We agree with the prophet until he offends us.(Amos, Obadiah)

2:4

Some people despise rules. They don't like being prevented from doing precisely what they want to do. "...they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked."

It's usually not that someone says, 'I hate God's rules.' It's usually something like, 'President Nelson has really stepped out of bounds in last conference.' Or, 'I think God is nature and we should do whatever is natural for us.' Or, 'God is love so any type of love is beautiful.' People can feel animosity towards any organization that says something that they don't agree with.

"Their lies caused them to err." It is the lies that we tell ourselves that cause us to err. A lie may be: 'religion is manmade so they're all bad.' A lie may be 'Joseph Smith was a polygamist so I don't believe in the church and am finding happiness without religion.' A lie may be, 'God loves unconditionally so whatever I do is okay. God doesn't punish.' We tell ourselves comfortable lies to feel better about ourselves when we follow 'our truth.'

2:12

People who are abandoning the church want no reminders of it in their lives. "But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not." They don't want to see Nazarites not drinking and not cutting their hair. Their discipleship makes the rebel feel bad about themselves. Misery loves company. If I give in to drinking, it's very soothing to surround myself with members who also drink. A group of sinners has a higher self-esteem than a lone person looking in the mirror.

The last thing a rebel wants is for a prophet to tell them anything. They don't want counsel or reprimand or prophesying. A prophet's words reminds a sinner that they're sinning. It's much easier to be around fellow loud sinners and quiet prophets.

2:14-16

No amount of strength and brains can help us avoid the consequences of sin. "Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord." We can't out-manliness our way out of the punishment if God intends to punish.

Some of us can build ourselves up and be impressed with our own intelligence and strength. I hear people who criticize the Church saying, 'God would never do that.' Such narcissism to believe that you understand the mind of God. It's an example of how we think we're on an even playing ground with God.

All of that goes away when faced with the power of God. We realize how small and insignificant we are when compared to His glory. We can be swept away like stubble in an instant.

An important phrase here is "deliver himself." None of us is able to deliver ourselves. The only path to deliverance is Jesus Christ - not ourselves.

3:3

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" When I read this, I thought about marriage. I thought about those who marry outside of our faith.

For most people, marriage is challenging. Anytime you put two people in a room they are going to have to work some things out. There are going to be differing opinions, strengths and weaknesses.

What helps is to have a common goal. If you are both striving to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and believing in a common religion, it is easier to walk side-by-side on a path. It is much, much harder if you're walking separate paths.

If there isn't agreement on the purpose of life, how do you keep the big picture in mind when you're seeing two different big pictures?

I am grateful that Marci and I are united in our beliefs about the purpose of life and what is important. We understand that scripture study is important. We go to the temple each week together. We attend church together. We pray together.

It may be that a couple is unified in every other way. But if the one thing that you disagree on happens to be the purpose of life, the core of the unity is taken away. How can your priorities align when you have differing opinions of the reason why we are mortality?

3:7

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." There would not be as many people leaving the church if they believed this. Instead, we have individuals attempting to figure out the mind of God and using their own perspective, experience and bias to judge what is right and wrong.

Of course we have the Spirit and can receive revelation for ourselves. But common sense suggests that we each may be misaligned a little based on our unique circumstances and perspective. If you have a church with 16,000,000 people and everyone is trying to figure out things themselves, there won't be much order or unity.

God understands this and has provided a way to have some agreement and unity. If we know that a person is the prophet, we should trust what he says as the truth and base our lives on it. It's not naive to believe this. It's taking into account that Eric Adams has unique experiences and thoughts that bias everything he hears and sees. You and I can witness the same event and understand two completely different sets of facts.

It's narcissistic to believe that, if something doesn't make sense to me, it must not be right. People who talk about why they left the church almost always sound self-centered and narcissistic. They view themselves as the arbiters of truth. It's not a good look. If I hear the phrase 'my truth' one more time, I will get a headache.

This principle of following a prophet is going to be become more and more critical as society continues to worship itself.

4:4-5

"Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God." The Lord is criticizing Israelites that they go through the motions of worship but "multiply transgression."

The people enjoy doing things to be seen:

• "Bring your sacrifices every morning."

• "Bring your tithes after three years."

• "And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven."

• "Publish the free offerings."

We cannot go through the motions of living this gospel and expect to develop as a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, doing things for public recognition moves you further away from Christ -not closer. Hypocrisy is not one of the qualities that makes us better disciples.

4:10

"I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." I've included one verse but there are multiple verses that explain how God is punishing Israel yet they are still not repenting. He's brought famine, drought, war, infestations, pestilence, burning and death. It hasn't had any effect on them.

In the past, when Israel was punished, they repented. To suffer and NOT turn to God demonstrates a different level of disobedience and rebellion. It illustrates an extra-hardened heart. Our instinct is to turn to God when there isn't anyone else to turn to. The fact that they weren't illustrates where they were spiritually.

Unfortunately, I believe that society is largely in this same situation. There is a lot of suffering going on and little turning to God. It's not going to be an easy ride from here on out...

5:10

"They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly." Our Church leaders are very loved and popular. World leaders meet with and honor them. I think there will come a day when it's not this way.

I think the day is coming when what they say won't be so pleasant to hear. What they say will always be motivated by love but it may be more and more warning and chastisement. What they say will not be so easy on the ears. Listening to conference might be a difficult experience.

