Category Archives: Bible

VISIONS OF JUDGMENTAmos 7–9 “Then the Lord said, ’Look, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel: I will spare them no longer’ ” (Amos 7:8). Amos looked ahead, and he foresaw the certain judgment of a people who had refused for decades to heed God’s call to repent. OverviewThree visions of certainContinue reading “The 365-Day Devotional Commentary”

A JUST, MORAL SOCIETYAmos 3–6 “You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine” (Amos 5:11). The Old Testament’s vision of a just, moral society was warpedContinue reading “The 365-Day Devotional Commentary”

Amos INTRODUCTIONAmos was a sheep rancher in Judah whom God sent to neighboring Israel, where he denounced the sins of that kingdom. His indictment of Israel charged the people with turning from God, exploiting the poor, and committing gross immorality. The preaching of Amos was characterized by striking visions of coming judgment, and by aContinue reading “The 365-Day Devotional Commentary”

Joel INTRODUCTIONJoel’s vivid and passionate prophecy was stimulated by a terrible infestation of locusts that destroyed Judah’s crops. Joel saw the disaster not only as a contemporary judgment, but as an event prefiguring a coming “Day of the LORD” at history’s end. In powerful words and images Joel portrayed the Sovereign God who will surelyContinue reading “The 365-Day Devotional Commentary”

ISRAEL TO BE RESTOREDHosea 11–14 “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily” (Hosea 14:4–5). There are few passages of Scripture that approach Hosea 11–14’s emotional expressions of God’s love. As weContinue reading “The 365-Day Devotional Commentary”