April 29, 2021 (Thursday)
Balance is a tough thing to maintain when we view God. One
error is to think of God as a loving God, without justice. Let’s tackle that
error with a quick look at something the prophet Amos said.
The image of “summer fruit” is found in Amos 8. Check it
out, “He said,
“Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said
to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again forgive
them.” [Amos 8:2 CEB] Woah. Did God
just say He would never forgive them?
Let’s back up and look at Amos in his historical context. It
is believed that Amos was among the first of the writing prophets. There were
prophets before such as Samuel and Elijah but they didn’t write a book. Amos
was a contemporary of Isaiah (writing to the southern kingdom) and Hosea. Amos
lived in the southern kingdom but was a missionary to the northern kingdom.
The idea of “summer fruit” is fruit that is ripe, just about
to spoil. What God is doing here is issuing a warning that they are close to
crossing a line. At some point God must deliver justice, it is who He is. So
what is God so concerned about that is about to go bad? I am so glad you asked!
“Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the
needy!” [Amos 8:4 NLT] God is not
talking about something grotesque like murder. God is not talking about
something threatening like sexual sins. God is not even defending Himself
against blasphemy and idol worship. This is about taking advantage of others.
I hate to say it, but today we would call it “social
justice.” Trampling down is an image of oppression that is deliberate. Robbing
or destroying the poor through attitude, word, and practice. Look at the hypocrisy
involved.
“When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain, and
the Sabbath so that we may offer wheat for sale, make the ephah smaller,
enlarge the shekel, and deceive with false balances.” [Amos 8:5 CEB] Busted!
These are the ones who observe the holy days, this image is of those who are “righteous.”
Not real righteous, the fake kind that makes us feel warm and fuzzy. The kind
that lets us sleep peacefully at night.
The robber happens through deception. The “ephah” was a unit
of measurement. The “shekel” was a unit of money (generally silver). The idea
here is to make what is purchased a bit less and the price a bit more. When my
Mom went to the market, she took me along to watch the vendors and make sure
they didn’t have multiple cups. The big cup was for buying, the small cup was
for selling. We didn’t do business with the cheaters.
This was all done, “in order to buy the needy for silver and the helpless for
sandals, and sell garbage as grain?” [Amos 8:6 CEB] The point of
this economic manipulation was to create slaves. People who would work for
little to nothing. In our system we should include vote based on empty promises
(or threats). The two tricks to cheat the buyer were to add chaff and dirt
swept off the floor and mix it in to the grain.
Here’s the point: God will protect the weak. Continuing forward,
Amos lists all sorts of punishment for a nation that oppresses the poor. The most
bitter, in my opinion is this, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will
send hunger and thirst on the land; neither a hunger for bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the Lord ’s words.” [Amos 8:11 CEB]
Pleas notice, it is not the Word of God that is sparse. The starvation
and thirst is not for food and water, it’s for HEARING word of the Lord. That
my dear friends is our biggest need…
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