Bible Believers: This passage is no longer true???

Question

Amo 3:1 "Hear this word that Yahweh hath spoken against you, O children of Israyl, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,"
Amo 3:2 "You only have I known of all the families of the earth: ..."

Does He now know everyone?
If you are an Egyptian lets say, do you see this passage as a threat?
Does this have any relation to:
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

So is the Amos 3 passage still true or not?

Answer 1

Yes, it is still true.

Most misunderstand what the scripture are all about. It is about a promise to a particular people, the true Israelites.

Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises;
Rom 9:5 Whose [are] the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever.

This passage alone shows the Amos passage is still not only true, but expresses the same exclusivness as Paul does.

He does not "KNOW" everyone in the sense that a covenant, or adoption is open to them. The Messiah even said he only prays for those the Father has given him out of the world. So who do you think he knows? It is Israel.

NOW, what most people do not understand is that the Israelites divided into two groups, House of Israel and House of Judah. House of Israel went into Assyrian captivity and 125 years or so later House of Judah went into Babylonian captivity. House of Israel ended up in Europe, Great Britian, United States, Cananda, Austraila and the like and basicially what we would identify as Anglo-Saxon (Isaac's Sons), Celts, and kindred people, AS PROMISED. Yes, these are the ones that manifest the adoption today into the New Covenant which covenant pertains to them, and not everyone, or just anyone, AS PAUL SAID, and as your Amos passage suggests as well. He did this covenant redemption plan FOR HIS WIFE. Israel is his wife!
Jer 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

This is who the "gentiles" in Romans 9:24-26 are, House of Israel!
Hos 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God.
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Rom 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
Rom 9:26 And it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

Peter says the same type of thing:
1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

YES, Amos is STILL TRUE.

Answer 2

It is still true.

You see, the way I understand it is that God picked certain people from the world in order to bring to the kingdom. He gave the ability 'to know' Him or 'to want to know' Him to those He elected.

IMPORTANT:
What the people do with that ability is up to the individual.

Such is the case of what Amos was writing about. "You only have I known of all families of the Earth.'

Israel had the ability to see miracles happen around them and still go off the worship strange gods. That is something God saw as rebellious. They angered Him with their behavior, and as Romans 1 demonstrates, with a heavy hand He deals with those who know Him and then turn their backs on Him.

So even to this day God works the same way. When certain Christians say the fallacies: " We are ALL Gods children," and " God loves EVERYBODY," they simply are not telling the truth. It MAY be ANYONE that God chooses, but He doesn't choose EVERYBODY.

Even John 3:17 is taken out of context by most Christians that I have communicated with and read from. Their pastors - some of them VERY good pastors reject the idea of God's elect, saying that all are loved by God.

It doesn't show to be by the scriptures that God wants everyone. It simply isn't the case. Yes, He does not 'know' everyone. You picked out a few verses which begin to demonstrate that as fact.

Yet there are other verses which support this concept. The entire chapter of Romans 9, the way Jesus dealt with those from Tiberius in John 6, the reason why Jesus said that he spoke in parables, the way he railed against the Pharisees.

God does not want everyone. And I seem to be the only one at times saying it.

Answer 3

I'm not christian, but I do love 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things Edit: I also like the one a few verses down that says... Love, hope,faith abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. ...I guess that means that love is more important than faith, or that love is the most important part of faith...huh. Edit again: I'm sorry, but I beg to differ, love, faith and hope can end. Have you ever loved somebody, and then stopped loving them? I have, and most people have as well. I once was Christian, it didnt work out, but I still have some respect for the faith. Have a nice night :-)

Answer 4

In Amos 3:2, God did not mean 'know' as in 'knowledge of' or 'familiarity with', which is what he means in Matthew 7:23**.

In the verse from Amos, God meant 'know' as in 'relationship with'.

The two different types of 'knowledge' are demonstrated in these examples:

You know your parents, siblings (if you have any), best friend, spouse, etc. These are people you have a close, personal relationship with.

You also know the bus driver that arrives at your stop every day at 7:45am, the mailman, your child's teacher, your boss or supervisor, and casual acquaintances. While you 'know' (awareness of/familiarity with) these people, you don't know them intimately. You are not close to them.

God is saying, "You are the only ones I have a close relationship with of all of the families of the earth."

In Mark, God is saying, "And then I will profess unto them, I have no knowledge of you (as in having never met them/never being acquainted with them in any way/those people are complete strangers to him) as one of my own..."
**Both types of knowledge are represented in this verse: intimate relationship and awareness/familiarity. Essentially, you never bothered to know my son, so by default I never knew you.

However, I would be remiss in not making it clear that God does know each and every one of us, as his own dear children. But for those who have not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, that relationship with God cannot grow to it's full potential, because we are separated from him by sin.

The Amos 3:2 passage was exclusively pertinent to the Israelites at that time. The Israelites were the only people hand-selected by God to have that sort of relationship with, although he did make provisions for those who wanted to be a part of that intimacy that were not direct descendants of Abraham. You can read more about this in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. There may also be some reference to this in Numbers as well.

I don't know the scriptural references, but I can look them up, and add them to my answer later.

If you have ay other questions, please feel free to email me.

Hope I helped. God bless you. †

Have a healthy, happy and very blessed 2008!!!

P.S. I forgot to answer the question!!! Yes, Amos is still true. The Jews are still God's chosen people. But the body of Christ is made of up people who were adopted into the family, through their acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior. So, as members of the family, God is able to establish an intimate relationship with Christians, too.

Answer 5

The israelites back in the days on Moses WERE in fact God's chosen people. The only people in all the earth. When Jesus arrived on the scene he did away with the "Law"..and formed a new covenant that ALL people could come to know God....

Answer 6

The 12 in the 12 Tribes of Israel is symbolic of 12 vortexes. Spirals of energy, physical/spiritual forces at work on our World. They symbolize All of Humanity. There were also 12 Princes of Ishmael. 12 signs of the Zodiac.

Answer 7

It is true,

Christians are the true Jews today, God's people:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and [his] circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code. The praise of that one comes, not from men, but from God.

.

Answer 8

What God is referring to when He says "I never Knew You." You need to understand a few things, First the reason God made humans was to have a relationship with us. And God even let His own Son go through all that suffering and torment so He could once again have a relationship with us if we only accept the free gift of his Son. If we do not do that God will not have a relationship with us and doesn't get to know us intimately.
Because if we do not accept the free gift of His Son we remain in our sins and God cannot fellowship with sin.

Yes the truth hurts, don't it.

Take care and may GOD bless you spiritually.

Answer 9

verse 1 is true, verse 2 is no longer valid.

Is your best friend of 10 years ago still your best friend?

At the moment it was written, before Christ, Israel was his favored nation.

However, it is clear that the Jews rejected the Christ and because of that God sent His Spirit into the world to draw all who would believe unto Him.

grace2u

Answer 10

I guess they didn't get the point Dave. Amos was talking to the Jews folks, not the Gentiles.