(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
What happens when Israel points fingers?
Intro:
The idea of “gettin’ in your bidness” means, “Yo dude, now you’re getting a big personal!” So you might be amused to know that today, in both our OT and NT segments, there’s a bit of God “gettin’ in your bidness.”
New Testament segment:
Passage: Matthew 9
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 38
Words: ~803
So take this one with a grain of salt, but the authors of The New American Commentary point out that that word “send” has a strong sense. Back a bit (v25) when Jesus put the crowd outside, it’s the same Greek word as praying that God would send out workers to the harvest (v38), and the commentators say there’s also a hint of something like “thrust out,” as in it could be that we’re praying for God to kick a little backside.
I just find that funny. Especially given first few chapters of Amos we’ll get through today where we’ll see the answer to the question, “What happens when Israel points fingers?” I’ll bring that home on the other side.
Old Testament segment:
Passage: Amos 1-3
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 46
Words: ~1275
So, you’ll have to listen to the podcast for the fuller explanation, but the short one is this: All the oracles of judgment began with all Israel’s surrounding neighbors…BUT…then the last one was for Israel itself. Oh, and they get the harsher sentence of judgment because, well, they should have known better. What happens when they (in a sense) point fingers probably saying, “serves you right!”? God gets in their biz.
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Psalm 48
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 14
Words: ~230
The bottom line:
What should our takeaway be? We live in a culture that spends lots of time pointing fingers at everyone else. We should be careful to get our own house in order first. Because, after all, God is perfectly fair…and that’s what makes grace so amazing.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
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