This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”
Amos 7:1-9
OUR HUMAN CONDITION
Generally we do not heed warnings until too late. We hate to be told we are doing wrong. We don’t really believe that severe punishment will come to us. Let us alone. We are getting along fine. We will call you when we need you.
Disciple
God warns the people
“The prophets delivered God’s word to the people. They often spoke the word of warning. Different prophets, different times, different sins, yet always the same theme: Because of your disobedience and unfaithfulness to your covenant God, punishment is coming to Israel.”
When obedience mingles with faithfulness, this leads to wellbeing. This leads to fellowship with God. When disobedience mingles with idolatry, this leads to injustice. This, in turn, leads to judgment from God.
Readings
Amos (look here for descriptions of social wickedness)
Rebellious Judah, Isaiah’s call
Reflection
“The prophet ‘sees,’ ‘hears,’ or ‘understands’ what God is doing or is going to do and, often at great personal peril, announces that reality to the people…The all have a sense of being called to announce God’s words and God’s actions.”
“The prophets were opposed to two things–paganism and injustice. Paganism meant not putting God first in their lives. It meant flirting with the gods of other tribes and nations, forgetting their unique covenant community…If Israel was to be a ‘light to the nations,’ they must be an obedient people.”
“People always accuse prophet of being troublemakers because they point out evil.”
“The second concern of the prophets was injustice. When Israel and Judah did not put God first in their lives, they began to put themselves first. (We do the same.) As a result, they lacked consideration for neighbor and compassion for the weak.”
“Transgression or sinning again and again is not just failing or forgetting. It is aggressive rebellion, active revolt against the established authority of almighty God.”
- Write in your own words the sins against neighbor described here.
- Also write in your own words the sins against neighbor detailed here.
- In Amos’s vision, the Lord drops a plumb line in the midst of Israel. Israel does not line up with God’s will. Look at the greed, the materialistic fever. Describe in your own words this burning desire for money. How would you compare it to our attitudes toward economic matters?
“Amos, like other prophets, condemned religious ceremony when carried on in indifference to social justice.”
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5:21-24
Marks of Discipleship
Prophets still warn us, but in different ways.
Doctors predict our health risks if we do not change our habits.
Evangelists show a heavenly path and a hellish path and plead for decision.
Social prophets point to racial injustice and are called troublemakers, point to environmental pollutants and are called antibusiness, condemn abuse of power and are regarded as unpatriotic.
Is someone right now saying something prophetic in the biblical sense for you, for your community, for your nation, or for your world?
How are you listening to the warning?
Describe a time you felt God’s Spirit placing in your mouth a holy warning that you felt called upon to give to others.
Disciples recognize and listen to prophetic voices raised about community, nation, and world and at times become the prophetic voice.
Disciple
Food for Thought 