"I will give the command and shake the people of Israel like grain in a sieve. I will shake them among the nations to remove all who are worthless.” (Amos 9:9)
The prophet Amos, known as the prophet of doom, preached in both Judah and Israel the destruction of the kingdoms because of their injustices. A prophet speaks to the people for God. In our Scripture above we can see this. He says, “I will give command...” It’s not Amos talking about himself but speaking God’s Word. God says “I will give command...” It is God’s Will and Purpose to allow a shaking. In this verse Amos speaks to Israel. He spoke similar words of doom to Judah. And he speaks those words to us.
Remember Job. He was a righteous man. (Job 1:1) The afflictions he suffered were not a punishment. We learn that the devil wanted to destroy him, but Job endured and persevered. He cursed his life, but he never cursed God. God used the devil’s intention to glorify himself in Job’s life. He turned the devil’s work to prove Job’s love and devotion.
And there we are brethren. When things go wrong and troubles abound in our lives and even if we know better, we look to our lives to see where we might have done wrong. But we must remember, God doesn’t punish His children. It’s that we are being sifted like the Lord sifted Israel, Judah and Job, to prove our love, devotion and worthiness. Are we worthy of such wonderful blessings the Lord gives? He uses what the devil brings against us to destroy us to glorify Himself and prove our worthiness, our love and devotion, our obedience to Him and to His Word.
There is another cause for our troubles. And it is us. Many times, the troubles that pop up are the consequences of our bad decisions, our choices to follow the flesh and the pride of doing things our own way. So, there is that.
Returning to the topic of being sifted, notice the reason God gives as the purpose for the sifting, “to remove all who are worthless.” It’s in the test that we will see the true believers from those who just give lip service. There are many “pretenders” in the churches. This is human nature. Even in Jesus’ crowd there were “pretenders” who only were looking after themselves and what they could get. “While Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in Him as they saw the miracles He performed. But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew them all. There was no need for anyone to tell Him about them, because He Himself knew what was in their hearts.” (John 2:23-25)
In the testing, we will see if our love and devotion will endure the affliction. Many fall away. They were only “pretenders.” They can’t trust God in all circumstances, because they didn’t even trust Him in the blessings. They trusted in their striving and work. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Another thing we must notice is that God was talking to nations. In Scripture we can apply God’s Word to individuals, groups or nations. God is no respecter of people. What goes for one goes for all, either blessing or cursing. “For God judges everyone by the same standard.” (Romans 2:11 GNB)
When we look to our nation and the unrighteousness that abounds, we should be moved to pray for our nation. We can’t as children of God put our heads in the sand and not care about our standing as a nation before God’s eyes. Many are swept away by culture’s judge on our standing against the murder of the unborn children, the perversion that prevails and demands that we approve and celebrate it, and the corruption that exists in our government. We once were a nation ruled by God’s Word whose laws were consistent with the Bible. And God blessed us. But we see the sifting. The people are suffering. God has a solution. “If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2Chronicles 7:14)
In the sifting, whether it’s individual, a certain group or a nation, persevere and trust God that we may be found worthy. Like the disciples who “... departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:41) Like Job in the end, when we have persevered, God blesses, and He is glorified. “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1Peter 5:10)
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