Amos 3.3, a thoughtful verse: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

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farouk

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Amos 3.3 is a good reference point when it comes to examining the moral and spiritual basis of fellowship, such as described in John's First Epistle.
 

amadeus

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@farouk

This thing of having two witnesses to something is important in the things of God but as is the way of men, it can be and is at times misused...

"And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." Gen 41:32

"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." Deut 19:15

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3

Then consider the case of Naboth, an apparently honest man who simply chose to retain his vineyard according to the law. Jezebel to please her husband, Ahab, hired two men to lie about Naboth effectively using the law already cited to have Naboth stoned. Then King Ahab simply took possession of the land:

"And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died." I King 21:6-13

And the case of Jesus:

"For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.
And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
But neither so did their witness agree together." Mark 14:56-59

Nevertheless they contrived the grounds to condemn Jesus. They broke their own law in order to get their own way...

Two may indeed walk together in darkness instead of Light and accomplish an evil purpose... However, is God not always ultimately in control?

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Gen 50:20

Does anyone today ever misuse what is written in scripture for their own selfish purposes?
 
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farouk

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@farouk

This thing of having two witnesses to something is important in the things of God but as is the way of men, it can be and is at times misused...

"And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." Gen 41:32

"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." Deut 19:15

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3

Then consider the case of Naboth, an apparently honest man who simply chose to retain his vineyard according to the law. Jezebel to please her husband, Ahab, hired two men to lie about Naboth effectively using the law already cited to have Naboth stoned. Then King Ahab simply took possession of the land:

"And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died." I King 21:6-13

And the case of Jesus:

"For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.
And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
But neither so did their witness agree together." Mark 14:56-59

Nevertheless they contrived the grounds to condemn Jesus. They broke their own law in order to get their own way...

Two may indeed walk together in darkness instead of Light and accomplish an evil purpose... However, is God not always ultimately in control?

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Gen 50:20

Does anyone today ever misuse what is written in scripture for their own selfish purposes?
Agreement can indeed be a conspiracy in darkness, as opposed to a walking together in the light.
 
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amadeus

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Agreement can indeed be a conspiracy in darkness, as opposed to a walking together in the light.
People can and do use the written Bible to accomplish God's good purpose, but there are some who can and do misuse what was written under inspiration. The latter is too often the way that the beast of a man leads. This is why we need to submit to and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit always... rather than the lead of the beastly nature in us.

The choice is ours! God will help us... if we want and ask for His help.
 

farouk

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I have read some interesting things in this thread.

At the very least, two do not walk together in the things they are in disagreement with.
These are general principles, of course. They do apply to spiritual matters. I'm thinking for example of the following verses in the NT:

Acts 2.42: "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

1 John 1.6-7: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
 

Billy Evmur

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Not doctrines...Charity.? Colossians 3:13-15 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. [14] And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. [15] And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
You can love bros and sisses when they differ in doctrine ... but you can't walk with them, in terms of say evangelism. For ministry you need folk who are of one mind and heart. imo
 

amadeus

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@Philip James
Thank you my friend! Between your alert which made me reread my own post and a message of blessing from yet another brother @Truman Ron Coates the Lord has got a hold of me one more time!

That is more that the two even of the OP verse given by @farouk indicates. With Farouk that is 4!


People can and do use the written Bible to accomplish God's good purpose, but there are some who can and do misuse what was written under inspiration. The latter is too often the way that the beast of a man leads. This is why we need to submit to and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit always... rather than the lead of the beastly nature in us.

The choice is ours! God will help us... if we want and ask for His help.

And all of that brings me back to this:

"O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" Jerem 10:23
 

Jay Ross

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Amos 3:3: - 3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
NKJV
This is the terms of peace that God sets before us, unless we agree with the statutes of God, then we cannot walk with God, together. Why did God say that He could not walk with the northern kingdom? They had become idol worshippers. The king had set up tow idols to worship in the hope of stopping the people from going to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God and to offer up their Sin sacrifices yearly. How did the people in the Northern Kingdom respond? Did they leave the northern kingdom to live in the southern kingdom so that they could worship God in the Jerusalem Temple?

The same is true today. Unless we agree with God's statutes, then we are not walking with God, even though we try and justify what we do, and say that God is not upset with the things we do when they do not line up with His Statutes.

