Last night at my place (where we yls meet every Thursday) we celebrated Rui He’s birthday with a BIG heart shaped Famous Amos cookie (sorry we didn’t take a picture of the cookie:(). Famous Amos cookies are well known & loved for their delicious taste & melt in your mouth texture.
Yesterday we also started our studies on the book of Amos (you’ll be diving into it on 20 March). Compared to its better liked & more ‘famous’ brother above, the prophet Amos (who?) might seem a far-off and dusty figure.
Infamous
So who was Amos? Let’s zip back in time to the 8th century. Amos was a shepherd from the town of Tekoa (small town or what?). He lived when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel (1:1). Although a wicked and disobedient king (2 Ki 14:24), he expanded Israel’s territory, adding the stripey area (Syria) to Israel (see map).
So in Amos’s time, Israel had military security (6:1) and fancy homes for the rich – more than one, for different seasons (3:15)!
Most of them would have seen this as God’s favour upon them for they were God’s chosen people and very religious:
Amos 4:5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign LORD.
So Amos’ message must have come as a shock to the Israelites:
Amos 1:2 He said:
“The LORD roars from Zion
and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
and the top of Carmel withers.”
Destruction is about to come on the seemingly secure, prosperous and religious nation of Israel.
As you might guess, this message didn’t make Amos a very popular guy.
Amos 7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
What went wrong with Israel? Why was God so angry with them?
God speaks his judgement upon his people because they are his chosen people. As his privileged chosen people comes the responsibility of living God’s way:
Ex. 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Yet as God turns the microscope on Israel’s life they are found wanting.
Amos 2:6-8 catalogues for us their misdeeds:
They oppress the poor and weak
Amos 2:6 This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath].
They sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
Their justice system is corrupt
Amos 2:7 They trample on the heads of the poor
as upon the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
They are perverted in their sexual practices
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
No wonder God is angry. The people, the rescued, who promised to obey Him, are doing terrible things and thinking they’re okay as long as they are still burning sacrifices to God!
Irrelevant?
History and geography lesson over. Too bad for Israel, we might say. Back to real life. But isn’t there something familiar about Israel’s situation?
If we think about it, we are very much like the Israelites. Aren’t we a prosperous people? To most of us the credit crunch of last year is long gone. We are a prosperous people, our borders are secure. We go about our school, our holidays, our leisure, our plans, feeling quite pleased with ourselves. This is not to say that economic prosperity and peace is wrong but when we put our trust in it instead of God then it becomes an idol and we might be blind to the things and people God cares about.
Take the idol test:
❑ Leisure? Would you rather play Xbox/PSP/go shopping than read the Bible? There is a time for leisure activities but if your life is one leisure activity after another, you might need to ask yourself who your God is.
❑ Studies? Our grades in school give us our identity. That’s the A-student, that’s the B-student. Yet what matters in life is not the grade that we get but whether we are in Christ.
❑ Money? We chase after money because money can give us our food, our condo, our car, our 100-inch plasma TV, our overseas holiday & our retirement fund. Because money can seem to provide for all our wants & needs, we can start to love money rather than God.
Unloving-who, me?
Does being immersed in my own pursuits make me blind or careless towards those around me who are different from me? (older, younger, richer, poorer, from another school etc.)
Do I value them the way God does?
Who might this change the way I behave and how I see my relationships?
So fellow BASICers, as we begin the study of the book of Amos, let us pray to our heavenly Father to give us attentive ears to listen and obedient hearts to follow his word for this is a word that is very timely and relevant to us all:)
