And the Wind Up (Amos 2:6-16)
It isn’t just shocking that Amos turns to his listeners and tells them that they too are to be judged like their neighbors. It is the level of guilt that he describes.
Each of Israel’s neighbors had an issue that the Lord was holding against them. Most were guilty of a brutality against a neighbor. And not necessarily against Israel. God is concerned with humanity and human decency, not just His special people. Judah, a part of God’s people, was guilty of turning away from God’s law. More than decency, they knew better and were responsible to live at the level of their knowledge of what God desires. But Israel has a whole list of offenses. Here, Amos begins a declaration of judgement that will encompass four more parts following this introduction, this wind up.
Israel is going to be punished, invaded, and exiled, for their treatment of the poor and misfortunate. Wrap your head around that. Being unkind to the poor in God’s eyes is an evil on the level of forced abortion! (1:13)
Specifically, in this introductory word, Amos accuses Israel of making money of the poor and innocent, using the full extent of the law to punish people for owing the cost of a pair of shoes, and using cloaks held in collateral to engage in idolatrous, incestuous sexual practices. That last one seems to us to be the most shocking, but it is all the same sin in God’s eyes.
God’s law does talk about sexual sin. But it is also full of prescribed ways that Israel was to be compassionate and caring for the poor, the misfortunate, the outcast, and the foreigner. Keeping a cloak as collateral overnight was specifically against God’s law. The poor person would need that cloak to stay warm at night, so it was to be returned each night whether a debt was collected or not. God expects His people to meet more than just basic human decency standards. We are to be compassionate and generous to those less fortunate than ourselves.
And this is just the start of Amos’ diatribe against Israel’s materialism and greed. And it is a particularly vivid and relevant word for believers in the prosperous West today.
Each of Israel’s neighbors had an issue that the Lord was holding against them. Most were guilty of a brutality against a neighbor. And not necessarily against Israel. God is concerned with humanity and human decency, not just His special people. Judah, a part of God’s people, was guilty of turning away from God’s law. More than decency, they knew better and were responsible to live at the level of their knowledge of what God desires. But Israel has a whole list of offenses. Here, Amos begins a declaration of judgement that will encompass four more parts following this introduction, this wind up.
Israel is going to be punished, invaded, and exiled, for their treatment of the poor and misfortunate. Wrap your head around that. Being unkind to the poor in God’s eyes is an evil on the level of forced abortion! (1:13)
Specifically, in this introductory word, Amos accuses Israel of making money of the poor and innocent, using the full extent of the law to punish people for owing the cost of a pair of shoes, and using cloaks held in collateral to engage in idolatrous, incestuous sexual practices. That last one seems to us to be the most shocking, but it is all the same sin in God’s eyes.
God’s law does talk about sexual sin. But it is also full of prescribed ways that Israel was to be compassionate and caring for the poor, the misfortunate, the outcast, and the foreigner. Keeping a cloak as collateral overnight was specifically against God’s law. The poor person would need that cloak to stay warm at night, so it was to be returned each night whether a debt was collected or not. God expects His people to meet more than just basic human decency standards. We are to be compassionate and generous to those less fortunate than ourselves.
And this is just the start of Amos’ diatribe against Israel’s materialism and greed. And it is a particularly vivid and relevant word for believers in the prosperous West today.
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