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Song: More Holiness Give Me
Scripture: Amos 4:1-13
The prophets are frequently misunderstood, mostly because they are not read. When they are read, they don’t make sense because the situation in which they wrote is unfamiliar to us. If you read the prophets without being acquainted with Kings and Chronicles, it’s like reading someone else’s mail. You know neither the speaker not the recipient, nor the events on the minds of either one. The prophets have messages that are still timely, for those who take the time to understand their admonitions.
Amos was a contemporary of Hosea. He was sent to prophesy to Israel in the 760’s BC, during the reign of Jeroboam II. It was a time of prosperity, but fading prosperity. Israel was in trouble, but she didn’t know it. Assyria was growing in power as Israel grew in decadence, and God, in one more generation, would turn her over to Assyria’s armies.
The oppression of the poor by the rich is a frequent theme in Amos. The “cows of Bashan” in our reading are the wives of the rich who have been grazing off the poor of the land. A wealthy nation like ours should heed the warnings of Amos. The pretend zeal of an irreligious people is another subject of Amos’ rebuke. Israel loved to offer sacrifices but at altars where the worship of Jehovah had been mixed with the pagan practices of the land. God has never had patience with cut-and-paste ritual and devotion.
The words of the prophets were ignored in their own day. It would be a shame for them to be neglected in our own.
Jason Moore
