Feb 5, 2023
Scripture Reading: Amos 3
In the context of God's special relationship with the people of Israel, in Amos 3 there are two verses that signal the glorious truth about God's supremacy over all His creation. In His sovereign freedom, God chose the people of Israel to be His special people. God uses the verb 'to know' to make a statement about His choosing the nation of Israel to be recipients of unique blessings. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2).
The verb 'to know' here is not a reference to God's omniscience, but to His sovereign love in choosing Israel to be His unique people. This verse helps to inform us of the meaning of the word 'foreknowledge' in the New Testament (cf. Rom 8:29, 1 Pet 1:1,2). In the New Testament, God's foreknowledge of some people for salvation refers, not to God's perceiving them, but to God's choosing them.
A second verse in Amos 3 points to God's supremacy over calamities. "Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?" (Amos 3:6). This rhetorical question, of course, expects a negative answer … "No, no disaster comes to a city unless the Lord has brought it." The Almighty not only brings pleasure, but, according to holy designs, He also brings pain (Ecc 7:14; Job 1:21; 2:10). In the middle of our suffering, let us learn to lay our hand on our complaining tongues, bow down before God in humility, and declare, "Blessed be the name of the LORD.