for he is your LORD; and worship you him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat your favor.
13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto you.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.
16 Instead of your fathers shall be your children, whom you may make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise you for ever and ever.