The Cows of Bashan

Amos 4:1-3

1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’

2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks.

3 And you shall go out through the breaches, each one straight ahead; and you shall be cast out into Harmon,” declares the Lord.

The people of Israel were so incredibly self-satisfied and secure in their own prosperity that God compares the women to the cows that roamed the fields of the rich grazing lands of Bashan. At that time, those cattle were considered the fattest, healthiest, and laziest in the world. Clearly, not a compliment! And then God declares that they will, much to their surprise, be carried off into captivity, pulled along by hooks through their noses, which was how slaves were marched home to the land of their captors. This is an ugly prediction of future events. But, it falls on deaf ears.

Instead of just shaking our heads in derision at how foolish these people were, we always need to look within and see if we are wandering on the hillside of luxury and unaware of God’s Word into our lives. This is the message of the prophets. Look honestly at a your life and repent. Now, we’re only four chapters into Amos, and already the message seems to be a bit repetitive, right? Turn and look at your life and then repent. Turn back to God.

Why does the same story seem to repeat itself over and over and over throughout the Old Testament? The reason is that it seems to be very difficult for us to change. You know what it means to want to stop the sinful actions of your daily life, but then to find that extremely difficult to do. It is easy to feel like a failure in a walk of faith in the Lord. This is why Jesus was sent into the world, because we simply cannot save ourselves, no matter how much we want to be able to do that. Has the people during the time of Amos looked to the Lord and said, “We are sinners, please forgive us and take us back,” God’s response would have been immediate and grace-filled. He is always in the business of restoration and He will always choose mercy over wrath. Even on those wrath filled pages of Amos, where God likens the women to cows, He goal is restoration, just as it is for you.

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