The Oracle

made with Proclaim

Rev. Lex DeLong

Washington Baptist Church

Major Posts from Minor Prophets: Be an Influencer • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago • 57:24

Amos

Jeremiah 33

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Many are familiar with a series of sci-fi movies called the Matrix, in which artificial intelligence machines covertly tap human energy in order to sustain their own existence, while at the same time connecting the humans’ consciousness to a artificial matrix, a virtual world, in order to keep their minds engaged, occupied, and distracted into a complacent existence. In that matrix, there is an Oracle (a wise sage) that Neo must find, in order to receive the wise counsel about his future to know if he is the prophesied “one” that has been born, discovered, and come for one purpose, to be the only “one” that can single handedly free the human race from the bondage of the machines. But, what is this “Oracle” that Neo must find?

“According to Polygon.com, the Oracle is an “intuitive” computer program [avatar-ed in the movie as a person] designed to create probabilistic models of predictions based upon qualitative inferences of the human psyche...To put that as simply as possible, it is plausible to speculate that the Oracle, because of her role in the creation of the Matrix, is a special type of program — one that has access to the sum total of every decision made by every individual plugged into the Matrix. And not just the iteration of the Matrix seen in the trilogy, but every iteration of the Matrix that has ever existed.” (https://www.polygon.com/22820567/oracle-matrix-movies-explained)

But, that is in the movies. What really is an “oracle?”

Oxford Languages, says that the word “oracle” has two meanings, “

1. “a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity.” This is similar to the oracle in the Matrix series.

2. [ARCHAIC] “a response or message given by an oracle, typically one that is ambiguous or obscure.”

This one is less a person and more the message from the gods, through a person, but note: it was often considered ambiguous or obscure, at times a puzzle to solve as evidence of great wisdom and intellect, since the gods in ancient mythology was not thought to communicate in the least with humanity, or it’s creation.

(https://www.google.com/search?q=oracle+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS953US953&oq=oracle&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0i131i433i512j0i131i433j0i131i433i512j69i60j69i61l2.4668j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

In the Bible, the Hebrew and Greek terms translated into the English word “oracle” are different from that of the ANE mythology. Of the 17 times “oracle” is found in the AV of the OT, 16 of them are misinterpreted in the AV, according to most authoritative scholars. The actual Hebrew word is found only once in 2 Sam. 16:23 “And the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one inquired of the word of God [“oracle” heb. dāḇār]; so was all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom.” The actual meaning of the word alone is simply just “word” or “utterance.” “Word,” tied together with the phrase, “of God,” carries with it the impact of being, or course — an understood truth, since it was from the one and only, true God of all creation. The usage of a word tells a great deal about how it was understood, beyond just the simple meaning. Here, Ahithophel’s advice was so dependable, specific, purposeful, and valuable that it was considered as if it was the very words of God Himself. Earlier in same book, one can see what they believed about this oracle, or word from God, found in 2 Sam. 7:28 “And now, O Lord God, Thou art God, and Thy words are truth, and Thou hast promised this good thing to Thy servant.” There are other indications of how the Jews understood the oracle or words from God:

Psalm 119:160 NASB

The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting. ש Shin.

1 Kings 17:24 NASB

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

More specific yet is the Greek term for “oracle,” “In [which] the NT [word] ‘oracles’ translates the Gk. logia, meaning divine utterances...”

[R. H. Mounce, “Oracle,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 850.]

The word is used typically to refer to the entire Old Testament, or a specific part of it, including at times, the Law or the sum total of the Prophets.

The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (Oracle)

The ‘oracles of God’ in Heb. 5:12, AV (‘word’, RSV) represent the body of Christian doctrine as it relates both to its OT foundation and to God’s final utterance through his Son (Heb. 1:1). [Additionally,] 1 Pet. 4:11 teaches that the NT preacher must speak as one who speaks the oracles of God, treating his words as carefully as if they were inspired Scripture.

The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (Oracle)

B. B. Warfield who concludes that ta logia, as employed in the NT, are ‘divinely authoritative communications before which men stand in awe and to which they bow in humility’ (The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, 1948, p. 403).

Warfield focused on the dependability nature of these oracles, “As God said it, it was and will be so.” The awe and humility, he would intimate, is due to the absolute reality that humanity is completely and eternally subject to the will of God that those communications represent.

Using these ideas about what constitutes an oracle in the Bible, we can conclude that:

An Oracle is a message from God, spoken through a spokesperson of His choosing, “(prophet, priest, or king), usually pronouncing blessing, instruction or judgment.”

(Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Oracle,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1592.)

The Hebrew word for “oracle” is not found in the book of Amos, but using this understanding of what an oracle is, there are distinctly 3 oracles revealed by Amos that will help us better understand what God was directly saying to His chosen people. 3 Oracles (Amos 8:4–14; Amos 9:7–10; Amos 9:11–15). These are declarations of God that came through Amos the shepherd that was for His people. They came with a warning of judgment for their injustice and included future blessing that He has in store for the nation.

So, if you would allow, let’s take a look at these three “Oracles” from God that came through Amos so that we might discover together what God’s warning of judgment was for them, what instruction He gave them, what blessing was promised, and what about that impacts our destiny.

Sin is wrong and leads to death for all people, but God is faithful to save.

The first “Oracle” is found in Amos 8:4-14.

God's Moral Standard Cannot Be Ignored (Amos 8:4-14)

++God does not want outward religion void of heart relationship (Amos 8:5a, 10)

++God despises those who use others (injustice, Amos 8:5b-6)

++God sees and vindicates the cheated (Amos 8:7, 8-13)

++God Judges those who deny Him (Amos 8:14)

Sin Leads to Death (Amos 9:7-10)

++Only God truly saves all (Amos 9:7)

++God sees and judges sin (Amos 9:8, 9-10)

++God saves His people of promise (Amos 9:8b ,9b)

Isa. 43:11 ““I, even I, am the Lord; And there is no savior besides Me.”

The Jewish Festival of Sukkot, which began on October 9th and ends today, October 16th. Sukkot is also known as the “Festival of Tabernacles” and the “Feast of Booths”, and it is customary for those celebrating the festival to build sukkah, or temporary huts either in the area surrounding their cities or on their rooftops, to live in during the holiday. The festival is mentioned in the Bible at Leviticus 23:34 and recalls the time when the Israelites lived in huts during their wandering in the wilderness.

Faith in God Leads to Eternal Restoration (Amos 9:11-15)

++God keeps all His Promises (Amos 9:11-12)

++God’s blessing exceeds the imagination (Amos 9:13)

++God’s people will prosper (Amos 9:14)

++God’s people will be home forever (Amos 9:15)

Sin is wrong and leads to death for all people, but God is faithful to save.

The most realistic book in the world is the Bible. God is real, men are real and so is sin and so are death and hell, toward which sin inevitably leads.4

A. W. Tozer

In the death of Jesus God has shown himself (1) to be in the right in dealing properly and impartially with sin; (2) to be faithful to the covenant; (3) to have dealt properly with sin; and (4) to be committed to saving those who call out in helpless faith.

N. T. Wright

In the new Exodus, Jesus will lead all God’s people out of the slavery of sin and death, and home to their promised inheritance—the new creation in which the whole world will be redeemed.