Today’s reading in the Book of Amos continues, like yesterday’s reading in Isaiah, revealing the condition of God’s people. The degree of wickedness among His people is astounding!
Notice the charges God lays against His people. They have adopted debt slavery, in some cases, even over a pair of sandals (Amos 2:6). Instead of helping the oppressed, they trample them and take bribes (Amos 2:7, Amos 5:12). They are morally corrupt (Amos 2:7). They have forgotten how to do right (Amos 3:10). While it was also a time of wealth, the wealth was all taken by theft and violence (Amos 3:10). It was a time where the rich were getting richer. The poor became poorer (Amos 4:1, 5:11). They hated honest judges. They despised anyone telling the truth, and they twisted justice (Amos 5:7, 10). Despite all this, they continued to observe their religious festivals and solemn assemblies, and God hates their hypocrisy (Amos 5:21–23). Thus, Amos warns them of the coming judgment by singing a funeral song (Amos 5:1).
Yet what does God say to them? Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live! … Come back to the LORD and live! … Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper… Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy… (Amos 5:4, 6, 14-15 NLT) If God’s people repent, the awful judgments spoken against them can be turned away. How good of God to give undeserving transgressors a warning! What a reminder that God is willing to accept genuine repentance on the eve of judgment! Turn and live!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Amos 1-5.