Faithfulness in the Midst of Chaos
Amos 5:7-17
7 O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name;
9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
The measure of a culture lies in how the poor, sick, orphaned, elderly, and widowed are treated. Is there the same justice in the courts for the poor as there is for the rich, or do two different standards come into play? This was true for ancient Israel and is true for us today as well. The Lord has weighty and important things to say about our treatment of others, as that treatment reflects on Him as our Creator. Ancient Israel was not doing a very good job. Sometimes neither are we.
In our passage for today, we find that the avenues of justice favored those who could pay a bribe over those who could not. Justice was handled by the people. Legal disputes were settled at the city gate, presided over by any male member of the community in good standing. Those with legal problems would come and tell their story to those seated at the gate and justice would be dispensed based on the laws that God had established for His people. In Israel at the time of Amos, that justice could be bought, which was of course, no justice at all. This is abhorrent in the eyes of the Lord and He is further horrified to learn that His people are willing to turn a blind eye to that injustice. (Do not be fooled by verse 13 “Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.” We’ll discuss that in the next paragraph.) He reminds them of the abundant gifts they had been given even though they did nothing to earn them. Now they would lose all of that as He passes through in judgment.
Verse 13 is not permission to look away when we see injustice. Absolutely not. This verse is a reminder that we are not to become involved in such sin. We are not to join in with negative talk or a willingness to cheat others. Instead our instructions follow in verse 14, “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.” As we face the evil around us, it is time to take a stand and let our faith shine in the midst of injustice and chaos. While this is easier said than done, it is possible and we have numerous examples of God’s people doing just that throughout the Scriptures. (See the stories of Joseph (in Genesis), Daniel, Stephen, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, even Jesus . . . the list is long.) This doesn’t mean we have to stand on a street corner and yell at the passersby. It does mean we can decide not to let our children participate in sporting events on Sunday morning. It does mean that we speak well of others and not participate in gossip. It does mean that we live as closely in accordance with God’s laws as possible and make no apologies for that. It does mean we share our faith with others when appropriate.
The similarities between us and the Nation of Israel are startling and come as a warning we need to heed. But the Gospel always comes into play as we realize that the grace of God allows and enables us to live lives that speak about the God we serve to a people so desperate to hear the message.
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