Project 119: Amos 3
| Project 119 | Mary Splawn
Amos wasn’t a man of the cloth as Jerry Reed’s country song “Amos Moses” insists. Instead, he was a country farmer and shepherd from Judah whom God entrusted with a message to the family of God. His message rings with authenticity because he wasn’t a professional prophet. Rather, he was a regular man who was tasked with the unenviable task of bringing woe on his fellow kinsmen.
His message is one of doom because the Israelites have allowed social injustice to run rampant in the land. And while the Israelites thought they were safe from destruction because they were the chosen “family” (see vs. 1-2) of God, they were wrong! They have misinterpreted their status as God’s children as a privilege instead of a responsibility. As another popular song states, they “should have known better” than to mistreat the poor and to violate God’s law.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required” (see Luke 12:48). This is true for the Israelites and it is true for us. As God’s children, we are given the privilege of salvation, but the relationship also comes with responsibility. We are called to be messengers of God to the people around us, bringing peace and justice and help for those who cannot help themselves.
As Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me … truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40, ESV).
Let us not misuse our privilege as followers of Christ; rather, let us pray that God would open our eyes to the injustices around us and use us as His hands and feet in the world.
Amos 3 (ESV):
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the LORD has done it?
7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall come to an end,”
declares the LORD.