The Consequence of Our Sin
Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom. So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her strongholds. I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord GOD.
Amos 1:6–8
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The Consequence of Our Sin
It is often difficult to hear the consequences of sin. The destruction of nations and peoples is not an image of a loving God, at least not in our minds. In the first oracle against Damascus and all of Aram, we heard how God sent them into exile in Kir. Amos’ second oracle invokes God’s fire upon the Philistine city of Gaza. Here we hear of God’s judgment against a sinful nation that sold a whole group of people into slavery. Because of this slave trade, God promised to send the same divine fire as in the last oracle to bring about an inferno against Gaza. In this way, the whole nation will be punished. This account should give us pause when we examine our own lives. Too often, we sell ourselves into slavery to sin, death, and the devil by ignoring God’s will for our lives. And if God did not love us as He does, the fiery destruction sent down upon Gaza would have been our fate as well. But for the sake of Christ, God does not destroy us, but He does destroy our sin. Christ took it upon Himself, and it died with Him upon the cross. The fiery wrath of God consumed our sin, and it is destroyed. So now, in faith, we rest secure in the truth that we are forgiven on account of what Christ has done for us. We have the comfort of knowing that when we stand before God, we stand not in our sin, but in Christ's righteousness.
Amos 1:6–8
+
The Consequence of Our Sin
It is often difficult to hear the consequences of sin. The destruction of nations and peoples is not an image of a loving God, at least not in our minds. In the first oracle against Damascus and all of Aram, we heard how God sent them into exile in Kir. Amos’ second oracle invokes God’s fire upon the Philistine city of Gaza. Here we hear of God’s judgment against a sinful nation that sold a whole group of people into slavery. Because of this slave trade, God promised to send the same divine fire as in the last oracle to bring about an inferno against Gaza. In this way, the whole nation will be punished. This account should give us pause when we examine our own lives. Too often, we sell ourselves into slavery to sin, death, and the devil by ignoring God’s will for our lives. And if God did not love us as He does, the fiery destruction sent down upon Gaza would have been our fate as well. But for the sake of Christ, God does not destroy us, but He does destroy our sin. Christ took it upon Himself, and it died with Him upon the cross. The fiery wrath of God consumed our sin, and it is destroyed. So now, in faith, we rest secure in the truth that we are forgiven on account of what Christ has done for us. We have the comfort of knowing that when we stand before God, we stand not in our sin, but in Christ's righteousness.
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