Wednesday, November 6, 2019
For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time. Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “There will be crying in all the public squares and mourning in every street. Call for the farmers to weep with you, and summon professional mourners to wail. There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will destroy them all,” says the Lord. What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the Lord were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light. In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—and he’s bitten by a snake. Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope. “I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. Amos 5:12-24
Just as most people are aware elephants
are not known for sharp teeth, most people would rather
not think of God other than soft, warm and fuzzy. That’s a form of denial!
Amos, the sheep herding, sycomore fig-tree
farmer-turned-prophet took a walk into the capitol city of Jerusalem and saw a
whole bunch of folk who loved to play politics, throw their weight around, get
rich and fat, but were living in the worst form of denial. They imagined God couldn’t see their black hearts
and concluded that the idea of Judgment Day was a myth.
In response, Amos pulled-out some images of
his wilderness experience and told them unless their hearts were cleansed they’d
be like a man running from a lion who stumbles into the pathway of a
hungry/angry bear; escaping the bear claws by a hair, he runs to his house,
slams the door shut, locks it, leans up against the wall to catch his breath,
and is bitten on the neck by a lethal cobra.
Amos tells the religious fakes they’d better get their acts together, or
their history would be written in their own blood…from bad – to worse – to worst! Their future would be surrounded by darkness,
wailing, and a loss of all hope. We can
live without a lot of things, but air and hope are not on that list! Many people would rather not think about the FACT
of JHWH being a sovereign God who does judge sin. Because we’re all vulnerable to a God like that,
we’d rather have a god who winks at our sins, and lets us slide…there,
there, you’re ok; I know you tried.
But God’s judgment of our behavior is more than provable. From the beginning creation was put together with
natural judgment as an incontrovertible principle:
·
Fire has
always contained judgment for sticking your finger in the flames.
·
Up always
has a violent result when gravity brings you in contact with Down!
·
And, if
your mother has to tell you to take out the garbage a third time…you’ll find
out what fury judgment can bring!
The most evident proof of God’s sharp-toothed
elephant in the room is the cross.
Without the death of Jesus no person is forgiven, no one escapes the bar
of judgment. When it comes to justice,
the kind of right behavior God expects is our unconditional love with all our
heart, mind, soul, and strength…and loving our neighbor that way too![2]
Each of us on
planet earth wants a soft place to land.
God has provided that; it’s the fellowship of a close relationship with
One to whom you can take all your sins, sorrows, and fears. He forgives the heart’s confession, sets the
captive free, and that’s an elephant in your room worth talking
about!
Go to VIDEO
[1]
Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless
noted, Scripture quoted from The
New Living Translation©
[2] Luke 10:27
[2] Luke 10:27
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