This is what I like about a Bible reading program. When else would you read Amos?
Amos doesn’t appear to be a “professional” prophet. I’m not even sure there are such things, but there did seem to be some prophets who had no other jobs, like Elijah and Elisha, and John the Baptist. For some reason the idea of a person who ordinarily tends sheep but suddenly speaks prophecy both appeals to me and brings me pause. I mean, how would you know this isn’t someone just looking for attention?
Maybe that’s why the earthquake is mentioned here. Earthquakes were serious business in their day (even more so than today) because their cities were nothing more than rocks mortared together. A good “shake” would bring down the entire city’s defenses, and they were also known to drastically alter the course of streams, rivers and underground water flow. Since much of the area is rock, a shift in the underlying structure would block a stream from appearing, and put a whole region in drought. Wells could easily go dry after an earthquake.
It isn’t hard to imagine that an earthquake would be seen as judgment from God.
This passage talks about fire falling from heaven as part of the judgment. I’m not sure what that is. Maybe volcanic activity associated with the earthquakes, maybe a reference to the Assyrians burning everything as they terrorized the region, or something else entirely.
I’m thinking that Amos and Isaiah both were speaking during the same period. This particular prophecy was given “during the reign of Uzziah” and Isaiah 6 was “in the year king Uzziah died”, so this was spoken, then the earthquake, then Isaiah. Sort of a “one-two”punch from the Lord probably, hoping His people would begin to understand and repent.
There is a dual main theme here: Evil practices and deeds from the past (even the distant past) have not been forgotten by God. No one is getting away with anything. God outlines the things He is angry about, and all of them follow the same general thought: they weren’t fair or just, or righteous. In Israels case He says something really remarkable. “Of all the people on the earth, I have only been intimate with your family”. Think of this for a minute…God is bringing judgment upon Israel specifically because they didn’t obey Him and they had been intimate with Him.
What does that mean for Christians who decide not to obey? It seems to me that we will be judged more strenuously than those who haven’t been “intimate” with Christ. I will have to mull that idea over for a while and see if the Holy Spirit says anything to me about it. If not, I’ll probably let it go…I have no plans to be disobedient anyway.
Back to the “main theme”…. The second part of the theme is the opportunity to repent. On one hand God is saying to the people “go ahead and do whatever you want, because I am going to crush you down so hard that you will never recover”. On the other hand He’s leaving the door open slightly with a hint that they could avoid it all simply by returning to Him. Isaiah will echo that sentiment, as will every other prophet.
If Israel had repented at this late date, who knows what God might have done? As it is, they are headed for a crushing defeat by the Babylonian army and 70 years of exile is Assyria. During that time their land will be overrun with thorns and briers. New people will be transplanted into the area to maintain a few farms. David’s kingdom will be gone, by all visible means of measure. The walls will all be demolished, the wells stopped, the people gone….and so many will die in the process. In the coming days we will get a hint of how desperate it became. But it they had repented, perhaps God would have relented and not sent them into slavery. Perhaps their punishment would be defeat without exile, or exile for 5 years instead of 70. Whatever the case, it would have been less than it eventually became.
The people never repent. Oh, the kings of Judah cry out to God and survive a little longer than the northern kingdom, but the nation as a whole refuses to return to God, even though they have seen so many warnings and signs calling for repentance.
George Bernard Shaw once said “we have not lost faith, we have transferred it from God to the medical profession”. Israel hasn’t lost faith, they have transferred it from God to pagan idols, several of which are mentioned in Chapter 5, but are unknown to us. Perhaps a reference to the god saturn, or some other pagan deity. In modern times we haven’t lost faith, we have transferred it to science. Science tells us that the earthquake happened because of tectonic plates and geological forces deep within the earth. God is removed from the equation, and it is simply explained away. It reminds me of Moses throwing his staff down in front of Pharaoh and watching it turn into a snake. Pharaoh didn’t listen because his magicians did the same, and explained it away as “magic”. The magicians stole the faith of Pharaoh, and had him believing in them, instead of God. By the way, that didn’t end well for Pharaoh, it didn’t end well for Israel, and it won’t end well for us.
God is more interested in justice, treating others fairly and with compassion and not taking revenge…that sort of thing, than He is in our making music and bringing large sums of money into the church. Don’t stop bringing in large sums of money….just don’t forget what”s even more important..treating people with justice.
How can we as a church treat others with kindness, compassion and fairness? I think part of it can be accomplished by going on mission trips and serving the missionaries and the indigenous people, part of it is accomplished by our efforts to put out a meal every Wednesday night for free. Part of it could be sacrificing time to teach children, and make it fun and interesting. Part of it could be clear biblical teaching, and praise and worship that reminds us that we aren’t here to serve ourselves, but to pay tribute to God who has given us so much.
All of that and more.
Faithfully,
PR