Amos 4:1-8.
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
3 You will each go straight out
through breaches in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]”
declares the Lord.
4 “Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.[c]
5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
The Lord God continues speaking to His people the Israelites. And He is far from polite about the wealthy Israelite ladies. God sees our hearts, our actions. What are we hoping He is not noticing in our lives. Where are we oppressing the poor, what about our choice of shopping? Ignoring the supply chain of people?
Again, God reveals that He gave them a lack of bread, withheld rain and yet His people did not return to Him. We often struggle to return to God, we carry on leaning on right behaviours and structures, we don’t want to connect God directly to events. It would not make great headlines to say God brought covid on us. To openly consider tying God to covid in the ways He ties Himself to events here in Amos would be a non-starter. We want God and His people to be the heroes in the story, the people who bring comfort and good news of a kind god. Passages like this can leave us with uncomfortable questions about God, His ways and how we respond. We need to consider God in all things and His active engagement. We need to enlarge our understanding of God and allow Him to truly be who He declares Himself in Exodus with Moses to be “I am who I am” or more closely translated “I will be who I will be”. Praying as we sit with this passage today that God will increase your vision for Himself. In Jesus name.
Father, how do You want us to handle such questions, how do we begin to see you in the events that at best easier to attribute to a broken sinful world rather than Your active allowance. Give us courage not shy away from Your word, let us not limit what it means for You to be ‘I will be who I will be’ to what we are comfortable with. In Jesus name.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 