This coming into agreement with God can be likened to walking around a mountain, God keeps taking us back to the same issues for us to rectify with Him through repentance. Sadly, like King David, we do not recognise that we have sinned, and so we do not of ourselves repent until God brings adversity against us, and even then we believe that God will not do that to us, His Chosen People, but He did, because history confirms that this is so.

Israel, both the Northern and the Southern Kingdom have to repent of their continued Idolatrous worship where we adopt idols inscribed upon our respective hearts or bodies and worship those idols say that they are hidden from God.

A time is coming in our near future, when the Gentiles who have been trampling God Sanctuary and His earthly hosts/people will be draw to a place where they will be judged for their trampling of God's sanctuary and His earthly people hosts/people and they will be gathered together with the wicked fallen heavenly hosts and imprisoned in a pit for many days to await the time of their final punishment.

Have we as God's "Christian" people been any better than God's earthly chosen hosts? Do we yell out, "We have the new covenant. We have the New Covenant." just as the people in Judah, the southern kingdom yelled out to Jeremiah, "We have the Temple. We have the Temple. Surely God would not come up against His Temple and cause it to be destroyed."

When God shuts "up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among the people," will we recognise the hand of God coming against us such that we will repent, or will we be defiant claiming that we are a righteous people and that it is the sinful heathens that God is coming against. Will the Righteous "Christians" repent of their sins against God and get right once more with God.

Shalom.

PS: God has shut up the heavens, we have climate change, he has sent locusts to devour our land, we have tyrannical governments, he has allowed pestilence to come upon the earth, we have covid-19, but do we see the signposts of our despair and repent for acting God like in the things that we do globally? Apologies for rewriting 2 Chron 7:13 in this way to make my point.
 

farouk

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Amos 3:3: - 3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
NKJV
This is the terms of peace that God sets before us, unless we agree with the statutes of God, then we cannot walk with God, together. Why did God say that He could not walk with the northern kingdom? They had become idol worshippers. The king had set up tow idols to worship in the hope of stopping the people from going to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God and to offer up their Sin sacrifices yearly. How did the people in the Northern Kingdom respond? Did they leave the northern kingdom to live in the southern kingdom so that they could worship God in the Jerusalem Temple?

The same is true today. Unless we agree with God's statutes, then we are not walking with God, even though we try and justify what we do, and say that God is not upset with the things we do when they do not line up with His Statutes.

This coming into agreement with God can be likened to walking around a mountain, God keeps taking us back to the same issues for us to rectify with Him through repentance. Sadly, like King David, we do not recognise that we have sinned, and so we do not of ourselves repent until God brings adversity against us, and even then we believe that God will not do that to us, His Chosen People, but He did, because history confirms that this is so.

Israel, both the Northern and the Southern Kingdom have to repent of their continued Idolatrous worship where we adopt idols inscribed upon our respective hearts or bodies and worship those idols say that they are hidden from God.

A time is coming in our near future, when the Gentiles who have been trampling God Sanctuary and His earthly hosts/people will be draw to a place where they will be judged for their trampling of God's sanctuary and His earthly people hosts/people and they will be gathered together with the wicked fallen heavenly hosts and imprisoned in a pit for many days to await the time of their final punishment.

Have we as God's "Christian" people been any better than God's earthly chosen hosts? Do we yell out, "We have the new covenant. We have the New Covenant." just as the people in Judah, the southern kingdom yelled out to Jeremiah, "We have the Temple. We have the Temple. Surely God would not come up against His Temple and cause it to be destroyed."

When God shuts "up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among the people," will we recognise the hand of God coming against us such that we will repent, or will we be defiant claiming that we are a righteous people and that it is the sinful heathens that God is coming against. Will the Righteous "Christians" repent of their sins against God and get right once more with God.

Shalom.

PS: God has shut up the heavens, we have climate change, he has sent locusts to devour our land, we have tyrannical governments, he has allowed pestilence to come upon the earth, we have covid-19, but do we see the signposts of our despair and repent for acting God like in the things that we do globally? Apologies for rewriting 2 Chron 7:13 in this way to make my point.
Interesting point about the Northern and Southern kingdom; there came the time when they just couldn't walk together. Thanks...
 

Jay Ross

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Interesting point about the Northern and Southern kingdom; there came the time when they just couldn't walk together. Thanks...

Sorry you have missed the whole point of what has been written. Engage your brain before putting pen to paper. You may see what was actually posted. Do we all walk in agreement with God?
 
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