I think people outside of the church will be offended and those inside the church may lose their testimonies. Our leaders may be saying things that they don't agree with or it makes them feel bad about themselves.

People don't like their sins being called out. We don't like being rebuked. We like luscious flattery coming out of people's mouths.

That isn't the responsibility of a prophet. The prophet's job is to 'speak uprightly.' That means the truth. Clearly.

6:3

"Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near." We can, at the same time:

1. Put off the consequences of our sin.

2. Accelerate the day of our destruction.

By procrastinating our repentance, we bring closer our demise. If we would simply repent, our destruction would be indefinitely postponed.

Sometimes we make ourselves think that the day of consequence isn't coming. We believe that we will always have time to change our ways. We continue to sin believing that we can be better at some point in the future. I think we even postpone our entire lives.

In Helaman 13:38, we read "But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head." I think it's much easier to repent in this life than in the next. If we put it off until the spirit world, it's much harder.

Why? Ask yourself, how hard is it to repent of an addiction in the spirit world? You will overcome your addiction without a body but....where is the growth that should have happened while you resisted the temptation that was clear and present? If you give into your sexual desires in this life and then get over that temptation in the next life because you have no ability to satisfy your desires, where does the spiritual growth happen? You stop your addiction but it's because it's forced on you - not that you overcame it.

When we are in the spirit world, how easy is it to have faith that there is a God and an afterlife? It is easy because you're still alive without your body. But, you've lost the opportunity to live your life in faith. Growth comes from acting out of faith. Take away the need for faith and the growth potential is less.

It's a hard concept to wrap our head around but it helps me understand why now is the time to work out our salvation.

6:13

"Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?" We sometimes celebrate our worldly success and it increases our self-esteem and pride. While we should have a healthy sense of self-esteem, we shouldn't take it further and believe that we - independent of any other person - is the source of strength and goodness.

We must see that spiritual progress is the only success that matters in the eternal world. Financial success can help us in this life but it will be worthless at some point. All worldly things will eventually be "of nought."

We certainly shouldn't rejoice over worldly success if our spiritual growth is declining. This is what the Israelites were doing. They were pointing to military success and attributing it to their strength. This builds pride and pride comes before the fall. Always.

7:10

Amos was prophesying that the kingdom would fall. Specifically, "the house of Jeroboam." Amaziah the priest went to king Jeroboam and claimed that "Amos hath conspired against thee." Which is an embellishment. He also said that "the land is not able to bear all his words." What does that mean?

More and more, the land is not going to be able to bear the words of our prophet. They will be viewed as incorrect or outdated or harsh or bigoted...something. It will be hard for people to hear the truth and they will look for any way to CANCEL the prophet and the Church.

We need to see this coming and prepare ourselves to be strong in the face of public outcry.

7:14-15

"Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." Amos was no prominent person. He wasn't special. He was a herdman.

The Lord can call anyone and then strengthen them. We don't have to be a member of the right family or have the right connections.

But more importantly, we must all see ourselves as equal children of our Heavenly Father with the same potential to become like him. It doesn't matter our station in this earth. In fact, it helps us in the eternities to be at a lower station. It's much easier to be humble when you're not great in the eyes of others.

7:16-17

I LOVE how direct and bold Amos is with the king. "Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land." He doesn't mince words. He is called of God and isn't going to shrink before an earthly king.

We should remember Amos when if we are ever intimidated by an illustrious group. I've seen people testify before congress who weren't intimidated and answered questions boldly. I hope that I will not shrink when the eyes of powerful critics are focused on me.

8:11-12

This is a well-used verse by missionaries. When explaining the apostasy that would cover the earth, we use this scripture. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

It's interesting to consider that there may have been people who were sincerely looking for the word of God and not being able to find it. It is a good example of how the Light of Christ is in each of us and helps us know when we are hearing something that is true.

It also illustrates that we have a natural sense that there is a grand purpose to life rather than simply surviving. We see this today. We see people turning to meditation, Eastern religions, even yoga to find a greater purpose. Keep in mind we all shouted for joy when we learned about the plan of salvation. We were very excited to come to this earth. We wanted to return. This yearning is still inside of us even though we cannot remember the premortal events.

I am grateful that I live at a time when the truth is again on the earth. I feel the satisfaction of knowing the purpose of life. I appreciate having an eternal perspective before my eyes always. It has helped me stay on the right path. I am so happy that I don't wander from sea to sea looking for something that I am never going to find.

Obadiah

1:12

For some reason, many of us take pleasure in others' misfortune. I think it's a form of pride. If someone is having a bad day, our day got better in comparison. "But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress." It doesn't demonstrate love and kindness and certainly doesn't help us develop charity.

If we love Heavenly Father, that love will extend to his children. If we love others, we will not rejoice at their misfortune - certainly not their destruction. We would have empathy and feel affection for them as our brothers and sisters experiencing this pain-filled life on earth. We would feel the desire to help. We would, at least, mourn with those who mourn.

A big part of the purpose of life is to develop empathy. In the premortal world, there wasn't suffering as we know it. It would have been impossible for us to have empathy for those who are suffering body and soul because we hadn't truly experienced the good AND the bad. We could never become like God until we had fully experienced that everything has its opposite.

I believe that empathy is a step on the path to charity.