In my devotions the other day, I read Amos 9, which is the last chapter of Amos, and 2 Peter 2-3. The entire book of Amos is intense. God is not somebody you want to mess with! Amos 1:2, “The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem.” (all Bible quotes are from the New Living Translation unless stated otherwise.) Amos 1:3, “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished!” Amos 1:4-5, “I will send down fire on King Hazael’s palace, and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed. I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter the people in the valley of Aven.” The same formula is repeated with a few other places and kings. God promises fire and destruction against those who have sinned and harmed His people.

Even Judah and Israel, God’s people, have sinned again and again, and God will not let them go unpunished. (Amos 2:4-8) In Amos 2:13-16, God says, “I will make you groan like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain. Your fastest runners will not get away. The strongest among you will become weak. Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves. The archers will not stand their ground. The swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to escape. Even those riding horses won’t be able to save themselves. On that day the most courageous of your fighting men will drop their weapons and run for their lives.” To the “fat cows” in Samaria who get drunk and oppress the poor, God says, “You will be dragged away like a fish on a hook.” (Amos 4:1-2)

In Amos 9, God emphasizes that there is nowhere to hide from His wrath. Down in the place of the dead, up in the heavens, at the top of Mount Carmel, at the bottom of the ocean, there is no escape. Amos 9:5 says, “The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn.”

But there is hope! Amos 9:9 says, “I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost.” God’s destruction is not wanton or indiscriminate. It is targeted against unrepentant sinners, and it is always restrained by His mercy. Amos 9:11 says, “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.”

People have a lot of false images of God. Some picture an ancient, weak man sitting on a throne. Perhaps He is an architect who built the world, but took His hands off and left the world to its own devices. My friend told me a somewhat confusing metaphor in which she sees God like a human resources department that is so busy that your complaints fall on deaf ears. But Amos says God is like a roaring lion! God is no weak old man or overwhelmed, ineffective bureaucracy. God is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. This title is used a few times in Amos.

This mighty God protects the weak and oppressed against the phony religious oppressors. Amos 5:21 says, “I hate all your show and pretense – the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.” What does God want? Amos 5:24, “I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” The book of Amos is not written simply to scare us. It is the call of a mighty God who is desperate to bring us back into repentance and a proper relationship with him.

Second Peter 2:1 gives a warning about false teachers: “They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.” (Remember Amos?) “Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.” (2 Peter 2:2) I hate to read that “many” will follow the evil teaching of these false teachers. Then I start to think about open and affirming churches, as well as churches that are so afraid of being labeled as bigoted that they shy away from teaching the truth of God’s Word.

2 Peter 2:7-8 says, “God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.”

In Genesis 18, three men appear near Abraham’s tent in the heat of the day. He rushes over and invites them to rest, and he instructs his wife to prepare a feast for these strangers. One of these men is revealed to be the Lord, but it seems like Abraham initially saw the men as strangers. In Genesis 19, the other two “men,” who are really angels, go down to Sodom and meet Lot. Like Abraham, the righteous man Lot welcomes them, prepares a feast for them, and insists on providing room for them to stay in his home. But Genesis 19:4 says “All the men of Sodom, young and old” (not just some of the men) surrounded the house. They demanded for Lot to send out the strangers so they can have sex with them. (Genesis 19:5) Hospitality was important in Israel, and the actions of Abraham and Lot are contrasted with those of the despicable men of Sodom. But inhospitality was not their only sin. They also wanted to commit homosexual rape on the men who arrived in their city.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people – none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.” 2 Peter 2:10 says God is “especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.” 2 Peter 2:18 says, talking about the false teachers, “With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.”

The Bible is repeatedly clear that homosexuality is a sin. Yet today’s false teachers keep dancing around the truth and finding excuses to say, “Oh, this passage that clearly condemns homosexuality, that’s not talking about committed homosexual relationships.” Or “times have changed, we have to adapt with the times.” The times may change, but the Word of God never changes. God calls us to live righteous lives. Genesis says Lot was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him, tormented by the wickedness he saw and heard every day. But the false teachers “lure unstable people into sin.” (2 Peter 2:14) “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.” (2 Peter 2:18)

But just like in Amos, there is hope. God’s Word is always a message of hope. 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord isn’t being slow about his promise to return. “He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” After the big list of people who won’t inherit the Kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, verse 11 says, “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” That includes people who have participated in many different types of sin, including homosexuality.

To be clear, I’m not saying 2 Peter 2:1 is only about open and affirming churches. There are many kinds of false teachers. But the open and affirming doctrine is corrupt and is absolutely one of the types of evil teaching this passage is talking about. God’s patience should never be mistaken for weakness. Remember the roaring lion from Amos? 2 Peter 3:10 says, “The day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

In that case, how should we live? 2 Peter 3:11-12 says, “Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.” Verse 14 says, “And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.” Finally, 2 Peter 3:17-18 says, “Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”