A Word from Amos
I was reading the book of Amos today, as I’m sure many of us were. It is an oracle of judgment against many ancient near eastern powers during the time that Israel was divided into the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms. The book starts out great, as I’m sure the people of Israel would have agreed. God is speaking through Amos, a herdsman. He begins by calling out all the enemies of Israel for their pagan ways. God promises great destruction to the Philistines, Edomites, Ammonites, and even Judah; Israel’s sister nation with whom they were not on good terms. As I read I could not help but imagine the people hearing Amos’s words at Bethel in Israel. There were undoubtedly nods of agreement and cheers at the misfortune of all those people who deserved it. The biggest cheer would have been at the promise that Judah would be judged. The Israelites saw the people of Judah as a bunch of self-righteous false Jews. They deserved punishment for giving God’s people a bad name, and especially for disagreeing with the Israelites.
I began to relate to Israel here. It is always very satisfying to me when criminals get their comeuppance. Even more than that, I have to restrain my delight when people who I believe are not living up to their claims of Christianity are exposed for the pagans they are. I know I’m not alone in this. I spent three years attending thrice weekly chapels at a Christian university. It was always interesting to watch the sleeping, disinterested student body come alive and cheer at any random mention of being tired of “fake Christians”. The crowd would always perk up and cheer their agreement to the evils of these other people who didn’t fulfill the duties of the Christianity the claimed.
This is where Amos gets really interesting. Near the end of chapter 2, Amos foretells one more nation that would be judged – Israel. Amos spends three or four verses on all the previous nations, but then spends the rest of his book (seven more chapters) on the judgment of Israel. Apparently, the real Jews were even more culpable than the people they hated for being pagans. In fact, God was ready to finish them off as a nation, entirely. (If you aren’t familiar with the history of Israel, He did just that not too long after Amos’s prophecy.)
Just as I am sure the people at Bethel felt like Amos had sucker-punched them, this is where I felt his ancient shepherd’s hand reach out of my Bible and thump me in the mouth. The people who I related to were held to a higher standard than those known liars. Amos 2:9-11 contains the Words of God, telling all the “good” people of Israel that it was not them who had done anything good, but that it was His hand alone. Everything that made them think they were above the judgment of the other nations had been done by God and God alone. Their pride in themselves was founded on taking personal credit for something that God had done on their behalf. They had even erected a golden calf in the very city that Amos was giving his prophecy; Bethel.
Another punch in the face.
I like to think I’m a good person. I like to hear people decry those Christians who have gone astray, and I join in with them more often than not. But when I really step back and consider myself in light of Amos’s message, I am just like Israel. I stand in silent or vocal judgment of other people while holding all sorts of idols in my heart. I like to pride myself on all the things I have done for God, ignoring the fact that all of those things were done by God on my behalf.
I exist on the singular truth that God is merciful to me, and He loves me. I think it is healthy for us to read books like Amos. If we realize that even though we are not the original audience, the message still applies to us. God doesn’t change, and if history has taught us anything, neither does the arrogance of humanity. We need to regularly hear the words of the prophets which bring us to a new understanding of humility. The understanding of God’s judgment and the realization that He constantly spares us of that judgment should really give us something to bring up in our prayers.
