Amos 8: Ripe For Judgment

So far, Amos has been shown locusts (7:1), a shower of fire (7:4), and a plumb line (7:7).  In chapter 8, the prophet is shown a basket of summer fruit (vs. 1).  It means that the time of Israel's destruction has arrived.  The nation is ripe for judgment.

When we consider the grounds for Israel's punishment, it should give us pause.  The primary cause was the sin of economic injustice - something that is surely just as rampant today as it was back then.  Amos cries out, "Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring ruin to the poor of the land, saying...'We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of wheat" (vs. 4-6).

The people of Israel were fixated on money.  Their minds were never far from it; even during the sabbath and the festivals they were eager to get back to the business of buying and selling.  They were not observing these holy days in their hearts.  Neither were they treating their neighbors with love.  Instead, they looked upon them as commodities, seeing only dollar signs instead of people formed in God's image.  They were all too ready to take full advantage of their power over the poor, willing to cheat to try to wring more money out of them instead of treating them fairly.

When we look at people today, what do we see?  Do we see merely objects that can be applied to meet our own desires and ends?  Are we only interested in what people can do for us and how we might use them?  Or do we see reflected in them the very heart of God - individuals for whom Christ died on the cross?  We should endeavor to look at the world with the eyes of God rather than through any paradigm that reduces people to less than what they are.

Sadly, part of the punishment that is coming to Israel for these sins is a famine.  A famine not of food or water, but of the word of the Lord.  What we most need all the time, but especially to be a corrective to us when we go astray, is a generous portion of the word of God.

I hope that there is not a famine of the Word in your heart or in your home, but that you are taking full advantage of the words of truth and grace that God has blessed you with.  It will help you to live in a way that pleases the Lord.