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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Amos 6
Amos paints a picture of those who live at ease in the lap of luxury without giving a second thought to God’s judgment or those on the receiving end of it. “[They} dismiss any thought of the evil day” (Amos 6:3a). They are all about their own comfort, feasting, music, and wine, “but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.” (Amos 6:6b). That stings a little because it seems that is what we all want – to be left alone to live our lives the best we can. That may not mean reveling in the lap of luxury, but we want to be comfortable. Concerning ourselves with things – and people – beyond our front yard is uncomfortable.
I think about King Hezekiah, who was content to know that destruction would not come in his lifetime. Wouldn’t we all feel likewise? And I think about the current “self-care” mantra going around. I agree that we’re no good to anyone if we’re frazzled and worn out, but self-care can easily become too much of a focus. Furthermore, framing anything in the context of “self” is dangerous. Just ask those people at ease in Zion how putting self first and letting their own comfort become their focus worked out for them. I also think about the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. Those churches were complacent, tolerant, and lukewarm, among other things.
Life is a gift from God, and He wants us to enjoy it. But the only way to properly spent and enjoy that gift is when we give it back to God. Which means I can’t be content to simply seek my own comfort. I need to keep in mind that the evil day will come. I need to be ready and watching for it. And I need to do whatever I can to point others to safety, which is only found in God.
Amos 7-9
I am having trouble forming a coherent thought from Amos’ prophecies. Instead, I just get glimpses of things that I can’t quite put together. So I’ll just start by trying to capture those glimpses and see where that leads.
- God relented from sending two different consuming judgments at Amos’ plea for forgiveness. Instead, He sent a plumb line, something straight and true that reveals what doesn’t measure up. Could this be a glimpse of Jesus, the plumb line God sent in place of His consuming judgment?
- Amos was not a prophet. He tended flocks and gathered figs, but God sent him to give a message to those headed for destruction. I find that interesting, because both sheep and fig trees are often used as a metaphor for God’s people in the Bible. Could this be a glimpse of Jesus, the Good Shepherd whom God sent to gather His people to Him?
- “I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime.” (Amos 8:9b). Three of the four Gospels note that while Jesus hung on the cross, darkness came over the whole land at noon.
- God promised to send a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. From what I understand, there was a “silent period” of 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for Jesus. I get the impression that God intended that famine to develop the hunger and thirst for righteousness that Jesus spoke of in His Sermon on the Mount. After the famine, God sent them His righteousness.
- Finally, Amos saw the Lord beside the altar saying, “None of those who flee will get away” (from Amos 9:1). However this time the pending judgment comes with a promise. God said, “I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob” (Amos 9:8c). He follows with a promise of restoration. Amos’ message ends with, “I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The LORD your God has spoken.” (Amos 9:15).
Having written those glimpses down, I now better see God’s promise in Amos’ prophecy. It is His promise to provide a way of escape; a deliverance from certain destruction. That promise is Jesus. God sent Him to us, sacrificed Him for us, put a hunger for Him in us, all so that we might live as His people.